Since Jan 2021 GSS has grown rapidly from assisting 2 to 12 schools:

• Feb 2021 restored and turned around the failing Pirang Nursery School;
• Mar 2021 took responsibility for Bakary Sanbouya Nursery School from a UK charity that could no longer continue to support the school;
• Sept 2021 founded and built a new school, the Brufut ECD, in a joint venture with MoBSE;
• Mar 2022 turned around the failing Good Shepherd Nursery School, Pirang who had lost its sponsor some years previously;
• July 2022 secured the future of the Makumbaya Nursery School whose sponsor could no longer continue;
• Sept 2022 secured the future of 4 schools – Mariama Mae (Gunjur), Stepping Stones (Keitaya), HENS (Talinding) and the Jappineh Nursery School;
• Oct 2022 restored and turned around the failing Santo Su nursery school in Brufut.
• Jul 24 refurbished and improved the struggling Madina Pipeline Nursery.

At the same time GSS has:

• Implemented one of the best teacher training and development programs in The Gambia creating a cohort of excellent pre-primary teachers and Head Teachers;
• Funded 8 teachers to qualify ECD at Gambia University and 2 others to gain their Higher ECD Diploma;
• Today the project provides good nursery education for 1,700 children of which 325 are from backgrounds of acute hardship and receive free places (20%);
• Set up Year 1 classrooms at all 12 schools with educational toys for ‘learning through play’, tiled the floors and equipped with play mats and trained the Year 1 staff;
• Built an effective local implementing partner organisation who are helping to increase the independence and self reliance of the schools;
• Started measuring process to objectively assess teacher and pupil attainment. Work started to adopt the UNICEF ECDI2030 system.