Ok so Day 1 was not so
rural as we had re-scheduled our last partner school Makhalong for Monday. The
school with a 1000 faces and lots of Grade 1, 2 , 3 teachers!! Not the best
response from them sadly, but they are the best performing school in the whole
district and are obviously doing something right! The children’s Reading test
was evidence of this as even Grade 1 were pretty knowledgeable. This is
fantastic news for them, but a harder sell for us to try and persuade them to
use more interactive teaching methods….especially that they do have 120 pupils
per class!! We will keep trying!
Day 2 saw us travel
out to Patlong, a village on the way back toward Quthing. Patlong Primary
School is a beautiful school with a very committed Principal who was waiting
for our very late arrival along with and a group of teachers from neighbouring
schools, all ready and waiting patiently for us. A special moment for us today
was when they greeted us in Welsh and sang a song we taught them last time!
During the pupil assessment I asked a little girl what the sound of “th” was,
realising she didn’t understand I pointed to my thumb and asked what it was and
she replied “shap”…..which is Sesotho for “alright”!
Day 3 took us up the
valley toward Sehlabethebe to Rankakala Primary School. A favourite of ours
from last time, a very poor school with very limited resources but the most
enthusiastic and child centered teachers we have met. We squeezed into the
office to run the workshop on borrowed chairs, with teachers from 4 other
schools. They were very responsive with the most caring approach to the Pupil
assessment tasks so far. To see a teacher get a tissue for a child with a runny
nose is a new experience for me, I kid you not! The children were very scared
of us, but by the end they were waving and smiling like the town children.
Day 4 sent us back up
the same rural, bouncy road to Tsoelike Primary School where we had to pick up
teachers along the way as they had been told to attend the workshop the day
before!! A typical communication error when working with the Education
department! We got most of them there however after an initial delay and to a
fantastic reception. Two teachers in particular were so happy with what we
introduced, they were like children the whole way through and took over the
Pupil assessment themselves!!
Day 5 took us back to
our local schools for some follow up visits and general smiles and hugs. I had
to say a teary goodbye to my Class 7 who are finishing Primary School next week
after their Leaving examinations. I hope I will see them in their High Schools
next year when I visit.
We made a very successful link meeting with Makaola
High School who will be partnered with Ysgol Uwchradd Llanfyllin, near Bala. We
were mobbed and sang to at Qacha’s Nek United! We visited St Josephs Primary
School to help make Phonics resources and they had been collecting card,
cartons and bottles all week to make sure they made enough for their 3 classes.
What a special moment to see our work in practice!
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