Games Legacy for Scotland

October 27th, 2010

East Renfrewshire Connecting Classrooms in Delhi

jherald

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26th October 2010 - Part 2

After visiting our schools, we travelled to the Lotus Temple in Delhi. This is a Bh’ai temple where every religion is welcome. The temple was stunning as it was designed in the shape of a lotus flower which is the symbol of purity and associated with worship and religion in India. We spent some time in the temple and were asked to sit peacefully and reflect on our experiences so far.

Our next destination was the Qutub Minar in South Delhi. This was a place of worship and is the tallest minar in the world with a height of 72.5 metres. It was lovely to see the ancient structures. We also saw beautiful parrots and hawks as we wondered around the grounds.

We were then invited to an Indian family’s house to share a meal. This was a special day for Indian couples where most wives fast from sunrise until the moon appears in the sky. This is to ensure their husbands have a long life.

27th October 2010

This morning we sadly packed our cases (which was difficult) and headed to our final school, Chiranjiv Bharati. We were welcomed in the traditional way and then taken to meet the Principal. Again, the staff and pupils were so kind and pleased to have us in their school. We visited the Infant, Middle and Senior schools and sampled a variety of lessons including table tennis, chemistry, roller blading, yoga and physics. We were entertained by the school orchestra and also saw three traditional Indian dances.

We then made our way to The Kingdom of Dreams. This was an amazing shopping centre which depicted every one of the 28 states in India, offering gifts, souvenirs and food. We also had the opportunity to watch traditional dance and puppet shows.

At 6pm we sadly made our way to the airport. It was an emotional goodbye although we have decided that it is not a ‘goodbye’ but an ‘until we meet again’. We look forward to seeing our Indian friends next year and hope we can reciprocate their welcome and hospitality when they visit our schools. This has been a truly amazing week and we are so looking forward to sharing it with our pupils and colleagues.

Best Wishes,

The East Renfrewshire Connecting Classrooms Team

October 26th, 2010

Connecting Classrooms between East Renfrewshire and Delhi

jherald

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Day 5 began with visits to Red Roses School and Ahlcon International School which were both in quite different parts of the city.

Red Roses: Once again we were warmly greeted with floral garlands. This school was opened 20 years ago and now has 1700 pupils from 3-18 years. First of all pupils performed an energetic dance which they had composed and performed at the opening of the Commonwealth Games. It included folk, traditional and modern street dancing. Ms Bolton learned a couple of steps and impressed the pupils with her moves!! We visited every stage except for the nursery as this was situated a distance away from the main school. We saw P1 and P2 pupils working on beautiful cursive writing and prepositions with rhyme. We’ve noticed that pupils have a lot of singing activities. P5 pupils shared their knowledge of Scotland and Scottish traditions in a colourful display. The Citizenship group told us about a project on Cyber bullying and internet safety for which they had won an award the previous day. We also listened to a parliamentary debate where the pupils reenacted the Indian parliament . All pupils study IT until S4 and the teacher is very keen that we set up communication via skype. That would be very exciting. Mrs Herald was delighted to participate in a French lesson after which we watched different sports and Ms Bolton and Mrs Herald even played a games of doubles on the tennis court. We watched a local sport called KOKo which we think our pupils would love. As always we were treated like celebrities. Unfortunately Mrs Watson and Mrs Pearce weren’t feeling too well today but they are now better and we’re glad they’ll join us at school on Wednesday.

The other team visited Alchon International School where we were warmly greeted by Ekta and the School Principal. Pupils welcomed us through song, traditional dance and music. They also gave a superb presentation on India. We are learning so many new facts about this wonderful country!!

We were given a tour of the school bu staff and pupils. This school has many activity rooms where the children learn Music, Yoga, Pottery, Rifle Shooting, Maths and Listening Skills. They also have many sports facilities including a swimming pool, a basketball court, table tennis and squash courts. Every classroom was so welcoming and we spent some time with class 8D who gave presentations about robots that they had designed and made. We also watched a physics experiment with senior pupils and experienced a yoga class.

