Doing it big - Campbell’s Castle Primary committed to excellence

CAMPBELL’S CASTLE, Manchester:

In a bid to provide education to the children of the community and surrounding areas, the Campbell’s Castle Primary and Infant School was founded almost 150 years ago by an Anglican church.

But what has stood out more than anything for this rural school is its ability to produce children who perform at a level above average.

“The school continues to perform well in academics. Over the years, we have surpassed all the national averages in the Grade Four Literacy and Numeracy Examinations, and we continue to do well in the Grade Six Achievement Test, with quite a few of our students getting placement in traditional high schools. We have students that have received the Aubrey Phillips Scholarship, government scholarships and scholarships from corporate entities,” said interim principal at the institution, Peta-Gaye Blake-Campbell.

She added that they are guided by the vision of creating a nurturing school community where staff, students, parents and the community work and learn together in a safe, healthy environment.

“We now have 146 students enrolled, and we have no doubt that this number will increase gradually because people are seeing what we are doing here and buying into our vision,” Blake-Campbell told The Gleaner.

The institution was recently renovated to the tune of over J$20 million – $13 million granted through the Japanese Embassy and over $7 million made possible through an arm of the Ministry of Education, the National Education Trust.

“It was under the leadership of our past principal, Owen Lambert, that a proposal was written to the Japan Embassy in 2014. To see where it has come, I feel great. The place is as it should be, and the ethos of the school has changed,” said Blake-Campbell

“We now have five new classrooms, a computer room, a staffroom, teachers’ restroom and an administrative block,” she added.

The principal said she is looking forward to seeing the computer room fully retrofitted, serving not only the school but the community, among other things.