Monthly Archives

February 2020

Feb 24
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Deskbound

By | news

Victims of our own success, Shalom Academy soon found itself short of desks once the new cohort of pupils crammed into the classes (105 at last count).

Vitalis got straight on to the local carpenter who quickly made 15 new desks (wide enough for three little ones), providing seating for everyone. They will be painted in the school colour (sky blue) before being placed in the classrooms.

The pictures shows Vitalis and security/caretaker Gerald, and some of our new pupils using the goalpost as a trapeze while waiting for their desks to be placed in the classrooms.

Feb 24
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A life without education is like a tree without fruit

By | news

Two years ago Vitalis planted some seemingly nondescript plants at the bottom of the playing field.

We now have an orchard.

Pineapples, paw paws, guavas, bananas, passionfruit and avocados are about to be harvested. The paw paws especially have grown like balloons; they are so heavy it is a wonder they remain attached to the branch.

The fruit will be the centrepiece of the new breakfast menu at Shalom Academy. Many of our pupils come to school on an empty stomach, so this fruit will go some way to filling the void and helping them focus on morning studies.

Feb 12
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St Gregory the Great

By | news

The pupils of St Gregory’s Catholic Primary school in Deepdale, Preston are our good friends across the miles.

They have supported Shalom Academy in a variety of ways over the years—from their Send a Friend to School initiative to topping up our school lunch programme (they bought a lot of beans and helped us plant fruit trees).

They are also keen letter writers to their pen friends in Irovo.

This year they decided to add a bit of colour to their pen friends’ letters by raising money for a sackful of crayons and coloured pencils (shown here with Vitalis and headteacher Mr Bondi).

One generous St Gregory’s pupil donated an unwanted gift of two battery-powered toy train sets. We set them up in the staff room and brought in the Shalom Academy pupils class by class. They then returned to their own classes and drew the train using the coloured pencils (this was the first time they had ever seen a train—real or toy).

Feb 11
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I Love my Teacher

By | news

Left to right, school director Vitalis, Lona, Margret, Anita, headteacher Mr Bondi and Gladys.

Shalom Academy has welcomed two new teachers to our staff this year, both trained—Lona (fresh from college) and Margret, who came to us from a state school that was poorly run and hugely understaffed (she was teaching four classes at once!) Margret has assumed responsibility for our biggest class (PP1), her preferred age group.

Welcome Margret and Lona.

Feb 10
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The Young Ones

By | news

Our two-year plan is to grow the school from six to eight grades, and from 84 children to 200.

We have now reached 103 pupils in six grades. Most of the 2020 intake have gone to PP1 (Pre-primary 1)—including ‘chill dude’ Brian (before he got his new uniform), which is encouraging because we hope to retain most of these who can progress through the grades, by which time we should have reached our goal.

Then what?

Feb 09
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N.U.D. (New Uniform Day)

By | news

New Uniform Day is one of the annual events to which we look forward as much as the pupils at Shalom Academy. Such a simple thing as a badged blue polo shirt can transform the attitude of pupils, parents and teachers. New pupils come in a variety of get-ups—some Sunday best, others a ragtag ensemble of uniforms from other schools and hand-me downs. Once a shirt is placed on their backs, the new sense of belonging is palpable.

This year we went one better than just polo shirts—for our top grade (grade 4) we introduced navy blue trousers for the boys and pleated skirts for the girls.

It usually takes 3 weeks to reach optimum capacity at Shalom; this year, by the end of week 2, we have reached 86 pupils. We may even run out of uniforms, which would be a strange kind of success. Our target is 110.