CBC is a syllabus for the future, says Jon Murray-Walker
CBC is a syllabus for the future, says Jon Murray-Walker
CBC is a syllabus for the future, says Jon Murray-Walker
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CBC is a syllabus for the future, says Jon Murray-Walker
CBC is a syllabus for the future, says Jon Murray-Walker
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Greensteds Scoops Three Awards At The Great Places To School Awards 2019
Greensteds Scoops Three Awards At The Great Places To School Awards 2019
Greensteds International School wins big at the just concluded ‘Great Places to School’ Initiative! The main aim of the initiative is to identify, rate and recognize schools that display exemplary capabilities beyond academic performance by rating them based on spectrums such as career development, sport and co-curricular activities, safety and security and STEM education, Entrepreneurship projects, governance as well as character and creativity.
This initiative also intends to help parents and guardians to choose the best school for their children for secondary education. There was a total of 268 schools that were evaluated and out of those only 14 schools received awards.
We are delighted to confirm that Greensteds International School was awarded Three Awards in three different categories, as follows:
1st Position: Safety and Security – This category evaluated the safety and security for the learners in their daily activities and the security measures put in place by the school for students.
2nd Position: Character and Creativity - This category evaluated the school’s environment and its ability to mould learners into authentic people of honest character, the guidance and direction offered to learners so that they are able to express their personalities in a healthy and strong way whilst developing creativity and respectable character .
3rd Position: Co-curricular and Sports Activities - This category evaluated the school’s sporting environment for learners to develop their physical talents in their quest for sporting excellence. Also the expert advice offered to students, and the physical activities and facilities in the school.
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Greensteds Scoops Three Awards At The Great Places To School Awards 2019
Greensteds International School wins big at the just concluded ‘Great Places to School’ Initiative! The main aim of the initiative is to identify, rate and recognize schools that display exemplary capabilities beyond academic performance by rating them based on spectrums such as career development, sport and co-curricular activities, safety and security and STEM education, Entrepreneurship projects, governance as well as character and creativity.
This initiative also intends to help parents and guardians to choose the best school for their children for secondary education. There was a total of 268 schools that were evaluated and out of those only 14 schools received awards.
We are delighted to confirm that Greensteds International School was awarded Three Awards in three different categories, as follows:
1st Position: Safety and Security – This category evaluated the safety and security for the learners in their daily activities and the security measures put in place by the school for students.
2nd Position: Character and Creativity - This category evaluated the school’s environment and its ability to mould learners into authentic people of honest character, the guidance and direction offered to learners so that they are able to express their personalities in a healthy and strong way whilst developing creativity and respectable character .
3rd Position: Co-curricular and Sports Activities - This category evaluated the school’s sporting environment for learners to develop their physical talents in their quest for sporting excellence. Also the expert advice offered to students, and the physical activities and facilities in the school.
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Service Learning at Greensteds International School
Service Learning at Greensteds International School
The philosophy of service learning aims to broaden students' grasp of real world issues, guiding them towards applying skills acquired in the classroom to community service, experiential learning and sustainability. For the duration of this term, all Greensteds teachers and students have been actively involved in service learning, usually on Thursdays from 3:30 pm to 5:00 pm. In accordance with the school's vision ‘to provide a dynamic, holistic and enriching environment…’the service learning program at Greensteds has three main strands:
The environmental strand, led by Mr. Knowles- strives to increase students’ awareness of their impact on the environment and the importance of a sustainable, eco-friendly lifestyle. The approach to caring for the school environment is varied: to plant 3,000 trees this year, sell seedlings to other schools, effectively recycle plastic bottles, and reduce the school's energy consumption by replacing the bulbs with energy efficient, motion detecting light sources. It goes beyond the confines of the school - the group is also taking local tea companies to task about their unnecessary use of plastic wrappers. This aims to facilitate ambitious contributions to safeguarding Mother Earth for future generations.
The social strand, led by Ms. Muthee– endeavours to develop social awareness and enhance teamwork. Students in this strand drew on their own experiences while creating a welcome pack for new students. In this way they hope to aid the new students smoothly integrate into the Greensteds community. They also hosted children of different ages from Miti Mingi Orphanage in the school, entertaining them with various activities including swimming, art and ICT activities on a weekly basis. The economic strand, led by Mr. Omotto– aspires to raise funds for charity and related school projects.
They also carried out activities aimed at marketing the school. Students in this strand carried out activities such as cleaning staff cars, selling roses and taking photos during Christmas dinners. This instils in them a sense of responsibility since they have to run the activities themselves.
The program is conducted on a rotational basis, whereby each student will experience one of the strands each term. Overall, the expectation is to foster responsibility in students, for the environment, and the less fortunate and financial management.
After completing tasks in each one, they will be awarded a Greensteds Sustainability Certificate.
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Service Learning at Greensteds International School
The philosophy of service learning aims to broaden students' grasp of real world issues, guiding them towards applying skills acquired in the classroom to community service, experiential learning and sustainability. For the duration of this term, all Greensteds teachers and students have been actively involved in service learning, usually on Thursdays from 3:30 pm to 5:00 pm. In accordance with the school's vision ‘to provide a dynamic, holistic and enriching environment…’the service learning program at Greensteds has three main strands:
The environmental strand, led by Mr. Knowles- strives to increase students’ awareness of their impact on the environment and the importance of a sustainable, eco-friendly lifestyle. The approach to caring for the school environment is varied: to plant 3,000 trees this year, sell seedlings to other schools, effectively recycle plastic bottles, and reduce the school's energy consumption by replacing the bulbs with energy efficient, motion detecting light sources. It goes beyond the confines of the school - the group is also taking local tea companies to task about their unnecessary use of plastic wrappers. This aims to facilitate ambitious contributions to safeguarding Mother Earth for future generations.
The social strand, led by Ms. Muthee– endeavours to develop social awareness and enhance teamwork. Students in this strand drew on their own experiences while creating a welcome pack for new students. In this way they hope to aid the new students smoothly integrate into the Greensteds community. They also hosted children of different ages from Miti Mingi Orphanage in the school, entertaining them with various activities including swimming, art and ICT activities on a weekly basis. The economic strand, led by Mr. Omotto– aspires to raise funds for charity and related school projects.
They also carried out activities aimed at marketing the school. Students in this strand carried out activities such as cleaning staff cars, selling roses and taking photos during Christmas dinners. This instils in them a sense of responsibility since they have to run the activities themselves.
