To start off the weekend on Friday, we all met at Laura’s house before setting off on the 2
hour road trip to Chatton in two cars. The car journey was good – we talked pretty much the
whole way and it was a good start in getting to know people. Drove past the Angel of the
North which was pretty cool, apparently it’s famous – something I should probably already
know.When we arrived at the bunkhouse in Chatton around 7:30pm, we picked bunk beds
and then gathered in the kitchen for tea. Emily and Omari cooked beans on toast.

Saturday morning we woke up early and had breakfast ready for the Education Workshop,
led by Gareth, Julia and Laura. Julia started of the workshop by speaking to us in Chinese
to create a language barrier similar to the one we will all have whilst teaching in Sri Lanka.
Trying to teach us in Chinese made a very good point and certainly opened my eyes to how
difficult teaching in a foreign language could be, especially with young children. Gareth and
Julia then introduced ways in which to overcome the barrier, including flashcards, which will
most definitely be useful out in Sri Lanka. Laura then led her part of the session and gave
us all lots of information on who and where we will be teaching and how to adapt teaching
methods according to the age group we’ll be teaching. Overall a really good workshop! We
then walked through the village to Joy’s house and spent the afternoon with herself and
David, and two trustees Alison and Scott. For lunch Joy made vegetarian chilli was which
delicious. During the afternoon we received the day to day plan for the summer which was
very exciting. After all the talks were over, we took a group photo on village green in our
stash and then walked back to the bunkhouse, had tea and went to bed.

The following day we got up early again and walked to Joys where we spent the morning
talking about the project. Joy also handed out our plane tickets. Exciting! We then walked
back to the bunkhouse and had lunch. Afterwards we had an afternoon of the Arts and
Crafts, Music and Dance and Sports workshops. I learnt a lot from these as the whole team
were sharing and expanding ideas in each workshop and I think each one of us would now
be confident in teaching each area in Sri Lanka. That evening Gareth and I made a chilli for
tea and afterwards we all sat around the kitchen table talking for a few hours, getting to know
each other a bit more. Whether it was something personal or an annoying habit, everyone
shared something new about themselves. It was great and I really enjoyed it. I feel like I
know everyone a little bit better now.

The next morning we left Chatton and returned to Stockton, stopping off at Durham on the
way. In Durham we had a picnic at Hannah’s and then visited Chandana, a Professor at
Sabaragamuwa University, in Hatfield College. He talked to us about the University and
possible things we could do during our stay there. It was nice to meet Chandana, he was
lovely and it was great to find out more about the University.

So it’s only a few weeks until we leave for Sri Lanka and I’m so excited! The away weekend
gave us a flavour of what the summer will be like, and it has made upcoming experience
all the more real. It was good to get to know the team a bit more and I learnt a lot from the
workshops. Overall success.