APRIL 2021 UPDATE 2

Many thanks to Mr Ishmael Bockerie, Project Manager, and Mrs Catherine Freeman, for all their efforts in continuing to expand the resources available in the library and ensuring that it presents such a professional ethos to prospective users.

The library is currently being used by Extra Mile students who are in school for revision sessions before their exams at the end of the summer term. They tell trustees that they find the library a brilliant place to work and revise.

The following picture shows that in the rainy season that has just started the need for additional lighting in the library. We hope the solar lighting which has just arrived in the latest barrels helps to fix the problem.

APRIL 2021 UPDATE 1

We wish all our supporters and staff and students in Sierra Leone a very happy Easter. The Spring Term finished on Wednesday with a number of fun events including football matches for both boys and girls in kit kindly provided by supporters in the UK. Many thanks to Mr Lansana Rogers for refereeing the matches so well.

Teams decided. Ready to go.

Adjusting the tactics.

Meanwhile the regular maintenance tasks and preparations to minimise the impact of the rainy season are well under way. Many thanks to Site Manager, Mr Mohamed Conteh, for all his hard work and expertise in keeping the site so well maintained..

Tarpaulins being installed to make the building more weatherproof.

Meanwhile the successful completion of the female toilets was celebrated with an opening and discussion with the girls on the facilities available to them. Thanks to Mrs Mariama Sillah and Mrs Catherine Freeman for all their guidance to the girls.

Rapt attention.

Although the school is now on its Easter break. additional lessons will be held for our examination students in JSS3 and SS2 from Tuesday April 6th. We are extremely grateful to all staff who are giving up time in their holidays to provide these additional sessions. We know from last year’s results how valuable they are.

The trustees would like to thank all the staff for their considerable efforts this term, despite continuing restrictions. We wish them a joyful and restful break. We thank all our supporters for without you we would not be able to maintain our mission in Sierra Leone.

MARCH 2021 UPDATE 6

Exams over but plenty of educational activity before the end of term next week. Here we see JSS1 student , Yusuf Kamara, working on science/technology activity to construct a working fan from scrapped metals, plastics and dried cells. Really impressive Yusuf!

After their exams, taking advantage of the good weather for a reading session. Great in World Book Week! Thank you Prince Pat Cole, Head of English department.

Meanwhile JSS1 students have been having a practical Home Economics lesson. The finished products look really tempting. Well done to all the students and to Mrs Mariama Sillah, Home Economics teacher.

We thank Mr Lansana Rogers, class teacher, for thinking of Extra Mile and using his links to the National Wellness Initiative in Sierra Leone to be offered red pens and paper for the school. Every bit helps. An example of the incredible support we get from our fantastic staff.

As always, Extra Mile’s ability to fulfil its ambitions to provide quality education to poor and vulnerable children in Goderich depends on your continuing support. We are extremely grateful for all your donations, whether it is a one-off or a regular donation; an individual or a corporate body; a school or a charitable foundation. Thank you all of you.

MARCH 2021 UPDATE 5

Having measured out the garden, now starts the hard work of preparing and tilling the soil.

Students and staff are already benefitting from the on-site library. Mr Felix Bangura, Science teacher, commented “ Great library to be in. Thank you all. Finding it so easy to do research. Very much useful. so relief in doing my work. Great day for me. Thank you Felix.

Meanwhile the opportunity was taken at Monday’s assembly to congratulate and present the certificates to our two successful competitors in the Inter-Secondary School Bible Quiz Competition. Well done to both Charles Labor and Hawa Sankoh,

Country Director, Mr Moses Conteh, presenting the certificate to Charles labor

Country Director, Mr Moses Conteh, presenting the certificate to Hawa Sankoh

Finally, hot off the press, trustees are delighted to report a successful bid to Didymus CIO for funding for textbooks for our ever-increasing Senior Secondary School. Well done to all involved in submitting the bid. Many thanks to Didymus CIO for their very generous donation.

March 2021 UPDATE 4

It’s been a busy week at Extra Mile as we come to the end of Spring Term. Wednesday saw the start of the end of term tests for all the students. We thank all the staff, but particularly the Examination Committee, for all their hard work in preparing and printing the tests. Now the really hard work starts. Students taking the tests and staff marking them. We hope all are rewarded with some stunning results. Good luck to you all.

Hard at work, deep in thought.

