Hastings Primary maximising the human capacity

WESTERN BUREAU:

FOR FIVE consecutive years, Hastings Primary School in Trelawny has been exceeding the national average in the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT), with many students gaining placements into notable non-traditional high schools across the island.

As a result of this achievement, enrolment at the school has also been on the increase as parents seek to access better primary education for their children.

"Simply put, all that we have accomplished came from rigour," declared Principal Veneisha Patterson-Morgridge. "We don't have a lot of techno-logy, but we have human capa-city, and we continue to retool ourselves by doing research, always reading, always doing the staff development sessions, building teacher capacity, building parent capacity, which in turn build student capacity."

foster student learning

A variety of teaching strategies, including early-morning reading sessions and extra lessons which are held daily after school and during the holidays, are employed to foster student learning.

Students are further motivated to perform well as they stand to benefit from a cash incentive programme funded by the teachers. Awardees are given this special incentive to jump-start their preparation for high school.

"Currently, we have only one computer serving a student body of 350 children ... it would significantly improve our GSAT preparations if we had more computers to work with," Reid said.

- K.W.