Our stay in Scotland in general and Penicuik in particular was full of comfort, new experiences and fun.

On the first day we were introduced to staff and students in two different school assemblies. Each one of us was given a chance to say a few words about ourselves and the visit.

At the assembly

We also watched a video on the visits our dear partners had to Malawi. The assemblies also gave a chance to Penicuik High students who travelled to Malawi to explain their experiences.

After the assembly, we were then taken to different classrooms where we overshadowed lessons. We quickly observed that the lessons delivery followed a leaner centered approach. It is pleasing to note that the curriculum in Malawi also advocates the same approach. One striking lesson noted is that the level of responsibility in students activities increases with each level of learning. For example, S6 students are required to write a dissertation. This is not the case in Malawi. The lesson observation continued for rest of the week save for Wednesday.

On Sunday we went for a tour of the city of Edinburg. We were all amazed with its beauty and history which was ably narrated to us by Mr Blott, a career tour guide.

We also had an opportunity to share our experiences with a representatives of the British Council and the Malawi Scotland Partnership.

On Friday, 21 June we held our partnership meeting. We took stock of what the partnership has achieved and mapped the way forward. It was agreed that there is a need to establish constant communication of teachers at department level to share professional resources and dialogue. Teachers and students should also us the blog for dialogue and sharing of professional resources. We also agreed that the reciprocal visits are crucial to the partnership and proper planning we should have the next round of visits in June 2021. There is therefore a need to start preparations for the visits now.

The head teacher of Penicuik High School, Mr Biddick pledged continued support towards the partnership activities. He specifically mentioned the extension of electricity to classrooms and the purchase of projectors to facilitate teaching and learning at Namadzi. It was also pointed out that funds permitting our partners could look into helping some needy students at Namadzi with fees.