Jumpstart! Update – Agung Nursery School Profile

Agung Primary School’s nursery school was established in 2013 by the local community. The school is easily accessible to children in the surrounding villages, as it is located on a tarmac main road, enabling children to walk to school in every season. At the school’s entrance, orangey-red bricks have been strategically positioned to create a welcoming pathway to lead students, teachers and visitors into the school.

The nursery school is currently in a transitional phase; the original strucutre was recently dismantled, and a new larger one is now being built in its place to better accommodate the large number of nursery students. Whilst parts of the old nursery building have been recycled to be used for the new classrooms, the rest of the materials and labour are being donated by the parents.

In the midst of this building work, Agung’s nursery pupils are currently being taught in a newly built secondary school which is not yet open. The two rooms used by the nursery school are big, bright, airy, and clean. However, within these temporary classrooms, there is a lack of basic furniture including chairs, tables, and cupboards. Instead, children sit on a mat on the concrete floor during their lessons.

The K1 class, with over 70 pupils, is so large that two teachers – Oliver and Miriam – are needed in the classroom; one teacher conducts the lesson, whilst the other watches over the class and helps individual pupils with their work. The 63 K2 and K3 students study together in one classroom, taught by Dorcas who, as part of African Revival’s Jumpstart! programme, recently attended an Early Childhood Development (ECD) training course.

In spite of the minimal materials at their disposition, the staff are extremely committed to their students, and have tried to make the temporary classrooms as inviting as possible. They have put up hand-made posters, displayed their pupils’ drawings, and use recycled materials including empty soda bottles to use as learning aids during maths lessons. Oliver told us: “I like making displays, making things bright for the children so that when we are marking books, the children are stimulated by what they see around them, and learn massively. However, we do need manilas, and colouring pens.”

Caroline, in K3, told us that “I like singing and dancing; I like this classroom but it will be nice to go to our new school when it is ready”.

The children at Agung Nursery School commence their classes at 8am until 12pm, spending their mornings singing and dancing, before learning arithmetic, reading and writing.  At 10.30am, the pupils walk up the path towards the primary school, where they are served a hearty portion of sweet porridge.

One of the challenges in this school is that the parents of pre-primary school students frequently neglect to pay their children’s school fees, which means the teachers have not been paid properly for several months, and many children are unable to attend classes until the outstanding bills are paid. However, Dorcas tells us “I love to teach, some teachers wouldn’t stay because we don’t always get paid, but I want the children to learn so keep coming.” As such, as part of our Jumpstart! project, our Education Programme Co-coordinator Richard recently conducted a community sensitization meeting to highlight parents’ responsibilities towards their children’s education, and sought to motivate the local community to actively engage in their young children’s learning.

Despite the challenges, the school is full of potential to help its nursery students thrive. In the coming months, we will be working with the school to provide much needed furniture, learning resources and teacher support, in order to offer children the best possible learning experience which will fully equip them to succeed in primary school when the time comes.

Meet Babra

Every morning, Babra walks 3km along the dusty country roads with her older brothers and sisters to attend pre-primary school in Willacic. Often, Babra will meet her friends along the way, and will continue her journey skipping and playing with her companions until they reach their classroom. In spite of the long walk, Babra, dressed in her smart red and white checked school uniform, looks the part for a new day of learning. Babra’s favourite meal is porridge, which is handy because her teachers serve a break-time meal of porridge to their young students every day to ensure that pupils have sufficient energy and concentration levels to engage in the classroom activities after travelling considerable distances under the hot sun to attend school.

After spending four and a half hours at pre-primary school in the morning, Babra likes to spend her afternoons relaxing and playing outside her with siblings; they particularly enjoy playing ball games in the open space near their home. Although Babra isn’t sure what she wants to do when she is older, Babra tells us that she likes doing chores at home, because she enjoys working alongside her mother. Babra’s favourite task is fetching water from the local borehole – a job she does every afternoon to support her family.

Through our Jumpstart! programme, we hope to help students like Babra develop the physical, social, mental, and cognitive skills which will enable her to blossom into a well-rounded individual, full of confidence that she can achieve anything she puts her mind to.

