Celebrating World Teachers Day

What is World Teachers day?

In 1966 the ILO/UNESCO Recommendation Concerning the Status of Teachers was adopted which sets out benchmarks regarding the rights and responsibilities of teachers and standards for their initial preparation and further education, recruitment, employment, and teaching and learning conditions.

The Sustainable Development Goal 4 on education, and the dedicated target (SDG 4.c) recognized teachers as key to the achievement of the Education 2030 agenda. World Teachers Day has become the occasion to mark progress and reflect on ways to counter the remaining challenges for the promotion of the teaching profession.

World Teachers Day is celebrated on the 5th October every year and is brought to you in partnership with UNICEF, the International Labour Organization and Education International.

Here is a short video explaining more about what World Teachers Day is:

Why it’s important to us

The Steve Sinnott Foundation has been committed to developing and supporting teachers from the start.

Our very first project was building schools in Nepal’s Palpa District with Manisha UK, and since then we have enabled Manisha Nepal to develop an annual teacher training programme tailored to the needs of the schools and region. The programme offers continued support throughout the school year via the placement of volunteer senior teachers and Newly Qualified Teachers.

We have delivered programmes hosting groups of teachers from Sierra Leone in the UK for teacher training and professional development. We worked with EducAid so that the teachers have then been able to deliver the same programmes to their colleagues in Sierra Leone.

We have opened Learning Resource Centres in Haiti, Nepal and we are currently opening one in The Gambia later this year. These centres provide teaching and learning resources to support the local teachers, online and remote learning facilities, offer support and sharing of learning and expertise. They provide access to a global support structure where practical knowledge can be pooled, challenges can be discussed and solutions can be shared.

Working with teachers in Ghana, we supported the development of the ‘A Big Book’ project – a partnership between the Ghana Education Service, and the UK based Educators International. This project provided, in Ghana’s Northern Region, bilingual early-grade reading materials developed by Ghanaian teachers. We are continuing working in partnership with Cuban and Haitian teachers to develop and disseminate a literacy programme in Haitian Kreyòl in Haiti.

Our Chief Executive, Ann Beatty is the UNESCO ASPnet co-ordinator for the UK and through this network of over 11,000 schools worldwide we are continuing to promote global learning and access to Education For All. Being part of this community allows the Foundation to encourage children to learn about and understand different cultures; promote critical thinking, teach campaigning skills and help them to get actively involved in working to extend the benefits of education to everybody.

World Teachers Day is an opportunity for communities to celebrate and support how the work of teachers is changing the world for the better.

How will you celebrate World Teachers Day?

The theme for the 2020 World Teachers Day is “Teachers: Leading in crisis, reimagining the future”. For us this highlights an essential point about the role of teachers in the world and why we are working to support them.

Right now, we are supporting teachers in The Gambia through our project with the Gambia Teachers Union to deliver solar radios to students throughout the rural areas. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, lessons are being broadcast through radio, but many children lack access to radios and have limited access to power. By delivering solar powered radios we have enabled over 3,800 children and teachers to access education in The Gambia during the pandemic so far.

We are about to start our new Positive Periods campaign. This has been the result of 2 years of pilot research and will enable teachers to learn about periods and how to make reusable sanitary pads so that they can teach students in their schools as well as community members about managing periods so that girls can continue to go to school and not miss up to a quarter of their education because they lack any means of managing periods and the stigma attached to them.

We are delighted to be able to share a wonderful poem composed and read by one of our ambassadors Sovel Cunningham of Quiet Mind Poetry which you can see below. This poem transports us back to our first day at school, and invites us to think about the changes we go through from year to year. More of Sovels work can be found here https://www.justbeingme.life/

Please leave a comment below to tell us what you are doing to celebrate World Teachers Day on the 5^th October 2020.

You can find out more about the day here: https://en.unesco.org/commemorations/worldteachersday

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The Steve Sinnott Foundation • October 2, 2020

Reflecting on 2024!

