Our Guest of Honour/ Main Celebrant, Rt. Rev. Matthias Ssekamanya; the Bishop Emeritus of Lugazi Diocese,
The Vicar General of Lugazi Diocese / Chairman Board of Governors; Dr. Msgr. Richard Kayondo,
The Diocesan Education Secretary; Rev. Fr. Gerald Bwenvu,
Members of the Board of Governors and Parents Teachers Association,
The Dean of Naggalama Deanery; Rev. Fr. Ignatius Ndawula, who also doubles as our Parish Priest,
Rev. Fathers and other Religious persons present,
The President of Naggalama Old Students Association; Mr. Alex Patrick Ssemanda,
Staff members,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen.
I greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

CELEBRATING 56 YEARS OF HARDWORK AND EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE THROUGH “TOTAL COMMITMENT”

My Lord Bishop Matthias Ssekamanya, and all our distinguished guests. I am filled with ceaseless joy to welcome you to our Patron Saint’s day celebrations of the year 2023 which also doubles as our 56th Anniversary under the theme, “Total Commitment for excellent performance”.

We thank God for having been at the helm of our success reflected in all the accomplishments since we last celebrated our Patron Saints Day on Saturday 19th March 2022. We recognise God’s providence and protection because we are celebrating our Patron Saints day normally after two years of celebrating it in a scientific way as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is because of His grace, inexhaustible mercy, love and kindness that we survived the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. We pray for further protection and safety.

In a special way, we warmly welcome our new members of the family; the S.1 and S.5 students together with their parents.

ACHIEVEMENTS:

1. Academic
We thank God for the cosmological performance of our candidates in the 2022 Uganda Certificate of Education (U.C.E.) Examinations and Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (U.A.C.E.) Examinations amidst the challenges, crises and lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

(a) U.C.E. RESULTS 2022

We presented a total of 302 candidates for the 2022 U.C.E. examinations of whom 290 scored quality first grade while 12 scored second grade which translated into 96% first grades.

We congratulate and commend our best candidates (highfliers) who appear in the table below.

It is extremely rewarding that our school is among the ten best National Academic Giants in the country. According to the U.C.E. results ranking of schools based on the percentage of first grade for the last five years published by the New Vision of 4th February 2023, our school was ranked fourth at national level.

We are happy that our best U.C.E. candidates: Nabadda Doreen Patience, Auk Philip and Osuna Andrew Sydney came back for their Advanced Level Education.

The above stated students scored the much coveted aggregate 8 in the 8 best done subjects. In a special way, we congratulate Nabadda Doreen Patience and Auk Philip who scored aggregate 11 in the 10 best done subjects. We appreciate all our old parents who have brought back their children to pursue their Advanced Level studies, for the confidence they have in our school.

(b) U.A.C.E. RESULTS 2022

We glorify God for the 2022 U.A.C.E. results which were equally enviably good. We presented 204 candidates and our best candidates Kalibbala Samuel and Lubangakene Peter Isaac scored the much coveted maximum 20 points!

A summary of the highfliers is given below;

(c) Better entry grades for S.1 and S.5 Students admissions:
We are delighted for our improved trajectory in the entry grades of our S.1 and S.5 students as a result of our excellent performance reflected in the U.C.E. and U.A.C.E. results over the years. We now admit students with very good grades compared to the previous years. However, we were overwhelmed by the big number of applicants within a short period of one week. We treasure this attainment and believe that it is a consequence of the compacted trajectory of providing holistic education and improved academic performance consistently. We cannot take this for granted. We therefore thank you dear parents for having chosen our school and congratulate the students upon having been admitted into our school.

(d) Implementation of the Lower Secondary Curriculum
We thank the teachers for their commitment in the implementation of the new Lower Secondary Curriculum despite its several demands and requirements. The Board is being appreciated for zealously financing the implementation of this New Lower Secondary Curriculum.

2. Human formation
Our school derives pleasure from teaching its students good values besides other virtues. We have a brand as one of the leading schools in the country which instills morals and considers integral formation of a whole person as a matter of priority. These values are enshrined in our vision and mission statements and emphasised in our core values. This enables our students to succeed with discipline. We thank the staff for playing a pivotal role in this area. In a special way, we recognise Rev. Fr. Vincent Wasswa; our Chaplain for the fundamental role he theatres in this area.

