Hi All Mrs M here!
We have had a busy but best day with our Hastings children. We arrived at the school at about 10am and we thought we had gone to the wrong place!!! The children wore lovely dark blue uniform looking very smart (although most still had bare feet), there were desks for the children to work on even though they sat on the carpet. The whole classroom had been arranged differently and the space looked so much bigger. The lady who had lived in the space had moved out so the children have more room.
Can you see we did some work on our bodies and Rashni, the oldest girl, is drawing around one of the boys. We also played 10 pin bowling with 10 plastic bottles. We had just finished singing a song with 10 bottles – can you guess which song it was? They loved that activity and it nearly turned into a cricket lesson!
You can see that their living conditions have not improved. Can you spot the place someone uses to cook?
Finally we finished up at the Bishop’s Palace for a fancy Bengali meal to celebrate the opening of his new lawn. It did look very pretty with all the lights.
Thank you for your questions- lovely to get a few more. Back tomorrow- keep looking! Xx
Further adventures in India... 
Wow – it looks so different with desks! Does that mean there are fewer children in the class? When I was there last year the whole floor was completely full with children. I’m glad to see that the same teachers are still there – has the speaker been used? It certainly seems that you have been enjoying yourselves – I’m getting more jealous with every picture you send!
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Ah, the speaker…we did ask… Alok started to say something and then Santa hushed him up and after quite a lot of heated debate between them and the interpreters they decided it was ‘being used at another school’… Make of that what you will! It does make trying to practice the song with them tricky though 🤪. There are definitely a few less children but they squash in as many as they can and they’re separating the nursery A and nursery B from the rest of them now so that’s a bit of progress.
We liked the bishop a lot this evening- he gave us a lovely dinner on his new lawn and he grew up at the Oxford Mission school so he does ‘get it’ with what we’re doing.
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Hi, what do the children play at play time? From Belle 😍😺
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Hi Belle, the Hastings children don’t really have anywhere to play or anything to play with. They do get a little break and then they finish school a bit earlier than you do. Yesterday we took them some things to play with which they loved, especially the bubbles! xx
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Hello Miss Gill and Mrs M,
I can guess the song, is it ten green bottles? Did teddy Edwards eat all his dinner? Looks like you are having a good time. I am excited to read your next blog.
From Emmy,😜🙌🙋
P.S their uniforms and desks look really good.
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Hurray, you are today’s winner! We did sing about 10 green bottles and also heads, shoulders, knees and toes. Teddy Edward ate all his dinner and he’s looking forward to seeing all the Hastings children again on Friday- they do look smart, don’t they? xx
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Hi miss gill and mrs m
Do they have school dinners?
I like the desks
Love edie
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Good morning Edie, the children don’t get a school dinner but they do go home earlier than you do so can have something to eat. The desks are great, they have games and pictures on the top and the children are very pleased with them. xx
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Hi Miss Gill and Mrs M
Is it noisy under the bridge at the school?
How long does it take for the hasting children to get to school?
from Olivia
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Hi Olivia, Yates it is quite noisy as it is a very big bridge and because there are no proper walls or roof er can hear all sorts of noises! The children live in all the living spaces around the school. Look at the pictures to show you. Have a good day. Xx
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Hi Miss Gill & Mrs M,
I love all the photos and the one of teddy Edward!
Do the school dinners?
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Hi Tamsin
The children at Hastings have no school dinners which is sad isn’t it? It makes us realise how lucky we are. Look at for Teddy Edward in the next few days! Xx
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Hi Miss Gill and Mrs M, how has your day been with the children so far? How long ago did they get the desks? What activities have the children been doing? How has the school changed since you were last there? I love the lights on the trees. We have been extra nice to Mrs fletcher, and done good work. Love from Caitlyn 🤔🥳
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Hi Caitlin
E think the children haven’t had the desks very long. They were not there when Mr Wilde came to Hastings.
The children start the day with a prayer and then usually do some maths. The teacher stands in the front and the children listen to him and repeat what he says. They do a lot of counting. They also do a lot drawing.
I bet Mrs Fletcher is so pleased with your good work. Miss Gill can’t wait to see it. Xx
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Hello Miss Gill and Mrs Maynard. What do the children do in the afternoon if they don’t have school? love Lucas
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Hi Lucas,
Well, the mosque is right next to the school so some of the children will spend the afternoon begging there. Others might hunt around in the rubbish heaps for things like bottle tops which they can sell. And the girls will help with lots of the washing and cooking and looking after the babies. No television or iPad for them- not much fun really, is it! xx
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Hi Miss Gill and Mrs M we have been enjoying hearing about your time in Kolkata. We have been learning about shapes this week ,do any of the Hastings children know any shapes? Did teddy Edwards learn anything with the Hastings children ?The children look really smart in their uniform have you told them that our school uniform is red? Today the nurse came to measure and weigh the Reception and year 6 children, do the Hastings children ever get weighed and measured? We are going to finish our school day singing head shoulders knees and toes just like you. We miss you and are thinking about you both lots love the Infants and Mrs Fletcher,
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That’s brilliant to think of you all doing the same songs as us- if you send us a picture of you in your red an show it to the Hastings children on Friday. I’m not sure exactly whether the children her are weighed and measured but there is a medical van that goes to school every month to treat them for any diseases they might have because there isn’t a doctors’ surgery that they can go to. The doctor is a very lovely lady called Dr Henry and she came out for dinner with us last night. She grew up in the north of India in the countryside and came to Kolkata to do her medical training and she’s been here ever since. Teddy Edward didn’t actually come to Hastings on Tuesday but he will on Friday and we’ll take some pictures. The hastings children know all about shapes and Mrs Gupta shows them how to use the shapes to draw birds and other animals for each letter of the alphabet. What a lot of fabulous questions! Missing you lots xx
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