YOUNGSTERS from a Burnley school have made penpals with children in Nicaragua thanks to a Spanish teacher.

Catherine Wright, teacher at Blessed Trinity RC College, volunteered in the country over the summer holidays delivering training strategies.

She spent two weeks in the school, instítuto Miguel Angel, which is in Chinandega in northern Nicaragua.

She said: “The teaching conditions are very difficult with poor lighting, limited resources as well as up to 60 pupils in a class and it was incredibly hot.

“As part of the exchange I wanted our students at Blessed Trinity to gain an understanding into Nicaraguan culture, something that beforehand they knew very little about.

“Pupils produced a list of questions of things they would like to know about Nicaragua such as do you wear a uniform? What is the school day like?

“They also wrote letters about their lives and school in England and some produced videos in Spanish which I took with me.

“For the pupils in Nicaragua, very few of whom had ever left the country, they knew little about England and for the majority I was the first British person they had ever met.

“They were incredibly excited to receive the letters and were eager to reply many staying in free of choice during their break to complete their letters

“Now that we have a strong established link with the school, hopefully this exchange will be one that continues to flourish over the months and years ahead.”