Bweyogerere Multi Purpose Primary School

Something about the school I have been working in... is that it is so incredibly different from English schools! I think mostly it's because it's a church run school, so there aren't restrictions on the morals and Christianity you can teach the children. But also it's not a government run school (it's licensed by the gov. but is effectively private) so things like health and safety regulations, child protection regulations and in fact any other sort of paper work simply doesn't exist! Obviously there are recommendations about things like facilities and fire hazards and everything else, but the attitude here seems to be something like well if you don't follow it and we catch you we will close the school, but if you don't catch you on your own head be it!

Having said that it is a very good school. They have very limited facilities - there are simply 9 classrooms, 5 latrines, and 3 'offices' (a room with a basic desk and a few shelves) - but the kids are really treated like proper school pupils. They have a green and white uniform with a badge on it that says "hold my hand Oh God", and have a time table of 8 40 minutes lessons a day that include maths, English, science, Social Studies (which I think is a combination of Geography, History and PSE), RE, and the younger classes also learn L'ugandan (the local language).

There are 10 teachers plus 2 cooks, a bursa, a matron (a girl called Flora who lives in the Dorms with the girls) and a headmaster. There isn't a class without a teacher so the classes they have given me have been bits and pieces with most classes. I am doing reading lessons with P2 every morning for an hour and a half, then the rest of the day I do RE lessons with P3, P4 and P7 (if P7 aren't in mocks for their end of school exams next month) and also English revision lessons with P5 and P6. I tend to be in the younger classes more which is very difficult because their English isn't so good and although they get basic instructions, to try and figure out who to tell off when two kids are fighting over a pencil or something is another ball game! I'm just about getting my head around their names, but the trouble with P2 is that they really are bad at reading. So to try and teach them to read in what is their 2nd if not third language (if they don't come from this area of Uganda they have another local language) is fairly challenging!

However I have discovered a collection of reading books at different levels in the back of the Bursa's office so am going to start using them with the kids now I am getting an idea of the ones who are better or worse. I think what they mostly need is just to practice reading... so let's see how I can get my head around finding enough time to do that as well!

Please pray for wisdom and strength and for me to get quicker at learning L'ugandan!

xxx