A happy, safe environment
At SEP, we care deeply about the health, safety and happiness of our students. We aim to make our environment feel more like a family than a school.
A lot of our students come from homes with incomplete family structures and many are facing extreme poverty, with family members therefore working very long hours (including the children, who often go out to sell items after school). This means that important aspects of healthcare can be overlooked, as well as the equally important aspect of time spent together.
The teachers at our Happy School, led by our headteacher Emmanuel’s huge, caring heart, look out for their students’ wellbeing and happiness as well as their academic achievements.
After school and at weekends, the school yard is filled with students who stay around to spend time with their teachers.
Here are some ways we support students to stay healthy, safe and happy:
Free school meals for all students
Mike and Emmanuel’s mum, Comfort, cooks delicious and nutritious food for our students every day. Their sister, Bless, is a trained nutritionist and supports the menu development to ensure that its healthy and balanced (see, it really is a family affair). This is one of the most important things we do; without it, many families wouldn’t send their children to school because they’d have them out working to earn money for their food.
Access to safe drinking water
We have clean water pumped into the school, meaning students can avoid the unhealthy mains water.
Free uniforms
All schools in Ghana have uniforms, and this can be one of the most prohibitive costs for families. We provide completely free uniforms for students, and we replace them as the children grow or the uniforms wear out.
Free medical insurance for students
We pay for each student’s annual medical insurance card so that when they get sick, they’re able to access healthcare and medication at any time.
A monthly health visitor
Every month, a nurse visits the school to assess the children, checking for things like malaria, worms and other common ailments.
Community health-awareness campaigns
We hold regular parent meetings to pass on information and raise awareness about hygiene and health issues. Sometimes, the students perform plays around these issues for the community and create posters to display around the school.
During the recent Covid-19 pandemic, our founder, Mike, visited many of the families at their homes to explain the importance of hygiene and hand-washing.
A safe, secure site
We want our students to feel safe when they come to school, so every effort is taken to ensure that our school site is secure for the children to learn and play in.