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The majority of expatriates in Port Vila choose to send their children to the Port Vila International School, however we decided that we would like our boys to mix more with the local children rather than mainly with other white children.  So we chose instead to send them to Vila Central Primary for our first 18 months in Vanuatu and then transferred them across to the International School for our final year to allow them to catch back up to the Australian Curriculum.

Right from the first day at school the local children were so friendly.  The school is about 10 times bigger than our little country school back in Singleton, but it seemed like everybody wanted to be the boys' best friend.

Simon began his experience of Vanuatu school life in 1T with Mrs Tabilepo as his teacher.  There were a lot of familiar readers and textbooks which helped him feel at home. Jeremy was placed in 3W with Mr Wilkinson, a teacher from New Zealand. 

School starts early at 7.30am and finishes 1.30pm.  Although it's sometimes hard to get there on time, the early start allows plenty of time in the afternoon for homework, a turn on the computer or a trip to the beach.

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Simon with his Year 2 teacher Mrs Garae

Central Primary is ranked as the top public primary school in Vanuatu.  The teaching staff do an excellent job.  They are mainly Ni-Van teachers plus a few expatriate and volunteers.  The curriculum is based mainly on Australian resources with a little New Zealand influence as well.

Although most children would speak Bislama at home, plus possibly French and the home Island languages of their parents, all classes are conducted in English.  Bislama is not permitted on the school premises.

Simon with his Year 2 class

For those in year one it is their first year of primary school, with lots to learn and lots of adjustments to be made to behaviour.  This is especially true for those from a village background who tend to be rather noisy, wander around and "borrow" lots of things without asking.  At times there seems to be a lot of bullying and crying, but they soon grow out of all these traits.  It's amazing to see the transformation already in Simon's classroom since he first started.

A highlight of each week is always the weekly video time and visits to the school library to borrow books

The school seems well stocked with readers and journals.  Each classroom has some books for silent reading but many of these are old and tattered.  Good quality lead and coloured pencils can be hard to get in the shops.  A lot of the English, Maths, Science and sports equipment have been donated by local businesses and governments of other countries.  The buildings are quiet old and this year the PTA is spending a lot of money on repairs.  All classrooms would greatly benefit from a fresh coat of paint inside and out.  As in all Pacific countries maintenance is always a key problem.

During recess, the large playground allows lots of room for soccer, cricket, basketball, skipping, climbing on the monkey bars, or you can sit in the shade of the huge mango tree.  Soccer seems to be the main game amongst the boys, with each class holding it's own game.  As you can imagine there are balls and children everywhere. 

On sports days, the boys have been enjoying the opportunity to play lots of team sports such as soccer, hockey, cricket and basketball.  The local children are incredibly talented and fit so they keep the boys on their toes.

Each Friday the Primary School, Kindergarten and Junior Secondary School (around 500 students) meet together in the School Hall for assembly.  Each week a different class presents songs, plays, dances and poems, while the rest of the school watches from woven mats on the floor.  Merit certificates are handed out, and when the National Anthem is sung it is just beautiful.  The first and last week of term is "Sing-a-long", when 7 of the classes take turns to sing a song.  The weekly assemblies are always very enjoyable.

If you would like to see some photos taken after Jeremy's class presented items about local food please visit Local Food in the Vanuatu General Information section of this site.

Jeremy's class performing as vikings at assembly

The School Fete was a popular day with a cake stall, second-hand stall,  sausage sizzle, mini golf, lucky dips, face painting, bowling, raffles, chocolate wheel and musical items performed by some of the students.  Quite a lot of money was raised with local businesses being very generous with their donations of prizes.

At the end of the year every student in the school took part in the Christmas Musical.  The younger classes played different roles in the retelling of Christ's birth.  Simon's class were angels, whilst Jeremy's were wise men and women.  The senior classes presented items about the history and traditions of Christmas as it is celebrated in other countries around the world.

A highlight of the evening was the performance of several Christmas Carols, Vanuatu style, by the school string band.

Kathy Shortland-Jones, an AVI volunteer, teaching at the school, played a key role in organising the musical.

This year (2001) I spend a couple of mornings each week helping the Year Ones with their reading and sight words.  Last year I also assisted the Year One teachers with some of their testing and then did some individual and group phonics work with children who were struggling in this area.

In April 2001 I was elected to the School PTA as the Vice President and will no doubt have a busy schedule with the meetings, working bees, the fete and other fundraisers. 

Lots of bread rolls

The sports day is a popular day with the kids at Central Primary.  Being naturally very athletic, it is an opportunity to show off their speed and skill on the track and in the field events.  The atmosphere was electric with 500 children dressed in their house colours packed into the grandstand at Independence Park cheering madly through every event.  Apart from running races, there were also field events, such as long and high jump plus the tug-o-war events between teams from each age group.

While the events were happening Karen was busy helping with the PTA sausage sizzle.  As you can see from the photos at left and right, there were bread rolls everywhere and sausages sizzled all morning.