16149/6AMERICAN teaching assistant Bobby Tillman has been giving pupils at Malmesbury Primary School a taste of life in the USA.

Mr Tillman, 24 from Milwaukee, comes from the mid western state of Wisconsin.

He joined the school last March from the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh where he is studying elementary education, and will return home in three weeks time.

Since his arrival, he has been teaching children, aged between ten and 11 maths, literacy and baseball. He said: "I'm having a great time. We do 20 weeks of teaching in schools in the U.S. and one of the options was to go international. This is my first time in England and I really like it. Everyone is very nice to me.'

During his work Mr Tillman has noticed many differences between the cultures and schools in England and America.

He said: ' There are a lot of students in each class in Malmesbury compared to schools in the US but in Malmesbury there are tonnes of textbooks. The kids here also travel to many countries compared to us.

The school's newest recruit has has become a big celebrity with pupils since his arrival.

He said: 'In the beginning there was tonnes of questions from them but I love helping them understand things."

Living with a Wootton Bassett family has also been an enjoyable experience for Mr Tillman and he particularly enjoys roast dinners.