The program is conducted on a rotational basis, whereby each student will experience one of the strands each term. Overall, the expectation is to foster responsibility in students, for the environment, and the less fortunate and financial management.
After completing tasks in each one, they will be awarded a Greensteds Sustainability Certificate.
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Science Week: ‘It’s The Best!
Science Week: ‘It’s The Best!
Science Week is Greensteds’ annual celebration of Science, in which students from Years 5 - 9 compete for their house. This year, students worked within their year groups to carry out and evaluate a variety of experiments.
This year’s overall winner was Batian House, who conducted a range of experiments such as: How Much Mass Can an Egg Withstand and Does Listening to Music Affect Concentration? In a speech to students, Mr. Pearce (Head of Science), stated that the effort from all participants ‘was phenomenal’. The students had great fun conducting and presenting their investigations. Natasha from Year 5 was so excited for the day that she woke up at 4am. She says that she enjoyed the week because ‘when you experiment, you get the real answers’.
Eva Maria told reporters that the week was enjoyable because ‘we learn to work…as a team’. Rianna was more excited about learning ‘to outdo the competition.’ However, one student had a more cynical view of the proceedings, commenting, ‘we learnt how to bribe judges properly’.
Her wishes to remain anonymous have been respected, thanks to a large number of toffees exchanging hands! It wasn’t just the Year 5s who were excited by the practical and competitive application of science. Melissa from Year 8 said, It was lit! Her classmate Ashney commented, It’s so exciting! Maryanne said, The Science Fair is a time to learn. The enthusiasm and co-operation of students from all the year groups involved made the day a great success.
Bhuvan’s Story
One student, Bhuvan, whose New Year’s Resolution was to go to Mars, had an unexpected role this year in Science Week. His group was experimenting with how much weight an egg could withstand and reached a sticking point when their egg proved more than a match for their many weighted containers. One student told the story:
We put all the water bottles on it and still it wouldn’t break so we put our classmate on it.
Like the true scientist he is, Bhuvan explained the moment clearly to our reporters:
They told me to step on it and then it broke. I felt a tingle in my toes.
His team was very grateful for his important role in making their experiment a success. However, Bhuvan has said that he wouldn’t consider taking part in the science fair again as part of the apparatus. He preferred his other role as a scientist.
Shock Discovery
Despite all the fun of the fair, Greensteds’ conspiracy theorists and political activists were up in arms on Saturday when two groups of Year 5 scientists claimed that Nelion students have an advantage in sport. The results of their experiment suggested that Nelion’s yellow t-shirt would help students to stay cooler in the sunlight than Kibo’s red or Batian’s dreaded dark blue! Further to this, scientist Valini stated, ‘warm colours often evoke feelings of happiness and energy’, perhaps furthering the advantage of Nelion’s sunshine yellow clan. As of yet, Mr. Murray-Walker has made no comment.
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Science Week: ‘It’s The Best!
Science Week is Greensteds’ annual celebration of Science, in which students from Years 5 - 9 compete for their house. This year, students worked within their year groups to carry out and evaluate a variety of experiments.
This year’s overall winner was Batian House, who conducted a range of experiments such as: How Much Mass Can an Egg Withstand and Does Listening to Music Affect Concentration? In a speech to students, Mr. Pearce (Head of Science), stated that the effort from all participants ‘was phenomenal’. The students had great fun conducting and presenting their investigations. Natasha from Year 5 was so excited for the day that she woke up at 4am. She says that she enjoyed the week because ‘when you experiment, you get the real answers’.
Eva Maria told reporters that the week was enjoyable because ‘we learn to work…as a team’. Rianna was more excited about learning ‘to outdo the competition.’ However, one student had a more cynical view of the proceedings, commenting, ‘we learnt how to bribe judges properly’.
Her wishes to remain anonymous have been respected, thanks to a large number of toffees exchanging hands! It wasn’t just the Year 5s who were excited by the practical and competitive application of science. Melissa from Year 8 said, It was lit! Her classmate Ashney commented, It’s so exciting! Maryanne said, The Science Fair is a time to learn. The enthusiasm and co-operation of students from all the year groups involved made the day a great success.
Bhuvan’s Story
One student, Bhuvan, whose New Year’s Resolution was to go to Mars, had an unexpected role this year in Science Week. His group was experimenting with how much weight an egg could withstand and reached a sticking point when their egg proved more than a match for their many weighted containers. One student told the story:
We put all the water bottles on it and still it wouldn’t break so we put our classmate on it.
Like the true scientist he is, Bhuvan explained the moment clearly to our reporters:
They told me to step on it and then it broke. I felt a tingle in my toes.
His team was very grateful for his important role in making their experiment a success. However, Bhuvan has said that he wouldn’t consider taking part in the science fair again as part of the apparatus. He preferred his other role as a scientist.
Shock Discovery
Despite all the fun of the fair, Greensteds’ conspiracy theorists and political activists were up in arms on Saturday when two groups of Year 5 scientists claimed that Nelion students have an advantage in sport. The results of their experiment suggested that Nelion’s yellow t-shirt would help students to stay cooler in the sunlight than Kibo’s red or Batian’s dreaded dark blue! Further to this, scientist Valini stated, ‘warm colours often evoke feelings of happiness and energy’, perhaps furthering the advantage of Nelion’s sunshine yellow clan. As of yet, Mr. Murray-Walker has made no comment.
The Journey By Cynthia Abdallah (Head of English)
The Journey By Cynthia Abdallah (Head of English)
It was not usual for me to spend time with grandpa. He was getting old now, his brown eyes behind glasses revealing a tiredness that could only have come with old age. Grandpa was also beginning to lose his eyesight. His left eye could not see but the right eye with the help of his glasses guided his wobbly footsteps.
I remember that sunny afternoon in April when he appeared at our gates on Egri's motorbike, his black briefcase in his left hand, his brown cowboy hat resting firmly on his balding head. The hat had two straps on each side and grandpa had carefully tucked the straps behind his ears and tied them loosely together under his chin. His legs shook as he walked and his handshake was weak and unsteady. But, there was something about him that had not been erased by time and by old age. Something that had stood the test of time, his laughter. A laughter that sounded like that of a man riding a motorbike in his chest, a laughter that carried with it something intangible yet warm and welcoming, a laughter that made his Adam's apple recede into the now-loose skin on his neck.
