NEWSLETTER

The 2021/22 academic year has seen a continuation of the Book Box Library Club pilot. Now servicing 5 new schools, alongside the 5 existing schools, we are working in:

IDC Primary School, Olode, Islamic Mission Primary, Akanran, Methodist Primary, Are-Alasa, St. James Anglican Pry, Olorunda, St. Joseph’s Primary, Gbedun, St. Paul’s Anglican Primary, Kajola, CAC Primary, Akinkemi, IDC Basic School, Olorunda, St. John’s Basic School, Idi-Ose, St. Peter’s Anglican School, Ojuku

We purchased over 800 new story books and printed 640 ‘levelled readers’ that have been written specifically for Nigeria by Jolly Phonics and Reach For The Stars. Feedback from teachers and pupils was extremely positive in regard to the Jolly Phonics materials and all schools requested more books like this. Oyo State had previously hosted Jolly Phonics workshops for teachers, and we found teachers were keen to have materials that allowed them to use this knowledge of phonics instruction.

All schools received training and refreshers on the responsibility of looking after library books and how to care for them as part of our commitment to ‘change the culture’ around reading and book

Despite the unexpected challenges that the Covid-19 pandemic brought in 2020, it has been a big year for Christianna Foundation. At the start of a new year, it is a good time to reflect on all the influential projects that we’ve managed to implement over the past year and discuss our big plans for the year ahead!

Christianna Foundation had a successful 2020. After extensive research and finding that only 8.8% of primary school children in Ona-Ara had library access, we officially launched the pilot of our Book Box Library Club (BBLC)  into five schools in the region in February. It reached over 700 pupils in its phase 1 pilot and received a lot of praise from both children, teachers and parents. BBLC was designed to service some of the most hard-to-reach primary school children and we managed to achieve that in Ona-Ara.

Returning to schools after a 6-month absence due to Covid, we were very pleased to be able to recover most of our library books in very good condition. Having visited each of our 5 phase 1 schools four times this academic year, with new Covid safety measures in place, BBLC is slowly starting to become part of the school routine. Developing a strong library culture will take time and we are well on our way to achieving this goal. The January 2021 term will see us begin to implement the Community Reading Mentor Scheme with the support of local churches and community leaders. Planning has begun for the next cohort of five schools, for stage 2 of the pilot ahead of an official launch in September 2021. With stage 2 we will reach an additional 700+ pupils in January giving our pilot a total reach of over 1500 children.

Learning and literacy programmes have been developed for trial in phase 2, to ensure that increased access to books from phase 1 translates to an increase in literacy achievement. We are implementing a  ‘Book Review Challenge’, ‘Reading Passport’ and ‘Community Reading Mentor Scheme’ are all designed to work together to motivate and incentivise children and Community Reading Mentors. 

Due to the uncertainty of the pandemic, many of our usual fundraising techniques had to be put on hold and we focused our efforts on online fundraising campaigns, such as our #ReasonToReturn campaign, which ran from the end of July to September, raising a total of £4,328. This campaign posted 30 reasons why we should support children’s literacy in Nigeria over 30 days and was led by our digital marketing volunteers who we recruited in May. 

Looking towards the future, we have big plans for 2021 and can’t wait to see what the year will bring. Thank you for all of your support over the past year and we look forward to providing you with regular updates on our progress with the library club and roll out.

Book Box Library Club Needed More Than Ever

Christianna Foundation and Worldreader have joined forces to increase youth literacy in Nigeria through a flagship partnership that will provide e-readers in schools.

There are in the region of 35 million children in Nigeria that lack basic literacy skills. With illiteracy recognised as a major predicating factor leading to poverty, learning to read is at the forefront of improving life outcomes such as job prospects and health. This collaboration will see both organisations working together to support the youth of Nigeria to reach their potential.

Worldreader provide free digital libraries available on e-readers and mobile phones. Since 2010, over 8 million people across 48 countries have used these libraries. This comprehensive partnership will ensure the books provided are high quality, relevant and supportive of local authors. Provision for solar power is made where needed as well as training for teachers in how to use and maintain the devices.

With e-reader tablets donated by MoneyGram the partnership between World Reader and Christianna Foundation was launched on the 21st of February at St Peter’s Primary School in Ibadan. Speaking at the event, the Regional Head of MoneyGram Mr.Patrick Appiah said, “the distribution of e-reading devices to schools is aimed at assisting pupils to  cultivate the habit of reading, enabling students to perform creditably in their studies.”

Since the launch the programme has already been extended to three schools, St Peters Ibadan, Kuramo Nursery and Primary Lagos and Maiyegun Community Primary School Lagos. As this partnership continues to grow we look forward to seeing many more Nigerian children benefit from this exciting and important work.

Flagship Partnership With Worldreader

Christianna Foundation and Worldreader have joined forces to increase youth literacy in Nigeria through a flagship partnership that will provide e-readers in schools.

There are in the region of 35 million children in Nigeria that lack basic literacy skills. With illiteracy recognised as a major predicating factor leading to poverty, learning to read is at the forefront of improving life outcomes such as job prospects and health. This collaboration will see both organisations working together to support the youth of Nigeria to reach their potential.

Worldreader provide free digital libraries available on e-readers and mobile phones. Since 2010, over 8 million people across 48 countries have used these libraries. This comprehensive partnership will ensure the books provided are high quality, relevant and supportive of local authors. Provision for solar power is made where needed as well as training for teachers in how to use and maintain the devices.

With e-reader tablets donated by MoneyGram the partnership between World Reader and Christianna Foundation was launched on the 21st of February at St Peter’s Primary School in Ibadan. Speaking at the event, the Regional Head of MoneyGram Mr.Patrick Appiah said, “the distribution of e-reading devices to schools is aimed at assisting pupils to  cultivate the habit of reading, enabling students to perform creditably in their studies.”

Since the launch the programme has already been extended to three schools, St Peters Ibadan, Kuramo Nursery and Primary Lagos and Maiyegun Community Primary School Lagos. As this partnership continues to grow we look forward to seeing many more Nigerian children benefit from this exciting and important work.

2019 Ona-Ara Research Project Oyo State

In June 2019 researchers from Christianna Foundation headed out into Ona-Ara, Oyo State, to conduct a full needs assessment survey for all 102 Primary Schools in the Local Authority.

Ahead of the charities project planning for the 2020 to 2022 academic years, head teachers from every school where consulted. The full survey recorded all infrastructure, equipment and learning aids available, as well as registering the teacher training needs and any community outreach that the schools engage in.

Christianna Foundation will continue to work in close partnership with the head teachers, the local authority, parents and pupils throughout the planning process to ensure that future project plans are evidence based and reflective of the needs and wants of the schools and the community.

IDC Primary Schools 1-6 Library Opening

On June 18th 2019 the Ona-Ara, Universal Basic Education Authority, commissioned a new library by Christianna Foundation at IDC Primary Schools 1-6, Olunloyo, Oyo State.

Mr Amusat of the LGUBEA formally inaugurated the newly renovated and equipped library with a beautifully refurbished room, 4 bookshelves, 8 new desks, 32 chairs and 196 novels and storybooks. Christianna Foundation will continue to work with IDC Primary schools, who have to date had no library facility, to build their collection. This new library now services all 6 schools with a total of 1178 pupils.

Speaking during the commissioning ceremony, Mr Amusat urged pupils and teachers to avail themselves of the opportunity offered to them by this valuable new resource. Alhaji Gbadamosi, the School Based Management Committee Chairman, commented that the establishment a functional library is welcomed and appreciated by the local government.

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