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As part of the Global curriculum Project 2003/4, two English teachers visited Uganda in February. Our return visit was July this year - 2004.

Our aims and objectives:

Annet Nabunya - Teaching assistant and James Sebulime Teaching assistant and planning consultant for the school curriculum visited Ingleton Middle School for 10 days in July as part of our Global Curriculum Project with the following objectives in mind:

ˇ To take and collect relevant materials
ˇ To assess the ability level of the pupils and to evaluate the use of materials brought on Annett's last visit - Music and Art
ˇ To teach Maths, Music and Art, help in English and to share ideas about the teaching of these subjects so that they can contribute to curricular developments in subject areas in both Ladybird and Ingleton
ˇ To work with our English colleagues on the Project Application for 2004/5
ˇ To take photos in school, the area and the trip generally in order to prepare a presentation to be shown to staff etc
ˇ To discuss lifestyle in preparation for our next topic.

A Celebration of Cultures

We were very interested to learn the way that Ingleton Middle School worked in comparison to our own school. We thought this important in the light of conversations that we had with Chris and Gilly when they visited our school. It was the subject of much discussion.

Ingleton Middle School is a state funded school with approximately 160 pupils ranging from 10 to 13 years of age. The school was enthusiastic in its welcome of us. We were impressed by the generally friendly and helpful attitude of everyone we came in contact with. We found the pupils hardworking and the staff caring and competent. The school was built in the 1930's. It is built in stone, on one floor level and is very airy and spacious.

The school is served by 5 feeder primary schools - all state funded, though several have strong church links. The school has falling numbers. In the local area competition comes from one other state school several miles away that takes a number of their year 6 pupils. However, during our visit this situation was being addressed at a high level and a number of staff and governors were involved. There were several fee paying educational options, but it was rare that pupils moved in this direction as the state schools appear to provide a sound education for their pupils. The number of children in the village is decreasing.

The school contrasts greatly with Ladybird in that they are well resourced in comparison to us. The building is well maintained, is airy and bright. The décor is relatively new. Paintwork, curtains and flooring all were in good condition. Whilst we were there, the cloakrooms were being re-floored. The cloakroom is where the pupils keep their coats and bags and where they have ready access to plumbed toilets. The school also has water fountains around the school, where they can drink at will and they are also allowed to take into class bottles of water.

The classrooms themselves are all well furnished, with a sufficient number of chairs and tables. They also have curtains to allow for them being darkened when watching videos or slides - which they do on regular occasions to aid the teaching of pupils. The windows we noticed were especially thick - apparently this is to aid the temperature of the school. It is called double glazing and keeps the school warm in winter and cool in summer. Each classroom has a blackboard and or whiteboard facility. They also had light projectors in some key rooms. We noted that they had specialist rooms for some subjects - a well stocked library, a special cooking and textiles room, two computer rooms, an art room and a craft design room. The school also boasted a canteen - dining room where children had food at break and the possibility of a cooked meal at lunch time.

All round the school there is clear evidence of pupils achievements displayed on the walls - along with other informative information. This gives the school a well kept and a 'proud of their pupil's achievements' appearance.

The school itself is set in spacious well kept grounds. There is a play area for year 6 and a separate play area for year 7 and 8 pupils. These hard play areas are also used for the teaching of games. However, they are also lucky to have a large grass field area approximately 4 acres. This is just for games and not for farming purposes. The school does not have a farm or large gardening area, except for the area in the centre of the school - the quad - where they have a greenhouse facility. The produce is not for eating. However, we were told that in the past they did have a garden out in the grounds in which they used to grow foodstuffs.

The emphasis on the timetable is to merge together the many facets and strands the government guided education programme prescribes. The key subjects are Maths, English and Science which have specific tests set by the government standards agency for education. These results are correlated country wide and are assessed and compared to others. However, humanities - geography and history - a modern foreign language in their case French and German is taught, Art, Music, Craft, Design Technology, RE, PSHCE and PE are also taught. The all round consensus is to provide the pupils with an all round general education.

All levels of ability are dealt with sympathetically. The school has a special needs department which caters for the less able child. The less able child also has the possibility of having special teachers with them in lessons to help them further. The more able child is guided and stretched more by the teacher.

We were able to take part and observe a number of lessons and the school working environment generally. Children asked questions and were curious to know our backgrounds and what happens in our own schools.

Though the school tries to embrace many faiths - the underpinning feeling of the school is Christian. There are a number of general clergy that visit the school as well as a variety of other visitors who speak of their views on the world and their position in it. The school has a caring ethos. Some visitors have included a rescue worker who trains rescue/recovery dogs taking them to disasters around the world and a family from Scotland who were missionaries in our own continent Africa.

Discipline in school is more relaxed than in our won school and we saw 'problems' that this created for the teachers and indeed pupils. We generally thought the children were well behaved and amenable, but we felt that often a short sharp shock would benefit them on occasions as indeed it does in our won school. We also thought that parents didn't back the teachers with the discipline needed and was in direct contrast to our own culture, where teachers are backed more. We thought that perhaps this issue needed to be addressed further as 'respect' for the pupils is demonstrated regularly but respect for the teachers is a cornerstone of education and should be reiterated at home.

As we have said at the beginning of our report - we were always greeted and welcomed with great warmth - people were eager to share hospitality and were polite on all occasions both in and out of school. Chris and Gilly (our guests in Uganda) gave a talk whilst we were at Ingleton Middle School of their experiences on their trip to Uganda. This compromised an informal evening of soft drinks and nibbles - where members of the community etc were invited to listen and watch a selection of slides and commentary. This was very pleasant and a good opportunity to meet people.

Observations

ˇ We felt we offered a different cultural approach to teaching and learning.
ˇ We felt that perhaps the Ugandan children were working at a slightly higher level in maths - but this was probably due to the testing nature of our system.
ˇ We felt that teachers on the whole were undervalued by the community and parents that perhaps they didn't have the respect that they deserve. We did think that this was however endemic of the current society.
ˇ After seeing the 'Arts' held in high esteem in the school we would like to see a broader curriculum in our own school and would like to lobby education authorities for this. We have seen how art and informal music and dancing benefit all pupils.
ˇ We liked the community spirit that the children can benefit from. Youth clubs, scouts, Sunday school clubs and we would like to see more of that approach in our own community on a wider scale.
ˇ We do however come back to the question of funding change. We are a fee paying school and the emphasis from parents and the government educational authorities is on results. Without a very good results leaving certificate, our children find it very difficult to have a secondary education. It would be beneficial in our opinion to broaden the educational horizons into the arts etc but selling the idea to parents is a different matter. Parents often find the fees difficult to pay at the best of times. The larger picture is to change our country's educational system. A decent education for all, regardless of income.
ˇ We would like to take this opportunity to thank Ingleton Middle School staff and pupils for hosting us and for giving us a unique opportunity to study other social and educational cultures.