Name: Audrey Tamtam
Title: Academic Manager
DOB: 16/04/1993
Gender: Female
Village & Island: Ranputor Village, South Pentecost
Educational Background
My educational journey began at the top of Kawenu overlooking the still lagoon near the Vila harbour. My mother was a lecturer at the Teachers’ College (now known as Vanuatu Institute of Teacher Education), so I spent my childhood days there where my family lived. I attended Kawenu Primary School, which was just a short walk from home, from 1997 to 2004.
My mother was my main advocate who encouraged and supported me in my education. I went on to Central Junior Secondary School to do year 7 to 10 and then passed to Malapoa College and did year 11 and 12. I was very passionate about my academic work and strived hard for excellence in my performance. However during my senior years at Malapoa, I was affected by some family issues imposing psychological effects which affected my academic performance. By then, my mother was working at the University of the South Pacific (USP) as an English tutor, so she had me register there where I did my preliminary, foundation and hundred level course units in the commerce program (majoring in Accounting and Economics). After three years at USP, I went abroad to Australia in 2014 and resided at Dromana, Victoria State with family friends. Every day I travelled to Chisholm Institute of TAFE, Dandenong which was 2 hours and 30 minutes by bus. Following the great support from my family in Australia, I was able to return back to Vanuatu at the end of 2014 with a Diploma of Accounting. Last year 2017, I decided to continue my Bachelor program in Commerce including the Graduate Certificate of Education at USP to support my teaching career.
Work Experience
Growing up I was passionate about taking part in community and church programs, so I had some work experiences in the community as a young teen. I was also involved in teaching Sunday school. Today I continue to assist in organising church and community youth events and programs. This is how I have developed most of my talents and skills.
My first official work experience was with an organisation in Australia. I volunteered at St Vincent de Paul’s shop in Rosebud, Victoria for a period of seven months. St Vincent de Paul is a Catholic charity organisation raising support funds for the homeless, refugees, migrants and other disadvantage groups in society. My different roles and responsibilities in the shop included providing customer service, processing sales, re-stocking, stock preparation and store housekeeping. It was a great and marvelous experience.
Returning to Vanuatu, I took up a position as an Accounting Teacher at Malapoa College in March 2015, meaning this year is my fourth year teaching at the school. Each year is exciting as it gives me more opportunities to develop and learn. It is always fascinating to work with students and seeing their amazing abilities and talents.
VLSSS Experience
I first heard about VLSSS through my cousin and niece, Donalyn Tamtam and Sabrina Matan, who were past students of the program. They shared their experiences and how they enjoyed the summer school. I didn’t know I was going to be part of the January 2018 teaching team until I saw a flyer advertising for teachers at the USP Emalus Campus. I thought to myself why not! It should be an exciting experience. It has always been my passion to see students learn and knowing the future is bright for them when nurtured in the right way. Fortunately, I was one of the successful applicants.
Being at the summer school was an amazing experience! It expanded my horizons for many things. Seeing how VLSSS is run and how supportive the management team is was an inspiration and an invaluable experience for me. The vision and aims are reflected in its unique curriculum, its excellent classroom activities, and drama night performances. In addition, there are other brilliant programs such as using of star points to boost student performance and confidence and positive reinforcement by teachers. Teaching new skills and seeing the students grow through this program is just remarkable. VLSSS is a program supporting students not only to learn but also become innovators of new ideas and confident individuals.
As the Academic Manager, I am honoured to be part of the VLSSS management team and to be able to be part of the development plans of the organisation. I will do my absolute best to ensure VLSSS has an excellent academic program to develop academic performance, problem-solving skills and creativity. I want to see our students exceed in their education and become dynamic leaders of our country! I would like to see VLSSS develop to new arenas and extend to other islands of Vanuatu.
Title: Academic Manager
DOB: 16/04/1993
Gender: Female
Village & Island: Ranputor Village, South Pentecost
Educational Background
My educational journey began at the top of Kawenu overlooking the still lagoon near the Vila harbour. My mother was a lecturer at the Teachers’ College (now known as Vanuatu Institute of Teacher Education), so I spent my childhood days there where my family lived. I attended Kawenu Primary School, which was just a short walk from home, from 1997 to 2004.
My mother was my main advocate who encouraged and supported me in my education. I went on to Central Junior Secondary School to do year 7 to 10 and then passed to Malapoa College and did year 11 and 12. I was very passionate about my academic work and strived hard for excellence in my performance. However during my senior years at Malapoa, I was affected by some family issues imposing psychological effects which affected my academic performance. By then, my mother was working at the University of the South Pacific (USP) as an English tutor, so she had me register there where I did my preliminary, foundation and hundred level course units in the commerce program (majoring in Accounting and Economics). After three years at USP, I went abroad to Australia in 2014 and resided at Dromana, Victoria State with family friends. Every day I travelled to Chisholm Institute of TAFE, Dandenong which was 2 hours and 30 minutes by bus. Following the great support from my family in Australia, I was able to return back to Vanuatu at the end of 2014 with a Diploma of Accounting. Last year 2017, I decided to continue my Bachelor program in Commerce including the Graduate Certificate of Education at USP to support my teaching career.
Work Experience
Growing up I was passionate about taking part in community and church programs, so I had some work experiences in the community as a young teen. I was also involved in teaching Sunday school. Today I continue to assist in organising church and community youth events and programs. This is how I have developed most of my talents and skills.
My first official work experience was with an organisation in Australia. I volunteered at St Vincent de Paul’s shop in Rosebud, Victoria for a period of seven months. St Vincent de Paul is a Catholic charity organisation raising support funds for the homeless, refugees, migrants and other disadvantage groups in society. My different roles and responsibilities in the shop included providing customer service, processing sales, re-stocking, stock preparation and store housekeeping. It was a great and marvelous experience.
Returning to Vanuatu, I took up a position as an Accounting Teacher at Malapoa College in March 2015, meaning this year is my fourth year teaching at the school. Each year is exciting as it gives me more opportunities to develop and learn. It is always fascinating to work with students and seeing their amazing abilities and talents.
VLSSS Experience
I first heard about VLSSS through my cousin and niece, Donalyn Tamtam and Sabrina Matan, who were past students of the program. They shared their experiences and how they enjoyed the summer school. I didn’t know I was going to be part of the January 2018 teaching team until I saw a flyer advertising for teachers at the USP Emalus Campus. I thought to myself why not! It should be an exciting experience. It has always been my passion to see students learn and knowing the future is bright for them when nurtured in the right way. Fortunately, I was one of the successful applicants.
Being at the summer school was an amazing experience! It expanded my horizons for many things. Seeing how VLSSS is run and how supportive the management team is was an inspiration and an invaluable experience for me. The vision and aims are reflected in its unique curriculum, its excellent classroom activities, and drama night performances. In addition, there are other brilliant programs such as using of star points to boost student performance and confidence and positive reinforcement by teachers. Teaching new skills and seeing the students grow through this program is just remarkable. VLSSS is a program supporting students not only to learn but also become innovators of new ideas and confident individuals.
As the Academic Manager, I am honoured to be part of the VLSSS management team and to be able to be part of the development plans of the organisation. I will do my absolute best to ensure VLSSS has an excellent academic program to develop academic performance, problem-solving skills and creativity. I want to see our students exceed in their education and become dynamic leaders of our country! I would like to see VLSSS develop to new arenas and extend to other islands of Vanuatu.
'Shaping leaders for a brighter tomorrow'