St Martins School: What's New and What's Next - August 2024 Report

Greetings from St Martins School, we hope all is well with you and your loved ones in your respective countries.

Here at St Martin School, we have had a good second term of this year. This term had 14 weeks and we closed school on the 31st of August for a three-week break.

We are in year 8 of the competency-based curriculum which has helped us identify other areas of interest that our learners can engage in. This helps the school address the individual needs of our students and how best to harness them. Most of our students are doing well in their academics and we hope to continue doing as much as possible to achieve our set objectives and those of our students.

79 students in year 8 of Junior secondary will advance to year 9, a shift from the 844 education where the students graduate in year 8 and proceed to high school for secondary education

We have done well in extracurricular activities with our students participating in Athletics, track and field events, football, basketball, volleyball, Netball, and Music at the zonal, sub-county, and regional levels. Our students have done very well and we had a team of 30 students who represented the school's national music festival competition.

5 students from our school who were pursuing diplomas and degrees locally and abroad graduated in April and June this year thanks to the support extended to them by their sponsors. This support for continuing education students is celebrated as it is through such efforts that we can help the most needy get the the knowledge and skills to be able to improve their lives and those of their families.

In June and July, we have also been able to have a group of volunteers visit our school and they have participated in various volunteering activities in their week-long visit here at school.

22 volunteers from The Tenth Revolution group were with us in June and engaged the students through creative arts, fed 1400 children in our Saturday feeding program, organized a student trip to the national park, and also fundraiser towards the equipping and refurbishment of our new class for grade 9.
22 volunteers from Salesforce, Pracedo, Celonos, Capita, and Amazon visited our school and the Kibagare community in July and had various activities and workshops here at school. Key activities they engaged in were sponsor engagement through capturing sponsees' videos, the new 45 workstation computer lab inauguration, solar project optimization, feeding of 1600 children in our feeding program, menstrual health workshop, community needs assessment, and sports.

Food security, high food costs, inflation, and taxes are still huge problems here in Kenya. The recent long rains have not helped much and the protests that followed have increased the uncertainty on matters of food and food production. Despite these challenges, we have continued with our daily food school feeding program and the Saturday feeding program for the children in school. Through the sponsorships and donations we have been able to sustain our feeding programs and we are more than grateful for the support we receive and continue to receive.

Our programs rely heavily on the donations we receive. Your continued support is appreciated as it is through it that we can do the much we can for the children and the community here at Kibagare.