As a school, we acknowledge the fact that many parents abdicate their responsibility of nurturing their children properly to their teachers which makes the affected children incapacitated to survive amidst hardships in life. If we raise our children the way our parents raised us, they would find a lot of difficulty in fitting into the current cruel world. Our parents raised us for the world which no longer exists. On this ground, we design new strategies and ways of catching up with the current demands. For example, during our time of growing up, there was no moral decadence and crazy vices like homosexuality and lesbianism. We therefore call upon parents to cooperate with us to achieve the desirable results of raising up responsible citizens of refined character.

We have a long term strategy of transforming lives through deliberate programmes that focus on the boy-child without neglecting the girl – child either. Our massive attention to the boy-child was after a realisation that the affirmative action in favour of the girl – child has created glaring gaps in the self-esteem and confidence levels of the boy – child. Ignoring the critical mass of the boys has made them to lag behind in so many spheres of life. Yet they were created by God to be the leaders of families. Many are lazy, others don’t care, some focus on short term gains, others have abdicated their duties while quite a considerable number have withdrawn. These being the future priests, leaders and family men, we cannot surrender but endeavour to design programmes which compel them to catch-up with the demands of their gender and responsibilities straight away. Our deliberate arrangements, programmes and focus is to ensure that the boys are given the same opportunities as girls to explore the world.

3. Reviewed and revised school rules and guidelines
We commend the Board of Governors for having reviewed and revised the school rules and regulations through its Executive Select Committee. To accomplish this task, the Board of Governors convened five different meetings. The old rules were comprehensively discussed and a number of significant changes were made to commensurate with the current demands in society. This was intended to address emerging and glaring gaps in the school rules and regulations. We recognise the input of the major stakeholders in the revision of these rules and guidelines.

4. Banana Plantation Project
The current S.4 class is appreciated for having setup a banana plantation in 2019 when they were in S.1. The plantation is thriving and so far over 2016 bunches of matooke have been harvested for both staff and students. So, it is very supportive as far as feeding in school is concerned. Besides, through the activities carried out on the plantation, students are equipped with modern methods of banana farming, which knowledge they can apply even when at home.

We appreciate the current S.2 2023, for having benchmarked and setup a banana plantation which is doing very well. We are looking forward to harvesting huge bunches of matooke which will subsidise our feeding costs.

Our students participated in the first education agricultural show between 8th and 12th June 2022. Kabuye Benedict of S.4 South wrote an article in the agricultural magazine describing the agricultural activities in school. Tushabe Joel Tugume S.6 Biological, Kabanyoro Eve Kerita S.4 South, Namuli Priscilla Gift S.3 South and Aganyira Donna Priscilla S.4 South wrote a poem and essay and participated in the quiz. These students were the 2nd and won silver medals.

5. National High School Crossfire Debate
Our school Debate Club won the much coveted trophy of the National High School Crossfire Debate after competing with 32 schools countrywide on Monday 3rd October 2022 at the International East African University. We thank our participants for the spirited fight and for exhibiting rare debating skills, for which they were rewarded with special recognition and material gifts (medals, certificates and laptops). Owing to being the 2022 national champions of this debate, our school was given an opportunity to host the launching of the High School Crossfire Debate of 2023 on Friday 3rd March 2023. We appreciate Rev. Fr. Gerald Bwenvu, the Education Secretary of Lugazi Diocese for having presided over this prestigious launch.

6. Silver Jubilee celebrations of Dr. Martin and Mrs. Agnes Nsubuga
(i) Marriage Silver Jubilee Celebrations without students
We shall always recount God’s acts of faithful love and blessings which enabled us to joyfully celebrate our Marriage Silver Jubilee with resounding success on Saturday 27th August 2022. God blessed us with the best weather above all. The function was of high quality and excellent by all standards. We thank God for His providential love and grace.

We thank Rt. Rev. Christopher Kakooza, the Bishop of Lugazi Diocese for having presided over the Eucharistic celebration and the Most Rev. Paul Ssemogerere the Archbishop of Kampala Archdiocese, for having honoured the invitation by coming and celebrating with us.

We are indebted to the Board of Governors for its immense contributions which explains why the function was magnificent. In particular, the Chairman Board; Msgr. Richard Kayondo is thanked for his personal involvement in the meticulous planning and guidance at every stage of the organisation.

