Chetana, our education chair, recently spent six weeks in Kenya visiting old haunts and had some very productive meetings with students and staff at Chania High.

Her mission was to take some resources for the Rasberry Pi system we helped to install at the school and to work with the staff in an advisory capacity. She undertook lesson observations and advised on staff appraisal and the use of ICT in teaching Science. Having conducted lesson observations in a number of curricular areas using her experience as an Ofsted Inspector, she provided open, frank and constructive feedback to the staff.

She also suggested we purchase a number of items that would greatly enhance teaching and learning in various curricular areas, in amongst them a lap top, a projector, electroscopes, mini white-boards, basket balls, educational posters and noticeboards for classrooms. The Thika Alumni Trust has started the process of delivering these to the school.

The staff appraisals via lesson observations, something quite routinely done here in the UK, are still fairly new at the school and Chetana conducted these with Mr Kariuki, the principal. Through her acute observations, Chetana was able to throw significant light on the considerable benefits of appraisal in raising standards. These interactions were warmly welcomed by all the staff.

The old library had been converted into an eLearning Centre furnished with tables and chairs, however, it was now waiting for the hardware and software to be installed for student use. Harpal (as Project Officer) and Shanti (TTAT’s Technical Consultant) had looked into this and TTAT had agreed that they would help populate it with computers and appropriate equipment and cabling, housing for computers and ensure power was available. This process is well underway and we are hoping the eLearning Centre will be up and running by the end of April.

As if this was not enough, Chetana also managed to visit the Chania Girls’ High School thus opening a new channel for further welcome interactions with schools in Thika. Leaving behind her a trail of admiration and appreciation, Chetana has to be congratulated for all that she managed to do.