In which I introduce you to school life...

In general, schools here start at around 7.30am; however, children arrive from 6am.  This is cleaning time.  It is the responsibility of the children to keep the school environment clean and tidy.  So, sweeping parties are organized to brush the playground and collect the litter.  Classrooms must also be swept, boards cleaned and tables straightened.

 

To be honest, it’s not much of a playground; a patch of sandy ground scattered with stones and the occasional tree.  Goats and chickens, sometimes cows and occasionally a speedy motorbike also make use of the space.  Still, it is a space, and children being children, enjoy the freedom to chatter, skip and even kick around an old, deflated football.

The classroom boasts only a chalkboard; no books or displays to worry about, and the hard wooden desks and benches are almost Victorian in style.  One enterprising young science teacher has brightened up the brown walls in his classroom by painting the periodic table.  I think I need to study this!

 

These observations are based on visits to some half a dozen schools but in particular a local Junior High School here in Zebilla.  We have been working with the Head teacher, staff and pupils in Hamdaniya JHS, a school catering for the equivalent of Years 7, 8 and 9, after which free, compulsory, basic education ends.

After our initial introductions at the school, we have turned up on a weekly basis, first of all observing and learning and latterly providing help and support.  Lessons are predominantly teacher led: not surprising when classes can be as large as 60/80 strong.  Ideally teachers would like to move towards child centred learning but the practicalities are formidable when faced with no resources.  Hamdaniya School has no electricity; the staff room consists of 2 tables under a shady tree…

                                             This is where the school dinners are made

The staff have been very welcoming with some positively seeking our advice and developing new ideas.  In fact, one student teacher this week experimented with some paired writing we had talked about and she seemed genuinely pleased with the results. 

We have also begun some English intervention work in JHS 1 (in theory Year 7 but the age range can be from age 12 – 18).  We conducted a baseline test with 48 students using some of the most popular first 100 words.  Many were OK with these but complained that they failed to understand what they read.  A few struggled and had no groundwork in the mechanics of reading – phonics and sounds etc.

 So, now we have 9 groups of varying abilities, some focusing on vocabulary building and others on word building.  Of course, there have never been intervention groups before.  There are no facilities.  We have one plastic chair and some tree roots; no flip chart, no pens, no paper…nothing!  It’s a million miles from what we’re used to and it’s forcing us to be endlessly creative.  It’s amazing what you can do with a piece of scrap paper and a few paper clips we found on the floor in the office!