I am Daffyd the Dragon, and I come from Wales. I arrived at North Parmelia Primary on August 10th, after a long flight in a rather cramped box. I left my school on July 31st, and all my friends were really sad to see me go. They can't wait though to hear all about the adventures I have with my new Australian friends. You can see a picture of me below with some of my new friends from Room 14. Please keep coming back to this page to read about my adventures.
Bye for now,
Daffyd
[Home]I'm Peeper Possum, and I usually live at North Parmelia Primary School in Perth, Western Australia. Last year I went to visit a school in Colorado, USA, and now I've gone on a holiday to Wales. I am one very lucky Possum!! I've had a visit to a couple of schools here in Wales, and I like these kids, they're really good to me. Come back to this page soon and read of some of my adventures.
Bye, Peeper
Mrs R. Collins - Technology Co-ordinator,
North Parmelia Primary
How do two soft toys enhance the curriculum
for our students? The answer to that question is.....very effectively!
At North Parmelia, we believe that the greatest benefit of the Internet
are the possibilities for communication that it opens up for our students.
Not only do we want our students to use the research benefits of the Internet,
we want them to reach out to students in other countries, and share their
experiences and cultures, whilst learning first hand more about these countries.
In July 1998, our travel buddy Peeper Posum was sent to Northop Hall CP school in north Wales. In exchange, Daffyd Dragon packed his bags and headed south to us. So began a six month exchange between the two schools, during which time the students from both schools took turns in taking the travel buddy home, and recording the adventures shared by the travel buddy and the student in a diary. Many of our students went to great lengths to show Daffyd the delights of Western Australia, and it was great to see the families of the students becoming involved also. In addition to writing in the diary, the students kept in touch with each other through e-mail, and in the process of discussing the travel buddies adventures learnt lots about each other, their hobbies, school, and lifestyles in general.
From a teacher's perspective, this is a fantastic way for students to be involved in meaningful reading, writing and technology. There was a noticable improvement in the students desire to produce quality writing, as they had a clear sense of audience and purpose. The students were very motivated to improve their handwriting for their diary entries, and to research Wales so that they could conduct an informed discusion with their Welsh buddies.
As the coordinating teacher, the highlight fo
me was a trip to Wales during the school holidays to meet the class and
their teacher, Mel. This was a wonderful exprience, and the students at
Northop Hall were eager to find out lots more about Australia. A strong
friendship has been formed between Mel and I, and we are planning many
more joint projects between our students.
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