Today was the day where it got serious as we went into Hastings School. As we have followed the experiences of Miss Gill and Mrs M in the past couple of years and have seen pictures of Hastings School my first impressions were somewhat as I expected although I didn’t expect there to be so little space in the classroom – there were 45 children of varying ages and abilities crammed onto the dusty floor and we were expected to teach them for 4 and a half hours (which is not easy). Fortunately we had a variety of songs, games and activities planned and I was joined by a couple of students from Derby University and another teacher who was placed with us at the last moment as her scheduled school couldn’t take her today. I think it is best if I show you some pictures.
The school is through that small doorway.
Can you guess what we are doing in each of the pictures?
We are shortly heading out for dinner so I will post more later. I am enjoying reading all you comments so thank you for those. Keep them coming!
Mr Wilde in Kolkata 
Hello Mr Wilde! These pictures are amazing! We hope you had fun with the children and they enjoyed your activities. We were wondering what you were doing with the plastic bottle? Were you pretending it was the caterpillar? Say hello to Mrs Gupta and the children from all of us- and tell us if you had curry for tea! love from the Infants
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Hello Infants. Thanks for your message. The bottle wasn’t anything deliberate – I think the child was walking back across the class having been outside! We will say hello to Mrs Gupta. Tonight was my first evening without curry but my vegetable lasagna did have an Indian spiced flavour. I hope you are enjoying the blog. Keep asking questions.
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Mr Wilde,
A note from the Juniors!
We have had a great time reading your blog – really interesting and very detailed. (Eli)
Max says you need to improve your poses to be as good as Mrs M’s!
What did it look like inside the Cathedral? (Nancy)
Are you having a good time? (Bella)
Alex wants to know how hot it is?
We will write again tomorrow and look forward to replies!
From, The Juniors!
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Hello Juniors. It is great to hear from you and I’m glad you are enjoying reading my blog. I’m sorry Max that I don’t pose as well as Mrs M – some people just have natural ability!
Nancy – inside the cathedral was nice. It was wider than a British cathedral and it had lots of fans hanging from the ceiling. It also had lots of wicker chairs rather than pews which were much more comfortable.
Yes Bella I having a good time but today’s teaching was exhausting.
Alex – it is pleasant but not too hot. I wore jeans and jumper to go out this evening. Also the students who are with us and staying at a hostel are using some of the blankets we made because they are so cold at night. When the sun comes out in the middle of the day it is warm but there is so much air pollution and dust that I’m not sure how much of the sun is reaching me.
Thanks for the questions. I look forward to receiving more!
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Hi Mr Wilde, Hope you had a nice day Hastings. Did the children have a nice day? Are there any Indian festivals while you are there? Love from Emmy
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Hi Emmy. I hope the children had a nice day. We’ve not seen any festivals yet but I’m told that there are many. There is a mosque next door to Hastings School and in February there is a famous festival with people coming from all over India to be there. It seemed too small to believe it when we were there.
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Hello Mr Wilde
Do any of the children play sports? Apparently cricket is a very popular game in India.
From Jacamo
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Hi Jacamo
Yesterday the Hastings children told me they liked football and cricket but I’m not sure if they have chance to play much, certainly not at school as there is no space. On my way to the school from the hotel we pass some big open areas and there always seem to be cricket matches going on. It is clearly the most popular sport but football is getting bigger – last year Kolkata hosted the youth would cup which England won.
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