I did not know he was coming until that afternoon. Mama had called him, screaming that a neighbour had threatened to beat her up. She said that the man had pointed a sharp metal object toward her and bragged about not fearing prison. But soon he would flee and hide when the police inspector sent word that he was supposed to show up at the police station. It was always about land and how many feet made up my grandpa's three acre piece of land. Mama was particular about everything, especially everything about land. If it was not about a neighbour trying to steal it from her, it was about how badly the tillers had tilled it.
Even when our neighbour once cut down a tree that had grown too close to her fence, she complained about his inappropriate behaviour and made dad confront the neighbour who had cut it. The neighbour was trying to steal their land from them by manipulating the borders, she claimed. However, when she pruned the branches of the musunzu tree on our neighbour's farm that had grown over her barbed wire fences, spilling onto her precious piece of land, she expected him to understand that her crops needed the sun for photosynthesis.
'They want to steal papa's land and I will not let them,' she would say. But this time it was not about stealing grandpa's parcel of land but about how badly Dismus had ploughed it. The planting season had arrived and mama was enthusiastic as usual. She had missed church on this particular Sunday just to till papa's farm. Sometimes I wondered why she spent too much money and time tilling a land she claimed did not yield anything.
Dismus had been contracted to plough grandpa's farm. However, he did not plough the borders as mama had instructed. She confronted him as someone would confront a man who had stolen something precious from them and he had sprung towards her, shoulders heaving with rage. He had grabbed her by the neck, pointed the sharp metal object he was holding towards her chest and screamed, 'Mimi siogopi jela mama, siogopi jela mama.' (I don't fear prison mama, I don't fear prison) Some neighbours sympathised with Mama and sprang towards Dismus, begging him to let her go while others laughed and clapped, their hands resting on their hips, their faces shining with excitement like a community celebrating a good harvest. Dismus was a hero to them and they had been waiting for this moment when someone would put mama in her place. She was too proud and too full of herself they said. She needed to be taught a lesson.
In my village, it was not unusual for a man to beat up a woman. Cries of women taking a beating from angry men who wanted to be respected and treated like they thought they deserved rent the air plenty of times and mama's screams would not have been any different. Despite this scary encounter, she did not go to the village chief or to the village police station to report the matter. Instead, she called Grandpa. She feared police cases she said but sometimes I wondered what she feared most. Her efforts to narrate the incident to me did not go well either. I listened half-heartedly and looked away because I did not want to imagine what this man would have done to her. I pictured her, beaten up and dripping with blood because of a piece of land that had done more harm than good to the people in my village.
There were far too many land related stories of grieving families in my village who had lost family members because a neighbour had angrily hacked them to death. Kitoko, the village night runner had lost a brother in a fight involving his in- laws' piece of land. The neighbour had picked up a stone and hurled it straight at his chest, killing him on the spot.
So, grandpa had come all the way from Maragoli, old and frail. He had skipped the final moments of the church service, left the preacher in the process of delivering anointing and blessings from Nyasaye, left the congregation heaving its shoulders up and down, crying to the heavens with great supplication. The piece of land was his and his daughter had called him. He had to come.
I was anxious to welcome grandpa. I hugged him as he laughed in my ear and carried his briefcase to the living room. Mama appeared from her bedroom, barefoot, her head wrapped in a blue headscarf that had the words ‘Women's Conference Nyangori’ embroidered on it. She had been walking around all day with a sullen look on her face, her eyes filled with uncried tears, the look of a child waiting to tell on her friends for not inviting her to play with them. Grandpa smiled at her, shook her hand and before he sat down, asked to pray. He always prayed. He prayed before he sat down, prayed before he ate, prayed before he slept and prayed when he woke up.
I knew his prayer lines by heart because every time he started to say his prayers, he muttered those exact words. Usually, I smiled at the repetitiveness of this, but this time it was different. Tears welled up in my eyes and an unknown sadness crept over me. I watched him closely, forgetting to close my eyes. I watched his lips move. His once-youthful face was a haven of wrinkles, his eyes shut tightly, his hand spread out in front of him as if he was waiting to receive something or was grateful for something. He tilted slightly forwards and backwards like tree branches laden with leaves would do on a windy day, his belly protruding from underneath his brown shirt, his leather jacket hanging heavily on his thin frame.
Grandpa's last visit had been sometime in December the previous year and I was relieved to see that he looked much healthier than the last time he had visited with Imbo, mama's sister whose laughter was loud and warm. Imbo had a way with words and every time she visited, we would sit around her and listen to stories of her never-ending dramatic heroic encounters. It was amazing how she told the same stories the same way but still kept us entertained. The one I remember most however was of the incident at my grandma's farm in Busali.
A drunken man had come up to her and threatened to take to his cows the stacks of hay she was putting together for grandpa's cows. He had tried to intimidate her but Imbo had stood up to him and promised to beat him senseless, then feed his carcass to the neighbour’s hungry dogs if he kept standing there. The man had cowered, turned around and headed home, mumbling something like ‘foolish woman’ to himself. She narrated this story with her hands up in the air, her forehead lined with wrinkles, her face shining with sweat. Sometimes I wondered whether she sweated because of the energy she used to dramatise her conquests or from the layers of fat resting beneath her skin.
Imbo had travelled with Grandpa in order to pick some bags of maize for consumption or maybe to take care of him. This is how it worked. Mama ploughed the land for them, planted the maize and made sure that the harvest was good but it was always up to them to come and carry it home. I still do not understand why Grandpa came that day. He was sick. His stomach was troubling him and he had spent the entire night throwing up and rushing to the toilets. He should have stayed home because he could barely carry himself. But he smiled and said not to worry. He was fine.
Grandpa was not always an unhealthy man. It was life that was beating him down. He did not have a retirement benefits pension to see him through his old age so he depended on his sons and daughters who too had families to feed. So he started to wear off and soon, he was weak. However, what surprised me the most was his joy in life. He was sick and tired, but he spoke only of good things. Even when Mama continuously pushed him to fight for his piece of land, he spoke softly and constantly adjusted his glasses as if to say, enough Mmbo, enough.
He worried about his children who too had children but when he sat on the sofa, his eyes stared into space and he drifted to sleep every now and then like a man with nothing to worry about.
Grandpa woke up early the next morning and walked to his farm to speak to the neighbours, then walked to the police station to report Dismus and to speak for his daughter who had been hurt by Dismus. He wanted him summoned to the station so he could explain his actions. But Dismus did not show up. In fact, no one in the village knew where he had disappeared to. On the third day, he gave up trying to find him so instead he took some boys with him to the farm; to help him mark out the borders lest someone steals the piece of land from him as mama had warned him.
