Bagnas

Bagnas

So I got back to Bagnas this week. It is a very small school around 55 children; however, there couldn’t have been 40 there on any day I visited. The teachers told me that often children have to stay at home to do work, mainly farm work I think.

Day one

Year 1, 2 and 3

We did some animals names and posters, preposition games using animals and mini posters, matching and memory games then had a bit of bingo. Now on my own with these guys it was rather difficult to get them organised, as they really crave praise for their work. So i’d be talking  to one kid on how to improve their poster and have swarms of others around me shouting that they had done their work. I can tell them to sit down in Nepali but as soon as I moved to someone else it just happened again.

Year 4 and 5

I got the twinning letters sorted which discussed the Nepali festivals of Tihar, Dashian and Teej. Then they wanted to play some bingo, these guys put old women to shame with their enthusiasm for bingo. The children are great in this class their English has come along a lot since my first visit in October and most of the time they could understand what I was after. Although I am still fighting a losing battle against not just copying the text of the information sheets I gave them, but then when you spend most of the time copying or repeating it is rather innate.

Day 3

Nursery and reception re-caped parts of the body then played body games and sung body related songs. Then I got them to drawn round each other on A1 paper and colour in and label parts of the body and clothes. Finally, we did some face painting which was proper funny, although I demonstrated on myself and let one of the kids have a blast with my face (the picture only shows what I drew with no mirror). They teachers did remind me to wash it of but I needed to rush back and plus I had a motorbike helmet on; however, I forgot and went for a wander round town for a while looking like a nutter with a green coloured on beard.

pre green beard

Day 4

They had a celebrated today as the school is in its 26^th year. However, it was on Nepali time so instead of the 10:30 start it was 12:30, but I spend the time teaching some of the children to skip backwards and to cross the rope over in the air, two skills I never knew I had, and I also spent some time failing to play badminton. It was only a short ceremony with the usual speeches and dancing, then all the children who had performed in the tops three in different subjects/years/gender/and some more categories were presented with workbooks and pencils. I think everyone ended up with something. I did see one girl with 8 books though.

"I'd rather eat my book"

It’s been a good week.