Classroom Construction
Building at the new site
Building Kirima Primary at its new site is progressing impressively quickly. The preparatory design work was completed in August 2026
and approved by the local authority. In September the site was landscaped, the concrete bricks were manufactured and the building
work started. We expect construction to be finished by December ready to open for the new term in January 2027.
It will have all the facilities needed to teach its 480 children:
- Three nursery classrooms
- Seven primary classrooms
- A computer laboratory
- The admin block
- The kitchen
- Girls' and boys' latrines
- A nursery play area
- A sports pitch
- The girls' and boys' dormitories will remain on their current site nearby
The new build lets us to comply with some new local regulations on school facilities, building construction and safety standards.
The children and staff are excited to see Kirima school running on its new, permanent site with improved facilities.
The local community value donors long-term commitment to educating their next generation.
September 2026
Football Champions!
The Kirima Football Team
The Kirima Great Stewards Boys Football Team won the Kanungu District primary school football championship. They beat
Kambuga Modern 2:0 in the finals.
This qualified them for the National School Championship. Donors kindly contributed to the cost of their transport, food and accommodation
to travel to Mubende so they could compete with District Champions from all around Uganda.
In the National Boys Under 14, they came second in the group stage by goal difference (winning 17 points with 10 goals in 8 matches,
including an impressive draw with the Kampala team) and so qualified for the last 16. Their final ranking was 10th out of 73 Districts…
…quite an achievement for a team from a remote rural community.
It is interesting to speculate how much inspirational teaching, personal confidence and good nutritian contributed to their success.
August 2026
Kirima Visit 2026
Kirima girls
Stephen, the headteacher, runs an impressive school. As soon as you enter the grounds there is a sense of order and purpose.
The children are happy and engaged; they clearly enjoy being at school. Teachers strike a good balance between
serious learning and creative activities.
15 teaching and 15 non-teaching staff care for 450 children. Classes have up to 60 pupils, which seem unmanaegable by
UK standards but works well in Uganda, making best use of limited resources.
Three nursery classes offer a mixture of care, play and early learning—introducing English which is the
language of education throughout Uganda.
By year P5, P6 and P7 education becomes more focussed. Looking through their exercise books, it is clear that the
standard of education is comparable with UK children of similar age. It is gratifying to see the children are so
engaged with challenging subjects, including maths, science and computing.
Our usual health, safety and safeguarding inspection which was passed so no recommendations were required.
The children at Kirima clearly enjoy a standard of education which is substantially higher than local schools and which
sets them up for employment to support their families and contribute to the local community.
July 2026
Youngsters visit 2026
Youngsters boy
Youngsters Primary School was built to a good standards by Korean donors but closed in Covid until it was rescued by its staff who
worked without regular salaries. We provided some support in 2025 which has increased in 2026 so they are now able to provide a
good level of education.
The school is a rural location up a track from the High School which we support. There are no roads beyond the school so half the
catchment area is particularly deprived.
Some children wear school uniform. Most have shoes. They have simple resources such as personal exercise books but few
suitable text books and no computers. Some walk long distances to school because of its high reputation.
So we arrived at the school without high expectations, only to be astonished to find a happy, effective school where the
children greeted us with real enthusiasm. As we moved from the nursery to Primary 7 we saw a clear progression in
seriousness and learning appropriate to the age of the children. The exercise books of the P6 and P7 children showed a high
standard of education which is quite an achievement for any rural school, let alone one with limited resources in a
remote area.
This school is so important to its 266 children who, in this location, enjoy a truly life-changing education.
July 2026
P7 Geography Trip
School trip
The Primary 7 children from Kirima and Youngsters set out on their geography trip to visit highlights of Uganda. Only 2 of 29 children have ever
left Kanungu Distric in their lives. It is a challenge to learn about your country at school when you have only seen a tiny corner of it.
How exciting: their first viewing of elephants, tree climbing lions, crocodiles, hippos, buffalos, monkeys and a vast
array of birds. It is embarassing to visit the schools and see posters of african animals which the children (and most
of the teachers) have never encountered. They visited 6 districts and saw:
- A game drive in Queen Elazabeth National Park
- Several lakes and the Kazinga Channel bird-watching boat trip
- Caves, hot springs and an irrigation scheme
- A visit to every major town in the district and to the equator
A truely life-changing experience to celebrate graduating from primary school.
September 2025
Youngsters Primary School
Youngsters Classroom
We are pleased to start supporting Youngsters Primary School in Kinkizi. This was a thriving primary school prior to Covid but the
disruption at that time caused it to lose its International funding. We were overawed to visit in 2025 to find that the teachers were continuing
their work with no regular salaries.
The head teacher, the bursar, ten teachers and the cook have continued to teach the 180 children from nursery to year 7 with no external funding!
These individuals and their story were so inspiring that we decided we had to find a way to support them and we have provided enough funds to pay
a regular, if small, salary for each of the staff.
We were particularly to pleased to see that the District Examinations Panel ranked the school 18th out of 226 primary schools in Kanungu in their
most recent exam results. Well done to all the teachers and pupils - you deserve your success.
August 2025
Trustee Visit
Playtime!
It was, once again, a joy for Karen and Mark to visit the school and meet the children and staff.
Steven, the headteacher, with 13 teachers and 14 support staff are doing a fantastic job. From the moment you arrive, it’s clear that the school is well-managed,
with engaged and happy students in a well-equipped environment.
The school features an admin block that includes a computer room, a tented area serving as the school hall, a classroom block for three nursery years,
and another block for years one through seven. There’s also a playground with equipment for the nursery children, a volleyball net on-site,
and access to local grounds for football and netball. Due to the strong interest in boarding among older students and their families, we now provide
dormitories for girls and boys in year 7.
continued…
April 2025
...Visit Continued
The nursery playground
…continued
There is a strong focus on personal development with, for example, a programme appointing 23 prefects in roles which train pupils in leadership. We were able to meet
with several of the children both in formal conversations at school and informally on a nature walk and at an evening round the camp fire. They are confident
young people with good communications skills and a clear focus on their future education with ideas for their adult life.
One theme of our visit was a safety inspection and we were pleased to observe that child protection, fire safety, security, hygiene and health are taken seriously
to a standard which is, sadly, far from common in Africa.
The pupils, the teachers and the community are rightly proud of their brilliant school which gives children such an important start to their lives.
April 2025
RDC Visit
Year 7 Leavers' Presentation
If you did well at school, maybe you were presented with a book? The Kirima year 7 leavers were delighted with gifts of a brand new mattress to
every pupil who did well in their final exams. Something special which their family and friends will really take notice of.
And something which, every night for many years to come, will remind them of the reward from hard work!
The presentations were made during a visit by the Regional District Commissioner, the President's Representative in Kanungu. He also
commissioned a batch of new laptops which were donated recently.
Next time you are lying on your comfortable mattress, consider whether you could afford to donate something to help more children
in Kanungu get the education they deserve.
March 2025
