ISS makes the most of Teachers’ Week by giving back |08 October 2022

Book donation

The International School Seychelles made the most of the Teachers’ Week celebrations, seizing the opportunity to give back to the local community, through a blood drive and book donation.

The school organised a number of activities over the course of the week in recognition and appreciation of its 136 employees comprising teaching and non-teaching staff, with the blood drive taking place on Thursday morning.

Principal of the school, Elodie Vallantine, noted that the school makes it a point to recognise every member of staff working at the school, since “everybody is an educator, whatever position in the school he or she is”. As such, all staff, including teaching assistants, administrative staff, maintenance staff and all who have a role at the school and who contribute towards the education of the learners at the institution were all celebrated throughout the week.

Additionally, the institution is committed to extending the celebrations to the local community which it serves.

“We wanted to be giving back to the community so it is not just about us as a school doing things for ourselves. Our school motto is ‘You are not born for yourself’ and one of our school values is community, so we wanted to give back,” Mrs Valentine noted.

Both parents and employees were invited to the blood drive, which is now held on a termly basis, meaning three times a year. The event saw a good number of donors and is gradually growing in popularity.

In the spirit of giving back, the school also made a generous donation of Cambridge textbooks to the Mont Fleuri secondary school, invaluable aids to the learners studying and sitting their IGCSE examinations shortly.

The textbooks will be extremely useful to the school, a student noted, while head teacher of the Mont Fleuri secondary school, Marc Arrisol, said the donation couldn’t have come at a more opportune time, as the school faces a lack of resources at the library, as the school had to switch the library and staff room, which resulted in a lot of old textbooks being damaged.

“Now, we are a little bit better equipped,” Mr Arrisol stated, thanking the school for thinking and extending their help to other similar institutions.

Among other efforts aiming at valorising the school’s employees, ISS has purchased an online subscription to an online training platform which is to benefit all of its staff, and not only teachers, with the aim of further empowering them in their professional development, and in enhancing their professional practice.

Additionally, staff have been invited to apply for funding from the school for a further qualification for a Masters programme or a Bachelor of Education, with the school is contributing towards the costs for two employees, once all applications are in.

On Tuesday evening as the school’s Parent Teachers Association (PTA) took the initiative to decorate the school lobby and staffrooms, a pleasant surprise awaited teachers and staff on Wednesday morning, which saw the learners welcoming them with tokens of appreciation. The PTA also on the day contributed snacks and beverages to make the day extra special, while Mrs Valentine herself delivered to each a personalised card and cupcake.

The school’s board of governors also joined in the celebrations, taking time out of their busy schedule to spend the day with staff, also donating four cakes for all to enjoy.

Lunchtime saw a spot of friendly competition between the learners and staff, who engaged in a volleyball competition, although the teachers came out top. The sport session continued after school with an all-staff inter-house competition, a team-building activity for all.

The school has also supported the Teachers’ Week events organised by the Ministry of Education, including the Inclusive-Education held at the University of Seychelles (UniSey) on Tuesday, and the Seychelles Institute of Teacher Education (SITE) open-day event on Wednesday.

Laura Pillay