Bequests from the wills of UHST supporters have been instrumental in funding large buildings across the Humanist schools. During 2025 we learned the sad news of the death of Dr Alan Chitty, who had supported UHST for a many years. Alan left money in his will to the charity and, after discussion with Ian and Chloe his son and daughter, we decided that it should be used for building a dormitory for boys at Katumba Parents’ Humanist Primary. The places being allocated to children who were orphans, had a particularly long walk to school or who were in their final P7 year and needed better conditions than they had at home to prepare for their Primary Leaving Examinations. The dormitory is now finished. Below is a picture of the Dormitory, which has been dedicated in Dr Alan Chitty’s name, and a letter of thanks from Juma Irumba Siriwayo, the school’s Director.
Children and Katumba community members at the Dr Alan Chitty Boys’ Dormitory
A new report by two British students assesses the impact of Isaac Newton Humanist School on its community. After completing a Masters degree in International Development at Manchester University, Mattie Robson and Harry Wood have been out to Uganda to conduct an exploratory research study to measure the impact of the school on students and the economy of the poor rural community around it.
Harry Wood, Peter Kisirinya, Peter’s father and Mattie Robson
The picture above was taken on Mattie and Harry’s arrival at the school. Peter Kisirinya the school Director acting as host took them to meet his 92 year old father. Peter arranged their accommodation. They ate meals with the students where they learned the delights of a daily diet of posho (maize porridge) and beans. The following picture shows them with members of the school’s Humanist Club.
Humanist Club members guided the pair during the visit. They took them to visit local families and businesses and acted as translators.
It is very good for the Humanist schools to receive visitors from abroad. Both groups learn much from the experience and lasting friendships are made.
The two weeks that Mattie and Harry spent in the vicinity of Isaac Newton gave them an insight into the issues they would face if they had the opportunity to conduct a more detailed study of the impact of a school on its environment. Their interim report can be downloaded from the following link:
UHST has been helping the Humanist schools to prepare for the 2026 school year.
Isaac Newton Humanist Primary School
There has been so much to do to bring up to standard this school that was bought from an Evangelical Christian Foundation. In the past few months work has focused on completing:
the school hall and adjoining staffroom
additional toilets for boys and girls
a kitchen to enable food to be cooked on site
Making safe and repurposing old buildings to create a central hub with rooms for kindergarten classes, headteacher, her deputy, the bursar, book and reading room and computer room and paved area for outdoor activities.
Children lining up to start their school day in the new Swindale and Shrenk classrooms
Eagle’s View Humanist Primary School
As with all of the Humanist Schools, UHST has sent money to enable them to buy books for the new school year. However, we cannot do much to help with the major problem facing Eagle’s View school. All 10 classrooms are temporary structures made by nailing metal sheets to wooded poles. The rooms get too hot when there is full sun and water sprays through when it rains. Rogers Muwanguzi, a teacher and one of the school directors, is looking for supporters to sponsor the construction of new classrooms. The basic cost per room, without painting and furniture, is $5,000.
Eagle’s View children work hard by in conditions that are far from ideal
Kanungu Humanist Primary School
Kanungu School is overcoming opposition from local evangelical Christian churches by establishing decent standards of education and welfare and getting good results in the national Primary Leaving Examinations. The success of the strategy is evident in rising enrolment which brings its own challenges such as neither having enough desks and chairs nor sufficient books and learning resources. The school has also had to repair toilets and buildings following damage caused by climate-change induced storms. UHST has helped the school to meet all these requirements as well as ensuring that the school has sufficient exam desks and chairs and the headteachers office is a secure place to store exam papers.
Kanungu children love story time
Katumba Parents’ Humanist Primary School
Funds from UHST supporters in the UK and St. Louis, USA have enabled the school to build two dormitories, each providing sleeping quarters for 50 children – one for boys and the other for girls. Orphans and children in their last year of schooling who need to revise for their Primary Leaving Examinations will have priority for places. UHST has been helping with two other challenges. Firstly to improve water supply and storage at the school. Secondly, to carry out storm damage repairs and building refurbishment across the school.
