John Bradley has been in communication with Palms Australia and members of his support team. The following is the opening of his message – you can read the rest and see his wonderful photos by going to palms.org.au/2023/02/16/samoa-news-first-week-of-school/
Talofa Everyone,
We have completed our first week of school, and overall it went quite well. Certainly it is a different place with students in the school during the day – having spent two preparation weeks living at the school, I had just about run out of things to do in all the spare time.
The school is quite large, being on an enclosed compound of probably 3 hectares or so. There’s a school hall, rugby field, volunteer house, bus port, chapel, priests’ house and the school itself, which surrounds a large grassed square with a fale in the centre. There are about 12 classrooms, library and computer room around three sides, the fourth side has the offices, staff room and the technical training workshops, being hospitality, automotive, plumbing, metalwork and carpentry. As well as a secondary school (Yrs 9-13) this is a vocational technical centre, offering Cert I and Cert II courses. The school was built in 2011, and is still in quite good condition, though the tropical climate does take its toll.