Hampton Preparatory School situated in Lekki, celebrated the love and birth birth of Jesus with Nativity 2019 at Terra Kulture as parents, families and well wishers were entertained with different performances, from songs, rendition, drama and orchestral and presentations as the welcome address for the days event was said by Dr. Roy Lillyman.
The school which operates a British curriculum system of education, also did different class presentations to all those present at the venue. Some parents and the school authority spoke of the purpose of the event and the millage attained so far.
Captain Akinwumi Ojediji, whose child has been in the school for two years, described the outing as ‘fantastic’, adding that the school has provided a very good platform for the children to build on, as most of them displayed their self confidence in their acts.
Ojediji, who noted that the school is giving them such a great exposure at an early age, said that one of the things the children actually needed at this early age is getting familiar with the stage. Since no one can really tell where their destiny lies.
“It is good that they are starting on a very good note”, he notes. When asked to describe what the school has offered so far in the last two years, he said there has been a very progressive and rapid growth because he can feel the result in his daughter’s brilliance. He however attributes homeliness and good family bond as some of the qualities the school possesses.
Speaking about the expenses which the parents have to shoulder to put up such a colourful Christmas show couple with various costumes and instruments, Ojediji said, “l don’t believe anything in this life is expensive because different problems require different solution. You can’t interweave it. It is value for money. Once we get value in the child, it is not expensive.”
Mr. Kelvin Dada, whose child is a year and two months old, was also impressed with the brilliance of the class presentations.
Dada who is three months old with the school, said he heard about the outstanding and explicit qualities of the school from his boss whose child also attends the school, hence he decided to check things out for himself. He said the children’s performance was outstanding, and the choice of venue was very good. He said the children did very well in terms of creativity.
Nancy Nnadozie, whose child is in snow drop, described their performance as ‘fair enough’, stating that the children brought so much joy to her seeing them performed. She said she decided to go to the school because the ambience was good, nice and clean. She, however, commended the kids in the upper school, saying they did very well and they looked really smart.
Ifeakanna Akabogu, a Year 6 pupil in the school who played the saxophone and also did a presentation with his class, spoke of his experiences before the show. He said although he had difficulty, he had to work on himself for a good outing with the help of his class teachers. He said he had to rehearse over and over again until he was able to deliver his role. He said he did not have stage fright because he had been rehearsing and acting on stage before now. Asked to rate himself, Akabogu said he did far better this year than he did last year. While he described his current school as better than his previous school because the teachers teach very well.
Faramode Akinbisehin, a Year 7 pupil who also took part in most of the performances displayed, is one of those with outstanding displays for the day. She said she was able to deliver her role due to frequent rehearsals. When asked of her ability to face the audience, she said, whenever she has a stage freight, she closes her eyes and take a deep breath. This, she said, does the magic and give her the balance and boldness to carry on. Speaking about her school, she said she really likes it a lot as she does better in her academics.
Mrs Kemi Balogun, one of the directors and co-partners of the school, said this year had been a great one for the children as they worked extremely hard to come up with an excellent outing for this year’s Christmas play. Speaking further, she said they were able to attain this height because the school has a more speltout drama department, better equipped, with orchestra and lots more. She said it is mandatory for every child to play two instruments.
She stated that all the children displayed well what they have learnt, adding that due to the high influx of parents who bring their wards to join the school, Hampton will be opening the new branch at the upper school which will have Year 5, 6, 7 and 8. She said further that the school will be expanding on what they already provided, which is quality and high standard education and facilities.
When asked of the strategy the school uses that is attracting more parents to bring in their wards, Mrs. Balogun said of the environment; “the teachers are very pleasant and they make the children comfortable, couple with a beautiful ambience very suitable for learning.” She, however, disclosed that the school plans to bring in a bigger after-school care.
Mrs Linda Haastrup, also a director and co-partner of the school, said it has been so encouraging to see how the school has developed in such a short period of time. She said; ”the whole essence of what we want to put in the school is what is being seen in the confidence of the children, the joy and happiness that the children showed in everything that they do.” This, she said, is due to the learning environment created to enable the child learn, strive and become who they are destined to become later in life.
Speaking of the challenges they have had to encounter so far, she said, they have had no challenges because they came well prepared.
”The school background they had in the United Kingdom (UK) with the nursery school, already gave us the platform to build and deliver, because we have so much planning going on and we were able to tackle challenges ahead of time. Since we run a British curriculum, it makes it much easier for us to deliver. We are blessed with very good teachers, we have high retention rate, all our teachers have stayed with us from inception. These are what most schools are struggling with. We have a really beautiful family feeling and the children do feel it as well.
While Mrs. Emma Elegbe, the head of the school attributed the rapid growth and development of the school to a combination of all efforts, she said the influx of more students to the school is due to the testimony of their conduct and attestation of who they are and what they stand for. She said the school got more teachers last year both from Nigeria and the UK.
When asked the criteria used in employing teachers taking their polish diction into consideration, she said they employ teachers that the children can look up to and teachers that meet the standards and expectations that the school expect, to be able to meet the promises they made to parents.
When asked for her vision for the school three years from now, she said, “l believe that the school will be at full capacity, will have produced children that would have left for higher schools and will be good ambassadors of Hampton schools, showing what Hampton children are capable off. She added that people will recognize and see the qualities of the Hampton prep child in them.
Answering questions on how she has been coping with difficult parents, teachers and pupil, Mrs. Elegbe said; ”We enjoy good relationship with the parents, they come to us whenever they have concerns or issues, and we run an open door policy. We do intensive induction for all our teachers, they are told what their expectations are.”