On Tuesday the Library Steering Committee were given very short notice by the Sierra Leone Library Board of their invitation to a handover ceremony of books promised. This was a national event with schools from all over the country. Our delegates, Mrs Catherine Freeman, Chief Librarian, and Mr Mohamed Tarawalie, Deputy Principal, were overwhelmed by the Board’s generosity. Because of our unique combination of school and community provision, the Board provided 48 boxes, over 1000 books, to support research and independent learning. Extra Mile is extremely appreciative of their generosity. We are also extremely appreciative of staff member, Mr Osman Sesay, for providing transport to bring the large number of boxes back to the site. Thank you to all involved.

Mrs Catherine Freeman, Chief Librarian, being presented with boxes of books

Mr Mohamed Tarawalie, Deputy Principal, receiving books

Mr Osman Sesay loading up

March 2021 UPDATE 3

Thanks to your donations, trustees of Extra Mile were able to send funds to start a school garden to provide practical experiences for our Agricultural Science and Biology students in particular. After buying the equipment students and staff got down to the hard work of preparing the site.

Measuring the plot

Students clearing the site directed by Mr John Lahai, Head of Department

Meanwhile Extra Mile has benefited from an IT technician servicing all the charity’s computers so that students and staff can take full advantage of the recently provided Broadband facilities and help provide practical activities to all our students in their IT lessons.

The newly re-furbished computers being put to good use by staff members of the Examination committee who are typing up the question papers for the school’s internal end of term tests starting on the 22nd March.

Members of the Examination Committee hard at work

Muniru Coomber, a member of the Examination committee multi-tasking

Two students from our SS2 class took part in an Inter-School Bible Competition on Friday. 15 local secondary schools took part and Charles Labor achieved second place in the competition. Well done Charles. We hope to publish any photos when we receive them.

MARCH 2021 UPDATE 2

Extra Mile is extremely grateful to Tarquin Mathematics for their generous donation of mathematical posters to help our visual learners with mathematical concepts. Go to Tarquin Mathematics Facebook page and see for yourself.

Head of Department, John Lahai, and fellow teacher, Felix Bangura, displaying the posters

Students finding the posters of great interest

Carrying on with the active approach, trustees have recently funded a project to create a school garden to aid our Agricultural Science and Biology students. First things first. Plan what is needed

Head of Department, John Lahai, and Biology teacher, Felix Bangura, unpack after their shopping expedition.

Thanks to the extremely hard work of staff and students, the Community Library opened for its first sessions this week. Please notice the second shelves that have recently been constructed and now need filling. The first community member of the library is Fatu Tarawalie, a student at Milton Margai College of Education and Technology. He really appreciated the quiet working environment and the availability of resources. Our ability to open this library is thanks to the generous donation from the Eleanor Rathbone Charitable Trust. We continue to rely so heavily on our individual and institutional donors to maintain and expand our mission in Goderich and we thank you for your continuing support .

Intensive study and research

March 2021 UPDATE 1

In addition to all the hard work by both staff and students in preparation for the end of term tests, much has been going on to promote the health and well-being of students and staff. Our Country Director, Moses Conteh, has had his regular meeting with the Health Centre Officer, Mr Yamba, discussing future support and the fees payable for services last year.

The girls are so pleased with their new toilet facilities that under the direction of Mrs Mariama Sillah they have been very busy cleaning and putting final touches before the official opening.

Meanwhile, as the first library shelves have been filled with books and other resources, Project Manager, Ishmael Bockerie, and his supporter, Lansana Rogers, have been busy buying the materials and constructing the second set of shelves. We look forward to these being filled with resources to help both our students and staff but also members of the local community.

Mind the gap.

As always all of these activities are only possible through your generous support and the hard work of our staff in Sierra Leone. This spotlight on student and staff well-being illustrates trustees’ priorities of removing barriers to the education of these poor and vulnerable students, so that they will thrive and contribute to a better future for their community, Sierra Leone and Africa.

FEBRUARY 2021 UPDATE 6

Another action packed week at Extra Mile. Your donations allowed us to send funds to the school so that the examination students in Home Economics could do practicals and add theoretical knowledge to the practical skills gained. Even better they could eat the results. This week it is vegetable pancakes.

Rapt attention

Looking scrumptious

With the aid of the funding from St James’s Place and Rotary Clubs around Rugby our Country Director, Moses Conteh, was able to source lab stools for our science laboratory.

Your donations also allowed Extra Mile to purchase a longer electrical lead which increased the number of class bases where the projector can be used.

The longer lead in action with Mr Wusu Kargbo using it to show a powerpoint presentation in his geography lesson.

All of these activities are possible because of your generous support for Extra Mile. Well over 95% of your donations are spent in Sierra Leone on staff wages and school overheads and expenses. Please continue to support us so that we can continue our mission for the poor and vulnerable children of Goderich. Thank you.

