SOS Schools in Senegal

SOS Nursery School Kaolack

The SOS Nursery School started its activities with an enrolment of one hundred and fifty-four children, including nineteen children from the SOS Children's Village Kaolack, eleven exempted whose school and tuition fees are fully taken charge of by SOS Children Senegal and one hundred and twenty-four day pupils.

Various activities were carried out, in accordance with the monthly plannings of educators:

• Study of the environment
• Body Image
• Domestic and wild animals
• Fruits and vegetables
• Means of transport
  

As usual, parties were organised for the children: Christmas party, Mardi gras and end-of-year party.

Female teachers participated in seminars organised by the IDEN to enhance their skills in the following fields:

• Psycho-educational
• Child Psychology
• Manual activities

SOS Primary School Kaolack

The SOS Primary School opened in 1984. There are 610 pupils in 12 classes.

Main activities during the year:

• Organisation of the prize awarding ceremony in July 2008
  
• 1st prize of the theatre contest between the schools of the commune
• Finalist at the game of spirit
• 2nd prize at the Independence Day parade
• Organisation of a trip for the discovery of Senegalese institutions
• Organisation of educational support courses intended for the children from the SOS Children's Village Kaolack children and pupils with learning difficulties
• Participation in the educational training workshops organised by the IDEN, together with public schools
• Achievement of a school library with the support of the AI and of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB)
• Participation in a workshop on advocacy and leadership techniques for children’s rights

SOS Nursery School Louga

The children cared for in the nursery school are the children of the SOS Children's Village Louga, of the staff members and of the neighbouring community.

Enrolments consist of 141 pupils, including 20 children from the Village.

Beyond the educational activities developed in the classrooms, the pupils from the nursery school take part, in the company of teachers, in activities or events organised outside the school such as the opening of the infancy week and of the nursery school.

The organisation of the annual bazaar inside the school to the benefit of the children was a great moment as it allows chidren from an early age how to win or loose. An end-of-year party was organised to end the year brillantly.

The playgrounds of the nursery school are also made available to the children from the district. The school is a pole of attraction because of the educational material made available and the commitment of female teachers. 

SOS Primary School Louga

The SOS Primary School opened in 1987. There are 610 pupils in 12 classes.

2007/2008 was an excellent school year.  The end-of-year council was held at Mmadou FADIGA library to take stock of the school year which was undoutedly satisfactory on the whole as 88% success rate was recorded at the C.F.E.E. exam and 77.2 % at the primary school leaving exam.

For the Village children, the following results were achieved:
75% at the C.F.E.E. exam and at the primary school leaving contest; which is a substantial progress.  95% of the activities mentioned in the plan of action were carried out.

Educational activities

The school participated in the educational outreach units initiated by the IDEN. It organised internal units and trials.  It also participated in training sessions organised by the JICA in the form of seminar. The teachers’ annual seminar was also organised.

Assessment of tests to move up to next grade:

Primary School Leaving Certificate Results (C.F.E.E.)

Socio-educational and cultural activities

The school had created a theatre troupe with the aim of improving the children’s oral and written expressions. It participated in all the events organised by the festival of theatre in French language of elementary pupils and set up the children’s parliament.

With the support of the monitors of education communities, the school also initiated the children to manual activities.

The school newspaper run by the children appeared for the first time.  The library received books which facilitated the re-start of its activities.

As concerns the upgrading of teachers’ skills, a meeting of exchange on novels was organised by the school management. 

Our pupils also participated in the UASSU championships and in the basic education week.     

The local sponsors’ day was organised on 25 May 2008. Three prize distribution ceremonies were organised during the school year with a remarkable participation in the 4 April 2008 parade.

Prospects

• To strengthen the capacity of the staff (seminars, debates, conferences, educational units)
• To organise reading activities in order to liven up the library by also providing it with school books
• Give a new impulse to manual activities (silk screen printing; dyeing, etc
• Give a new impulse to socio-educational activities (games, bazaar, outings)
• Publish the second issue of the newspaper
• Organise educational visits
• Organise the sponsors’ day
• Organise 3 prize distribution ceremonies
  

SOS Nursery School Ziguinchor

The purpose of pre-school education is to give the children an education that is firmly based on national languages and cultural values, to promote the development of their various psychomotor, intellectual and social aptitudes with a view to developing their own personality and building the foundations of school learning.

The SOS Nursery School has an enrolment of one hundred eighty-one children including sixteen children from the SOS Children's Village Ziguinchor, twelve exempted taken in charge by the national association and one hundred and sixty-five day pupils.  The activities of the nursery school focus on socio-educational and socio-cultural areas and on manual activities.

The SOS Nursery School supports the children from the SOS Children’s Village in their manual and cultural activities, within the framework of the application of the integral educational concept. The collaboration between SOS mothers and educators facilitates the work.

Every year, the school organises a Christmas Party attended by 40 children from the destitute families of the neighbourhood.

The teaching staff always innovates in the decoration of the establishment, in the planning of the educational work and they participate in the retraining seminar on new learning methods organised by the Inspectorate.

The children from the nursery school were invited to the closing ceremony of the national week of Nursery Schools, to a pedestrian walking and to Olympiads that took place from 01/12/98 to 06/12/08.

This year’s programme will be implemented as follows:
-    Project I:    Study of the environment: The human body, fruit trees (palm tree, banana tree, soursop tree, guava tree, pawpaw tree).
-    Project II: Artisanal fishing
-    Project III: Printing

An excursion for the nursery school pupils included a visit to the airport.

The SOS Nursery School still remains a school of excellence.

SOS Primary School Ziguinchor

During the 2007-2008 academic year, the SOS Primary School Ziguinchor operated with an enrolment of three hundred ninety-nine pupils, including 210 boys and 189 girls: 74 children coming from the SOS Children's Village, 126 children coming from the Family Strengthening Programme (FSP), 51 children exempted, 8 children of SOS staff members and 140 fee-paying day pupils.

According to annual assesments, 79.23% - i.e. 271 out of 342 children - moved up to the next grade. As far as the children coming from the SOS Children's Villages, are concerned, 96.29% - i.e. 52 out of 54 - moved up to the next grade and for the children coming from the FSP, 53.68%, representing 51 out of 95 moved up.

Regarding the end-of-year exams, the school achieved the following results: 87.03% - i.e. 47 out of 54 - passed. 100% of the children from the SOS Children's Village Ziguinchor  – that is 21 out of 21 - passed and 76.19% of the children from the FSP passed, that is to say 16 out of 21.

The following activities livened up the school: soccer championship (UASSU), inter-classrooms tournament, and participation in the African Chilren’s week, official distribution of prizes, outing and discovery at Djembéring, visits by delegations from SOS Luxemburg and by the President of SOS Children.

Reinforcement courses are given by school teachers, free of charge, to the children from the SOS Children's Village, from the FSP and to children with learning difficulties, on Mondays and Fridays, from 16H00 to 18H00.