Wednesday 4th May 2022

It felt good to get back in school today, as it felt like I had enjoyed a good break with the long holiday weekend. I attended the early morning meeting, then did a bit of paperwork, before doing a couple more lesson observations of Volunteer Teachers, who work very hard, but are very inexperienced, so they inevitably have a steep learning curve to climb to become effective teachers within the school.

In the afternoon, I ended up sitting in on a Management Meeting, which I found very interesting, as they are a team of 4, much as I led a team of 4 in my Senior Management Team Meetings when I was a Headteacher (all those years ago now!). I was asked to simply observe and then share my comments at the end, which I hope they found useful. I felt I learned a lot from that experience today.

After school, Ananda told me he wanted to take me somewhere beautiful, but he was not very specific about it! I got into his classic 40-year-old van, and we had the most beautiful drive through some stunning scenery, and I finally discovered what my mystery destination was - Canyon Hydroelectric Power Station, where Ananda was needed to fit some brake pads on one of the company vehicles.

I was only allowed to stay within certain boundaries on the site, and unfortunately, photos were strictly forbidden, so there is nothing for you to see! Sri Lanka is very reliant on hydroelectric power, but on top of everything else they are going through currently, this rainy season is not very rainy at all, which is limiting their ability to produce hydroelectric power at a time when they most desperately need it!