TERMLY REPORT.
HAPPY DAY JUNIOR SCHOOL.
Dear friends, sponsors and family, we greet you all and extend our love to you. We also thank you all for the support that you give to us through various contributions. Your support gives us the strength to go forward because we know that some people somewhere care for us. Thank you all and may you be blessed.
We have gone through the early stages and challenges of starting and operating a kindergarten and we are happy to report that we have been able to cope with the emerging challenges. it has been tough sometimes due to the high cost of living which is being experienced world wide and more so here because of poverty. This has been brought about by the high food and fuel prices which has in the recent past shot higher than what the parents here can afford.
The feeding programme here has proved to be of great help to the children because they are assured of getting two meals a day. That is porridge during break time and some food during lunch time. This is because some of them get nothing at home and so they must attend school because of the meals offered.
Many more parents are seeking for their children's admission in our school because of the feeding programme but we have not been able to do so because of our limited facilities. We only have 3 classrooms and 1 toilet which accommodates 54 children together with 4 teachers.
We need to construct 2 more classes and 2 toilets so that we can be able to provide a good learning and teaching environment for our children and staff.
Apart from the feeding programme, we are providing quality early childhood education using the ministry of education curriculum and syllabus. This prepares the young children for primary school education. We have received many teaching aids and toys from our friends in Norway and we have also bought some here in Kenya.
The teachers have also improvised teaching aids so that children can enjoy learning and they mostly never want to miss school. This has given us an advantage over older schools around and that is why we are getting many parents wishing that we enroll their children.
During second term every year, most schools take their children for educational tours. This year we are not able to take our children for the trips due to financial problems. This is because the parents pay for their children's expenses during such trips. Currently, most of them cannot afford to pay because the money they get goes to buying food and fuel. The trips are important because the children are taken to learn practically according to their age.
The very small ones are taken to the children's traffic area in Nairobi to learn more on safety on the road and also to the giraffe centre and the museum. The bigger ones are taken to the parliament, city hall, national archives and the Nairobi National Park. This enables them to come into contact with what they learn through theory in class. As they progress in classes, they then visit physical features like the rift valley, and mountains, rivers, lakes, and forests.
We hope that before the end of this term we shall have some money to take the children for the trips because we do not want to give sub-standard education.
We have put on new paint on the school gate and windows and it really looks attractive. We have not been able to write the Kindergartens name nor draw cartoons on the walls due to the fact that we must get permission from the city hall. This requires that the City council workers come to asses the place and see if its a good place for children. They are yet to come and we hope that they do so soon. We also have to renew our trade license.
We closed school for the easter holidays in April and come back in May. One teacher was pregnant and she is currently on maternity leave for 3 months. Her class is being taught by an assistant teacher who is still in college. We have very dedicated teachers who come to school early and take good care of the children. We need to give them some motivation and I have already sent one of them to a teachers seminar so that she can interact with teachers from other centers and know what we need to do for improvement.
We are experiencing a books shortage. This includes mostly text books which are really expensive. We have 1 text book per subject per class and this is not enough. The teachers are not able to teach well due to this problem.
We always buy exercise books and pencils for some of our children but they are not enough. We need some assistance for that. We also need some crayon and modelling clay which is very important for early childhood learning and most of our parents cannot afford to buy.
Most of the parents have tried to buy the school uniform and we say well done. The school has also bought school uniform for 5 girls and 3 boys. Black leather shoes have proved to be an issue with parents mainly because they can't afford them. We have told them to put on any closed shoes and socks but make an effort in buying black shoes.
We are thinking of starting an income generating project for parents so that they can be able to meet their needs. Basket making and beading is a good project. The main challenge is that we do not have a ready market and they fear that it might take long for their products to be bought and their needs will not be taken care of. We have told them to think and come up with the solution. We shall inform you on this development.
We are late in writing this report and we promise that this will not happen again. We will be submitting a report 3 times a year i.e on a termly basis.
Children in the project are thankful for the toys which they use during their free play lessons. This helps them very much during breaks and in the evening as they wait for their parents.
Some children are exceptional e.g Kennedy - This 3 year old boy is not able to communicate well orally but he makes sure that he is heard. We are encouraging him to speak by always talking to him and we also made him a class leader so that he talks on a regular basis.
Stacey - She is two and a half years old and very withdrawn. We noticed that when she is using a toy car she really feels good and she is able to play with others. So in order to make learning good for her, the toys that she loves are just kept near her. She nowadays wakes her mother very early so that she can be brought to school. Thank you very much for making this for her.
Samuel - This 5 year old boy comes from a very poor family and his parents cannot even provide writing materials for him. This has made his a very withdrawn child. We are currently trying to provide some materials for him and we hope that his attitude towards life changes.
Grace - This 5 1/2 year old girl is an HIV/AIDS orphan who lives with her grandmother. She looks affected by this fact and we always encourage her to interact with other children. This is very good academically.
Esther - She is 4 years old and very bright. She is the group leader to her age mates and you would think that she is a teacher. She controls them so well.
This is our financial report as from January - April.
INCOME EXTERNAL INCOME INTERNAL
JAN = 30,000 JAN: 7,600
FEB = 25,000 FEB: 6,400
MAR = 20,000 MAR: 8,200
APR = 50,000 APR: NIL
TOTAL: 125,000 TOTAL: 22,200
TOTAL INCOME: 147,200
EXPENDITURE
SALARIES
JAN = 21,500
FEB = 21,500
MAR = 21,500
APR = 21,500
TOT = 86,000
TEACHING AIDS = 12,500
FOOD STUFF = 41,800
CHAIRS & BOX = 5,200
TOTAL = 69,500
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TOTAL EXPENDITURE = 145,500
TOTAL INCOME - TOTAL EXPENDITURE = BALANCE
147,200 - 145,500 = 1,700
THIS TERM'S BUDGET.
SALARIES: FEEDING PROGRAMME:
MAY = 19,500 MAY = 26,000
JUN = 19,500 JUN = 30,000
JUL = 21,500 JUL = 30,000
AUG = 21,500 TOTAL = 86,000
TEACHING ITEMS = 14,000
RE-CEMENTING = 20,000
PAINTING = 14,500
TOTAL: 130,500
GRAND TOTAL: 130,500 + 86,000
= 216,000
