End of Term!

First of all, apologies for the unavoidable delay in making the update to this blog. There is some consolation for regular readers in that this is a packed update recounting the highlights of the last week of term before Easter.
Amano's first term of 2009 ended on Friday 3rd April, but not before some special events had taken place. The first was on Monday 30th March when Whole School Assembly was moved from its usual 0730 slot to 0930, allowing Physics and Math teacher Rod Boatman to bring in wife Marja and daughter Jenny to join son Dennis (student in Grade 11) and family friend Daniel Vedder (student in Grade 9) to perform with the puppets Marja makes. The two 'performances' - one intended for Primary and the other for Secondary - were skilfully presented and much enjoyed by the school and staff. The clear gospel message was reinforced by Rod who also lead singing using his accordion. Our pictures show the puppets in action and also Rod. Mischievous suggestions that readers might not be able to tell the difference are not welcome!

The last week of term always has various things going on that dislocate the normal routine. There were various rehearsals announced, separately for Primary and Secondary drama and also for choir, and then dress rehearsals. There was much hard work being done and all of this saw the light of day on the very last day of term when Assembly was again 'delayed,' this time to 1145, allowing parents and friends of the school to be present and making a final end to the term. The Assembly theme was Easter and first Primary students presented a drama called 'Would you believe it?' in which the 'crowd' portrayed their reactions to the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Secondary students then presented 'The Missing Piece,' a drama focussing on the disciples learning of the resurrection including the events on the road to Emmaus. All of this was accompanied by music directed by Gwen Amborski which was beautifully sung by the choir. Amano Chairman Phil Grove closed in prayer, leaving only parent-teacher interviews for some Secondary students after lunch to complete the term.

Amano inevitably has 'comings and goings' to deal with and the end of term means mostly goings. So with some sadness we said goodbye to Lyndsey Coleman from Merseyside who came temporarily in January and served faithfully as teacher to Grade 1. Lyndsey was much loved and appreciated by both students and staff. We wish her well as she completes her teacher training in the UK.
When Lyndsey came, Martin Smith from Leighton Buzzard was on the same flight, coming initially for the same period. Martin, seen above, taught Grades 6 and 7 and showed his other skills in guitar at various events, training the Primary football team and being responsible for the drama club. He was very involved with the Easter assembly and has won a real place in the heart of Amano with his relaxed but determined manner. By God's grace we said goodbye to Martin on the last day of term but only for a short while. Martin will return to Amano in time for next term, having identified the Lord's call on his life to serve for a longer period. We praise the Lord for that! Martin is pictured above.
Last but not least, Christa Hamel from Germany has served faithfully and quietly in the dormitory for more than a year. Christa serves with Liebenzell Mission and originally was scheduled to leave Amano at the end of 2008 but kindly agreed to extend until the beginning of April. She won a place in all the boarders affections, particularly the girls with whom most of her work was done. There was a student farewell for Christa on 2nd April. Staff gathered on Friday afternoon to share cake and drinks and hear Phil Grove speak highly of her as a godly lady who will be in our hearts for a long time. Christa returns to her family and friends in Germany; she is pictured here with Matron, Mrs Simfukwe, who will surely miss her next term.

We praise the Lord for another term in Amano's life and development completed. Please pray with us that we will know the Lord's guidance and blessing as the new term begins early May. We need that above all, remembering that Amano was called into being by his grace and exists for his glory.

The Amano Debate!

Last year an Amano Christian School debate team travelled to Ndola Trust School for the first Independent Schools Association of Zambia inter-school debate. This week, on Wednesday 25th March, Amano had the privilege of hosting Ndola Trust for the return match. Amano had an all-male team of five very assertive young men while Ndola had three young ladies escorted by one young man. The fifth member of the Ndola team had been unable to travel at the last minute but their 'first' spoke twice to replace him.
The motion before the house was 'Juvenile Delinquency is due to lack of parental care.' Amano Head Teacher Hilary Millard opened proceedings by making the welcoming remarks. Rod Boatman was chairman, Martin Pflaum the timekeeper.
Amano were the proposition team and so opened the debate and Ndola followed with counter-arguments. On both sides the arguments were well-made and strong, Amano arguing that young people must be properly parented and closely monitored and encouraged, Ndola arguing that modern conditions required more responsibility from young people and that parents could not be blamed. The three judges had to give a great deal of attention - having been flattered by most of the speakers in their opening remarks! The three were Mrs Malambo of Ndola, the indepdent Mr Lukavu from Nchanga Trust School and Mr G Hind from Amano.
Ndola were declared winners by just 1.6 points at the end of the debate.
Both teams argued cogently and the audience responded very well. It was a thought-provoking session and a day to remember.
Amano's thanks are due to English teacher Lukundo Siwale who trains and encourages the debating team.
Our pictures show the Ndola team, the Amano team, Rod Boatman being briefed on his duties by Lukundo Siwale, judges Mrs Malambo and Mr Hind, judge Mr Lukavu and timekeeper Martin Pflaum and Rod Boatman at the lectern.

