Newsletters

Despite all these challenges, the school has made remarkable academic strides. Our focus on literacy,numeracy and critical thinking skills has shown

real results with our learners consistently out performing in their assessments

The first very important news is that we achieved our objective and in December, we were able to hand over the balance of money needed to acquire the land and premises within the Kiambiu Slum tosecure the future of Rossholme.Generous support from the East Africa

What an exciting time it is to be involved with Rossholme – and our active supporters increase daily. Anne Halliday, my cousin, who has been along term supporter of Rossholme, reports on her first visit to Kenya:

We have had an interesting.few months since our last Newsletter and some exciting developments to report.

Installing solar

power giving

classrooms

electric lighting.

It has certainly been an active few months for Rossholme in Kenya. At the start of this term in April, 371 pupils were registered at the school.  

This represents a very significant increase in our pupil numbers even from January when we had 233 and certainly from 2016 when we opened with just 6 pupils.

Since our last newsletter, it has been an interesting few months of development for Rossholme in Kenya. After a very disrupted year when all schools in Kenya closed because of Covid-19, we reopened in January 2021 with 266 pupils as reported in our last newsletter. Although our premises were considerably larger than before, 266 seemed an enormous number of pupils requiring additional staff and resources .... but now we have 331 ! 

The 266 pupils of Rossholme School, located within the Kiambiu Slum in Nairobi, Kenya, were delighted to be back at school on 4th January after nearly a year’s absence. Joyce Aruga, the Headteacher, her seven teaching staff, Cook and Security Guard, were also really happy to welcome back these noisy, exuberant, happy children.

The government opened school for grade 4, class  8 and form 4.

In Rossholme, we opened school with our grade  four only and were so pleased that they all came back.

Little did we imagine when we wrote our last newsletter and had our last Trustees Meeting, that life would have taken such a dramatic turn worldwide.

The school’s third annual outing happened again in October with new, exciting places for the children and their teachers to visit, as described by Joyce in her message.  

As I write, the school is just breaking up for the Easter holiday and they will return on 30th April.  Joyce is heavily pregnant and very much hopes that the baby will arrive around 15th, hopefully earlier rather than later.

The school opened for a 3rd term on the 27th of August 2018, and planned to have its annual class trip on the 10th of October, to take 98 children, four teachers and a cook to visit the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust to see baby elephants who are orphans.

And  also go to the Giraffe Centre where the almost extinct Rothschild Giraffes are bred 

Rossholme was set up by Joyce Aruga in the Kiambiu Slum in Nairobi with just 10 pupils in September 2016. Thanks to Joyce’s determination, hard work and resilience, and with the support of Judy Webb in Somerset, Rossholme has gone from strength to strength