So, to start our day, we went back to Matselliso High School so that we could get a true comparison of both schools, and also to see all our friends!
When we arrived, we were greeted with the same amount of love and enthusiasm as the previous day, and were made to feel as if we were a key part of their school. After having a quick chat and a catch up with the Matseliso students, we were split into three separate groups and we headed off to some of the ongoing classes.
The first lesson my group went into was a comprehension class. They were discussing the rules of their school and giving their opinions on how they could be improved or altered to make them better. Everyone got involved, and the encouragement and respect that each pupil had for one another was amazing to experience! After their debating and discussing they began to ask us questions about our life in comparison to theirs. One of the topics we got onto was school sports. After talking about the different sporting opportunities Culcheth high school offered, we then asked them about the sports they can do at their school. The teacher explained that the opportunities were very limited because of funding and lack of facilities and fundamental resources. I think that made us appreciate how lucky we actually are, to have the opportunities and the facilities to pursue what ever ambitions we may have.
We next moved onto the science/dt classrooms. As soon as we walked in, we were welcomed with lots of smiley and warm faces, all waving and greeting us into their classroom. When we had introduced ourselves, we sat down and were told that some students were going to present their work to us. They had been assigned a task to make a model of an everyday item out of recyclable materials, like plastic bottles, cardboard boxes ect. The presentation that stuck of for me was a boy that had made a door alarm. When he stepped up ready to present, he was obviously very nervous (as we all would be) but got right into his explanation about how his gadget works and the advantages and disadvantages of it, with the encouragement of his peers. Then it was the moment of truth... He put his alarm on the door, and we all waited in anticipation to see if it would work. He opened the door and a loud alarm came from the tiny gadget! The boys face lit up, and the whole room erupted with praise and cheer for his success! I found, that with the encouraging given, I could now understand where a lot of them get their confidence from that a lot of us from Culcheth lack. The overwhelming sense of community and love that you experience whenever in the presence of a South African student really makes you feel like you can be yourself and not to be afraid of saying something wrong or being a bit different, because deep down that doesn’t really matter!
The overall experience of going around the school today, and observing the different classes really made me appreciate how fortunate we are as a school, with all the opportunities that we have, but also how we, as students, could actually learn a lot from how the South Africans and how they treat school and the people in it! They are such an inspiration, and I can’t wait to find out even more about them as the week goes on!
~Olivia Hoddes
When we arrived, we were greeted with the same amount of love and enthusiasm as the previous day, and were made to feel as if we were a key part of their school. After having a quick chat and a catch up with the Matseliso students, we were split into three separate groups and we headed off to some of the ongoing classes.
The first lesson my group went into was a comprehension class. They were discussing the rules of their school and giving their opinions on how they could be improved or altered to make them better. Everyone got involved, and the encouragement and respect that each pupil had for one another was amazing to experience! After their debating and discussing they began to ask us questions about our life in comparison to theirs. One of the topics we got onto was school sports. After talking about the different sporting opportunities Culcheth high school offered, we then asked them about the sports they can do at their school. The teacher explained that the opportunities were very limited because of funding and lack of facilities and fundamental resources. I think that made us appreciate how lucky we actually are, to have the opportunities and the facilities to pursue what ever ambitions we may have.
We next moved onto the science/dt classrooms. As soon as we walked in, we were welcomed with lots of smiley and warm faces, all waving and greeting us into their classroom. When we had introduced ourselves, we sat down and were told that some students were going to present their work to us. They had been assigned a task to make a model of an everyday item out of recyclable materials, like plastic bottles, cardboard boxes ect. The presentation that stuck of for me was a boy that had made a door alarm. When he stepped up ready to present, he was obviously very nervous (as we all would be) but got right into his explanation about how his gadget works and the advantages and disadvantages of it, with the encouragement of his peers. Then it was the moment of truth... He put his alarm on the door, and we all waited in anticipation to see if it would work. He opened the door and a loud alarm came from the tiny gadget! The boys face lit up, and the whole room erupted with praise and cheer for his success! I found, that with the encouraging given, I could now understand where a lot of them get their confidence from that a lot of us from Culcheth lack. The overwhelming sense of community and love that you experience whenever in the presence of a South African student really makes you feel like you can be yourself and not to be afraid of saying something wrong or being a bit different, because deep down that doesn’t really matter!
The overall experience of going around the school today, and observing the different classes really made me appreciate how fortunate we are as a school, with all the opportunities that we have, but also how we, as students, could actually learn a lot from how the South Africans and how they treat school and the people in it! They are such an inspiration, and I can’t wait to find out even more about them as the week goes on!
~Olivia Hoddes