"Chocolate meat"

Arrived at the Day Care at snack time, which was a calm and welcoming environment, all the children were happy and enjoying their snack at the tables. This was lovely to see - it feels like we have already made an impact by observing and talking to Teacher Selvin, who is the teachers assistant. She is very on board with what we have to say and truly cares for all the children. She is passionate, is constantly engaged with the children and always has a big smile on her face!
Before lunch we asked if we could do boogie mites outside with the children. We gathered all the children under the big tree in the fresh air. The children absolutely loved boogie mites and picked up the "English Moves" quickly which made it very enjoyable for both us   and them. After enjoying taking pictures of us hosting our boogiemites session, James came over and was singing "yummy yummy yummy Chocolate meat!", which of course made us giggle! (for those who don't know, its chocolate cake!) This continued for half an hour until lunch was ready. We sat with the children during lunch hour in a calm and happy environment, as all children were sitting on chairs, eating at the table.

 We have noticed over the last few days that the children have to share 2 cups between the whole class after lunch for a drink of water. Today we decided to go to town and buy some necessary utensils for the Day Care and some materials for the uniform. We brought 54 cups, 5 jugs and then noticed some sippy cups for the younger children so we brought 12 of them. We also brought 100 silver tea spoons for the children to use during lunch times as at the moment, they use plastic spoons. Tomorrow we will be setting up the table with the silver spoons a jug in the middle of each table with a cup for each child - this is something we do at Yellow Dot and know it will be an even smoother transition and an enjoyable meal time for the Day care.

A squash and a squeeze..

Today we arrived at the school just after 8am again and went straight into Day Care to see what was going on. So far there were 15 children in with 1 teacher. Most of the children were sat down at empty tables, others on the mattresses on the floor. After about 10 minutes the teacher began getting some toys out for the children. This involved throwing a few handfuls of duplo blocks onto the mattresses and stacking rings. She also got out some empty bottles and gave the children  something to put inside. This included small wooden sticks and pom-poms. However, out of the 6 children sat at the table, only 3 were given them as there were just not enough. The teacher praised them when they completed this task however encouraged them to do it quickly and then took them away, passing them onto children who were yet to have a turn. More children started arriving into class and this continued for the next half an hour. The room became very warm and cramped, totalling up to 4 adults including ourselves and 43 children! (some of which were very distressed). In England, the children's play rooms are measured by square foot and this results in how many children we can legally take within that space, in Kenya, the same rule does not apply. The Kenyan government allow the school to have 45 children just in the Day Care! We also observed that the children aren't settled into the room the same way that they are back at Yellow Dot. Often, they are pulled away from their Mothers, sat down on the floor, laid on a bed or given food. Throughout the morning it became clear that there was nothing similar to our Key Person system we have in place back at Nursery.
Today one of our focuses was lunch time. After seeing the transition over the last couple of days we felt this was something important that we wanted to adapt. We went and collected more chairs to ensure every child in Day Care could eat their lunch sat at the table, ensuring no one was eating on a bed or a mattress. We started setting up the room and moving tables to which the teachers began helping. We explained what it was that we would like to do and they happily moved the mattresses out the way and helped to organise chairs and tables. The children all went and collected their lunch and came back to the Day Care which was already set up for them and straight away were all able to find a chair to sit on. The meal time was much calmer and the children were all happy and comfortable. In England we have to stay in ratio throughout the whole day even over lunch times, however this is not the case in Kenya, at 1 o'clock it is the staff's lunch time at regardless if the children are still eating, sleeping, inside or outside they are left unattended.

Today we also had a look at the Early Childhood Development (ECD) document which is Kenya's equivalent of our Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) back in England. The expectations of the children are very basic in comparison to the EYFS and the learning outcomes are very simple. This week we will be looking at how the teachers record each child's development and how they are providing opportunities to achieve these learning outcomes.

After reflecting on our day, one thing we are keen to implement which we have discussed with James and Alice this afternoon is free flow play in the Day Care. We feel that having both the inside and outside environment for the children to choose from will benefit them and create a calmer, happier and more stimulating environment and also less chaotic with up to 45 children in one space! Also, one of our focuses will be the activities and resources the children are engaging in as there seems to be very little. For the rest of the week we will be looking at what resources they have and how they can use these in different ways but also identifying whether they are in need of anything new and perhaps some ideas and strategies.

