Last term everyone in Tautoru wrote letters that were sent to children at two schools - one in Australia and one in Luxembourg.
This week a group of us received our first replies back and boy were we excited to find out about our writing buddies in Australia!
Some of us found we had things in common with our buddies - they liked rugby, were the same age and some had been born in NZ. Their school sounded different to ours...they had FIVE playgrounds and weren't as lucky to have a view as beautiful as ours!
Taking part in the World Writing Buddy programme gives our learners an authentic purpose for writing. It is a unique learning experience and is a great way to practise our writing an communication skills. Our children were motivated and engaged to send a reply. They had many questions they wanted to ask their new friends across the Tasman.
Being involved in a collaborative programme like this also helps our children to continue developing positive relationships. Although we may not meet our writing buddy face to face, (but maybe one day...) sharing information about our culture, interests and finding things we have in common helps us to develop a strong connection. We also learn to practise patience - we have had to wait a long time for our (snail) mail to arrive but it was the best feeling ever receiving a letter that was just for me!
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