Mr Chairman, Honourable Guests, Local Chiefs,
School Director of Education, Headmaster, Awutu Winton SHS and EDP Staff,
Trustees, Parents, Graduates and Pupils - Aquaaba!
It is with enormous pleasure that, on behalf of my wife, and the other Trustees of EDP that I can once again address you all on this, the first term of our 8th year as a fully functioning school, and the fifth anniversary of Graduation at Awutu -Winton SHS. Our congratulations to all the students for such a fine result!
In addition, we are fortunate to have in our midst once again fellow EDP Trustee and generous supporter of the school: Mr Nick Robertson, and his father-in-law Dr Graham Balin who has again made the journey from the UK specifically to implement a medical health check on all our new pupils.
We also welcome for their second visit , our good friends and supporters, Mr and Mrs Luke and Dawn Rose, and, for their first visit to Ghana, although not to West Africa: Mr Peter Hopkins and Mrs Angela Reckitt.
In the approximately 9 years since EDP came together with AWSHS through the good offices of Mr Peter Donkor, we have seen substantial progress at the school, and I am delighted to be able to officially announce that Peter has now taken up a full-time position as Director of Education. Peter’s new role is assisting in taking the hard work that has been done by management and staff to date at the school to a new level as we seek to maintain the steady rise in standards. Our aim remains undimmed – we want Awutu Winton SHS to be amongst the best performing secondary schools in the whole of Ghana!!
As many of you will be aware, EDP is a UK based charity set up primarily to raise funds via donations and charitable appeals to maintain AWSHS, which is also registered as a charity in Ghana, and to ensure adherence to the founding principle of the school which is:
“To create and maintain a high quality secondary school which is free of fees, equal in its admissions policy, secular in its outlook, and ambitious for its future, and for its pupils!” With these fine sentiments ringing in our ears in the past I have been minded to quote the Irish /American philosopher Thomas Paine who said:
The world is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion”.
“Our Fathers brought forth on this continent, a nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” These combined sentiments form the basis of our belief in AWSHS. We are striving to create a centre of excellence in education, and equal opportunity for both boys and girls, to make their way in life, and to boost the economy and society of Ghana, a country which leads by example in Africa in its commitment to democracy and free speech.
Sometimes we might not like what we hear or read, of corruption, of inefficiency and of greed, but the power of democracy allows the voices of opposition to be heard and to encourage change and development. We see our school at the cutting edge of this philosophy; we want to push out old ideals of inefficiency and to help break the poverty cycle by educating our children to go out and make a success of their lives, for them, and for their families.
With these thoughts ringing in our ears, today we welcome the honourable representatives of the Ghana Education Service as EDP and GES forge ever stronger bonds between us. Our team of teachers under Headmaster Mr Seth is now stronger than ever and our thanks goes out to all teaching and support staff who have helped to ensure the success of this year’s graduates. In addition, our thanks go also to all the volunteers who have helped to keep the EDP office and the school’s infrastructure going so well. We would like to give special thanks to Will and Miguel, and to Matt and Tom for all their hard work this year.
Demand for places at the school continues to grow annually. This year we gave out nearly 1500 application forms, had over 600 sitting entrance exams, for the lucky 164 of you that have been awarded a place. This is your chance to make a success of your education and your future working life - my advice is to grasp it firmly with both hands and take advantage of everything that Awutu-Winton has on offer to help you in your path to future success!!
As a result, the school has now reached, and even slightly exceeded, its planned capacity of 480 students and it’s now down to you, the pupils, to ensure that the schools success is continued.In the last 12 months EDP has focused on the workings of the school and ensuring that its infrastructure continues to develop.
I think most of you are aware that in order to ensure that the school is secure and its utilities and buildings properly maintained ALL costs money! EDP is responsible for ensuring that the hostels and catering work efficiently, as well as the constant need to upgrade the facilities of the school - this year we have extended the sports field, are installing a substantial perimeter fence, have built staff and visitor toilets, and are about to develop the science and IT labs further, as well as aiming to create a school farm in 2018.
We are in partnership with GES who provide us with our motivated team of teachers to keep the curriculum alive and moving forward, but the cost involved in keeping this infrastructure going to support around 550 people are substantial. Most of this money which EDP raises currently come from outside Ghana, and, thanks to the generous support of Nick Robertson many of you here today have been able to directly assist in raising much of the funding required to run the school over the next 12 months by doing the Great Winton Ghana run last Saturday.
On behalf of EDP I thank all of you who participated; you are to be congratulated and should feel proud to be contributing so well to the school in this way. It’s your school and its success depends on how hard everyone, both pupils and staff, work to achieve high standards.
So, may I conclude with a message to all Students: Awutu-Winton is here for you, it is now down to you to ensure you are a credit to its name and to yourselves so you can maintain the tradition shown by this year’s successful Graduates.
