Content’s infant department poised for ECC certification

WESTERN BUREAU:

Jacqueline Brown, the acting senior education officer in the Ministry of Education’s Region Four, says the new infant department at the Content Primary and Infant School in Westmoreland has now placed the institution in line to receive credentials from the Early Childhood Commission (ECC) to operate.

Brown made the disclosure while providing an update on the previous failures by the 75-year-old institution to meet the 12 operational standards crafted by the ECC.

The ECC standards cover a wide range of areas, including staffing; developmental, and educational programmes; interactions and relationships with children; the physical environment; indoor and outdoor equipment, furnishing and supplies, health, nutrition safety, child rights, child protection, and equality; interactions with parents and community members, administration, and finance.

“The infant department has been in existence from the inception of the school in 1948 but has only commenced registration with the Early Childhood Commission in 2015. However, spacing later became an issue due to the growth of this department, which also affected the ability to meet the ECC standards to obtain a licence to operate,” said Brown.

“With the new development, it will also attain the 100 per cent requirement for its licence and registration. For this, we are extremely delighted,” Brown told residents who were present for Monday’s unveiling of the new infant department. “Based on how it is done (built by Food For The Poor), it will be certified because they followed all the procedures.”

The newly constructed infant department features four classrooms, which will comfortably accommodate 70 students and their teachers. The facility boasts an administrative office, kitchen, sick bay, and adequate and separate bathrooms for the students and their caregivers. It was constructed jointly by Food For The Poor and the United States-based Davitt/Rupert Family and Friends Mission.

Brown used the opportunity to call on parents to serve as vanguards in the preservation of the new building, and to spread the good news that the school’s infant department now meets the required standard to cater to children from ages three years and eight months to five years old.

“We must admit that our dream of hosting our students in a state-of-the-art infant department at Content Primary and Infant School has been realised through the excellent partnership of Davitt/Rupert Mission, under the auspices of Food For The Poor and the Ministry of Education,” said Brown. “When two entities share a common goal and come together for the common good of a school in a community to enhance student learning, it is an excellent educational partnership.”

Jason Whittingham, principal at Content Primary and Infant, which was designated a failing school with a population of under 100 students, has assured residents that the school is not just prepared to receive the ECC certification to operate, but that they are equally prepared and ready to ensure that teaching and learning take place.

“Without this building, we had reached 84 per cent of becoming certified. We are sure that we will be 100 per cent certified this time. We have doubled the standard with this building,” Brown said.