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2002-2003 has been a
year of consolidation and groundwork for the next step in
the development of IPS.
We have committed ourselves
to becoming a member of an international school organisation,
CIS, Council of International Schools, and have begun the
process which being a member to such an organisation entails.
This has meant looking honestly at the school and seeing
where our strengths and weaknesses lie and seeing how we
can improve on them. One of the areas is the buildings and
the grounds. Building works such as the extension to the
PA; covering the mini theatre; additional paving stones
around the grounds (kindly donated by Rehm-Grinaker); an
emergency stair case from the hall down the back of the
administration building and extension to the roof of the
administration block - are all part of the groundwork necessary
to make the school ready for the accreditation inspection.
We have also invested in equipment for athletics and every
department of the school now has an internet connection.
The staff is looking
at and working on academic and whole school policy development.
They are very enthusiastic in this very demanding and exhaustive
endeavour. Together we have finalised the curriculum update.
I thank them all, with a special mention for Mrs. Ramgolam,
for the extra work this has implicated. We also have a number
of staff committees working on different school policies.
These policies need to be documented for future reference
for the school to be able to function efficiently whoever
may be at the helm. This is not to say that I intend to
leave. On the contrary, now that we have gone down the path
of accreditaion I need to put everything that is in my head
on paper. This is why members of staff are working with
me on finalising these whole school policies, as they will
be the ones to implement them. A joint effort by staff and
management will make for a happy and harmonious work place
and a feeling of appreciation to have been able to contribute
to the future of the school.
The new mathematics
scheme, demanding as it may seem to some, challenging to
others, has been taken on board enthusiastically by teachers
and pupils alike. Parents also seem very happy with it.
It is innovative and varied. I have had the opportunity
to teach some lessons myself and find it one of the most
stimulating and comprehensive schemes I have used.
A special mention for
our music teacher, Mrs Quevauvilliers, who has enthusiastically
resuscitated our music programme. The children's singing,
playing of the recorder and appreciation of music have improved
beyond my wildest expectations. I am proud to say that we
now have a school choir. They practise together once a week
but have quite a demanding range of songs and musical scores
to learn and practise during the week.
An innovation at the
school this year is the introduction of the annual art and
technology exhibition. We will hold it every year on Speech
Day. A big thank you to Mrs. Leung fo the dedication she
has shown to inspiring and encouraging the children to produce
work of an exceptionally high standard and organising the
exhibition.
I have been very fortunate
in having two former staff members come back to work at
IPS. Mrs. Vallet and Mrs. Currimjee have reintegrated the
school staff and at times, it feels as though they had never
left. As they have rejoined the staff, we have not needed
to train new staff and I was able to create the post of
deputy head ahead of schedule. This was very necessary,
as I need time to focus on the accreditation process. It
also gave me the opportunity to promote from within the
IPS staff. Mrs. Bigaignon is the deputy head and has more
than fulfilled the requirements of the very demanding job
description handed to her. Thank you Mrs. Bigaignon for
accepting the post and to the Board for their trust in me
in promoting one of the existing staff and not requiring
me to recruit from outside.
Members of staff are
either continuing with or completing professional development
in many varied fields. Ms. Bosquet is going to England in
the summer for the final modules of her Master's Degree
in International Education. Mrs. Ramgolam is also in the
final stages of her Master's Degree in International Education.
We had seven staff who did an intensive St. John Ambulance
first aid course. We now have qualified staff in first aid
to accompany all school outings. Ms. Gallet has completed
stage 1 of the Montessori correspondence course on Special
Educational Needs. The whole staff has also followed a workshop
on Organisational Skills for Students with Mrs.Maingard.
Other members of staff, Mrs. Heller and Mrs. Joseph, are
continuing with their correspondence courses. Not easy after
a long day at work to keep the motivation going. Keep it
up everyone we all appreciate your dedication and let us
not forget that it is the chool and the children who are
the beneficiaries of these efforts.
Our commitment to awareness
of and helping the community is an important part of IPS
life. The children have collected money and brought in clothes
and toys for many charities. They have also written stories
and poems and had discussions on their thoughts, fears and
anxieties of war and conflict. Through the class cake and
candy sales, each class chooses the charity they wish to
help. The beneficiaries this year, to name a few, have been
Grand Baie Watch, Association Maison du Bonheur in Baie
du Tombeau, the Vicariate de Rodrigues.
We have also had many
visitors to the school throughout the year. Some have been
ex-students and others in the field of education interested
in how an international prep school functions. We were also
honoured to have Mr. Jeff Scougall, the Australian High
Commissioner as our Guest Speaker for Speech Day.
The Board and myself
have also been looking at how we can expand the school not
only in size, to accommodate the many families we refuse
places to every year, purely due to lack of places available,
but also extra playing fields and facilities. We have been
fortunate in acquiring an extra two acres of land for our
very own new sports fields. These will be located next to
the Labourdonnais Shop. Work on this will start during the
school holidays.
The PA under the discreet
but very efficient leadership of Mrs. Smalberger has also
given me their full support in implementing a range of new
requirements, the main one being the stationery kits. Setting
this up and sourcing all the items was a monumental task.
I would like to thank Mrs. Betty de Comarmond and her team
for the time and energy spent dealing with this new facility.
The Yearbook preparation
and its publication were once again undertaken by Mrs. Melrose
and her committee. It is a very professional publication
and one that we can be proud of, Mrs. Melrose has also been
giving computer skills class to teachers and parents. Thank
you so much for sharing your time and expertise with us.
A new team is now taking
charge of the Publication committee and the change over
has been very smooth. Thank you Mrs. Summers and Mrs. Rousset.
My list of thank you's
could go on and on as there are many who help to make the
school the success it is today. So, a big thank you to all
I haven't mentioned by name.
Wishing you all happy
holidays and a well deserved rest.
Mrs. Ida R. Coombes
Head of School
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