Home safely.

Back home safely had an absolutely fantastic time in the Lebanon, the Lebanese people are absolutely fantastic some of the friendliest and kindest people you could ever meet. Our partner school Mohammad Shamel State School is a wonderful place with some of the most enthusiastic and motivated children you could wish for. THANK YOU MOHAMMAD SHAMEL SCHOOL!

Last day

This morning before catching the plane home I visited the school again to teach a final lesson on verbs, and say good bye and thank you to the staff and children for a fantastic visit to Lebanon.

Byblos

Today I have had another fantastic day, we have visited the city of Byblos. The trip there an back was certainly an adventure with the crazy bus drivers. However once we got there it was a great place. Byblos is one of the worlds oldest continually inhabited cities. First we visited the magnificent ruins of the Crusader Castle.

After this we visited the ruins in the grounds of the castle including the Royal tombs.

We also visited the harbour area which was once the nerve centre of world commerce, where wood was shipped to the capitals of the ancient world.

Rocket attack.

You may have heard about the rocket attack in Beirut, but I'm fine, this is a long way from where I'm staying.

Beiteddine Palace.

Finally on our cultural tour we visited the magnificent Beiteddine Palace. This was a very grand place now the summer residence of the Lebanese President. The building is full of interesting artefacts especially a collection of fantastic mosaics recovered from the local area.

Moussa's Castle

Next after leaving the museum we visited Moussa's Castle. This was the fulfilment of a life long quest of Mr Moussa, who as a child was beaten by his teacher drawing pictures and imagining his castle. The museum is filled with models depicting scenes from traditional Lebanese life.

Deir El Kamar Museum

The palace of Prince Faker El Din El Meaani II the Great has now been converted into a museum charting the history of Lebanon through an eclectic mix of wax work figures as well as some amusing fairground mirrors.

Kfarhim Grotto.

Our first stop was at the Kfarhim Grotto, which although not as impressive as the Jeita Grotto that we visited last Sunday were still quite impressive.

Cultural Day

Today has been a cultural day visiting some of the historical places outside Beirut in the mountains.

Maths lesson.

Today I have also lead a maths lesson with Grade 4, on multiplication, Mrs Douce will be proud I tried to teach them the grid method. The children, as usual, were a delight to teach and were fantastic especially as maths in Grade 4 is usually taught in Arabic.

Playing our times tables games Class C.

Afternoon Tea

After making our Scones we spread them with jam and drunk traditional English tea and had a British afternoon tea party.

Day in school.

Today I have spent the day in our fantastic partner school, Mohammad Shamel School. First off I have taught them how to bake traditional English Scones, they turned out better than our hummus, although  one child did say it was like eating chewing gum, so maybe not.

Inclusion Conference

Today was a very interesting day, I attended the British Council run course Inclusion: Access and Engagement, A UK perspective. This course looked at practice in the UK and how this may apply in Lebanon, it was interesting to discuss this with our partner school and discuss strategies we use in the UK and how they could use them here.

Pigeon Rocks and The Corniche.

After another busy day in school, I have been for a lovely stroll along the sea front area of Beirut, called the Corniche, with two of the teachers from school. The Corniche is a fantastic place to see a great cross section of Beiruti life from old men playing traditional instruments to people smoking the traditional nargileh pipes.

Video conferencing between Mohammad Shamel State school and Frances Olive Anderson

To finish the day in school we managed to hold a very successful video conferencing session between the two schools. I am sure all the children learnt a lot about each others cultures and customs.

Maths lesson in Arabic

French Lesson

English Lesson

Day at Mohammad Shamel State school.

Today I have spent the day with the children and staff at Mohammad Shamel State, our partner school. I was lucky enough to join in on a French lesson, maths lesson and an English lesson. In school we have also had two auditors from the British Council to see the amazing work the children in  Lebanon and the UK are doing as part of the Connecting Classroom scheme. They both left the school impressed with our progress so far.

Rest and Relaxation.

What an amazing way to end a great day, sitting by the sea watching the sun set over the Mediterranean with a good book. 

National Museum

After visiting the school we visited the Lebanese National Museum in Beirut. This was full of wonderful artefacts charting the history of Lebanon and surrounding areas. 

Ali Bin Abu Taleb School

Today I have visited the private, fee paying, Ali Bin Abu Taleb School, to compare and contrast this to our state funded partner school, Mohammad Shamel School. The teachers and children in this school, like our partner school, were fantastic and friendly. The major difference was the excellent ICT they had in place with a large computer suite and smart boards in most classrooms.

Welcome dinner

Tonight I went out for dinner with representatives from the British Council and school staff. The hummus was delicious much better than yours Class C!

Partnership work

Examples of work done between the two schools, proudly displayed at Mohammad Shamel School.