With precisely one month and 29 days to go until our next school trip departs for Africa, a round-up of Elimu news.
March was our 18 mile sponsored walk to the Kenyan Embassy with this year's sixth formers. They were raising funds for their trip and were a pleasure to spend time with. We were blessed all day with blue skies and sunshine. Well done to all of them and thank you very much to those who gave up their Saturday to come along and support.
April, meanwhile, has been both a busy and a contemplative month. There has been much to think about regarding Elimu's future plans and fundraising, details of which will be reported soon, and also final preparations to make for Kenya.
This will be the trip that builds on the last two years, both pre- Elimu and the one that took place at the very start of it, to not only offer further opportunities for schools from both countries to come together but to also explore more fully the role of teachers and teacher development in our work.
We have seen already how the sharing and practice of different teaching styles and ideas can have a positive effect on teacher morale and student learning.
In Kipsamo School, the presence of one UK teacher last year has led to an early review of the way poetry is taught. There has been a growing emphasis on poetry for meaning and as a forum in which to develop analytical skills. This is something that is usually done at secondary level, but as one district education officer in Nandi Hills observed, in Kenya, children are aged 14 or older by that time. As such, they do not have as much of a chance to develop those skills even though they are the ones that are needed the most and that will feature in their exams.
Once, a long time ago, I had a conversation with another volunteer about why I was teaching my classes quotes from Shakespeare and showing them some of my favourite poems. He wondered if those things were important when faced with low literacy rates. I wondered if perhaps he was right. It is all too easy, then and now, to take the wrong approach and do the wrong thing. But my students had begun to tell me what they thought those quotes and poems might mean, and bit by bit, to analyse them.
Through Elimu's school link programme, we want to support literacy in African schools (the results of which we are also beginning to now see) whilst enabling them to consider teaching and learning in different ways, to the benefit of their teachers as well as their students. One cannot exist without the other.
In July Kipsamo will host its second teacher conference involving our visting UK schools, The Priory and Bishop Justus, as well as three other local schools.
Last week's Times Educational Supplement carries an article on Elimu that I wrote to highlight the impact of these visits on our students here. http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6210950
Interestingly, Clare Deacon who is on our advisory board recently came across this video about being both an NGO and a tour operator, and finding a balance between the two. Recommended.
http://lessonsilearned.org/2012/04/meet-pepy-tours/
In other news, Happy Birthday to Elimu advisor Andy Cooper who celebrates the end of one decade and the start of another - and a special mention to our web designer, Bob Jones. Bob very kindly developed the website on a voluntary basis and continues to maintain it on the charity's behalf. He is currently working on a major revamp of the site which will see this blog incorporated onto the homepage. We are extremely grateful to Bob for his patience and hardwork. For anyone looking for a reliable, skilled website designer, Bob can be found here http://www.mynameisbobby.co.uk/
March was our 18 mile sponsored walk to the Kenyan Embassy with this year's sixth formers. They were raising funds for their trip and were a pleasure to spend time with. We were blessed all day with blue skies and sunshine. Well done to all of them and thank you very much to those who gave up their Saturday to come along and support.
April, meanwhile, has been both a busy and a contemplative month. There has been much to think about regarding Elimu's future plans and fundraising, details of which will be reported soon, and also final preparations to make for Kenya.
This will be the trip that builds on the last two years, both pre- Elimu and the one that took place at the very start of it, to not only offer further opportunities for schools from both countries to come together but to also explore more fully the role of teachers and teacher development in our work.
We have seen already how the sharing and practice of different teaching styles and ideas can have a positive effect on teacher morale and student learning.
In Kipsamo School, the presence of one UK teacher last year has led to an early review of the way poetry is taught. There has been a growing emphasis on poetry for meaning and as a forum in which to develop analytical skills. This is something that is usually done at secondary level, but as one district education officer in Nandi Hills observed, in Kenya, children are aged 14 or older by that time. As such, they do not have as much of a chance to develop those skills even though they are the ones that are needed the most and that will feature in their exams.
Once, a long time ago, I had a conversation with another volunteer about why I was teaching my classes quotes from Shakespeare and showing them some of my favourite poems. He wondered if those things were important when faced with low literacy rates. I wondered if perhaps he was right. It is all too easy, then and now, to take the wrong approach and do the wrong thing. But my students had begun to tell me what they thought those quotes and poems might mean, and bit by bit, to analyse them.
Through Elimu's school link programme, we want to support literacy in African schools (the results of which we are also beginning to now see) whilst enabling them to consider teaching and learning in different ways, to the benefit of their teachers as well as their students. One cannot exist without the other.
In July Kipsamo will host its second teacher conference involving our visting UK schools, The Priory and Bishop Justus, as well as three other local schools.
Last week's Times Educational Supplement carries an article on Elimu that I wrote to highlight the impact of these visits on our students here. http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6210950
Interestingly, Clare Deacon who is on our advisory board recently came across this video about being both an NGO and a tour operator, and finding a balance between the two. Recommended.
http://lessonsilearned.org/2012/04/meet-pepy-tours/
In other news, Happy Birthday to Elimu advisor Andy Cooper who celebrates the end of one decade and the start of another - and a special mention to our web designer, Bob Jones. Bob very kindly developed the website on a voluntary basis and continues to maintain it on the charity's behalf. He is currently working on a major revamp of the site which will see this blog incorporated onto the homepage. We are extremely grateful to Bob for his patience and hardwork. For anyone looking for a reliable, skilled website designer, Bob can be found here http://www.mynameisbobby.co.uk/
This Saturday is our African themed fundraising evening which is being held in the Art Department at The Priory School. We are delighted to announce that the Bromley Mayor has accepted our invitation and will be in attendance along with staff, parents, students and friends of both ours and the school's.
A short film of our most recent trips to Kenya will be screened. There will be an auction of special prizes and a photographic display featuring 40 of the photographs our almost-resident photographer, Lucy Strutt, took of the people and places we work with when she visited Kenya last October. These photos will also be up for auction. Here is a quick preview:
The event is primarily to support the long awaited re-construction of Stalion nursery and infants school.
We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible!
With thanks,
Jo
