25 February 2015
LSA had been chosen to develop international links with Sri Lanka as part of a major new school twinning project to boost global education in April 2014. Over the past week, Sandra Underwood, School Link Cooridnator, and MFL Teacher at LSA visited the partner school, Vishaka Girls High School in Badulla, Sri Lanka receiving an enormous welcome by the staff and students.
Connecting Classrooms is a UK government and British Council education initiative. [Insert school name] has been selected in recognition of its commitment to teaching students about global issues. Teachers and students are working with B/Vishaka Girls High School in Badulla, Sri Lanka to learn how to become responsible global citizens and to develop skills to work in a global economy. Schools across the UK can benefit from a range of support offered by the scheme.
Sandra Underwood, School Link Coordinator from LSA said “ Our schools have worked incredibly hard on Connecting Classrooms by teaching many aspects of global learning to our students and this is the opportunity to share the collaboration of students’ work. We have shared our traditions, language, food origins and our lifestyles with one another through drawings and letters which have engaged and motivated students in both countries to learn and take part in global linking."
In October, 2014 our Sri Lanka visitor took part in a week of activity at LSA and Ms Underwood was fortunate to make the reciprocal journey to our partner school in February. “The students were very 
appreciative of the contributions made by LSA students and have spent a lot of time reading their work and to their letters.” It makes me feel really proud of our students but equally honoured to be able to teach dedicated, motivated students in another country. The Sri Lankan students are very inquisitive and wanted nothing more than to speak to a native English speaker and learn about the UK. I really felt like a celebrity with the attention that the students had for me and thoroughly enjoyed teaching all ages from 10-18. The students participated in songs in French and talking about traditional clothing, healthy eating and similarities and differences in our cultures. We even had a sing-a-long to YMCA! The girls loved it!
I was impressed with the standard of English that the school staff and students already had. Not only did they speak Sinhalese and Tamil but also English very well. I was fortuntate to have a group of girls teach me some Sinhalese - ආයුඛෝවන් (āyubūvan) which means Welcome. Learn more in Sinhalese here http://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/sinhala.php
Overall the school impressed me and the students were a delight to work with. I will miss speaking and working with the students and living the Badulla life. I would recommend Connecting Classrooms to anyone who has a desire to share learning between students and embed global linking in the classroom and across your school.
To find out more, view Sandra's Blog by clicking http://srilankalsaconnectingclassrooms.blogspot.co.uk/
To view a gallery of pictures, see below.
Sri Lanka