We thank each one of you who contributed towards the success of the occasion. We equally extend our gratitude to the staff of St. Joseph’s SSS Naggalama for their personal and collective contribution to the success of this anniversary celebration. We are still overwhelmed with joy. May the Almighty God reward you all abundantly.

We wish to thank the priests, religious and all people of God who attended our marriage silver jubilee in big numbers. We pray to the good Lord to give you his choicest blessings. Thank you for attending the school’s Patron Saint’s day which we are celebrating today.

(ii) Internal Marriage Silver Jubilee Celebrations with the students
The internal Silver Jubilee celebration with the students was held in another colourful function on Sunday 25th September 2022 with Rev. Fr. Eugene Safari as the main celebrant. The students were treated in amazement with the entire organisation of the event.

7. Infrastructure development
The school undertook a massive project of constructing a five storeyed girls’ dormitory whose ground breaking ceremony was done by Rt. Rev. Bishop Matthias Ssekamanya on 16th March 2020. The construction commenced on 8th August 2022, and it is now on the ring beam of the second slab and is progressing well. The completion time of this dormitory is projected to be 30th August 2024.

8. Retention of competent staff
We have maintained our revolutionalised staff who work with zeal to produce excellent results. The effective monitoring programmes ensure that those who exhibit loopholes are identified and corrected immediately before they go off track. Our plan is to retain these competent staff and facilitate them to continue working with high motivation and enthusiasm. We appreciate them for producing the desirable results in all our spheres of life.

9. Value for money
We have consistently demonstrated transparency and truthfulness in all our operations and activities. We have always given our parents enduring value for their money through offering quality education, integral formation and balanced diet to our learners besides growing our infrastructure fastidiously with outstanding standards.

CHALLENGES:

(i) Moral decadency in society which has eroded the innocence of some of our children. This is abated by the electronic media which crafts software (apps) deliberately intended to damage the morals and proper upbringing of our children (Human formation).

(ii) High cost of operation as a consequence of soaring prices of goods and services and many taxes imposed on private schools.

(iii) The fire outbreaks in schools are a real threat and extremely dangerous due to its associated detrimental effects. We therefore pray to God to keep us safe.

(iv) There is a lot of cough and flu among the students and some staff which are resistant to treatment.

APPRECIATION:

We thank the Almighty God who is at the helm of our success. We appreciate Bishop Matthias Ssekamanya for presiding over today’s celebrations and for his beautiful homily. My Lord Bishop, we are heartily grateful to you for your love, prayers, guidance and support.

We commend the Board of Governors, under the chairmanship of Msgr. Richard Kayondo for its meticulous and systematic planning, effectiveness, efficiency and economical utilisation of resources. The Parents Teachers Association under the headship of Mrs. Josephine Ocama Akellot is thanked for mobilising the parents to play their role besides counselling students who have psycho–social challenges.

We thank our invited guests for physically attending this function. You have indeed made our day colourful. We would like to remember Rev. Fr. Henry Ssempala, our founding father for his invaluable contribution in the starting of our school. May his soul rest in peace. We also dedicate the souls of other close-knit family members who have ever worked here. We surrender the souls of these deceased people namely: Mrs. Mary Kiwanuka Nakyazze; the mother of our Director of Studies; Mr. James Kooba, our former student who sat for U.A.C.E. 2022 examinations, Ofuono Caleb, Ms. Catherine Nabwami who was the mother of our students: Nasejje Lynette Lumala and Nabankema Lauryn Lumala and others to rest in eternal peace.

I extend special appreciation to our students for their exemplary discipline, passion to excel, hardwork and for accepting to be formed in an integral manner.
We heartily thank you for sparing your precious time to attend our Patron Saints day celebrations and all the service providers for doing a wonderful job.

Our outlook to 2023
We are committed to continuously engage our students appropriately to assist them appreciate the essence of their being at school. This will equip them with relevant skills, knowledge and values to enable them deal with life challenges as they emerge so as to excel.

We shall leverage our niche in human formation and academic performance so as to execute our mandate with outstanding results to remain a national giant in academic and human formation.

I wish you blessed celebrations. May St. Joseph, our Patron Saint intercede for us.

“Disciplined we Succeed”

“For God and My Country”

Agnes Nsubuga (Mrs.)
Headmistress