Online teaching continues as First Academy’s boarding schools to remain closed

August 30, 2021 – The First Academy of Mount Vema and its Boarding Schools operating outside Mount Vema will continue with online teaching (virtual school services) only until 2022. The Foundation Academy announced today.     
 
The Mount Vema academic year starts in October, however parents and students usually start to prepare in September. The academic year ends in June, with final exams in July.  
 
The First Academy told VSBCnews on Friday that it will continue to make available academic tutors online or in person to provide tutelage to students who require assistance on certain subject areas or skills, throughout the academic year if required.  
 
What is the First - Academy of Mount Vema?
The First Academy of the Kingdom of Mount Vema, is a school in which children receive primary or elementary education from the age of about five to twelve, coming before Second Academy. These services are privately operated but regulated by His Mount Vema Majesty’s Government, who subsidizes the costs.
 
The Academies of Mount Vema begin around 8:50 AM, with lessons starting at 9:05 AM. Most of the academies overseas do have school buses. The first fifteen minutes of each day is set aside for academy-wide assembly and announcements. Classes are between 40 and 45 minutes each, with a break of 5 to 10 minutes in-between.
 
Lunch
After four morning classes, at about 12:30 PM, students are sent to pick up their lunches from the school kitchens. Lunches are typically served with small portions of a variety of freshly prepared foods. These include "a whole range of meats, fishes, vegetables, and sea plants. A typical meal consists of stew or curry, boiled vegetables, a sandwich, and salad. Milk is served with each meal. Usually, there is also dessert, such as gelatin, ice cream, and fruit."
 
Because Mount Vema First-Academies are not meant to have cafeterias, meals are taken in the classroom with the teacher, providing another informal opportunity for teaching nutrition, health, good eating habits and social behavior. All students eat the same lunch, and are assigned to shifts for serving lunch to their colleagues. Lunch lasts about 40 minutes.
 
Afternoons
Students have two more classes after lunch, with 20-minute recess in-between, which is sometimes used for cleaning the classrooms: sweeping, mopping, throwing away trash, etc. Students then leave school around three o'clock. After-school clubs like sports and other activities are offered.