Highlights: August-September 2020
Home learning With closures ongoing, it is encouraging to see that some schools have moved to hard copy home learning - an approach The Island Foundation adopted early on as we recognise the barriers many children living in small island communities face in accessing online learning. As the doubling up of home learning can lead to unnecessary pressures on students and their parents, we are taking a case-by-case approach to home learning so we can remain flexible and are adaptable to our students' situations. For example, at several of our Learning Centres, teachers are working with students in small groups (following Covid-19 protocols) to complete home learning projects, while others continue to work independently at home. As a community-based organisation and program, it is important that we are responsive to our students' and communities' needs.
Distributing learning materials
Throughout August and September, The Island Foundation distributed essential learning materials to our 248 students across eight small island communities.
The materials included writing and drawing books, pencils, pens, rulers and erasers. For our students, the colour pencils were definitely a highlight! Many students do not own colouring pencils and it was great to add some joy to a challenging year.
World Clean Up Day 2020
Our team in Indonesia has been participating in regular beach clean ups, including World Clean Up Day 2020. It is exciting to see awareness about waste management and environmental protection growing among our partner communities, and to have more people participating in the clean ups!
Internet and computer skills
We are piloting the installation of computers and the internet at two of our Learning Centres - Kelong and Tenggel. Watch our latest video here:
Teacher Yeni
In this edition of the TIF newsletter, we are excited to introduce Teacher Yeni..!
Yeni is from Medan, North Sumatra, and has been working with The Island Foundation as a teacher for three years this September. Happy work anniversary, Yeni!
After finishing school, Yeni went on to an undergraduate degree in English Language Studies. Being an industrious young person, Yeni worked part time during her studies as a public school administrator in Medan.
When she completed her degree, Yeni set off to the Riau Islands in search of full time work.
Looking for full time teaching roles can be difficult in Indonesia, and decent pay can be hard to come by, so Yeni started applying for alternative roles.
One of those roles was with Nikoi Private Island - when human resources saw Yeni's background in teaching, her resume was forwarded on to The Island Foundation and she has been with us ever since.
Yeni feels very grateful to have found The Island Foundation - not only has she received training and professional development opportunities, Yeni is passionate about the program, particularly the curriculum and our approach to childhood learning. With experience working with the public school sector, Yeni can see the uniqueness of learning opportunities offered by The Island Foundation.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Yeni returned to Medan and has been working from home since March. She misses the students and her team mates, especially getting together over a meal and learning together. Even so, Yeni is making the most of working from home and is continuing to learn - this time about program administration.
We're very happy to be a apart of Yeni's progression and unfolding, and we look forward to having her back on the ground soon!