First Day....

Finally after being here nearly 2 weeks I went off to school this morning. I must admit I was feeling a little nervous about what my role was to be although I had an overview I was still unsure about how / what I was going to do . I was picked up at 6.15! School starts at 7.00 and finishes at 1.30 for the students. We got caught up in early morning traffic chaos and didn't arrive at school until just before 7.00. It was fascinating being in a completely different environment. The school is one of the old schools. They are moving to a brand new school in a couple of weeks which is part of the reform process - having us (the Cognition Team) in as well to help change teacher attitudes, tecaher knowledge, teaching approaches, etc etc.
The local teachers have a fairly lax view of teaching by all accounts.
The ICT teaching is scarily skills focused which means learning weird things like changing the date and time on the computer (why), change the desktop background, screensaver?? No context just learning basic skills. I'm going to work with a class tomorrow to get the kids drawing. They have no internet access in the old school but they do have a data projector. They need to learn how to use the ICT Room - management strategies.
This is where the kids have assembly - every morning at 7.00.
Thought you would like to see a pic of the classroom - bearing in mind this is what they are moving from and why they need to reform their education system for the 21st century! Nothing on the walls, no books. Lots to do in 1 year. (each school gets 1 year to make the changes needed - the reality, as we know, takes longer)