Here's an abbreviated account of the trip from Jo…..

Our trip began with an informal meeting in Genovaite's office. Staff attend meetings here and it is the only place in the school with internet access. Genovaite has an assisitant, Jurgita, who is a confident user of ICT and who took part in training with Martin during our trip. As headteacher Genovaite often travels to the different school sites, she and Nerita planned to spend the next few days with us, we were given a programme for our visit and toasted our arrival with a cup of tea sweetened with honey from Loretta's bees.

On Thursday at the Tuberculosis hospital we met members of the wider staff group, teachers and medical staff. We spent time in the classroom talking to the teachers and pupils who operate a carousel system within one classroom where pupils spend about an hour with one teacher and then move on to another lesson with another member of staff.

We had brought some large books with us and used them to make a presentation to the pupils about London . Several pupils asked questions in English although this was obviously quite challenging and nerve wracking for the less confident. We tried to eulogise about their English language skills in sharp contrast to our faltering 'aš neklbu lietuviškai, ar kalbate angliškai?' Many pupils have Russian or Polish as a first language at home. These children often go to Russian or Polish schools when not in hospital. Some pupils study French or German as second or third languages and overall both adults and pupils have better linguistic competencies than most English people. Over lunch we discussed and compared ways of working. Everybody had brought delicious food much of which was home produced. Several teachers sang traditional songs prompting Janette to return the favour with an impressive rendition of Qué sera sera! Thankfully ‘Greensleeves' was bypassed. We really felt priviledged to be so warmly received and to share such rich moments of contact with our Lithuanian friends.

At the Sanatorium we observed a primary Science lesson with a health education focus on the dangers of smoking. The pedagogy was interactive, varied and lively with lots of different resources used. Typically mainstream schools in Lithuania have good computer provision but the hospital school relies heavily on teacher made resources and text books. The pupils follow their home-school curriculum supported by nearly individual teacher support.

On Friday we visited the Children's Development Center , where children with behavioural and psychological problems are treated in a very similar way to our own centre at Collingham Gardens . The consultant took time out to speak at length about how the team endeavours to work with pupils and families within a very short time frame of 28 days, to assess and diagnose problems. The work is hard for teachers and care staff alike because the pupils are with them for such a short stay. They leave the residential building to go to the school house. This is situated in an old wooden building in a lovely garden or park. It's actually really well situated beside the River Neris. Shrouded in snow it looked like an idyllic scene although it was freezing and sometimes it has been so cold recently that the children couldn't cross to the school house. We saw the children getting ready for lunch. The food is exceptionally healthy, no pre prepared foods or snack food. Great attention is paid to providing the best conditions for good health and learning. After every lesson the teachers, throughout the hospital school, throw open the windows to let in fresh air, the belief is that the surrounding pine trees provide curative properties especially for those with lung diseases. In our hospitals it is of course not so self evident that the air outside is very much better than that inside but nevertheless it would be good to be able to open a window and not rely always on the recycled version (personal soapbox over…).

Following a visit to the Parliament building and to the shrine in memory of the struggle for independence and for national martyrs to that cause, we returned to Genovaite's office to help plan the programme for our July conference. Martin had brought a laptop for the school and a Digital Blue camera for making some initial animations. He led a training session with three members of staff. We are hoping that by June at least a few pupils will have explored the potential of this new software and we are also hoping that in the future we may be able to raise funds for further equipment to be made available to the school.

We agreed to be responsible for providing an initial outline of the June programme to all our partner schools.

We said goodbye to some of our colleagues and made our way by trolleybus to Loretta's house where we were invited to a party. No description can do justice to the absolutely fantastic atmosphere and food. We were glad that Martin played Loretta's accordion and everyone enjoyed his playing which was just so in keeping with the whole experience. Happy, lively, full of laughter, wit and real generosity!

Here's some photos of our trip

And here's some more photos taken by Martin photos of Vilnius

Joanna Eaves 7/03/06