14th June 2010
Dear Parents/Guardians,
The end of the year is fast approaching. The year 13s have finished their exams and graduated. We had a couple of firsts on Graduation Day, the skies opened for an hour delaying the start! I am told that this the first time that is has rained on Graduation day but in Africa rain is always a blessing so I think it bodes well for our students! In addition we were delighted to welcome Dr Nicholas Westcott the British Ambassador to Togo, again I believe that it is the first time that the British Ambassador has attended the ceremony.
It was a wonderful day ended by the 2010 Prom at the Sarakawa. The students all looked wonderful, they have really become young men and women to be proud of.
The Year 11s are also just finishing their exams and many of them have left this weekend. Some will return to us in August to take their IB Diploma and others will move off into the world, many to the UK to join top independent schools there for example Malvern and Badminton Colleges.
In the forms, the lower years have also just sat their end of year exams and Primary has just seen the Portfolio afternoon where the children present their work to their parents. All of you will know the activity which has been going on recently at school, visits to the Mercy Ship, University talks, International Sports weekends, Language Day. The list goes on and on! The amount and variety of activity offered by the school to students is fantastic. These activities enrich and extend classroom learning and though it our students gain valuable insights and experience.
On a less happy note, many of you are aware of the extremely serious financial difficulties that the school has been through in the last four or five years. These resulted in The Parents Association of The British School of Lomé taking over the running and management of the school two years ago. The Association has been able to put the school onto a more steady footing however the school still needs to make major changes in its operation in order to secure its long term future. Unfortunately this means that the school has had to start a program of redundancy amongst its workers. Over the last few years, the number of teaching staff has steadily been reduced and now the school has to look at its non academic staff. The Board of Governors is now in discussions with the Workers Representatives about this process. While redundancies are never easy or pleasant, these changes are vital if the school wishes to last another 27 years and to have the capital to invest in the infrastructure and facilities to remain as the leading International School in West Africa.
I would like to confirm the arrangements for the exam of term.
The Primary School works as normal until the last day Thursday 24th June. The Secondary School has a slightly altered program with Tuesday 22nd being an Environmental Action Day, students will be working on different projects through the day for example tree planting and creating recycling bins. Wednesday 23rd will be the Activities Day, which had to be postponed from Friday 4th due to the rain. In the evening there will be a dance production by the students. It starts at 7pm and all students are welcome. Thursday 24th is the last day of school and also Honours Day. The Primary School will start at 8.30am until 9.30 and then the Secondary School will be from 10.30am until 12. All parents are welcome to join us for the special celebration of achievement and success. Students are free to leave from 12.30pm. Any parents of a boarding student who hasn’t yet made travel arrangement for the end of term for their child are reminded to contact Ms Creppy as soon as possible to book them into the school flight.
Yours sincerely,
Helen Brocklesby
Helen Brocklesby
Headteacher |
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