It is filthy work going through the boxes and bags – so much dust! But it is exciting too to discover all the treasures that have been hidden away. Bonface and I get stuck in. I am delighted that he wants to be fully involved so that he can see what resources the school actually has. He is very much a hands on Head Teacher – which is the best kind!
One of our best discoveries is parachutes. We have two of them. These are great fun and can be used by all classes to deliver a range of curricular subjects. Even better – we find a parachute lesson book. It doesn’t take me long to refresh myself with some of the games and Teacher Paul with Class 1 are happy to be my guinea pigs! We head to the playground.
You can imagine the excitement as I unfurl the brightly coloured parachute. It is stunning against the African sky. We begin to play and learn. The kids get the hang of it within minutes. I become aware that we have a growing audience. Norah has emerged from the orphanage, the workmen who are building the classrooms appear, kitchen staff stare out from the door and Wambua and Amos suddenly have an important job in the vicinity. They are enjoying the parachute as much as the children. Over the next few days I manage to take Baby class, PP1, PP2 and C2 for a parachute lesson. In each one, I begin the session but soon take a step back and instruct the teacher. It works well and I am delighted to see the teachers using the parachutes independently.
Another wonderful discovery is number fans. These are a resource used to enhance mental maths and are a must have for most UK teachers at all stages. I had considered bringing them to Osiligi but they are expensive and there was simply no more room. Imagine my delight when I came across a bag of 100 of them. I actually screeched – almost giving Bonface a heart attack. There is a training session planned for next week where I will show teachers how to use them.
These are just a few examples of what we have found. Once the teachers are confident in their use, it will go a long way to helping them develop more active approaches to learning. It has been worth the dirt and the dust!
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