Most great things have small beginnings, just like Standard Bearers School (SBS), Lekki, Lagos, which Mrs. Modupe Adeyinka-Oni started 18 years ago. The ebullient Mrs. Adeyinka-Oni told TheNiche in a recent interview at the Grade School section of the primary school that also has an infant section that it was Pastor Tunde Bakare who told her that God wanted her to start a school.
But before the validation from the man of God, the superintendent/founder of SBS had an experience that left her first son unwilling to read out loud because of the reaction he got from his classmates. She had no idea this was going on as her son’s teacher never let on. When she did find out by chance, there was no going back on her decision to start a school. That school is SBS, and by September of this year, it will be moving to a purpose-built new location also in Lekki.
“This is four years later. I had started the nursery, but I hadn’t started primary. So, Mayowa (her son) became the first child in the primary because I couldn’t send him back. I started nursery for my second son. I started primary with my first son,” said Mrs. Adeyinka-Oni, who has been a teacher for over 30 years.
Ever since the school has been growing, not only have parents in search of good education flocked there, it has also drawn to itself some of the best teachers in the industry.
“(The) teaching profession, when we are developing future leaders, should be one of the core professions in our society,” she stated. “So, when I see people who have time, I try to get them onboard.”
She explained that today, if you want to be a teacher in Finland, you must be in the top 10 GPA-wise since the school won’t take anything less and that is why Finland’s educational system is one of the best, if not the best, in the world.
In Nigeria, we are leaving the education of the future in the hands of people who come into it because they don’t have anything else to do, she lamented.
Some of the high quality teachers that she has attracted to SBS include: Mrs. Osezusi Bolodeoku, who is Head of Admissions and Marketing, and Mrs. Ifeoma Oditta.
Bolodeoku, a one-time banker, told TheNiche that the school chooses its parents, so that they can be involved in the development of the children.
“I came in as a teacher and I had to start all over again as a trainer class teacher,” she explained, saying that it was a very interesting experience.
Asked which she finds more interesting, working in the bank or at SBS, and the reply is the school.
“A typical standard bearer employee stays, we are loyal people,” she added.
Her children, like that of most of her colleagues, attend SBS.
Mrs. Oditta, who has been at SBS since 2007 when she joined as an administrator, echoed her colleague when she said that SBS has a very strong footing in the education sector.
Like Bolodeoku, she said the school is lucky to have a founder who is not just creative but also into the arts.
“So we look at children not as purely academic since every child has its own intelligence that we need to harness and bring to life,” Mrs. Oditta, who became secretary to the school’s Board of Governors in 2011 and also heads the Special Needs Department, said.
With background is human resources management, she also worked in banking and the corporate world before she joined the school.
“My son was in one of the very big schools on the Island, but I wasn’t getting enough satisfaction because it was all about the glamour and there was something that was missing for me as a parent. Then I stumbled upon Mrs. Modupe Adeyinka-Oni. We had a very interesting conversation and I figured that there was something about her that I was drawn to,” said Oditta, who has a master’s in marketing.
Indeed, only on Saturday, May 16, the school held its Annual Musical Recital at its new site in Lekki. Music is just one among the many extra-curricular activities which begin at 2pm each school day.
“I think my school day is longer because inside my curriculum, I have dance as a subject, swimming; these are things that are not cerebral, but I feel they are important,” Mrs. Adeyinka-Oni said.
For Tunji Ademuluyi, the Marketing Manager for a mobile phone company, who has two children in SBS, these extra-curricular activities are important.
He said his first encounter with SBS was through another parent who was really excited and satisfied with what the school offers.
“So I said, let me give it a try. My first daughter is in Grade School here and I feel that it is a school that helps to bring up the total child, nurture children the way we want them to be,” he said.
He wants his children to have the best in academics and in extra-curricular activities, and whatever they are interested in that will give them that edge.
“It is a family school, very holistic in terms of the way they teach, the way they nurture children. So I am very happy. I know all their teachers and I have no other choice but to be involved. I see a lot of things that the children are interested in which might not have been the case if it were in another school,” Ademuluyi said.
And Ebele Omorodion, a businesswoman, who has three children in SBS, shares his sentiment. She said the school was recommended by a parent who, like her, did not like the Montessori system in the other.
“Not that Montessori is bad. It depends on the children and I just think it wasn’t working for my kids,” she said.
Those who want to count the benefits of extra-curricular activities in SBS, which operates the British curriculum, need not look further than the Annual Musical Recital, which has children exhibiting their musical talents. Not only has it served as a platform for showcasing the talent discovered at the school, it also provides a platform for the children to share with families and friends their remarkable musical skills.
This was evident at this year’s edition as various works from classical to contemporary were performed by pupils selected from Grade 1 to 6 who were grouped into three performing groups such as the Junior Choir, Senior Choir and Orchestra. The recital typically for the Grade 3 to 6 students had a thrilling addition, as a little Grade 2 child rendered Bob Marley’s ‘Three Little Birds’ to the delight of the audience.
At the close of the recital, which would be one that everyone will remember for a very long time, commendations were given, pictures were taken and everyone left in high spirits, proud of the children who performed at the event.