Tuesday, 25 March 2014

Our St Davids day celebration! Some of the 2000 children which turned up!

Sunday, 23 March 2014

My body, using our environment

Using phonics

Moshoeshoe day

Reading partnership with Mopholusi high and Holy infant

Athletics day


Kathryn Morgan

We planned for St. David’s Day together in one of our workshop sessions. We thought of a parade followed by a small Eisteddfod. But you know how these things tend to grow! We ended up with 9schools participating and approximately two thousand children!!! All seven schools that we work with took part plus two other high schools turned up and contributed too.
We hoped the weather would be kind to us as there had been rain earlier in the week – and the rain here is something else!! The sun was shining, not a cloud in the sky and it promised to be a beautiful day. The event started at 8.30am meeting at Moyeni Primary school. We eventually got the parade underway at about 9.20am. A surge of children waving Welsh and Lesotho flags they had made followed the large Welsh flags at the front. The children sang and danced as we went around Upper Moyeni. It was an amazing sight!
I had organised for the police to help with the parade and they arrived promptly – unusual for Basotho! They walked with us and dealt with traffic issues as well as helping to keep the children safe on the road.
This was followed by a Basotho style Eisteddfod in the grounds of Moyeni Primary School. I had organised a loud speaker system so we were able to introduce the items. We had poetry and a short story written by the high school students taught by Will; songs in Welsh and English from all the primary schools taught by Scott, Kim, Ellie, Ffion and myself; songs in Sesotho and some traditional dancing. The other two high schools sang a Welsh and Sesotho songs and danced traditional dances – even though they were not on the programme!
The whole day was absolutely amazing!
It will be a part of us all forever.
The Programme.

1.     Poem; Cultural Rainbow
2.    Villa Maria: Mamelang mohoo oa rona ; Bheso mamelang ; Din da oedd Dewi ; Marching to Heaven One Day.
3.    Short story; My Friends Story
4.    Poem: Good Nation
5.    Holy Trinity: I Like the Flowers; 2 Sesotho songs; Un bys, dau fys
6.    Poem; The Kingdom in the Sky
7.    Holy Infant; Sechaba Tholang le mamele; Ay lan y mor; Sehlabelo Saka Ke’na ka sebele
8.    Poem; Lesotho
9.    Poem; Kohle lo phela ke
10. Katleho; Clap clap un, dau, tri; Head Shoulders Knees and Toes sung in English, Sesotho and Welsh.   Drama linking St. David preaching the word of God to the people of Wales to the arrival of the missionaries in Lesotho; Song; Step by Step We Will Follow Jesus Christ.
11.  Poem; Ubuhle dhe nq ndawo
12. Poem; Lesotho
13. Phahameng: This Little Light of Mine English and Welsh; Diphotha – traditional dance; A Basotho dance
14. Moyeni; Sesotho dance; Welsh song; Sesotho song
15. National Anthems.

A full programme!!


Ellie Masters

Again I’ll start with.. What a couple of weeks we’ve had!!
So was very proud of all the schools I’d worked with after St Davids day, they all worked so hard and sang amazingly (As they always do, they really do just have natural talent).
Straight after our long St Davids day celebrations we had to go and sort out all of the school aid books which had been delivered. Was amazing to have so many books to give to the schools, but was a killer sorting well over three thousand books, especially after a really long day! Did treat ourselves in the evening though to some seriously good pizza, yes we’ve found a place that sells pizza, we never know what’s on it, but it tastes good!

Back to the hard graft of day to day work, and some grim weather, you’ll all be glad to hear!
We’ve actually had to wear trousers to school on a couple of days too!!
We’ve all been visiting other schools past few weeks, so I made the most of having Kim come to Holy Trinity. She helped teach a Pie Corbett lesson which the children absolutely loved, I don’t think they’ve ever seen anyone bounce around the classroom in that way! Also helped me to teach a really fun P.E lesson, again the children were just loving having balls which weren’t semi inflated or falling apart!
Holy Trinity are really lucky that they have a great space for the children to come and read, a lot especially the grade sevens still queue up at lunch times so that I can listen to them read. Hearing the children using what they have learnt in their phonics lessons is making things worthwhile!
Going to be doing some lesson with grade sevens on the computers in the next couple of weeks, as they don’t know how to turn one on or off, then hopefully they can be the ones to teach the younger years.
Kath came out to visit to see how much the teachers have been taking things on board, and to watch some team teaching, see if they have learnt any of the techniques which we have been doing with them. She came and watched grade threes teacher doing a phonics lesson, well I was like a proud mother watching her kid take their first steps, I couldn’t believe my eyes, she did everything so well, and the children really enjoyed the lesson. She was animated, walking around the room, praising, recapping work, the works. It was amazing!

