SURPRISED students got an unexpected visit from members of a far-flung tribe in a bid to boost their cultural awareness.

Pupils at the John Ruskin School, Coniston, welcomed seven Maasai Warriors who travelled nearly 7,000 miles from Kenya's Rift Valley to offer the hand of friendship and spread knowledge of their culture and lifestyle.

The warriors, called Isaac, Alex, David, Chris, Jeremiah, Ann and group leader Daniel, had made the journey in a bid to raise funds to improve the local school building in their village by performing shows in various locations across the country.

Sarah Howard, a spokesperson for John Ruskin School, said: "We were extremely lucky to have them at our school.

"The students were treated to a series of traditional Maasai songs and dances by the group and were given the rare opportunity to join in the famous Maasai Jump Dance, only performed by the male warriors as women are not allowed to do it in their tribes. However, even some of our female students were given the opportunity to join in with this dance."

Maasai group leader Daniel then gave a presentation to the students and educated them about the culture and way of life in his part of Kenya.

Pupils then challenged their guests to a game of dodgeball, which proved to be an experience as the warriors had never seen such a ball and insisted on using their spears.

One Year 9 girl said: "I have thought a lot about tolerance and what other people value, and I think this is equally as important as learning about British values. I really found meeting the people from Kenya interesting because it is good to actually see and interact with them - it was a great experience."

The visit came as part of the school's project to get pupils to question what it means to be British and hold British values.

Students discussed human rights, conducted mock trials, explored the difference between local and national government and expanded their cultural horizons with visits from the warriors.

Staff at the school, on Lake Road, hope the visit will help pupils to understand the importance of identifying and combatting discrimination and recognise that other people can have different faiths and beliefs and these should be accepted and tolerated without prejudice.