Friday 11th October 2024

We had breakfast a little later at 07:30 this morning, because we will be supporting the Junior Department as of today. As the Junior Department (and the Senior Department) are only 2 minutes' walk away from where we are staying, it gives us a little more time each morning. Unfortunately, it was tipping down with rain as we made our way to the Junior Department, where we were met by Chandika, who showed us where we would be based now.

I was supposed to buy a card yesterday for my good friend, Aruni, who worked with Tea Leaf Trust for many years, but now lives with her husband, Babu, in Colombo. She had a baby boy on Wednesday, but in the midst of all the shopping that we did I forgot, so I made her one instead myself last night. I added it to some gifts we had brought from the UK for the new baby, and with the school's very welcomed help, I was able to get these couriered over to her today.

A lovely lady called Dinushka showed us round the Grade 1 and 2 classes (8 classes in each Grade, so 16 in total). We decided that was enough for today, as there were still another 32 classes to go in Grades 3, 4, 5, and 6 (1,500 students in total)! The sheer size of this school is quite staggering, and yet the building that contains them all has a very pleasant design, and is very fit for purpose. It is certainly a pleasure to be doing what we can to support them all.

As a few key members of staff (and many students) were absent from school today, we were given an interesting task of assessing some mid-term Maths tests completed by Grade 3, 4, and 5 students (Years 4, 5, and 6 students in the UK). Having analysed them, we then spent a good while chatting with Danushka about our findings, as this proved to be a good starting point for directing the work that we might do here over the next 2 months.

Today's photographs are my best attempt to give you an impression of what the Junior Department looks like, with a few of the school pool too. Finally, I have popped in one of my attempt to produce a card for Aruni, Babu, and their new baby boy last night (you may think that they would have been better served with a bought one, but I think it's more special to receive something hand-made!).









Comments

  1. CharlesOctober 11, 2024 at 11:16 AM

    Glad to know you have arrived at your chosen school level. What a pool! (The card is funny and artistic!)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rebecca NowakOctober 13, 2024 at 9:32 AM

    Love the card

    ReplyDelete

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