So Villa Maria, what a school, as I’ve said I have to split my time between the two schools, so I spend three days a week in this school.
It’s such a huge school, and all the teachers are all wanting a piece of me (I can’t believe I’m this wanted!!) each year has two or three streams, so getting round everyone is tricky. I’m trying to get all the teachers to communicate effectively, so I’m not repeating lesson and we can make better progress as a school.
The teachers have been absolutely brilliant, and are taking on so much of what I’m asking them to do. I went into a class the other day just to pop in and ask her something and she was doing a brilliant phonics lesson on her own, doing everything that we do! Getting children up to create words using their phonics to help them spell.
Kath also came into watch some teaching in this school to. I’m so lucky that there is a teacher that will take on any challenge I set, so she taught a Pie Corbett lesson, which again, was brilliant, really taking everything on board!
Some of the spaces in this school make teaching a challenge, because the school is an old convent and they have to make use of every room. Grade three classes are in the old cold stores so try to imagine how dark and cramped it is. About half of the children have to do their work on their laps because there aren’t enough tables, and they keep their bags on their backs, because there isn’t any space for them to put them anywhere else.

The schools all got together (well 5 of them) and had athletics day, cannot believe the children, they’re so hard core, they all run bare foot, could you imagine in the UK running 1500m in bare foot, again crazy stuff!
The school had been practising so much during the week and I had been talking to the teacher in charge of athletics about warming up, and stretching (knew A-level P.E would come in useful one day, thanks Rachel Dathen) they have very little understanding about how the body and the muscles work. They asked me to go and do the warm up with the kids at the competition, was hilarious, standing in the middle of this field with so many children following me, other schools joined in too!! Kath and I watched with Villa Maria school. So many students had turned up to support, and were singing and dancing and cheering so loudly, there were trumpets and whistles, and they do this call which is very high pitched and is almost like them ‘LAing’ very quickly, we tried it and just sounded like strangled cats!
The children did so well, got some really talented runners in that school!

The social life is still pretty packed and exciting, thanks to our friends the Mitchells. Had and amazing walk up Mount Moorosi. Was really interesting to visit as it was where the British had battled with King Moorosi’s son in the 1800s, over hut tax (standard British and their taxes!) We found old shrapnel and bullet holes.
Had a lovely weekend away with the Mitchells on their farm in South Africa, beautiful place, and I went for an incredible ride with Kath and Scott up in the mountains, perfect way to take in the scenery for 3 hours on a crazy little pony that was so fast.
Went and saw some beautiful cave paintings, and swimming in a freezing waterfall!
We even managed to watch Wales play England (so annoying they lost!)

Got a packed few weeks ahead of us up till Easter, can’t believe we’re over half way through already, still so much to fit in!


Kim Tattum

So it’s been a little while since I last wrote a blog piece and a lot has happened since. I am truly settled in my working and living environment, I am almost fully Basotho! Working with the teachers at Phahameng Primary is a joy and the children are always so excited to have me teach!
Teaching at Phahameng
Since last time I have been officially observed by my Welsh mentor and everything went smoothly, I couldn’t have been happier. I have been showing the Basotho teachers the art of storytelling.  I recently introduced Pie Corbett style for the ‘Three Billy Goats Gruff’ and using cardboard puppets on sticks for ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’. The teachers who observe me think I’m barking mad, because they don’t see teaching with that much enthusiasm and life normally. I just love to be silly and get into character! Needless to say they all find it very gripping and funny. 
The children enjoyed learning new vocabulary about their body in Grade 1, singing head, shoulders, knees and toes; Simon says,  and chalking a large body on the wall with labels. They were so keen to do their own; some used chalk to trace their friend’s body, others used items from the environment like sticks, stones and grass, to create a body. The children were so happy to be active.
I have been continuing my phonic sessions in the lower classes and have recently introduced it to the teenagers in my school; they are all grasping it very quickly. The teachers are amazed to have the tool of using phonics. Some of these teachers have struggled with English for many years, but now it’s beginning to make sense for the learners and teachers.
Visiting Ellie at Holy Trinity
I had the opportunity to visit Ellie in her school Holy Trinity last week. We were team teaching to show the Basotho teachers how it can be done. I also had the opportunity to help Ellie with her Physical Education lessons of throwing and catching skills, needless to say an extra pair of hands with so many children helped a great deal. I had a great day meeting staff and children in Holy Trinity but my heart is still in Phahameng Primary.
St David’s Day Celebration
St David’s Day celebration was amazing! In total 9 schools, approximately 2000 children parading with Wales and Lesotho flags, and performing in a Lesotho style Eisteddfod. A superb show! Of course Phahameng were the best in my eyes, they performed: ‘This little light of mine’ in English and Welsh, diphotha (boys dance) and traditional dance for the girls ‘mohiba’. I was very proud of all the children. Their behaviour and concentration levels were outstanding, 7 hours in the heat of the day, was very impressive.
Moyeni Primary Celebrate Moshoeshoe Day
Moyeni Primary celebrated the founder of their country King Moshoeshoe, by wearing traditional costume, eating traditional food, dancing, singing, races. Everyone was so happy. A wonderful day to mark a special occasion! Words cannot do the event justice!
Reading partnership
I have been assisting my Welsh colleague at a different primary with reading scheme involving high school students. We have held a few workshops and now the students are implementing what they have learnt with the children from the partnering primary. A few times I have shed a tear; it’s very overwhelming to see the students do such a great job with the little children. They have so much enthusiasm for storytelling and encouraging them to read with plenty of affection. A very fond memory that I shall keep forever!
 As a result of this success and the help of school aid books, Scott and I will be working together to transform their dull, uninviting library into a welcoming space. Watch this space!!

