Keith in Sri Lanka

I left Kurunegala at 08:00 this morning after one final breakfast at Razeena's next door! I felt a great sense of satisfaction as I left - a recognition of a job well done, which Tim commented on in yesterday's blog. He said that: 'It sounds as if this part of your visit has been really successful', which indeed it has been, but no less so than the first half of my visit this time, where I had an extremely productive time this year working in three of the Tea Leaf Trust Centres. The two types of voluntary work that I do in Sri Lanka are a huge contrast. My generic skills working in education over the past 45 years, including my leadership and management skills, serve me very well working with the Tamil people at the Tea Leaf Centres in the Hill Country, whereas that skill set is even more ideally suited to supporting the majority Sinhalese people at the Royal International School in Kurunegala, and both settings are very important to me. As Yohan drove me to Colombo, ar...

I have arrived at the final day at the Royal International School, and it was basically one long wrap-up session, firstly with Lalanga, who brought Priyani to my office, as they wanted to present me a gift of two books and a thank you card, which was extremely kind of them. I then had my final session with Lalanga, where I went through the Eisenhower Grid with him in order to give him a very clear strategy for time management, as it was a tool that I found helpful as a Headteacher. I then had a long debriefing session with Ravi, Buddhika, and three older guys who act like consultants for the school, with two of them taking over the mentoring roles for Priyani and Lalanga from next week. Having to review all that I had done with them was very self-affirming for me, as I was astonished how much ground I had covered with them over the past four weeks. I know that I have had a positive impact at the Royal International School, which is most reassuring. It was back to the apartment then for...

It all gets a bit manic at the end here, as I am trying to tie up lots of loose ends, whilst also sorting out very practical stuff. For example, I had to fit in a final clothes wash yesterday, and I also spent time writing thank you cards to various people who have helped me. I completed the ironing of those clothes today, and I also delivered the thank you cards in person, including, of course to Razeena next door who has provided me with breakfast and an evening meal on weekdays. I had three meeting today - two final discussions with Lalanga and Priyani, the Sectional Heads I have been working closely with. This was followed by another meeting with the Managing Director that again turned into a further scrutiny of students' books to address concerns about them. I will get the opportunity to have a proper meeting with him tomorrow where we can discuss the outcomes of the work that I have done this time and whether I will return in 2027. I have particularly enjoyed working closely ...

I continued with my 1.5-hour training sessions with a new senior member of staff at the school, with my first one covering 'Embracing accountability as a class teacher - how to train your teachers', which was another wonderful opportunity to share the knowledge and skills that I developed over the past 45 years as an educator. It was one of the tasks that I have most enjoyed out of everything that I have been asked to do during this period of time at the Royal International School. Sandwiched in between my two training sessions today was a scheduled meeting with the Managing Director, which became a task-orientated one where I supported the scrutiny of the marking of books in one of the sections of the school. It turned out to be a crucial task, so I was very happy that I was deployed in that way, although the outcome of the work scrutiny has repercussions that will ripple through long after I have left the school. My second 1.5-hour training session today covered 'Differen...

I had a rather late start this morning, which was lovely, as I got a few things done in the apartment. My first appointment today was a meeting in my 'cabin' (they call offices 'cabins' here) with Lalanga, where we particularly looked at the use of behaviour charts (similar to a 'report card') for students whose behaviour was becoming increasingly unmanageable. I believe what I shared with Lalanga could have a big impact at the school. My next appointment was with a new senior member of staff at the school, where I had a 1.5-hour training session with him on 'Effective classroom control and mastering effective classroom management', which was a wonderful use of my leadership and management skills, which have developed over the past 45 years, since I first completed my Postgraduate Certificate in Education in July 1981 at The College of Ripon and York St. John. I absolutely loved the 1.5-hour training session, and I have two more lined up with the same ne...

It was a sweltering hot day today, as I began my final working week at the Royal International School in Kurunegala. I started with a session on behaviour management with Lalanga, the Section Head for Grades 7 and 8, and it was a very practical session as we dealt with an incident involving a group of students (inevitably boys) in Grade 7 - the mystery of the chewing gum on the teacher's chair that we didn't quite manage to get to the bottom of! I was frustrated last week at being unable to meet with the Managing Director to provide him with feedback about my work, so he kindly scheduled regular slots for me to chat with him this week. The first one of these was due to take place from 11:00 - 12:00 this morning in his office, but it was cancelled due to him having another meeting, the irony of which was probably not lost on him, and certainly wasn't lost on me, as I have such little time left here now. I had a good discussion with Priyani today about the key issues that she...