I watched him come and go and deep inside I knew he was not keen on finding Dismus. In fact, his disappearing act had made it easy on him. He cared about mama, sympathised with her but he knew better than to wish jail upon this cruel one. Even his conversations with mama about the seriousness of the matter seemed to me tailored to appease her. I knew he resented Dismus' actions, resented the fact that he had tried to harm his first-born daughter but most of all I knew he hoped that mama would learn to avoid land disputes because he was getting too old and too tired to fight for a piece of land.
A day before he travelled back home, we sat together in the living room and he talked to me mostly about grandma and her swollen feet. Grandma had arthritis and Grandpa was taking care of her. But he had been away for four days and he was starting to worry about her. Despite his ailing self, grandpa woke up early every morning to feed the cows and milk them. He made sure that Grandma's food was ready and when she moaned in pain, he took time to massage her legs and help her get up on her feet when she needed to use the latrine. When he spoke about grandma, the once deep dimples on his now flabby cheeks faded into a long thin line that stretched from the space between his nose and his cheeks to the edges of his chin. I was sad for him.
It was still raining outside and mama had not returned from church. There was thunder and lightning and Grandpa worried that maybe the unceasing drip-drop of rain drops on the roof was getting too loud for us to hear each other. So I moved closer to him and sat on the two seater sofa next to him. This was the closest I had sat with him in a long time. As I sat there across from him, I felt a suddenness of expectation, a yearning for something noble. I wanted to be one with him, to learn from him and to become like him. I wanted his cheerfulness in life, his concern for his people and most of all his love for prayer. He told me stories of his journeys to Chicago and Alabama.
Of his white friends from Atlanta who loved the Maasai Mara and the Amboseli and wondered if any of my white friends would want to visit so he could show them around he joked and I laughed with my mouth wide open, revealing a set of crooked teeth. He talked of birds, birds whose names he knew by heart, birds he watched every day fly from one tree branch to another leaving their droppings on the unsuspecting leaves. Of tigers, cheetahs and Simbas in the Amboseli chasing after helpless antelopes to feed their ravenous appetite. He talked about the dreams he achieved and those he had abandoned along the way and his desire that they be achieved through his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.
But the story I remember vividly was the story of Mulogooli. A story he told in Kilogooli stopping once in a while to explain the meanings of words he thought I did not understand well . The story of his forefathers. A people who had walked thousands of miles and gone their separate ways just like a river would split its waters into thin streams if it encountered stubborn rocks on its path. He told me of a section of the Balogooli who went South to South Africa, then of those who went to Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi. He spoke passionately of the Balogooli who travelled through Cameroon to Kenya and of their customs and beliefs: The Agikuyu, the Bagusii all brothers of Balogooli and speakers of Kilogooli, who today spoke differently due to differences in geography and in their ways of life. But most of all, he spoke of his people, the Balogooli and of his place among the Balogooli.
He called himself Musaali, the first-born son of Mulogooli, to whom the story was passed down to by his father. He spoke of Musaali's four sons who went on to marry the Basweta and the Bakizungu, mentioning his long-dead brothers Konzolo and Isagi almost nostalgically. As he spoke I could not help but compare him to a man who had once embarked on a journey of the self, a journey which many had ignored to fulfil the insatiable needs of the body and not the soul. And slowly I drifted away into a world of thought, a world of poetry and I wished I was that man. The man that Robert Frost spoke verily of in his poem, “The Road Not Taken” and asked if I could recite it to him. Of course he agreed, he was grandpa and he enjoyed his grandchildren’s stories.
I watched his hands move in little round motions and his eyes light up as I recited the poem and I knew he valued his place as the first born son of Mulogooli, to whom much was given and much more expected. That he valued his journey from Busali to Turbo and most of all, his life’s experiences over the many many years.
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
I miss grandpa now. It has been 5 few years since I last saw him. The last I heard about him he was suffering from prostate cancer and he was living in Nairobi with Mmbo (Mama’s sister I once told you about), the one who did not give up on any fights, the one who brought laughter into our home every time she visited. I’m sure he would smile if he knew I was in a relationship now. That I try my best to live like him and be like him. As each day goes by, I wonder what he would look like now. Would he remember me? Is he blind now? Or is he still as happy as I last saw him? As I shuffle through my classroom drawer for a set of pencils for the class, I can’t help but miss him.
Cynthia is an English teacher and an emerging writer form Kenya. Growing up in Kenya, in a literary tradition that stresses on morality and community in poetic pieces, she came to be particularly attuned to rhythmic sounds and counterpoints. These stylistic features play a huge role in determining the strength in a poem. Inventive rhyme schemes are given a lot of attention and regard in Swahili poems and the beauty in the poems majorly lies in the consistency of the rhyme schemes and the overall musical tone. Singing a Swahili poem showcases not only its musicality also the vast vocabulary in the language itself. She writes poetry and short stories.
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The Journey By Cynthia Abdallah (Head of English)
It was not usual for me to spend time with grandpa. He was getting old now, his brown eyes behind glasses revealing a tiredness that could only have come with old age. Grandpa was also beginning to lose his eyesight. His left eye could not see but the right eye with the help of his glasses guided his wobbly footsteps.
I remember that sunny afternoon in April when he appeared at our gates on Egri's motorbike, his black briefcase in his left hand, his brown cowboy hat resting firmly on his balding head. The hat had two straps on each side and grandpa had carefully tucked the straps behind his ears and tied them loosely together under his chin. His legs shook as he walked and his handshake was weak and unsteady. But, there was something about him that had not been erased by time and by old age. Something that had stood the test of time, his laughter. A laughter that sounded like that of a man riding a motorbike in his chest, a laughter that carried with it something intangible yet warm and welcoming, a laughter that made his Adam's apple recede into the now-loose skin on his neck.
I did not know he was coming until that afternoon. Mama had called him, screaming that a neighbour had threatened to beat her up. She said that the man had pointed a sharp metal object toward her and bragged about not fearing prison. But soon he would flee and hide when the police inspector sent word that he was supposed to show up at the police station. It was always about land and how many feet made up my grandpa's three acre piece of land. Mama was particular about everything, especially everything about land. If it was not about a neighbour trying to steal it from her, it was about how badly the tillers had tilled it.
Even when our neighbour once cut down a tree that had grown too close to her fence, she complained about his inappropriate behaviour and made dad confront the neighbour who had cut it. The neighbour was trying to steal their land from them by manipulating the borders, she claimed. However, when she pruned the branches of the musunzu tree on our neighbour's farm that had grown over her barbed wire fences, spilling onto her precious piece of land, she expected him to understand that her crops needed the sun for photosynthesis.