Amano's ISAZ Triumph!

Amano Christian School competed in the ISAZ (Independent Schools Association of Zambia) Sports Finals last weekend (7th March) with great success, made all the more remarkable by the fact that Amano was by far the smallest school. Indeed, Amano is so small that our teams for both Volleyball and Football are composed of the same students and although we qualified for Basketball it was judged too much to ask the team to compete in yet another sport! What follows below is something for which we praise the Lord, recognising also the dedication of the team members and the sustained hard work by our sports staff Steve and Jo Grove.

The girls football (for which they had not had time to practice) was a valiant effort. They were defeated in their first game 2-0 which was not at all a disgrace as the victors went on to be the new champions. In two subsequent games the opponents were held to a draw.
In netball the girls improved on last years performance where they dominated in three games, losing the semi-finals by only one dubious point. Volleyball was their 'target' this year and they were motivated and determined, having reached the semi-finals last year. This year they won all their games and came home the new champions!

The boys were wonderfully successful in both football and volleyball. In football they won two games and drew one. Both the semi-final and final were determined by penalty shoot-out and Amano came home with the champions cup, plus the kudos of having Martin Pflaum win the Best Player Award for the tournament, won last year by fellow-player Benjamin Mutti. In volleyball the Amano boys team triumphed in all their five matches to easily take the cup.

Amano team members and staff recognise that all this was only made possible by the gracious blessing of the Lord.

A couple of other points to note: ISAZ represents many schools that are not Christian, but two Christian schools, Chengelo and Amano took six of the seven trophies at this final! Amano's practice of having a 'heads down' before and after each match for prayer was noticed by other schools; finally Amano teams throughout the ISAZ events this year were again noted for their good behaviour and absence of bad language, sadly not something that all ISAZ schools achieve.

Pictures on this page by courtesy Michael Pflaum. A 15 minute video of the boy's football match highlights is available to download from:
http://www.amanochristianschool.org/isaz_football_highlights_09.mp4
(10mb download - to download to your computer right-click on the link and choose Download)

Primary Science Fair

On Friday 6th March a special event took place when the Primary school held a Science Fair in the main hall. Older readers (like this writer!) may wonder what a Science Fair is. Any doubts about the event were quickly swept away, however. The children had worked really hard and some of the excellent displays and the children involved can be seen in our pictures. Each display was 'staffed' and Secondary school students and staff and parents were welcome visitors. It was quite obvious that a great deal of work had gone into the Fair. Primary staff members Kaye Thomas, Deborah Cole, Martin Smith and Lyndsey Coleman had worked hard with the students over about three weeks. The results were well worth seeing and a credit to all involved.

All work and no play . . . .

. . . . makes Jack a dull boy, as the proverb goes. Amano is very serious about its mission as a Christian School and there is always a determined effort to attain the best academic standard we can, but what would life be without sport and some time for fun?
Over the last two weekends teams from Amano have travelled to Kalulushi and Chengelo to play against other teams at volleyball, football, netball and basketball. At Kalulushi Amano boys won at volleyball and the girls thrashed the opposition with a stunning victory. At Chengelo there was less to celebrate but the girls won at volleyball and the boys at football. The matches were friendly and provided a change from the normal Amano routine. Our pictures show the boys volleyball at Kalulushi, basketball (with some post-processing!) and rugby at Chengelo.
This week ended with a 'time warp' in the Amano calendar, because next week a team will travel to Chengelo again, this time for the serious business of the Independent Schools of Zambia playoffs. Because of the distance and the number going it will be necessary for the students to leave on Friday and return early evening Saturday, ruling out any possibility of Valentine celebrations.
Two sixth form students, Jedidah and Gabi, organised a Valentine event for Primary students that took place on Friday afternoon 6th February. The 'Sir Knight and Miss Valentine' event saw some young ladies from Primary dressed first in Valentine clothes and then formally, in between performing songs etc to demonstrate their talents. The young men were dressed as knights and then more formally and were a little more reticent for the most part in the talent department!
A panel of judges wrestled with the difficulties of declaring the winners. In the end Natasha was crowned Miss Valentine and brave Sir Shadrach was the winning knight.
Our pictures from the Valentine event show the charming entrants for Miss Valentine, the judges in deep discussion, the knights, Shadrach being knighted by Mel Robson and the lovely Natasha crowned and sashed next to a decorated Shadrach.
The judges were (from left to right) Valerie Grove, former dorm parents Lil and Mel Robson (back on a visit to old haunts) and Ulfert Andresen.

