Day 10 - Monday 29th July

Today was the first day of our second week of teaching, and it’s fair to say that the novelty of teaching had definitely worn off judging by the exhausted looking faces at breakfast.

However, today presented a change as Ewan, Miss Fitzgibbon, Miss Ellory and I went to GKV, the primary school around the corner from SJS, to teach four lessons in the morning. Unlike the ridged teaching timetable at SJS, GKV had a more spontaneous timetable. During the break we were taken to one of the teacher’s house for an interesting selection of snacks including some homemade carrot juice which was unlike any carrot juice we had ever tasted before. While GKV is linked to SJS, the children have a different uniform which is grey and red, making them distinguishable from their older counterparts. 

Passing through the school today, it was noticeable that all the children were dressed in white as opposed to the usual green. This was because it is the old uniform and was changed due to its lack of practicality with all the orange coloured dust around, so as a compromise, the pupils wear the white uniform every Monday so that money is not wasted. However, there is a slight flaw in this logic as any new pupils will be forced to buy two sets of uniform.

Later in the day, we all joined for some singing led by Hannah and Toby. Our dulcet tones added to the sound of the SJS choir as we warbled along to ‘Don’t Stop Believing’. Today we finished learning the song, added a few dance moves and incorporated some harmonies. We are planning on performing this song in the final assembly.

After some relaxation and biscuits and onion bhajis for tea, some girls and boys went Paul’s house; who is a retired Mill Hill teacher who devotes his time to teaching in SJS, to look at scarves for possible presents for mothers and sisters. He showed us an array of colourful scarves and, as these are real pashminas for very cheap prices, most of us then went on to purchase several each.

The evening was spent relaxing, something I think we all needed after a long Monday back at school. The female teachers decided to have a night out on the town at a restaurant which served Western food. This left Mr Hunt supervising all of us; something he seemed a little apprehensive about. 

By Sasha