The children start arriving at 7.30 and at 8.00am they assemble along their Year-Group lines, marked by stones, outside the classrooms. Each child bears a dried stick of various sizes, and the new teacher wonders why. After some quiet words from Mr Moses, the Head, and a prayer, the new teacher is introduced to the children and welcomed with a song, a solo verse answered by a full refrain and accompanied by perfectly rhythmic clapping. The new teacher then surprises everyone by offering a speech of thanks in “Rough Guide to Kenya” Swahili. Assembly finishes, those needing it scurry off to the loos, and the other children make their way to their classrooms, but not without first depositing their sticks outside the “kitchen”, the teachers’ accommodation and the new teacher’s tent. A perfect firewood collection system!

Leaving aside my arrival, it’s been a fairly untypical day, since two of the other teachers have been unable to make it here. Perhaps delayed by elephants, suggests Mr Moses. (I later learn that Mr Benedict’s son is unwell and has needed x-ray investigation.) With Peabodyish deftness, he delegates his forces (including Mr David, as he will be known by the children here) and lessons begin.

I ‘ve taught some Year Two-ish maths, some fraction additions with Class Four (Yrs Seven and Eight, roughly) and then some English to the same class. The children speak Swahili (the mother-tongue for most, although there are variants) and so lessons are carried out both in Swahili and English..government policy. The children are amazingly self-disciplined despite being very cramped on the wooden bench/desk units, and although they might have found my teaching strange at first, they set to work when asked without question.

In the afternoon I observe Mr Moses improvising a CRE lesson (some schools offer Hindu RE and Islamic RE, but not here), and the children listen as he tells of Jesus empowering his disciples to spread his teaching. Key words are chalked on the board in English and Swahili, and the children then copy from the board a summary of the lesson’s subject.

I am astonished when Mr Moses tells me that for the last half an hour of the day, Class Four get on with their homework quite unsupervised (the younger children having gone home after lunch). So we leave the children to it and return at 4.10 for the end-of-day ceremony. The children are told then that the strange new teacher from England has brought things for the school, and that tomorrow after morning break , in the presence of the School Management committee, there will be a grand opening of bags! Cue spontaneous applause, huge smiles, and class dismiss.

What a wonderful day!

Now, a message for 5E: I do hope you have had a great half term. I hope you are making Mr Somerville happy to be your tutor for a while. Don’t forget that you can write comments on my blog…get Mr Green to show you if you don’t know. I’d love to have lots of questions to answer, so fire away!

Class 5P, Years Four, Three and Two: I am sure that you have enjoyed your first French lessons with Mrs Barber today, and I know you will do your best for her.

Another long blog, and my apologies if I’ve gone on more than I should have. Tomorrow I’ll take a picture to add to my next message.

Three most useful things I’ve brought or bought:

· Swiss army knife

· Solar powered lamp

· Striker and cotton wool (impressed Moses)

Three most useless things (so far) I’ve brought or bought:

· Fleece and jumper (but they make a good pillow)

· Soap dish (Why did I allow Samuel to persuade me to put that in my shopping?)

· Shoes that gave me a blister after an hour (no, not my new Doc Marten’s!)

Imagine a plateau of scrubby, dry, reddish soil and stone about 500 yards square, ringed by an electrified fence against the elephants (solar powered). Inside, five or six single storey buildings: the teachers’ accommodation, with an unfinished house next door (the builders are at work), a line of classrooms fifty yards away (again, one unfinished for lack of government funding), two toilet blocks (for children and staff …long drop, and with a hole the size and shape of a paperback through which to aim), three large plastic water tanks served from the reservoir across the hillside, which in turn is fed from the well further away, and a tennis- court sized plastic greenhouse in which the community is growing tomatoes and vegetables: this is Sanga!

My journey from Nairobi was every bit as exciting as I'd expected, but I felt in very safe and skillful hands with Samuel, and we arrived at Nanyuki in time for a good brunch, and a chance to meet Faith. Reserved, professional and very smart, she was able to reassure me that all would be well and told me that she was “only a phone call away”. She, like Samuel, was bemused by my ignorance of the workings of mobile phones, and had to put her number into my phone for me, surprise surprise!

