Bhalebas

Hi all, 

After a freezing cold day at Saran’s house I was back in school again – this time at our latest twinned school, Shree Bhagawati, Bhalebas (twinned with St. Pauls school). It was good to be back here and having already done all of the welcomes and formalities last time we visited, I was able to get straight into teaching some lessons.

Gifts of books and teaching resources given to Bhalebas. We give each of our twinned schools similar things and there is more to come.

In the morning I took Year 3 for odd and even number work, Year 2 for body parts using the ‘draw around the child method’ and finally I did some work with Year 4 on measurement where I took some of them out onto the playground with a large measuring tape and got them to estimate and measure the length of the playground. 

More labelling body parts - this time Dillip from class 2.

Teamwork: Measuring the playground.

In the afternoon I took Year 8 for a science lesson focussed on friction. I first demonstrated to them the concept of friction by flicking the pages of 2 books together and then showing them that it is impossible to pull apart without opening the pages up. I asked them how this works but couldn’t get an answer so explained to them about friction. I then asked them to talk to the people around them and to come up with occasions when friction is useful and when it is a hindrance. After some time they did come up with some good ideas which I was pleased with. Normally they would just be given some examples and told to remember it so it was good to get them thinking for themselves. Afterwards we conducted an investigation into which items had the most friction by taping an elastic band to an object and pulling it. At the point it moved the children had to measure how far the elastic band had stretched before it started to move the object. Mostly the experiment worked really well though the elastic bands I was able to get out here aren’t up to much so there were a few breakages and we had to try and stick to lighter objects! I got the children to write up the experiment with a title, methodology, prediction, results and a conclusion. It was really pleasing how it worked and they were mostly fairly enthusiastic about it. 

Friction experiment.

I even gave up my shoe for the cause!

As far as I’m aware there is very little practical science done so hopefully this should change after the next teacher training session! The science teacher did come in for the lesson which I was glad of as it is good for them to see how simple investigations can be carried out without any sophisticated or expensive equipment. 

Before I left for the day I also made sure that the poster which I did with Year 2 on body parts also went up on the wall!

Whilst at Bhalebas I stay at Sarans house which is not far from the school, only a ten minute walk though we usually go on his friends motorbike. I really enjoy staying at Saran's house and him and his wife make me feel very much at home. It is also nice to see his son, Sohan, growing up a bit more every time I visit. When we first arrived he could not stand himself up without support, yet now he is tottering around everywhere. It is difficult but important to keep tracks of him as there is no safety barrier on the stairs and countless hazards in and out of the house which he almost seems to look for!

Saran's home in Bhalebas.

My bedroom window view.

Saran's son, Sohan, aged 1 1/2 (roughly)

The following morning I did some twinning letters with Year 5. It was good to see in this classroom a different seating layout – more of a horseshoe shape. This might seem irrellevent but actually it is really important. The classroom benches are normally set up in rows like you would see on a bus. This means that the children can only really talk to the person next to them and cannot see or speak to anyone else without turning around. I made a big point of saying how much I liked this and asked if they could do it in other classrooms which they have said they will look to do. 

The children worked really hard on the twinning dictionaries and probably produced the best ones I have seen. There is still a tendency to copy from things and despite asking them to draw typical Nepali things I got several ‘Donald Duck’s’ amongst others!! However there were also some really good original drawings and although they took a lot of time on it (we extended the lesson which didn’t seem to be a problem), they looked really great.

A much better seating arrangement where the children can see and talk to each other.

Year 5 twinning dictionaries.

Once the twinning letters were completed I went to the nursery and gave them the building blocks and number mats we had brought along. I tried to emphasis that these should be made available to the children and not locked away and that the building blocks could be used in a number of ways for teaching number and colour, as well as for playing!

The children loved the bright and colourful number mats.

Using building blocks to teach number.

But blocks are for playing too!!!

In the afternoon I worked with Year 7 and I gave them fact sheets of various areas of the world along with copies of pages from  a picture atlas. I wanted the children to design a tourist brochure for their particular area and include some pictures and facts of what the place was like. I was a bit dissapointed to be honest in the complete lack of originality. There was so much that was copied directly word for word and one boy had even copied out instructions for making a model (he had clearly had no idea of what he was writing). Possibly it was a bit too challenging for them but I think it also has a lot to do with how they are taught. In exams they pretty much write word for word the answer they have been taught in the class. In the future I will need to think of a way of getting a bit more originality out of them! The work they produced did look good though and I stuck it on backing paper and it has made a good display.

Making tourist brochures - not as good an activity as I had hoped.

Morning exercises are part of the routine in assembly. Below: The little ones try to keep up with the routine.

 

In the evening I visited Mr Singh, the headmaster’s house for some snacks and coffee ( I had always though I hated coffee but out of politeness drank the one I was given and found it fairly tasty!). After dinner back at Saran’s I once again had an early night, partly as I was shattered but also there isn’t a great deal  to do in the evenings in the villages after it gets dark, and I tend to do my preparations in the morning as school doesn’t start till 10am. 

On Friday morning, after watching their morning assembly and all of the exercises they do. I did some work with Year 1 on phonics. When I walked in the room there was the word mango plastered all over the blackboard in different fonts. I asked them what they had learning about and couldn’t help but laugh when one little boy replied ‘oranges’!!!

'What have you been learning about then?' - 'Oranges!' - I had to smile at that one!!!

This lesson was largely for the benefit of the watching teacher as in reality a one off phonics session will not do much good. I did lots of practical phonics activities including playing ‘cross the river’ which they seemed to enjoy once they got used to it.

Spot the mistake?!! Yes I put the 'a' upside down!!!

My final work at Bhalebas was some more twinning letters, this time with Year 8 and, like the twinning dictionaries I did with class 5, I was really pleased with these. During this lesson and once they were underway I noticed a big hubub of activity outside and found that the school were having a big tidy up, picking up rubbish and burning it. It was good to see them tidying up, though of course it would be preferable if the litter wasn’t thrown in the first place and also if the clean up wasn’t done in lesson time…you can’t have everything though!

The big tidy up!!!

Watering the plants - good to see them taking care of their school...even if it was in lesson time!

I often seem to have spectators in my lessons!

The standard of these twinning letters was really high, especially this boy's.

Class 8 with their twinning letters, destined for St. Pauls school in UK.

The teachers seemed really pleased with the visit and I was too. The teachers all showed a good interest in what I was doing and hopefully will take on some of the practical activiites and also start to do a bit of display work themselves. I was presented with a huge flower garland and lots of tikka and then I was invited with all the teachers for a celebratory lunch (school finishes at lunchtime on Friday), which felt a bit like a christmas party at the end of term!

A sort of end of term Christmas party!

Some of the staff and a couple of the children from Bhalebas school.

I really felt quite sad to leave Bhalebas but I’m sure I will be along there again soon.

I’m looking forward to a good Christmas now back in Tansen, though I will try to get one more day in at Bagnas and of course I have lot’s of preparation to do for teacher training on 27^th December!!

Hope you are all enjoying the festivities at home!

Andy. xx

Carrom board - a popular game in Nepal.