A FORMER Thomas Hardye student will be swapping classrooms this summer to help some of the most deprived children in the world.

Nicola McEwan has volunteered to work as a teaching assistant in a school in the Mpumalanga region of South Africa.

Nicola, 21, is currently studying English and drama at Manchester University but wants to spend this summer helping youngsters who have few opportunities.

She said: "The educational charity Tenteleni have asked me to volunteer for them as a teaching assistant in a local school in Nkomazi East, near Nelspruit in the Mpumalanga area.

"Although nominally I will be a teaching assistant I will often end up teaching entire classes on my own."

The schools suffer from the legacy of apartheid, are under-resourced, understaffed and overcrowded and class size ranges from 40-90 children.

"Teachers struggle with the basic resources and the curriculum also means that children who do not pass all their exams are made to repeat the year again and again and again. My school in Nkomazi East will have the basics - electricity, running water, tables and chairs, and some textbooks - but not much else.

"They also have to contend with the sheer scale and consequence of the Aids pandemic out there and a big part of my role will be educating the children about more than just curricular concerns.

"I'm looking forward to doing some drama with the kids too - I think getting them to interact and playing games is the best way to build trust and get to know people, and something tells me these little ones will be up for a laugh."

As with all volunteering projects Nicola, the daughter of Dorchester Town Crier Alastair Chisholm and Kate McEwan, needs to raise money to cover the trip.

She said: "I need to raise £600 for Tenteleni, which covers my board, travel and training while I'm there.

"The charity is amazing - it doesn't make any profit and each person who runs it is themselves a volunteer. I hope to make a strong link with the charity so I can apply for the role of project co-ordinator next year. Eventually I hope to use my skills to work full-time for VSO after I graduate.

"Volunteering is definitely something I am looking to do long-term, preferably on conservation projects that reduce our chances of frying this planet to hell and not back."

If people want to donate they can make cheques payable to Tenteleni and send them to Nicola McEwan at 19 Mabfield Road, Fallowfield, Manchester, M14 6LW.