May 20

Written by:
5/20/2011 1:29 PM 

HABARI : NEWS FROM JUBILEE SCHOOL KENYA - MAY 2011

As expected of all the schools in Kenya, Jubilee School reopened on 3rd of May 2011 after four weeks of break which is normally taken after every three months of the school year in Kenya. We use a trimester system, or three terms into which our academic year is divided. Although all the children were able to return to school in the first week of opening, it is reported that transportation from remote places was not flowing normally. In about the same week the price of fuel for vehicles was hiked resulting in increase as well as items in the stores (shops). Another reason is that the schools normally open on a Monday but this year our first Monday in May was a public holiday because of the Labour Day that fell on Sunday, May first. Monday being an open air market day in our school town makes it easier for transportation and shopping for children and this was not possible this time for parents. The next market day was a Thursday and this was going to be the next day parents would find easy to bring the children to school. By the end of the week most of the children were back and teachers and other domestic workers were in school to welcome the children and meet with the parents as they brought the children back to school.

ACADEMIC: Every end of trimester before schools break for holidays, the students take what we call terminal examinations. These exams are set by teachers in a given region or zone and are done by a number of schools in that region. These exams evaluate the coverage of common syllabus / curriculum that are used by all the schools nationally.
The results for last term exams indicated that Jubilee School is performing well. Our Class five 5th graders were in position 2, 4th and 6th graders were in position 3 respectively and 7th graders were in position 4 out of 22 schools. Our 3rd graders are always a challenge to teach especially during the first trimester of their coming to our school because this is the class that admits new children from different schools, some that are very poor in academic standards expected of that year. Practically each year half of the new arrivals need a lot of tutoring to bring them up to the average in all subjects. Our recruiting system does not include interviews in order to take only the best since this process would lock out most children from schools in remote places where the nomads live. We hope with time, they are going to improve.

EXTRA CURRICULAR: Our second trimester of the school year in Kenya includes a lot of activities for students and teachers as well. It is during this term when most of the schools’ sports take place from school level to competitions at National level. Activities range from athletics, ball games and music competitions. Last year Jubilee School represented their zone up to the sub district regional level. Our teachers get trained for most of the activities and therefore we do not employ special teachers.

THE CONTAINER: We continue thanking all those who are involved with the items and shipping of the container. Some of the items are being used by the children and are a great help. The dining tables and chairs have solved a major problem because now children can seat comfortably in the dining room and in the classrooms. Some items like books and others will have to wait until we have room for them.


KINDERGARTEN: At the end of March 2011 as the schools were breaking for holidays, a day nursery that was in the neighbourhood of Jubilee school that had about 20 children was closed. The nursery was using a temporary church building that was in a private plot. The owner of the plot wanted to develop it and for that reason the nursery school had to close. The parents of the children informed the Jubilee School Head Teacher and when he informed me I asked him to prepare to take the children in at the beginning of the trimester as we find out the way forward. The children reported in our school with their teacher and I asked that they be allowed to use our Dining room for their classes. I have instructed our Head Teacher to visit district education offices and report on this situation and find out whether we could keep the children and in this way start a day nursery in our school. Jubilee School is not registered to have nursery class but this may be our opportunity not only for kindergarten but for first graders next year.
The nursery school children have their own teacher who is being paid by their parents. The hospitality of Jubilee School on this is very much appreciated by parents and local leaders. Kindergarten children go home at about 3:00 PM and they do not inconvenience Jubilee School program for the other students.

CONSTRUCTION WORK: The construction of the two new dormitories has been going very well. I must say the progress is much better and timely than I expected. The walling has been completed and now we are preparing for ring beam and gables (peak of building’s side walls) before roofing, then windows, doors and plastering. As I mentioned before, in Kenya prices of things have gone very high mainly because of gasoline. Building materials and labour have gone up as well and all this affects the running of the whole school.

On 17th May 2011 there was a tree-planting event at our school by government officials. Each year some schools are selected in the District for demonstration on a tree planting day. This year a conservers association for sensitising the communities on various ways of conserving the environment chose Jubilee School for demonstration. The organization will provide the school with two hundred seedlings. It is the responsibility of the school to take care of the seedlings.

One head cannot hold all wisdom. – Maasai -on wisdom