Woodthorpe Church of England Primary School
Learning & Growing Together To Be The Best We Can Be
India Link
On January 26th 2024 Mrs Trundell and Miss Turner headed off to Kolkata in India to work alongside teachers in our link school, Brace Bridge for a week. This is important for the children at Woodthorpe, as it provides them with experiences of another culture, through the eyes of these teachers, as well as learning about the differences and similarities between these pupils in India and us.
Before Mrs Trundell and Miss Turner went the children at Woodthorpe made some friendship bracelets for each of the children in the link school and also wrote some greetings on hands.
On their first day in Kolkata they visited the local cathedral, then drove to a Jain Temple. The temple was an incredibly beautiful building with amazing mosaics and statues. They found out that the Jain religion is an India religion that is completely peaceful. Jains believe in causing little or no harm to animals, plants and humans, so because of this they are vegetarian. During this visit they also spoke to the Indian hosts and found out that some Hindu women put red/orange hair dye on their hairline to show that they are married.
Mrs Trundell and Miss Turner also met the ‘Cathedral Relief Service’ staff, who work tirelessly to improve the education of the children in Kolkata, as well as running women empowerment projects, encouraging and training women so they can work to further improve their lives. A member of the CRS staff, Kuheli, accompanied Mrs Trundell and Miss Turner each day to the school. She was inspirational and had worked for the charity for over thirty years, travelling four hours a day, so that she could change the lives of children living in poorest areas of the city.
For the rest of the week Mrs Trundell and Miss Turner worked in our link school at Brace Bridge. Unlike Woodthorpe the school has only one classroom for children aged from two to ten. They also had no desks and chairs, so most of the learning was on the floor. At the start of each day they would say a prayer before lessons began.
On the first day Mrs Trundell and Miss Turner were greeted with flowers, a dance, lots of singing and beaming smiles. On the days that followed they taught alongside the Indian teachers, showing them how we teach phonics in England, teaching them how to have a conversation in English and also teaching the children some English counting songs, such as ten currant buns in a baker’s shop. The children and teachers were so enthusiastic and tried to join in with everything they were shown.
Mrs Trundell and Miss Turner also gave the children the fabulous hands and bracelets the children had decorated and made at Woodthorpe. They were so happy with these and put them on straight away. During the week, the children of Brace Bridge decorated their own hands to share with the Woodthorpe children. They also created an amazing poster to show us the difficulties and positives of living in their neighbourhood.
As part of the week, Mrs Trundell and Miss Turner also visited the local potteries where potters were making thousands of Hindu statues of gods and goddesses for a festival on the 14th of February called Basant Panchami, which is celebrating the coming of Spring. At the end of the festival it is customary to place the statues in the river Ganges.
Mrs Trundell and Miss Turner also went on an exciting journey, three hours out of Kolkata, to visit one of the women’s empowerment projects in a village called Geonkhali. The women here had been learning different sewing techniques from a tutor, so they can make their own money and eventually be paid for their incredible sewing work. The women here were so proud of their amazing sewing and spoke about it with enthusiasm and pride.
One evening Mrs Trundell and Miss Turner also visited Mother Teresa’s tomb and the nuns, who still live inside the Mother House. These nuns still support the community, offering help to the poorest and sickest people in Kolkata, following on from the work of Mother Teresa.
On their final Saturday in Kolkata the teachers from England organised a sports day for the children from all the CRS schools. The children were so excited and enjoyed lots of fun activities such as egg and spoon, sack races, skipping, as well as having an entertainer and some lunch.
For Mrs Trundell and Miss Turner, it was extremely emotional saying goodbye to the children and teachers from Brace Bridge. For the whole week they were greeted with smiles, generosity and kindness. We hope, as a school, we can keep the link going and hopefully visit again in the future.
Whilst Mrs Trundell and Miss Turner were away, the children at Woodthorpe did some incredible work all about India. They learnt about Mother Teresa, the Hindu religion and some of the festivals, found out some facts about the country and animals, created some amazing artwork, listened to some stories and music, and even learnt some Indian dances, as well as enjoying hearing daily updates live from India.