In 2017 there has been a huge increase in the number of parents wishing to enrol their children at Mustard Seed School. Instead of the normal intake of 50 students a year, the school has enrolled twice that number. This follows two years of good O-level results and the first year of outstanding A-level results.

As a result we have been helping the school plan for expansion. We have secured minimum 25 year leases on two large blocks of school land, and leases are pending on the rest of the land. This gives us the confidence to raise funds for a major expansion at the school. We have funded the services of a local surveyor who has drawn up the plan below for future developments around the new playing field.

The aim, over a number of years, is to build a new 4-classroom block, science lab, computer room, a new hall and staff housing.

The immediate priority is to provide additional classrooms, so the school can create two first year classes on the path to becoming a two-stream entry school. The first requirement is to build a security fence around the site. UHST has already sent funds to start this work. Immediately the site is secure we will begin the phased funding of the new 4-classroom block (see plan below).

UHST will need to raise £27,000 for this and we will need all the help we can get. A new toilet block will also need to be built at the same time.

These developments will make a huge difference to the school and set it on the path towards sustainability.

Ugandan A-level results were released on 1st March and students at Mustard Seed School are delighted with their achievements. 15 students out of 16 gained the minimum of 2 A-levels which they require to continue their education at vocational college and university levels. This is a major advance for the school and both students and staff deserve congratulations. (Students taking their A-level subsidiary Computer Studies eaxmination).

This follows the steady improvement in O-level School Certificate results in recent years, which has encouraged more students to stay on at school for A-level study.

Out of 16 students entered for A-levels at the end of 2016, all but one student gained at least two A-levels – the minimum requirement to move on to Higher Education courses. With two A-levels students are eligible for further academic study but also for a variety of vocational courses including: training for nursing and medical ancillary occupations, teaching (especially at primary level), agricultural college and technical training, such as motor vehicle mechanics, plumbers, electricians.

8 students, 4 boys and 4 girls, gained 3 A-levels, which is a huge achievement for a small rural school. This will enable the students to move on to good universities if they can secure funding. Competition for full government scholarships on academic courses is tight and probably none of the students have the grades required for this. Students training as nurses and teachers are usually eligible for state support, but others, who find it a struggle to fund further courses, should be able to find better jobs in the labour market than would have been possible without their qualifications.

Last weekend members of Isaac Newton High School Humanist Association (INHUASSO) – students and teachers – launched a new Community Service Volunteer Program with a sanitation and hygiene drive in the community near the school.

They went to the homes of 8 needy families, 5 of whom have students at Isaac Newton High school on scholarships for bright but needy children. They worked to improve pit latrines which were in very sorry state; many were almost collapsing and others were full to overflowing. Most of the latrines, which had tree logs as the floor, were rotting and cracking and generally found to be in very sorry and dangerous situation as you can see from some pictures. The programme involved constructing new covers on the pit latrines.

The students did some other work around the home, including:

• constructing platforms for laying utensils after washing,
• providing bar soap to wash hands after visiting the latrine,
• providing Jerry cans to contain water for washing hands after latrines,
• teaching members of the families how to wash hands properly after visiting latrines,
• clearing grass around the houses to deter snakes.

The volunteers also visited the local primary school to encourage the children to enrol at Isaac Newton School, when they complete their primary schooling.

Some local families were found to comprise very elderly grannies taking care of very young grand children, whose parents had died or gone away for work. The volunteers hope to be able to help families like these and others in future. The volunteering activities will be done on Sundays when the other Christian members of the school attend prayers.

Also, last Sunday, there was a second general meeting of the new Isaac Newton Community Based Organisation. The purpose of this meeting was to share expertise in order to plan for the new planting season. It was agreed to use a room in the reception house near the school gate as a farmers shop, where farm inputs will be bought in bulk from wholesalers and sold to members at cost price. This will reduce substantially the cost of farm inputs, such as fertilisers, seed and stock food, and help to raise productivity on the local farms.

Peter Kisirinya
Director, Isaac Newton High School