Thursday 6th February 2025

It was another amazing day at the Royal International School in Kurunegala, and I was surprised how easy it was to get in for 07:30. I had two Maths lessons to co-teach and three 'English' observations, plus the feedback sessions for those. The second Maths lesson was on the top floor, and the heat was so intense that they brought me some cold water in the middle of the double lesson, and I was just about reduced to a puddle on the floor by then, I was sweating so much.

I had completed 4 hours of work by 11:30, which seemed kind of weird, but it does mean that you usually get to finish by 14:30 in the afternoon. I went back to the apartment to get changed, and I returned to have a look round the sports field to see all the preparations for tomorrow's Sports Meet. There were all kinds of constructions going on, including a group of students who were in the process of building quite a large model helicopter, which they believe will be flying tomorrow!

I met up with the team of commentators, who are going to take us through proceedings tomorrow afternoon, and I also encountered the school's brass band who will be playing as we process in. I have heard them practising virtually non-stop from when I get in around 07:30 or 08:00 until I leave in the afternoon, and I can still hear them then from the apartment! The poor guys must be absolutely exhausted, having practised incredibly hard in the sweltering heat.

I was too tired to swim this evening, so I took a day off, and will hopefully swim again tomorrow, once the Sports Meet is over. I feel a bit nervous being the 'Guest of Honour', but I think I'll just pretend that I'm playing a part in some huge movie production, and just find lots of lovely things to say about the school in my 5-minute speech, which shouldn't be that difficult, because this place really is quite amazing, as you will see from today's photographs from the school field.

The first three photographs show you the sheer scale of the buildings here, and you get a pretty good view of them from the school field. The rest of the photographs show the various structures that have been built and one of me with the commentators tomorrow. I have even included a little video clip below of the school's brass band in action!















Comments

  1. CharlesFebruary 9, 2025 at 12:41 AM

    Wow, Keith, you seem to be making a difference in a school that is quite different from anything you have previously experienced! They must love having you amongst them. Do share some of your guest of honour speech in the next edition of the blog...

    ReplyDelete

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