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.