Weaverham in Kenya

Welcome to the dedicated page celebrating Weaverham's partnership with our friends in Kenya from Kilimo Primary School. Each day where possible Mr Proctoor will upload pictures taken whilst on his adventures...

Day 1-

Wow what a day. Travelling for over 24 hours but it certainly was worth it! Flights were very comfortable and our transfer between Doha and Nairobi was seemless. Landing in Kenya at 8am, the rest of the day was filled with travelling over sometimes very rough terrain aboard a small mini bus to our destination. We did stop at the Sunbarn Restaurant overlooking the quite spectacular lake but were then soon on our way again. Please check the images for more of a taste of this amazing experience so far...

Day 2-

And so we got to business. An early start on the school grounds for their morning parade at 7:45. Mr P was asked to lead the assembly was thrilled with the offer. He shared our wishes of warm welcomes and a prosperous partnership and also gave a few details about Forest Street. Kilimo pupils were particular amused by the fact we had snow this time last week. After the parade involving all 1100 students it was time to meet and greet some of the classes. Kenyan children start their school life at age 6 and stay in primary until 13, so the children are a little older than our classes both at the top and bottom end of the school. Mr P shared some of the enquiries Weaverham pupils had and also took Kilimo questions. There were some groans when it came to sharing how long our children are in school for: some of the Kilimo children start at 6:30am and do not leave until 5pm. All the children are so excited with our partnership and Mr P cannot wait to return for teaching and learning to begin properly on Monday.

Day 3-

Well what a day! Despite the 5am wake up call the safari visit was incredible. We managed to see some amazing animals (some of which have been uploaded to this page). The highlight had to be hippos hiding near the edge of the lake sussing us out!

Day 4-

Today was a calm and relaxing day to take it all in, and plan the activities to be covered in classes next week to cover the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 4 and 5: quality education and gender equality. Around campus it was a sporting afternoon so we took in Kenyan football and basketball matches. Sadly Mr P was not asked if he wanted to join in! In the evening a few of us were invited to sample Kenyan home cooking by attending the home of one of the teacher's. On the menu was chicken, mutton stew and the local favourite of japaties. It has been a priviledge to sample this local cuisine.

Day 5-

If Friday was incredible, today was quite simply spectacular. Today Mr P started by presenting a replica of our school flag to Kilimo after they had raised their flag and sung the national anthem. He then performed God Save the Queen and finished off with All You Need is Love by the Beatles. This wonderful experience was followed by another: teaching all 145 children in stage 8 (the oldest at 13 years old) in one go. What a joy! After a short break it was the turn of grade 7 (164 at age 12) and this was followed with the grade 6 (the same as our Year 6 at age 11- 159 in attendance). Lunch was lamb stew with vegetables and we then had to leave to attend visits of 2 key local attractions: a rose plant and Egerton Castle (the original home of the man responsible for starting the university which we reside). These are the sorts of days that stay with you for a lifetime and Mr P cannot wait to share these experiences when he is back in the United Kingdom.

Day 6-

Today we had the opportunity to visit each other's school. It was a really interesting experience to see even in Kenya how different the schools teach and learn. Kilimo was second on the list and did Mr P proud: 3 songs performed and lots of smiles. Other schools used drama and dance to share the word of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Day 7-

How on earth has a week passed already? 7 days of incredible experiences seem to have flown by. This morning Mr P was teaching 145 Grade 5 (10 year olds), 154 Grade 4 (9 year olds) and 160 Grade 3 (8 year olds). It was another incredible experience and something he cannot wait to share with Weaverham pupils.

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