Whitehouse Common Primary -

Day Three - Bawa Lalvani and out and about

Well, the plans changed slightly for today so I hope to be doing my story telling with the infants tomorrow now! Still, I have done lots again today and have been kept very busy dividing the day between school and some local visits.

When I arrived today, some children had arranged another special welcome. They performed two dances outside on the grass. One was a traditional dance performed by a group of girls in beautiful costumes and the second was a bhangra dance (accompanied by a student on the dohl drum which was fabulous!) which was great. I desperately wanted to get up and join in but I had to be satisfied with jigging around excitedly in my seat to the drum beat.

When they had finished performing, I had the chance to go and try a couple of moves with them while the drum was played. I absolutely LOVE bhangra music and the dance gthat the children had learnt was incredible and very cleverly choreographed.

Next, I spent some time with the Eco Champs, student council and some other school representatives and talked about their roles in school, about how our eco-team and pupil council contribute to life at Whitehouse Common, I shared the work that you had created about our eco gteam and then spent a lot of time answering questions about school life in England. The children were great to talk to. They were polite and very keen to find out a lot of information.

After this I visited some sights in the local area, accompanied by the head boy and girl of BLPS. We went to the local military school which used to be the palace of the Maharaja of Kaputhala and then visited three different places of worship.

In the afternoon, I went to a grade 10 lesson and helped to lead the lesson quizzing the children on their general knowledge! I also visited some grade 3 students who had dressed up as ;part of their work on Indian Heritage and I talked to them about their costumes and the different aspects of Indian life which they represented. The children answered my questions well and shared all about their learning.

This evening I went shopping (always a good activity to enjoy!) and found the experience of shopping for clothes absolutely mind blowing. We spent atleast two hours in some authentic clothes shops, sitting on the floor whilst the staff laid different suits, saris and dresses out in front of us. I enjoyed it so much, I hope to go back again before I come home!

Tomorrow I will be in school all day and I am looking forward to spending much more time with all the children.

Until my next blog..... best wishes to all and take a look at the new snaps I have added!

Day Two photos...

Day Two - Bawa Lalvani

Today I visited Bawa Lalvani Public School for the first time.

When I arrived I was greeted by some children who presented me with a garland and flowers in the colours of the Indian flag.

The day began with a special assembly which included singing, dances and prayers. This was followed by a welcoem performance by the school band who were spectacular!

As the school was celebrating Children's Day, there was a staff vs. students cricket match in the morning. This was greeat fun and I was even talked into taking part in some of it! The students won in the end (but not by much!).

After this, I had a tour of the school and met lots of the children in their classrooms. It was lovely to talk to them and many of them asked me questions and told me about their lessons. I was lucky enough to join in with some dancing in a dance lesson and also asked some children to show me how to use some of their special ICT equipment which helps them to learn their spellings and work on their phonics.

In the afternoon, when the childrne had gone home, the staff came together to have their own small celebration for children's day and we sang songs and played games together which was fun and a nice opportunity to talk to more of the teachers from the school.

This afternoon we went to visit Science City which is a local, hands-on, science museum which the children sometimes visit on school trips. We had a good look around and tried out some of the activities too!

This evening we went to Haveli for dinner. There they serve traditional Punjabi food in an authentic setting and it was fantastic! I had Thali for as second time which was delicious and I also drank sweet lassi which is a sugary, milky drink.

I am off to bed now as I have an early start again i the morning. I will be at bawa Lalvani again but this time I will be meeting the Eco Champs for the school, sharing your work with children, talking about our school and leading some story and drama activities with the infants! I can't wait!

Picture time!

Yay! It is time to share some photos with you of my first day sightseeing in the Punjab; The Golden Temple at Amritsar, The retreat Ceremony at the border, crazy Indian traffic and some delicious and authentic Indian food!...

India visit - Arrival and Day One!

Greeting as from India!

This is so exciting, being able to keep you posted on here about my trip.

Well, I have arrived safely. It was a very long journey and very tiring but well worth it.

I arrived in Amritsar a little later than scheduled and then it was a two hour car ride to Jalandhar. The moment I set foot in India, there was so much to take in. I have already taken many, many photographs and am overwhelmed by all the different sights, sounds, smells and tastes that I am experiencing!

The traffic and the roads here are crazy! On main roads there are so many different types of vehicles and there are many people who travel on the backs or roofs of lorries and trucks and I have seen families of four sharing a bike! The drivers also don't seem to use indicators or mirrors but they are very fond of their horns!

Today we have been very busy and, as it is my only day without a visit to Bawa Lalvani, there was so much in the area to make the most of. We were accompanied today by two children from Bawa Lalvani school who acted as our guides and they were wonderful and told me a lot about their school and their way of life.

I visited The Golden Temple at Amritsar which was beautiful, peaceful and thought provoking. We then went on to Jallianwala Bagh which is the site of a masacre by the British which took place in Amritsar. When I read about it and walked around I was stunned into silence. It was very moving and emotional.

Finally we went to the Vagha Border where India borders Pakistan to watch the retreat ceremony. This was incredible. There were about 2000 people there and we were treated like VIPs and given front row seats (they are very keen to look after us well here). There was a great atmosphere at this event and lots more interesting sights to see!

We finished the day with dinner where I enjoyed a Thali (traditional Indian dish) and it was delicious.

I hope to put some pictures on here tomorrow but for now I need to get to bed (it is half past midnight here and I am being collected for school at 7.30am!).

I am really looking forward to visiting Bawa Lalvani tomorrow and meeting more of the staff and children and I will be sure to tell you all about it!

Bye for now!

Bike MOT Success

Whitehouse Common children delighted Rachel Vann, Bike Officer for Sustrans, with their overwhelming response to her invitation to carry out bike MOT’s  this week. Children brought in over 100 bikes for Rachel to check in readiness for the step in becoming a Bike It North school.

Phonics: How to pronounce sounds (using pure talk)

Following requests from our workshops with Nursery and Reception parents, this video shows you how to pronounce the sounds.

This video shows the principles of RML and a speed sound lesson session in progress (12:05 - 15:39).

Whitehouse Common in the news!

Whitehouse Common pupils (and others from the Four Oaks Cluster) attended an event held at the Arthur Terry School just before the half-term holidays. During the event, MP Andrew Mitchell was questioned by the children, with issues ranging from what his job was like to environmental issues and student fees! An article about the event was in appeared in last weeks Sutton Coldfield Observer (dated November 4th 2011).