Then on to the entrance to Lewa, and transfer into a conservancy Isuzu and another Samuel (the Lewa Education driver) for the last leg. Deeply rutted tracks, giraffe, warthog and various antelope ignored our passing, used, I suppose, to the safari tourists whose money helps support the conservancy and the Education programme.

After an hour we leave the heathlands of Lewa and begin to climb towards the neighbouring Borani Conservancy and finally into the Sanga district. The hillside is dotted with round thatched huts, and children and their parents look on as the Isuzu nears the school gates. I wonder to myself if the children have been told much about my visit. No, I learn later.

Finally, I meet the Head, Moses, and his deputy Joseph, who, since yesterday afternoon have made me welcome with many acts of hospitality and kindness (when I mentioned that Nairobi Samuel had suggested that there might be fresh milk in the mornings,, Moses said not, but lo and behold, a little porter duly arrives at 7.00am with a plastic bottle filled with fresh creamy milk, and my weetabix and bananas make an excellent start to the day).

I was invited to join Pastor William and his congregation of 15 or so souls this morning (they use a classroom until the church is finished, and I saw the framework in the distance on a stroll with Moses this afternoon). Their worship was very joyous, and I thanked them for their singing, promising them that I would sing for them (from the AH hymnbook) next week. Israel, my interpreter gets it right, since my remark is greeted with warm smiles. I was really pleased to have made myself known so soon to the community.

My tent is sturdy and dry (we’ve had two showers as the rainy season nears) and I shall soon be getting my first cooked supper ready (not too impressed with the gas cooker, so I’m trying the Forest School approach, Nici!)

I slept like a log last night and woke to the most wonderfully clear views of the countryside on all sides. Mount Kenya, with its snow necklace, about 40 miles to the south, Lewa plains below and mountains near and far to virtually 360 degrees.

Tomorrow the children return to school and I shall have lots more to write about.

A bonus to report before I close: the solar panel sends electricity to a large battery. It has a ‘cigarette lighter” style output, so I’ll be able to recharge both the mobile phone and my camera battery.

To sum up first impressions, then? The spectacular beauty of my new home and the warmth of my welcome contrast cruelly with the harshness of life for the people for whom this truly is home.

A really exciting day. I come down to Reception in good time to meet Samuel, and find that he is chatting with his friend Charles, who taxied me from the airport.

Seven hours and quite a lot of credit card usage later, I have all that I need for my five weeks at Sanga. Samuel warns me that it is indeed VERY remote... and he's never been there! I shall need to take water, both for washing, cooking and drinking, and, as I was warned, EVERYTHING else. (Now, what have I forgotten?) The good news though is that I should be able to get to Nanyuki at the weekends for replenishing my stocks and (literally) recharging my batteries.

The man at the Safaricom shop was brilliant, and, thanks to him and Jamie's tweaking of my settings yesterday, I now have mobile internet (I'm a bit scared to try it in earnest in case it misbehaves, but I will, somewhere before we get to Nanyuki.)

Samuel will be here to collect me at 6.00am tomorrow for the journey to Nanyuki, then Lewa to meet Faith (our school contact) and then for the last bumpy leg of the journey into the bush.

I'll add a photo or two to this blog later.

Right now I am waiting for the man who's made the tent to deliver it, and I plan to enjoy my last few hours of opulence. Now, what shall I have for dinner....?

Just had a call from Jamie, who's on holiday in Portugal. We have done some tweaking of the settings on this laptop and I'll be trying for mobile internet again with renewed optimism tomorrow!

Thank you, Jamie, and I hope you, Lucy and the children enjoy the rest of your holiday!

A long journey up to Heathrow, but Allan and I arrived in plenty of time and baggage check-in was easy...hurray! None of the bags were overweight or oversize and it was a huge relief seeing them on their way at last to the aircraft hold.

I'm only used to the Easyjet experience, so even though it was overnight, the flight to Nairobi was rather good fun, with plenty of distractions and a little light snoozing.

