Friday

Today was our last day for visiting schools. We started the day at the school board offices where we were shown various computer software packages for special educational needs.
Following this, our hosts drove us to three schools, including a secondary school, where we saw a fabulous sensory room.
At our final school we received a moving welcome from a young student who shook us all by the hand and said a few words on behalf of his school. It was unfortunate that time was against us and we could not spend as long here as we would have liked, but Sonia did achieve her ambition to sit on a yellow school bus!
Yet again we were met by a feeling of warmth and sincerity by staff and pupils alike at all the places we visited.
Back at the hotel, after a bit of a rest, some of us sampled a bottle of Niagara Region wine which was given to us as a present earlier in the week. The same few of us then had cocktails and tapas in a bar overlooking the Falls. We finished the evening with a stroll and a final look at the Falls by night on our way back to the hotel.

Tomorrow we begin our long journey home, leaving Toronto at 11.15 pm and finally reaching Scilly on Monday morning. This will be our last post from Canada we hope you have had a flavour of our exciting time here. A huge thanks to our hosts The Niagara Catholic School Board, all the schools we have visited and everybody who has helped make our stay such a memorable one.

Thursday

Early pick up again today, 8am, to be taken to our first school of the day. We were met by the principal and shown around his fantastic, spacious and airy, new school. We will be returning with lots of ideas for our new school building, especially a large library/computer area, with librarian, and hall with stage. Once again we were given an enthusiastic welcome by staff and pupils. After spending time observing a mixture of literacy and modern foreign language lessons, we went back to the library and enjoyed a sumptuous lunch with the principal.
A short taxi ride later we arrived at our next school to be greeted by the head and a little girl who had recently enrolled there from England. She was our guide on the tour around the school. We were able to engage with the students who were presenting an 'Historica' in the hall, a display of topics with a Canadian theme.
After afternoon tea, complete with tiny cakes and strawberries, we spent time in various classrooms.
The burning question is "Where will we eat tonight, and do we really need to eat at all?"

Wednesday

Once again we were treated to fantastic kindness by everyone we met! We firmly believe that Canadians are the most hospitable people in the world!
Our first stop today was to observe a reading recovery lesson; a one to one intervention programme aimed at late developing readers. We then visited a full day senior kindergarten class where we watched a literacy lesson.
Next we were driven to an Ontario Early Years Centre where parents and care givers can drop in with their children aged 0-6 years. Here the children can explore and learn through a variety of activities all for free.
At Sue's insistance luncheon today was taken at Tim Horton's for the best bagels and coffee
in town; Sue having had a hankering for a bagel with cream cheese! (But ordering an ordinary white coffee here is not as straight forward as it seems!)
The afternoon was spent observing two sessions of team teaching, where one of the teachers was a literacy coach. We had the opportunity to chat with the teachers afterwards.
This evening we ate at an all you can eat buffet in the Cassino. Maggie and Sue tried to gamble but couldn't work out how to make the machine take their money! From here, after dark we were able to see the falls lit up with multi-coloured lights.

Tuesday

Today we had an early start, 7am breakfast and an 8.15 pick-up. Our lift took us to an Elementary school in Niagara Falls. We were met by Pat, Christine and Carol from the Niagara Catholic District School Board and they told us about the Turnaround School Project. We were introduced to the school principle who welcomed us and left us in the capable hands of his teaching staff. We observed several lessons from Kindergarten to grade 3 (4 to 8 year olds), we were impressed by the children's behaviour and the overall positive feel of the school.

After an interesting talk from the principle we were treated to a lovely lunch by the Board.

We then visited a school hosting a chess tournement before spending the rest of the afternoon at the School Board Education Centre where we discussed and shared ideas.

An introduction and present exchange with the Trustees and Senior Administration followed another delicious meal with Pat, Christine and Carol. Feeling very full and tired we were taken back to our hotel at about 8.30 where we tried to get our heads around everything we'd seen and heard!

Monday

We left Toronto early this morning to drive to Niagara Falls. No stretch limo this time, but Courtney our guide provided us with an interesting commentary along the scenic route via Niagara on the Lake, where we stopped for lunch and a stroll. Known as Ontario's most historic town, this was once the original capital of the province and was the place where the Americans were pushed back over the border during the 1812 war.
Along the way we stopped off at a small chocolate factory where no one bought or sampled anything...oh alright then, just a bit!
After checking into our hotel at Niagara we went to have our first look at the falls. WOW! What a breathtaking sight.
We have had a fantastic weekend but the hard work starts tomorrow with a twelve hour day in school and meeting the Niagara Catholic District School Board.

Sunday

An exhilarating day! We awoke to flurries of snow and -5C temperature. Another stretch limo took us to the People's Church of Toronto where we were warmly welcomed to the Easter Day service. An orchestra and eighty-strong choir joined the congregation of over a thousand to sing Easter praise. Charles Price spoke inspirationally on "The Resurrection is the Confirmation of the Gospel".
A $2.75 subway journey took us next to the CN Tower, the tallest building in the world. Lunch in the revolving restaurant gave us a bird's eye view of the whole city and Lake Ontario. Just fantastic!
Walking back to our hotel we came across the Textile Museum of Canada. Sam led the way! Breathtaking exhibits of textiles from around the world enthralled us.
Back to the hotel for feet up and a cuppa!
We hope you all had a happy Easter.