Return to School

Josiah Mchome writes:-

All Tanzanian schools opened on 29th June after two/ three months following the outbreak of the Covid -19 pandemic. Since that time, everything has been going on well with everyone responding sensibly to the precaution measures expected to be followed by everyone in the country. We have not encountered any problems. We’re pleased and thankful that teachers and students are working for extra hours in order to cover what was not covered during the 3 months absence from school. 

There are frequent visits by the authorities to check if everything is going on well. Everything with Corona is under control here and businesses continue as usual. 

Teachers’ Salaries Fund Raiser

A Covid-19 lockdown for schools took place in mid-March. WATU Secondary, an NGO status school, closed its gates and pupils returned home.

As the school has become increasingly self-sufficient, due to a necessary policy of payment of very reasonable fees by those who are able, thus supporting those from financially struggling families, the closure has led to a serious financial short fall: no fees, no money to pay teachers’ salaries.

Such difficult circumstances had to be met and our major donors have provided that much needed help.

In particular, an initiative at La Chataigneraie, the Vaud campus of the international School of Geneva, led by students co-ordinated by Ms. Sarah Lalaz, the teacher now running the Tanzania Project, came up with ideas and initiatives to raise funds to cover teachers’ salaries. They not only approached the present school community of pupils, parents and teachers but they also reached out to alumni and retired teachers.

The highly successful effort has resulted in a substantial donation that will certainly help WATU teachers during this difficult period.

A huge thank you from the staff at WATU Secondary goes out to all who have contributed. 

A song in praise of teachers

Mr Deo Fidelis Tarimo, a long-standing teacher at WATU Secondary, has posted on youtube.com a wonderful video of a song, both written and performed by him and students from the school in praise of teachers throughout the world, thanking them for their hard work, their dedication, their patience but mostly their influence, how they have molded each one of us to grow and develop into the people we are today.

Mr. Deo is a choir leader in his church as well as being a geography teacher. He has filmed pictures of buildings, of staff members as well as some of the students at WATU Secondary, with additional footage from Kimanyatu Primary School in Rambo District which he attended as a boy and St. Pamaque Secondary in Hai District.

As Josiah Mchome writes, “he is essentially unveiling his respect and admiration for teachers and the great job they are doing; .how teachers make Tanzania, make Africa indeed make the world. It is a very touching song and when you see him in action singing with our students we have to congratulate him.”

Kama Daktari anavyojitahidi kuokoa maisha ya Mgonjwa ndivyo hivyo Mwalimu anaelimisha jamii kwa kutoa silaha (ELIMU) ya kupambana na ujinga, umasikini na mar...

The Tanzanian Government has issued a Coronavirus Ruling

The Tanzanian Government has decreed that all schools, sports events, political meetings and many public festivals are closed as of the 17th March for one month. This follows the announcement on the 16th March of the first Covid-19 case in Tanzania.

It was only the day before that Josiah Mchome wrote to say that “all are well at the school and business continues as usual but with strict health management.”

Now the school is closed and the campus quiet and empty.

Excellent Exam Results....Again

This month sees the publication of the Form Four National Exam results and the  staff are really excited for WATU’s students as the results are the best the school has ever achieved. The whole class of 35 was entered.

In brief:

Division One = 7 students

Division Two =10 students

Division Three =11 students

The above students all qualify to continue with A level courses next academic year.

Division Four = 6 students

These students have a high enough pass level to get admission into semi-professional courses.

One academically, special-needs student was entered at the request of the parents but was unable, despite great effort, to pass any of the exams.

This places WATU Secondary at national level 87th out of 1011 small schools.

Josiah Mchome writes, “Mind you, we compete with schools that choose to enter for exams only the children who are the best.  We don’t. Our strength lies in hard work and care for the children.”

( A complete detailed breakdown of the results by subject is posted on the Academic Pages of the website.)

New School Year

School Term Calendar

Welcome back to the students and staff as they start the First Term of 2020. We wish you every success for the future year and we are sure that all your hard work will be rewarded

TERM ONE

Opening 6/1/2020

Half term  holiday 3/4/2020 to 20/4/2020

End of First Term 6/6/2020

TERM  TWO

Opening 6/7/2020

Half term holiday 7/9/2020 to 21/9/2020

End of  Second Term 4/12/2020

2019 Exams

2019 has seen some highly commendable results in all forms and below is an overview.

The year started with national Form Four results which placed WATU Secondary 51out of 270 schools in Kilimanjaro region.

A new introduction by the government are district exams in Forms One and Three. WATU Secondary  is one of the forty schools in Hai District.

 In Form One the results placed the school 6th and in Form Three the school was placed1st. Especially pleasing were the very good results in physics, chemistry, biology and maths where overall the school was placed2nd. The lower school lab is obviously a factor in the development of the students in these subjects.

21 of our Form Five students have been accepted for A level courses next year and 8 for professional courses in nursing, business, community development and veterinary science.

Finally Form Six, the graduating class, did extremely well.

  Division 1 = eight students

  Division 2 = twelve students

  Division 3 = two students

There were no fails and indeed many of the Division 2 students missed Division 1 by one point.