Charles, the hotel driver greeted me at Nairobi and I've had a super day getting my bearings of this exciting city.

Samuel from the Lewa Conservancy phoned this morning so everything's on course for a jolly good shop tomorrow.

I've managed to get myself a mobile phone but no luck so far on the mobile internet connection front. A trip to Safaricom Customer Services tomorrow..

As I type this, the hotel pianist has just started up his easy-on-the-ear medley, and my gorgeous saffron prawns have arrived, so I'd better finish.

It's been a really good day..not least enjoying this rather lovely hotel and my first taste of African sunshine!

More tomorrow.

Twenty-four hours and five minutes to take off! I'll be checking in online in a few minutes. Had a haircut this afternoon and Tanya, my hairdresser in Street very kindly donated a desk's worth of hair cuts. Many thanks, Tanya!

The hens were 140% productive today...ten out of ten eggs before I let them out, and we found four more in the barn that will have been laid a day or two ago. A good omen, surely?

I took my first mallarone tablet this morning (anti-malarials). So far no side effects....

Neighbour Brian and I have exchanged blog addresses. He (soon-to be-retired probation officer) and Annie (Early Years advisor) have had some experience of travel in Africa (the Gambia and Zambia) and wished me well over the fence as I finally got round to pruning the apples this morning.

CCol tells me that donations are still coming in from the AH community...thank you ALL so much!

Time to check in now! My next entry will probably be from the hotel in Nairobi.

A good day. J. and I went to Wells this morning for a few things: a silk sleeping bag liner, a torch and a new penknife. Lunch at Goodfellows and then a dash to school to collect the bags, so that we could double-check weights, courtesy of Home Farm Shop, Kingweston...many thanks, Ashley! (His sausages are good, too!) Just as well, so I've redistributed the loads into an extra bag. We can now also take the new stuff which Peter ( neighbour, cousin-in-law and O'Neill's rep.) kindly brought over yesterday.

We should be able to get at least one more table for Sanga thanks to the generosity of the folk in the yard who keep their horses here, quite likely to be named after three fondly remembered animals who have now galloped off to that great corral in the sky. A good story for the children at Sanga, perhaps.

Half Term at last! There 's been a rush of donations and CCol and I have just about managed to squeeze in the last of the pencil cases, and one of our most precious gifts: a school hymn book inscribed by IM, which I am really looking forward to giving to his counterpart.

I've been immensely touched by the good wishes I've received from colleagues, parents and children. Of course this trip will be a huge journey of discovery for me (I've led a very sheltered life), but I'd like to think that the children of AH will be sharing the excitement of learning too. I'll do my best to make that happen.

Right now, though, it's time for a day or two of rest. I must prune the apple trees and perhaps play my 'cello for a while...maybe a last visit to Wells market tomorrow before I go, too.

The Reception children with the bags ready for the off.

A long day, so a short blog:

Q: Why do rhinos have horns?

A: So they can warn other animals to get out of the way.

A flurry of parcels arrived this week: stationery of all kinds and the pencil cases, ready for the names of the donors and recipients, children of All Hallows and Sanga Schools respectively to be written on them. 4G did a magnificent job filling them this morning. They formed a one-way production line around their classroom and, under the eye of C Col, the job was done in no time. Brilliant, 4G, and thank you!

MG tells me that the beautiful laminated sheets I mentioned in my last blog were the work of Arabella B, Daisy H and Poppy M, and there are others in the pipeline. So thank you again 6G!

My medical emergency pack arrived yesterday, and a new camera case from Amazon. I don't think I have much more to get, apart from some dollars.

I have been experimenting with my "dongle"...the external modem with sim card by which I can access the internet away from home. I am such a hopeless case with technology that I haven't made it work yet, so there were no emails from Pottern Brake on Monday afternoon! I'm sure I'll be able to get it right when I set up internet access in Nairobi...otherwise it'll be awfully quiet here on the blog!

