Friday

Friday was my last day and I had another enjoyable day at school. The main sports played at the school are volleyball and netball. I saw the under 15s team practising volleyball in a PE lesson. I also saw a class learning about a traditional religious blessing ceremony in a music lesson, an art class doing papier mache and an IT lesson. Here are some photos from these lessons.

For the last two lessons of the day the students performed various traditional songs and cultural dances for a concert for literacy association day. Here are a couple of photos from the performances - a religious "devil dance" and a song.

Primary school

The school has primary classes as well as the secondary school section. I visited the primary classes grades 1 - 6 and saw lots of different lessons. After the assembly the primary students do morning exercises and games. Some of the classes had prepared songs to perform to me. Here are some photos from these classes.

Wednesday

Wednesday was a holy day in Sri Lanka so there was no school. It was Diwali which many Tamils (originally from India) observe. The host teacher Indu and her husband took me to visit a tea estate and tea factory inland in the mountains. Sri Lankan tea (more commonly known as Ceylon tea) is very famous and it is an important export for the country. It was interesting to see the acres of tea bushes and how it is dried, fermented and crushed to make the tea we drink.

Tuesday

After assembly I visited the nearby pre-school. Here children aged 3-5 years of age prepare for primary school. I observed them starting the day with daily worship and singing. There were lovely displays of the childrens work, many of which were made from coconut shells. The children showed me their playtime games and performed dances they have been practising. They do not have a stereo so they danced to music from the teachers mobile phone. Back at school I watched a Home Economics lesson where the class made a fruit salad using pineapple, bananas, papaya, and mango, all of which are grown locally. It was very fresh and tasty! I taught a lesson using photos of Southampton to compare Southampton to their town Tangalle. I enjoyed teaching the lesson and many teachers came to watch. At the end of the lesson the students, aged 15, each knelt down and bowed to me to show their respect. They do this to their parents each night before bed also. The Sri Lankan people are very kind and hospitable. The students are very well behaved and the school is very welcoming. The teachers have been taking it in turns to cook lunches and dinners for me in their homes and on Tuesday evening I went to dinner at the Principal's house.

Assembly and daily worship

Every morning before school students take it in turns to sweep the floors in the classrooms and to sweep/tidy the gardens also. The bell is then rung to announce the start of school at 7.30am and students line up for their daily assembly in the playground with the Principal. The prefects walk the religious offerings (which they prepare before school) past the students to the small Buddhist shrine. A student then leads religious worship, which is a song followed by a meditation. Next speeches are made about the daily news and weather before the students say their oath. On Tuesdays the oath is about honouring their teachers. Lastly, another student raises the Sri Lankan flag and the whole school sings the national anthem.

Monday

Monday was my first day at our partner school. When I arrived 3 students greeted me and presented me with flowers and beetle leaves. I then went on a tour of the school. On the left is a photo of the English unit. A couple of years ago we had a fayre one Friday period 5 to raise money for the school. The money we raised allowed this classroom to be set up. It paid for the furniture, notice board, paint and a camera for joint projects. I watched a Sinhala lesson, which is the first language in this part of Sri Lanka. Here are a couple of photos from this lesson.

I also observed a History and a singing lesson where the teachers use textbooks provided by the government and a blackboard as teaching aids. There are no projectors and laptops!

Preparing for my visit to Sri Lanka

On Saturday 22nd October I am flying to Sri Lanka to visit our partner school.  I am flying to the capital city Colombo and then I will have a 6 hour drive to the south coast to the village of Tangalle.