Diary of the visit to England

Comenius Visit to England

1^st – 4^th May

by Nola

On Tuesday 1^st May we went to London to pick up the Spanish and Polish visitors. We met them at their hotels and then we looked around London together.

First we saw Buckingham Palace and then we walked to Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey.

After taking photos and listening to Big Ben chiming half past one, we walked over Westminster Bridge and saw the London Eye and the River Thames. We saw lots of boats, people and traffic.

We walked along the South Bank until we came to Waterloo Bridge then we walked up to Covent Garden where we stopped for a drink and had chocolate cake. We saw people dancing and there was opera singing outside the café.

I really liked it because I saw a big dish of paella which reminded me of our visit to Spain.

 

The coach picked us up at 4 o’clock and we started the long journey to Ivybridge. There was lots of traffic in London and we got back to school at half past nine. I was very tired, but we were met by parents who were going to be looking after the students from Spain and Poland.

On Wednesday 2^nd May we all met in school for a very busy day together. 

Singing and dancing

First there was an assembly with dancing and singing to welcome the visitors. 

Then I did my power point presentation about Manor Primary School. The other schools did their power points about their schools and we saw examples of singing and dancing from all the countries.

The Polish students showed us films of them performing Spanish traditional dance moves and English Morris dancing. The Spanish students had brought musical instruments they had made and put them on display.There were also displays around the hall showing artists, musicians, dancers and singers from the 3 countries.

Drama Performances

 Over the next 2 days we watched each school perform a play. It was called Pyramus and Thisbe, and it was written by William Shakespeare. The teachers were good as the main characters especially Mrs Loveday and Mr Rowland as the handsome Pyramus and the lovely Thisbe! We also really liked Victor, who played Thisbe in the Spanish play!It was interesting as we could follow the play in 3 languages.

Being artists -

In the afternoons we painted the wall and the cubes. The wall was outside and we painted designs on it from each country. The design from England, by Ruby Lienerth, was in the middle.

 

In the hall we had another group who were painting characters and scenes around cubes, to represent each country.

On Thursday 3^rd May the teachers and students visited Ivybridge Community College to see lessons and facilities in an English secondary school. They were then given a tour of the Watermark, Ivybridge’s multi purpose community building and library, by councillors Reeves and Robbins. 
 

On Thursday evening we had a good meal our head teacher and our music teachers. They made a sausage casserole, salad and a quiche. My Mum made a good broccoli quiche.   After that we had chocolate cake and drink.

On Friday 4^th May we went to Dartmoor with the Spanish and Polish teachers and students.  We went to Widecombe to have a cream tea and we went to Buckfast Abbey to talk to a monk and look around the abbey.

On Friday evening we went on a boat trip and we went to a place in Cornwall to have a barbecue but we had to eat inside. It was lots of fun, even though it was a bit rainy!!!

…and so the week came to an end and we soon had to say goodbye to our friends from Spain and Poland.

I have really enjoyed being part of our Comenius Project. It was all brilliant and I hope that you’ve enjoyed reading this diary.  

                                           Singing and games at break time - happy memories!
                                                    Thank you, Nola Murray