Constitution Hill Primary School cops Brain Builder Centre award
Published:Thursday | May 19, 2022 | 12:05 AMJudana Murphy/Gleaner Writer
Principal of Constitution Hill Primary and Infant School, Melicia Mathison, could not contain her excitement when the institution she leads was named Brain Builder Centre (BBC) of the Year.
She screamed as she moved from her seat towards the presentation area and maintained a wide smile for the photographs.
Some 38 principals, teachers, chairpersons, parents and students were recognised by the Early Childhood Commission (ECC) at its annual professional development institute and awards ceremony on Monday.
Constitution Hill Primary and Infant School received the award on the basis that it maintains relevant documents, submits documents requested in a timely manner and demonstrates a good understanding of the Early Childhood Act and Standards.
“We have come a mighty long way. The basic school that services the Constitution Hill area had closed down in August 2014, so the infant school was joined to our school in September 2014 but the infant school only accommodates four- and five-year-old students, and in order for us to accept students three years old and younger, we needed a brain builder centre,” Mathison, who has been principal for five years, explained.
In July 2018, the education ministry launched the Jamaica Brain Builders Programme at a cost of $540 million, with an aim of reducing the cognitive learning challenges among infants in the country.
The main objective of the programme is to ensure that all Jamaican children get the best start in life by attending to their health, nutrition, total development needs, stimulation, social protection, child protection and early-intervention needs within the first 1,000 days of life.
At present, there are 132 brain builder centres across Jamaica.
Mathison recounted that in a meeting with her development officer, she was told that provisions are only made for two BBCs per constituency and one space had already been utilised.
She was determined to secure the second spot for the school which is located in east rural St Andrew – about 20 minutes from Papine square.
Mathison said the institution received full support from the school board, staff, parents and the ECC.
The ECC and CHASE Fund also assisted with the erection of a perimeter fence and the relocation of the play area.
“All the hard work has indeed paid off. It’s such a pity the other staff members could not be here to celebrate,” she said, adding that annual police records, food handler’s permits and medicals are just a few of the documents that must always be valid.
The brain builder centre was officially opened just before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. Twenty students are enrolled in the centre and another 45 students in the infant school.
The principal told The Gleaner that it is critical for young residents to receive education as close to home as possible.
“Our community is rural and if parents were forced to send their children to Papine or into Kingston at three years old, the likelihood of them registering with us when they turn four years old would be very low. As a means of posterity for the school, we had to get this done,” she said.
The infant department earned a score of 96 per cent in the ECC’s recent inspection, which illustrates an institution’s overall operational performance against 12 standards.
This year has been declared the Year of Early Childhood Development by Governor General Sir Patrick Allen, in an effort to raise awareness of the importance of early childhood education.