By Jane Elliott

The Newcombe family are spending a year on the ship

For Kathryn Newcombe and her classmates geography is not a dry curriculum choice but a living subject.

One day the Nottingham schoolgirl can be holed up at the dockside of war-torn Monrovia, Liberia, another she can be touring Europe or South Africa.

Maths classes can be carried out at the local bazaar, languages learned from native speakers and history lessons often take place in the actual location.

Kathryn and the rest of the Newcombe family have been spending a year living on the "Mercy Ship" Anastasis, where her father, Steve, has been working as a maths and history teacher.

Learning curve

The ships, which are operated by a Christian charity, dock for up to half a year at a time in countries like Benin, Togo, Sierra Leone and the Gambia, opening their doors to the sick.

Staff book a local football pitch and on the first day there can be as many as 5,000 people waiting to be assessed and or trying to get operation dates.

Mr Newcombe said the whole African experience had been a tremendous learning curve for his family.

"You need to see it with your own eyes. We have been to visit orphanages and my children played football with the children there.

I think if you are a very creative person there are lots of opportunities Brian Blackburn, head teacher

"There is a civil war here in Monrovia, and the children realised that when they saw the armed guards and the UN troops."

But he said the opportunities for Kathryn and her brothers had been tremendous and that he was glad they had taken the gap-year.

"They have had a great time on the ship and have made some good friends.

"They are learning a lot of languages from hearing things spoken here. They have learned a bit of French, some Dutch and German. I always hated languages at school, but already they are picking up little bits."

But because the ship teaches an American syllabus, Mr Newcombe would advise English parents to consider going there only until their children were secondary school age.

"I am concerned that if they did carry on here beyond that our children would fall behind, although as their teacher I could ensure that they didn't."

Kathryn, 10, said she was looking forward to telling her friends about all her experiences.

Missing home

"When I get home I am going to tell them about the animals and the ants and the butterflies, which are really huge, and the lizards which we have found in our cabin.

"I really liked going to Holland, which had a big park and was really nice, and people could speak English as well."

But she was missing her old friends and could not wait to go home and see them.

The Anastasis can take up to 50 children aged between one and 17. There is one teacher to every 10 pupils.

American head teacher Brian Blackburn has been on-board for a decade, but still loves the variety of ship life.

"In Europe the kids usually go out and see a lot on field trips. We went to see Anne Frank's House.

Children on the Anastasis form close bonds

"When we go to South Africa we will take the children up Table Mountain. In Africa we will have a maths class at the market where we will barter.

"I think if you are a very creative person there are lots of opportunities.

"Two to three months out of a year the ship does a PR tour and shows what mercy ships do in each port.

"Last summer was spent in the Faroe Islands seeing puffins and going hiking.

"The children were able to see a part of the world they could not normally see. I have been spoilt just doing a normal job."

Mr Blackburn said the children and their teachers were considered to be part of his family, but some might find the situation claustrophobic.

Positives and negatives

"With the children being on-board and living on the ship we really do see a lot of them.

"At home I taught for a year and it would be a rare thing if I encountered them outside. That could be a positive thing and that could be a negative thing."

The children tended to form intense bonds quickly, treating each other more like siblings than friends.

"When we have children leave the ship, the other children get very upset when they have to have a farewell. Some of them are in tears. They build relationships on the ship very quickly."

Another British parent is transportation manager Olly Peet, from Hertford, whose wife Sally and children Anna, three, and Noah, five, are also on-board.

He said: "Noah is in a classroom with one teacher and one other child. He is far ahead of where he would be in the UK.

"Anna has another little girl and one teacher and she is already learning the alphabet.

"We were in a bit of a rat race in Hertfordshire and I was conscious that most of the world does not enjoy what we do. There is so much need and desperation. I think this is where we were meant to be."

Mrs Peet agreed, saying: "Noah loves being in a small group and will find the transition hard when we get home, when he has to share a teacher.

"In his class he has learned lots of interesting things, such as how things in the ship work.

"He has been to the pathology laboratories and grown cultures and has seen how the engine room works.