Meet Livilan

Livilan is currently in K2, and is taught by Denis – an energetic and motivated teacher, who is well-liked amongst his pupils. In particular, Livilan likes teacher Denis because he does the “scooter” with his pupils anytime they walk anywhere together. Every morning, after the K2 class has played games outside to warm up for the day, Denis lines the children up in a nice straight line, and the children then pretend to be scooters and sing their special scooter song, as they “scoot” off side-by-side back to their classroom.

Livilan is no stranger to the scooter as each day, Livilan climbs onto a Boda-Boda (motorbike) along with his three friends whose father then drives them the short distance to St Kizito Nursery School.  At school, Livilan’s favourite activities are singing, and writing. Livilan likes coming to school, because he has plenty of friends and really enjoys playing a good game of classic “hide and seek” during break-times.

When Livilan grows older, he would like to be a pilot; he tells us that he once saw a man in a helicopter, and it was very exciting. Livilan is determined to work very hard to become a pilot, and one-day drive around on a motorbike.

Livilan is a confident and chatty young man, full of ambition, and we are sure that through Jumpstart! and the support of his fantastic teacher Denis, Livilan will be fully prepared for primary school next year which in turn, will help him achieve his goal of becoming a pilot. May the sky quite literally be the limit for Livilan!

Meet Isaac

Isaac is brand new to St Kizito Bidati Nursery School, having commenced his first year of Kindergarten in February 2015. Every morning, Isaac walks to his class with his older brother who is in P2. Thankfully, the brothers live near-by and don’t have to walk far to come to school.

Isaac is one of the 72 students taught by Petra – one the fabulous teachers whom African Revival recently sponsored to attend an ECD training course. Petra’s passion for teaching is evident as she gently helps Isaac with a drawing task, offering him kind encouragement as he holds a pencil, and traces the outline of a house.

Isaac enjoys school, particularly writing; currently the K1 students are learning how to form the letters of the alphabet. Petra has made colourful flash cards which are helping students like Isaac with this learning task.

After Isaac finishes school for the morning, he likes to play outside with his friends – like many boys and girls across the globe, football is one of his all-time favourite pastimes.

Within Isaac’s local community, many young men become “Boda- Boda” drivers; that is, motorbike taxi-men. Isaac is interested in following suit, and would like to one day purchase his own motorbike. As one of the school’s youngest students, Isaac is a shy young man but our hope is that during his time at pre-primary school, Isaac will grow in confidence, and with the help of Petra and other teachers, develop the academic abilities which will enable him to one day start primary school well-prepared for whatever future he chooses.

Meet Rebecca

Rebecca is in her second year of Kindergarden at St Kizito Bidati Nursery School. Rebecca lives in a village near to the school, although she still has to walk two-and-a-half kilometres to school every morning, a walk which she finds tiring; she makes this daily journey with her older brother Stephen, and her friends Dominic and Fiona who are in primary school.

Rebecca loves reading, because she is very good at it. It is for this reason that Rebecca is so fond of her teacher Denis, because he is the one who has been busy helping her with her reading skills. Indeed, Denis – the school’s K2 teacher – is young, smartly dressed and wildly popular amongst his pupils. Aware that many students like Rebecca arrive at school feeling worn out, Denis begins the school day with some games outside; K1, K2 and K3 join together for outdoor games, singing and dancing to re-energise the children.

When Rebecca grows up, she would like to be a nurse because she likes making people feel better, and “I want to learn how to give people medicines”. Our hope is that through Jumpstart!, Rebecca will be well-equipped to succeed throughout primary school, secondary school and may one-day become the best nurse in the district.

Bestseller Update

Our new School Demonstration Gardens (SDGs) project, supported by the Bestseller Fund, recently launched, in the Amuru district of northern Uganda. You can read more about the project here: https://africanrevival.org/what-we-do/uganda/livelihoods/

Since its launch, our livelihoods team – Babra, Bosco and Patrick – based in the field office of the Amuru district have been hard at work holding sensitization meetings in the 15 schools selected for this programme. During these meetings, the team explain the purpose and components of the programme to the local community, before mobilising the garden groups and democratically voting on the group’s leadership, who then sign a memo of understanding with African Revival, confirming their commitment to the programme.