FEBRUARY 2021 UPDATE 5

A really good outcome. Naffinatu Conteh , a hard working, high performing student, has had great difficulty recently coming to school. This included a period when she was in the provinces. Thanks to the sterling work of Muniru Coomber, our Attendance and Welfare Officer, she has now returned to school to continue her studies. So good to see you back Naffinatu.

Over the weekend, Moses Conteh, our Country Director, and some of the Extra Mile students took action to improve the road down to the school, clearing it of the large stones and other obstacles which made it so difficult for vehicles to travel down to the school and to the local Medical Centre. A great job by everyone and much appreciated by the community.

Extra Mile’s Road Crew enjoying their lunch after all their hard work

The female toilets are almost finished, with just a little bit of work to be done this week before they are handed over to school students and staff. Many thanks to all who have made this project possible.

FEBRUARY 2021 UPDATE 4

Good news. The latest barrels from the UK arrived at the school yesterday carrying much needed resources including two donated computers. The barrels had taken much longer to arrive owing to Covid-19 precautions so their arrival was much anticipated by staff and students alike. We had to hire a vehicle to pick the barrels up given the sad demise of the charity vehicle.

Our student librarians made great use of the mid term break helping to catalogue and arrange the book resources for the new community library. Many thanks to Oumu Kargbo, Rebecca Kanu, Steven Conteh and Abubakar Koroma for all their hard work. We hope they find this work experience useful when they leave the school and go to college or in to employment. our thanks to to Project Manager Ishmael Bockerie and Jeff Momoh for giving up part of their mid-term break.

We are pleased to welcome Foday Musa Bangura on to the staff of Extra Mile School. Foday has a B.Sc Honours degree in Accounting from Njala University. He will teach Business Studies, Cost Accounting and Financial Management. We wish him all success and happiness during his time with Extra Mile.

FEBRUARY 2021 UPDATE 3

Today is the International Day for Women in Science. The science department at Extra Mile School organised short motivational discussions with female students and staff to mark the day. Many thanks to our incredible staff and to the generous organisations who have sponsored our science laboratory, St James’ Place and various Rotary groups around Rugby.

Rapt attention from students and staff alike.

Our SS students benefitting from the use of the projector in the classroom in a mathematics lesson to bring terms and sequences to life. Well done to our Country Director and maths teacher, Moses Conteh

Staff and students’ ability to access the internet for research and investigations has been aided by the recent purchase of a router to enhance the access to broadband. It’s been a long wait but now we hope to see a real impact on learning and teaching. Many thanks to Moses Conteh for sourcing it

Real excitement from staff re the prospects of better and regular internet access.

All of these developments are due to our generous supporters. There still remains much to be done to improve the life chances of young people, not only in our school, but in the local village. If you can help us achieve our mission, please contact us via extramilesierraleone@outlook.com or go to the donate section of this website. We look forward to hearing from you.

FEBRUARY 2021 UPDATE 2

Excellent attendance by our students last week - in excess of 97%. Keep it up this week.

Continuing work on the female toilets - nearly there!

Landing tiled and railings fixed and painted.

Independent water tank to go on the roof to feed the female toilets.

Thanks to all who have contributed to enable our students benefit from their free schooling and who respond with such good attendance.

FEBRUARY 2021 UPDATE 1

February is often the month when we start spring cleaning and doing maintenance work. Our school is no exception. Students volunteered to work to apply protective paint to the main balcony last weekend and did a fabulous job. We thank them all.

At the start of the process

Student volunteers working hard

What a great job

Meanwhile work on the female toilets progresses very well and is close to completion. Thanks to all involved in getting this project so close to the finishing line.

JANUARY 2021 UPDATE 7

The next stage in establishing the Extra Mile Community Library in Ober Funkia was successfully completed on Friday and Saturday when 19 staff from Extra Mile, 6 staff from 6 local partner schools and 4 student librarians received library training from the Sierra Leonean Library Board. The training was well delivered and well received by the participants and staff were presented with their certificates at the end of the 2 days of training.

Training sessions with trainers from the Sierra Leonean Library Board

Extra Mile’s Chief Librarian Mrs Catherine Freeman receiving her certificate

Successful candidates with their certificates

Student librarians with staff and trainers from the Sierra Leonean library Board

Certificates presented to the successful candidates

JANUARY 2021 UPDATE 6

Extra Mile is extremely proud as to how we spend your donations and grants and the impact that our activities have on the community of Goderich in Sierra Leone. We work extremely hard to use the funds you donate to use wisely and effectively. 91.5% of the funding received was spent directly in Sierra Leone or in transporting resources to Sierra Leone in 2019-20. The community and our students are very grateful for all this support.

