Tim’s fourth Extra Mile programme, ‘inspirational’

Tim Feast’s fourth education programme, since 2009 with Extra Mile, in Sierra Leone has been exceptional. Tim, a local authority ‘Improvement Officer’, worked as a volunteer, teaching at Goderich Comprehensive School five year’s ago, and has returned regularly to run in-service courses for local teachers ever since. He recruited not three but six and sometimes even more, experienced school and college leaders to lead his amazing ‘School Improvement’ workshops, this year based at Lady Patricia Kabbah Memorial JS School. Tim was not ‘phased’ by the extra headteachers who joined his team, to work with experienced primary and secondary teachers from all over Goderich and even one delegate from Magburaka, some 70 miles away, in the provinces. Tim’s interactive workshops have been both inspirational and comprehensive and it was really no surprise that five extra teachers arrived to take part. Despite losing the last day of the course due to the Ramadan Prayer Day, Tim managed to ‘squeeze’ in, what might have taken months of Sierra Leonean Government ‘In-Service’ re-training, were such courses ever to be so freely available. The delegates also really appreciated Mary’s delicious Extra Mile food, which was also another reason why the numbers grew over the last week of the course. It cannot be said that Goderich’s improved examination results are entirely due to Extra Mile’s work here, but there is reason to believe that such work is at least helping to raise standards as a whole within the community. We thank Tim for his wonderful work and his continued support for the valiant group of educators striving to help give this generation of children a better chance to build a fairer and healthier and ‘free’ Sierra Leone.

'One of Tim's working groups challenged to solve a major local issue'

'School pupils were recruited to engage with delegates to add perspective to their work'.

'Practical team work challenges in the workshops tested the normal 'autocratic' thinking of West African school management'.

'Tim's Headteachers collaborating in their problem-solving challenge'.