I have been playing a game of "Desert Island Discs" with myself since Christmas. Well not really Desert Island Discs...more a game of "what shall I put on my ipod?" And it's not really the same at all, anyway, because I'll still be able to download anything in Kenya as easily as I can here. How can listening to music through earphones possibly compare to the joy of hearing it live? I shall miss our weekly hymns (OL in terrific voice at Mass on Tuesday!), and I shall be able to take the memory of some fantastic singing from the Year Five cast of "Carrots", George W, Megan M and Lucy P-M particularly. As for my ipod choices, it'll have to be the Goldberg Variations (Glenn Gould, of course) and almost certainly the Mozart A major concerto...a work that has been a favourite since I studied it for A Level back in 1853 (joke).

Packing should be finished tomorrow. When I write again I'll let you see the bags piled and ready to go. Golly gosh, how exciting it all is! And Camilla's on The Archers!! Bliss!

The pictures which Faith Riunga sent us yesterday have brought home the full reality of life for the Sanga community. It was perfect timing too, on the day when we had our simple lunch and a mufti day to continue the push for funds.

The generosity of All Hallows parents and friends is amazing. C Col tells me this morning that we have already "sold" 21 desks and over 50 pencil cases...thats's almost £1000.00 raised since our appeal started.
Jack F-R, Justina A and Miles H have been packing our second Sanga bag this morning: more clothes, including some baby things from Maria, lots of numeracy and literacy games including some laminated work from MG's ICT class (I'll find out which one later so that they can be publicly thanked here on the blog). Josh B very kindly checked the measurements of the enormous hockey-kit bag...with luck we'll only have to pay the excess baggage fee and not the oversize penalty.
Open Day is just drawing to a close and All Hallows has been buzzing with visitors and visiting fixtures parents (including some from my old stamping ground at Hazlegrove). The school looks at its best and all the children I've come across have been on good form...Alvaro and Borja very interested in why my hands were so dirty earlier, Phoebe and Mag bouncy after their netball win and Isabel J focused on her singing when I popped my head round the door to say good morning to MR. All these little human interactions (and there must be ten thousand of them every day in a school of our size) give character and colour to our wonderful school. I wonder how things will compare at Sanga?

What a difference a day or two makes! There's been almost continuous rain today, but despite that things are moving nicely in the right direction. There is a growing sense of excitement as the day of departure nears, and with three visits to Pottern with Year Five next week, I have now taught the Year Two and Three children for the last time until the Summer term!

We seem to have sorted out the question of making funds available to Sanga...alas, no All Hallows credit card for me!...just a simple bank transfer to put in place and the Head at Sanga and I will be able to go shopping .

The desk sponsorships are proving a very popular option and the total now stands at around 17 . I'm slightly concerned about the space that 300 full pencil cases will take up in the luggage, and I hope there'll be room for few more of the educational toys and games that CCol and I looked at this week when we come to do the last bits of packing.

Now I'm just going to practise adding a photograph. I wonder if I have anything handy? Hmm, do you remember this, Year Six?

Welcome to this exciting new blog!

JSP and I are sitting in the staffroom at school with the early English spring sunshine burning off the morning frost. Africa is a long way from this lovely scene, but in just a couple of weeks I shall be under that same (warmer) sun writing about the adventures that are beginning for me and for all our community.

I am on a very steep learning curve...not least, learning how to blog! I hope that the pictures that appear once I'm at Sang'a will be rather more interesting to you than the one above. It was the first I could find! VVS (Very, Very Special) will need a new water pump as soon as I get back from Africa. Can you see the leak?

Our first bag for Sang'a is packed (thank you to Lily P and Heloise I), the pencil cases are on order and we've already sold a good number of desks. CC has been working so hard to push this exciting venture, and many others have contributed in all sorts of ways (just this morning PD offered me some insect repellant that she no longer needs. Thank you, Pip!) Julia Parker (mother of Amelia and Lucy) has been so very kind making all sorts of arrangements on my behalf, and Allan volunteered to do the airport run before I even asked.

Over the next fortnight I shall hope to write about the last minute details, and let's hope that by the time I arrive in Kenya I'm a blogger par excellence!

One last thing...from now on I think I'll omit the apostrophe in Sang'a. And Mr Bird, I'll do my very best to proofread my texts!