Many of our compatriots abroad regard their work for patriotic causes as a mission to which they dedicate their heart and soul. This is certainly true of Valentina Alexandrova-Kirova, a Bulgarian national who balances family life with teaching Bulgarian children at the Ivan Stanchov Sunday School, based at the Bulgarian Embassy in London. She is also the co-founder of a Bulgarian Sunday school at the Slovo School in Oxford.

Ms Alexandrova-Kirova will be moderating a discussion on effective teaching practices and the challenges faced by Bulgarian schools abroad during the 18th annual conference in Veliko Tarnovo, taking place from 22 to 24 July. Each participant will receive a special textbook entitled My Bulgaria, designed for third- and fourth-grade Sunday schools.

‘It is similar to the subject Man and Society, which is offered as an extracurricular subject in many Bulgarian schools abroad. I am not the sole author—my co-author is Margarita Rusanova from the Bulgarian School Vasil Levski in Frankfurt am Main. Man and Society covers a wide range of topics in Bulgaria, but since we’re working with limited time, we had to narrow down the topics. At the same time, we have included a special section on Bulgarian traditions, as well as history and geography.’

The impressive 300-page textbook is divided into sections. Each lesson is followed by reading comprehension tasks, creative project ideas, and practical exercises to help students engage with the material interactively.

Recently, the Bulgarian school in the British capital hosted a compelling, student-led conference dedicated to Bulgarians who have left their mark on British history. Pupils researched and presented stories about the world-renowned violinist Vasko Vassilev; the Four Gospels of Tsar Ivan Alexander, also known as the London Gospels, which were brought to light by Petar Ouvaliev; and the English translation of Ivan Vazov’s classic novel Pod Igoto (Under the Yoke).

‘Veneta Nenkova, founder of the Bulgarian school Asen and Ilia Peikov in Rome, was the one who initiated the search for Bulgarian traces in the countries where we live. This later inspired the Ministry of Education and Science to propose and adopt the national programme The Untold Stories of Bulgarians,’ recalls Valentina Alexandrova in an interview for Radio Bulgaria.

‘As a historian, I immediately felt at home with the idea, and at our school we created a bilingual brochure dedicated to the diplomat Ivan Stanchov. Our partner in this initiative was Snezhina Mecheva, the school’s long-serving director, who has many personal memories of meeting Stanchov over the years.’

‘Our aim was to bring schools together, with each one presenting a notable Bulgarian emigrant or historical trace abroad—encouraging students to take on the role of young researchers. Nine Bulgarian schools in the UK joined forces to showcase a range of fascinating and diverse projects. The response to the conference was overwhelmingly positive.’