Miss Janice’s Afterschool & Holiday Care Programme |11 October 2019

A home away from home for the children

A novel afterschool and holiday care programme was officially launched in September this year to help support busy and committed parents who struggle to be able to care for their children afterschool hours and during the holiday periods.

The programme was launched and is managed by Janice Houareau, well known as ‘Miss Janice’ to many children and teenagers.

Albeit being only one month since launching, the new service is already proving popular with both parents and children; we find out why in the following interview with Ms Houareau.

Seychelles NATION: You mentioned that you have been teaching for many years; tell us more about your background working with children.

Janice Houareau: A teacher for 19 years now, specialised in Early Childhood and Childcare, I have taught at La Rosière school for 2 years then moved on to the International School Seychelles where I taught for the remaining years – a place that made me who I am today. I have also worked as a private nanny/teacher which was what really led me to start this programme now.

Teaching and working with children has always been my passion and I do not see myself doing anything else. Children make you better yourself in so many ways and it is my privilege to be able to pass on my knowledge and values, and in return to be able to learn from them.

Being a mother myself to an almost 21-year-old daughter, I feel like I have been teaching for much longer. To motivate, encourage, nurture and above all, to love children, is how children flourish into amazing adults of tomorrow.

Making a difference one step at a time is what I aim to accomplish through this service. To make a commitment to the parents that their children are safe and that they will be guided every step of the way to achieve their potentials.

I am eternally grateful to my family and partner above all for always supporting me, my daughter that I am very proud of, as well as the parents and donors who continuously support me throughout this journey.

Seychelles NATION: Tell us about ‘Miss Janice’s Afterschool and Holiday Care’ programme.

Janice Houareau: In a nutshell, it is the solution to all parents’ holiday and afterschool dilemmas. It aims at supporting working parents by providing quality services during afterschool hours and holidays. It is targeted towards children in early childhood through to primary school, aged 3.6 to 11 years.

We collect the children from school via bus transfer and we also make sure that the children don’t miss out on their extracurricular activities by dropping them off.

We also give extra academic support and guidance to children upon observations, through homework assistance.

Extra academic support for children aged 4 - 11 years is also another very popular service we provide, whereby children are assisted as per their parents’ or schools’ requests/requirements, to improve or enhance their academic performances.

‘Stay and Play’ sessions conducted in the mornings from 8:30am to noon caters for pre-schoolers aged 1.6 to 3 years. This programme is aimed at preparing toddlers for school by delivering age-appropriate curriculum based activities for preschoolers.

The toddlers develop early literacy, numeracy and reading skills as well as communication and language, social interaction and expressive arts; they also engage in physical activities.

‘Miss Janice’s Afterschool Care’ encourages and promotes creativity and positive interactions. We encourage good practices and also include extracurricular activities such as art sessions and yoga (to be introduced soon).

We are very fortunate to be able to use the library on site to develop the children’s reading skills. We also offer scheduled trips and exchanges within the community to help children appreciate where they live and to be aware of what is around them.

We aim to develop each individual child’s skills and abilities through planned activities once they are with us.

Seychelles NATION: What inspired you to launch this programme?

Janice Houareau: Seeing how many parents struggle to juggle work and aftercare for children inspired me to launch this programme on a larger scale.

It all started with a small group of children during holiday time; I realised after years of running the club that most parents wanted their children stimulated and entertained even during out of school periods. Since I didn’t have the space to accommodate large groups of children at one time, I decided to expand the service.

Seychelles NATION: How have the children been responding to this programme?

Janice Houareau: I have observed this past month that the children in my care are already really embracing the structure and routine of their afternoons, and they are all working at a steady pace without feeling stressed after school and with their activities.

The children are relaxed and happy in an environment which promotes flexible seating; this was set out to encourage peace, tranquility, filled with natural light and space, to move around freely and to resemble their homes rather than another classroom.

Seychelles NATION: Would you like to share any advice to parents and educational institutes in Seychelles?

Janice Houareau: I would love to share this quote: “Don’t worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you”.

For more information on services provided and upcoming events, visit or contact Miss Janice:

-           Address: Level 3, Espace Building

-           Telephone: 2634844

-           Email: acroporasey@yahoo.com

-           Website: www.missjanice.org

Photo credits: Janice Houareau