Blog

So this is it - the final presentation is tomorrow! We're all ready to go. The presentation is ready, the videos prepped and the Learning School members fired up to go out in a blaze of (hopefully) glory!
 * 05-07-2012 **

After the presentation Learning School has a date with the British Ambassador here in Cape Town on HMS Dauntless, for a champagne reception - the shoes are polished and stomachs readied for some fine canapes!

Let's get ready to Ruuuuumble!

- Anonymous

We are now in the amazing city of Cape Town, surrounded by glorious rock mountains...and baboons. We've spent the past two weeks living in a holiday home together, situated at the bottom of a hill in a fairly rich area. We've been loving our time in this house - cooking our own dinners, collecting wood for the fire, lying in the sun of the deck, listening to music, eating too much cucumber.... The owner of the house has been very kind too, he took us on a tour of a part of Cape Town. We visited some beaches, warfs, saw some of the townships, and went up the mountains and watched the sun go down. Tomorrow we leave our house to go stay with host families. Although we're looking forward to getting to know a new family, we know we're going to miss our time in our house!
 * 14-06-2012 **

I think we've experienced the best and the worst of South African weather since we've been here. Last week was mostly raining, and we would show up to school looking like a bunch of drowned rats. For sometime I had my own pond in my bedroom. This week has been very sunny, and for winter-time, very warm. We made the most of the good weather by taking a day to go up Table Mountain and see the spectacular views of the city. Some of us enjoyed stressing others out by getting a little too close to the edge.

And what about work you say? Well funny you should ask! We've been working extremely hard getting ready for the final presentation. We have not been able to do much research in South Peninsula High School as of yet, as students have been completing exams and next week will be on holidays. But this has left us some good time to prepare for the... final presentation *da na na naaaa*. 1500 questionnaires have now been entered into the database, 9 schools worth of research is being put into 10 different maps, and a number of videos are currently being put together. However, the matter of what to wear for the occassion is provoking lengthy debates...

- Shelly.

**24-05-2012** So we have been in Canberra now for almost 3 weeks, the time is flying by! Everyone is having a great time at the school, UCSSC Lake Ginninderra College, and are thoroughly enjoying our experience here! We have all been mesmorised by the diverse array of wildlife situated in such an urban area, interested to see what lurks in the more rural area's of Australia! Our first experience of kangaroos was, interesting to say the least, we were all quite blown away by how bizarre they really are and will definately never forget the sight of them all hopping around in the middle of a golf course! We have also seen birds that make strangely human like sounds, and been attacked by magpies whilst eating burritos! We are looking foward to a trip up the coast this weekend where we will be getting a taste of what Australia is known for, stunning beaches, we just hope Australias reputation for warm weather also holds true!

We have gotten through a lot of work in the school and have been especially interested in the schools links with the University of Canberra and the Australian Institute of Sport, which serves to benefit the students in many ways offering them additional oppertunities and facilities which can be used to further and enrich their school career. We have also been gunning our way through transcriptions in preparation for oncoming presentations in the school, and of course our final presentation in South Africa. In one weeks time we will be saying goodbye to Canberra after what feels like a very brief stay, and onwards to Sydney to take a look around one of the most well known cities in the world, and catch our flight to our final destination, South Africa!

Thats all for now!

-Kieran

**01-05-2012** What an amazing holiday in New Zealand! We toured the South Island, starting at Lake Tekapo, where we relaxed by the water, got burnt from the sun, picked enough apples to feed an army, and watched the sun set while bathing in the hot springs. We then went to the popular tourist destination, Queenstown. Here we did a variety of things, including hiking, eating the most amazing burgers we've ever come across, jet boating, and more eating. An early bus ride took us to the gorgeous mountains known as Milford Sounds. The scenery was stunning. Milford Sounds was followed by a couple of nights in Franz Josef, where we visited the Franz Josef Glacier, and Hannah and Kieran jumped out of a plane! Thankfully, they are still with us today. Our holiday ended with a splendid 5 days in Nelson, a cute costal town up north. Here we relaxd by the beach, got burnt again, read a large amount of books, kayaked through Abel Tasman, and watched Titanic in 3D. Finally, a 7-hour bus journey (which we agreed wasn't long enough as we, believe it or not, really enjoyed doing absolutely nothing on these bus trips!) took us back to Christchurch. That night we were re-welcomed by a 4.6 scaled earth tremor, which was one of the most powerful ones we've felt so far.

