Scotland meets Sweden
8 February 2023 – The Glen High School had the privilege of hosting and entertaining a group of Swedish students for the day.
Anticipation ran high when a group of selected TGHS learners had the privilege of receiving the group of Swedish students in the school hall. The students were welcomed by the prefects and led to the hall where learners of the school sang the national anthem, as well as the school anthem. The prefects also took turns to talk about the school’s rich Scottish heritage. From there the guests were taken to various venues where they learned more about South African food, art and languages.
In the Consumers Studies class Ms. Phasha discussed the Marula tree and traditional beliefs attached to it, after which the students had the opportunity to bake Marula dessert. Some students’ dessert looks better than others, but none the less it was still delicious.
Mrs. Van Vollenstee talked about the significance that art has in the various cultures. From music, dance, rituals, face painting and masks to different designs of cloth. Here the guests had the opportunity to have their face painted in traditional patterns by TGHS learners and also making a small keepsake of a traditional pattern on cloth. Some even tried their hand at playing the drums.
Finally, Ms. Monare introduced the guests to various games and proverbs of the Sepedi language and further entertained them with a traditional gumboot dance.
After a well-deserved rest at the school swimming pool where only a handful of students ventured into the pool in the rain, Mrs. Phasha ensures that everyone was well fed with delicious food. Lunch also included some traditional dishes such as mopani worms.
The entertainment at school was concluded by an informative show where the drama club and prefects talked more about each language and culture in South Africa and even demonstrated the various dances. The guests enjoyed the show and even had the opportunity to practice some dance moves with the learners of the school.
Like any other informative lesson, you would hope that your student learned something, therefor the guests were asked to participate in a quick quiz. I am happy to report that the guests scored 10/10.
However, the day was not over yet and the guests were further entertained by a few teachers and learners from the school, by visiting the Voortrekker monument and later enjoying dinner together.
What a memorable day.