Basics About Rwentutu Christian Community School

After three weeks at Rwentutu Christian Community School this blog post is long over due.

This is Rwentutu Christian Community School.  The building with the red roof is the staff room, library, bursars office, ect.  To the left out of the picture is a clinic.  The buildings straight ahead are the classrooms and the building to the far right barely in the picture is the student dormitory.

School moto:
Wisdom comes from God.

Schedule:

Period	Time	What P2 does at that time
1	7:30 – 8:30	Remedial – catch up or fluency work
2	8:30 – 9:30	SSI or Literacy with a science focus
3	9:30 – 10:30	Math
Break	10:30 – 11:00	Borders get porridge, others can play or catch up on work
4	11:00 – 12:00	English
5	12:00 – 1:00	SSC or literacy with a social studies focus
Lunch	1:00 – 2:00	All students and staff eat lunch made at school
6	2:00 – 3:00	Library or Religious Education
Games	3:00 – 4:00	Students can play games of their choice
7	4:00 – 5:00	Remedial – catch up or fluency work

This is the general schedule at Rwentutu.  On the right hand side I listed the different activities my primary 2 class usually participates in.  A student from P4 is responsible for ringing the bell, keeping classes on track.  Once the bell rings students wander back to class, followed by the teacher.  It isn’t the same type of strict time keeping routine that I am used to from teaching in the U.S.  Things are very flexible at Rwentutu and the schedule shifts as needed.  For example our first week at Rwentutu the water pipe supplying the school with water broke which delayed the schedule because breakfast and lunch were significantly delayed because students and staff had to walk and drive down to the nearest water source to haul water back to the school.

Additionally different days of the week bring changes to the schedule:

Wednesdays are early release after games so students can clean their uniforms.

Thursdays the whole school assembles for chapel during 4^th period.

Fridays after lunch there is usually a special event, this week it was a school wide debate where students and staff debated the statement “Dictatorial leadership is the best way than democratic.”

This is me and an elephant we saw on the way home from school!

Jenna and I arrive at school sometime between 7:30 and 9:00 and leave sometime between 4:30 and 6:00 depending on the day.  We both are responsible for teaching at least two subjects everyday.  I am teaching Math, English and have taken over library while my team teacher has been out sick.

We drive to Rwentutu everyday; the drive is about 45 klm, that takes between 30 – 40 minutes.  We get to drive by Queen Victoria National Park for the majority of this trek.  So far we’ve seen kob, elephants, many types of birds, and other unidentified mammals.  It must be one of the most beautiful commutes in the world.

Teachers:

The teachers at Rwentutu are amazing.  They have made us feel welcome since our first day.  They are always willing to chat to us about problems we are having in the classroom, ideas we want to try,  what they are doing in the classroom and our adventures so far in Uganda.  Their passion for education, our students and their subjects undeniable.

Some of the teachers live at school with the students and only travel home on the weekends or for special occasions.  This is because the teachers are paid so little they cannot afford to travel back and forth from home and school if they do not live near Rwentutu.  School fees fund teachers salaries and currently in Rwentutu there is an economic crisis and payment of school fees is very difficult for our students families.  The teachers at Rwentutu are paid what ever is available at the end of each month.

I feel like a special shout out needs to be given to many of the teachers at the school who are teaching while caring for their young children who are present at school but are not students.  The teachers with young babies amaze me because they are able to teach while carrying and caring for their own children.  I’ve had the opportunity to teach while carrying one of my cooperating teachers baby, one of the cutest babies ever, and I don’t know how they are able to do it on a daily basis. 

Students:

The students are helping to take the kernels off of dried
maize. The maize will eventually be ground up to make
their porridge.

One of the things I’ve been most amazed by at Rwentutu is my students.  My students have a passion and ownership of their learning.  They are excited to be in school everyday because they know it is their opportunity to learn. I’ve walked into my classroom many times when my students have not been given any formal directions as to what they are supposed to be doing and all of my students are engaged in reading over curriculum texts, books, or reviewing their own work. 

Additionally my students sense of ownership does not stop at the curriculum or taking care of their classroom building but also with each other.  When there is a problem my students usually solve it themselves, not getting a teacher but working with each other to solve the problem.  Sometimes this means finding an older student, but still solving it within themselves.  I think this is directly related to the strong sense of social security present in Uganda. 

Curriculum:

The curriculum of Rwentutu is very closely aligned to the national curriculum which is thematic focusing on the areas of English, mathematics, science, social studies, and religious education.  The only big discrepancy I’ve observed between what Dr. Jillian’s overview of the Ugandan curriculum and what is in place at Rwentutu is in English language development.  At Rwentutu students in the Nacarema, or baby classes, begin learning the curriculum in a English only classroom.  Dr. Jillian identified that the language of instruction should be the students home language until P4 when it switches to English.  This is something I am curious about and will hopeful have the opportunity to talk to King James about next week.

The school participates in the national standardized tests.  These tests start in baby class, similar to a 3-4 year old kindergarten and continue until P7 where they determine the quality of secondary school the students will attend.  Our 2^nd week at school our students participated in mid-term exams, these tests are written by the local Kasese district Ministry of Education.  These exams allow teachers to assess themselves and their teaching strategies before the end of term exams.  The end of term exams are administered from Kampala and all schools receive the same exams.