It has just started raining here in Kenya with lots of thunder and very, very grey skies - which is nice and cool for us!  We hope the weather is nicer for school tomorrow! Goodnight :)

An eye opener day

Today we arrived at school just after 8am and the children were already in their classes working hard. We wanted to see how the day started and also, arriving earlier was much cooler for us! First we visited Day Care where the children are aged 1-4 years old. To begin with, there were 20 children but when we visited again later, 15 more had arrived. The teachers were singing alphabet and number songs. They stood behind desks whilst the teacher was at the front of the class. During one of the songs some of the children were given a musical instrument however some were not as there were not enough. Those who didn't were encouraged to clap. Although the songs seemed quite upbeat and enjoyable they were very repeptitive.
We then moved onto to visit Pre-primary 1 where the children are 4-5 years old. There were 15 children in. Yesterday we had a brief look at their timetable and first thing in the morning they carry out a health check so we were curious to see what this entailed. To our suprise, this was singing all different songs about their bodies and families. After the health check, lessons begin. The teacher starts by annoucning the day of the week, the date and discussing what the weather was like. There was alot of noise coming from the other classroom (both pre-primary 1 and 2 are in the same iron shack, only separeted by a thin layer of iron). We sat at the back of the classroom, near to some of the children sat at their desks and we found it really difficult to hear the teacher. The lesson taking place was called 'Language Act'. The children were learning about the 'i' and 'e' words. There were posters diaplayed around the classroom which had different pictures and sounds on them. The teacher used these during the lesson to demonstrated different 'i' and 'e' words. Again, this process was very repetitive which didnt give an understanding of each indivudual childs knowledge or ability. After reflecting on our time observing the lessons, we felt that perhaps the class were seen as a whole group rather than each child being seen as an individual which is something we embrace back at Yellow Dot.
We then spent the rest of our day back in Day Care. There seemed to be not much of a routine in place and the first thing we noticed was that there were not many resources out for the children. There were 7 children sitting around one table sharing a very small amount of duplo blocks and alot of other children were spread about the room, some sleeping and others not really doing much and not really engaged in anything. Another 8 children were sat round another table; only 2 of them using books and pencils to draw and colour. When asking the teacher what the children were doing in their books, she explained that the younger children just scribble however the older children are developing the muscles for writing for when they move up to Pre-primary 1. All of a sudden it was snack time! It became very chaotic very quickly with no annoucement or transition. The teachers began handing out snacks to some of the children and others were left to get their own or wait for their older siblings to bring it to them. A few children, in particular, were sat for a long time with no snack until we asked the teacher where their snack was. The teacher found a bag on the floor by the door, explaining it was theirs and gave them each a flask of tea with a donut. This is something we saw a few times during our day today and we felt as if the children lacked confidence or understanding in asking their teachers for support. After snack, the children are encouraged to play oustide until 11am. Some children stayed inside as they were sleeping; some on beds and others on mattresses on the floor. During play time, the teachers go to the staff room and have a cup of tea which means both the children inside and out are left to occupy themselves, unsupervised. After play time when we went back into Day Care there was only 1 teacher with 35 children aged 1-4. She encouraged them all to sit, whether this be on a mattress or at a table. No activities took place and the children were encouraged to occupy themselves using the sensory pouches, sensory bottles and duplo scattered around the room. We then decided to encourage the children and their teacher over and taught them some new songs. These included Tiny Tim and Shakey Shakey. The children seemed really engaged and after repeating the songs two or three times were joinging in with actions and some words. When finished, we then encouraged the teacher to do some singing with them too. During this, the second teacher arrived back into Day Care and began singing numbers songs whilst pointing to numbers chalked on the blackboard, encouraging the children to copy whilst stood behind desks. Lunch time soon arrived and there seemed to be a long waiting time where more children fell asleep and others became impatient. They all washed their hands and wait in a line until everyone is ready. Whilst they went to the kitchen area to collect their lunch (which was rice and beans today) we took it upon ourselves to set up the tables and chairs to ensure it was ready when they came back. However there were not enough chairs. With 35 children present, we only had 19 chairs. This meant the other 16 ate on mattresses on the floor or beds. After lunch is play time for an hour and then 2-3.30pm is sleep/rest time and then home time.
It has been nice for us to get to know the teachers and see how they work with the children. We are also able to ask questions during the day to ensure that we understand their way of teaching. Tomorrow we look forward to arriving early again to see the quality of teaching and maybe catch some of the parents along the way.

Meet and greet day

Today was another scourching day reaching tempertures of 35 degrees!
We arrived at the school and went to the office to meet the Head Master of High School, acting Head Master of Primary and Head Mistress of Nursery - who we will be working closely with over the next few weeks.
We then went to each class who welcomed us with a song and we had to introduce ourselves to them. Some of the older classes thought our accent was very funny and enjoyed laughing at the teachers mocking our accent, which put us at ease and made the welcome more enjoyable, with lots of laughter. By the time we had visited each of the classes it was lunch time. The younger children get their lunch first. We watched how the older children take care of the younger children, ensuring they are getting their lunch, sitting down and eating, you can clearly see how they all care for eachother.
After lunch the children have a play time which consists of entaining themselves using the outdoor envirinment. We joined with their circle games which again is dancing!! So again lots of laughter coming from the children when they called us up to stand in the middle of the circle and dance, hopefully as time goes by we will be pro's by the end of three weeks.

