Current developments in education on Tristan, including introductions from the new expat teaching staff.

Education Update, January 2017

St Mary's currently has twenty four pupils and another four pupils who are off island. The school continues to be led by its super head teacher Anne Green and her fantastic staff Sheila, Dilys, Julia, Renee and Sandra. St Mary's has also gained five expat teachers in a variety of roles and from a range of backgrounds. The 2016 academic year has just finished with a bang with the school raising an amazing one thousand pounds for Children in Need and putting on a wonderful Christmas production for the whole community. Congratulations to Leo Glass who has just taken his iGCSEs and left school to start his working career on Tristan.

New expat teachers on Tristan da Cunha, 2017
The new team of expat teachers. Left to right: Len Street, Carmen Ferreira, Mark Pearson, Victoria Stapleton, and Lamont Ferreira.

Expat Staff

An unprecedented five educations advisors joined the school on Tristan before Christmas, including a brother and sister. Here, they introduce themselves:

My name is Len Street and I have recently joined St Mary's School as the Geography teacher. Before coming to Tristan I 'learnt my trade' teaching secondary school geography in my hometown, a suburb of London before gaining my master's degree in Conservation. Since 2012 I have been engaged in a mixture of shorter term teaching and volunteer placements in parts of Britain, Scandinavia and Germany.

My role involves delivering iGCSE Geography as well as developing the Geography curriculum throughout the school. I am looking forward to planning and teaching some exciting lessons as well as offering my energy, enthusiasm and experience to staff, students and parents.

My name is Mark Pearson and I have been here since late August. I am primarily a Physics teacher, having worked in the UK for 20 years teaching Science and Physics. Prior to that I was employed by NatWest Bank for 17 years, leaving in 1995 as an Assistant Manager.

I teach Science and Mathematics to classes 4 and 5. My primary role is to help the three girls in class 5 to obtain the best possible IGCSE grades in May, promote Science practical work and provide any help or advice as required in terms of the delivery of the curriculum.

St Mary's School is a wonderful place to work! I find the students well motivated and the Staff friendly and supportive. Of course the pupil to teacher ratio allows a much more individual approach compared to the class sizes I am used to in the UK. A unique and rewarding opportunity where I feel I can really make a difference!

My name is Victoria Stapleton and I will be working with St Mary's as the Primary School Education Advisor for the next two years. I taught for five and a half years in Southampton in the UK before beginning my international career working in Egypt, St Helena and Malaysia in a variety of roles. Working on Tristan da Cunha became am ambition of mine after learning about the island working as Primary Advisor on St Helena. I was thrilled to be appointed and have really enjoyed my first term working with the children, staff and parents. My role is very varied but it is mainly about supporting the staff individually with their professional development and working with the primary staff as a group to facilitate any changes they feel will improve the curriculum. Everyone has been incredibly welcoming and I am very much looking forward to the next two years on Tristan.

My name is Carmen Ferreira and I am the Extra Curricular teacher at St Mary's School. I am a South African and I have been working and living in Cape Town for the last eight years. My background is based on outdoor commercial and industrial training of working at height with ropes. I have been involved with conservation work on Gough for the last four years and so I had already visited Tristan a few times before. Tristan for me has always had a very welcoming and homely feel so when a job opportunity came along I was very excited to pursue it. My role involves setting up Youth Club and establishing a foundation of outdoor activities for the children. This term, I have coordinated a few events including Halloween, Children in Need and the school play.

My name is Lamont Ferreira and I am very excited to be working at St Mary's as an English teacher for the next year. I've been teaching in Hangzhou China in a Cambridge International school and felt that I needed a break from China and experience a bit of peace and quiet on the beautiful Tristan da Cunha. I feel very privileged to be on Tristan and to be part of a great team at St Mary's to make a difference in the school and prepare some of the students for their GCSE's that they will be taking in May 2017. Tristan has been a very pleasant and welcoming experience so far and I am very intrigued by the history and traditions of the island. It is an amazing and beautiful island and the people are very kind and warm hearted. I am very much looking forward to the next year and all the challenges that it might present.

Island Staff

St Mary's continues to be led by Anne Green who will sadly be retiring in 2017. Playgroup is taught by Miss Shelia, Class 1 by Miss Dilys, Class 2 by Miss Julia, Class 3 by Miss Anne, and Class 4 and 5 jointly between Miss Renee, Mr Mark, Mr Lamont and Mr Len. Miss Carmen is currently leading games across the school as well as conservation activities. Miss Renee is the examination and Class 4 teacher. Miss Sandra is the librarian. The local staff also take other classes for lessons from time to time, but not as regularly now that the new teachers are here.

Upcoming iGCSEs

In May/April 2017, Rhyanna, Janice and Jade will be taking their iGCSE English Literature, English Language, Maths, Science and Geography exams. Kaitlyn will also be taking her exams but later in the year in November. Rhyanna, Janice and Jade will then be travelling to the UK to continue their education at Peter Symmons College in Winchester. Everyone at school and on the island is very proud of the four girls and wish them luck in their exam preparation.