So we've been back at Shirley Boys High School for just over a week. Work has been running smoothly, and we're just about to tackle our __next__ lot of transcriptions. At Shirley we've been looking at a variety of things, in particular the House System, in which students are separated in to one of five different houses. They will stay in their house for all of their time at Shirley, and their house will offer them social and academical support. Their house will also encourage students to participate in a large variety of sporting events, and other opportunities inside and outside the school.

Today is Måns' birthday. __Happy birthday__ Måns! In about half an hour we will be surprising him with some cheesecake, and tonight we're all going out for dinner.

We will be arriving in Canberra, Australia, in only 5 days __now__. We're all very excited, especially Caitlin and I as we'll be returning home. Some of us, however, aren't looking forward to the possibility of coming across what Australia is notorious for: the world's most dangerous animals. Should be an experience!

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">- Shelly.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**05-04-2012** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Quite a lot has happened since our last blog entry - we had a very successful stay in New Jersey as well as two productive weeks at Shirley Boys High School in New Zealand! In America we looked quite a bit at the extracurricular activities offered by the school, particularly how they help students learn outside of the classroom. We spoke to lots of staff and students and had a good presentation to deliver some of our findings from the school. There was certainly lots going on at Ridgewood High School!

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Our two weeks in Christchurch have been productive as well, we have interviewed some members of staff as well as setting up a few things for after the holiday.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Tomorrow we depart for our Easter holiday __tour of__ the South Island! I know that everyone is very much looking forward to some quality down time and to see what New Zealand has to offer!

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">We'll be back in two weeks - happy holidays!

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">- Greg

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**06-03-2012** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">After an 8 hour flight that included some rather exciting moments of strong turbulence, we arrived in New Jersey. We were shown to our transport to Ridgewood - a bright yellow school bus that fit in perfectly with what we imagined would look like. We have spent just over a week in USA now, our first week as complete family of 10, as Kieran finally joined!

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Last weekend was spent well. We went to New York City for a day trip, taking a look through Times Square, a trip up the Empire State Buidling as well as the Rockefeller centre, and a peaceful walk through Central Park that was interrupted by a mob of superheros dancing around us before running off, never to be seen again...

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The weather is forecasted to get a lot warmer within the next few days, so we're definitely looking forward to that. The teachers at Ridgewood High School have been enthusiastic about our stay, and we believe we're going to get a lot of great insight during our time here.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">- Shelly.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**16-02-2012** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The group have arrived safe and sound in Scotland, which after the cold snap in Germany seems uncharacteristically mild by comparison! We spent the weekend in Edinburgh, which was a good chance for the international members of the group to experience some scottish culture. We visited some of the old parts of Edinburgh, climbed Arthur's Seat and had a look at the castle. They were even brave enough to try haggis, and seemed pleasantly surprised by the taste!

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">We have been in Aberdeen since Sunday night and have now been introduced to both Bridge of Don Academy and Oldmachar Academy - the two schools which we will be mainly based at. While our time in Aberdeen will be very short (we leave next weekend), the schools have put alot of hard work in before our arrival to make sure that our time is as valuable as possible. They have pre-arranged for us to visit three primary schools, the Sunnybank Language Unit, and there are plenty of members of staff who seem really keen to be involved. So while our time in Aberdeen will be short, i'm sure that its going to be a very useful experience for our research.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">- Greg

