Teachers take The Perse to Bangalore

Two teachers from The Perse are in Bangalore learning how almost £3000 raised by the School will be used to transform impoverished children’s lives through education.

During their ten day visit the two teachers, Anne Cunningham and Deborah Vernon-Purvis, have been sharing their expertise and exchanging experiences with teachers at the Christel House School. Anne has been advising on the Art curriculum, display techniques and the learning environment, as well as creating teaching resources and taking workshops on weaving and batik techniques that she hopes to introduce to Perse students. Deborah has been meeting teachers and observing lessons, and co-teaching English including turning one of the standard prose text extracts for the Indian board exam into classroom drama.

Both teachers have visited some of the slum homes of pupils, and are finding the visit rewarding, inspiring and sometimes challenging.

The Perse School has worked closely with Christel House since 2011. Each year, it sends two of its teachers to one of the charity’s schools around the world to share knowledge and experiences. In Spring 2013, the principal of a Christel House school in Lavasa, India, came to The Perse to do the same.

Pupils, parents and staff at The Perse School raised money for Christel House through a variety of activities, including a fair organised by The Perse Parents’ Association that raised more than £1000. Pupil fundraising included the creation of a Christel House inspired Christmas card and selling crafts. During the 2012 / 13 school year, Perse parents, pupils and teachers have raised nearly £3000 for the charity, with nearly £5,000 in total raised over the last two years.

Ed Elliott, Head of The Perse School, said: “We are very proud of our fundraising successes – our parents, pupils and staff put in a considerable amount of time and effort to raise money for well deserving charities and the work of Christel House is very close to our hearts. As a school, we benefit enormously from the exchange; our staff can experience a different teaching environment and pupils get to learn first hand about other cultures in a fun and engaging manner. We’re looking forward to receiving the report back from our two teachers following their trip, and helping many more of our pupils and teachers to benefit from this experience in years to come”.

Further reports will follow when the teachers return to share their experiences with the Perse community.