Sinoni Secondary School

Yesterday we went to Sinoni Secondary School and Kimaseki Secondary School, also broken down into two posts.

Sinoni was very impressive and had their own well and even had a nutrition track in addition to the science and business tracks! Kimaseki, on the other hand, didn’t even have electricity.

In general across schools, there is a shortage of teachers and a lot of the secondary schools were constructed in the last couple of years. I think the government created a new mandate which said that every municipality needs its own secondary school, which is why a bunch of new schools have cropped up in the past few years. All of the Sakina Scholars went to the same primary school, but were dispersed to all different parts of the city based on their national examination scores. I’m still not clear as to why some students are assigned to schools they are close enough to walk to and other students have to take a 50 minute daladala ride to school.

Sinoni Secondary School Profile:
Key Contacts
Headmistress: Marco I. Mano
Academic Master: John Mtweve

Quick Facts
Founded: March 2001
No. of Students (2009): 1174
No. of Teachers (2009): 30
No. of Classrooms (2009): 20
Class size: 45-70
Days of School: 194
Uniforms: Dark green sweater, white blouse, black pants or skirt
School year: First term – mid January to March\April (Mid term holiday), June (mid year holiday), Second term – early July to late September, Third term – late September to late November
Laboratory: Not officially, but have resources to use in classrooms
Library: No
Computer Lab: No
Electricity: Yes

Daily Schedule
7:00-7:15 Attendance
7:15-7:40 General cleanliness
7:40-8:00 Announcements
8:00-10:40 Classes begin
10:40-11:10 Break
11:10-2:30 Classes resume
2:30-3:30 Cleanliness, Remedial courses, and Extra-curricular activities

Mondays: Club meetings
Tuesdays: Self-Reliance
Wednesdays: Sports and Games
Thursdays: HIV\AIDS Talks
Friday: Sports and Games

Clubs
Health Club
Subject Clubs
Scouts
Club against Corruption Environmental Club
Debate Club
Religious Societies

Sports
Football
Volleyball
Netball


Student Services
Health: First aid kit, guest speakers at health club, HIV\AIDS talks on Thursdays
Social Welfare: 2 teachers which act as counselors
Field Trip: Organize student-financed study tours to different places
Clean water: A sponsor helped them build their own well on the school grounds to guarantee that their students are using clean and safe water.

History
The school was started in March 2001 with 80 students and 4 teachers. Last year, 45 students graduated and went on to form V and VI at another school. This year, they expect 65 students to go on to complete their A-levels.

Future Plans
In the future, Sinoni plans to expand by adding more classrooms, a library, and official laboratories. They also want to have an administration block with offices for teachers and an internet café for teachers and students.
In terms of academics, their aim is to have 0 students score Division 0 on national exams and to reduce the number of students scoring in division 4.

Classes
Forms I and II opt to take the business track or the food and nutrition track, which consist of 9 core subjects and one or two additional classes:
Core subjects:
• English
• Kiswahili
• Maths
• Geography
• Civics
• Biology
• Chemistry
• Physics
• History
Business Track (11):
• Bookkeeping
• Commerce
Food and Nutrition Track (10):
• Food and Nutrition

Forms III and IV opt to do business, food and nutrition, or science, which consist of 7 core subjects plus 2 or 3 additional classes:
Core subjects:
• English
• Kiswahili
• Math
• Geography
• Civics
• Biology
• History
Business Track (9):
• Bookkeeping
• Commerce
Food and Nutrition Track (9-10)
• Food and Nutrition
• Chemistry
• Physics (optional)
Science Track (9)
• Chemistry
• Physics

Vocab word of the day:
Hujambo – How are you