Week 11- Professional

This week saw the beginning of the goodbyes as not only have we said goodbye to some of the workers at Jollyboys but we also went back into our school as well as DALICE Teaching College to show our thanks and bid them farewell.

Ashleigh and I in our African attire

All schools closed on the 12^th April for a one month holiday so we decided we would go back to Holy Cross one last time to see our class, teacher and head teacher before they finished for the month. Whenever we finished our six weeks of teaching practice, the head teacher of the school presented Ashleigh and me with some Chitenga material which we then got made into African outfits and then wore them on our very last day. The head teacher was completely amazed by this and was showing our outfits to everyone.

The last day of school was very different to how a last day would occur back home where usually the children come in non-uniform, get to have a fun-filled day and then leave early. Here, the children had to be at school for 7:10 and there was a whole school assembly where the results from their tests were discussed and the top five pupils in every class got their marks called out, received a round of applause and came up to the front to shake hands with all the teachers. In a way it was good to see that the teachers and school have acknowledged the pupil’s hard work but I was very thankful that they didn’t call out the ranking for every pupil in each class as this could have been disheartening for those pupils who didn’t do so well.

Singing the National Anthem in assembly

After this had occurred, a group of teachers sang a goodbye song for all the pupils as well as some teachers who are transferring to other schools. The pupils absolutely loved this and joined in with the singing and clapping. This whole occurrence would be a very rare sighting in Northern Ireland and if anyone would be singing in assembly it would more so be the pupils rather than teachers, so seeing this role reversed was great and the pupils thoroughly enjoyed it. One thing I love about Africa is how everyone loves to sing and dance and how they are so enthusiastic about doing it. Back home pupils are usually shy in such situations and try to avoid them whereas the children here take any opportunity that’s coming to sing and dance and really give it their all when doing so.

Saying goodbye on our very last day

The pupils then sang the National Anthem and that was school over for the day, all in less than an hour. I found it rather strange that the pupils were made to come in for such a short school day as this seemed an inconvenience for those pupils who have to travel a long distance to school each day but I then discovered that the pupils and their parents had to meet with the class teacher afterwards to receive their report card so perhaps this was the reason.

Saying goodbye to the principal at DALICE

This week we also took a trip to the teaching college to send our thanks to the principal and Patrick for making us feel so welcome in Zambia and for providing us with the opportunity to teach in the local primary schools from which we have gained so much experience. It’s unbelievable that we have been in Zambia for this length of time and that we will soon be reaching our departure date...this is the start of many of our goodbyes.