“I want to score 300 or more in my end of term exams”
“I want to become a better footballer”
“I want to stop using bad language”
These are a few of the goals our current Transition Class students set at the beginning of the school year with the help of their mentor teachers. The students returned to school after a long time out of school, their mentors supported them as they settled in school.
“Hosanna! Hiyah! Blessed be your name, hoo-ha!”
Our grade 4 and 5 students belted out this song at full volume while throwing out karate moves in the recent holiday clubs.
In our first holiday clubs since the pandemic began, we explored the power of choice. Over two weeks, we met with our upper school students and secondary school students. The kids had a ball learning new games and songs while the facilitators took every opportunity to help the children reflect and learn.
Have you ever been amazed and perhaps slightly worried by how quickly a child in your life has picked up technology? A toddler who knows how to swipe through photos or a pre-schooler who finds their way to youtube on your phone? Yep, we know the feeling! Fountains of Hope students started using their new computer lab in October. Already, they are not just typing and researching, they are coding.
Kenya is a hub for tech developments in Africa, so many start-ups are innovating new tech solutions and creating new job opportunities. We hope that an early introduction to I.T. will equip our students for future jobs in tech.
Lara, in Class 5, said, “it is important to learn computers because then you can do what you want. You can be an accountant or a shopkeeper or any other thing.”
Lara’s group are getting to grips with a coding game where the players use code to advance their character through the game.
Teacher Kelvin brought his Class 5 students to the lab to research a recycling project. The students googled ideas for ornaments they could make out of waste materials before making various recycled creations.
At the recent ReimaginED Summit in Nairobi, we met innovators reimagining education in Kenya. One of the hosts summarised a common theme at the event when she urged, “we need to prepare children for a future we know not.”
We cannot predict what the future will look like, we can prepare children for whatever the future holds by building their resilience and creativity. And by equipping them with skills to take the lead in developing new technology that will help solve the challenges of tomorrow.
A few months ago, I sat in our social workers’ office listening to stories about the children we serve. Stories about what these children go through at home. I remembered our teachers also sharing their struggles to involve parents in the school. Together, we started questioning – how might we bridge the gap between school and home for our children, families and teachers? How might we get to know the children and families better? How might we help parents support their children’s learning? We knew that visiting homes would be a great start to deepen this partnership.
A week later, a group of staff led by the social workers, started visiting the families we serve. This activity has become a weekly priority ever since.
Beatrice had been out of school for two terms and was nervous about going back to school, she didn’t know any of the other kids at the school. Would she make friends?
We walked through the streets of Kibera and made many stops at the various homes. “Hello, where is Mama Mimo?” we asked a vendor next to Mama Mimo’s vegetable shop. The vendor directed us to where we would find her. It was a hot sunny day and Mama Mimo was seated under an umbrella behind her shop. The moment she saw us, her face lit up in a smile. We could tell she was happy to see us.
In March, we hosted 50 students we support in high school in a 3-day retreat. On the first day, the students came full of anticipation for what we had in store. All smiles, they greeted each other with fist bumps and high fives as they resisted the urge to hug one another in excitement. It was an opportunity for the students to take a break from their busy school life, take a step back and look at where they are now and where they want to be in the future.
“Teacher, Teacher!” the children call out as they strain to raise their hand higher than the other kids. Finally, Robai is chosen to answer.
“School!” she says, and the word is duly scribed on the board. Now the children call out words related to this first word and a spider-like mind map slowly fills the board. Once all the children have contributed a word to the map, they settle down to write sentences using words in the mind map.
Meet Delina, a fun-loving and happy young girl. She’s the firstborn of three children and lives with her mother. Delina’s father left home during the COVID-19 outbreak, deserting the family when her mother was expecting a baby. During the Christmas holidays, Delina’s mother gave birth then later began experiencing complications. This left Delina no choice but to care for her sick mother, younger sibling, and newborn baby.
The Class 4 students were bouncing with excitement waiting for Teacher Esther to call out the next item. “A red book!” she calls, and the children turn running, leaping down from the playground to search for a red book. A few minutes later, the winning child skidded to a halt on the dusty playground shouting ‘bingo!’ holding a red book high in the air.
Teacher Esther was trying out one of the new games she learnt in our latest team training in Accelerated Learning. ZiziAfrique developed the Accelerated Learning Programme for children who have fallen behind in reading and maths. They armed our teachers with new games and activities to keep the children engaged and learning.
Reflecting on the training, Teacher Esther shared how different concepts build upon each other, like climbing a ladder. Through the training, she gained new tools for assessing where children are on that ladder. The ZiziAfrique team showed us how we can use simple items like sticks, stones and chalk grids drawn on the floor to teach.
We work with children who have been out of school for a long time, some have been out of school for years. Catching up in reading and maths is the starting point for catching up in all other subjects. We’re excited to start using our new learning as we open the school and transition programme in January.
