Trip to Iceland 11 - 14 April 2011

On Monday 11 April Mrs Scaife and Mrs Griffiths left school late in the afternoon and travelled to Newcastle Airport. The flight was delayed and consequently they had to run from Terminal 5 to Terminal 1 to catch the flight with minutes to spare to Reykjavik.

Tuesday 12 April 2011
They arrived in Reykjavik at 2am and together with all the staff of Wales they had three hours sleep ready to catch the bus to the Domestic City Airport to catch the flight to Akureyi. We then transferred to a tiny aeroplane which took everyone in two groups to Thorshofn. The flight was a very interesting experience and the scenery was amazing looking down on the glaciers and the sun rising over the mountains.

Daniel met us at the airport and took us into the town. Here there was one food market, a very small gas shop, a bar-restaurant and a liquor shop.

We settled into a hostel and the farmer showed us how he uses shepherd’s dog to round up the sheep on his farm.

We all had a wonderful dinner that night of lamb soup, potatoes and swede cooked by the farmer’s wife.

Wednesday 13th April 2011
After a big Icelandic breakfast we all went to Svalbardsskola to meet the nine children who go to the school – eight boys and one girl.

The school is very isolated surrounded by snow capped mountains and looking towards the sea.

We met the teachers and the school cook and looked around this lovely school. We walked to the little church and went inside. It was very quaint and beautifully kept. One of the teachers from Wales played a hymn on the old pump organ.

After lunch we visited a sheep farm and saw hundreds of sheep ready to give birth next month. It is late lambing in Iceland because they have to wait for the grass to grow after the heavy snowfall in winter.

We then went on to see how Icelandic horses are trained to round up the sheep in this very rough terrain. They do not use quad bikes because it damages the land.

After that we went on to the swimming pool to have a swim and a hot shower to try and get rid of the ‘sheep smell’!

After a hearty meal of salted cod, mashed potatoes, cod’s roe and salad we all slept very soundly.

Thursday 14th April 2011
After breakfast we all went to visit three schools in Thorshofn: a kindergarten for 1-5 year olds, a primary school for 6-16 year olds and a high school for 16+.

It was all very interesting and we learned a lot about Icelandic pedagogy from both the staff and the children.

After lunch we went on to Svalbardsskoli and celebrated the arrival of summer )a little early!) by playing Viking games outside in the gale force winds!

We then enjoyed Icelandic hospitality from the children, parents and staff.

We ate a wonderful meal of roast lamb, potatoes and vegetables. We were then treated to traditional folk dancing. A fantastic ending to our first Icelandic experience.

Welsh week at Torvmyrane skule, Norway

Our Welsh week was arranged in the end of  November 2010. Different classes and agegroups learned about Welsh school life through different activities. This is the report from 6th grade,  on their Welsh Friday, the 19th of November.

"Welsh Day.Last Friday we had Welsh Day. We have Welsh Day because we are in a Comenius project. We had our school day exactly as it is in Wales. Now we will tell you what we think about your school day." -  Lene, 11.

"The Carpet. We sat on a carpet because Welsh pupils sit on a carpet on the floor. When we sat on the carpet it was too small..... The carpet was way too small for our class, because we were too many children. Only some of us fit in. The carpet was blue  with a pattern. We sat on the carpet for a while. the teacher sat in front of us. It is weird to sit on the carpet, because normally we sit on a chair by a table.  We have a "ring" of benches where we gather like the Welsh do on their carpet. " Vegard, 11.

"Uniforms. We had uniforms. The uniforms were black and white. The trousers and skirts were black and the jumpers were white. They were nice. At Norwegian schools we don't wear uniforms, we wear our own clothes. Some of us liked wearing uniforms, some did not." Linn Kristin11,  and Andrea, 11.

"Activities. When we had Welsh Day we red the story of "The boy who cried wolf". Our aim was to learn to tell the story. Our classroom was arranged to fit many different activities. Some of us painted.
Some of us searched the internet:

Some of us made a role play about it:

Some of us were reading and writing in English, and some of us were sculpturing clay:

Now we know how your school days are, you have fun! We had a lot of fun" - Julie, 11.

"Breaks. In our break we had to stay in a limited area. Normally we can run into the woods, this time we had to stay close to school. It was cold, and some uf us ran out without their jackets. " -Kristoffer, 11.