The livelihoods team has been overwhelmed by the community’s enthusiasm for this project; the team was expecting no more than 40 parents to be involved in each demonstration garden but in some schools, over 70 parents attended the sensitization meetings! Patrick, one of our assistants on the project told us that “we are busy, but we are really enjoying meeting all the parents, and working alongside them to create wonderful gardens which will serve the school, the community and ultimately, the students”

The hard work is paying off as the project has been well-received by the schools; during one meeting at Atiak Primary School, one parent (pictured) noted “I am impressed with how African Revival work with us on the ground; it has really built our trust. I am grateful, because as a parent, I don’t always notice the gaps in the children’s school, but African Revival has not only noticed the areas for improvement but worked with us to come up with a solution”.

The sensitization and mobilisation phase of the project has now been completed, and the garden groups are now working on their crop selection and devising their work plan to establish their gardens. With the support of our livelihood’s team, each garden group is choosing – through democratic vote – four crops to grow: a vegetable, a fruit, a field crop (such as maize and beans), and a tree (like banana or mango trees), which can simply be maintained every year. At Atiak Primary School, the group have chosen to plant beans, onions, papaya fruit, and banana trees.

Planting will begin soon, but first, the group will receive agricultural training from African Revival, and training on how to efficiently save money so that parents can utilise their earnings from the garden to support their children’s schooling – through paying school fees, or providing scholastic materials. The parents are looking forward to commencing work, with one parent, John, assuring the team that “we are ready and willing to work together to ultimately bring up the level of our children’s education and learning, from where they were. We want to work hard in this garden, so that we can be a model to other schools, who can learn from us”. Indeed, Martin, the vice-chairman of Atiak’s PTA echoed John’s words, by adding that co-operation is key for the success of the garden.

Ultimately, African Revival, wants to parents’ incomes increased so that they can provide for all their children’s needs. We are looking forward to seeing well-fed children thriving at school, and learning new agricultural skills which may serve them well for the rest of their lives.

As the rainy season is now in full swing, and the planting begins, we will be right there documenting the activities so do keep your eyes peeled for updates on our website, and on social media. We cannot wait to sample the crops which will be growing in the school gardens very soon!

Jumpstart! Update: Teacher-Changer Networks

Over the past few weeks, our Jumpstart! team have been busy mobilising “teacher-changer networks” in the Nwoya district of Northern Uganda. The brain-child of STIR Education (you can find out more about them here: http://www.stireducation.org/) with whom African Revival has established a strong working relationship, the aim of these networks is to provide a supportive forum for teachers to share ideas and innovations which have improved their classrooms, and schools. Past innovations from teachers have included strategies for improving discipline, school hygiene, parent participation in schools, and increased teacher accountability.

Each network gathers around 15 teachers from local schools who are keen to develop as teachers, and positively impact their learning environments through exploring each other’s knowledge, and seeking advice from one another. During the initial mobilisation meetings, teachers worked together to define the characteristics of care-givers, and discussed how teachers can demonstrate these qualities within their classrooms. During the meetings (held at our partner schools- Anaka P7 and Koch Goma), we were delighted to see some familiar faces, including teachers we recently sponsored through ECD training; you may remember Sunday, Irene, Evelyn and Petra, who are proving to be incredible teachers!

Indeed, the teachers who have joined the teacher-changer networks are extremely passionate about education, and are keen to see their schools become thriving learning environments. One teacher, Denis- a K2 teacher at St Kizito Bidati- told us “we really want to work together, and support one another because we all have the same goal: to see our pupils succeed. Through these meetings where we can discuss our ideas, I feel like I am already becoming a better teacher because I have grown in confidence”.

