Holy Family Primary Increases Literacy Rate by 10 per cent
Published:Monday | April 27, 2015 | 12:00 AM
Holy Family Primary and Infant School has seen significant improvement in its teaching and learning outcomes over the past three years.
Principal Christopher Wright disclosed that in the last year, the school has experienced a 10 per cent increase in its literacy rate and has been making moves to introduce technology to enhance the classroom experience.
"We have implemented a system where all classrooms have Wi-Fi. We also have an online reporting system and the end of this school year will be the first time parents will be getting reports electronically," he said.
Wright has been on a mission to
transform the school located in the heart of the inner city of Laws Street, Southside, central Kingston.
"Based on recommendations from the National Education Inspectorate (NEI), we have formed an assessment committee which tracks student performance and undertakes the necessary intervention. We have also been trying to get the
teachers to use technology," he said.
Parental support
The path to transformation, however, has not been without its challenges.
The lack of parental support is a main problem that Wright faces.
"We do not have enough parental
support for our students. I believe that parents are the first teachers and if a child is growing up and comes to us at age six without the basic skills,
principles and discipline, it will give us a hard task in terms of changing that child into the human being that we would want to produce."
The lack of parental support came to light when The Gleaner spoke to two grade five students, Davina Lawrence and Nicardo Morgan. Both students live in single-parent families and often find it difficult to cope with the challenges at home.
The family life of his students is of great concern to Wright.
"Once you deal with children everyday and start to develop a relationship with them, any challenge that they face is going to take a toll on you, and so we have been working with the parents to try and improve the situation," he said.