Building connections and understanding: Bathford Church School and children in Oleksandriya, Ukraine

Children in Years 5 and 6 at Bathford Church School recently welcomed two fantastic visitors when local writer Claire Bramwell-Pearson came in to talk about her book, Vitalii Petrenko and the Secret of the Roman Baths. It has been commissioned and published by the local charity The Friends of Oleksandriya, and Zhenya Shkil, charity founder and chair, accompanied Claire. Oleksandriya is Bath’s partner city in Ukraine.

Creating the book has taken over a year. The story is written in English, and is illustrated by Ukrainian artist, Alexandra Dikaia. It tells of a Ukrainian refugee, Vitalii Petrenko, who is living in Bath with his mum and sister. He befriends a local boy, and together they visit the Roman Baths where they meet a well-known Ukrainian dragon. The heartwarming tale explores themes of friendship and understanding, with the ultimate aim of raising awareness and support for children in Ukraine.

The visit from Claire and Zhenya linked closely with Bathford Church School’s overarching theme for the autumn terms of identity and diversity, and allowed the children to explore first-hand different cultures and communities outside of their own experiences. During the visit, the school had a Zoom call with Ukranian school children, so were able to see and chat with them in their classroom. Afterwards, all the children were given their own signed copy of the book.

It was wonderful to welcome Claire and Zhenya and see our pupils so engaged in hearing about life in Ukraine. They asked lots of brilliant questions. The message of the Vitalii Petrenko and this visit were both wonderful ways to demonstrate to our pupils the importance of friendship and connection with people in other countries, where children are living lives very different to their own. The visit supported our children to further understand what it means to live out our school vision of becoming caring, responsible global citizens.