YOUNGSTERS at a Colne nursery are learning about life down under after one of their teachers did a year-long job exchange.

Jacinta Duncan, 50, from Briagolong, a town in the state of Victoria, swapped her home and workplace with Tracey Kenny 46, a nursery teacher from Newtown Nursery in Colne.

The Aussie mum-of-three, who usually works at Araluen primary school, has moved into Tracey’s country home near Skipton, and has even bought a car to get around.

The swap came about after both women applied to The International Teaching Fellowship exchange program that matches teachers around the world. They were paired up on job similarities, preference of country and their headteachers’ preference of exchange partner.

Mrs Duncan, whose home is near the Great Dividing Range, Australia’s biggest mountain range, said that the hardest aspect of the swap has been understanding the Lancashire accent.

She said: “I’ve not found the transition too difficult so far but I have sometimes struggled with the accent and some of the children have had to ask me to repeat things.

“I visited Yorkshire 25 years ago so I was thrilled when I found out that Tracey lived there and Colne is just across the border.

“There are not that many cultural differences, and children are really the same world over.

“The transition has been made easy by how friendly all the staff are here.

“I came over at the end of December, just in time for the snow and it looked like a winter wonderland, but I struggled having to drive in ice and snow.”