Last Monday, 25 February marked a very special anniversary for our Al Siraat College family and community: Ten years ago, to the day, we celebrated our very first day of school just as dawn was breaking.
At the time in 2009, school commenced at 7.30am and a small group of 78 students assembled outside their classrooms for daily Qur'an recitation and du'as. The only building on site in 2009 which hosted both classrooms, the school office and staff room, now functions as our Assembly Hall, main staff room and library resource centre. There were no buildings or construction work happening in our area. Rather, you could see the College farm animals (sheep, chicken and goats) near the cottage or in the old barn which was later renovated to become the men’s side of our Musallah.
Monday’s special assembly saw our whole school of 916 students come together to acknowledge this major milestone in our shared College history. Co-founders Br Fazeel and Ms Rahat Arain addressed the assembled students, staff and parents, followed by a short reflection by Ms Shahidah who also celebrates her 10th anniversary of working at ASC this year.
Foundation students Abdullahi Ibrahim, Aishah and Hafsah Arain, Rafiq Leghari and Nada Ibrahim shared their memories of their very first day and year at the then newly established school recalling how the entire school would fit into a double decker bus on their first excursion to Sovereign Hill.
Our team of College founders, Foundation staff and students then proceeded to the much-anticipated cake cutting. Students across all year levels were later treated to a piece of the delicious cakes to share in the festive spirit of this special day.