A message from Amy Barnecutt, our outgoing CEO It is with mixed emotions that I am writing this farewell note as I leave APIE. 8 years ago, I started my APIE journey at Umubano Primary School. Over the years, working in partnership with Jean de Dieu, the headteacher, the school was named a 'Lead School for Peace', opened a lower secondary section (powered by solar), and welcomed many important guests including His Excellency the President of Rwanda. APIE has grown from supporting one school in Kigali to reaching over 50 schools and 16 teacher-training colleges across Rwanda (over 8000 beneficiaries!). We have created a reputation as a quality teacher training provider in Rwanda. In Kinyarwanda, we say 'Turi Kumwe' which means 'we are together'. As I remain in Rwanda supporting the education development sector, I look forward to continuing to engage with APIE and remain a supporter and cheerleader for their incredible work. With best wishes, Amy |
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Message from our Chair, Dr Sue Horner 2022 was an exciting year for APIE and we are grateful to you all for your interest and support. We have completed several influential projects, including our Early Childhood Education (EQUIP) project and participated in the Innovative Pedagogies Project, a multi-national research project into effective schooling which took place in 3 African countries. As Amy leaves us, we welcome Irene Connelly as CEO (previously our Director of Education) and Emmanuel Muvunyi who is in charge of operations and logistics. We also have Beth Smith in the UK and Emilie Munyakazi in Rwanda supporting all we do. We are delighted to have such a strong team and look forward to another exciting year. APIE's 2023-2025 strategic plan will continue to support Umubano Academy and also has some new ideas for APIE and I know the team will relish the opportunity to continue to contribute to raising the quality of education in Rwanda, and potentially beyond. We really appreciate your support and hope you enjoy reading about what we have been doing. Sue |
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Irene Connelly Chief Executive Officer, Rwanda Irene is passionate about supporting all learners to thrive and excel in a holistic
environment, driven by values and community. She has worked in education in the UK and a number of Sub-Saharan African countries, across all phases. After
graduating from the University of Glasgow with a MA degree she completed a PGCE in Secondary English teaching and, later, a MA (Ed) degree from the University of Chichester. She has extensive experience in teaching, school leadership, school improvement and transformation, teacher professional development, and in large-scale educational development projects. At APIE, Irene uses her energy, creativity and many years of experience in the international education space, to work together with the team, to maximise APIE’s positive impacts within the education sector |
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Emmanuel Muvunyi Chief Operations Officer, Rwanda Dr Emmanuel Muvunyi, EdD is currently the Chief Operations Officer of APIE. Prior to that, he was a freelance consultant in education. He held several roles in Rwanda’s Ministry of Education including: Executive Director of Rwanda’s Higher Education Council; head of the National Examinations agency; Executive Secretary of the Teachers Service Commission and Director General of the Student Financing Agency for Rwanda. He holds a Doctorate Degree in Education from the University of Sussex, a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Aberystwyth University (U.K) and a Bachelors Degree from Makerere University (Uganda). |
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Beth Smith Communications and Operations Manager, UK Beth joined APIE in November 2021. Prior to this she worked remotely for an NGO which supported street-connected children in Uganda to return to school. Previously, she has also worked as a secondary school teacher in the UK and in Vietnam after obtaining her Postgraduate Certificate in Education. Beth has volunteered with a variety of NGO's which support refugees and asylum seekers in France and the UK. Whilst working for APIE, Beth completed a part-time Masters at The University of Manchester in Humanitarianism and Conflict Response. |
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Emilie Munyakazi Project Officer, Rwanda Emilie has eight years of experience in Early Childhood Education and Teacher Professional Development. She is passionate about supporting children's holistic progress. She has a degree in finance and is currently pursuing her Masters in Business Administration from the University of East London. Emilie joined APIE in 2019 after having worked in Umubano Academy's Nursery classrooms from 2014. She started with APIE as an Administration and Translation Officer and has since become APIE's Project Officer. Emilie uses her language and communication skills to create content to support teachers engaging with APIE’s online courses. In addition, she facilitates and organises project activities, training sessions and the logistics of fieldwork. |
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Danae Jerrim Fundraiser (Consultant), UK Danae began working with APIE in 2019 and is based in Brighton. She has a MA in International Education and Development, a degree in Childhood and Youth; Theory and Practice as well as experience working in schools. Danae has visited Rwanda twice to carry out research on a creative arts teacher training programme at Umubano Academy. Danae specialises in grant writing and research for children and young people in the field of education. |
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Umubano Academy Students' Silent Art Auction! The students at Umubano Academy had a very creative 2022. Over last summer, the students worked with artists from Iteme Arts Space to create some amazing paintings reflecting the students' ideas of love, peace and nature. The students chose to auction these paintings in September to raise money for a new playground and sports equipment for Umubano Academy. A huge thank you from us and the students' at Umubano Academy to everyone who attended our Silent Art Auction and to Iteme Arts Space for supporting the students to create this amazing work. Thanks to you all we raised an incredible £1280! |
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National Examinations Well done to all of the students in Primary 6 and Secondary 3 who completed their national exams last summer.
The students received amazing results, with 25% of Primary 6 learners achieving the highest possible aggregate of 30 points and one Secondary 3 student scoring the maximum possible aggregate of 54 points! |
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Innovative Pedagogies Project
Alongside The Wellspring Foundation, we delivered the first and second policy dialogue for the Education Commission's Innovative Pedagogies Project last year. These events brought together educational leaders from across the country to collectively reflect on how inclusive, engaging and adaptive pedagogies are implemented in Rwanda. Since then, we have been working with schools in Rwanda to ensure that every child has access to an engaging and adaptive education. The main research and reporting stages for this project have been completed, however, APIE and The Wellspring Foundation continue to advocate for inclusive, engaging, adaptive pedagogies across the country. Watch the video below to hear more about the first policy dialogue and why the Innovative Pedagogies Project is so important. |
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Education for Positive Peace At the end of last year, APIE presented and celebrated the impact of the Education for Positive Peace (E4PP) outreach project. This course focussed on positive behaviour strategies, social and emotional learning and inclusion. Our findings show that E4PP had a huge impact on teachers' practices with 100% of trainee teachers now implementing an E4PP strategy in their classroom. This has led to an overall reduction in the use of corporal punishment and an increase in inclusive teaching methods. In total, over 5,000 beneficiaries engaged with this course, positively impacting over 22,000 children across the country 🌍 |
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The Big Give Christmas Challenge! Thank you to everyone who donated to the Big Give Christmas Challenge! Thanks to supporters like you, we raised an amazing £9,696! Although we didn't quite reach our target, we raised a generous amount of money which will go a long way towards providing children in Rwanda with an inclusive education at our partner centre of excellence, Umubano Academy. Every donation helps more children access quality education, through our scholarship programme, teacher training initiatives and special educational needs programme. By equipping these children with a quality, inclusive and holistic education you are helping to reduce poverty, improve health and promote gender equality and peace-building. Thank you! |
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Dreaming of a 2023 holiday? We are proud to be partnering with Charitable Travel, an award-winning social enterprise travel agent. They sacrifice part of their commission to allow you to support the causes you care about while you book the holidays of your dreams at prices you’ll love. Check them out here! |
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As always, we love to get feedback and hear ideas. If there is anything you want to let us know then please get in touch. |
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