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Quarter One, 2007
Projects
A Happy New Year to all! May 2007 be filled with lots of health and success.
The past year saw the setting up of new systems of operation for the strengthening of our philosophy and goal, as well as the trust in our program by all school communities involved. The New Year will see the continuation as well as the further development of these systems but also the materialization of newer projects that had been in planning. Latest partnerships are coming together between schools around the world, sparking ideas in students on what it really means to nurture a meaningful connection.
Distant Partnerships
Many schools such as the Eyuboglu Koleji Mudurlugu, in Istanbul, Turkey, partnered with the Pavan Pasan Preschool in Matara, Sri Lanka, are already in process of preparing a second round of gift exchanges and letters, even though their partnership was only established recently. The enthusiasm evident in this friendship and the spirit portrayed in the letters are reflections of what kind of impact connections across oceans are really making in students and teachers. The community at Eyuboglu is reading about the lives of young children who have been affected one way or another by the tsunami of 2004, or what it is like to be living in the aftermath of the civil war. While young children at the preschool in Matara are learning that someone living 3000 miles away knows of them and would like to learn about them and their way of life.
Such a connection went beyond our expectations when the International School of Singapore, an IB World School, reached out to the community at St Mary’s College by assisting in a ceremony to dedicate the school field to those perished in the tsunami. St Mary’s College is the oldest, most respected, and one of the most prestigious schools among 6 within the area of Hambantota. With the tsunami destruction, the school field, the place where the school’s competitive cricket team once took center stage, became a mass grave, a place avoided by everyone, but mainly, the students. The anniversary ceremony was held on 8 December 2006 at the school campus and saw the coming-together of hundreds of people and various religious representatives to grace the land with peace. The ceremony ended with the kindling of lights flying to the skies that were to represent the souls that were lost in the destruction. With this ending, came only the beginning of a friendship that was to heal and inspire.
Exchanges
A team from the Tanglin Trust School in Singapore made a quick visit to Banda Aceh in the second week of December 2006 to visit their new partner school SMP 2 Neger for the very first time. SMP 2 stands for Sekolah Menengah Pertama and is a middle school with classes from grades 7 to 9. After some deliberation, the Tanglin School and SMP 2 will be working hand in hand to improve the English curriculum through the training of teachers and assisting of resources for classrooms.
Nuril Annisa and Mawarni are but only two young women that have received full scholarships to attend the Australian International Academy, previously known as King Khalid College. The exchange began almost 2 years ago and their upcoming and final year starting on 5 February 2007 will see not only a bright future for these two women but also the opening of a thousand doors for many more Acehnese students.
Teacher Training Projects
Sri Lanka is seeing the quick development of our Early Childhood Care and Development Program in which 40 teachers in and around the areas of Hambantota and Moratuwa have been attending monthly workshops since November of 2006. The ECCD committee that includes Educational ministers and leading childhood experts within Sri Lanka and abroad, meet on a regular basis to deliberate and write the curriculum and how to put it into practice in the most resourceful way. The STS sent out a circular to all PYP contact persons in the Pacific region to call for early childhood educational practitioners to assist in running these workshops that will be operating till the end of 2008.
Aceh’s Training the Trainers Program is going through an extreme makeover in which STS will have existing partnerships consider the training as part of their friendship strengthening activity. In preparation for these trainings, Glynn Richards and Tania Latanzio, IB Asia-Pacific PYP Associate Manager, will be conducting an introductory course hosted by the Bali International School in Indonesia. We are hoping to meet with prospective volunteer trainers from and around the area to prepare them for workshop leadership in the upcoming months.
The Schools to Schools Network is very honored to have caught the attention of so many active communities the past year that have supported the projects through various ways, including financial assistance, creative publicity, personal commitment, and all in consideration of the collaborative nature of the programs. We would be nowhere without the support and contributions and look forward to another fruitful year.
Should you have an interest in being a part of our projects in one way or another, please never hesitate to contact us.
Glynn Richards, Projects Manager
Han Nguyen, Projects Assistant
Email: projects@ibo.org
Cambodia
On 20 January, twenty-one teachers, students and alumnae from Ivanhoe Grammar School, Melbourne, spent three days washing, patching and painting four classrooms in four different schools in the project. They divided themselves into four groups of five and each team worked with groups of local teachers to complete the work.
Amazingly, all four classrooms were 99% complete after the three days and finishing touches were left to local staff. New desks, chairs, whiteboards, display boards, cabinets and shelving have all been ordered locally with funds raised donated by International School of Phnom Penh and all four classrooms should be "up and running" again in another week.
Ron Auckland
Email: rona@ibo.org
Snapshots
School in Galle
Class in session in Hambantota Sri Lanka
Moratuwa Sri Lanka workshop with Kris Krause
Preschool next to training centre in Moratuwa
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