Blooming Wales

April 21-24

On Tuesday I had a chance to make a trip to The Victorian Bodnant Garden;  An 80 acre paradise for flowers.  The sun was shining all the time and it was just beautiful!













On Wednesday evening there was a political debate taking place in Colwyn Bay: elections coming up quite soon. The debate took about two hours and it was really interesting to see how Local Welsh candidates tried to convince people to vote for them. Themes like humanitarian rights, military
spending and taxation were shared with the audience.  Some of the candidates were really passionate and almost like actors of a comedy.



Wednesday morning began with the Chapel seremony and for this time the sermon was about
Humanity and environmental issues once again. At the end of the sermon the Chaplain played Wiz
Khalifas song " See You Again" and with that it was very nice to start a school day at Rydal.
Revision continued in many lessons:  IB Final Examinations and A- Level exams coming up quite soon! Again I worked with one of the students with their source based paper and shared my ideas with him.

On Thursday 23 April I joined the school trip to Manchester Jewish Synagogue and The Museum.  There were three other teachers and me together with 32 students on the road. The place was very interesting and we had a very good guide who told colorful stories of the Jewish lifestyle and culture
as a whole. We also got familiar with the Holocaust section of the Museum and that reminded me once more why I am an  historian.  We got back to Colwyn Bay at 17.00 and again after another
fascinating day it was good to go the have a walk on the beach.

The final day April 24

Chapel first and then the Deputy head came over and wished me a safe journey and thanked over
these past two weeks. He also mentioned the same when starting the sermon with his words for the students. I was impressed!  During the last day I followed a Geography lesson and then in the end of the day I gave a lesson for the 13 IB group. We revised Hitler and Mussolini using the snow ball method and inquiry based learning and then finally at the end the Kahoot Quiz on that. All the students were very excited about it and I think it was a nice  end for the past two weeks.



 I have really enjoyed my job shadowing period and I would like to thank the whole school staff for the good collaboration. Special thanks will go to Mr Andrew Price, head of History, who made this possible and welcomed me. Mr Price' s wife Amanda will also get my grateful thanks for the
kindness and friendship throughout these two weeks. The whole Rydal Penrhos School in Colwyn Bay, North Wales was a very pleasant and refreshing experience. This could a beginning for the collaboration between our schools, so maybe I'll come back with some IB students next year!

The End

Drama, History and Boarding


Monday 20th April

This morning I had a great opportunity to follow some Drama sessions: three students were preparing their final performances  ( examinations coming up quite soon) . Monologues on Tennessee Williams' play and then a 25 min play on a psychiatric hospital. I was supposed the follow the performances and then to give some feedback as I would be one of those examiners assessing their work in couple of weeks of time. That was just fun!

Drama in Rydal

Mrs Fiona Earle and the Drama students

After the Drama lessons the day continued with pre-IB history: case studies on the Palestinian issue,  Somalia and Lebanon. It was Interesting  to see how they dealt with different kind of crises and the weaknesses of the United Nations. The teacher was asking questions and then the students had to write answers into their course booklets, sharing their thoughts Also together from time to time.

Mr C. Underwood and the pre IB Group 

In the evening it was still time for the boarding duty. Almost all the teachers do that regularly, which means that they spend three hours of their evening with the boarders, keeping  an eye on the boarders'  studies and the safety as well. Mr Price is having his duty evening on every Monday from 6.30 to 

9.30 PM. Boarders from Germany, Russia, Ukraine, Hongkong and Britain are either sharing a room or having one of their own.  I could just assume that being quite far from home at the age of 16 could be a challenge for some of them. The Housemaster and the teachers see the other aspect of their students' life when taking part into the leisure activities and the duties like the boarding one.

Hello from Wales!

                                                  Anglesey, North  Wales

This Blog is to share my Job shadowing experiences between 13 th and  25th April 2015 with all my colleagues and friends all over Europe!  Erasmus +KA1 project gives you the opportunity to get to know different ways of learning and teaching together with this marvelous experience to challenge yourself as a teacher when entering a class room in a foreign country and sharing your own  professionalism with different  approaches. So whatever you think about European Union,  this is one of the best ways in bringing people from all over Europe together and making the slogan  " Unity in Diversity" to come true.

