A day in the life of Chimteka II Primary School

Before classes begin:

At dawn (5 am) children from far away from Chimteka village set of for school on foot many with no shoes as they save these for Sundays and special occasions.

Many of the kids help there parents with looking after smaller brothers and sisters before setting off on the 5/6 km walk.

Breakfast is usually nsima, maize or Soya porridge, rice or fried potatoes

People use the sound of birds and the rising sun as a sign of the time as few have watches

Picture 1: Ringing the bell-made from an old agricultural implement

6:45 The first bell is rung to tell pupils to start making rapid progress towards school and to tell those already present to start sweeping around the campus with home made brooms that each pupil must bring with him/her everyday

Picture 2: Every morning pupils must sweep around the campus

7:00 The second bell to tell those pupils still on the way to start running-rushing to the school in order to make it on time

Picture 3: Time to start rushing to school, latecomers are given a punishment!

7.15 The third bell is rung to tell pupils to assemble outside the school next to the Headmasters Office with the Schools 5 teachers

At the assembly the Headmaster tells the pupils:

· The program for the day and makes any announcements

· Pupils are told what they must bring for the following day, this might include brooms or teaching/learning resources such as clay for modeling or branches

· Exercises are performed

· Everybody sings the National Anthem of Malawi

· One pupil leads the whole school in a prayer to prepare everyone for the day ahead

Picture 4: The whole school gathers outside the Headmasters office for assembly each morning

7:25 Assembly ends and the pupils head towards the respective classes

Picture 5: Dedicated pupils heading for classes

Classes!

7:30 Teaching begins any late comers are given punishments, these may include sweeping, litter picking, uprooting flower beds, weeding the school garden or worst of all mopping the toilets; very smelly job!!

If children are late consistently they can be sent home to be told off by there parents, often on the way to school children can easily get distracted playing football with home made balls or digging for mice

The Standard 1 and 2 children lessons are 30 minutes long and the standard 3 /4 lessons are 35 minutes.

Lessons

Standard 1-age 6: Maths, English, Chechewa, Bible knowledge, Expressive arts (making models and drawing pictures)

Standard 2-age 7/8: all of the above plus life skills (learn about diseases, personal hygiene etc)

Standard 3-age 8/9: all of the above plus Social and Environmental sciences (learn about culture/traditional dancing, living and non living beings.

Standard 4-age 10/11 L: all of the above plus Agriculture

Picture 6: Making model pots and demonstrating how they are carried in expressive arts

During the school day the pupils do not get anything to eat unless they bring some snacks. These vary depending on what is available but typically include groundnuts (peanuts), pieces of sugar cane or fruit (mangoes and bananas).

10:40 Classes end for Standard 1 and 2 and everyone heads home

12:30: Classes end for Standard 3

13:05: Classes end for Standard 4

After school pupils head home for the Malawian staple of Nsima (made out of maize) and relish.

Picture 7: Chimteka II pupils heading home after another hard day of work

After School:

After playing games with friends the pupils go home to help family and guardians working in the fields or may join up with a few friends to catch mice…another favourite Malawian snack!!