Athletics day
The Basotho people take their athletics very seriously; the whole school has been attending after school athletics 4 nights a week since February and this will continue. Some were competing whilst others were cheering with songs.
Athletics day was held at a school called Pokane, it was a whole day event where schools from the district competed. Phahameng had amazing results. The children were fed bread and milk at the event, and the athletes had an extra apple as a big well done! The staff were catered for with rice, chicken and coleslaw, a very delightful meal. Phahameng’s spirit and dedication for each other is amazing!
Cultural Experiences
Church
I have attended church, the Basotho people are very religious and love to sing and dance in worship. The Basotho have great rhythm and in their ceremonies often have the beat of a steel drum, it automatically puts a smile on your face even if you can’t contribute to the Sesotho songs.  A 2 hour ceremony: singing, dancing and preaching, a very joyous occasion.
Funeral
Unfortunately Lesotho is known as ‘Kingdom in the Sky’ and therefore is very vulnerable to thunder and lightning. This one particular storm saw a young girl from one of our schools loose her life. We all attended her funeral. Very different ceremony to what you might expect. The ceremony was held at her father’s home under a marquee, lots of singing and speeches all in their mother tongue Sesotho, followed by a burial and a feast to remark respect of her life. The ceremony was beyond 4 hours. Crowds of people attended, including her school choir who sang beautifully from the heart.
Basotho dinner with my colleague and his family
I was invited for dinner one evening by my colleague and jumped to the opportunity. I was very intrigued to see how Basotho live. My colleague lives in a very modern house with land. There are two bedrooms in separate buildings, a living space, modern kitchen with microwave, two ovens, gas and electric (they often experience power cuts, but gas is expensive), fridge freezer, and outdoor toilet. They would bathe in a steel tub in their bedroom. Most Basotho keep animals and land for vegetables. They are very self-sufficient and very much live in a community and share their crops with their neighbours.
Pork and Soda bread was on the menu. They keep pigs; luckily the meat was already prepared and ready for defrosting!! My colleague fetched the wood to prepare a fire outdoors, I seasoned the meat, and after the flames had settled the meat was ready to be cooked. The most delicious pork I have tasted in a very long time! Basotho love to share their food. We had a dish in the middle with pork and bread, and it was a help yourself set up.
Other Personal Experiences
I have had lots of fun in my personal time at weekends. We have met a very kind South African family who are very active and love adventure. So far I have been to a dam near Zastron and tried rowing, boating, swimming and waterskiing.
We visited Mount Moorosi and climbed or scrambled (depending how long your legs are) to the top where the views were spectacular. Sitting on the edge of the cliff was such a breathtaking moment. Mount Moorosi is historically rich and our guide Scott was very informative. There were remnants of the war on the mountain, rifle cartridges, from the 1800’s when there was a six month skirmish between the king’s son and the British. At the top of the mountain we had a delightful picnic.
We visited a farm in South Africa for a bit of relaxation. Met the local tennis club at Wartrail and tried to play a few games. Unfortunately the four Welshies seemed to be practicing picking the ball up from the floor rather than hitting it correctly. I also had the opportunity to go on nice walks, visit cave paintings and try horse riding, something I was not overly confident with, but have now discovered a new joy in life.


