The Global Classroom

Back (L-R):Thuliswa Yokwana, Gillian Topley, Melanie Noble (who was unfortunately not able to make the trip to Germany), Ryan Weaver. Front: Earl Nolan and Jamie-Lee van Niekerk

The Global Classroom Partnership South Africa has been operational at South Peninsula High School since 2003. We are proud that it is possible for SP to be involved and to sustain such a unique programme. The programme involves high schools from the following countries: the Shetland Islands, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Germany, South Africa, Australia and Japan. There is a possibility that the USA will join the programme.
(Visit the website of the Global Classroom at www.schoolofambition.org).

Global Classroom Conference 2007: Diepholz, Germany

The following was written by Jamie-Lee van Niekerk, one of the SP participants in the programme, prior to departure.

‘The Global Classroom is an organisation consisting of eight participating countries (mentioned above). Every year a number of students are chosen from each participating partner school. They then travel to a chosen country each year for a conference that lasts about 16 days. At the conference they discuss an important issue and its effects on society. This year our topic is Responsibility. This is sub-divided into social responsibility, ecological responsibility and school responsibility. We have another school working with us, the Academy of Mathematics, Science and Technology. Five of their students will be attending the conference. We will depart on the 4 July and return on the 27 July 2007.’

The Preparation

For about two months leading up to the departure date, the ten students busily prepared themselves for the Conference. They had to workshop and produce a play based on solving conflict at school, perform a song or dance typical of their country, paint a wall-hanging and put together a slide presentation depicting the effects of global warming and a video showing some aspects of the Cape Peninsula. They also had to take water and soil samples from different locations and compare them. In addition, they had had to do some community work (in our case the students spent time with the girls of the St George’s Home for Girls in Wynberg) and present a video of their involvement. As can be seen, this was a great deal of hard work. All of this was done under the guidance of Mr Mark Slater and Mr Barry Saunders of SP, Mr Aubrey van Breda of the Academy and Mr Lionel Adriaan, the South African co-ordinator of the GC.

After a few very hectic last few weeks of organising tickets, passports and foreign currency (for which Mr Slater must take most of the credit), the group left Cape Town close to midnight on the 4 July.

Germany

The trip for the group was divided into three parts - the Conference at the Graf Friedrich Schule in the town of Diepholz (preceded by an ice-breaker camp which incorporated ridding a nearby forest of the alien black cherry tree), a 3-day trip to Berlin and a 5-day stay in a tiny rural village called Leezdorf, a few kilometres from the northern resort town of Norden.

The first activity took place on the Sunday on the athletics track at the school. It was a sponsored run for all the GC participants as well as residents of the town. It must be stated that the teachers put the students to shame in terms of the number of laps completed. Money raised went to a local organisation called Agenda 21, as well as to the St George’s Home.

The conference itself was a great success. Despite a hitch with the video presentation, the South African contingent, although by and large perhaps not as outspoken as many of the other delegates, acquitted themselves very well, with their dance at the closing ceremony getting the audience rocking. The applause garnered was surpassed only by that given for the Japanese performers, dressed in their magnificent costumes. Perhaps the most valuable lesson learnt from the Conference, besides the absolute necessity of looking after our planet and protecting it from ourselves, was that teenagers and young adults, no matter where they come from, whether it be Germany, the Shetland Islands, Japan, Sweden, the Czech Republic or South Africa,  are essentially all the same. Another highlight was the visit to Bremen, where participants could choose between a number of guided tours, either of around the city itself or of interesting historical centres or buildings.

In Diepholz, the visiting participants and teachers were hosted by local families and were treated like members of the families, being taken to visit local sights, among other things. The weather for most of the week was grey and drizzly, although not particularly cold - it was summer after all.

On completion of the Conference the South African contingent, accompanied by the Japanese and a few Germans with their teachers Ms Simone Muller and Mr Hans Gevers, boarded a train (and then four more) to Berlin, where the group was to stay in a youth hostel called ‘The Generator’. This was a huge, bustling hostel, teeming with groups of young people coming and going, stopping over en route to other parts of Europe. Our stay here coincided with the hottest days of the year up to that stage. Based here, the group visited various historical sites, including Checkpoint Charlie, the Reichstag and the Holocaust Museum. We also went to Potsdam to visit the sumptuous summer palace of King Frederick the Great and took a boat trip down the River Spree, along which were the last remaining stretches of the Berlin Wall. After the third day the Japanese group departed and we went back to Diepholz for a day.   

The last part of our German experience (just the South Africans) took us to a little inn, which was the complete antithesis of ‘The Generator’. Someone commented that it must be an old-age home. Even the village, a few streets surrounded by fields of green crops, cows and horses, was extremely quiet. The programme for the five days spent here was as follows: a very filling breakfast made by the owner Lilli and her team, an outing arranged for us by Ms Muller, and a welcoming and delicious supper. The outings included  a canoe trip down a river, a guided visit to the mudflats in Norden, a sea trip on a fishing boat, and a ferry trip to the resort island of Nordeney. What made this part of our stay even more exciting was the discovery on the third day of a ten-pin bowling alley in the yard of the hotel. Every night from then on ended with a bowling tournament. One amazing feat was that we survived this week with hardly any of our hosts or guides being able to speak any English, and we were hardly able to speak any German.

We arrived back home on the 27 July, unaccustomed to the bitter cold of winter, hardly able to comprehend the news that the roads around SP had been flooded the day before!

We were back - tired, but inspired!

Global Classroom 2008: Zlin, Czech Republic

The participants in this year’s conference are feverishly getting ready for Zlin. Watch this space for news on this year’s conference.................