By Ann Beatty • January 1, 2025

As 2024 draws to a close, I have been reflecting on some of our achievements and some of the challenges, thankfully there have been more achievements to celebrate. We celebrated 15 years of the Foundations work and it has been heartening to reflect on how far we have come in terms of expanding our reach and supporting more partners on the ground to achieve incredible work. You can catch up on our latest news here Engage 29. We are enthused by the energy and commitment of all our partners on the ground who delivered inspirational projects in 2024, in Cuba, Ghana, The Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Haiti, Nepal, Sierra Leone and South Africa. Educators who are ensuring that colleagues are benefiting from quality CPD and are equipped to prevent gender-based violence in the classrooms and their communities and ensuring Education for All is a top priority. I am grateful for the amazing team of staff, partners, ambassadors, volunteers and our trustees who keep us going in the right direction. A special thank you to Mary Sinnott who is my mentor and keeps me grounded through the challenges. I am also extremely grateful for all of our donors and fundraisers who make our work possible, as without the funds it would be impossible. It was amazing to see how many of you bought a charity gift over the festive season for a friend or loved one and I hope you will continue to consider giving the gift of education in 2025, it can be a great gift at any time of the year. Just before Christmas I came down with a horrible bug and it was during the week of our Education for All Exhibition and Pop Up and I want to thank everyone who kept it going, whilst I rested and recovered, it made me remember how lucky I am to have such a great team supporting the Foundation. I would like to thank you all personally for being part of our community and supporting access to education for all children everywhere. You can also watch our highlights of 2024 in a short video here. I wish you and your families a peaceful, healthy and hopeful 2025. Best wishes Ann

Soroptimist Conference 2024

By Jane Slatter • November 10, 2024

On Friday (1st November), of conference it was dedicated to Education – the first “E” of the theme Education, Empowerment, Enable. Ann Beatty is the Chief Executive of the Steve Sinnott Foundation (SSF) and was one of the key speakers at the conference. The focus is on education as a human right for all. I’m proud to write this blog on Ann Beatty’s talk at the SIGBI Conference because Ann is a member of my Club – Soroptimist International St Albans & District . Ann spoke from the heart with warmth and passion for the work of SSF, as she always does – earning the support and engagement of this large audience of Soroptimists. Ann started by thanking Soroptimists who have already supported her and the Steve Sinnott Foundation. The reason for the link with Soroptimists is clear – United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 (UN SDG 4) “to ensure that everyone has access to quality education and lifelong learning opportunities” is so important because it is the enabler for all the other SDG’s. She asked us some questions using “Slido” the interactive audience engagement tool: “How many adults lack basic literacy skills?” – answer 765 million “How many children don’t go to school?” – – answer 360 million These statistics are shocking, the impact on girls means they have no prospects and are often married off very young. UNESCO says the world needs 44 million more teachers to achieve the SDG 4 goal of universal primary and secondary education by 2030. The SSF works with educators and to prove her point Ann got us all to share positive memories of learning with the person sitting next to us – many indicated a teacher who had influenced them. The memories were written on the silhouette of the figure of a girl. The SSF connects learners across the world with technology appropriate for their location – flexibility, simplicity and affordability is essential. Ann then spoke about the Positive Periods Project https://www.stevesinnottfoundation.org.uk/projects – learning how to make reusable sanitary pads using locally sourced materials is a skill for life. The products are sustainable, affordable, comfortable and give the girls and women independence. The charity works with people on the ground – training many thousands of women now in countries like Gambia, Sierra Leone, Cuba, Haiti, Malawi, Uganda – learning how to manage periods with dignity. They are then able to train others. While the young women have been learning and making the pads, dialogue has started around violence against women and girls which has also now been built into learning programs. A message Ann was keen to get across was for people to “STOP SENDING STUFF” – always ask “what do you need?” – there is so much waste.

Walking for Education For All

By Nicolet Nguyen & Becky Brace • October 24, 2024

We both love London and walking, and this year, in honor of The Steve Sinnott Foundation's 15th Anniversary we have decided to embark on this journey. We planned to complete the 10KM walk along the river Thames, passing by many iconic London attractions on the way. We wanted to raise funds, and awareness, to ensure that every child worldwide, can have the opportunity to go to school, as well as adults too. It was an amazing experience and we enjoyed each other's company on luckily a very sunny day! “Since working for the Foundation I have witnessed firsthand the impact it has in supporting young people develop essential life skills by working to ensure provision of quality education for all children worldwide. The ripple effect of this education is truly remarkable as students go on to empower and educate others.” - Nicolet “I’ve been friends with Nicolet since we were kids, and I appreciate her and support her in any way that I can! She does amazing work for the Steve Sinnott Foundation and I want to be able to support her in this as well. A sponsored walk would not only be something we can accomplish together, but the fact that our efforts could go some way to making a difference for children around the world made it very worthwhile.” - Becky