Springs Alive visit to UK

Springs alive has today dispatched one of its Directors, Mr.Kakaire Fred to UK, for a period of about two weeks.
One of the purposes of this visit is to honor the ‘exchange visit’ when Madam Chloe Hodgson from Whitkirk Primary School UK in Leeds, visited us here at Springs Alive in Uganda.
Fred works with Springs Alive on volunteer basis and can perform very well like would the chief Administrator Springs Alive Community school.
Fred heads Springs Alive research Division and will also be looking out for any possible opportunities of making friends that have passion toward what we are doing, however Fred is also to work as advance team, in preparation for the chairman Springs Alive, just in case he will have to visit UK later!

Other purposes of this visit include; concretising Springs Alive Community School’s relationship with Whitkirk Primary School, in regard to having projects like teacher exchange, letter writing, student exchange, fundraisings made with this education linkage. There is also classroom observation, our school is supposed to adapt the child centered learning system and abandon the teacher centered learning.
In the picture, is when he is preparing himself for the take off at Entebbe International Airport _Uganda, with Emirates Airlines.Much thanks to the chairman Advisory Board Springs Alive,Mr.Ssemmanda Aloysius for all the support!We can hardly thank you enough!

Otherwise we hope to move forward with our two schools' collaboration.

Trauma students face when fees are no...

Many times we find that we have to spend lots of money; for instance during big days like chrismas, regular visits to pubs and come January, you will have exhausted both your account and month’s advance. Your pockets will be virtually empty and guess what? Children have to report to school.

As a student, I felt secure going to school when my fees was fully paid. I felt a deep-seated right to walk straight with my head held high.

However, whenever my fees was not completed, I thought my name would at any moment be read among the fees defaulters, consequently humiliating me before fellow students.

A friend at a college went through a similar predicament. His father told him that tuition would be paid later that semester. Full of hope, he waited until the last quarter of the semester when the bad news was broken to him that Dad could not get the fees. This was after three months of preparation for exams, which he did not sit for. He did not report for the next semester fearing the same fate would befall him.

Ironically, dad got the money but his son had not bothered to attended lectures.
Research shows that in the examination rooms, students who have defaulted on school fees payment get anxious when an invigilator walks in. Whereas those, who have cleared tuition fees, will not be bothered, their counterparts are affected and lose concentration. In the end, their academic performance declines.

“Students are overcome by uncertainty and so the motivation to read for exams lessens,” students do not relax when their school fees are not paid. “They are pessimistic doubting their fees will be paid at all. Why should I bother reading yet I am not going to sit for papers anyway?” if a student is not well prepared, he or she likely to perform poorly especially if they are compelled to run up and down trying to find the tuition fees. Students also feel out of place when others have cleared tuition fees while they have not. Sometimes at the school assemblies, names of fees defaulters are read out loud. “It feels quite humiliating when the selection is done openly and the list of defaulters made public,” and being dismissed from school exposes the financial woes of the student’s family. This indirectly affects the student’s self-esteem and self-image.
It can cause psychological torture that a student collapses when faced with the possibility of missing exams. It is a great challenge for a student to understand such a situation. It seems as if their world has been shattered.

Dear reader out there what do you think we should do to counter such instances? What is your experience like elsewhere? How have you managed to maneuver?

Are you a parent? Do you work with kids? Are you concerned about their safety?

Here is a sampling of the types of questions KidSafe can help you answer:
Do you know what to say when your child comes to you with a personal safety question?

Do you know what your preteen/teen does on line?

When should I start talking with my child about their private parts? How do I do it?

Do you know if your child's teacher has had a background check? Would it matter?

Do you know how to best be an approachable parent? Active listener?

What should your child do if they are being bullied?

What should your child do if they are home alone and there is a knock on the door?

What would you want your child to do if they were touched on their private parts by their babysitter? Family member?