St Richard's and Half-Way Tree Primary bask In GSAT success

While many primary schools are suffering from low Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) mathematics scores, principal of St Richard's Primary, Maureen Wong, is beaming with excite-ment at her students' performance.

"We did exceedingly well and the results speak for themselves. We had some workshops for the teachers and the students were cognisant that mathematics was a weak area, and so there was more focus on it this year than the previous years," Wong told The Gleaner.

She was extremely proud of all the students, but Robert Neil and Chevel Cespedies stood out with the highest scores in all the subject areas.

"I had sleepless nights. I worked hard and put in a lot of commitment and dedication," Neil stressed.

"It was manageable for me. It was hard preparing, and it took a lot of determination, and I was able to be successful with the help of my teacher," Cespedies said.

Of the 192 students who sat the GSAT at Half-Way Tree Primary, Jo-Anna Bogle received perfect scores in all subject areas and is on her way to Campion College.

"I'm overwhelmed because I didn't expect it, because when I left the exam room, I thought I got two questions wrong in maths, but surprisingly, I heard that I got perfect scores," Bogle said.

TOP BOY

Following in her footsteps was Jadon Crumbie, who fell two points short of a perfect score and was the school's top boy.

"Well GSAT was a bit challenging but easy. However, math was a little hard. I didn't get to finish a question, but I still ended up with a 99.8 per cent average and my parents are proud of me," Crumbie stated.

The students at Half-Way Tree Primary had extra classes seven days per week leading up to the the exams. Free classes were taught on the weekends by the school's principal, Carol O'Connor Clarke.

"The students did extremely well. We had early-morning classes for the students, where they would come in early for personal reading, and then we had the daily preparation in the afternoon and the extra lesson and on Saturdays and Sundays I taught the free classes for them," Clarke stated gleefully.

- Oneneka Brown