'They want to steal papa's land and I will not let them,' she would say. But this time it was not about stealing grandpa's parcel of land but about how badly Dismus had ploughed it. The planting season had arrived and mama was enthusiastic as usual. She had missed church on this particular Sunday just to till papa's farm. Sometimes I wondered why she spent too much money and time tilling a land she claimed did not yield anything.
Dismus had been contracted to plough grandpa's farm. However, he did not plough the borders as mama had instructed. She confronted him as someone would confront a man who had stolen something precious from them and he had sprung towards her, shoulders heaving with rage. He had grabbed her by the neck, pointed the sharp metal object he was holding towards her chest and screamed, 'Mimi siogopi jela mama, siogopi jela mama.' (I don't fear prison mama, I don't fear prison) Some neighbours sympathised with Mama and sprang towards Dismus, begging him to let her go while others laughed and clapped, their hands resting on their hips, their faces shining with excitement like a community celebrating a good harvest. Dismus was a hero to them and they had been waiting for this moment when someone would put mama in her place. She was too proud and too full of herself they said. She needed to be taught a lesson.
In my village, it was not unusual for a man to beat up a woman. Cries of women taking a beating from angry men who wanted to be respected and treated like they thought they deserved rent the air plenty of times and mama's screams would not have been any different. Despite this scary encounter, she did not go to the village chief or to the village police station to report the matter. Instead, she called Grandpa. She feared police cases she said but sometimes I wondered what she feared most. Her efforts to narrate the incident to me did not go well either. I listened half-heartedly and looked away because I did not want to imagine what this man would have done to her. I pictured her, beaten up and dripping with blood because of a piece of land that had done more harm than good to the people in my village.
There were far too many land related stories of grieving families in my village who had lost family members because a neighbour had angrily hacked them to death. Kitoko, the village night runner had lost a brother in a fight involving his in- laws' piece of land. The neighbour had picked up a stone and hurled it straight at his chest, killing him on the spot.
So, grandpa had come all the way from Maragoli, old and frail. He had skipped the final moments of the church service, left the preacher in the process of delivering anointing and blessings from Nyasaye, left the congregation heaving its shoulders up and down, crying to the heavens with great supplication. The piece of land was his and his daughter had called him. He had to come.
I was anxious to welcome grandpa. I hugged him as he laughed in my ear and carried his briefcase to the living room. Mama appeared from her bedroom, barefoot, her head wrapped in a blue headscarf that had the words ‘Women's Conference Nyangori’ embroidered on it. She had been walking around all day with a sullen look on her face, her eyes filled with uncried tears, the look of a child waiting to tell on her friends for not inviting her to play with them. Grandpa smiled at her, shook her hand and before he sat down, asked to pray. He always prayed. He prayed before he sat down, prayed before he ate, prayed before he slept and prayed when he woke up.
I knew his prayer lines by heart because every time he started to say his prayers, he muttered those exact words. Usually, I smiled at the repetitiveness of this, but this time it was different. Tears welled up in my eyes and an unknown sadness crept over me. I watched him closely, forgetting to close my eyes. I watched his lips move. His once-youthful face was a haven of wrinkles, his eyes shut tightly, his hand spread out in front of him as if he was waiting to receive something or was grateful for something. He tilted slightly forwards and backwards like tree branches laden with leaves would do on a windy day, his belly protruding from underneath his brown shirt, his leather jacket hanging heavily on his thin frame.
Grandpa's last visit had been sometime in December the previous year and I was relieved to see that he looked much healthier than the last time he had visited with Imbo, mama's sister whose laughter was loud and warm. Imbo had a way with words and every time she visited, we would sit around her and listen to stories of her never-ending dramatic heroic encounters. It was amazing how she told the same stories the same way but still kept us entertained. The one I remember most however was of the incident at my grandma's farm in Busali.
A drunken man had come up to her and threatened to take to his cows the stacks of hay she was putting together for grandpa's cows. He had tried to intimidate her but Imbo had stood up to him and promised to beat him senseless, then feed his carcass to the neighbour’s hungry dogs if he kept standing there. The man had cowered, turned around and headed home, mumbling something like ‘foolish woman’ to himself. She narrated this story with her hands up in the air, her forehead lined with wrinkles, her face shining with sweat. Sometimes I wondered whether she sweated because of the energy she used to dramatise her conquests or from the layers of fat resting beneath her skin.
Imbo had travelled with Grandpa in order to pick some bags of maize for consumption or maybe to take care of him. This is how it worked. Mama ploughed the land for them, planted the maize and made sure that the harvest was good but it was always up to them to come and carry it home. I still do not understand why Grandpa came that day. He was sick. His stomach was troubling him and he had spent the entire night throwing up and rushing to the toilets. He should have stayed home because he could barely carry himself. But he smiled and said not to worry. He was fine.
Grandpa was not always an unhealthy man. It was life that was beating him down. He did not have a retirement benefits pension to see him through his old age so he depended on his sons and daughters who too had families to feed. So he started to wear off and soon, he was weak. However, what surprised me the most was his joy in life. He was sick and tired, but he spoke only of good things. Even when Mama continuously pushed him to fight for his piece of land, he spoke softly and constantly adjusted his glasses as if to say, enough Mmbo, enough.
He worried about his children who too had children but when he sat on the sofa, his eyes stared into space and he drifted to sleep every now and then like a man with nothing to worry about.
Grandpa woke up early the next morning and walked to his farm to speak to the neighbours, then walked to the police station to report Dismus and to speak for his daughter who had been hurt by Dismus. He wanted him summoned to the station so he could explain his actions. But Dismus did not show up. In fact, no one in the village knew where he had disappeared to. On the third day, he gave up trying to find him so instead he took some boys with him to the farm; to help him mark out the borders lest someone steals the piece of land from him as mama had warned him.
I watched him come and go and deep inside I knew he was not keen on finding Dismus. In fact, his disappearing act had made it easy on him. He cared about mama, sympathised with her but he knew better than to wish jail upon this cruel one. Even his conversations with mama about the seriousness of the matter seemed to me tailored to appease her. I knew he resented Dismus' actions, resented the fact that he had tried to harm his first-born daughter but most of all I knew he hoped that mama would learn to avoid land disputes because he was getting too old and too tired to fight for a piece of land.
