We are now in a position to share some BRILLIANT  news about our Teacher Training Strategy.

 

Shanta has been invaluable when we were looking for appropriate teacher trainers in Nepal.  She found Annu Rana and Vanessa Schroeter in Kathmandu who are now part of our IYH family.

 

As a summary, we are able to say with confidence that five schools will be built and refurbished to a high standard by Christmas. All five buildings are up so that the children have somewhere to go away from potential exploitation. However, we are now focussing on one school at a time to do all the finishing touches to create a positive and uplifting learning environment for the children and teachers. 

 

Gorkha School is now finished and Siddhartha School is next to get the upgrades. We hope this will make a huge difference not only to the learning environment but be a foundation for building a sense of trust with the children, teachers and community. We hope to reassure them that we are not not just a flash in the pan charity project. We have a sixth school on our radar which we hope to rebuild it in 2018 but the teachers will be part of our Teacher Training from the start.

 

Now, back to the teachers. It was a surprise to us that each teacher working in a rural school in Nepal, has only received about 6 days training. They are not motivated and that means the children and communities do not believe in education. However, thanks to our volunteers, The Mandala Organisation and Shanta and Jane's February workshops we know how to change this. Shanta has worked with the Head Teachers from each school and they are all incredibly excited about developing their teaching. They want to be good teachers and we want to help them. 

 

Our plan is to have a two pronged approach:

1) Early Learning Teacher Training: for all the teachers - lead by Annu 

2)English Language: aimed at teachers who have shown a real interest in learning English and they will in turn teach the children English - lead by Vanessa

 

The plan is for Annu to to run workshops to get the teachers ready for a 5 day residential program that will be run by First Steps Himalaya charity in April. Then Annu will keep the momentum going by continuing regular workshops. Each teacher will keep their own CPD sheet and Annu will be working with them to develop and become the teachers they want to be and could be.

 

Topics to be covered are:

• Discussion of what a model school looks like?
• What is a good teacher? 
• Principles of Montessori education and early years foundation stages as well as child development 
• Lesson planning
• Developing role plays
• The importance of grade teaching with thematic plans
• Teaching of hand writing
• Use of newspaper pictures for story telling,
• Preparation of visual aids including flashcards

First Steps Himalaya was founded in 2009 with one early childhood centre and just three students. Six years later, they operate early childhood and primary school support projects in 22 schools impacting over 700 students each year. Projects are based in rural hill villages approximately 3 hours drive east of Kathmandu, in Sindhupalchok District which is conveniently close to 5 of our 6 schools

The 5 day course they will be running for us will be at their new training centre in Sangachok with accommodation and meals included. The trainers will be a leading highly experienced training team and can be attended by 24 teachers.

Annu will be preparing the teachers for this very new approach to their career and working with them afterwards. Annu works with Ullens School in Kathmandu and will bringing some of their very successful strategies as part of her training program.

Established in the year 2006, the Ullens School offers a multifaceted and balanced curriculum within the framework of the Nepal Government’s National Curriculum for Grades 1-10 through the Ullens approach to teaching.

Ullens School is the first and only IB World School in Nepal that has been authorized by the Government of Nepal to run the IBDP. Thanks to Annu, they have already donated 1200 books to the IYH book library.

Ullens treats children from all cultures, race and ethnic background with respect and dignity. Children learn to value diversity and recognize the importance of social equality. The atmosphere at Ullens School helps students learn self-respect and respect for others. Self-discipline grows as students come to believe ‘I am capable’,  ‘I am needed’, and ‘I can influence what happens to me’. 

In fostering self-discovery, they seek to develop a child’s intellectual and social skills equally. Their aim is to empower children to become responsible and capable adults.  If Annu can bring any of these attributes to the training, it will make a huge difference to the children, teachers and communities we are trying to help.

 

 

Vanessa is a TEFL Trainer and based in Kathmandu. She has agreed to run intensive 5 day English language courses for all  6 schools followed by workshops to keep the momentum going.

 

 

The goal is for Vanessa to work with the teachers who are particularly keen to learn English. We can't overstate how important learning English is to improve opportunities for the children. Also, each school is linked with a Uk school and when there is a teacher who can communicate in English, there will be endless opportunities to share so much. Children can share stories from both sides of the world and the teachers can receive teaching aids via the internet and so much more.

 

 

English Language starts in September and Early Learning starts in January 2018.

 

Posted by: at 10:02 pm on July 26th, 2017