Teaching Resources now available…

Lessons 1, 2 & 3 are now available; aimed at exploring preconceptions they are useful for KS 2 and 3.  Get your students involved in learning about Uganda through our expedition!  They are here (or click ‘teachers’ above)…

Introducing the students!

Meet Lizzie, Georgie and Flora:

Kirsty:

Jo:

Stefan:

Meet the team!

There are 15 students from The Warriner School taking part in the Uganda 2009 expedition.  Over the next two weeks they will all be taking some time out of their GCSE work to introduce themselves here.

Some of the students have been to Africa before; none have been to Uganda.  Some have flown before, some have not.  They all have different motivations, hopes and worries about the expediton…

So watch out for their videos here!

Africa

Richard Dowden’s recent book ‘AFRICA. Altered States, Ordinary Miracles’ is well worth reading. It begins like this:

‘I have watched the sun set, shrunken and mean, over a cold, drab London street and stood outside a mud hut next morning on a Kenyan hillside and seen it rise in glory over the East African plains. Africa is close. Few go there. Africa has a reputation: poverty, disease, war. But when outsiders go they are often suprised by Africa’s welcome, entranced rather than frightened…’

Africa Altered States Ordinary Miracles

His book and indeed his opening paragraph hint at why we are going and what we hope to learn. Whatever we do actually learn, we hope to share this learning experience with others. Through this blog and particularly via the resources that will be built on the Google Maps section, students, parents, teachers – and anyone else for that matter – will be able to track our progress and share in our experiences.

Two teachers from The Warriner School recently visited KHS Uganda. I was one of them and on return I have read Richard Dowden’s ‘Africa’. Michael Buerk’s review says this: ‘At last – a book about Africa the way it is, not the way the idealistic aid workers, lofty international bureaucrats, or doom-laden day-trip journalists think it is. A continent bursting with life… A place too big and varied for easy generalisations, full of paradoxes…’

I hope that our expedition will not slip into these ‘easy generalisations’ but will help us to begin to understand more of this stunning country set in the heart of this mysterious continent. Soon, teaching materials will be available from this site. They are designed to begin exploring preconceptions about Africa. Aimed at both primary and secondary teachers, we hope they will be useful and will help your students to engage with our expedition and so understand more of the real, complex, Uganda.

Itinerary available…

The updated itinerary is available here:  Warriner Expedition 2009

It is a pdf and needs Adobe Acrobat Reader to view it.  To download this programme please click here.

The itinerary is subject to change:  The team will discuss it so that it best suits their aims…

Why Uganda?

 For initial information on the expedition, please look here. 

There are many incredible places around the world that we could experience, explore and teach about. Why choose Uganda?

There are two key reasons:

1. The Warriner – Kigezi link.

2. The country itself.

Firstly, The Warriner has, for over ten years, been linked with Kigezi High School (KHS), Uganda. This link was set up in a very personal way: Barbara Oakley, the head of RMS who retired in the summer, once taught at KHS. On return to England, she maintained the relationships begun in Uganda and forged a partnership between the two schools. This link is focused around learning aims and has contributed to The Warriner’s ‘International School’ designation by the British Council. Recently, Warriner teachers Lesley Robinson and Ian Lee visited KHS for a week. Their experience was brilliant, both for themselves and for the energy it has given to the link. Their 2007 Visit Newsletter Article is well worth checking out.

So, part of the trip would involve actually going to visit KHS. How long we spend there will be decided by the team. What we do there is also up to them. We might choose to do a building project, or some sports coaching. We might choose to spend time teaching some of their classes. Hopefully we’ll spend lots of time learning from each other. Excitingly, in the whole history of the link, this will be the first time that students from The Warriner have been to Kigezi.

The second answer to the question ‘Why Uganda?’ is because of the country itself. Even if we were not linked to KHS, Uganda would be an amazing choice for an expedition. It is an incredibly varied country with an interesting past. It was only made into a country a couple of hundred years ago (once a part of the British Empire) Before this, there were 30 very different tribes and languages in this area now known as Uganda.

Winston Churchill – who was later to become British Prime Minister, published a book in 1908 called ‘My African Journey’. Very creative name. He travelled throughout Africa and wrote up his journey – like a blog – in this book. There are three things that he loved about Uganda: 1. The landscape. 2. The Wildlife. 3. The people. To him, the beauty of it could only be described as a pearl.

Incredible wildlife, landscapes, mountains and people; Uganda has everything to offer. In the 3 weeks we will get a good feel of Uganda – and be able to provide, on return to the UK, a range of teaching resources and experiences to share.

Welcome

Hello!

For more information about the expedition, look here.

Following a meeting on Friday 25th January, potential candidates for the expedition are clutching application forms and deciding whether or not they want to be involved with Uganda 2009!

Forms / deposits need to be in within the next 2 weeks; by FRIDAY 8th FEBRUARY.

(This expedition is only open to Warriner students in the current year 10)