Children’s Day Celebration |03 June 2023

Various activities hosted at school level

Schools all around Mahé yesterday celebrated Children’s Day, which is locally observed on June 1, through a series of activities organised by both students and management of the respective educational establishments.

Seychelles NATION toured the North of Mahé, and also visited schools in the central region to see the various activities on the programmes.

At the English River secondary school, deputy head teacher Ted Arissol said their planned activity, commemorating the theme ‘Les zanfan reste zanfan’ went on for the whole week.

He said the first activity was reflection on the theme, as the school wanted to incorporate it into the different subjects being taught in class, so that the students realise and reflect on the importance of the message behind it.

Mr Arissol added that there were many activities at the school, including bouncing castle, water slide and a fancy fair, just to allow the kids to be kids again.

Another school that was visited was the Mont Fleuri secondary, where the newly appointed head teacher, Nadia Marcel, said they wanted to treat the students a little more special on this day.

“We had a red carpet walk way upon entry for the students and they had their pictures taken”, said Miss Marcel, who added that for their day, there were guest artists such as Michelle Marengo, Jakim and Auspitious who performed for the students.

At the Plaisance secondary school, one of the main events was a donation of uniform from the Seychelles Hockey Federation (SHF) for girls’ and boys’ school teams.

It was secretary general of the SHF, Jeffery Lagrenade, who handed over the set of uniform to student Alisha Dick, who was chosen as the best hockey player for 2021-2022.

Miss Dick was also presented with a hockey stick, while there was also a BBQ which was being operated by the students themselves.

At the Plaisance primary, the compound was filled with energetic and excited pupils jumping around while watching a dance performance by a group of some of their schoolmates, backed by a guest artist. Head teacher Therese Athanase said their celebration started on the Thursday with a gospel show, under the theme ‘Bondye Lanmour’ and ‘Les zanfan reste zanfan’.

The school also launched its house system which is made up of six colours, each bearing a bird’s name.

“We want to promote values at school level, and to imbed them into our students,” said Mrs Athanase.

On their part, the School for the Exceptional Child also arranged a few special activities with the help of national airline Air Seychelles as a patron of the school, under the initiative of the Ministry of Tourism’s ‘Lospitalite’ project.

Manager for Corporate Affairs at Air Seychelles, Louise Testa, said they decided to show their inclusion with the school by providing music and snacks for the children.

“We are planning to do many more activities for the school and this includes a new sponsorship to install a sensory room for those who are more hyper and also monetary donations which will materialise soon,” she added.  

The accompanying photos show some highlights of the activities at the Plaisance primary and secondary, Mont Fleuri secondary and the School for the Exceptional Child.

Diane Larame