By Abby Couralis | Communications Officer
The first term of the 2022-23 school year got off to a great start at Maronka Primary School! Both students and staff have shown great enthusiasm and implemented various new projects on site.
Staff have also been working hard on developing interactive literacy and numeracy games for their classes. Students reported speaking English with much more confidence - both amongst themselves and in presentations. Last term saw one female student (who previously had never been to school) passing the final primary school exams after only two years at Maronka, allowing her to go to secondary school and continue her education!
This impressive dedication to learning is felt across all of the school, and starts early at Maronka. This term our Early Years groups have been doing important literacy skill-building work and group activities to ensure a strong foundation.
Some further highlights from last term was the involvement of students in decision making throughout the school as part of EducAid’s Every Voice Counts way of working that ensures all voices are heard throughout the school. This term, staff have been creating new policies and actions to further prioritise student safety and respect for each other. Each Sunday staff meet to plan school activities for the week, and on Thursdays, meetings are held with families to discuss student welfare. This emphasis on safety has brought noticeable change for staff and students with both groups reporting an increase in feelings of safety and belonging. A strong emphasis on positive behaviour management has also aided an improvement in the learning environment at school.
This term will also see some important building work at Maronka this term with the construction of a new kitchen and repairs of boarding facilities for boys and girls, in addition to the construction of new bathrooms. Staff toilets and rooms will also be repaired.
In October and November, EducAid’s QEP teacher training centre at Maronka hosted more than 500 teachers from primary schools in Freetown, Port Loko and the Wester Urban and Rural Areas of Sierra Leone as part of the Sierra Leone Education Innovation Challenge. These teachers will visit Maronka each fall and school leaders twice per term as they work to improve the quality of their primary schools over the next 3 years. Maronka, a small primary school making a big difference!
Thanks to our supporters, the school is now serving 100 children (78 of these boarding). Yet Maronka currently has a waiting list of 42 students, who also hope to board at the school as they don’t have the possibility to live in the surrounding communities. In this new year we therefore hope to be able to expand some of this capacity whilst of course continuing to offer the quality education we have seen at Maronka. Thank you for supporting us and making this possible!
Links:
By Erin Northey | Chief Executive
By Aruna and the EducAid Team | Maronka Deputy Site Coordinator
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