And now headteacher David Rowsell is also an African chief after the honour was bestowed on him by a grateful town to say thank you for the work his school has done for its children.

Mr Rowsell was named Chief Angu Keba I in a ceremony when he and a group of teachers and pupils from the school travelled to Ghana to kit out a school with state of the art computers.

He was handed the honour in a ceremony, which saw him don the appropriate African clothing, which now has pride of place in his wardrobe back home in England.

He said: "They made me Progress Chief of Tema Newtown because of the work we've done, to say how grateful they are. So technically I'm an African chief!

"But the issue really is that you don't have chiefs unless they have someone to do the work and our staff and pupils have been outstanding in what they have done to make this project happen.

"I don't know if they make people chiefs on a regular basis, but I'm really honoured."

Four teachers and 10 pupils made the journey to Akodzo School in Tema, to crown a three year relationship between the two schools.

The school's IT teacher Mark Ibbertson fitted the 11 laptops, printer, projector and network switch which put the school online for the internet and effectively provide it with a modern computer suite for the first time.

The youngsters, who had been specially selected from to take part in the trip, then turned teachers to show their African counterparts how to use the equipment.

Pupil Laura Pearman, aged 15, who was one of the group from Doncaster, said: "It was an amazing experience, and I really think it has changed me as a person. I think we've all changed through the experience.

'I can't express how much the students have got out of this'

Nicola Leeson

"Everyone there was so happy, even though compared to us in Doncaster, they have very few possessions. I've come back thinking we are all too obsessed with possessions."

Pal Kerry Naughton, aged 14, described the visit as a trip of a lifetime. She said: "It was marvellous to see the children's faces when we were teaching them IT - they were really excited about getting involved. There was a computer in the school, but they had never seen a laptop.

"The people just seemed so helpful."

The trip followed three years of work by headteacher Mr Rowsell and teacher Nicola Leeson. The school has been running fundraising events to pay for the journey and the equipment. It also received donations from the Church of England's Diocese of Sheffield, the British Council and a firm of builders which is currently building its new building.

Ms Leeson said: "I can't express how much the students have got out of this - I think it was the most rewarding trip the school has ever done.

"I think it has changed a lot of lives and if we can keep the project going we will continue to take more students in the future."

It was not all work for those who made the trip.

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