School

School in South Sudan will be very different for us from anything we have been used to!

To start with, my youngest has now started school! After 8 years of having a little one always at home with me, I now wave goodbye to my youngest each week-day morning at 9am. Joel has started the brand new "Juba Christian Academy" (JCA) and attends the pre-school morning sessions from 9am til 12pm.

On his very first morning before leaving home...

 We left for school, with  a very proud Joel holding my hand...

We traipsed past the puddles on our compound, through the car-park and playground, past a few houses...

 ... and within a few minutes, we are at the home on the MAF compound where Joel's school will be based for the next few months (until larger premises become available).
There are just 5 pupils and 2 teachers making up this exciting venture of Juba's newest school:

 We hope that the numbers will grow, that the school will develop well and become a beacon in the community where we live.
For now, such a small school is the perfect place for our sometimes-shy Joel to start his education. He entered school with his classmates on the first morning as happy as can be:

Joel has come home at lunch time each day content and tired and pleased with himself! A new beginning, for both Joel and the future of JCA school.

Meanwhile, the word "school" has taken on new meaning for Esther, Ben and myself as we adapt to Home School in the front room of our house, which I have turned into a mini-classroom.
 I had fun creating our little classroom and kitting it out with a collection of educational goodies that I have been gathering from Nairobi, along with the wonderful resources we have had shipped in from the UK via WES (World Education Service).
WES provide all the teaching materials for British Curriculum core subjects, including lesson plans, books, maths and science equipment. It is great to be able to use their service. Esther and Ben even get their own tutors in the UK, who they can be in email contact with. I will be sending work assessments back to their tutors periodically, which is helpful for me, to keep in touch with other educators to check my children's progress.

We started school on the same day that Joel began his term. We got going with some reading exercises, with each pupil at their own desk:

A bird's eye view from the doorway:

We are using the old sports kit T-shirts from their Nairobi school as informal uniform, to mark school time from non-school time.

We have had a good half-week to ease our way into home school. So far it has been fun as we enjoy the novelty of working out our own agenda and of not having far to go to the classroom!
It will be a new adventure. And a new challenge. I have excellent resources, but have yet to work out a system to teach 2 children 2 completely different levels from 2 sets of materials- at the same time! Not to mention working out how to arrange my time to read the files and plan for the next day, along with cooking meals, washing up, washing clothes and keeping the mud and house-dust down to a reasonable level! There is also the question of when to go shopping, while still finding out where the shops are and how to calculate prices in a new currency!
So this is a new era and learning experience, for both myself and the children as we try out and discover our way forward with what "school" means for us in South Sudan. We'll keep you posted!