The Dreaded Results!

The school year at Amano has similarities and differences from the typical UK school year, The major difference is that the school year here begins in January and ends in December, instead of beginning in September after the August break. A consequence of that difference is that examinations for the International GCSE, AS and A levels are taken mostly in November. The similarities are that the term holidays follow the UK pattern, and that Amano students are just as nervous when the examination results are due as any student in the UK or indeed anywhere in the world!
The dreaded results arrived this past week and as the big day approached (Wednesday) the usual symptoms were to be seen! Even teachers are not immune - the results obviously reflect on the school as well as the individuals involved.
How can we summarise the results for twelve students across Grade 12 and Sixth Form? We can begin by praising our gracious Lord and Saviour who is the supreme Teacher and who has again blessed Amano Christian School with results that reflect well on the individual students and on the school as a whole. That is not to say there were no disappointments and no occasions for heart searching! These things are a necessary part of learning and can and should be an encouragement to try harder in future. Having said that, the results sheet is certainly dominated by A's and B's across all the IGSCE subjects. Amano students actually achieved 84% A's and B's. There were some good results along with some disappointments at AS level but none for which students or teachers need be ashamed.
Three students were awarded an International Cambridge Examination diploma for good results across a wide range of subjects. Gabi Pflaum achieved 'Distinction' and Wankumbo Silengo and Gianni Katebe achieved 'Merit.' Gabi's brother Martin also did very well at AS Level in Physics and Maths.
As befits a Christian School the results for Religious Studies (now renamed 'Christian Foundations' at Amano) were very good.
Like the Israelites in the wilderness years we are grateful for all the Lord is doing among us, but we know we are not yet where we should be! Readers should bear in mind that all the results are achieved in conditions that are not always ideal for students or teachers. Obtaining text books and equipment is expensive and not easy in Zambia. Amano's present size means that we are not able to have specialist teachers in all subjects. We rely on teaching tutored from the UK via the Internet and apart from the problems of power cuts and slow internet connection this in itself is an area still 'under development.' In some subjects (Biology, for example) we do not have the expertise or equipment to encourage practical work at present. We covet your prayers and your practical help as we seek the Lord's guidance in dealing with issues like these.
In summary, this years results show that Amano is experiencing the blessing of the Lord in many ways and achieving the aims and purposes for which it was founded.
Our picture shows sixth form student Jedidah Kalala who did well in Psychology and Sociology at AS level and is just one student who experienced some set-back as a result of the need to further develop our distance learning. Jedidah's warm smile is not just for the camera; Amano is blessed with students whose work and demeanour reflect the Lord's hand.

The Sixth Form - blessings and needs!

One of the signs of the Lord's blessing on the work here at Amano has been the development of the sixth form. Parents will know that it is not at all a trivial decision as to which school or college their teenagers undertake sixth form studies, the final preparation for university. Seven students are now studying at this level at Amano, three in the upper sixth and four who commenced this term in the lower sixth. We praise God for this and ask you to pray for these students and for Ulfert Andresen who teaches them and guides their work.
Sometimes the Lord's blessing highlights needs and it is so in this case. The buildings at Amano are really used to capacity and the development of the sixth form has made expansion essential. The four lower sixth students have a study in a small room on the end of the Primary block; the upper sixth took over the staff room this year. Staff now have to use the library for their break but as that is often in use by students and classes it cannot properly serve as a place where teachers can study or read outside break times. Sixth form classes are currently held in the school art room.
The difficulties are temporary in that a new sixth form block is under construction but this cannot be completed before May at the earliest. We very much appreciate those who give for needs like this and we ask the prayers of all those with an interest in the Lord's work at Amano for students and staff during this time.
Our pictures show the lower sixth and upper sixth study rooms, Ulfert teaching in the art room and work on the site of the new sixth form block.