Wuhou! China here we come!

After a week of tension and nerves building up, I think the enormity of what we are about to do hit us all today! I have been fairly calm about things but as I downloaded a few translated words earlier, a definite swell began to create a few choppy waves somewhere inside my head.


Lunchtime in the staff room saw a few strange conversations, especially as some of the staff were dressed as Snow White or the Fairy Princess, (No, it’s not normal behaviour, Key Stage 1 had held a Princess and Pirate day) but once we had finished talking about costumes, I did question the possibility of being able to play footy with the kids in China. At one point I was quite alarmed as I think golf got a mention too, well, I think it was golf, as I heard Miss Harrington mention something about wedges, although she could have been talking about shoes I suppose.


Anyway, just one more sleep and we’re off. I will try to blog as often as I can, and as you can see from the previous post, Mrs. Thompson has managed to get posting now too. I will see if I can get Miss Butler and Miss Harrington started too.


Talking of posting, it’s nice to see so many of you making comments on the blog, and even better to see we now have our first followers – and one of them is all the way from Spain too! I hope you all please keep posting, it’s great to read your comments.

One more sleep!

One more sleep, posted by Mrs. Thompson.

Having tried several times to post a message on here, I am hoping that this attempt may finally be successful!!! After endless discussions, our trip to China is very nearly here! My packing has begun and the washing machine has been on permanently at home! The weather in Chengdu is currently very similar to our country, perhaps a little milder so that should make packing easier! Mr Golightly has the fun job of teaching with me whilst we're in Chengdu and we've prepared some fantastic lessons based on the artwork children have given us from our school. Miss Harrington and Miss Butler will be teaching the younger children out there some of our well-known nursery rhymes. As many of the staff will tell you, I think I will be known as the worrier of the group! Once I'm on the plane, knowing that I have remembered everything, I'll breathe a huge sigh of relief and know that I will have the most amazing and memorable week! We will be keeping in regular contact with everyone back home via the blog so make sure you keep in touch and send us plenty of messages!
Enjoy your half term! 

Mrs Thompson

One week and counting!

The final details are almost sorted and departure is getting scarily close! We had another meeting today to sort out some of the last minute important stuff, like flight check-in times, tickets, transfers, insurance and who's taking the teabags. (Got to be PG!) Might sneak in a couple of emergency choccy bars too, just in case we get any delays.

It's been an interesting week, as we get ready for the off, with several classes producing some fantastic drawings of Tudor buildings in Ashby, and Reception performing three absolutely brilliant nursery rhymes, while a couple of year six children did a video of them. It is now being edited, ready to put on a disc to take with us.

A colleague also gave me a nice book on speaking Mandarin, with a cd that allows you to check your pronunciation. Miss Butler has been heard wandering around school trying different words out, but from what her class have told me, she needs more practice!


Here's a picture of the famous four: 
 From left, me, Mrs. Thompson, Miss Harrington, Miss Butler.

Just two weeks to go!

Well I can't believe we will be off in just two weeks. We have now started collecting work from all classes to take with us, but I am getting worried about just how much room Miss Butler seems to think I am going to have in my suitcase, as she keeps saying, "You can fit that in, I'm sure!"
I think I will have to get my whole class to sit on the lid of my case while I do it up!

At least we know we will all be going now. I had a bit of a worry for a while, after my Visa took an inordinate amount of time to come, especially as everyone else had theirs safely back, but it finally turned up on Wednesday.
So, it's just 21184 minutes and 55 seconds until we take off - not that I'm counting!

Not long to go now!

Well it seemed like a great idea when I put my hand up, after Mrs. Powell asked in the staff meeting if anyone fancied visiting our partner school in China! The chance to experience the totally different teaching styles and to get to work with children in Chengdu was just too good to miss.

With only three weeks to go before we leave, I must admit that a few nerves are now starting to kick in. I know that Miss Butler, Mrs. Thompson and Miss Harrington are all feeling the same too. We all know it is going to be an amazing experience, but the thought of going to a part of China where very little English is spoken, and to a culture that is totally different from our own is definitely scarey!

Over the next two weeks we will be collecting work that children have done in our school, to take as examples to China, as well as trying to prepare lessons that we will teach while we are there. As long as the technology works, I will post regular updates of how we are getting on during our trip, along with photographs of our experiences.

I hope you enjoy reading about it.

Mr. Golightly