Keith in Sri Lanka

I have been seeking an opportunity to take Valerie to see the elephants at Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage the whole time that we have been here, and that moment finally arrived today, as our driver, Rohan, picked up at 09:00 to take us there. It is only an hours' drive out towards Colombo, and we went the country route, going quite close to where Rohan lives now, and not that far from Rambukkana where he grew up, so we found that he knew a lot of people when we got there! Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage is very much a tourist destination (and the price of a pot of tea alone tells you that!), but the opportunity to see a large number of Indian elephants so close at hand simply outweighs all that. After paying the entrance fee we went to see the elephants being gathered to take them down to their bathing place on the other side of the main road through Pinnawala, where we also got the opportunity to feed fruit to some of the elephants. As with last time when I was here, my favourite part ...

It was the final day back in school this week, and I thought it would be more of the same, but I was in for a pleasant surprise. Firstly, Sandra popped in to ask me to download a Forest School proposal and develop it for her. Then Lalanga, who has overall responsibility for the curriculum in the Junior School, asked me to go through some Maths test papers with him, so my day immediately got to be a lot more interesting, and I really enjoyed it so much more. Having gone through the Maths test papers with Lalanga, we had a brief meeting with two key people in Grades 5 and 6, then a further meeting with Dinushka, who has been our key link person in the Junior School, and has been a delight to work with. We completed all our work by just after lunchtime, and made a quick getaway back to our apartment, as there was heavy rainfall brewing, and we wanted to avoid getting soaked on the way back home. We also wanted to do a bit of shopping in Kurunegala this afternoon, so we ended up having to ...

It was more of the same back in school today, where end of term exams have meant that we can no longer work with staff or students directly, and we have been set tasks such as checking lesson plans, which could easily be emailed to us when we are back in the UK and done remotely there. The great work that I started with Ravi on Tuesday has also been stalled, as he was in Colombo yesterday, and again today, so maybe we will get back to that in our final week next week. This week has been a reminder for me of what it was like when I was a Headteacher, where much of it was spent doing paperwork, and I longed for the 'fun' bits that involved being in the classroom with staff and students. I have no regrets though, as I very much enjoyed the impact that I was able to have as a Headteacher, and I have also enjoyed the impact that I have had with Tea Leaf, and here with the Royal International School - just not so much this particular week! It came as a relief when Sandra appeared and...

We were back in school today, as usual, with Valerie continuing to work on checking through lesson plans, and me tasked with producing a 'paper' on establishing a Student School Council at the Royal International School. Alongside this, I was finishing off a report on our recent visits to each one of the five Tea Leaf Centres, and thinking about interviewing Tharika Perera this evening, as a former member of Tea Leaf Trust's Central Management Team, who now works here. James Houston, a member of my teaching staff when I was a Headteacher, now working with Tea Leaf Trust, had asked me to record an interview with Tharika Perera during my time here. I came to know about Tea Leaf Trust through James, who had volunteered for them with his wife, Beth, and through that I met Tharika in 2019. We have been good friends ever since, with her inviting me to come to Kurunegala to see her and to see the Royal International School. Tharika came round to our apartment after school, and Val...

I woke up today acutely aware that we fly home 2 weeks today, and that I don't feel ready to go home just yet. We have had such a wonderful time out here, and this 2 months is simply flying by. Arriving just over 6 weeks ago seems like a lifetime ago, as we have done so much since then, but flying home so soon is a bit of a shock to the system, although the comforting thought for me is that I will be back in Sri Lanka in January 2025 for another 2 months. It was back into school today, which was great in many ways. Valerie was tasked with checking lesson planning, an extremely useful thing to be asked to do, but pretty tedious after the first couple of hours of it. I was much luckier, as I had a 2-hour meeting with Ravi, the Managing Director, to support him with the strategic planning for the school. I must admit I was in my element there, and I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent with him on this task, with more sessions to follow. Agatha and Tharika appeared in our office in the...

We had a leisurely final breakfast at Erica's, and our driver, Rajitha, then arrived to take us back to Kurunegala, but not before a beautiful stop at Galle Fort on the way. We left Erica's shortly after 08:30 and arrived in Galle Fort just before 10:00. It was a particularly special thing to do, as it was a new experience for both of us, because in all my trips to Sri Lanka, I had always intended to go to, but never quite made it as far as, the wonderful historical place that is Galle Fort. We were quite enchanted by Galle Fort, as it was a fortified little enclave, much of which has survived - to the extent that you can walk right around the walls, which we did, and then through the lovely little streets, which we also did. Unfortunately, the little streets, gorgeous as they are, are now almost exclusively a tourist shopping area, but they are charming nevertheless, and we enjoyed having a little browse around the various shops. I was also struck by the wildlife we encountere...