We were very impressed with the schools recycling plant. They have an Eco Club who recycle paper on a weekly basis and create new paper from this. We were presented with a beautiful folder which was made from this recycled paper. We would love to have this facility in each of our schools.

We were sad to leave as this school was so impressive.

Best Wishes from the East Renfrewshire Connecting Classrooms team.

October 25th, 2010

East Renfrewshire Connecting Classrooms with Delhi

jherald

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Monday 25th October 2010

Up bright and early today and collected from our hotel at 7.45am. Again we travelled in two groups to DLF School and DPS School. The journeys are always very interesting!!

On arrival at DLF School we were greeted by School Captains, the School Principal and the Vice Principal and treated to a traditional Indian welcome. This included the Bindi, a presentation of hand made scarves which were made by the pupils and beautiful banners which welcomed us. The next four hours were spent touring the school and visiting different classes and departments. We were ably guided by senior pupils who were very enthusiastic and proud of their school. We learned nursery rhymes and Miss Bolton taught Incy Wincy Spider to the children. We bought items from pupils in Primary 4 who had been learning about the different currencies in the world. We also took part in a quiz about Indian and Scottish culture using Activote. We were pleased that the Scottish teachers all won a prize. We made pottery vases and watched the pupils making jewellery. Science came alive when S3 pupils taught P6 about the force of gravity and DNA.

Our visit ended with a wonderful assembly from senior pupils and we watched an authentic dance from Rajhistan which is a state close to Delhi. We also watched a series of Yoga moves. At the assembly, our teachers lit the lamp of knowledge along with the Indian teachers. We passed on greetings at the assembly to our Indian partners.

Meanwhile, at DPS we were also greeted in the traditional Hindi manner and met by the School Principal and pupils from the photography group who photographed us throughout the day. We met with Senior members of the school before being enterained at a special assembly. We were welcomed warmly by the pupils and enjoyed watching traditional dancing and a powerpoint on Scotland. We talked about our own schools before teaching the children how to ceilidh dance the Gay Gordons. The Scottish and the Indian National Anthems were played as a finale to the assembly.

We then visited the Kindergarten who were learning about shapes through songs and dance. We also had the privelege of visiting the recording studio where we recorded messages for a future event. The Music teacher who worked in the studio has recently composed music for the Commonwealth Games!! We then had breakfast which was prepared by the teachers. This included curry, rice and naan bread. The next part of the day included visits to classrooms. These included Maths, Life Skills and Social Studies. A Primary 6 Social Studies class took the opportunity to ask prepared questions about Scotland, the school system and our pupils. The pupils taught Mrs Thomson how to count in Hindi and she returned the favour by singing a verse of Flower of Scotland. We then headed out to the school grounds to watch the pupils taking part in PE which was linked with Language. We also saw examples of Yoga and Indian dance. We then had the opportunity to visit the pottery studio where we made a sculpture. We had a final tour of the school before having a delicious home made lunch which all staff had contributed to. We were sad to leave the school as the pupils and staff had been so welcoming and kind.

When we regrouped we were surpried to hear that Miss McColgan and Miss Bayton had been on the Indian news. Our visit was also featured in the Hindi Times!!

In the evening we visited the Gurdwara which is a Sikh temple. This was the largest Gurdwara in Delhi. We had to cover our heads and wash our feet before entering the temple where we heard the Guru Granth Sahib being recited.

We are looking forward to another intersting and eciting day tomorrow!!

Best Wishes,

The East Renfrewshire Connecting Classrooms Team.

October 24th, 2010

East Renfrewshire Connecting Classrooms visit to Delhi

jherald

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Sunday 24th October 2010

The Taj Mahal was all we thought it would be and more!!!!

The 5 hour journey by mini-bus was fascinating as we passed camels, elephants, cows, rickshaws, motorbikes and buses piled high with people and goods. On arrival in Agra we were greeted by our guide, Mr Khan. He expertly guided us around the Taj Mahal.

