Weeks starting 9th July 2021 to end of term

This period also contained a week holiday for Tobaski celebrations, after which many children failed to come back to school, even though we had extended the term to try and make up for some of the education lost to the Covid-19 school closure.

Omar Badjie, our DIY man (plumber/electrician ++) has been doing yet more maintenance in the period.

He has been mending toilets and replacing the water system  automatic switch that failed after a lightning storm/power surge, we guess.

Nice to see LB students letting off steam in the playground though we found that the climbing frame finally broke at a weld point during this period. It probably needs a complete rebuild.

One of the very few visits to the school this year was from Fatou Cham's elder brother, Lamin, and his wife, Cindy.  They brought much appreciated resources for the school, for which we are very grateful.

Week ending 2nd July 2021

More exams for Skills Training this week in the hall.

Elsewhere we have had to replace some of our oldest classroom doors (costing more than £200 each). These have been in constant and heavy use since the LB building was started in 2012.

We also regularly replace taps (at £25 each) in toilets that are worn or broken by careless behaviour. Maintenance costs are increasing!

 Week ending 25th June 2021 

 Lots more practical work this week, including students working with fresh vegetables as part of their final exams. and proudly displaying yummy banana cup cakes.

Week ending 18th June 2021

This was the week that the LB 3s took their mock exams for the NAT tests. Although internally marked we find that this is representative of the real event. Score was 80% passed (our target).

 Other groups were also taking exams. Some skills shared space with LB students.

We also had water leaks in the hall during heavy rains (more maintenance!)

Our much used sewing machines often need repairs!

Bead work of all kinds is a very popular activity and students can often earn a few dalasi by selling their work to friends and family. Here are samples of some bead work done by Skills 2 for their end of year practical exam.

Skills 3 line up for a photo call,  all ready to start their final cookery practicals at Sunrise. 

Get ready..... 

and GO!

Everyone is concentrating on the meal which they have chosen to cook.

No time to waste if they are to finish this meal in time!

Not many will choose to include pastry in their meal.

Time is up and they all display their food ready to be assessed on presentation and, of course, taste!

This week LB1 have been working on volume, so they went into the playground with various containers to collect sand. Then they measured how much sand different shaped containers could hold. Practical work makes maths much more interesting!

Skills 2 were doing tie and dye practicals this week, some of them are proudly showing their finished material here.

Displaying one of the finished results

Week ending 28th May 2021

 The skills students have been sewing new uniforms as part of their course work.

 In the top class of our Lower Basic school (LB6) their lesson is about the 3 states of water; ice, liquid and steam. The teacher, Mr Jaiteh, has been doing experiments to show how applying heat to ice then boiling the water produced will transition the water to steam.

This maybe quite obvious to some but it is a great way to consider how everyday processes are really science.

Pictures are older Lower Basic children working hard on one of their exercises. We have space for 30 children, reasonably spaced to work in a good size well ventilated classroom.

 In Nursery, Class N1 (our youngest) are matching pictures and building with sticklebricks.

and concentrating on their number work

This week was the Festival of Koriteh, the end of Ramadan- officially on Tuesday this year. Many children missed school this week, although Sunrise was open on Thursday and Friday.

 We did have a few pictures to publish, however. Our cookery teacher had time to work on her Third Term exam questions.

 We also pictured some Skills students in the Library, enjoying some of the many books and using resources on our iPad.

LB6 have been melting wax and making candles with pawpaw leaves!

 LB1 are outside the classroom, learning to count and measure steps! It's great to see teachers using the space around classrooms to illustrate learning points.

 Playtime of course is essential learning too and there are always opportunities to take good pictures.

Week ending 23rd April 2021

We've always taught both the Christians and the Mulims in Sunrise, as laid down by the education department (MoBSE). We have 2 specialist teachers. The picture here shows our small Christian LB group with their teacher Paul Badjan (known as Pastor Paul). They are squeezed into the "Old Office" space, which we also use to store cloth and for ad hoc private meetings.

 At break-time we are still feeding Nursery children, free of charge. They queue up each day for a sandwich and a drink before burning off some of their new energy in the play ground.

 Lessons are taking place elsewhere in school, as shown by the class pictured from LB 5 drawing pie charts.

It is always good to see the children letting off steam before settling down to their studies in class. The equipment that we have is all locally made and has a tough workout for the children. We have had to make a few repairs but I think that it is surviving well, given the level of use and punishment.

After a hectic break-time it is good to see children settling to quietly work in the Library.

This week sees the new term begin, with Ramadam (from 12 April). This is a tough time with Adults fasting during daylight hours (no food or Water).

For those that can eat Susan still prepares food in the kitchen for break-time. Very hard if you're fasting yourself.

Meanwhile in Skills Numeracy, our new teacher, Baboucarr Njie is helping to teach basic maths to the students to support their other studies. Mr Njie has Primary teaching qualifications that cover his maths but his advanced qualifications are in English. This makes him an ideal person to help in the skills centre to complete our team.