Good Foundation Bright Future Nursery & Primary School (“GFBF”) is now looking to expand by constructing two additional classrooms, thereby completing a comprehensive Primary education offering with classes from Primary One (P1) to Primary Seven (P7), after which students go on to Secondary school in line with the national curriculum of Uganda.

More details can be found here: GFBF Classroom Project - Info Memo / Plans / BoQ / Maps

GFBF is one of the oldest schools in Mbale, Uganda's Eastern Region capital. It offers a high quality nursery and primary education at lower fees than other highly regarded local schools, with class sizes of 25-30 children being much lower than those schools (ca 40) and significantly fewer than in State Primary schools which typically have class sizes of 50-70!

Some 10% of GFBF pupils are from very deprived backgrounds and pay no fees; they get free meals, transport and uniform; their education costs are covered by sponsorship donations under a school partnership established in 2018 with the International School of Flanders based in Belgium.

GFBF has been offering a complete Nursery / Pre-primary school since the 1990’s: the Uganda Education Act of 2008 makes Pre-primary mandatory, as well as Primary and Post-primary education. The GFBF Nursery section has two qualified teachers in each of the three classes. admitting children from the age of three. All learning is delivered in English to a high standard.

In the early 2000’s, at the request of parents, GFBF expanded into primary schooling, and by 2018 had P1 to P4 classes, always with only 30 pupils and with fully qualified teachers. At that time all Primary was squeezed into the same 1950’s colonial bungalow alongside the Nursery classes.

In 2018 a new Primary classroom block was constructed within the grounds of the Mbale City Church directly opposite the main entrance to GFBF, providing four decent sized classrooms (capacity 35 pupils) allowing Primary Five (P5) to be added, with P1 remaining with the Nursery section.

Since the start of 2019 GFBF has offered a complete Nursery programme plus the first five years of Uganda’s seven year Primary Education curriculum. Specialist teachers in maths, science, english and social studies are required from P4 onwards, raising Upper Primary delivery costs.

However many wealthier parents still look to transfer their children from GFBF after P4 (some after P3) to a school which will take their child through to the national Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) at the end of P7. PLE determines the Secondary school the child can get into. Class sizes noticeably drop off at GFBF beyond P3, and Parents constantly ask if GFBF could extend to P7.

In November 2022 the GFBF Board decided to build a cheap temporary classroom and to offer P6 for school year 2023. This was funded from internal resources but is very small and vulnerable during rainy season.

So in November 2023 - supported by a 50% donation from our Belgian school partners - the Board committed to construct the permanent classrooms needed for both P6 and P7 to be offered in the 2024 school year, having earlier in the year secured the land next to the existing Primary classrooms.

Construction of the first classroom will go ahead in January 2024. Subject to raising additional funding, a second new classroom will be built and the temporary classroom upgraded, enabling P1 to relocate from the Nursery Section so the entire Primary section is then in one campus location.