The school day at Olng’arua starts with a meeting of all the students and staff. We talk with the students about any problems they have and we discuss issues relevant to the day. Then, before we all go our separate and busy ways, we have 5 minutes of mindfulness. We sit with each other in …
Did this large male elephant just try, and fail, the school high jump? We were lucky enough to watch a group of 4 very large male elephants as the browsed their way through the school early one morning. Eventually they wandered off to find a shady tree to spend the day under and the kids …
For me, one of the most important aims for our school is to help children develop a love of reading. I know that this is an issue for schools and parents all over the world. There are many reasons why inspiring children to read can be difficult, but imagine what it must be like for …
Some of the children have been making benches to go outside the new kitchen. This was their first attempt at such a thing and amazingly nobody sawed off a finger or even smashed a thumb with a hammer (like I always do!) They used left overs from the building of the kitchen, left over wood, …
In the western world, one of a child’s first art experiences is a box of brightly coloured water paints. Newspaper spread on the table, a cup of water (always a dirty black within minutes, regardless of the colours used) and a paintbrush. Three and four year olds ensure that as much paint gets on everything …
Olng’arua means ‘marsh’ in the Maa language. The school has that name because it is beside a marsh area that is fed by a spring (hence our year round green football field). The marsh is very important to the local people, who rely on it for water and grazing in the long dry season. It …
Once upon a time Olng’aura School got a surprise visit from children’s author and illustrator Daniel Kirk. It was the first time the children had ever met a real author. It was also the first time they realised that you could, if you wanted, grow up to be someone who writes books for a living, …
As well as the Library Mouse series Danial Kirk also sent lots of beautiful story books for younger children. The Squirrels and the Rhinos were delighted. We don’t have very many books and Danial Kirk’s delivery quadrupled the number of story books they have. Now there are new stories to read and new pictures to …
In art today we were working in the style of Kandinsky. Thanks to Babs and Anja, who sent us some great art books with pictures from a range of different artist, we have been able to expand our ideas and investigate new techniques.
Peter has been teaching the Leopard group to tell the time. They are now very good at it. They always had a strong sense of time, such as when lunch was late, or when it was time to go and play football, but now they have the skills to prove it!