Bakoteh Curriculum

		Bakoteh Nursery School Curriculum Project
Bakoteh Nursery JRCS Report Expansion?		OCTOBER 2005 GTS has been supporting students and schools since 1998 - within a few years it became obvious that despite support there was very little tangible evidence of any marked improvement in the education that the children were receiving, resources were often unused in cupboards or had simply disappeared, there was almost no evidence of ongoing work or examples of students work ever to be seen.
Teacher Training Resources		In 2002 The ideas of what needed to be done were growing and in 2003 Jo Evans arrived on the GTS scene, within a few months Jo felt that what was needed was a curriculum that focused on language acquisition through resources based on the local culture.
Renovated buildings, grand openings and beautiful children in immaculate uniforms do not constitute a good education. In 2005 GETS started an ambitious project to create a nursery curriculum focusing on spoken English and comprehension & followed by writing and reading.		In 2004 Jo had taken on the nut and bolts of the project and spent many hours creating the basis of the new teaching package, during that time he realised that as well as resources, teaching aids and a properly controlled supply of all the needed resources it was essential that the teachers were fully trained to use the materials, fully understand the aims and be able to measure and record the progress of every child. Gap students and working holiday volunteers needed to know what were the educational targets during the time they were staying and so all of the work needed to fit into weekly and termly units, which would also help monitor what children had missed when they were off school - a frequent occurrence with malaria and stomach upsets.
All the resources will be sourced locally in Gambia & produced at a GETSuk skills centre providing employment and sustainability.		In mid July 05, Jo packed up his UK world into boxes and left to live in Gambia to be able to implement the project. MAY 2006 Since October 2005 there have been significant changes in the school. Jo spent his first few weeks observing and realising that a great deal of the work he had done in the UK was of little value in Bakoteh. He spent his next few weeks creating a new atmosphere in the school. A register was drawn up, a school bell was purchased, and some order was established.
The teachers will be trained to deliver the curriculum, monitor the childrens progress and administer the school.		Jo had some sessions with the teachers, the acting head was enthusiastic and there was a marked difference in his lessons and the atmosphere in his classes. Notice boards were fitted to the walls and the children's work started to appear on them, Jo produced work sheets and resources that the children could use but there soon came a pivotal point. The work Jo was producing was taking vastly longer than the time the school was using them up - it was simply impossible to produce the resources quickly enough. Jo gave up going into the school on a regular basis from early December and started concentrating on resources.
Once piloted the other GETSuk schools will be trained to use the materials and GETSuk will open the training & teaching resources to teachers from any school.		At about the same time we were approached by Cliff Parfit my uncle. Cliff was a teacher in the UK working with ILEA to produce resources for what were in the 70's called reluctant learners. He left to live in Japan where he set up an English Centre. He recently returned after 30 years teaching Japanese children to speak English. The similarities between the Gambia problems we faced in Gambia and the problems Cliff faced in Japan were so close as to make no difference. Cliff's and Jo's approaches fit very neatly together. The staff and the children first learn to speak using Cliff Parfit's approach, the reading and writing skills follow using the resources being created by Jo.
To be really effective this will need to be developed into primary & secondary education & with the right funding partners that is our ambitious intention..		Jo will be delivering 3 summer holiday sessions to the teachers 2 on language and 1 on numeracy, during these sessions he will introduce the teaching resources he has worked so hard to produce. Jo is then moving to live in Bintang, where there is a school he wants to help independently. I will return to Gambia during September and will be delivering weekly training sessions to the teachers using the materials and techniques used in Japan. A number of GETS members attending our 3rd AGM volunteered to help, but there is plenty to do and any other help in the UK and from members visiting Gambia will be greatly appreciated. In June 2006 Jo Evans stopped developing educational materials for GETS - having failed to provide any report on how far his work had progressed in the initial 12 months. His initiative was dropped as it turned out too resource expensive and the ideas of Cliff Parfitt were introduced and are still being used and developed.
		DEC 2007 During 2007 we started first aid & teacher training with the staff at Bakoteh. The Head Nfamara Jarju became the charity's Education Manager and Fatou A Cham the top class teacher, acts as head when Nfamara is absent.
Using milk bottle tops to count - no longer just chanting numbers!		The educational progress in the school continues, but the premises are looking tired and really need painting again. The long term future of GTS Bakoteh has to be considered as the school has no playground and no possibility of expansion, alternatives are currently being discussed.
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