We have come a long way since the day Chris raised the question of why Kodou could not continue her education at Jofi Modern School having completed grade 6. In just 2 years we have almost completed our goals.
It took 6 months to find a suitable site, another 4 months to complete the purchase, and just 8 months to transform this poor rundown site into a beautiful purpose-built nursery school.
At the primary school, the former nursery classrooms on the second floor are now being used for a secondary school. Unfortunately, we have not had much time or funds to finish the necessary alterations. New desks had to be made, and 100 new chairs were bought to accommodate the older children, but meeting the needs of the secondary school students has brought extra challenges; more classrooms are needed for specific subjects. As we have very little space, this meant we had to reconfigure the use of some areas. We had already made the science and IT rooms last year in preparation.
One of our priorities was to have a specific area for home economics where we could have a safe space to keep equipment and cooking utensils. This is essential if we are going to teach the subject well. Deanne Paxton kindly raised £1000 from her birthday party to pay for the alterations. The stage area is the least used space, so we decided that this was the best area to accommodate the home economics class.
The only time available to do the work was during the school holidays. The work took place during October 2024, half term break, everything was completed within a week! We planned the area so we could have a fully functioning kitchen for practical lessons, with a washing area a safe place for the ovens, we also extended the stage so classroom would have enough space to accommodate the all the children. At the same time new benches were built in the main Assembly Hall providing enough seating for the senior common room/dining room too.
Top Left and Right: Grade 5 & 6 learning about the Digestive system in the new Home Economics area.
Julie brought the intestines of a cow to dissect. SEEING is the best way to learn and understand. The children certainly remembered this lesson!
Top Left and Right: Grade 7 are learning about nutrition.
By experiencing good nutritious food is the best way to appreciate the value and understand the benefits of a balanced diet.