Quick Step in the right direction

Quick Step Primary and Infant School in St Elizabeth is attributing its removal from the list of schools that were underperforming in mathematics and language arts to strong parental involvement, partnerships with non-governmental organisations, and support from the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information.

“It was surprisingly good news,” the school’s principal, Alicia Gilzene-Black, told The Gleaner.

She said the school had been on the ministry’s list of institutions where up to 75 per cent of students were performing at the beginning or developing levels in the two critical subject areas for the last five years.

As a result, it was placed on the Ministry’s National School Learning Intervention Programme (NSLIP), with the objective of assessing students’ learning gaps to improve their performance in numeracy and literacy in order to function at their grade level.

In line with this, she said the ministry facilitated workshops to equip teachers with alternative teaching methods, and also supplied necessary textbooks that students would require.

Gilzene-Black said data-driven evaluations were conducted with the ministry, as well as internally with the school’s teachers.

“We liaised with the literacy and numeracy unit [in the Ministry of Education], and the education officer is very supportive,” she said.

Partnerships were also fostered with other primary schools to share best practices, Gilzene-Black said.

As students prepared for the final level of their Primary Exit Profile (PEP) examinations, Corrine Watson, who acted as the school’s principal from last September to April of this year, said there was also collaboration among the teachers at the institution.

“We encouraged teachers to share their best practices. We didn’t just leave everything up to the grade-six teachers. The other teachers would do subjects; so, for example, we kept them back in the evening, some evenings, and one teacher would do language arts, and another teacher would do social studies, science, math,” she said.

Four students sat the PEP examinations at the school, three were proficient in all four subjects, while one student was proficient in two subjects and developing in the other two.

Gilzene-Black also stated that for the 2023-2024 academic year, the school introduced reading as a discrete subject which was taught for an hour after school ended.

These efforts by the school and ministry were bolstered by the support of two NGOs, Pencils4Kids, and Winsome Wishes for Kids, who, she said, have been instrumental in transforming the institution.

A key aspect of their philanthropy is helping the school to facilitate assessments for students to ascertain learning disabilities.

She said New York-based Pencils4Kids pays for the assessments, while Winsome Wishes for Kids provides the facilities for these assessments, which have been ongoing since 2021, to be done.

Fruitful year

She noted various challenges have been identified among the school’s population of 50 students, including dyslexia, attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder, and non-critical levels of autism.

“It has been fruitful because during the 2023-2024 academic year, a student who was found to be dyslexic was provided with a reader. And this year now, we were able to have another child who was assessed be given a reader,” she said.

She added: “When we have the assessments at an early stage, then we are able to work with the students, as well as work with the parents for homework, and so on.”

She noted that Pencils4Kids has also supported a breakfast programme at the rural school, which plays a vital role in students’ learning. Additionally, Winsome Wishes for Kids contributes through a summer reading programme, and has provided the school with five tablets, as well as facilitated teacher workshops and training sessions.

During a recent press conference, where she announced the PEP results, Education Minister Senator Dana Morris Dixon revealed that a number of primary schools were removed from the list of those that were underperforming in mathematics and language arts.

Some schools were underperforming in both mathematics and language arts, while others were underperforming in only one subject.

They include Clydesdale Primary School in St Mary, Quick Step Primary and Infant School in St Elizabeth, Moores Primary and Infant School in Clarendon, Springfield Primary and Infant School in St Elizabeth, Tydixon Primary and Infant School in St Catherine, Barking Lodge Primary and Infant School in St Thomas, Philadelphia Primary School in St Ann, and Mount Airy Primary and Infant School in Westmoreland.

“What it says is, it’s possible,” the minister said.

sashana.small@gleanerjm.com