St Joseph’s school in Nallajeerla was set up in 2008 by Janaki Menni, her wonderful father (now sadly died), and others within the FIAM team at the time. Over the years that I have known it, the school has grown impressively from a small-ish facility comprising just one class per year group. Now, there are 23 classes, an impressive school building, and next year it will go up to 24 as the last year of single form entry passes through, and all year groups are double form entry.
It is a wonderful, colourful, joyous place to be, and despite the fact that there are over 800 children on roll, it very much has a family feel to it. It has Christian values at its heart, and although faith issues cannot be shared explicitly in the national current educational system, and although the staff come from a range of different faith backgrounds, still those values are a golden thread that winds through all aspects of school life. Spending a week at the school has been a truly memorable and delightful experience, and I thought that I would share a few of my favourite memories with you to give you a flavour of the St Joseph’s way.
The children arrive at school over a staggered period. 7 school buses bring in a large majority of the students, and each bus has 2 school runs. So, the first group of students arrive early enough for the buses to then go off and get the second group of students. And whilst the first group wait for the start of the school day, they sit and do homework, chat quietly and prepare for the day. And all the while, the local students turn up on the back of motorbikes, or walking, or in tuc-tuc’s. It’s a very gentle start to the day.
Once all the students have arrived, school assembly takes place. For this the children stand in parade-ground precision, and it really is very impressive to watch them getting themselves sorted out. School assembly is a daily occurrence, and each day a different group of students (pre-selected and at least one per year group) stand at the front to assist with leading the variation components of the assembly.
These components include (not necessarily in this order) – school song, school prayer, school motto, national song (different to the national anthem), and headlines from the newspaper (a student picks out headlines each day from the newspaper relating to local, national, international and sport). Then there is a little talk from a teacher, or visitor, before the assembly ends with the national anthem. Everyone takes part in the group responses and songs and recitations, although as with all schools, the littlest ones were sometimes more interested in the world around them!
One of the things that has really struck me during my time at the school has been the politeness of all the students. Whether just in passing on the stairs or when walking along a corridor – always there is a hello and a wave. Doors are held open, and the students quickly help out if any assistance is needed. And there is a lovely level of interaction between the older students and the younger students – on the buses, in the playground, and moving around in the school generally.
Lessons have a stronger level of learning by rote than UK students would be used to, in part due to the limited amount of school resources available. But having said that, the quality of education is high, and this is shown by the scores of the students at a national and state level, and the number of parents who are wanting their children to come to the school based on those scores.
My role this week has been one of observing, sharing a ‘moral message’ in assembly each day, doing English conversation sessions with the older children, interacting with the younger ones in different ways, and doing two blocks of teacher training each day on a range of topics, including trauma, mental health and how to be a trauma-informed school.
This school might not have the biggest income, nor the most up-to-date resources, nor the most well-to-do students. But what it does have in shedloads is love for the students, wanting the best for them, and a determination to give them a really high quality and holistic education. It is true to say that they are walking a tricky line on the faith front regarding what they can and cannot say and do, but they are walking it with wisdom, humility, and a big dose of God’s favour, and the outcome is beautiful to see. It has been such a joy and pleasure to journey with the school this week, and I am so grateful to each of the staff and students for their welcome.
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