Barbara Leighton Academy

THE PROFILE OF BARBARA LEIGHTON ACADEMY SCHOOL

P.O.BOX 87- 40612

SAWAGONGO

E-MAIL ADDRESS: barbaraleighton@yahoo.com

CONTACT: 0723204653/0719649970

The school was founded by Apostle Edward Wata in 2013 to address the plight of the vulnerable children in Sadieda village, Siriwo Sub Location, Central Gem Ward, Yala Division, Gem Yala Sub County, Siaya County in the Western Part of Kenya, who could not access education due to poor economic situation of their parents/guardians who were mostly illiterate and either drunkards or HIV/AIDS infected or affected.

Apostle Wata believed that the only way to bring a positive change in the community is through sharing God’s word and providing an opportunity for education. He believes that communities that embraced the word of God and Education have never remained the same.

It all started as a Nursery/Early Childhood Development Centre (E.C.D Centre), but gradually moved to primary with the recommendation of the then CSO [Mr. Oluoch]. The name of the school was derived from a UK sponsor, Mrs. Barbara Leighton, who visited the school and had compassion for the children. After the death of Barbara, a charity was registered in UK by her husband Mr. Malcolm Leighton. The charity [Rehema Trust] has contributed a lot to the development of the school which currently has a population of 125 children. The charity provides school infrastructure, pays teachers and support staff salaries and supports the school feeding programme that has ensured child school retention end enrollment.

The school currently runs from Pre Primary to Junior Secondary with a total of 15 staff. All the teaching staff are trained and qualified to provide quality education.

The school aims at providing quality education to all children irrespective of family background.

SCHOOL VISION Provision of quality education for all children

SCHOOL MISSION To impart knowledge that would help the learner overcome economic, social, moral, and spiritual challenges.

SCHOOL MOTTO Aim Higher

SCHOOL VIRTUES

- God first

- Respect for all

- Hard work pays.

- Excellence in everything

- Responsibility for ourselves and others.

CURRENT SITUATION

Infrastructure

The school currently has three wings:

E.C.D wing which accommodates playgroup, PP1, PP2, store, Playground and Kitchen.

Primary section: Runs from grade one to grade 6, accommodates Administration block and Parade.

Junior secondary: Accommodates Grade 7 to grade 9, a science laboratory and computer lab.

CURRICULUM

The current curriculum is Competency Based Curriculum [CBC]

CO CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

The school participates very well in co-curricular activities like athletics, ball games, and scouting.

Barbara Leighton Academy began on 7th January 2013 as a small nursery school with funds from the World Mission Team budget, an outreach programme of the Parish of Ashtead. and has grown year on year to include primary education and, most recently, Junior Secondary classes
This has prompted the change of name to Barbara Leighton Comprehensive School
This growth has involved careful planning to ensure that the challenges of funding the construction of additional classrooms and other facilities, and funding increased operating costs, most significantly the employment of additional teachers, can always be met
125 pupils are now registered and we have plans to grow cautiously, subject to maintaining a prudent financial approach, including our firm commitment to: -
Always pay our staff on time every month – not always the case in other private schools and something highly valued by staff members – we currently employ 14 teachers plus ancillary staff (Catering, Security, Administration etc)
Provide a universal Feeding Programme for all pupils as a top priority - a proven method of improving their academic performance and general health
Future growth will also never jeopardise the quality of education through recruiting only fully qualified teachers and maintaining the advantage of small class sizes – these average 10 pupils per class, whereas government schools can frequently have 90 or more pupils per class!