Monday 13- Wednesday 15 April

So today was my third day here in Colwyn Bay, Wales at the Rydal Penrhos School. During my First day I was introduced to the  Headmaster,  Deputy Head, IB Coordinator and for many teachers of the School. Everyone welcomed me with a very warm touch and I would especially like to thank my colleague Mr Andrew Price for making this experience possible and for sharing everything so openly.

According  to school's websites "Rydal Penrhos School is a leading independent co-educational day and boarding school in the North West that provides exceptional opportunities for boys and girls aged 11-18.From the Early Years and Pre-Prepdepartments right up to the Upper Sixth where pupils
have two pathways available – the International Baccalaureate, for which the School is ranked 14th 
in the UK, or A-levels – their pupils are rightly proud of the school."Rydal School was founded by 
T.G. Osborn on 19 September 1885. The School, which was to be a boys’ boarding school in the
Methodist tradition, was named after the house on Lansdowne Road , which Osborn had acquired through the good offices of the Reverend F.W. Payne, a wealthy benefactor and Wesleyan minister 
who lived in Colwyn Bay. Five years earlier, in 1880, Penrhos College had been founded as a Methodist girls’ boarding school, also as a result of the generosity of  Frederick Payne, who also founded St John’s Methodist Church which, from its opening in 1888, was used regularly by both Rydal and Penrhos for over a hundred years. In 2010, the church and the school began exploring the possibility of the school taking ownership of St John’s Church, which is used for school worship and
special events.

Rydal Pernhos School, Colwyn Bay Wales

Thursday 16

Today 16 April  my School day started at 8.00 and  8.30 I attended the school worship at the St John's Church nearby the Rydal premises where Chaplain's sermon introduced themes like the climate change, and inhumane killing of migratory birds in Malta. Students wearing suits and School uniforms  listened to the sermon quietly and intensively. What a different World I am experiencing here in Wales! Just wondering that it could be a nice way to start the day with some kind an assembly,
 gathering all together, headmaster wearing a robe and that feeling of unity and togetherness ! It could
be something else than a sermon, maybe just those old 10 O'clock  news, which we used to have at the Old Lyseo Building.

Mr Andrew Price, Head of the History  Department of Rydal Penrhos School 

During the day I followed several history lessons: IB section still having their revision period:
students doing now the rise of Mussolini. For next Tuesday I promised to prepare a Kahoot Quiz for this class and also introduce the snowball method based  revision on the rise and rule of Authoritarian
 and single-party states. Looking forward to that!  All the groups are very small, both in the IB and theBritish  national A -level section between 4 and 11 students within the group! That is theadvantage of being a private school in this country. Students behave very formally and whenever speaking to MrPrice they call him " Sir". Lunch is " served at 13.00 and it is  free for all the teachers ( for  students as well , their school fee covers everything). After the Lunch  the IB group continued
their studying at the IT class preparing their power points on Mussolini.


                          


                                       Working hard: IT work going on.


                       

                              
At 16.00 I could call it a day and it was time to go and have some fresh air after this long, but a very interesting  day. 

Colwyn Bay

Friday 17

The day at School went on very quickly: IB students continued their revision. I Also followed a lesson of the ; per- sixth level, which was full of international students, many of the came from Germany. I worked with one of those German students and we revised Paper 1 type exam paper and discussed the theme on the Roaring Twenties of the US. After the day history teacher, my tutor, Andrew Price and I sat down and took a look on next weeks schedule: on Monday morning Also some drama lessons coming up: Looking forward to that.




In the evening at 7 PM it was time for the Murder Mystery Night at the Price's  childrens' School : an
interesting experience I would say!

Www.suddendeaththeatre.co.uk

The weekend was for relaxing and getting to know more about North Wales. My host teacher  Andrew and his wife Amanda Price ( together  with their lovely children) showed us some best parts of the area. Conwy, Llandudno, Beaumaris and Anglesey made an impression: I love Wales!