New rainwater storage tanks
Katumba children take water to old lady
Kasese Humanist Primary Schools
The three Kasese primary schools at Rukoki, Kahendero and Muhokya will all see the benefits of major refurbishing work which took place, as part of the Sustainability Project, last year. They have all had money from UHST to buy books for the new school year and we have paid course fees to enable Solomon Masereka, the Headteacher of Rukoki, to complete his B.Ed. course and for Beatrice Gumisiriza, the Headteacher of Kahendero, to begin a Dip.Ed. course which leads on to a final B.Ed. qualification.
Precocious children of Kasese Primaries
Isaac Newton Humanist High School
The main challenge at the start of this year has been to ensure that Isaac Newton can accommodate the 34 additional scholarship student who have transferred from the troubled Mustard Seed School. Girls and boys’ dormitories have been extended, plastered and painted and additional bunk beds made. The school has arranged for a teacher to come down from Busoga so that children can continue studies of their local language Lusoga at weekends. The school has run out of shelf space for new books. So, UHST is facilitating the enlargement of the bookstore and furnishing a new reading room to fully establish in one building a Library & Information Centre. We have also funded the installation of a solar water heater. This will pre-heat water before cooking with the aim of further reducing the consumption of scarce and expensive firewood. If the system proves to be economic then we will consider rolling out the system to other schools.
Solar water heater on the roof of Isaac Newton kitchen
Kasese Humanist Municipal High School
Kasese has been working hard to make more space in its small dormitories to take in bright children from poor homes who have excelled in their Primary Leaving Examinations. In particular they have extended spaces to some of the 2025 cohort of children from Katumba Parents’ Primary School who gained grade 1 in PLE. UHST has also helped them to increase their stock of books and science equipment and chemicals. There is growing optimism in the school since all of the 2025 cohort gained overall passes in their UCE O-level examinations.
Students from Kasese Municipal High School at work in the library
The Kasese Schools project a very strong Humanist ethos, which includes a weekly lesson on Humanism. This is reflected in posters around the school.
Poster portraying the Humanist ethos of the school
Posted: March 7, 2026 by Steve Hurd
The Difference a Bequest can make
Bequests from the wills of UHST supporters have been instrumental in funding large buildings across the Humanist schools. During 2025 we learned the sad news of the death of Dr Alan Chitty, who had supported UHST for a many years. Alan left money in his will to the charity and, after discussion with Ian and Chloe his son and daughter, we decided that it should be used for building a dormitory for boys at Katumba Parents’ Humanist Primary. The places being allocated to children who were orphans, had a particularly long walk to school or who were in their final P7 year and needed better conditions than they had at home to prepare for their Primary Leaving Examinations. The dormitory is now finished. Below is a picture of the Dormitory, which has been dedicated in Dr Alan Chitty’s name, and a letter of thanks from Juma Irumba Siriwayo, the school’s Director.
Posted: March 3, 2026 by Steve Hurd
Isaac Newton School Impact Report
A new report by two British students assesses the impact of Isaac Newton Humanist School on its community. After completing a Masters degree in International Development at Manchester University, Mattie Robson and Harry Wood have been out to Uganda to conduct an exploratory research study to measure the impact of the school on students and the economy of the poor rural community around it.
The picture above was taken on Mattie and Harry’s arrival at the school. Peter Kisirinya the school Director acting as host took them to meet his 92 year old father. Peter arranged their accommodation. They ate meals with the students where they learned the delights of a daily diet of posho (maize porridge) and beans. The following picture shows them with members of the school’s Humanist Club.
Humanist Club members guided the pair during the visit. They took them to visit local families and businesses and acted as translators.
It is very good for the Humanist schools to receive visitors from abroad. Both groups learn much from the experience and lasting friendships are made.
