Table 1: Data on Student Numbers

Grade	Number of Students
	Boys	Girls	Total
I	3	2	5
II	7	5	12
III	10	1	11
IV	5	3	8
V	6	4	10
VI	5	5	10

Previously the class teachers in this school taught two grades at once. One room contained students from two grades (grades 1 and 2, grades 3 and 4, or grades 5 and 6) and the two grades were separated by a screen. The teachers taught each class alternately.

The next development happened when the education office (the head of the office, the head of the primary schools section, the head of the sub-district office and the school supervisor) learned about this and decided to implement multi-grade teaching in the school.

This decision was influenced by previous events. First of all the first three MBE training packages had been disseminated to all primary schools and teachers working groups in the town and the benefits were being felt by teachers in this school who knew about and were applying PAKEM in their classes to improve the quality of teaching.

Secondly, three teachers had taken part in a one week teacher exchange to another school. Lastly, they were sent to take part in two MBE training courses on multi-grade teaching. Multigrade teaching is being implemented successfully in SDN Gunungsari 4 and is having a real impact on student performance.

This can be seen in three ways, (i) the use of multigrade teaching methods and PAKEM in class (see photos 2, 3 and 4); (ii) the percentage of students graduating in the year 2005-2006 (100%) compared with the previous year, when only 67% graduated; (iii) the marks in the final school examination for the five core subjects in 2005-2006 which rose significantly compared with 2004-2005 (see table 2).

Second Level Facilitators in Pacitan Ready to Train

The education office of Pacitan district has allocated funds from the district budget since 2003 in order to support the spread of active learning and it is now making use of a second level group of facilitators. According to the Head of the Program Section, BPK Sunaryo MM, this team which has great potential needs to be given special attention by the education office so that it can make an impact on the quality of teaching in schools.

Training of schools in 2006 is to focus on Bandar and Nawangan Sub-Districts. To prepare for this an enrichment workshop was held on 27 June 2006 to strengthen their training skills and knowledge of the training material in packages 1, 2 and 3. The training took place using the principles of learning together and sharing experiences.

To support these efforts, the Head of the District Education Office has made available a special venue, the Teachers' Activity Center (PKG), on a permanent basis to accommodate quality improvement activities coordinated by the education office.

PURBALINGGA: Gifts from Former Pupils at MIM Wirasana Purbalingga This is possibly a first in Purbalingga. Normally gifts from former pupils are in the form of money, books or other goods which have a monetary value. But not at MIM Wirasana Purbalingga. Their sixteen grade 4 students who graduated in 2006 gave the school a world map which they painted on the school wall by themselves. Irfan Bayu Pradana, a grade 4 student, who was coordinator of the activity to create the world map on the wall, was the winner of the creativity competition for madrasah students in 2006 and said that their intention was to make a gift of something that was useful to help younger students in the school to learn using PAKEM. Helped by the teacher and one of the grade 4 students' parents Bpk Suratmo, SPd they made a sketch of the world map and painted it on the back wall of the school. Bpk Mi'in IM School Principal of MIM Wirasana and Irfan Bayu Pradana who graduated in 2006, next to the world map painted by the students This activity took place in stages during the school holiday. The school principal of MIM Wirasana Purbalingga, Bpk Mi'in IM plans to create a reading corner for the students by placing benches in front of the world map so that students of the school can view it in comfort.