Congratulations to all the staff and students. WELL DONE

The Graduation 2019

Each year in May the graduation ceremony for Form VI takes place but this year sets a new record: twenty-two graduating students.

The Guest of Honour was Dr Mollel from the Tanzanian Blood Bank, an interesting speaker.

The Form VI class performed very well indeed academically throughout the two-year A Level course and based on previous "mock" exams there are great hopes that the results, due in July, will be the best yet. School director Mr Josiah Mchome says "Let's keep our fingers crossed'.

Congratulations to all the students on a wonderful end to their studies at WATU Secondary School, and to their teachers and all other staff who have contributed to a job very well done.

Congratulations

Form 3 student accepting her prize of a laptop for coming 4th out of 2890 students in the Hai District exams.

Hai District Exam Results

New exams have been introduced by the government to test that schools in Districts around the country are performing adequately. WATU Secondary is in Hai District, a region of 40 schools and approximately 3,000 pupils.

The results for Form 1 and Form 3 confirm how well the school is doing in all 9 subjects. In Form 1 WATU Secondary is placed 6/40 schools. The most pleasing results were in the sciences( e.g. Biology 1/40 ) and in no subject was the school placed below 7th position.

In Form 3 the results were even better, 1/40. Again the science results were excellent 2/40 in Physics, Chemistry and in Maths.

There was ,of course, great excitement amongst staff and students at such excellent results. Congratulations!

The fact that donations have provided the school with a lower school lab facility is now paying dividends. The school still lacks upper school science facilities and a new lab. is the next most pressing need.

Good News at the Start of the Academic Year 2019

The 7th January saw the start of the new academic year, and how pleasing it was for the students and teachers to be welcomed back with the news of yet more successes in examinations, this time Year 2 national exams and the Year 6 mock ‘A’ levels.

Year 2 exams are an opportunity for the younger students to experience the preparation and the sitting of serious, external exams before the all important year 4 ‘O’ levels and this year our students did so well that their results places them near the top of national school rankings.

25 with Division One , 10 with Division Two, 4 with Division Three

The mock ‘A’ level exams placed the year 6 students 13th out of 66 schools in the Kilimanjaro region., and there’s time to improve still further before the final exams in May.

Congratulations to all the students and staff.

Such great results are not only pleasing for the school community but it is also verysatisfying for donors to see how well the school is performing.

Excellent Form 6 Results Again

Once again we are very proud of the achievments of our 6th form students in their A level exams. 14 students were entered and 11 of those students achieved high enough grades to qualify outright for university admission. The remaining 3 may also be admitted, depending on the general pass level.
     The results are:-
     Division One=2
     Division Two=9
     Division  Three=3
     Division Four= 0
     Division 0(Fail)=0.
These results place WATU Secondary School nationwide 27th out of 127 schools of our size and 6th out of 16 such schools in the Kilimanjaro Region.
We have to thank the students and teachers for all their hard work and all those who gave support and encouragement during the study and exam periods.
And as our director Josiah Mchome writes “a  special thank you goes to Moshi International School for helping us with science equipment and chemicals at a critical time.”
     
     
 

Senior Boys' Hostel Opened

The new boys' hostel extension is now being used by form V, VI and a few from IV. The electricity has been installed so that the boys can read and study at night and with so much space everybody is really happy.

Huge thanks go to both La Chataigneraie Tanzania group of 2017 and the CDL 2017 Watu group who accessed a grant from CIS. Both of these Geneva international schools have been incredibly supportive over a long period of time. 

Student Newsletter Sent to Schools Worldwide

A development that has only been made possible by the donations of laptops and the broadband tower installation is the production of the students’ own newsletter or magazine. With the help of Mr. Deo and Goodluck, they have now produced two editions (see the newsletter page). Already they have been sent out to a number of schools both international schools, in  Geneva, Mexico, Austria  and Singaporeand a number of national  schools in Britain. Hopefully some of these schools will develop links with our students via the WATU Secondary School Facebook page or by producing a similar newsletter for WATU students to enjoy. Such global contact is one of the more unusual but very important aspects of our school, one that can surely develop in the students a greater awareness and understanding of the wider world.

students with the donated laptops

Pre-Form 1 Students Enjoying Classes at WSS

WATU Secondary School has welcomed pre-form 1 students to attend classes during the long break between the end of their primary education and the start of the secondary classes in January. The parents are pleased that their children have this extra opportunity to both get used to a secondary school atmosphere and to start work on the curriculum. Some of the 60 students will be attending WSS in January.

 

Outstanding A Level Results…Again

Josiah writes: “The A level results are out. We have done extremely well. 5 students got division one and 8 students got division 2; No division 3 or 4 and no fails; We are number 8 out of 117 in the country! It’s all rejoicing and the students have run out of classes; They are jumping for joy and singing.”

Year 6 Graduation 2016

May 10th was the occasion of the 2016 graduation, the third to take place at the school. The guest of honour was Mr. George Lugata, the Zonal Director for TIGO, the supplier of our internet connection. The students had just finished their final 'A' level exams on May 6th so were able to relax and really enjoy the day along with their proud parents/guardians and the staff of the school. Well Done to you all and we wish you every success in the future. 

We'll always be happy to see you back at WATU and would love you to keep in touch.