International School Seychelles Class of 2019 Graduation Ceremony: |06 July 2019

Miss Valabhji on the day she received the Board of Governor’s Award

Larrissa Valabhji clinches Board of Governor’s Award

June 15 saw over 75 Year 11 (IGCSE level) and Year 13 (A Levels) students from the International School Seychelles (ISS) graduate from their respective levels, many with outstanding academic achievements in their IGCSE and A Level examinations.

Among the numerous students who were recognised and awarded for exceptional performance and contributions towards the school was 18-year-old Larrissa Valabhji who was presented with the Board of Governors Award.

The Board of Governors award is one of the highest honours given by the school in recognition of the wide range of personal, social and intellectual qualities that top students bring to the school community. Students are nominated for the award by one or more teachers.

Miss Valabhji was not only recognised for her outstanding personal academic achievements but also for her numerous contributions towards school life during the 14 and a half years that she has attended ISS.

Among her contributions are sports achievements and participation in music and performing arts. Miss Valabhji has also contributed toward the improvement of life in sixth form by organising events, introducing new activities such as the ‘Friends marathon’ and by voluntarily participating in extracurricular activities such as a nature conservation trip to Cousine, and numerous conferences.

Moreover, Miss Valabhji has displayed leadership skills having organised a successful travel and tourism event and raising funds for the graduation ceremonies, an amount of R30,000 for the graduation ceremony held in 2018, and a further R40,000 for this year’s event.

She recently completed her A2 examinations in four subjects including Economics, Business Studies, Accounting and Travel and Tourism. She completed her AS Level examinations last year and scored A’s for all subjects except Travel and Tourism in which she scored a B.

As for IGCSEs, Miss Valabhji sat for 9 subjects, namely, French, English as a Second Language, Business Studies, Economics, Travel and Tourism, Accounting, Coordinated Science (Double Award) and Maths and impressively scored a B for Accounting and Economics and A’s for the other subjects.

Seychelles NATION had a brief chat with Miss Valabhji on her sentiments on winning the award and words of advice for fellow students.

She noted that she was not expecting to win the award despite knowing that she had been nominated and that she is proud of the achievement.

“I knew I was nominated but was not expecting to win at all actually. It was a total surprise but I am very proud to have won. If I have any advice for other students is to have fun and enjoy school and all aspects of school life,” she said.

“Get involved with the school community and with activities around the school for the benefit of the staff and other students who are attending. There is more to school life than just academic work and lessons and enjoying the school experience can be motivating,” Miss Valabhji noted.

Miss Valabhji is currently awaiting the results of her A2 level examinations and wishes to further her studies in Business Management either in Singapore or in the United States of America after taking a gap year off.