We have some wonderful photos and are disappointed that we cannot upload them onto this site yet (we will keep trying). We also visited the Agra Fort and Akabar’s Tomb in Agra. Akabar was a Mogul Emporer and his tomb was set in the midst of Paradise Gardens.

A truly memorable day!

Best Wishes,

The East Renfrewshire Connecting Classrooms Team

October 24th, 2010

Connecting Classrooms with East Renfrewshire and Delhi

jherald

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Saturday 23rd October 2010

Today we split into 2 groups. Joan Herald, RuthWatson and Karen Bolton were in group 1 and visited Pragyan School where they were treated like royalty!

We were welcomed by children waving flags. We walked under a canopy of marigolds and received friendship bracelets, scarves and bindi. Pragyan is a ‘Green School’ and they have paperless days and days when they don’t bring their bags. Pupils then performed at an assembly. This included musical items, yoga and a song composed by the pupils. We were then taken on a guided tour of the estate. We were amazed at the space and the sporting facilities. They even have horses which are used to teach areas of the curriculum! We met with representatives of the Pupil and Parent Council with whom we had lunch. We were so impressed with the pupils and the school. It embraced all the principles of A Curriculum for Excellence. We spent 5 hours at the school and were serenaded with a rendition of Auld Lang Syne in English and Hindi.

Meanwhile, the second group had an early start. We travelled to Nehrui World School in aziabad which is a satelite town of Delhi. We passed welcome banners as we travelled through the city. We too were treated like royalty and were met with cameras from a national television channel.

Arunabh introduced us to our guides and we met with the directors and Principal of the school. The school was holding a Virtual World Tour event and we were given passports in order to visit all of the countries. We were then taken to meet a group of children who were dressed in traditional clothing from these countries. They greeted us in the language from their country. Each classroom had been transformed into a specific country and we had the pleasure of touring the world in a day. Highlights of this included henna tattoos created by 5 year olds, traditional dancing and the Trojan horse. All of the children were extremely polite, kind, helpful and articulate.

Both groups joined together to visit Swaminarayan Akshardham which is a unique complex of Indian culture. It show cases Indian art, wisdom, heritage and values as a tribute to Bhagwan Swaminarayan. This temple is set in a 100 acre site and was only completed by 7000 volunteers in 2005. It was truely stunning!!!! A sunset across the Delhi skyline as we watched a spectacular light and water show. This was a perfect end to a perfect day!!

We are all very excited about our visit to the Taj Mahal tomorrow!!

Best Wishes,

The East Renfrewshire Connecting Classrooms Team

October 24th, 2010

Connecting Classrooms between East Renfrewshire and Delhi

jherald

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We met at Glasgow airport, full of excitement to begin our journey to Delhi! Our flight was delayed but this did not dampen our spirits!!! The flight was comfortable and we were well looked after by the Emirates staff who were waiting to welcome us at our glasgow airport. We were already infamous as the Emirates staff had heard about the trip on Radio Clyde!

On our arrival in Delhi we were warmly welcomed by representatives of our partner schools who presented us with beautiful marigold garlands. We were whisked away for a small rest in our hotel before embarking on our first sight seeing trip.

We travelled to India Gate which is a memorial to Indian soldiers who were killed in the First World War. Our first impression was that Delhi was very busy but also extremely green.

We drove past the Parliament buildings on our way to lunch at the Big Chill. This is where we met with Arunabh, Sonal and Tanushree. Our lunch was delicious and we experienced our first thunder storm with hail stones! The locals of Delhi were so pleased that we had brought the Scottish weather with us!!!

We visited the Dilli Haat which is a market where local crafts people display and sell handmade goods. We managed to pick up lots of examples of local crafts and perfected our bartering skills!!!!!

We then went to the Alliance Francaise. We were welcomed like celebrities at the inauguration of their new library. We werem chatted with the French Ambassador and Mrs Herald and the team enjoyed listening to the extracts of a French story.

