The training event organised by the Consortium of Gujarati Schools took place on Saturday 2nd April and attracted 86 Gujarati teachers from 17 different supplementary schools. A pack of training materials was given out to participants. The training session commenced at 9.45am with a welcome by the EKTA Centre hosts, Nirmalbhai Shah & Bhartiben Shah. Vijyaben Bhanderi, the Secretary of Consortium of Gujarati Schools, welcomed everyone. She introduced the day and the main speakers, Jayantbhai Tanna and Shobhaben Joshi from Leicester.
In Session 1 Jayantbhai Tanna talked about lesson structure - sharing objectives, 3 part lesson, starters & plenaries. Videos were shown as part of the presentation and break out group sessions held. He emphasised mainly on three points – to have clear Objectives for each lesson, a short Starter and a purposeful Summary or Plenary for each and every lesson. He also stressed the point about preparing material according to the needs and abilities of the class at different levels of difficulty.
In Session 2 Jayantbhai Tanna covered aspects about learning styles, planning & assessment. He pointed out that we all learn in different ways – sometimes through listening, others through seeing or through doing. Teachers therefore need to incorporate strategies that allow for learning through auditory, visual and kinaesthetic styles of children. He then talked about the three levels of planning – Long, Medium and Short Term. He outlined the essential ingredients of each but stressed that the Short Term Planning was every teacher’s responsibility. He provided a possible structure of lesson planning as well.
In Session 3 Shobhaben Joshi covered strategies to improve Gujarati spelling & grammar. She suggested using a punctuation pyramid for which templates can be found on the internet. She suggested strategies to increase Gujarati vocabulary of pupils through games such as noughts & crosses, snakes & ladders, starboard game and so/because game. She talked about creating a small book in which the child could be given topics to write about like myself; my family; my extended family; my friends etc.
In Session 4 Shobhaben looked at examples of guided group work. A video of a French language class using different strategies such as peer assessment, changing statements into questions, working in pairs and groups, using the main language in class etc. was shown.
Vijyaben Bhanderi proposed a Vote of Thanks. She paid tribute to Jayantbhai Tanna and Shobhaben Joshi, the two presenters. She also thanked the Oshwal EKTA organisation particularly Bhartiben and Nirmalbhai Shah and all the volunteers for providing not just the venue but also refreshments and a delicious lunch – all without charge. She thanked all the teachers for attending the day long course and appreciated their support and co-operation.
Jayantbhai thanked Vijyaben Bhanderi for her sterling administration of the event. He thanked the committee members and everyone for attending. He apologised for the mainly secondary focus but promised to include a primary focus next time. A session on Leadership and Management may also be included next. The topics for the next event will be decided after looking at the Feedback Forms from participants.
The day ended at about 5:00 pm.