"Lunchtime. In our packed lunches today we brought chips, cookies and white bread with something sweet on. On my normal packed lunch I have brown bread with white cheese. I would not like to have chips everyday, but sometimes it would be ok!" - Marion, 11.

"Hot lunch. Now I will tell you what we ate and what it tasted like. First we had to sing a prayer. Then we had our own food, and finally we were served hot lunch. We ate fish and chips with white sauce and vegetables. We were served in the cafeteria (actually our classroom...) abd it tasted good. I thought it was very tasty. It was cooked and served by our dear Mrs. Lindgren. Thank you for reading this. Bye, bye."- Robert, 11 and Ivan, 11.

"Worship. We had to have worship in class this day. That is because ADS is a church school. In Norway we are not allowed to do worship in school. On Welsh Day we sang and said prayers, lit candles and had a little worship corner. Mrs Bugge led the worship. She normally teaches us religion and PE. Normally we call her Maria, we always use our teachers first names." - Sunniva, 11.

"Rewards. If someone was behaving good, or working hard they could be The Star of the Day. Their reward could be extra playtime, special attention or special tasks like lighting candles on assemblys. It was nice. If you were the teachers helper, you could be the Star of the Day. On our Welsh Day, the Star of the Day was allowed to go out of class to play Nintendo DS. On our school we do not have this kind of rewards, but we would really like to!" -. Sara Eline, 11 and Amalie, 11.

We liked trying out a Welsh Schoolday, and most of all we would like to visit ADS ourselves!!
Best wishes from your friends at grade 6, Torvmyrane Skule, Florø, Norway!

Comenius Report - Bowes School - 29th November 2010

Comenius Report 29-11-10

After spending a very interesting and informative time in Wales, it was good to get back into Class One and try out some of the learning strategies seen in the Alderman Davis School, Neath, Wales.
First and foremost was their idea of having a ‘Poem a Week’. Class One quickly took to it and after two to three weeks we have learnt not one, but nearly three poems! What was noticed was how children (who would not normally engage or participate) soon got into the flow of the poems. The use of repetition and rhythm carried out on a daily basis has definitely enhanced their confidence.
Our second initiative seen at Alderman Davis was to use ‘The Bumper Book of Storytelling into Writing- Key Stage 1’ by Pie Corbett. Class one decided upon ‘The Little Red Hen’ as a starter, as we have got some real hens called Doris and Lottie at the school. The children were and still are, very keen to apply hand actions to the story, draw up story maps and use their story cards. Over three weeks children have written short repetitive sentences, changed characters, as well as altering the beginning of the story. Older children (Years One and Two) have written a letter to ‘The Little Red Hen’ as part of their end of Autumn Term assessments. What has been noticed visibly is the increase in the quantity and quality of sentences written. There is also greater confidence across the whole classroom and those who struggled previously have managed a sentence –or two. We have now started another of Pie Corbetts’ stories ‘How the world was made’ and hopefully this will carry on into the New Year.
Children have given positive feedback on both these strategies and the use of the flip-cam has enabled children to see themselves, their reactions and responses instantly. A really powerful tool! In Class One we also set aside a day to dress up in Traditional Welsh Costume and we made Welsh Cakes. The children loved them. They have also looked inside the contents of the Alderman Davis’ Goody Bag and right across the school , from Reception (4-5years) to Year 6 (10-11 years), the children instantly recognised and greeted magazines, music and sweets with the same common enthusiasm as their friends in Neath, Wales. Perhaps this was to be expected…
The children have since written their thoughts and responses to the contents of the Goody Bag, which they hope to post on the Children’s Corner very soon. So watch this or that space!
In school, we are currently setting up the use of Vimeo, Blog, and skype. This will greatly enhance the children’s opportunity to communicate on a regular basis and it will also benefit the staff in terms of learning new ICT skills! !
Overall, we are watching closely to see the benefits and effects the teaching strategies seen in Wales will have on our children’s learning. For now, certainly where writing is concerned there has been a definite shift in attitude (a positive one), especially with those children who are more reluctant or who genuinely find it a struggle. Let’s watch and see!! Thank- you Wales.

Sue Scaife
Key Stage One Teacher
Bowes Hutchinson’s CofE Aided Primary School.
29-11-10