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Tony Shephard
PHOTO GALLERY
2006
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| The original three classroom block was built by Mrs Jallow when she "retired" from full time paid teaching in 2003 The school was opened in 2004. The rubble in the foreground was the remains of a previous building, a shop. that had been knocked down. |
This was the ground facing the children when they came out of their classrooms - clearly this was far from a safe and suitable environment. On our first visit, Mrs Jallow told us of plans for a new classroom block in this area with two classrooms, a storeroom and an office, with the option of building a second storey. |
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| In the short time that the school had been open, it had already developed a good reputation in Bakau and was already heavily subscribed. The three classes were already full to capacity. At this time, there was a strong emphasis in The Gambia on encouraging parents to send girls to school as well as boys. | Even with the three classes full, there was a strong demand for places and so the reception class had to be taught on mats on the bare earth under trees and a canvas awning. This was manageable in the long dry season, November to May, but impossible in the rainy season with heavy downpours on most days. |
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| Vic and Tina had visited The Gambia quite a number of times previously and had become friendly with a number of families in Bakau. In 2001 Tina had a girl named after her. Her family wanted to see her enrolled at Aji Awa Bah and here she is on her very first visit to that school. | A few days later after visits to the tailor to be measured for school uniform, shoes and a bag etc, here she is on her first day. It always amazed us, having visited their homes which usually had no running water or electricity, just how beautifully turned out the pupils were. |
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| Break time on Tina Konteh's first day school in the class on the outside mat. We were accompanied on this visit to The Gambia by Tony Shephard who has been inspired to come by our enthusiasm. Like us, he was really impressed by what he saw going on in difficult circumstances at Aji Awa Bah School | Tony had brought out some money with him that he had raised and he was looking for a good cause for it. He decided straight away that this school was that cause. As always. Mrs Jallow wanted to use a school assembly for the ceremonial giving so that a public thanks could be made. |
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| When we returned to the school a few days later, Mrs Jallow handed us the planned costings for all of Tony's donation. It was to be spent on making a start on the new classroom block. Never one to hang around, she took us with some pupils to some open ground near the school where the workmen had already started. | It does not take much for a party to break out in The Gambia and with the workmen beating out rhythms on their empty water containers, singing and dancing broke out. By the end of the holiday, this ground was full of drying blocks, enough for the foundations and the first rows of blocks for new classrooms. |
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| Some of the staff, supporters of the school, parents and children, displaying some of the pens, pencils and exercise books that had been donated to the school. | The finished blocks that will be the first one to be used for the new classrooms are laid out to dry. On the day before we leave, Tony Shephard inspects them. |
2007
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| The sand and cement brick blocks have now started to be assembled for the new classroom block and the walls have been built. The children are still sitting on the floor but are looking forward to being in their new classroom. | Another view, showing the building is progressing well, but being surrounded by building materials, noise, distraction, dust etc. is not the best environment for the teachers and children. |
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| Mrs Jallow gives us a guided tour of the new buildings and describes which class will be in which room and where her office will be. She is about to tell Tony that this classroom will bear his name. | One of the workmen stands in front of building materials. The workmen in The Gambia have very few tools and equipment but manage remarkably well, utilising old containers and other discarded items. |
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| Tony Shephard with two of the children he sponsored. They came from a family that had suffered tragic circumstances. | A fully equipped St. John Ambulance school first aid kit is supplied to the school and checked by the member of staff responsible. |
2008
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| The new block has been completed. Foundations were laid so that they would be strong enough to support a second storey.The outside walls were finished in cement and painted. | End of classroom block showing the stairs, to allow for access to second floor. (This design has subsequently been changed, as the stairs were not considered safe) |
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| Inside a new classroom. The children are still sitting on mats, as there is no money for chairs and tables yet. The floor of broken tiles set in cement is a great improvement on the earth floor of the old block. | People who had donated or raised a lot of money for the school buildings have had classrooms named after them. Here is Tony Shephard outside his classroom, with some of the teachers. |
2009
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| We were given a large collection of infant-level books and English Key Stage 1 teaching material for the school by the English couple that run The Gunjur Project. They were enthusiatically received. | The money which has been brought out by Tina and Vic in 2008 had been used to have one of the classroooms in the original classroom block tiled. Previously there was only a cement floor which was starting to break up. |
