This blog can now be found at http://exc-el.org.uk/blogs/cstevendale

I arrived home from work on Friday to find the email that I have been waiting for, with news about the trip and a new schedule. There are some minor changes, due no doubt, to the season (not bragging!) and availability of schools.

Schedule:

Saturday, 10 Feb. 10:35 local time – Arrival, having left home in Edinburgh at 14:00 the previous day. Our guides will take us to The Graeme Hotel, Greenpoint, Cape Town to set up ‘base camp’.

Sunday 11 Feb. – Tour of Cape Town including Cape Point and the nature reserve there, (hopefully taking in Boulders Beach and the penguins).

Monday 12 Feb. (special day – I’m 21 yet again) – Collection at 08:00. Meeting with Education Department Officials. Visit to Bergvliet High School (formerly state school for whites). Visit to Robben Island.

Tuesday 13 Feb. – Collection at 08:00. Visit to Bishops Prep. School (independent school for boys). Visit to The Cape Academy for Maths, Science and Technology (formerly white state urban school). Visit to District Six Museum.

Wednesday 14 Feb. - Collection at 08:00. Visit to Zimasa Primary School and Siyabulela Primary School (Langa township schools). Tour of Langa township.

Thursday 15 Feb. – Collection at 8.00 a.m. Visit to New Orleans Secondary and Primary Schools, Paarl (previously “coloured” state schools).

Friday 16 Feb. – Collection at 08:00. Visit to Seidelberg Farm School, Paarl. Visit to Groote Post School, Darling (rural school). Evaluation and review of the trip.

Saturday 17 Feb. – Collection at 08:00. Visit to Stellenbosch Wine Route with lunch in the wine lands. Depart from Cape Town airport at 22:35.

Sunday 18 Feb. – Arrive at London Heathrow at 08:50 and Edinburgh at 12:30 – tired but enthused, with bags full of souvenirs for school and camera full of memories of the trip hopefully.

The rescheduled trip dates are now confirmed as 9th to 18th February 2007. What is great is that all the original group of 8 are able to go and so we will be able to renew our friendship again. It will be wonderful to visit in summer-time instead of winter and I am sure that we will all feel the benefit of this. It does mean that I will miss 3 days of school, but my department are willing to cover for me so that the pupils do not lose out. We do not yet know if the schedule of school visits will be the same, as our South African hosts have to reorganise them. I would think that our planned excursions will be similar except that there will not be any whales to see as it is the wrong season for them. I think that the penguins will still be around though.

School life continues to be extremely hectic without a great deal of time to continue with more work on the English module. I met with David Gilmour (weblog support) for the first time this week. Ollie Bray had invited him in to work with a couple of the boys who form part of the group using the Communication Base which was part of an 'extension' to the Support for Learning Department from this August. The boys now have their own weblogs and are having great fun building these up. I am sure that they will soon be able to teach me a thing or two. A recent purchase for the SfL Department was a digital video camera and so I will consider taking this with me on the trip. Still photographs are great, but it would be exciting to record some of the school children over in the Cape Town area to show Musselburgh Grammar pupils on my return.

After what seems an age, LECT have finally managed to get dates which appear to be suitable to most of the group of 8. I had hoped that we would be going sooner rather than later, but that is not to be as the first opportunity is in February, 9 - 18th. If our overseas hosts are able to accommodate us then the plans will resume again. In work terms, this is a good time to be going as it coincides with the February half term and so means that I won't need too much time off. I seem to be eternally busy at work and so now I will have sufficient time to make all the necessary arrangements. It also means that we will visit in the height of summer which is great.

I can report that I have finished reading 'A Long Walk to Freedom', Nelson Mandela's book. Not my normal sort of reading, but very enjoyable and well written. It helped me to understand much more about the regime during apartheid and also the political issues in South Africa today. It also came some way to explaining how anybody could survive so many years in prison. I think that the saddest part was learning that throughout his lifetime, even when not locked up, Mandela had very little time to spend with his family despite loving them dearly. He has selflessly fought for freedom and continues to do this.

Reading the book has given me another idea for comparison that might be used with the S3 and S4 pupils' Access course. I had the idea that we might compare the Highland Clearances where people were cleared to make way for sheep - not quite the same as blacks being cleared for whites, but along that line. The book suggests another comparison is that of the Inuits (Eskimos) so I must look into this. Any information gratefully received!

I am thrilled to announce that the trip is 'on again' for me, thanks to the support from my Head Teacher and my Team in Support for Learning. No firm date has been made yet as LECT are waiting for the English contingent (i.e. all the others) to return to school so that they can obtain permission to be out of school and provide available dates. Hopefully this will happen soon and then I will be able to plan for my absence from school.

I will have to study the new arrangements for hand luggage and weight, and try to fit some of the presents that I had intended carrying in hand luggage because of weight issues, into my suitcase. This will probably mean travelling with a limited wardrobe and toiletries, but I'm sure I will cope.

The delay has several advantages. Firstly, it allows more time to refine the pupil videos that will be taken to Cape Town. One or two of the pupils were absent at the end of the session and so we were unable to include them initially. We now have our own video camera in SfL and so with the help of Mrs. Hughson and Mrs. Douglas (and possibly Dr. Strain again) we should be able to achieve even better and fuller results. Secondly, the S3 and S4 pupils involved will be able to access the weblog from school, providing I find adequate technology to access the log and upload photographs over there.