A day before he travelled back home, we sat together in the living room and he talked to me mostly about grandma and her swollen feet. Grandma had arthritis and Grandpa was taking care of her. But he had been away for four days and he was starting to worry about her. Despite his ailing self, grandpa woke up early every morning to feed the cows and milk them. He made sure that Grandma's food was ready and when she moaned in pain, he took time to massage her legs and help her get up on her feet when she needed to use the latrine. When he spoke about grandma, the once deep dimples on his now flabby cheeks faded into a long thin line that stretched from the space between his nose and his cheeks to the edges of his chin. I was sad for him.
It was still raining outside and mama had not returned from church. There was thunder and lightning and Grandpa worried that maybe the unceasing drip-drop of rain drops on the roof was getting too loud for us to hear each other. So I moved closer to him and sat on the two seater sofa next to him. This was the closest I had sat with him in a long time. As I sat there across from him, I felt a suddenness of expectation, a yearning for something noble. I wanted to be one with him, to learn from him and to become like him. I wanted his cheerfulness in life, his concern for his people and most of all his love for prayer. He told me stories of his journeys to Chicago and Alabama.
Of his white friends from Atlanta who loved the Maasai Mara and the Amboseli and wondered if any of my white friends would want to visit so he could show them around he joked and I laughed with my mouth wide open, revealing a set of crooked teeth. He talked of birds, birds whose names he knew by heart, birds he watched every day fly from one tree branch to another leaving their droppings on the unsuspecting leaves. Of tigers, cheetahs and Simbas in the Amboseli chasing after helpless antelopes to feed their ravenous appetite. He talked about the dreams he achieved and those he had abandoned along the way and his desire that they be achieved through his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.
But the story I remember vividly was the story of Mulogooli. A story he told in Kilogooli stopping once in a while to explain the meanings of words he thought I did not understand well . The story of his forefathers. A people who had walked thousands of miles and gone their separate ways just like a river would split its waters into thin streams if it encountered stubborn rocks on its path. He told me of a section of the Balogooli who went South to South Africa, then of those who went to Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi. He spoke passionately of the Balogooli who travelled through Cameroon to Kenya and of their customs and beliefs: The Agikuyu, the Bagusii all brothers of Balogooli and speakers of Kilogooli, who today spoke differently due to differences in geography and in their ways of life. But most of all, he spoke of his people, the Balogooli and of his place among the Balogooli.
He called himself Musaali, the first-born son of Mulogooli, to whom the story was passed down to by his father. He spoke of Musaali's four sons who went on to marry the Basweta and the Bakizungu, mentioning his long-dead brothers Konzolo and Isagi almost nostalgically. As he spoke I could not help but compare him to a man who had once embarked on a journey of the self, a journey which many had ignored to fulfil the insatiable needs of the body and not the soul. And slowly I drifted away into a world of thought, a world of poetry and I wished I was that man. The man that Robert Frost spoke verily of in his poem, “The Road Not Taken” and asked if I could recite it to him. Of course he agreed, he was grandpa and he enjoyed his grandchildren’s stories.
I watched his hands move in little round motions and his eyes light up as I recited the poem and I knew he valued his place as the first born son of Mulogooli, to whom much was given and much more expected. That he valued his journey from Busali to Turbo and most of all, his life’s experiences over the many many years.
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
I miss grandpa now. It has been 5 few years since I last saw him. The last I heard about him he was suffering from prostate cancer and he was living in Nairobi with Mmbo (Mama’s sister I once told you about), the one who did not give up on any fights, the one who brought laughter into our home every time she visited. I’m sure he would smile if he knew I was in a relationship now. That I try my best to live like him and be like him. As each day goes by, I wonder what he would look like now. Would he remember me? Is he blind now? Or is he still as happy as I last saw him? As I shuffle through my classroom drawer for a set of pencils for the class, I can’t help but miss him.
Cynthia is an English teacher and an emerging writer form Kenya. Growing up in Kenya, in a literary tradition that stresses on morality and community in poetic pieces, she came to be particularly attuned to rhythmic sounds and counterpoints. These stylistic features play a huge role in determining the strength in a poem. Inventive rhyme schemes are given a lot of attention and regard in Swahili poems and the beauty in the poems majorly lies in the consistency of the rhyme schemes and the overall musical tone. Singing a Swahili poem showcases not only its musicality also the vast vocabulary in the language itself. She writes poetry and short stories.
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Safer Internet Day 2018
Safer Internet Day 2018
By celebrating the positive power of the internet, the 2018 Safer Internet Day theme of “Create, connect and share respect: A better internet starts with you” encouraged everyone to join the global movement, to participate, to make the most of the internet’s potential to bring people together. At Greensteds International School, the Technology faculty in collaboration with the ICDL coordination team spearheaded the marking of this noble day by involving staff and students in an activity.
This involved an introductory speech and PowerPoint presentation by the Director of ICT and Coordinator of Prep School ICT on Safer Internet Day. This was followed by a key note speech by the Head of Technology faculty, Mr. Omotto on issues surrounding promoting respect using online technology. Students also made various presentations, including Prince (Year 12) who showcased his web design prowess.
Not to forget Hawi, Epiphany, Jacqueline, Natalya and Lucy who made outstanding presentations. The students then went for the first lesson in their usual classrooms where they participated in three different Safer Internet Day activities. This was coordinated by various subject teachers. The day was very successful, with presentations from the Sustainability Faculty giving prominence to internet security and a captivating recital in Spanish.
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Safer Internet Day 2018
By celebrating the positive power of the internet, the 2018 Safer Internet Day theme of “Create, connect and share respect: A better internet starts with you” encouraged everyone to join the global movement, to participate, to make the most of the internet’s potential to bring people together. At Greensteds International School, the Technology faculty in collaboration with the ICDL coordination team spearheaded the marking of this noble day by involving staff and students in an activity.
This involved an introductory speech and PowerPoint presentation by the Director of ICT and Coordinator of Prep School ICT on Safer Internet Day. This was followed by a key note speech by the Head of Technology faculty, Mr. Omotto on issues surrounding promoting respect using online technology. Students also made various presentations, including Prince (Year 12) who showcased his web design prowess.
Not to forget Hawi, Epiphany, Jacqueline, Natalya and Lucy who made outstanding presentations. The students then went for the first lesson in their usual classrooms where they participated in three different Safer Internet Day activities. This was coordinated by various subject teachers. The day was very successful, with presentations from the Sustainability Faculty giving prominence to internet security and a captivating recital in Spanish.