Only 0.7% of the spending was spent on charity administration. Remaining funds were spent on fundraising including statutory insurance for our activities. For every £1 spent on fundraising £11.56 was raised. Well done to all our fundraisers.

The impact of our expenditure of your contributions was considerable.

130 students received free education in our school in 2019-20.

42 students passed their National examinations and were promoted to the next phase of education.

Extra Mile continued to maintain and upgrade our school facilities, including starting the transformation of a classroom into a fully functioning science laboratory.

In 2019-20 we employed 21 adults in Sierra Leone, in an area where adult unemployment is high (82%). We also employed many local tradesmen including builders, plumbers, electricians and mechanics to help maintain and upgrade our building.

We provided support to the community, including funding and resources to the local health centre, which plays an important role in keeping our students and staff healthy, thereby removing one of the barriers to education.

Extra Mile trustees provided professional training to our own staff and to staff from 5 other local schools, helping those schools to improve the quality of their education.

Only your support makes our work possible. A £1 a month donation helps us to provide breakfast for 1 student for a year. £5 a month will help to pay the costs of our health care for staff and students at the local clinic for a month. A £50 donation enables Extra Mile to pay one of its full time workers for a month. Can you help Extra Mile continue its mission in Sierra Leone. Your donation will have a big impact in the community. Please turn to our donate page in this website. Thank you.

JANUARY 2021 UPDATE 5

Extra Mile is proud to support UNESCO’s International day of Education on Sunday 24th January 2021 under the theme of “Recover and Revitalise Education for the COVID-19 generation.”

We thank all the staff for their continuing dedication and expertise. Some of our staff are shown here.

We wish all our students well in their studies, that their education may be life changing for them and their community.

JANUARY 2021 UPDATE 4

At the start of the Spring Term we welcome new students to our Secondary School Class 1. These students have chosen to come to the school because of the quality of education and the care and support provided. We wish them all success and happiness in their time at the Extra Mile School.

Eager to get started and learn

The latest barrels to Sierra Leone included further packs generously made and supplied by a range of supporters, mainly in Bolton, to help our female students overcome barriers to education through period poverty. We thank Mrs Mariama Sillah and Miss Davida Kamara for their guidance to the students.

We thank all our supporters who are continuing to provide both financial and physical resources to Extra Mile so that we are able to carry out our mission to improve the life chances of children and young adults in Goderich, Sierra Leone.

JANUARY 2021 UPDATE 3

Country Director, Mr Moses Conteh, and his wife, Marie, had the naming ceremony for their new baby daughter at the weekend. A joyous occasion. We welcome Anne Mosmarie Grace Conteh to the Extra Mile family and we all wish her a long, happy and healthy life.

Progress with the completion of the new toilets for female students and staff has been good with the Country Director reporting to the trustees that he is hopeful it will be completed within a fortnight. Well done to all involved.

The generous funding from The Eleanor Rathbone Charitable Trust to help establish a community library locally has prompted a great deal of interest and come to the attention of the Sierra Leonean Library Association. Following a site visit by the Chief Librarian the Association has agreed to support our efforts with training of staff and the provision of books provided by UKAid and Sierra Leone Book trust (SALBOT). We thank all who have been so proactive in establishing this link including Mr Wusu Kargbo and Mrs Catherine Freeman. We thank the Sierra Leonean Library Association for their interest and their generous support.

The Chief Librarian, Mr sallu turay, and his staff on their site vist on the 13.01.21

The Receiving Committee, Mrs Catherine freeman, Mr Mohamed Tarawalie, Mr Wusu Kargbo, Mr John Lahai and Mr Ishmael Bockerie with some of the Books provided by the Sierra Leone Book trust

JANUARY 2021 UPDATE 2

Thanks to the very generous grant from The Eleanor Rathbone Charitable Trust, Extra Mile has started the process of establishing a community library in Goderich, one of the charity’s ambitions when it was set up in 2009. A steering committee has been set up in Sierra Leone and is in the process of putting in place resources and procedures which will allow the library to function well for the benefit of the community. We will keep you up to date with the progress in opening the library in 2021.

Many thanks to Ishmael Bockerie, who together with Lansana Rogers, has purchased the materials and constructed the first of the library’s shelving and started transferring resources from the store to the library.

Collecting the wood from the timber merchants

Unloading the wood on site

Ishmael and Lansana painting the library shelves

Shelves awaiting resources

Meanwhile good use was made of the Christmas break to make good progress with the installation of toilets for female students and staff.

Bricks made on site for additional interior walls

Putting in the electrics