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Mrs Hobden and Mr Backhouse met Amanda and Gloria at Heathrow Airport. It was their first trip to England and the flight took 11 hours from Beijing. |
We took them out for a meal on their first evening to Jimmy Spices in Solihull. |
On Saturday Miss Soards and Miss Johnson took them shopping in Birmingham and then in the evening we organised a traditional English barn dance at school with a live band. |
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On Sunday Mr Backhouse took them to Warwick Castle. |
In the evening Miss Otton and Mr Backhouse took them to an English pub for a Sunday roast dinner. |
At school on Monday we had a special welcoming ceremony and Amanda and Gloria brought a banner from their school which said that although we have a different culture we can learn a lot from each other. |
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After the welcome ceremony we planted a friendship tree in our new quiet area. All our class councillors came along to witness this special event. |
On Tuesday Gloria taught a Chinese painting lesson to 5L. |
Later in the morning Amanda taught 5C and 5S to speak some Chinese. |
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Amanda and Gloria enjoyed talking to our children and took time to mix with them around school and on the playground. Our children enjoyed their company. |
They spent an hour teaching a small group from 3B and Mrs Blackburn some Chinese and showing how to write using Chinese characters. |
Our Year 4 children are learning to play the steel drums and Amanda and Gloria enjoyed learning too. |
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Mr May showed them how we teach football skills and Gloria showed her skills too. |
Our cook Clare cooked a special Chinese meal for Amanda and Gloria and all the children who wanted to be involved. Chicken and black bean sauce went down very well. |
Ben and Jordan took Amanda and Gloria to Drayton Manor on Wednesday afternoon. |
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On their last day in school Amanda and Gloria taught a group of Year 6 children how to do Chinese paper folding |
In our farewell ceremony on Thursday we presented Amanda and Gloria with a mascot for their school. Griffin is now in Beijing keeping an eye out for the children of Huizhong Beili. |
Lots of children bought gifts for Amanda and Gloria. Jessica decorated two fans with the names of both schools; one for each of them. |
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On Thursday afternoon Lyn Aston, one of our school governors took Amanda and Gloria to Baddesley Clinton to see an old English country house and garden. |
The teachers who have been to China and those who are going soon had a party for Amanda and Gloria on their last night to say goodbye. |
On Friday Mr Backhouse took them back to London. To see the sights of London we went on a bus tour. |
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The tour included a boat trip down the River Thames from Westminster to the Tower of London. |
We also walked to Downing Street and up to Buckingham Palace. |
Finally it was back to Heathrow for the long flight home. |
