< ARCHIVE
2008 IN REVIEW
January 2008 NEW HEADMASTER ARRIVES
On January 1st 2008 Br Clem Barrett arrived from Melbourne Australia to succeed Br Frank O'Shea as Headmaster of Edmund Rice Sinon Secondary School.
Br Clem brought a wealth of experience with him as he has already been a headmaster/principal of schools in both Victoria and Tasmania for 23 years. His most recent experience was a member of the Leadership Team of the Christian Brothers St Patrick's Province in South-East Australia.
Br Frank left in early January to return to Australia for a period of physical and spiritual renewal which will allow him time to travel and meet many of the friends he made during his time as Headmaster.
February 2008 FIRST FORM SIX EXAMINATIONS
At the Opening Baraza in early February, the new Headmaster and Form One students were welcomed with the theme for the year being "To Be The Best That We Can Be" - a challenge to all do their best in all areas of school life.
In mid-February 2008 the first Form Six students of Edmund Rice Sinon Secondary School sat for their National Examinations. This first group of A-Level students numbered 135 and were the first students to complete A-Level at the school following its introduction in early 2006. These students will be the foundation of the many students to follow over the next years.
Form Six Graduation was therefore a very historic occasion for the College and was marked by the students being presented with their certificates and a graduation robe designed for the occasion. This robe in the school colours of navy blue, white and red will be a feature of all future graduations.
March 2008 EXAMINATION SUCCESSES
With the publication of the Form Four results for 2007, the school was able to acknowledge the double success of its Form Four and Two students in the National Examinations. Both groups produced the best results for their respective year level with 99% of students attaining a pass.
For both Forms, the school's rankings were the highest achieved by the school and indicate that the teaching and learning programme was having a significant effect on the results of the students.
The last week of March, being Holy Week, was the mid-term break for O-Level and the school hosted a gathering of young people from many schools to reflect and share their experience of being Catholic students in their school as they also shared in the celebration of the events of Holy week.
Interviews and offers of places for Form Five were also completed with record numbers of applications making the task of selection even more difficult given the quality of passes at Form Four.
April 2008 RECORD ENROLMENTS
Following the enrolment process for A-Level, the number of students across Forms One to Six rose to 1250 students, the maximum enrolment for the school. This was brought about by record enrolments in both Form One (230) and Form Five (235). In future years it is anticipated that enrolments will remain around 1200 with anticipated enrolments at each level being around 200.
The increase in Form Five enrolments was partially due to the increase in boarding opportunities with the social rooms in both the girls' and boys' accommodation being converted to enable a further 24 boarders in each house.
On a very wet Saturday, there was an excellent attendance at an O-Level Parents' Meeting. There was good input and response with one of the results being a promise of increased communication with parents/guardians from the school administration.
The attendance at the Form Six Parents' Meeting was not great but the meeting did enable the school to acknowledge the academic performance of the Form Five students from last year.
May 2008 THE FEAST DAY OF BLESSED EDMUND RICE
On May 13th the school the Feast Day of the Patron of the school, Blessed Edmund Rice, an annual event. The day began with the official blessing and opening of the two new Science Rooms for A-Level students - these have been built following the generosity of various donors, large and small, and will be an additional bonus for the science combinations at A-Level. It also means that the students of O-Level will now have increased accessibility to practical science with the two Science Rooms now becoming exclusively available to O-Level classes.
After a break for food and refreshment, the school assembled in the school hall for an assembly of welcome to the new Form Five students and of celebration marked by many items from the students of all Forms. The entertainment went well past the normal finishing time of school but the students and staff maintained their enthusiasm until the end.
June 2008 BREAK FOR ALL STAFF AND STUDENTS
At the end of the first week of June the school took a well earned break, one that marked the end of Semester/Term One for O-Level and a mid-Term One break for A-Level. Form Four students had just finished their Mock Examinations while the Form Two students had also completed Mock Examinations for the group of Catholic Schools of the Archdiocese of Arusha.
The break also marked the end of the first part of the interschools' Netball and Football competitions. Both teams from Edmund Rice were successful in moving onto the next stage to take place after the break.
All students were given a copy of the first Newsletter to take home to their parents - a follow-on from the Parents' meeting in April.
July 2008 SCHOOL RESUMES
On Tuesday July 8th school resumed for all staff and students - many returned enthusiastic to complete the year successfully none more so than the Form Four and Two students who were to be involved in National Examinations in October and November respectively.
The publication of the results of the Mock Examinations for both year levels were quite encouraging and gave all students and staff an indication of what was required with regard to teaching and learning in preparation for the final examinations later in the year.
Parents' Day for the parents of Form Five students was very well attended - this was another innovation within the school's programme and gave many parents their first opportunity of visiting the school and viewing the facilities that attracted so many of the students.