The Day Care, which is the same as our nursery, is a iron shack with beds, mattresses and tables. Not many toys, if any,  for the children to play with. The Day Care has 27 registed children in the same iron shack, they range from 1 years old up to 4 years of age with a ratio of 1:15. WOW!!! what a difference to the UK guidelines. They had all 27 children in today which meant the shack became very warm very quickly. There were come children who were a litle unsettled as they havent been there very long or it is their first time of seeing a white person.
They have lunch in their classroom. We sat with them and tried to communicate but we didnt get much response due to the lack of English understanding. Through their years at the Life Centre School their English will improve as it is an English speaking school and Swahili is taught as a subject as they get older, but Swahili is their first language at home. So all the classes and exams are done in English. The portion sizes are good size for all ages, and always contain carbohydrates as this is the only meal for most of the children.
We were privileged enough to be offered lunch which was rice, cabbage and potatoes, to our surprise it was very flavoursome and we thoughly enjoyed it. They have a different meal every day throughout the week, so we are looking forward to seeing what is on the menu tomorrow!

Before home time the children gathered around and joined in with some singing and circle games. The children are very sociable, happy and confident, they demonstrate a lot of respect not only for their teachers but for us as well. Every time we moved their was a chair waiting for us to sit on, which we were not used to as in our environment back home we are on the floor with the children engaging with them at all times.

Tomorrow we have planned to arrive at school early where the timetable is busier and we can see more of the Early Years curriculum and lessons in practice as we find after lunch they sleep for two hours or free play and go home.

Humble experience

After having a good nights rest, we woke up feeling fresh and excited to start our day.
We arrived at the Church (which is situated at the school in one of the classrooms) and could hear the singing from outside, straight away it gave us goosebumps. We were greeted and made to feel very welcome and had front seats as we were the 'guests of honour'.
During the service (which was 3 hours long!!) children come and go and the Kenyan people arrive at any time and join in. It is a very laid back environment, even the singers and Pastor had their phones in their hands when performing during the service.
We watched the children sing and dance, and WOW they can move! We then got called up and had to dance, to which i think it was more of entertainment for the community, they had their phones out videoing us with huge grins. To say the least we were extremely hot, with a temperature of 35 degrees outside and we are in a iron shack!
After the service, James, took us to each classroom and talked through all the recent developments and improvements. Later we talked through what plans we have in place while we are here and what outcomes they would like to achieve.

James drove us around the local area, we stopped at the rubbish site. James told us the story of how he finds children looking through the rubbish for food or materials to sell. We could see some people on the top of the rubbish dump searching for things. James encourages the children who he finds there to attend school and get their one meal a day as well as an education which helps them to return to their home as their parents are able to look after them knowing they have eaten at least once during the day. There were also huge vultures on the rubbish tip, and we mean huge!!

Today was a humble experience, and was nice to get to know some of the children who attend the school. Tomorrow we are looking forward to spending quality time with teachers and look at their ECD (Early Childhood development) which is the equivalent of our EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage).

Arrived Safely

Our journey started off with being over weight with our bags due to all the donations , we didnt want to leave anything behind and had to flutter our eyelids to ensure everything came - which it did!

The flight from UK to Nairobi was a hot one, our air con above us did not work - we didnt get much sleep due to this. We also managed to sit in the wrong seats so we had to move after we got comfortable. We have met some lovely people along the way who helped us with our journey, well mostly with our 8 bags of luggage, which we could hardly lift ourselves.
We made it to Kisumu and were greeted with open arms by Alice and James, although they did turn up yesterday to pick us up!! James and Alice took us to our little hotel and ensured we were comfortable before they left. We have rested today and having a very early night ready for our Church experience tomorrow.
Goodnight.

Hayley's reflection 2016

I feel so fortunate to have been selected to visit the life centre school in Kisumu, I have been truly inspired by the positive attitude of every adult and child I met whilst in the school.

My personal highlight of the trip was teaching the adults how to make the play dough and seeing their enthusiasm and excitement of learning something new. All the children reacted in the same way and their faces lit up with fascination when we handed out the dough. Every child and adult in the room spent time exploring the dough and showing each other the different models they could make. The thought of something that's so simple and so readily available to us in nurseries here, bringing this level of excitement was a great thing to witness.

After the first day I felt truly humbled by how warm and welcoming each and every person had been towards us and how proud they were to show us what they had learnt, even though each person faces a daily struggle that we in the UK couldn't even imagine.

I was amazed to see how the day care had transformed from the teams visit last year and it was great to spend so much time with the children in the day care. They all got stuck straight in with the sensory pouches and were also very keen to make their own sensory bottles that they then spent the next 30 minutes or so exploring. I was impressed at how quickly the children picked up the actions and some words to nursery rhymes that we sung to them, within a couple of times of hearing a song every child there was having a go and joining in.

I loved absorbing the local atmosphere and getting to know and understand the culture that we would be part of for the week.

The day James showed us the dump site where it had all started was hard to comprehend. I can only imagine how hard both James and Alice have work with the support of the Asante coffee shop and now yellow dot to create the fantastic nursery and school that ranks in the top three for the region! I'm proud to have been a part of that and I want to continue supporting the school and nursery

I hope that James and Alice continue to keep us updated with the development and progress of the children at the nursery and school.