September 2013 saw the hiring of three new teachers with HTC (Higher Teaching) qualification, to comply with our new Secondary School status.
Isata Kanneh has taken over Class 1, following the sudden and unexpected death of Abie Weisman. Isata’s forté is Home Economics which she teaches to the junior part of the Primary School and also to Junior Secondary School (JSS).
OAKS has just paid to furnish a practical room with 10 large work tables and 40 chairs. During the next few weeks Isata will be purchasing all the equipment required for both cooking and sewing. The money has been transferred to our bursar Mr Rey Jarrett, who will ensure Isata produces a receipt for everything!
Patrick Gobba has become our first JSS tutor. He is responsible for Maths and Science. A most welcome addition to our staff, good maths teachers are hard to find. Our last maths appointment only lasted a term, it became very clear very quickly that despite good paper qualifications he was certainly not up to the job.
Our third teacher, Francis Rogers. He’s responsible for Social Studies and he is also an Agriculturalist. He’s extremely enthusiastic and a very competent teacher. He’s started an after school club known as ‘The OAKS Kids Right’s Focus Club’, its motto ‘ Voice for the Voiceless’. He’s hoping to register with World Vision, an NGO, to support their efforts.
All three appointments have settled well into school life and are now proving to be a solid part of our effective teaching team.
During the summer vacation in August 2014 we hired a new member of staff, Bassie, for JSS 2, ready to start work in September. He’s a well qualified good all rounder, supporting mainly English, but also a good mathematician. Although OAKS has been closed he’s joined our team, planned his lessons, liaised with departments and got to know his colleagues.
They’re all keen to start work at the end of March. We look forward to meeting him on our next visit.