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Junior School Poetry Competition Wows Audience
Junior School Poetry Competition Wows Audience
Samuel Taylor Coleridge once stated: ‘I wish our clever young poets would remember- poetry (is the) best words in the best order.’ Well this term Greensteds saw its share of clever young poets whose challenge was to remember those very same ‘best words’ in their ‘best order’. I must say, even Coleridge would have been proud.
The event, organised by Miss Peters, was a fantastic celebration of poetry that saw every single Junior School member memorising a poem, and twenty one junior students performing for their houses. It was an incredible feat of achievement, realised with such pleasure and fun. I had the privilege of opening the event with a comic poem by John Cooper-Clarke, and was followed by five students from the Senior School who had worked with Ms. Abdallah to prepare for the event.
Next, the professionals took to the stage... The audience of parents, teachers and Junior School students were knocked for six by the skill of the Junior School performers. From comedy performances to moving poems about national pride, the recitals had it all. Miss Kwambo’s environmental club even made a guest performance whilst the judges deliberated, complete with audience participation!
The winners of the competition in age order were: Nina with ‘It’s Time to Say Goodbye’; Dwayne with ‘The Fly’; Dia with ‘I am Phillipino’; Amanda with ‘The Baby of the Family’; Jollyne with ‘An Alien Stole My Underpants’ and Riana with ‘From a Railway Carriage’.
Congratulations to them all for their inspiring performances. I am certain they will continue to delight audiences with their confidence and skill in future.
If, as Baudelaire once said, ‘dancing is poetry with arms and legs’, then the hall was full of superb dancing this morning. For sure.
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Junior School Poetry Competition Wows Audience
Samuel Taylor Coleridge once stated: ‘I wish our clever young poets would remember- poetry (is the) best words in the best order.’ Well this term Greensteds saw its share of clever young poets whose challenge was to remember those very same ‘best words’ in their ‘best order’. I must say, even Coleridge would have been proud.
The event, organised by Miss Peters, was a fantastic celebration of poetry that saw every single Junior School member memorising a poem, and twenty one junior students performing for their houses. It was an incredible feat of achievement, realised with such pleasure and fun. I had the privilege of opening the event with a comic poem by John Cooper-Clarke, and was followed by five students from the Senior School who had worked with Ms. Abdallah to prepare for the event.
Next, the professionals took to the stage... The audience of parents, teachers and Junior School students were knocked for six by the skill of the Junior School performers. From comedy performances to moving poems about national pride, the recitals had it all. Miss Kwambo’s environmental club even made a guest performance whilst the judges deliberated, complete with audience participation!
The winners of the competition in age order were: Nina with ‘It’s Time to Say Goodbye’; Dwayne with ‘The Fly’; Dia with ‘I am Phillipino’; Amanda with ‘The Baby of the Family’; Jollyne with ‘An Alien Stole My Underpants’ and Riana with ‘From a Railway Carriage’.
Congratulations to them all for their inspiring performances. I am certain they will continue to delight audiences with their confidence and skill in future.
If, as Baudelaire once said, ‘dancing is poetry with arms and legs’, then the hall was full of superb dancing this morning. For sure.
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News From the Greensteds World Scholars
News From the Greensteds World Scholars
The Tournament of Champions (TOC) brings together the best of the World Scholar’s Cup hosted at Yale University in the United States of America. The TOC is the pinnacle event for the World Scholars Cup which brings together the top teams from the three Global Rounds (Athens, Hanoi and Cape Town). Over 1 000 students from all over the world participated. This is the first time as a school we are participating in this event. Greensteds was represented by 8 Students who had qualified from the Greece round held in July. The students won many medals in various categories and as a school we are proud of their achievement.
Mr Maosa
World Scholars Patron
During the Tournament of Champions at Yale University, I experienced many firsts. I experienced autumn for the first time (and resolved never to complain about tropical weather). I ate Yale Dining Hall food for the first time. I visited some of the best universities in the world, two of which (Harvard and MIT University) are Ivy League schools. I realized that there are opportunities lurking beyond the confines of my comfort zone, just waiting for me to reach out. I was also severely jetlagged.
The World Scholars Cup has helped me broaden my horizons and aspire to continuously challenge myself. My only regret is that there was not enough time to soak in all the new experiences and make more priceless memories.
Year 11 Student
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News From the Greensteds World Scholars
The Tournament of Champions (TOC) brings together the best of the World Scholar’s Cup hosted at Yale University in the United States of America. The TOC is the pinnacle event for the World Scholars Cup which brings together the top teams from the three Global Rounds (Athens, Hanoi and Cape Town). Over 1 000 students from all over the world participated. This is the first time as a school we are participating in this event. Greensteds was represented by 8 Students who had qualified from the Greece round held in July. The students won many medals in various categories and as a school we are proud of their achievement.
Mr Maosa
World Scholars Patron
During the Tournament of Champions at Yale University, I experienced many firsts. I experienced autumn for the first time (and resolved never to complain about tropical weather). I ate Yale Dining Hall food for the first time. I visited some of the best universities in the world, two of which (Harvard and MIT University) are Ivy League schools. I realized that there are opportunities lurking beyond the confines of my comfort zone, just waiting for me to reach out. I was also severely jetlagged.
The World Scholars Cup has helped me broaden my horizons and aspire to continuously challenge myself. My only regret is that there was not enough time to soak in all the new experiences and make more priceless memories.
Year 11 Student
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Giving Back - From The Charities Committee
Giving Back - From The Charities Committee
The charities committee is committed to making a difference within the Greensteds community. In line with our seven pillars, the committee seeks to contribute towards noble courses in and around Nakuru.
This year, the committee will be working with Patrick Chege Memorial Home in Nakuru, which is a home for children whose parents have succumbed to HIV. It is our desire to impart knowledge and skills that they will use in their future lives, hence the recent I.C.T enrichment Saturday at Greensteds. Other enrichment programs including guidance and counselling, swimming, art and music will take place between now and July.
It is our hope that these little activities will bring something new and vibrant to the children at the memorial home.
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Giving Back - From The Charities Committee
The charities committee is committed to making a difference within the Greensteds community. In line with our seven pillars, the committee seeks to contribute towards noble courses in and around Nakuru.
This year, the committee will be working with Patrick Chege Memorial Home in Nakuru, which is a home for children whose parents have succumbed to HIV. It is our desire to impart knowledge and skills that they will use in their future lives, hence the recent I.C.T enrichment Saturday at Greensteds. Other enrichment programs including guidance and counselling, swimming, art and music will take place between now and July.