We then travelled to the Habitat Centre where we had dinner with representatives from all of our link schools in Delhi. We were presented with individually inscribed letter racks which showed the famous Delhi landmarks including Minar, India Gate and the Taj Mahal.

We finished our evening over-looking the Commonwealth Games stadium. After a glorious meal we headed to our hotel for a much needed rest ready to start our adventures on Saturday.

Best Wishes from the East Renfrewshire Connecting Classrooms team.

October 22nd, 2010

Guess where we were?

chiararuddy

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Guess where?

(Thanks to Nicky for uploading this via Facebook.)

October 21st, 2010

The joys of technology…

chiararuddy

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Went to turn on my laptop this morning to tell everyone about our once in a lifetime trip to the Taj Mahal. My trusty little netbook (which was working just fine last night) has repeatedly failed during start up and now insists that there is a file missing or corrupted. After a 20 hour day yesterday, this was not welcome news I can tell you.

Using someone else’s laptop to post this but don’t know how often I’ll be able to do so. I’m sure I’ll be able to fix my old friend, but the worst bit is that I had written content for the blog for the past 2 days and was going to upload it all this morning. Aaaaaaaaaah.

Will try it again later - or write it all again and find a way to upload it. Sigh!

Regarding the Taj Mahal, please take my word for it. The experience was well worth the travelling. Still feeling disturbed by some of the poverty and disabled young beggars we saw en route, however. A real eye-opener for all of us fortunate young Glaswegians.

October 20th, 2010

Connecting Classrooms between East Renfrewshire and Delhi

jherald

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Our adventure began in December 2009 when our schools were accepted as part of the British Council programme of Connecting Classrooms. Thus began the partnership between the Mearns Castle Cluster of schools- Calderwood Lodge Primary, Eaglesham Primary, Hazeldene Nursery, Kirkhill Primary, Mearns Primary and Mearns Castle High School – and 8 schools from New Delhi – Ahlcon International School, Nehru World School, Delhi Public School, DLF Ghaziabad, Red Roses Public School, Pragyan School and .

We devised a 3 year action plan together which has now been running since April. Pupils have already exchanged information on their daily lives in East Renfrewshire and New Delhi and last week the Mearns Castle Cluster held a very successful Highland Games to celebrate the handover of the Commonwealth Games from Delhi to Glasgow. We are delighted that the Commonwealth Games was a success for Delhi and we are looking forward to hearing all the news first hand from Alan Stern, janitor at Eaglesham Primary. Alan was part of the official delegation from Glasgow who attended the closing ceremony.

Now the teachers involved from the Mearns Castle Cluster are about to spend 6 days in New Delhi visiting our partner schools and learning about Indian education and culture. We are all very excited at the prospect of our trip. We fly from Glasgow to Dubai on Thursday 21^st October and then on to Delhi arriving at 9am local time. We will then spend 6 days visiting the 8 schools and also meeting our link teachers. We met 3 teachers in March when they visited us and it was then that very close links were formed. We took great pleasure in escorting Arunabh Singh, Shashi Banarjee and Ekta Ratra round our schools and showing them a little of our Glasgow culture. We know that they are looking forward to showing us the sights of Delhi and for us the culmination of this trip will be a visit to the Taj Mahal on Sunday 24^th October.

We plan to write a daily blog during our trip and we’ll download photos to keep you up to date with our progress. In the meantime we are packing our cases and remembering to include our pupils’ latest work on important Scottish landmarks. We are taking film of the Scottish Parliament with us as well as infomation on Arbroath Abbey and Stirling Castle and the Peter Pan monument at Mearnskirk. Pupils from Eaglesham have completed a project on the Whitelee Wind Farm and have completed bound books for us to take with us.

We will take with us best wishes from all our schools and we look forward to writing for you again on Friday 22^nd October.

October 20th, 2010

Arrived safely at Vikram Hotel!

chiararuddy

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We’ve checked in after an eventful few days at the JNV school. Out for something to eat and then the first real chance we’ve had to get the homework done! Biology backlog here I come…