Each network will be meeting four times each term, and will attend a quarterly micro-innovation sharing event, where teachers across several networks can share their tried-and-tested innovations. STIR Education collates the best innovations into an annual booklet, which is distributed to all networks and allows teachers to draw inspiration for their own schools.

Through these meetings, it has been great to see inspiring pre-primary school teachers build friendships, and supporting one another through these networks in order to provide the best quality of Nursery education possible, giving children that Jumpstart! needed to excel academically, and as individuals.

Meet Alfred

Every morning, Alfred and his sister Flavia walk 3 kilometres together to nursery school, where classes are held between 8am-12pm. Alfred, impeccably dressed in the school’s uniform of a red-checked shirt and blue shorts, looks the part for a productive day of learning. At the beginning of the academic year, Alfred’s mother bought him shiny new blue wellington boots which serve him well on his long walks to school, particularly during the wet season.

Like his sister, Alfred is in K3 where he is beginning to learn some English, through singing songs with his classmates and teacher. Although Alfred is a shy (but polite) young man, when he is joining in with singing and dancing in the classroom, his shyness is soon forgotten as he exuberantly copies his teacher’s actions and chants. Indeed, Alfred tells us that one of the things he likes most about school is being taught by his teacher, Irene, who Alfred says is very kind to him. You may recall that we sponsored Irene to attend an ECD teaching course several weeks ago, and it is encouraging to see how Irene has applied her new knowledge to really help her students – including Alfred – in their learning through creating an encouraging and supportive atmosphere within her classroom.

Aside from music, Alfred is also learning how to read and write – activities which he is really enjoying, although he says that they can be difficult. Thankfully, Irene tries to make the subject as engaging as possible to help students acquire strong literacy skills. This will allow students’ to progress to primary school with good reading and writing abilities which will serve them well in their subsequent studies. We hope that Alfred continues to enjoy learning and remains motivated, so that many possibilities may be opened up to him as he grows older. Currently, Alfred loves cars and would one day like to become a driver in the city for a big organization.

Meet Anthony

Anthony walks to school from a near-by village to Wi-Lacic every morning accompanied by his brothers and sisters, who attend Wi-Lacic Primary School. Anthony walks a long way to school- around three kilometres- and so Anthony tells us that one of the best things about school is being served a nice, big helping of warm porridge during break time. This filling meal, served in brightly-coloured plastic bowls, gives him energy for the rest of the day, and enables him to focus during his K3 lessons.

During his mornings at school, there plenty of opportunities to rest and play with his classmates, but Anthony very much enjoys learning how to read and write, and says that he is good at forming letters because he often practices by copying his teacher’s neat writing. As many of us have experienced, learning to read and write is no mean feat, and we are delighted to hear that Anthony is mastering these skills well, and we are confident that grasping these key competencies will be invaluable once he progresses to primary school next year.

In the afternoon after school, Anthony helps his mother by fetching water from the nearby bore hole outside his village. Anthony carries a yellow plastic jug on his head considerable distances to ensure that his family has sufficient water for cooking, washing, and cleaning in the evenings. Although this task is a long and tiring one, Anthony tells us that it is one of his favourite activities to do after school.

Meet Brenda

Brenda, like many children at Wi-Lacic’s ECD centre, walks a long way every morning with her brothers and sisters to go to pri-primary school. Sometimes, Brenda gets tired along the way and her older sister kindly carries her for a few minutes.

At school, Brenda is quiet but considerate and enjoys helping her teachers where she can, and will often spend her break time sweeping the concrete floors to ensure that the classroom is nice and clean and tidy for her fellow class-mates. Brenda tells us that she enjoys school, particularly counting; her teacher, Irene, uses old bottles to play counting games which has been helping Brenda learn in a fun and engaging way.

When Brenda grows up, she would like to be a nurse because she likes helping people; when her siblings are unwell, Brenda often helps her mother care for them, and nurse them back to good health. Through spending a few minutes with such a thoughtful and caring young lady, it is easy to imagine Brenda forging a career in medical care and we hope that receiving a strong nursery education through Jumpstart!, Brenda will fully equipped to excel academically in every stage of her studies.