A very happy New Year to you all.
A new year gives us the opportunity to reflect on our successes from the past 12 months and to look forward to the work ahead. 2018 was a busy year, I would like to take the time to thank you all for supporting myself and Peter Colenso as we became PEAS CEO and chair of trustees respectively.
Some highlights from the year…
2018 marked the ten year anniversary of PEAS’ first schools – Onwards & Upwards and Forest High School. It also saw the launch of PEAS Kampinda Secondary school in Zambia’s Northern Province, offering completely free education for day students. I am incredibly proud of what PEAS has achieved so far. We have over 16,000 students across 31 schools. Our external evaluation data shows that PEAS students are poorer and do worse in their primary school leaving exams than students in other types of school. But, when they reach PEAS schools, they catch up with their peers and make faster learning progress.
At PEAS we have a strong belief that teachers and school leaders are the spark for change. Our school staff will be leading our efforts to develop exceptional pedagogy inspired by the culture and communities in which we work. Beyond creating outstanding school networks, we will be continually learning and sharing our expertise in secondary school management to support wider improvements in education systems around the world. With 10 years of experience and expertise in secondary education and through our pioneering Co-Impact work, we will be collaborating with other educators to improve the accessibility and quality of education for tens of thousands of non-PEAS students.
As we look forward to the year ahead and the run up to another academic year, we wish all of our schools good luck. 2019 will see the launch of our fourth school in Zambia, PEAS Kabuta Secondary School in the Mungwi district, and we’re so pleased to welcome these new teachers and students to the PEAS family! It takes a large team to drive progress across our network and they all do it tirelessly in pursuit of our mission. I am sure you will all join me in thanking them for all their hard work over 2018 and to thank all of you for supporting them.
I look forward to continuing to update you all on the fantastic work that PEAS is doing in 2019 via this website and through our quarterly newsletter.
