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OUR TRIP TO KUDAWELLA SCHOOL, SRI LANKA
Will we get all this on the plane??
Yes we did - on route!
Saturday 18th
Visited Rock Temple... lots of steps but worth the view!
Sunday
Meet with Niroshini and Hemali and planned the week.
We were collected by Niroshini, her husband, daughter and Hemali at 5.30am and set off for a tour. First stop was the new man made harbour that began construction last year. This was heavily protected by armed guards. Second stop was to visit the salt factory. We saw the various stages of the salt being distilled in large lakes and then the process of the workers bagging and weighing for exportation.
From there we were welcomed into Hemali' cousins house for a wonderful lunch,it was very interesting to see their home and way of life. They then arranged for a safari jeep to take us around Yala park which was amazing. We were fortunate enough to see a leopard asleep in tree very close by. Mrs F was delighted to see a baby elephant and it's mother close to the water's edge! We also saw many buffalo, bison, peacocks, crocodiles, monkeys and lizards.
After stopping for a picnic breakfast of noodles and bananas we had a boat trip around a fresh water reservoir, Niroshini's daughter was very excited!
We then visited Kataragama Temple. This is one of the most venerated religious sites in Sri Lanka and was very busy. It was obvious how important their religion is to them. Hemali bought lotus flowers and oil as offerings to the Gods. We also bathed in the Menik Ganga river before entering the main temple.
We spent a lot of time experiencing the various elements of this temple.
What a wonderful experience!In the middle of the park we visited the beach area where the tsunami had destroyed part of the area and had come inland 2km. After having tea with Hemali's cousin we left for the guest house and arrived back suitably worn out at 9.30 pm ready for sleep!
Hope you all had a fun half term and enjoy Monday!
Monday
We then caught the bus and met up with Hemali at her stop and continued to Dondra.
After lunch we climbed the lighthouse and were amazed by the spectacular view from the top - well worth the climb!
Next stop was another temple in Dondra followed by another bus to Matara to visit the temple in the sea, which was very beautiful.
Today is a public holiday so we went snorkelling first thing and saw angel fish, star fish and clown fish.
Tuesday
Wednesday
....and were treated to traditional dance and singing performances by the children.
Today we received a very warm welcome from the Principal, teachers, parents and students at Kudawella school.
We raised the three flags....
Grade 3 children sang 'The Hokey Cokey'.
They soon joined in with the actions!
We visited each class and taught the children 'The Wheels on the bus'.
On the way to school this morning the 'Tut Tut' had to stop to allow a monitor lizard to cross the road. It must have been about 5ft long! On arrival we had some of the children help to unpack the sports equipment which was very exciting. The children had not heard of tennis and were extremely keen to learn the game.
Following the water project from last year, we were pleased to see the children and teachers using a tap in the staff room, an outside tap and that the toilet block now had running water.
Thursday
Friday
After a break we had 30 girls and taught them netball skills. They all enjoy playing netball and improved on their passing skills.
We were met at school by five monkeys on the fence!
For the following sessions we shared the alphabet collage with the younger children and they partcipated in a phonics lesson. We finshed off with acting and singing 'There was a Princess long ago' which was great fun and ended up with lots of laughs!
We web-cammed with Mrs Fitzgerald and Mr Guite We asked them lots of questions and we found out information about Sri Lanka and their trip.
After our morning chat with the principal it was the turn of the boys and we began the PE lesson with relay races. We then progressed onto cricket skills, followed by football. The boys displayed some impressive throwing and catching and Mr Guite demonstrated the correct bowling action! They were fascinated by the plastic wickets and continued playing throughout break.
In response to the Olympic sports books, some students made their own about their favourite sports. We learnt about the game of 'elle' which a very similar to rounders.After break we had the older children and we asked questions that Gorseland children had posed.
They enjoyed responding to some of the letters from Mrs Dyers class and asked many questions about the profiles from Mrs Harris' class. They mostly wanted to know how to say the names of the children correctly.
After school Mrs Hemali and Mrs Norishini came back to the guest house and were thrilled to be able to speak to Mrs Van Gool and answer some Gorseland children's questions during their assembly.
We then caught the bus into town and met with Jude at the Adopt Sri Lanka office. This was interesting and we were able to find out more about ongoing projects and current workshops that were taking place for teachers in Sri Lanka.
We found out that they have been eating lots of rice, curry, popadoms, fresh fruit and bananas and that Mr Guite has had lots of ice cream. We also found out that they need to drink lots as it is very, very hot.
Mrs Fitzgerald and Mr Guite have also been teaching the children at Kudawella to play tennis with the equipment we sent over. Today they were teaching phonics to the children.
After break we very much enjoyed sharing traditional stories with the
grade three children. The Ginger Bread Man and The Three Little Pigs were the favourites and both children and teachers alike loved the various textures on these feely books. Mrs Norishini did a great job of translating throughout!
With the end of our time drawing to a close we were feeling sad about how quickly the time had gone.
We spent a precious hour with a class in the library. Too quickly it was time for our farewell assembly. We both shared our highlights and photographs of the students engaging in various activities throughout the week. After exchanging gifts with each other we said our goodbyes. We both have fond memories of Kudawella school and thanked
Our nature treat on the journey to school today was to see a mongoose scurrying into the bushes!Our first treat of the day was to observe a cookery lesson in the Domestic Science room. Both boys and girls worked well together to produce some tasty and fragrant food.
Our final evening was spent with Jude and his family at his house, before a super traditional Sri Lankan feast at the guest house.them for their kind hospitality and warm welcome.
It was a pleasure to share Sri Lankan and English stories with the children and have conversations about their life. One child asked me if I had seen 'the beautiful sunset' the previous evening.
What a wonderful way to spend a week!
Making Preparations for the trip
This term YR and YR2 have be working together to learn about Kudawella.
Miss Stanley has been sharing her experiences from the 2011 visit with Mrs Rose and the children have been using resources from Sri Lanka in their learning.
The children have enjoyed working together to produce a beautiful alphabet collage to hang in Kudawella' english classroom.
Both classes have helped to pack Mrs Fitzgerald's suitcase, (we made a list of things to remember!)
Mr Guite and Mrs Fitzgerald displayed all the resources they need to pack, ready to present to the children when they arrive in Kudawella.
The tennis gear finally arrived!
As long as we can fit it all on board we should be ok!
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