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Math clinic multiplies scores at Rollington Town Primary

Published:Wednesday | March 4, 2020 | 12:40 AMJudana Murphy/Gleaner Writer
From left: Dr Margaret Bailey, principal of Rollington Town Primary; Sandra Davis, distinguished president of the Kiwanis Club of New Kingston; Mervyn Eyre, head of Latin America and the Caribbean for Fujitsu Caribbean; and Jamilia Crooks-Brown, programmes administrator of NCB Foundation, observe students using the computer at a handover ceremony for a math clinic at the east Kingston school on Tuesday.
Rudolph Brown/Photographer
From left: Dr Margaret Bailey, principal of Rollington Town Primary; Sandra Davis, distinguished president of the Kiwanis Club of New Kingston; Mervyn Eyre, head of Latin America and the Caribbean for Fujitsu Caribbean; and Jamilia Crooks-Brown, programmes administrator of NCB Foundation, observe students using the computer at a handover ceremony for a math clinic at the east Kingston school on Tuesday.

Joan Mignott smiled from ear to ear yesterday as she outlined the progress of students enrolled in the enrichment programme at Rollington Town Primary School in Kingston.

Mignott, the teacher in charge of the programme, beamed with pride as she recounted how students who started “from a level where they had no confidence” were now “just blossoming,” churning out much-improved scores.

Alumnus and distinguished president of the Kiwanis Club of New Kingston, Sandra Davis, met with the leadership of the school in 2017 who shared their vision of having a mathematics clinic.

The clinic would seek to improve the numeracy competence of students.

Yesterday, just over two years later, an enrichment centre furnished with ­computers, an air-conditioning unit, and teaching resources were handed over to the school at a cost of $1 million.

The centre has been active since the start of the school year in September 2019 and ­students are engaged in technologically driven, small group sessions twice per week.

“We provide an enriched facility with ­different forms of technology for learning that caters to different student needs. It has been fun, really exciting,” Mignott told The Gleaner. “Students are learning and ­progressing in class and I have been getting very good ­feedback from class teachers.”

Mignott said for some of the younger students, foundation work has to be done as they are not reading at the appropriate grade level.

“We have been getting very good results. To date, we are catering to about 90 ­students who are our most at-risk students,” the ­principal, Dr Margaret Bailey, said during the ceremony.

Bailey said students continue to ­benefit from an ongoing literacy programme sponsored by Kingston East and Port Royal Member of Parliament Phillip Paulwell.

In 2015, the school’s literacy rate peaked at 96 per cent and, since last year, numeracy scores have almost doubled from 42 per cent to 80 per cent.

Data obtained from national literacy and numeracy coordinators in the Ministry of Education showed that last year’s numeracy rate was 74 per cent and literacy, 82 per cent.

The 2020 target is 75 per cent and 85 per cent for numeracy and literacy, respectively.

Kiwanis President Davis said that a past ­students’ association will be formed at Rollington Town Primary to ensure the ­maintenance of the centre and further ­development of the school.

“We are not finished! We will continue to seek sponsorship and gifts to provide additional computers, a multimedia projector, and other items to further enrich the room,” Davis said.

judana.murphy@gleanerjm.com