Background

Located in Brooke Street, Freetown Sybanclaire Preparatory School started some 17 years ago on 13th September 1993, during the 10-year war conflict in Sierra Leone. Like many other schools in Sierra Leone, the proprietor of Sybanclaire wanted to provide a safe environment where children from the surrounding area could receive some type of education.

The school began as a nursery school with just 4 children and as time went on, the school grew to 160 pupils in 1998, with an additional 6 classes added on.

However, between 1998 and 2000 the roll dropped drastically as a result of the political unrest, when many parents withdrew their children from the school. The number of children began to grow again over the last 10 years and now in 2010, the school has 140 children.

Current Status

In 2008, Sybanclaire started to participate in the National Entry Exams, which every child in primary school education in Sierra Leone takes once they reach the age. One child from the school was put forward in 2008 and passed, then 3 children participated and passed in 2009. In 2010, 8 children participated and one child obtained a grade which was good enough to be accepted into one of the best state run secondary schools, the Annie Walsh Memorial School.

Other Facts

Still in its original location in Brook Street, Freetown Sybanclaire now has:-

Class	Boys and Girls
Number of students	140
Number of classes	6
Number of teachers	13
Number of Head teachers	1

What Sybanclaire Preparatory School Needs

• Financial support is needed, as the school is very cramped and some classes are being held on the porch and in the corridors of the building


• Stationery for the school, e.g. chalk, blackboard dusters


• Stationery for the children

Background

The Kanifing School was started in 1998 by John Scott who had travelled to the area from the United Kingdom. The school forms just one part of an organisation called the New Life Centre which is based in Kanifing, south of Banjul in the Gambia.

The school was originally an outreach centre for children from the poorer parts of the community, providing them with both a safer environment and a basic education.

Kanifing School has three sections, including a nursery, a primary school up to grade 6 and an upper basic school for grades 7 to 9. Tebbs SC will focus initially on helping the nursery and primary sections of the school, which is a total of 450 students.

Current Status

Despite experiencing many challenges over the years, including a recession which saw the closure of other schools in the area, Kanifing School has continued to operate successfully. The school is mixed, with nearly 20 teachers and 5 unpaid volunteers and has achieved excellent performances in both internal and national examinations for the past few years.

Most of their students continue into higher education or work in a variety of fields - in fact the head teacher at the school is actually a former student.

Other Facts

Kanifing School now has:-

Classes	No. of Pupils	No. of Classes	No. of Teachers
Nursery	100	3	5
Primary (up to Grade 6)	350	7	10
Upper Basic (Grades 7-9)	150	7	9

What Kanifing School Needs

• Financial support is needed to build a senior secondary school


• Stationery for the children


• Stationery for the school

Background

Mr Babatunde and Mrs Oliver McWilliams started Bavia on September 17, 2002 with just 145 pupils split between five classes.

The classes ranged from nursery 1, 2 and 3 hosting 120/145 pupils; whiles class 1 had 18 pupils and class 2 with 7. At that time when a child reaches class 2 he or she was sent to another school to finish their primary education.

The original vision was not to open a primary school but to hold evening classes for students who were taking the Basic Examination Certificate Exam. This is a nationwide exam taken by students in secondary education in Sierra Leone.

Current Status

There is a half developed building at the back of the couple’s house that holds all of the children of Bavia from nursery to class 6. 

Current Statistics

Due to new government regulation and the high number of new schools being set-up in the area, Bavia was forced to reduce its numbers to 130 students.

Therefore the class hosts the following number of students:-

• Nursery 1 has 5 boys and 3 girls


• Nursery 2 has 6 boys and 2 girls


• Reception has 7 boys and 8 girls


• Class 1 has 9 boys and 4 girls


• Class 2 has 11 boys and 5 girls


• Class 3 has 4 boys and 14 girls


• Class 4 has 12 boys and 8 girls


• Class 5 has 4 boys and 7 girls


• Class 6 has 9 boys and 11 girls

For the last two years the children in class 6 have successfully taken the national entrance exams for selection into secondary school.

Other Facts

There are 11 teachers. The head teacher is Mrs Oliver McWilliams. A mixed school of 130 students, this will change in the new school year in September 2009.

What Bavia Nursery and Preparatory School Needs

• Stationery for students


• Stationery for school


• Financial help to finish school building

Background

Mrs Eliza Macauley is the founder of Lisam Preparatory school; her vision was to open a nursery school after she retired. So on September 9, 1996 during the heart of the civil war in Sierra Leone the nursery school was opened with just 12 children.

As time went on the school grew, and with that, parts of her house was converted to accommodate the growing number of children in the nursery.

Mrs Macauley was forced to extend the school to a primary school as parents were reluctant and often refused to find another primary school for their children once they passed the nursery stage of their education.

First to be converted was their double garage to accommodate the nursery school. Then she converted her husband’s study for class 1, the boy’s quarter’s for class 2, the storeroom for class 3, the outside kitchen for class 4, and a temporary hut for class 5, 6 and 7.

Current Status

At the back of her house is a foundation for a new building. When it is finished it will house the whole of the primary school.

The hut also needs to be demolished and a building erected to house the nursery school.

Other Facts

• There are 210 students (subject to change at the beginning of every school term)


• It is a mixed school.


• There are 11 teachers. The head teacher’s name is Mrs Janet Cole.

What Lisam Preparatory School Needs

• Financial support is needed to finish the building they have started and to replace the hut, which currently houses class 5, 6 and 7.


• Stationery for the school, e.g. chalk, blackboard dusters


• Stationery for the children