It is our hope that these little activities will bring something new and vibrant to the children at the memorial home.
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Languages Day Showcases the Crème de la Crème of Greensteds’ Languages Talent
Languages Day Showcases the Crème de la Crème of Greensteds’ Languages Talent
Languages Day at Greensteds took place on Tuesday 12 th June, culminating in a variety performance for parents in the main hall. This debut event was a huge success and provided a chance for students to celebrate other cultures and languages. According to one teacher, it ‘was really heartwarming’.
During the day, students had a special timetable which included a carousel of activities such as: French and Swahili games, French craft, Swahili dancing and dressing up, kanga designing with mottos, and exploring famous French artwork. At break and lunch students had fun with flag face painting and a cultural photobooth. At lunchtime they enjoyed traditional Kenyan food and at break they were served French pastries with printed menus in French, Spanish and Swahili.
The Senior and Junior school students worked well together in the afternoon to produce a highly entertaining show. Susan, who was in the winning senior group, said that her ‘favourite part was coming up with the choreography and seeing what worked. Everyone participated. No one was left out. We enjoyed it.’ Another student from the winning group, Maryann, said that her ‘favourite part was practising. It was hard but fun.’ A year eight student, Medina, performed a dance and two poems: ‘Le Chat au Soleil’ and an unnamed Spanish poem. Medina noted that the task was particularly helpful for her pronunciation which her teachers helped her to perfect. She commented that ‘it was amazing to discover people’s culture and languages’ and ‘helpful for the little ones because they can look up to me and the other senior students.’
The Junior students were just as inspirational and made their teachers ‘very proud’. According to Miss Peters who jointly organised the day, the students were ‘amazing’. The Year Twos performed ‘The Hungry Caterpillar’ in French;
Year Threes performed an incredible acapella version of ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’; Year Fours did a brilliant job remembering a poem, particularly as they had spent the previous week out on a school trip; Year Five and Six ‘just smashed it’ with Swahili poems, French dances and great stage presence. Mr. Murray-Walker, who teaches French, praised all the students for their excellent French accents.
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Languages Day Showcases the Crème de la Crème of Greensteds’ Languages Talent
Languages Day at Greensteds took place on Tuesday 12 th June, culminating in a variety performance for parents in the main hall. This debut event was a huge success and provided a chance for students to celebrate other cultures and languages. According to one teacher, it ‘was really heartwarming’.
During the day, students had a special timetable which included a carousel of activities such as: French and Swahili games, French craft, Swahili dancing and dressing up, kanga designing with mottos, and exploring famous French artwork. At break and lunch students had fun with flag face painting and a cultural photobooth. At lunchtime they enjoyed traditional Kenyan food and at break they were served French pastries with printed menus in French, Spanish and Swahili.
The Senior and Junior school students worked well together in the afternoon to produce a highly entertaining show. Susan, who was in the winning senior group, said that her ‘favourite part was coming up with the choreography and seeing what worked. Everyone participated. No one was left out. We enjoyed it.’ Another student from the winning group, Maryann, said that her ‘favourite part was practising. It was hard but fun.’ A year eight student, Medina, performed a dance and two poems: ‘Le Chat au Soleil’ and an unnamed Spanish poem. Medina noted that the task was particularly helpful for her pronunciation which her teachers helped her to perfect. She commented that ‘it was amazing to discover people’s culture and languages’ and ‘helpful for the little ones because they can look up to me and the other senior students.’
The Junior students were just as inspirational and made their teachers ‘very proud’. According to Miss Peters who jointly organised the day, the students were ‘amazing’. The Year Twos performed ‘The Hungry Caterpillar’ in French;
Year Threes performed an incredible acapella version of ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’; Year Fours did a brilliant job remembering a poem, particularly as they had spent the previous week out on a school trip; Year Five and Six ‘just smashed it’ with Swahili poems, French dances and great stage presence. Mr. Murray-Walker, who teaches French, praised all the students for their excellent French accents.
Junior School News
Junior School News
This term has been a highly successful one on the sports front, with the highlight being our second place in the ‘Up Country’ Swimming Gala with a record number of points. We have not beaten Turi in their home swimming pool for as long as we all can remember but we did this time! The squad goes on to the IAPS Gala at Peponi, Nairobi on Saturday 3rd March and I am sure it will be a great day for Greensteds.
The hockey season has begun very well. The Under 9 boys and girls teams are undefeated and should do well in the IAPS Championships in March at Hillcrest School. The Under 11s and Under 13s have also been very competitive and their IAPS competition comes at Kenton in a few weeks’ time.
We finished half term with the Junior School Inter-House Music competition. This extravaganza of dancing and singing gets better and better and the inclusion of a cultural dance this year was a wonderful idea by Mr. Watatua. The eventual winners were Kibo, with Batian following closely at second place. However, all three houses excelled and the children and teachers should be very proud of their achievements.
Next half-term we look forward to the Spelling Bee competition and Well-being week which also incorporates ‘Unga baby’ day. The children will be taking assessments during the half-term also and the teachers will prepare them in class. If there is any extra revision required then the children will be told in advance. These assessments help us track the progress of the children. As there is so much going on at school on a daily basis, it is easy to forget that we are also pushing the children to make excellent progress academically.
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Junior School News
This term has been a highly successful one on the sports front, with the highlight being our second place in the ‘Up Country’ Swimming Gala with a record number of points. We have not beaten Turi in their home swimming pool for as long as we all can remember but we did this time! The squad goes on to the IAPS Gala at Peponi, Nairobi on Saturday 3rd March and I am sure it will be a great day for Greensteds.
The hockey season has begun very well. The Under 9 boys and girls teams are undefeated and should do well in the IAPS Championships in March at Hillcrest School. The Under 11s and Under 13s have also been very competitive and their IAPS competition comes at Kenton in a few weeks’ time.
We finished half term with the Junior School Inter-House Music competition. This extravaganza of dancing and singing gets better and better and the inclusion of a cultural dance this year was a wonderful idea by Mr. Watatua. The eventual winners were Kibo, with Batian following closely at second place. However, all three houses excelled and the children and teachers should be very proud of their achievements.
Next half-term we look forward to the Spelling Bee competition and Well-being week which also incorporates ‘Unga baby’ day. The children will be taking assessments during the half-term also and the teachers will prepare them in class. If there is any extra revision required then the children will be told in advance. These assessments help us track the progress of the children. As there is so much going on at school on a daily basis, it is easy to forget that we are also pushing the children to make excellent progress academically.
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