STAFF from a Blackburn high school are set to travel to Egypt to learn more about the education system as part of the Olympic legacy programme.

St Bede’s PE teacher Andrew Mercer will be joined by another staff member from the senior leadership team on the week-long trip to the El Raml school for girls in the city of Alexandria at the end of April.

It follows a recent visit to the Livesey Branch Road school by two teachers from Egypt’s second largest city who visited St Bede’s and also enjoyed a tour of Ewood Park and Manchester United’s Old Trafford ground.

The programme is being funded by the charity International Inspiration, London 2012's official international sports legacy programme, and the British Council.

Andrew said they have been assured they will be safe despite the recent riots in Cairo, as the city is more than three hours away by road.

He said: “Both myself and a senior member of the leadership team will be going over to Egypt to observe their school, education system and culture.

“When we go, hopefully we will see some native sports, or dances, or ways of teaching which we can bring back to Blackburn.

“We have been assured by the British Council that it is safe to travel. All the recent trouble made me a little bit nervous, but if it wasn’t safe to travel then we wouldn’t be allowed to go.

“It should be very interesting. It’s different to a holiday — we will be learning and experiencing the local culture.”

St Bede’s is one of nearly 300 schools in the UK currently linked to a school overseas through Inspiration.

More than 12 million children in 20 countries around the world have been enriched by the exchange programme which is delivered around the world by a unique partnership of organisations including the British Council, UNICEF and UK Sport.

The school partnerships provide an opportunity for teachers, children and young people to develop and share innovative approaches to PE, sport and play in the classroom and their local community as well as learn about and understand each other’s cultures, experiences and international development issues.