I will write a further log once I have dates.

Still no news about when the trip might be rearranged. I'm fairly pessimistic about ever getting to Cape Town as I would not be allowed to go during term time and it is unlikely that LECT would want to wait as long as next Easter before the trip is rearranged. It looks likely that we will be given various date options and they will then go with the majority decision so that as many of the eight people travel as possible. Dates will be notified once the English Schools go back.

Our school is back now and so I'm extremely busy. Lots of new children to work with and lots of new things for us all to learn. Many of the new youngsters are an absolute delight. The S3 and S4 children who had prepared their profiles, pictures and video clips of themselves for me to take away were very disappointed that things had not worked out.

In the meantime, I have managed to go to various other events as some more consolation - a couple of Edinburgh Fringe Shows, The Tattoo (absolutely fantastic), the Book Festival and a really good exhibition of Islamic Art at the Chambers Street Museum. All well worth seeing. Sorry about the quality of the photographs, I should have taken my digital camera, but didn't because of the weather so had to make do with my 'phone.

The Swiss drummers were amazing, but I only have pictures of pipers and dancers.

Not much to report on. The cancellation of the trip has allowed me to go to one or two Fringe events that I would not otherwise have managed to attend. It has also given me some more time to work on the Access module which I suppose is all to the good.

This morning, I have written to the 3 secondary schools that we were to visit - Camps Bay High School near Cape Town, Rustenberg Girls' High School in Rondebosch and New Orleans Secondary School in Paarl. Hopefully, I will be able to set up links and can then send away the postcards that pupils have written in the hope of communicating with a South African pen pal.

Goodness knows if I will ever get to go on a Study Visit. Term-time is not a possibility, I have arrangements made already for the October break and so the first opportunity for me is next Easter. LECT will have further groups planned for summer 2007 and so if they want to rearrange our visit, then they would want to do this before the summer. Now I am in a dilemma about various things. I have a fair amount of South African Rand in my possession - I do not want to cash this in at the moment in case I need it (high optimism!). I also have flights booked for London in November which was to be our feedback session. It is unlikely that I would get a refund on this. Hopefully, the Director of LECT will make a decision soon so that I know where I stand. Then I have the gifts that I had gathered for the Township children. These can be stored for the time being and if a rearrangement is not possible, then I will post them out.

Following contact with a Reporter from the Times Educational Supplement, our story is to be published this Friday. I may even be quoted .......

Well, after months of preparation, research and organisation, we have had to cancel the trip. As soon as I heard the news this morning, I had a feeling that there could be problems. I have spent much of the day in contact with the rest of the group but in the end it was not our decision. LECT took that out of our hands. We had a very tight turn around time in Frankfurt, the others more so than me, and almost certainly would have missed our connection to Cape Town. After enquiring, it seemed that it was unlikely that we would be able to get on to another flight for a day or two and so there was no alternative but to pull the plug.

I am very disappointed for myself, but more so for the children who would be expecting us at the other end. We are hoping that the trip might be rearranged, but that is fraught with difficulties as a convenient time for all would have to be found.

Meanwhile, I will write to the three schools to find out if they have any pupils who would be interested in being in contact with some of mine and then hopefully arrange this. If we did eventually manage out to Cape Town, then this would make the visit even more special.

Now to unpack!

P.S. At least we are better off than the many people caught up at airports today and those missing their holidays - at least I have been away already this summer.

Only one and a half days to go and I’m beginning to get rather excited. I’ve started gathering bits and pieces together ready for packing. We have now been informed that the dress 'code' for visits does not have to be too formal so perhaps smart trousers without a suit jacket will ‘fit the bill’. Having decided what to take, I will now have to re-plan my wardrobe.

We have a change in the agenda too. Room has been made in our busy schedule to include a trip around the peninsula to see whales at close hand and also to see the African penguins. I’ve very excited about both of these, being a nature lover. I must remember to take my binoculars. Also, instead of Sunray Primary and Rosendal High, we will instead visit New Orleans Primary and Secondary Schools in Paarl.

I am delighted to report that my tickets arrived safely today. The envelope was addressed to Ms S Christine and so I hurriedly checked the name on the tickets to ensure that these were correct! The travel adapter that I had ordered has also arrived. South African ones are very like the old round pin type that was in use in the UK years ago and most shops don’t seem to stock them here.

To keep myself occupied on the long plane journey, particularly the flights where I will be on my own, I decided to purchase an MP3 player. I am now the proud owner of one though, as usual, I had to seek advice from a couple of experts (my daughters). I managed to “rip” music on to the thing without any help, but having done so, I couldn’t find how to get the menu up on the screen. Luckily, one of the same experts was able to rescue me again – it took all of 30 seconds!

Apparently the tour of Robben Island will include a coach trip around. I hadn’t realised that the island was so big. We will see the limestone quarry where Mandela worked for much of his time and will be able to look through bars into his cell. You can go inside some of the other cells but not his particular one. The tour guides are former inmates and so will be very knowledgeable. Our Hotel in Cape Town is a former prison also. Hopefully the interior no longer reflects this. I'm sure it will be very nice, and certainly, it is in a good area - the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront - great for shopping and eating.