?Every school can always improve and strive for excellence,? claims Margot Sherwill. This is indeed what Ida Coombes was aiming at when she called upon this training consultant to provide teaching methods and strategies to the teachers of the International Primary School (IPS) in Mapou.

By means of programmes she has created to improve children?s literacy ? Bridges- the early age and Bridges- the middle age ? this former Australian headmistress helps teachers improve the reading, writing and spelling skills of their pupils from primary and junior secondary. Each programme needs only one day of training but teachers can keep the programme handout, which includes a DVD after the workshop.

Margot Sherwill is delighted with the response of teachers to her workshops, ?Everyday has been very exciting; they have really taken in a lot of ideas and the evaluations have been really positive?. The ultimate objective of this programme is to make sure children improve their skills in English.

Launched in Australia in 2000, it has allowed children to improve their reading, writing and spelling within a very short period of time. ?As a former teacher, I know that we should intervene as early as possible to obtain positive results from the child,? says the training consultant.

And it seems the programme indeed leads to positive results. It can be conducted by teachers, teachers? assistants, parents or any volunteers and extends over an average period of ten weeks ? it can also be adapted to the needs of each child. ?Children are usually very happy because the programme is on a one-to-one basis. As they feel they are given love and affection, they gain in self-esteem and confidence. Suddenly they feel they can do things and their behaviour automatically changes ? their concentration improves considerably,? Margot Sherwill points out.

As teacher ? ?I have always known that I was born to be a teacher? ? and as headmistress, she knew she could help the children in class or at school. But, when she realised that some students in Australia needed more care and attention to acquire a number of skills, she started thinking she could have a ?much bigger influence working on such programmes than just being a headmistress?.

After sharing her experience in Australia and Singapore, she has accepted Ida Coombes?s invitation to come to Mauritius. ?We first thought of sending one or two teachers to Australia and then we realised it would be more beneficial to invite her to our own school so that the whole staff could benefit from the training sessions,? explains the IPS head mistress.

Two officers from the ministry of Education attended the workshop and, according to Margot Sherwill, their response was positive. ?I don?t know if the ministry will show interest, but I would be ready to come and help government schools as well if I am called upon,? she said, when asked whether the ministry had contacted her. The authorities might be interested to learn that the programme is ?inexpensive?. ?Australian schools do not have much money so we could not offer expensive services??