Ffion Mullane
So time is still flying! Cannot believe we are more than halfway through!

School is still going well and the children are still enjoying and engaging really well and the teachers seem to be taking ideas on board which is lovely to see. I did a letter writing lesson, where the children wrote letters to students in Wales. They were so excited and amazed when I told them these letters would be sent to Wales (which I have since sent). The library is all set up in the back of Grade 1A (a mixture of school aid books, and books already in the school), and the teachers and principal seem impressed with what I’ve done, so fingers crossed, it will still be respected and used when I‘ve left. I’ve had the chance to celebrate both St David’s Day and Moshoeshoe Day with the school – both experiences I will never forget. St David’s Day was just the most amazing day, and was great to share it with all the other schools and teachers. I was fortunate enough to experience their national day with them this week. I was able to help prepare and make their national bread in the lead up to the day, and was given a Seshoeshoe to wear. Turning up to the school and seeing all the children and teachers in so many different, colourful outfits was amazing. It took a while for it to get started, and the children got to see some of the national dishes which had been prepared by the staff, before beginning the celebrations. It was quite similar to our eisteddfod, in the sense that there was a lot of singing and dancing, but this was started with a bottle race, needle race, apple race and a sack race – health and safety not such a worry over here!! Once we had finished by singing the national anthem, it was time for  teachers and parents to have some of the foods, which were different but not too bad. Our school took part in athletics this week along with several other schools, in the zonal rounds, which again was nice to experience. Again, took a while to get started but when it did, the races were pretty smooth running. Their athletics is mainly running, and they were so fast! Running barefoot is not something I could do on ground like this. The children were supporting and singing – it was lovely.

Our social life is still pretty good! We’ve climbed Mount Moorosi where we enjoyed a lovely picnic at the top. We also enjoyed a weekend at the Mitchells farm where we played tennis, horse riding, walks to see the cave paintings and waterfall, a picnic by the waterfall and a braai.


Monday, 24 February 2014








Time is flying!!

A viewpoint from the mentor!

You have read all about our experiences in the first couple of weeks which have been varied. Then it was down to the teaching and learning.  It is also my job to make sure things are going well. I teach for 3 days, 2 in Katleho and 1 in Villa Maria and then I have time to fulfil my mentor role. During the first week in February I visited all the schools to meet with the Principals, the in-school mentor and the Welsh teacher. On the whole these went very well with a few issues here and there that I am working on. The schools are so welcoming it is a real pleasure to visit them.
We decided to change the date of our workshop for planning St. David’s Day from the Monday to the previous Friday in order to give ourselves more time and to prepare for the party we had planned for all the principals and in-school mentors on the Saturday afternoon. We went big in our ideas for St. David’s Day with a parade and a kind of Eisteddfod. All the schools are going to parade around Upper Moyeni waving Welsh and Lesotho flags. We are then going to perform some items that we will prepare in school for each other. It has been my role to seek permission from the police, speak to the senior education officer, to organise a loud speaker system, create a running order and make sure the schools bring lunch! I will let you know if we pull it off!
We had invited the friends we have made out for a meal but when the boys tried to book it, they weren’t doing food that evening, so we quickly decided to make our own pizzas! With some improvisation we made them and they were pretty good! Somehow this became a later night than planned but luckily we had made the cawl and Welsh cakes ready for the party on Saturday. So a leisurely morning followed by tidying and cleaning etc. This was when we realised the cawl we had made had gone off!! All this whilst making more Welsh cakes. So it was all hands on deck, sending people out to the shops, people chopping and me cooking. It all got done with 20 mins to spare – what a team!!!
The party was superb! And that was not down to our cooking but to the guests themselves. It was quite formal at first with slow conversations as all parties are. I made a welcome speech and thanked them for taking us into their schools and into their hearts. We gave them their cawl and Welsh cakes and then the party really started. They began singing and dancing and it was amazing! I can’t quite imagine my local head teachers doing quite the same. What a wonderful time we had together. A few of the principals decided to give speeches themselves and one of my principals gave me another Basotho name. She called me Makopano which means ‘unity’. She said I am the ‘mother of unity’ because I have brought everyone together and united us forever. We will be forever joined and have become family. That was a beautiful experience for me.
The next week continued as normal until I had a phone call from a member of the LWL committee saying she was going to come and visit all the schools next week. I had already planned for this to be formal observation week. I also had a phonics workshop to present. A busy week again but it all got done because we had an invitation to spend the weekend at a house by the side of a dam in South Africa by our new found friends. We weren’t going to miss this! And a good job everyone had this to look forward to as they did all their planning and preparation in order to have a relaxing weekend. And what a weekend! I got to drive a speed boat, go paddle boarding, went flying off a banana boat numerous times, swim, sunbathe, read, eat, play games, dance and relax. A superb ending to another two weeks here in Lesotho.
Formal observation week this week so I’ll let the others share their experiences with you. I am currently writing reports, preparing more workshops, organising meetings and working towards St. David’s Day so I’d better get on with it!!