The two weeks that Mattie and Harry spent in the vicinity of Isaac Newton gave them an insight into the issues they would face if they had the opportunity to conduct a more detailed study of the impact of a school on its environment. Their interim report can be downloaded from the following link:
Isaac Newton High School Impact Report 2026
Posted: March 2, 2026 by Steve Hurd
Preparing for new school year
UHST has been helping the Humanist schools to prepare for the 2026 school year.
Isaac Newton Humanist Primary School
There has been so much to do to bring up to standard this school that was bought from an Evangelical Christian Foundation. In the past few months work has focused on completing:
Eagle’s View Humanist Primary School
As with all of the Humanist Schools, UHST has sent money to enable them to buy books for the new school year. However, we cannot do much to help with the major problem facing Eagle’s View school. All 10 classrooms are temporary structures made by nailing metal sheets to wooded poles. The rooms get too hot when there is full sun and water sprays through when it rains. Rogers Muwanguzi, a teacher and one of the school directors, is looking for supporters to sponsor the construction of new classrooms. The basic cost per room, without painting and furniture, is $5,000.
Kanungu Humanist Primary School
Kanungu School is overcoming opposition from local evangelical Christian churches by establishing decent standards of education and welfare and getting good results in the national Primary Leaving Examinations. The success of the strategy is evident in rising enrolment which brings its own challenges such as neither having enough desks and chairs nor sufficient books and learning resources. The school has also had to repair toilets and buildings following damage caused by climate-change induced storms. UHST has helped the school to meet all these requirements as well as ensuring that the school has sufficient exam desks and chairs and the headteachers office is a secure place to store exam papers.
Katumba Parents’ Humanist Primary School
Funds from UHST supporters in the UK and St. Louis, USA have enabled the school to build two dormitories, each providing sleeping quarters for 50 children – one for boys and the other for girls. Orphans and children in their last year of schooling who need to revise for their Primary Leaving Examinations will have priority for places. UHST has been helping with two other challenges. Firstly to improve water supply and storage at the school. Secondly, to carry out storm damage repairs and building refurbishment across the school.
Kasese Humanist Primary Schools
The three Kasese primary schools at Rukoki, Kahendero and Muhokya will all see the benefits of major refurbishing work which took place, as part of the Sustainability Project, last year. They have all had money from UHST to buy books for the new school year and we have paid course fees to enable Solomon Masereka, the Headteacher of Rukoki, to complete his B.Ed. course and for Beatrice Gumisiriza, the Headteacher of Kahendero, to begin a Dip.Ed. course which leads on to a final B.Ed. qualification.
Isaac Newton Humanist High School
The main challenge at the start of this year has been to ensure that Isaac Newton can accommodate the 34 additional scholarship student who have transferred from the troubled Mustard Seed School. Girls and boys’ dormitories have been extended, plastered and painted and additional bunk beds made. The school has arranged for a teacher to come down from Busoga so that children can continue studies of their local language Lusoga at weekends. The school has run out of shelf space for new books. So, UHST is facilitating the enlargement of the bookstore and furnishing a new reading room to fully establish in one building a Library & Information Centre. We have also funded the installation of a solar water heater. This will pre-heat water before cooking with the aim of further reducing the consumption of scarce and expensive firewood. If the system proves to be economic then we will consider rolling out the system to other schools.
Kasese Humanist Municipal High School
Kasese has been working hard to make more space in its small dormitories to take in bright children from poor homes who have excelled in their Primary Leaving Examinations. In particular they have extended spaces to some of the 2025 cohort of children from Katumba Parents’ Primary School who gained grade 1 in PLE. UHST has also helped them to increase their stock of books and science equipment and chemicals. There is growing optimism in the school since all of the 2025 cohort gained overall passes in their UCE O-level examinations.
The Kasese Schools project a very strong Humanist ethos, which includes a weekly lesson on Humanism. This is reflected in posters around the school.