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**2012-02-02** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">So we are down to our last week in Germany, almost another school down! We have had a good time in the school so far, we've all found the students particularly enthusiastic and the focus groups in particular have been very interesting so far. Two of our Rich Tasks have been completed and the general feeling is that they went well on the whole, although things could have been improved in hindsight. The gothic literature Rich Task is still ongoing, with three lessons penciled in for next week (taking the grand total up to 6 periods!) for the students to work on their creative writing task. We are also speaking to members of staff and gathering their thoughts about Personalised Learning. We're still hoping to get visits to other nearby schools sorted, although responses have been slow so that's a bit up in the air.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Outside school we have been enjoying our time in Germany. We spent a weekend in Hamburg which was a great experience. One of the highlights was the Hamburg Dungeon, where we got a couple of hilarious shock reaction photos! Monday and Tuesday this week were school holidays so we took a long weekend to go to Berlin. We saw some interesting museums, visited the Berlin wall and had a tour of the city. Daryl in particular thought the Berln wall was very impressive. It was, however, absolutely freezing in Berlin so that was a bit of a challenge! Our Starbucks consumption skyrocketed in the cold, so we're all on a bit of a caffine come down after that.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Now we're getting ready for a staff presentation next week to round off our time in Graf-Friedrich-Schule.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">- Greg

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**2012-01-20** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">And so here we are - a new year, a new country and a new member!

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The group arrived in Diepholz, Germany, last Monday night at midnight and were met by our host families. Everyone in Germany has been very welcoming, making us feel at home and ensuring that everyone is settling in very well. It's been a busy couple of weeks here, setting up in a new school, meeting a new member and, of course, trying out Zumba! <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">On the business front, everything is going very well! The teachers have been very welcoming and enthusiastic. Due to this we have managed to gather around 100 completed questionnaires, a handfull of focus groups and today we have our first of 3 planned Rich Tasks! Hopefully we will be able to continue in a similar vein, taking Graf-Friedrich Schule by storm! <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">On Wednesday evening our new member - Caitlin Wann - arrived in Diepholz, all the way from Oz! Though a little bit jetlagged, she seems to be settling in very well and I'm sure will fit in perfectly! <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Last Saturday the group took a day trip to the nearby city of Bremen, around 60km from Diepholz. It has to be said that it wasn't exactly the most challenging day of Learning School so far - taking a 3 hour lunch, stopping off at a chocolate shop to then move on to a very nice cake and coffee shop were the main activities! Nonetheless everyone I'm sure will agree that our time in Bremen was well worth it. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">This weekend the group group are continuing City Slicking by taking a trip to Hamburg, which is around 2 hours on the train from Diepholz. The hope is that we can be a little more productive here than in Bremen, but sometimes the lure of cake is just too much - we shall wait and see!

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Anyway, probably enough from me. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Cheers! <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">-Stuart

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**2011-12-21** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Last job of the year: update the blog! We had a busy time for our last few weeks in Czech Republic; 3 Rich Tasks and a final presentation for staff and pupils. There were some presentation nerves going around beforehand, but it went really well and everyone did a great job! It was slightly embarassing to hear my "beautiful" singing voice on the video of our 'Christmas Carols' Rich Task, but anything that can inject some humour is a welcome addition I guess! We finished up at school on Friday, celebrated Nikki's birthday over the weekend and then flew off home for Christmas. Me and Stuart went via Vienna, which was really great; they go a bit crazy for Christmas Markets over there, you could barely turn around without being offered some mulled wine. Now we're all home safe and sound and looking forward to some quality time with friends and family. I can't believe that the first stage of Learning School XIII is done and dusted, its gone by so fast. But of course, there is plenty more yet to come; starting off in January when we head to Germany.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">From Learning School we wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! See you in 2012... <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">-Gregory