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| Whilst we were there the finishing touches were being made to the new classroom block. Here workmen are bringing in the sand/cement mixture for laying the tiles in the head teacher's office and the storeroom. | On the last day of our stay, the tiles were completed and dry so that furniture could be moved into the office and the equipment could be moved from a room in Mrs Jallow's house into the storeroom. |
2010
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| Another sponsor of the school, Jenny Money, asked people to give her money for her birthday instead of presents and all the money went to tiling the play and assembly area. | The organisation FROGS - (Friends of Gambian Schools), based in Kent, donated these soft play blocks the school. Unfortunately, this fine charity no longer exists. |
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| More money was raised to enable another classroom to be tiled and desks and chairs to be bought. | At assembly time the children can now sit on mats on the newly tiled floor, making it more comfortable and pleasant. |
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| At assembly time the different classes will often entertain the others with songs or drama. | Another assembly performance which shows that the school now has school t-shirts. |
2011
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| Practising marching for the Infant Schools' Independence Day Parade which takes place at the National Stadium; a big event with over 100 schools from The Kombos taking part. | There are now enough chairs in the school for the older children to use at assembly time. The fast-spreading mango tree now provides more effective shade. |
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| The pupils watch Mr Jallow's class act out a song. He teaches the older children who are about to move on to Lower Basic schools, usually either Bakau or New Bakau schools. | A friend of Vic & Tina's gave them some money to take out to the school, and, as always, the donor got thanked. This is usually followed by a letter from the school. |
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| At the end of the school day, there are often visits by ex-pupils coming back to where they were very happy. Here the guardian of two pupils that Tony Shephard sponsored comes to see him. | Tony Shephard had taken out some craft materials for the pupils and had taken a number of small groups outside to work with them. The teacher came out to see what they had achieved. |
2012
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| The numbers in the school continue to grow, as the good reputation of the school grows. Again classes are large and some are outside. Even more classrooms are needed. More fund raising is now needed to build some more classrooms on top of the just completed new block. | The school now has electricity,although the supply is irregular to say the least, the children are able to watch DVDs, and have received donations from the UK. School has just finished and they are crowding round to watch a video that Tina took of some of them performing. |
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| One of the teachers is from the Fula ethnic group, renowned for their dancing. She decides to teach some of the children how to dance the Fula way. | As well as their own dances, children are taught exotic dances from other cultures, in this case they dance and sing the old English ritual, the Hokey-Cokey. |
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| Nurses visit the school to give injections, against polio this time. They mark the child's hand with indelible pencil so they know who has been done, and also so the parents know. | Mrs Jallow with some of the three-year-olds that have recently enrolled. There are now so many in reception that two parallel classes are needed. |
2013
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| Visiting each year, we are aware how standards are rising in the school each time we visit. Books of suggested strategies for infant/nursery lessons from England have been used extensively. Here Mrs Wilson introduces a sorting and counting exercise to five and six year olds. | The oldest children in the school with their teacher, Mr Jallow, are in another maths exercise. This time the subject is one of repetition in patterns. We spent quite a time in this lesson. Any inspector would have been pleased with the pace of the lesson and its clarity of purpose. |
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| Once again the youngest children in the school are being taught on a mat under the shade of a tree. Far from ideal conditions for the forty-plus children involved, but the sense of purpose is still marked. Here the pupils use chalk boards for early attempts to form letters. | One young pupil is pleased with her first attempts and wants to show them to the head teacher and is well-received and praised in this child centred school. The rapid progress that the pupils make being taught in a language that they do not speak at home is remarkable. |
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| From the top of the stairs, this is the view of where the new development will take place when the funds are raised. The plans are for a corridor on the right with two more classrooms and a medical room. | Back under the mango tree, the reception class and the proprietor, Mrs Yaharr Jallow and the head teacher, Mrs Saffi Jobe, in an appeal for support to develop further the scope of this school. |
2014
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| Celebration of Independence Day at The Stadium in New Bakau and the school was chosen to head the procession of around 130 nursery schools in the Kombos. They were also asked to choose the child president, first lady and body guards . | The pupil-president and the pupil first lady arrive at The Stadium in the presidential limo, throwing out packets of biscuits to the crowds as the real president does on public appearances. |
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| The presidential body guards with their plastic guns follow behind in the next car. | The pupil-imam welcomes the presidental couple whilst they looking on. |
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| The pupil-president goes back to his seat having inspected the guard of honour made up of scouts and guides. | The pupil-president addresses the crowd. A long speech that this five year old boy learned off by heart. |
2015
