25th July 2009

Today was the second day of Summer School and I’m knackered. However, it’s 10.00pm and I’m still not in bed. Instead, I am at the computer doing Google searches for pictures that will adequately illustrate words like ‘Happy’ ‘Sad’ ‘Angry’ ‘Shy’ etc (note to self: be careful when searching for a picture to illustrate the word ‘hot’!)

Summer school has been my baby – the first thing I’ve overseen from the very beginning – and it’s been on my mind in some way almost constantly for the last month. We’ve talked with students, teachers, parents and local government to make sure it’s as useful and effective as it can possible be, and it’s very different from day to day school here.

For a start, it’s being held on Saints Days (the one or two days a week that people are forbidden to do physical work – well, the people in rural areas, anyway) and weekends so that as many children as possible can attend (they won’t be working in the fields). We have employed two new teachers for the summer (to give our teachers a rest, and also to give the students the experience of being taught by someone new) and the students are having lessons in Amharic, English, and Maths to work on their core knowledge. I’m also working with the students for one class a day on things like communication skills, teamwork and confidence building.

We are in the new building (which did present a few problems in relation to water pouring in through the holes in the roof ...!) and the students don’t stay in one classroom for the whole session, they move around in a kind of carousel. It’s all about giving the students the oppotunity to develop responsibility and personal management skills (Do you know which class you’re supposed to be in? Do you have all the materials you need for this class, or did you leave them in the previous classroom?), and it also gives us as teachers a chance to decorate and arrange the room in subject and teaching specific ways.

Also, students are not being taught in their usual classes. Instead, they are grouped in ability levels and the focus is on helping the lower ability students reach the required standard, while also stretching those students who are clearly capable of great things!

We told all the students things would be a bit different at Summer School this year, and around 60 students registered. On the first day, around 35 children turned up, which was slightly disappointing but it meant smaller classes and more individual attention, so there were advantages. Then today we had 90 students! Of course, this meant frantically rearranging classes, checking lists to see which class they should be in, and making up new registers, but it was worth it.

I’m looking forward to seeing what the next few weeks will bring!