And so…on with Day 2 of School.

We are usually based in an adjunct to the main staff room, which is a large open plan room with rows of cubicles one for each of the staff. Whilst I was sitting in there updating my journal, Cik Gu Dul brought in Colin and Shirley who were doing the second day of rounds to the schools. We caught up quickly on what was happening, and that all was well and everyone happy, and were then invited to have some morning tea and some Nasi Lemak.

After Colin and Shirley had left, I spoke with Dul to see if we could organise sitting in on some more classes in addition to the ones we had scheduled (today the only scheduled classes for science were in the afternoon) and said that I would very much like to sit in on more of the classes and especially some Form Six classes.  We spoke with one of the senior teachers who said that there would be a Form Six class that were going to be unsupervised for the English class because their teacher was away on school business, and maybe we could sit in on that class. I happily accepted and went off in search of Cik Gu Laura who was in one of her scheduled maths classes with Mohammed Noor (who is studying at the University of Melbourne!).

When we got to the class, the students were managing themselves, and collected themselves as we came to the front. We introduced ourselves and explained that we would sit in on their class and that we were going to practice conversational English. It turns out that all Form Six students are doing their English (HSC equivalent) exams next week. The students were all a bit shy to start with, deferring to the couple amongst them who were more proficient in English and who were answering most of the questions, until I decided to split them into groups, and get each group to describe the exam (format, how it is carried out etc) in English – by now all students were instructed that ALL conversations in the class were to be carried out in English, even amongst themselves – which gave us the opportunity to involve the quieter ones. As the lesson progressed, and it was made clear that they did not need to feel shy or embarrassed about their English ability and this is why we were here, they began to open up and participate more freely. All in all they were a very happy and cheerful bunch, even taking photos and video of our session (which I made sure to ask for copies of when I noticed them being taken………).

Guru Lemak!

Teaching in action - Students point of view. Electing a class representative!

Towards the end, the students asked if they could take group photos with us, and we were happy to oblige. 

I had to get off quickly to my scheduled Form 2 General Science class (13 yo, Year 8 equivalent), but Cik Gu Laura didn’t have anything scheduled and decided to stay and answer further questions and practice their English with them.

Back at RECSAM, We had a debrief, where all school-groups had positive reports. The group was acknowledged for our cohesion, and the positive work and impressions we were making as representatives of UWS.

After a heavy downpour earlier in the day, it was now a constant light rain/drizzle, and a group of us headed off to New World Park, a newer modern version of the usual traditional food courts.