Kathryn


Ellie Masters

Another packed couple of weeks here in Lesotho!
Our social life is getting more and more full, and we’re definitely enjoying our weekends.
Had our first experience of Basotho Church, was very interesting, the singing was amazing, so much of it, and they had this cracking drum thing that was very impressive. We didn’t exactly understand a whole lot of the service as it was all in Sesotho, but the congregation appreciated us going, and a few of the teachers go there, so they really appreciated it.
Spent the afternoon at our new friends, the Mitchells place again they’d organised some local horses for us to go out on, was amazing went so high up into the mountains, the views were spectacular and no picture does it justice. These ponies were amazing too, they were just jumping down these boulders, I kept being told to stop riding mine and leave it sort itself out, pretty unnerving stuff!
Ended the day having a lovely Braai (BBQ) and a dip in the pool.

Another few weeks in school, and I can safely say I’m learning a lot. The class sizes I’m finally getting used to, and having to make a lot of use of the Basotho teachers, the children just don’t understand our accent, so even though the teachers say the same thing it makes a lot more sense coming from them! Been teaching a whole lot of phonics, and bringing in the reading scheme it’s nice to see the children actually using it in their reading. It’s so tough for them having their whole curriculum in English, but it’s their second language, so it’s great being able to give them something to use that makes sense and really does help.
Also taught a P.E lesson, it did seem pretty chaotic, but it was as if the children had never seen balls before, they were so excited it was unbelievable, and all they want to do is carry the stuff for you.
Having some new footballs in a lesson was actually like Christmas!
Been doing some craft things with the grade ones, using food colouring as paint, they absolutely love it, they’ve never had the opportunity to be kids and make a mess!
Still spending time with the boy who has Autism,

Had a pretty interesting weekend as Kath Mentioned, having most the head teachers and the mentors over to our house, who all sang and danced for us, was very surreal, and they absolutely loved the cawl we made, (even if it was minus the meat as we had to chuck the meat version) welsh cakes went down an absolute treat, who’d have thought the first time I made cawl and welsh cakes would have been in Africa!

Spent a few days in Katleho and Villa Maria, we’ve come up with such extravagant ideas for our St. Davids day celebrations Kath didn’t think she’d have time to teach the other schools the things ready for it, so I went in to do some things. Luckily she was there to help with the Villa Maria choir, as it was huge, and very daunting!
The teachers in these schools are so desperate to have a teacher more often so hopefully I’ll be able to do more with them, they’re so keen to learn, and take on anything you ask!

As Kath also mentioned we had observation week, I honestly felt like I was back doing PGCE, luckily it didn’t end up being that bad, and was all fine, the kids behaved really well, and lesson was pretty smooth.

Had great fun on our weekend away with the Mitchells at their house in Zastron, such a beautiful place, and its bonkers that the boarder is so close to us. Had so much fun playing on the dam, driving the boat, on the jet ski, injuring myself falling off the banana boat, eating and relaxing.

This weekend ended up going to a funeral for a young girl from Moyeni Primary school, she had been struck by lightening, apparently its quite common around here, was so sad, but definitely an experience. Many people stood up and talked over the duration of 4 hours (again we didn’t understand) and the schools choir sang.

Got a whole lot coming up in the next week with Sharon coming to visit, and carrying on with our Welsh work in preparation for our eisteddfod and parade for St. Davids day.

Still find myself having a wow moment at least once a day, be it good or bad, this places never ceases to amaze me. 


Ffion Mullane 

So what a couple of weeks! We’ve experienced a church service which was full of singing and dancing – very different to the services at home! We have also been to a braii at the mitchells house and had a swim in their pool , which was lovely – was like being on holiday!