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| November 2015. Work In Progress on the second storey. View from the crossroads inside the school. | November 2015. Work In Progress on the second storey. View from outside the school. | November 2015. Work In Progress on the second storey. View from outside the school compound. |
2016
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| Our visit this year saw the numbers on role at their highest ever; 266 pupils. Assemblies are now very crowded. | Mrs Jallow shows pupils photos and biographies of the sponsors that the new classrooms will be named after. |
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| One of the new classrooms on the first storey nears completion. | The decision to have an upstairs corritor supported by pillars called for the stairs to be re-designed. |
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| The increase of numbers on role with the new classrooms calls for a second toilet block. | The upstairs corridor nears completion | Mr, Jallow (no relation to the school's founder) is proving to be one of the pillars of the school. He is taking an increasing role in organisation and administration. |
2017
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| It was decided that the money that we brought out in 2017 should be used with other money that had been donated for the school to be completely redecorated. Here is the reception class with furniture packed up for the work to begin | All the work was completed during the time that we were. As soon as the painters had finished in this classroom and the paint was dry, the electricians were in to mount the school's first classroom television set on one of the walls. . |
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| One day we were working with Mrs Jallow on agreeing updates for this website and preparing visual aids for the classrooms when this Finnish couple arrived unannounced. They had been brought there by their Gambian guide. Unexpected gifts such as the reading and exercise books and the stationery they brought are always a real bonus for the school.. | As soon as the children went home, the painter came to complete the painting of the outside of the old block. Working quickly on a really hot day as long as the light lasted, he returned the next morning to apply the finishing touches and to ensure that all his edges between the two colours were clear. |
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| The top part of the stairway to the top classes. We were pleased to note the attention that had been given to ensuring a good finish to the work; not always the way with Gambian builders.. | The two top classrooms are occupied by the two older classrooms. One is the classroom of Mr Jallow, the longest serving class teacher; the other by a relative newcomer to the school. From the lessons that we saw we could see a popular effective teacher. |  |
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| Towards the end of the re-decoration. The front gate is one of the last things to be re-painted. | The new upstairs corridor notice board has photographs of the latest building project and of the school in action. |
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| The upper corridor after completion and decoration. | The upper corridor after completion and decoration. |
2019
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| A daytime parents meeting was very well attended. Plans for the school development were being explained and questions were being asked and answered. This was followed by some songs and playlets performed by the pupils for their parents | On our visit we met two Dutch head teachers who had brought a large amount of educational posters and games out with them. After a few visits to local schools they settled on this one as a place where their materials would be put to good use. Here they are explaining the games to the staff. |
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| With all the songs they learn and all the lessons being in English, we had some concern that their own strong culture was being neglected, so we arranged for our great friend, one of the Gambia's most respected jalis, Jali Sherrifo Conteh to visit the school and play for each class. The songs and dances were received with delight by staff and pupils alike. | Some of the money that we brought out this year was to be used to install electricity in all the classes. Never one to hang around when funds were being provided, Mrs Jallow saw to it that each class has ceiling lights and fans and electrical sockets. The fans make an enormous difference and the classrooms can now be used for evening meetings. |
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| Commonwealth Day, the second Monday in March, is hardly celebrated in the UK but it is a big occasion in schools in The Gambia. Staff and children all dress up in the costumes of the various countries and the girls have cowrie shells and wrapped sweets worked into their braided hair. | One of the classrooms in the old block is for the 3 year old reception class; no furniture here for their activity day. Their day is shorter and after they leave their class is used by other classes for some DVD based lessons. |
2020
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| The water pressure in from the Bakau mains supply is often quite low and getting water to upstairs facilities is a problem. This has been solved by building this water tower. | To keep the water tower supplied a powerful electric pump is required. The main contributor to thc cost was the lady whose name is on the tower. | An influx of keen young staff in recent years has helped to raise the standard of the teaching. It has been a pleasure to see how this young teacher has blossomed into a very effective teacher in her first post. |
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| The school's new water tower means that there is now good water pressure for the toilets and washhand basins. | An interesting and well-organised classroom to visit. It is clear that she is popular with her pupils and peers as she deserves to be, |
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| In this class the children are all engaged in a mental arithmetic lesson, despite the presence of a visitor taking photos | The children all speak their various ethnic languages at home and the lessons are in English. Singing plays a big part in teaching the language. |