LANDSDALE PRIMARY SCHOOL is the newest member of AASSubmitted by Belinda Scott.
I read about the ‘Adopt-A-School’ programme in “School Matters” in the middle of Term 2 and proposed to the staff at Landsdale Primary School that we should become a part of it. After initial enquiries, I was able to meet up with Susan and Derek Cromb in Bali on Friday the 13th of July, whilst I was holidaying there.
Our first stop was to SD 5 Abiantuwung, a school which has been a part of the programme for several years, sister school with Connelly Primary School. After initial greetings had taken place, I was able to witness the amazing benefits that being a part of the ‘Adopt-A-School’ programme has had for SD 5 Abiantuwung. The students were all dressed in uniform (during their school holidays!) and were happy to practise their English on us.
The English teacher at SD 5, Sri, showed us their English classroom, which had been converted, with encouragement and funds from Derek and the programme, from the administration block to a class just for English lessons. There were English/Indonesian charts and posters on the walls and English reading books on the shelves. The classroom itself was a brightly coloured, inviting room, which would definitely account for the eagerness in the students’ English learning, and a stark contrast to the other classrooms in the school.
Students from SD 1 Abiantuwung
Mr Alit Widia at SD 2 Kaba-Kaba
Prinicipal Mr Wayan Watia, a teacher and English teacher
I was also able to see the wall around the school, the volleyball court and the functioning toilet block, all done with funds from the programme. It was great to be able to see the impact that the programme has had over just a few years. We then went to SD 1 Abiantuwung, a new school to the programme. We were greeted with garlands of flowers, Balinese dancing and some lovely Balinese food, whilst we were introduced to the students and teachers.
I had the opportunity to see some of the things that Susan’s school (Mt Hawthorn Junior Primary) had sent across to SD 1 and to get some ideas about what to do for initial contact for my schools. Whilst at SD 1, I met Mr Alit Widia, the English teacher from Landsdale’s new Sister School, SD 2 Kaba-Kaba.
We were able to arrange to go to SD 2 Kaba-Kaba to have a look around, and to meet the principal. SD 2 Kaba-Kaba has 256 students and 7 teachers, plus the principal. It is in need of a fair bit of maintenance to fix broken windows, doors that don’t shut or lock and broken fixtures such as storage cupboards.
The principal was happy to be joining the programme as Landsdale’s Sister School, and hoped that our association would help our students learn about other cultures. He expressed that he would like Landsdale to raise funds for his school to get a bed, window and medicine cabinet for the sick room, finish the half started canteen building and help to make the fence around the school higher.
Mr Alit wants Landsdale staff and students to help him gather resources for teaching English, such as old books and posters and charts for the rooms. Both Landsdale Primary School and SD 2 Kaba-Kaba are really looking forward to the positive effect that this programme is going to have on both of our schools.
