A HEADTEACHER will put all talk of UK class sizes and performance tables into perspective when she jets off for an African adventure next month.

With 60 to a class and no running water or electricity, the Ghanian school where Judith Lees will spend part of the autumn term is a world away from Chester-le-Street's Red Rose Primary School.

While there, she will live in a family compound and help teach English to children in a school with few resources.

When she returns to the North-East in November, she hopes to use her experience to raise awareness of issues in the West African country with local schools, St Barnabas church, Bournmoor, and the Chester-le-Street Scout group.

Ms Lees said: "I feel amazed to be preparing for this project. It's going to be different from anything I have ever known.

"There will be just a teacher, a blackboard and 60 children.

"I just hope they are so fascinated by this mad, white woman that they hang on my every word."

Ms Lees' trip is funded by the Global Teachers' Millennium Award, which is run by the Link Community Development charity, which in turn is funded by the Millennium Commission.