Malawi Day 2
Today saw the first of six Monitoring & Evaluation visits to six public schools which MLOL has partnered for several years. Teams of teachers, CDOs and active school staff from Glasgow have supported teachers and learners here during month-long trips, leadership programmes have been attended by HTs, aspiring HTs and Primary Education Advisers and visits made to Glasgow by Malawian colleagues. Much has changed over these few years and my job during this visit, with the assistance of Carol McDonald, Justin and Mercy, is to assist schools in evaluating their progress against their new Malawian Education Standards (...... think a VSE using HGIOS?4 teacher pals).
Today we started where my own Malawian adventure began in 2014 - Catholic Institute Primary and its HT my friend Vincent. We were both greeted so warmly as Carol is also a 'wheel kent face' at CI.
We started by being ushered into the library which had previously been built by students from Holyrood Secondary and lovingly attended by many MLOLs over the years, for a full on show of talent all about the library: bible verses, singing, poems and a wee play all about how important books are- so fitting as our children in Scotland celebrate World Book Day shortly.
Each visit includes class observations of learning by Carol, conversations with staff, learners and parents as well as a long (hot but not heated!) professional dialogue as we agree the evaluation scores and strengths of the school. Each time I come the schools are more engaged and participate more - this is really heartening. Today someone gently said, "Sharon, I cannot agree with you on that!" I was so pleased to be challenged and offered more evidence.
There are so many parallels with the work I do in Glasgow as we talked today about children's outcomes, high expectations, learner engagement, the value of early years education and the role of parents and the wider community.
One superb idea at CI was establishing an Alumni programme where former students return to inspire and motivate learners. Many local signatories and professionals had been invited. We were quick to ensure these role models also included those in the school community who serve the school so faithfully including Catherine, a retired lady of some years who still chairs the Mothers' Group and contributed to raised attendance figures and better outcomes, especially for girls...... a quiet, unassuming but vital role model for CI girls.
After a short planning meeting, Carol, Tom and I returned to Kabula for a cuppa to find the electricity out only coming back on at 8pm so I am off to write my report now and prepare for tomorrow's visit to Dorica at Ngumbe Primary.