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**2011-11-28** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Last week we had the first Rich Task in the Czech Republic. It went very well and we are going to have a second lesson on the same Rich Task today. Right now we are 8 members in the group since Hannah and Shelly joined in the Czech Republic. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">This weekend we all went to see Prague and meet Shelly when she arrived from Australia. We all loved Prague and we stayed in a lovely hostel called "Hostel One". I strongly recommended it if you're ever going to visit Prague and need a good, but cheap hostel. We paid about £17 for two nights. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">That's all for now, need to get back to work. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">- Måns

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**2011-11-14** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Yesterday, Sunday evening we arrived in the Czech Republic. We landed in Prague in the afternoon and then took a train to Zlín and our next school. We are all excited about the new school here and so far we've just walked around for a bit, seen the school and got some things sorted. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">We all enjoyed staying together in Sweden, but this is the first country where we all have host families and so far all of us seem happy with theirs. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Hopefully we all will have a good time here in the Czech Republic. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">- Måns

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**2011-11-10** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">It's been a busy couple of weeks for Learning School, as we have tied up all the loose ends from Bobergsgymnasiet. This week we have had four Rich Task Lessons, as well as interviews, and a full presentation for the staff of the school. Last week was a holiday week for the school, but not for us! We had the difficult job of compiling all of our findings from Shetland and Sweden, to give the <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">staff an idea of how our research is shaping up. I think it was a very useful experience for everyone, as it really allowed us to look at everything we have done, and think about where the project is going. The presentation went very well (although it was difficult to talk about everything in only 30 mins), and everyone seemed pleased with what we have done so far. We're now starting to work on the case studies for Sweden, and again our presentation preparation will be very helpful there. Then it's off to the Czech Republic on Sunday: I can't believe we're on to our third school already! <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">- Gregory

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**2011-10-06** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Hello, <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">our blog hasn't exactly been the most updated resource on the internet, so we shall be making more of an effort in the future! We have settled great into Sweden, our second school on the whistlestop tour of the world we have signed up for. We are staying at Torpshamer, 40 km from Ånge, which is where the AWARE international rescue programme is based. The programme is part of Bobergsgymnasiet (the school which is based in Ånge), and allows the students to blend practical courses (such as firefighting, diving, and emergency medical training) with more academic courses which are carried out at Bobergsgymnasiet. We are staying in the student accommodation, which has been a great team building exercise for us. We have had a day with the AWARE students last week, in which we carried out focus groups, surveys and vox pops. It was also a good chance to introduce ourselves to the students. Today is our first day in Boberg, and we're working to bring together our ideas and form a plan for our time in Sweden. We also spent Friday in a school in Sundsvall called Mikael Elias, and they are also very interested in both Global Classroom and the Learning School. We will probably be spending some more time there before we move on. Thats most of our news so far. A couple of nights ago we made pizzas for tea, and Nikki developed her own line of heart shaped pizzas which will undoubtedly take the world by storm. Patent pending.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Thats all for now, <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">-Greg

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**2011-09-26** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Hey! <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Monday again! Last week we did our first Rich Tasks. Actually 3 of them. One in Business Management, one in English and one with the Student Advisory Group. They all went well. The one we had with the Student Advisory Group on the Friday was over the whole day and they got to design a fair trade chocolate bar and then create an ad-campagin and try to sell the idea to our "Dragons Den" judges. The winners got big fair trade chocolate bars and the rest got small chocolate bar. I personally think it was a really exciting week and I'm looking forward to our last week here in the Anderson High School.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">- Måns

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**2011-09-21** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Hello! <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Here we go! This is the first blog input. Right now we've spent 3 weeks in Anderson High School in the Shetland Islands. We've started planning and doing some of our research and it's going well so far. Staff and students here are being really helpful. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">We are now going to start update our wikispace more and more as we go.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">In two weeks on the 4th of October we head off to the next school and country, Bobergsgymnasiet and Sweden. I can only say one thing, excited!!

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">We are all enjoying Learning School so far and we look forward to a very interesting year ahead and we hope to meet you all at some point.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">That's all for now. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">- Måns