Following a vocational visit to India by one of the teachers, the pupils of Newick House School forged links with schools in the state of Orissa, close to the Bay of Bengal. They have communicated through Making the News, an internet link provided by the BBC to schools and in use by the Open University, through letters and by using photographs and video to inspire their curriculum studies. It is proposed that the links continue with the Indian schools depicted in this presentation, beyond the International Schools Award year. It is hoped to introduce flash-meeting sessions (an inexpensive way video conferencing through Making the News) now that time delays can be catered for. As a special school in the UK we feel our links with these special schools in India have enabled our pupils to consider others, and they way they live, with more understanding and with considerable empathy.

Jeevan Jyoti Orphanage

Rama Devi Sishu Bihar Special School

They hand embroider cards. We have been helping to sell them to make the orphanage self-sufficient & to help them buy things they do not have in the home.

The girls all wrote to us and sent us a video of their dancing. One of them is dancing on her knees! We compared their music with our own.

See the video on the next slide!

We were all amazed to see how they write (from right to left) and we tried to work out what each word was in Indian script!

They all drew beautiful pictures on the other side of their letters

The orphans at this school come from tribal villages. Because they were disabled at birth they were not allowed to stay in the village. They make beautiful cards using embroidery, they sent us some to look at. We tried to make them too, but it was very hard. Some of the girls have had operations to help them walk again, we raised some money to help them travel to the hospital, 300 miles away. When they can walk properly they will be able to return to the orphanage and help look after those children who will never walk. Sister Elizabeth comes from Africa, she looks after the orphans with two other nuns.

We had a visit from Mr. Anoop Ambrose , he is the headteacher of a school in Orissa. The children in his school all sing in English and start school when they are 3 years old.

See the video on the next slide...

We used books and the internet to find out about Orissa. We were amazed that the school did not have proper walls to the classes and that the children sometimes had to sit on the floor for lessons. They use slates to write on instead of workbooks.

They do not have electricity in class so they use lamps

We learnt how these children learn to make clothes and candles in their school to help buy books and that the deaf children do not use sign language like us.

Remi Devi Sishu Bihar Special School sent us pictures of their work. We learnt about their Hindu faith and sent them pictures of our work at Newick House. They were doing some work on protecting their planet, just like out school.

Say No to land fill !

The children have to look after the gardens and grow most of their food. These are special beans that they grow to eat. We sent them pictures of our gardening at Newick House.

We learnt how our Indian friends lived through photographs and emails. We used Making the News to send our messages

Many of the orphans come from this village in India. Because they were disabled they had to leave.

At the Gifted and Talented day in school the pupils from Newick House and other pupils from mainstream schools looked at the differences of a child’s life in the UK with that of a pupil in India. We videoed the day and presented our Powerpoint to parents at the end of the day.

We decided to create a dance based on Indian music. We listened to Indian music and created our own dance. We wore saris & Indian scarves

Most Indian children would walk to school at about 6:30 in the morning. Then at about 9:00 their mums or nannies would come and bring them their breakfast, which would contain curry. It would be held in 5 tin pots which would fit inside each other.

But in England we normally drive to school at about twenty to nine, after having breakfast, some cereal or toast, at 7:50. At our home.

Some of our Gifted and Talented pupils came to school on a Saturday to share a day using ICT and dance/drama with pupils from other mainstream schools in West Sussex. They compared the life of a child in India with that of our own in Sussex. They made Powerpoint presentations and learnt a dance together. Some of our autistic pupils videoed the whole day. Parents were invited to come a watch the presentation at the end of the day. It was good fun working with pupils from other schools.

I have decided that I would like to live in India because of the weather and the food there learning there is very good. I don’t want to live in England Because it has different weather to India and it does have better facilities but I would more like to live India

Shriya Patel

I have decided that I would like to live in England because England has clear water and India doesn't have clean water

Alex Blown

I would like to live in England because there is good internet access here and the water is safe.

I would not like to live in India because there's little if no internet available and the water is dirty and disease filled.

Alex Jay

This page shows some of their comments at the end of the G & T day

The following videos were filmed by two pupils from Newick House School. Pupils from mainstream schools and from our Special School joined together to produce the video. The first video is a live performance in front of all the parents at the end of the day.

It was incredible to see the concentration that took place by all pupils throughout the day. We were especially impressed by the social interaction between our own Gifted and Talented pupils and those from schools throughout the authority.

See what we mean on the next slide

Art work linked to the Indian project and the study of Hinduism

Pupils used their artistic skills to create models of insects and creatures following a study of Indian creatures – with some artistic allowance! They shared them with Indian pupils through emails

Pupils across all Keystages sent messages through Making the News to our partner schools in India. We tried to show them what our school looked like and what we were learning

Saturn class made some Indian-type music

Newick House have used the links with India to help them learn in a variety of different ways:

Through art ..

Through music ..

They made masks ..

They danced .....

Through collage ....

They studied Hinduism .....

They raised money and counted it for the bank in maths .......

They used maps in Geography ...

They studied animals ...

The boys especially enjoyed comparing the transport in both countries

Everyone has enjoyed the link with India and they all want to continue.

.. Which we intend to do