Teaching still going well and the children and teachers are still engaging very well. I’m doing a lot of welsh activities this week in preparation for our St Davids day celebrations on Friday. Were doing a parade around upper Moyeni, then an eisteddfod, where each school will present a couple of items to everyone. If we pull it off it will be brilliant. Will be nice for them to experience a welsh celebration. I will be doing a mixture of art and crafts, welsh lessons, singing and dawnsio gwerin this week, aswell as meeting the choir and doing some dawnsio disgo with grade 4s – hopefully all will be ok on the day!

We have also been trying to make the most of our weekends. Last weekend, we all headed to the dam with the mitchells which was near Zastron. It was so peaceful there and the views were amazing. We had a weekend of eating, talking, sunbathing, swimming, water sports, speedboat and paddling – we were living the dream!

I was being observed on the Monday morning after our weekend and the dam – good motivation to get my work done before our weekend so that I could relax on the weekend. I was the first to be observed and I taught grade 3 phonics. The observation went well, with good and constructive feedback.

Our school had some sad news last week. One of the class 6 students was struck and killed by lightening on her way home from school. We have a few thunderstorms in the evening, even though it is still warm. It is not unusual for someone to be struck by lightening. That day was a very somber one for the school. We went to the funeral this weekend. It was an experience. None of us expected it to last 4 hours!! There were lots of singing and speeches, and the school choir sang a few items. By the end of the service we were all hot, thirsty and hungry.
Kaths late edition
       
Well – where do I start??
Observation week and week 1 of teaching were spent in two schools Katleho English medium school which is a privately run non-government funded school. It is basically held in an old church hall with a small stage at one end. In here are four classes; Grade 1, grades 2 and 3 are taught together, grade 4 and standard 5. In a small building next door are standards 6 and 7. As you can imagine, it is quite difficult to teach in these circumstances as you can hear the other teachers. The older children are beautifully behaved and sit quietly during lessons. However, this is an indicator of their lack of participation and they are on the whole passive learners who repeat sentences and copy from the board. This is so different from my school in Wales where there is always a happy buzz of children engaged and actively learning. I spent my time with grades 1,2 and 3 as this is where the principal would like the focus of my work and as these are children aged between 5 to 8 I am more than happy. The staff were a little suspicious of me at first and needed to be reassured I was not an inspector, I was not there to judge but to become a team member and that my intention is for us to work together. They have softened towards me now and love a chat in the mornings. We all arrive at school by 7.15 and the children play traditional games under teacher supervision. The older children play so well with the younger ones, its lovely to see. The backdrop is stunning with mountains around us. The children then stand in rows in their grades and recite some rhymes, sing songs, say the Lord’s prayer and sing the National Anthem. They then march into class and work begins at 8.00am. Usually either grade 1 or grades 2/3 go outside and sit under a tree for lessons. Using the outdoor environment for learning – I can hear your thoughts – but not in the way we use it. They take out the chalk board and the children sit and rest their books on their knees to copy from the board. They are used to this though as there are no tables for these grades to use. Some of them have brought their own plastic chairs, others the principal has brought. The Principal is a lovely, enthusiastic lady who is aiming high. She founded the school and is hoping to build a new school. She has found a location and has already met with the officials.

The other school called Villa Maria is a very large Catholic school. They now have almost 900 children on their register. It uses the buildings of an old convent. The classes I have been working in are held in what used to be the cold store rooms. They are very small rooms with about 35 – 40 children in each room. One teacher works there but doesn’t get paid! She has worked there as a volunteer since last July and hasn’t been paid – the paper work has not gone through. The rooms are quite dark and get very very cold in the winter. The earth outside is like sand and it is very dusty. The children have to sweep the classroom out at the end of every day using branches from a tree. Every morning in both schools all the children line up in their year groups outside with all the staff standing in front of them. They say prayers and sing songs and then march off to class singing the song until they get there. With 900 children this takes a while! The teachers here are keen to learn and they all want me to go into their classes but with 3 classes per year group that’s 21 classes so once again I am working with the grade 3’s. I am enjoying being with the older children even though some of the work is the work I do with Reception back home in Wales, the children are learning quickly and it is a joy to see their faces when they achieve and also when they listen to a story – it’s truly heart warming.
We have also spent some amazing time off with swims in a river, Chinese New Year, a Braai (a bar-b-que) with a fantastic family who have been kindness itself.


Saturday, 1 February 2014

When we first arrived (about 7 in the morning)
traditional games in Phahameng school

Some of the views





School visit day


Holy trinity 

Learning Phonics

In the back of the pick up

Add caption



Chinese New Year



On the road


Maseru

Moyeni Primary



More Phonics using Milk carton black boards