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MBABANE – Usuthu Forest Academy has celebrated its first Founders Day event.

The event was held at the school in Mhlambanyatsi on Friday, to celebrate milestones of the school, including the pupils and teachers, past and present.

To celebrate the event, the pupils played games which include robe finding, where they had to search for missing robes around the premises to win.

According to the Executive Principal of the school, Gareth Allman, the event will now be hosted annually.

“I wish to thank our speakers, guests of honour, and parents who have taken the time to celebrate today with us. Why a Founder’s Day some might be wondering? Having a clear understanding of one’s history is important for context, understanding and respect. Legacy is fundamental to what it is to be human. Working within an environment that has rich legacy provides a strong sense of belonging and pride,” he said.

He said learning to value an organisation’s legacy helped build relationships and communities, and fostered belief in the capacity of the human spirit. Allman stated that this was the beginning of a few new meaningful traditions which would help merge the school as one.

“Having our AS pupils escort the lower grades down to their chairs helps nurture this sense of being one school. It was special to see the Grade 1s and AS students introducing themselves to one another during the practice yesterday morning. In a world filled with volatility, violence and famine, the nurturing of empathy should be explicitly and purposefully embedded in schools’ programmes. Schools are incubators of the world’s future global citizens, and it takes much more than outstanding academic results to create competent global citizen,” he said. Allman mentioned that the day served as a flintstone to spark the development of, or the galvanising of certain values, attributes and soft skills within the student body.

Acknowledge

He further mentioned that the ceremony was to acknowledge the school’s founders, and all its past and current staff members.

He said they also acknowledged the long service, and the longest serving members of the teaching faculty and members of the support staff faculty.

Furthermore, Allman mentioned that the younger grades were given the opportunity to write down what they would want to be in future and place it in a box which would be opened 10 years from now .

“They will be given these pages in 2032their IGCSE year, which will hopefully bring a smile to them and their parents at that time. Looking through their laminated sheets, we saw the predictable desired professions of doctor, lawyers, teacher etc. Interestingly though, just as a strong reminder of the digital era in which we live, some of them had professions such as You Tube developer and Tik Tok choreographer.

Our Grade I’s are certainly in tune with their world,” he said.

During the event, the principal unveiled three plaques which named three different areas of the school, thereby developing a sense of place, belonging, and acknowledgement.

According to him, these plaques named after the different executive principals was to show appropriation to them for their job well done in ensuring that the school was where it was.

He said it would also be a form of remembrance for everyone in the school.