Fun Friday...

So it's holiday time here in India; Dusshera has finally arrived. A 10-day break from the norm filled with celebrations, entertainment and the enjoyment of family life. The atmosphere is not unlike Christmas back home, and of course the other unmissable similarity is that of excitable children.

Dusshera marks the end of 5 weeks' intense teaching for Giles and I, and the ratio of frustrations to wins has been pretty even to date. However, by Friday the balance might just have tipped in favour of the good bits...

Firstly there was the successful teacher training session. The concepts behind how children actually learn were taken on by many, fuelling questions and better still an understanding of why we are so passionate about modern teaching techniques. Significantly the nursery is almost unrecognisable; gone are the days of 'write a, a, a, a,' and instead we are seeing genuine smiles from both children and teachers alike.

Then there's class 3. 5 weeks ago Giles' exit from the little hut that houses the 19 rowdy 8-year olds was accompanied by a chalk hand print on his bottom, sweat dripping off his nose and a pledge to never teach the little monkeys again! Well here's another success story which proves the value of rapport and the importance challenging lessons... Class 3 love us! Giles' only regret is that he teaches them in the slot just before my lesson, and gets ever so slightly ruffled by the shrieks of 'yesssssss, it's Miss Sarah' as I near their hut.

But their love for us both was embarrassingly evident when we left the school on Friday; they literally wouldn't let us go! Srijana and Neha's cries of 'you're soooooooooo nice' were rivalled by Puja and Rahul's determination to keep hold of our hands. Determined little Pritty made sure she got to try on Giles's 70 litre rucksack whilst Ashit and Danish fought for poll position in the photos. We're not sure who wrote Happy Dusherra on the board but it made for the perfect send-off as we headed for the jeep stand with about 15 kiddies in tow.

Finally my last Friday dit comes from our newly inspired nursery. It's not unusual to see urination and even defaecation on the streets of India, but I couldn't help but double-take upon seeing an entire class of 8 tots partaking in what can only be described as formation peeing. Where? The school's very own playground AND under the watchful eye of their teacher. I'm pretty sure this kind of teamwork was not encouraged in the training, but at least they all had a smile on their face. This is more than can be said for mine just moments later when class 2's ball rolled into the resultant wet patch and was then hurled in my direction accompanied by the order, 'catch'! Fortunately my ball handling 'skills' in this instance didn't let me down!

Pics:

Teachers prioritising sort cards on a mission to discover the secrets behind learning environments.

Danish and Ashit fight for poll position.

Pritty finds a bag big enough to house her.

Class 3 and their Dusshera blackboard message.

Dripping with just 4 kiddies, I make my way to the jeep stand. Darjeeling here we come!