To our Graduates – well done and now go forth into the world and do yourselves , your families and your school proud !
Thank you. Medaase paa
It is with enormous pleasure that, on behalf of my wife, and the other Trustees of EDP that I can once again address you all on this, the first term of our 8th year as a fully functioning school, and the fifth anniversary of Graduation at Awutu -Winton SHS. Our congratulations to all the students for such a fine result!
In addition, we are fortunate to have in our midst once again fellow EDP Trustee and generous supporter of the school: Mr Nick Robertson, and his father-in-law Dr Graham Balin who has again made the journey from the UK specifically to implement a medical health check on all our new pupils.
We also welcome for their second visit , our good friends and supporters, Mr and Mrs Luke and Dawn Rose, and, for their first visit to Ghana, although not to West Africa: Mr Peter Hopkins and Mrs Angela Reckitt.
In the approximately 9 years since EDP came together with AWSHS through the good offices of Mr Peter Donkor, we have seen substantial progress at the school, and I am delighted to be able to officially announce that Peter has now taken up a full-time position as Director of Education. Peter’s new role is assisting in taking the hard work that has been done by management and staff to date at the school to a new level as we seek to maintain the steady rise in standards. Our aim remains undimmed – we want Awutu Winton SHS to be amongst the best performing secondary schools in the whole of Ghana!!
As many of you will be aware, EDP is a UK based charity set up primarily to raise funds via donations and charitable appeals to maintain AWSHS, which is also registered as a charity in Ghana, and to ensure adherence to the founding principle of the school which is:
“To create and maintain a high quality secondary school which is free of fees, equal in its admissions policy, secular in its outlook, and ambitious for its future, and for its pupils!” With these fine sentiments ringing in our ears in the past I have been minded to quote the Irish /American philosopher Thomas Paine who said:
The world is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion”.
“Our Fathers brought forth on this continent, a nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” These combined sentiments form the basis of our belief in AWSHS. We are striving to create a centre of excellence in education, and equal opportunity for both boys and girls, to make their way in life, and to boost the economy and society of Ghana, a country which leads by example in Africa in its commitment to democracy and free speech.
Sometimes we might not like what we hear or read, of corruption, of inefficiency and of greed, but the power of democracy allows the voices of opposition to be heard and to encourage change and development. We see our school at the cutting edge of this philosophy; we want to push out old ideals of inefficiency and to help break the poverty cycle by educating our children to go out and make a success of their lives, for them, and for their families.
With these thoughts ringing in our ears, today we welcome the honourable representatives of the Ghana Education Service as EDP and GES forge ever stronger bonds between us. Our team of teachers under Headmaster Mr Seth is now stronger than ever and our thanks goes out to all teaching and support staff who have helped to ensure the success of this year’s graduates. In addition, our thanks go also to all the volunteers who have helped to keep the EDP office and the school’s infrastructure going so well. We would like to give special thanks to Will and Miguel, and to Matt and Tom for all their hard work this year.
Demand for places at the school continues to grow annually. This year we gave out nearly 1500 application forms, had over 600 sitting entrance exams, for the lucky 164 of you that have been awarded a place. This is your chance to make a success of your education and your future working life - my advice is to grasp it firmly with both hands and take advantage of everything that Awutu-Winton has on offer to help you in your path to future success!!
As a result, the school has now reached, and even slightly exceeded, its planned capacity of 480 students and it’s now down to you, the pupils, to ensure that the schools success is continued.In the last 12 months EDP has focused on the workings of the school and ensuring that its infrastructure continues to develop.
I think most of you are aware that in order to ensure that the school is secure and its utilities and buildings properly maintained ALL costs money! EDP is responsible for ensuring that the hostels and catering work efficiently, as well as the constant need to upgrade the facilities of the school - this year we have extended the sports field, are installing a substantial perimeter fence, have built staff and visitor toilets, and are about to develop the science and IT labs further, as well as aiming to create a school farm in 2018.
We are in partnership with GES who provide us with our motivated team of teachers to keep the curriculum alive and moving forward, but the cost involved in keeping this infrastructure going to support around 550 people are substantial. Most of this money which EDP raises currently come from outside Ghana, and, thanks to the generous support of Nick Robertson many of you here today have been able to directly assist in raising much of the funding required to run the school over the next 12 months by doing the Great Winton Ghana run last Saturday.
On behalf of EDP I thank all of you who participated; you are to be congratulated and should feel proud to be contributing so well to the school in this way. It’s your school and its success depends on how hard everyone, both pupils and staff, work to achieve high standards.
So, may I conclude with a message to all Students: Awutu-Winton is here for you, it is now down to you to ensure you are a credit to its name and to yourselves so you can maintain the tradition shown by this year’s successful Graduates.
To our Graduates – well done and now go forth into the world and do yourselves , your families and your school proud !
Thank you. Medaase paa
No comments:
Post a Comment