An initiative that had been in planning for a couple of months was also taken with the publication of a first Volunteers Newsletter - the aim is to keep past, present and future volunteers informed of developments at the school.
August 2008 SCHOOL CONTINUES
The month of August provides the biggest contrast in the years of O-Level and A-Level students. O-Level students are beginning to feel the proximity of examinations while A-Level students are made aware of the importance of their year with the Mock Examinations for Form Six.
At the end of the month - August 30th - Form Four Dini Graduation took place with great preparations and participation being features of the day.
The sporting competitions were now into the final stages with both teams - Netball and Football - from Edmund Rice reaching the grand finals after very tense and exciting wins in their semi-final games.
September 2008 THE MID-TERM BREAK IS WELCOMED
At the end of their Mock Examinations, the Form Six students began a mid-term break of three weeks and were followed into Mock Examinations by Form Two in the early weeks of September. All other classes completed internal examinations and then took the shorter mid-term break of just over one week.
The Netball and Football finals, after several changes of date were played on September 10th. Our netballers competed well but were not able to overcome the strong opposition from Tetra Secondary School and thus finished runners-up. Our footballers led for much of their game but at the end of full time the scores were level at 2-2; due to a late start, there was insufficient time to complete extra time and/or penalty shoot-out! So the game is to be replayed later in the month.
As students entered the mid-term break, they took home Newsletter Number 2 to parents/guardians and for Forms One to Three - a re-enrolment form to be completed and returned to the school after the holidays. All forms for applications for places, re-enrolment and joining instruction have been revised with a view to providing more information for the administration of the school particularly with respect to contact information from all families.
October 2008 THE EXAMINATIONS BEGIN
Form Four Graduation took place on September 30th - it was a very enjoyable day for the 196 graduands and for the rest of the school. We were blest with mild weatherafter anovercast morning. After the formalities, the graduands celebrated with family and friends but were quickly back into study mode with only one week before their examinations.
The examinations were held in the school 'hall', very convenient for the large number even if not always weather proof! The examination period started in dramatic fashion with the postponement of the first paper, Mathematics, due to possible leakage of the paper. Some doubt remained over the succeeding papers though changes in the papers were able to be made within the system used by the examining body. The examination period was extended by one day so that the Mathematics paper could be sat - it was a long period of examinations covering 16 school days and up to 12 examinations for some students.
Following a short break, it will be time for the Form Two National Examinations and then the internal examinations for Forms Three and One will take place.
On the Saturday following the scheduled end of Form Four examinations it was timefor the Form one 2009 Entrance Test. Over 700 students sat for the test with some 260 being offered places in Form One in 2009 - many of these offeres will not be taken up and the places will then be offered to students who sit the Entrance Test in January, just before the commencement of the new school year.
November 2008 END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR FOR O-LEVEL
While the students at A-Level continue with Semester Two in preparation for their final examinations in February, the students in O-Level have come to the end of another school year. The examination periods mark the end of the year at each Form level. While the Form Four and Form Two students have to await the publication of their results from National examinations (Form Two hopefully in early January and Form Four before the end of February), the students of Form Three and Form One will have their reports in early December. This means that the staff have a very hectic period of correction, report writing and report collation in the short time after the examinations.
Students of these two forms, having comleted re-enrolment Forms, will also be given information about their class for next year, their option subjects and most particularly their accommodation status for next year - as either a boarder, a hosteller or day student!
For 2009, boarding will be available to each of Forms One to Four as well as the hostel option. This will mean that the school will be reaching its maximum numbers in boarding while there will be a consequent reduction in the number of hostel places. Current boarders and hostellers are not automatoically granted continuation unless they fit criteria with respect to location, academic progress and financial commitment. The collection of reports will be a very interesting time for students as they will find out much about their position in the school in 2009.
December 2008 PREPARATIONS FOR 2009
A-Level students will conclude this part of their year after a week of practice examinations in the first week of December - they will resume clsses on January 5th. O-Level staff and students commence their academic year on January 13th.
However the departure of students does not mean that the school closes down - there is much to be done in preparation for the 2009 school year even though the break is relatively short. The main facility developments centre on the two O-Level Boarding Houses. With boarding being available for the first time across all levels, Forms One to Four, changes to the two current facilities are taking place - for the Girls Hostel the principal changes are a significant improvement in the security of the bBoarding House while for the boys the main changes are an improvement in the facilites for personal hygeine.
In 2009, there will be approximately 320 boarders in O-Level with another 280 in A-Level - 600 full time boarders across all year levels!
A recent innovation in A-Level, the introduction of a House system for pastoral care will be extended to O-Level in the new year. Staff and students will be introduced to the new structure at the commencement of the year - no doubt it will take some time to become familiar with it though hopefully the benefits will become obvious within a relatively short period.
Hopefully all are now enjoying their well-earned break with family and friends and we look forward to another successful year in 2009.
