Support Teachers to Educate 200 Children Monthly

Dear friends and partners, 

It is the second day of April holidays for the children here at Acres of Mercy. The teachers have taken a well-deserved break before reporting back on 14th April for planning sessions for next term. We have made great strides in the last three months as staff so that we can truly say Together Each Achieves More. A volunteer working with us commented and said, "Things are much better now than last year, I think this is a good team. People are working more together towards the vision of the school." 

We have been experimenting with cross class and cross subject teaching and planning to help reduce the achievment gaps especially for English taught subjects. We have a team of four teachers working on giving instruction and assessments across five classes. This is set to continue throughout the whole year with an evaluation of progress in June 2017. 

Staff morale is high, there is more productivity compared to the same time one year ago. For the past three months disbursements have come in by the 28th of every month allowing teachers to get paid in a timely way. Staff are less worried about when they will be remunerated because there are pressing financial pressures. Instead they are more given to finding ways to deliver quality teaching to their students.

The effects are that children are more disciplined because they are more engaged. The teachers show better care towards their academic and personal well being.I could attribute this change in focus directly towards timely pay. Thank you all partners for making it happen. On behal; of all our staff here at Acres of Mercy, Thank You for a great first term 2017.  

Dear Friends, 

It has been a great year. Twelve months of learning. .

Of learning, and of working out ways to use the lessons learnt to improve our work. Of failing forward by looking backwards.

The main point of learning foor us came in the first quarter of the year.

We learnt from professional teachers and friends teaching in the U.S. about how to engage students and how to make social contracts with them.

This was timely since it came at a time when student disengagement was at an all tiime high and indiscipline was proportionately similar.

Many teachers had given the school's rating at 20% score on discipline.

Through hardwork, making tough calls on staff and accountability the rating shifted at the end of the year. Student engagement was once again looking up. Indiscipline changed and the story was that the school had been remarkably transformed without using corporal punishment as many parents and teachers had initially thought.

We consistently applied the methods taught us during our student engagement workshops and became accountable to each other as teachers on the results we were looking for. The parents gave the support we needed and as a team we all worked to raising the student engagement climate within our school.

Though not where we would like it to be, the student engagement levels in the school improved. At the end of the year, the teachers gave a rating of about 60% from the previous score of 20%.

Some of the lessons learnt are:-

1. Where there are assumptions, fight them to get to the truth- truth liberates people to take right action

2. We learnt to face the truth even when it was ugly- Facing truth inspires corrective action

3. We learnt that high trust leads to swift action and hence almost rapid results.

 We now are acting on these lessons getting information that will lead to truth, using truth and trusting each ther to deliver results that leads to changed lives.