Preparing for the beginning of school study terms for our boys is usually hectic but unlike in the first term, the beginning of second term of school is not so hectic in terms of preparing boys, purchasing the scholastic materials, etc. In the first term, performance was generally poor for the primary boys although we encouraged them to improve. Secondary schools performance was very good as some of our boys (Sadiq Bashir, Mutebi Silver and Musinguzi Edison) were offered half bursaries for this year from Majorine College because of good performance.VTC boys apart from a few also put up a good performance and the most interesting thing was the very good performance of our craft boys from Kamuli VTC who sat for their first Uganda Business and Technical Examinations .
In trying to encourage boys to perform better, we at CALM always have a private study time every evening during the school term from 7:30pm to 9:00pm (Monday to Friday), during which boys can do their homework or broaden their knowledge. They revise lesson notes taken in their books while at school during day and ask uncles or older students for help on issues that they don’t understand. There is also a library with a lot of textbooks, which boys easily borrow for reading. Uncle Wojtek is responsible for keeping order in the library, distributing books and collecting them from the boys after use. Boys access these books during preps time and in any one’s free time. Besides the textbooks, there are also encyclopaedias, popular science books, Music books, History books, novels and picture books etc. that boys use to find some needed information. If one wants to know more about the world, nature, science, technology, history or music, one will find many books about a chosen topic. Others read novels whereas the young ones love to watch picture books. They spend hours in the library looking through such books. During that time boys also learn English, as they connect different pictures with words below them. In our library, everybody can find something interesting for him to boost his academic knowledge. (Great thanks to Uncle Paul and Fosca for their continuous efforts in the academic department)
During holidays, boys here at CALM get involved into a lot of different activities. The first term holiday were very busy as it got boys involved in inter house football under 10,12,14 and 16 competitions and at the same time with the normal motto:
“You can dance, play, sing…, but remember not to sin.”, St. Don Bosco;
And we at Don Bosco CALM, always try to prevent boys from any sort of sinning through indulging them in holiday programs such as; helping in the garden, playing and practicing in the brass band ,music dance and drama, Games and Sports and those who are training as Builders from different Technical schools always stand out in the crowd as they get on site and enjoy it practically with the lay workers in the building section over here.
This time round, we held a two outstanding activities during the First term Holidays in which all boys including those who study away from home (in boarding schools) participated. The activities included a Football tournament and a Break Dance competition. These were held as starters that would later drive us to the celebration of St. Dominic Savio’s Day (06th /05/2012)
