Fri | May 17, 2024

Extra classes pay off at Garden Hill Primary and Infant School

Published:Thursday | August 10, 2023 | 12:07 AM
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Payton Higgins (centre) displays his trophy at the recent graduation ceremony of Garden Hill Primary and Infant School, held at the school. Sharing the moment (from left) are Payton’s father, Troy Higgins; mother Sherine Higgins; grade-six teacher Simone
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Payton Higgins (centre) displays his trophy at the recent graduation ceremony of Garden Hill Primary and Infant School, held at the school. Sharing the moment (from left) are Payton’s father, Troy Higgins; mother Sherine Higgins; grade-six teacher Simone Antonio; and school principal Shakira Hudson.
Principal of the St Catherine-based Garden Hill Primary and Infant School, Shakira Hudson (left), and teachers celebrate the school’s success in the Primary Exit Profile exam, where over 80 per cent of students were placed at their high school of choice.
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Principal of the St Catherine-based Garden Hill Primary and Infant School, Shakira Hudson (left), and teachers celebrate the school’s success in the Primary Exit Profile exam, where over 80 per cent of students were placed at their high school of choice.
Top girl in the Primary Exit Profile exam at Garden Hill Primary and Infant School, Kiera Thomas, and her mother, Latoya Cameron, celebrate her success.
Contributed
Top girl in the Primary Exit Profile exam at Garden Hill Primary and Infant School, Kiera Thomas, and her mother, Latoya Cameron, celebrate her success.
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TEACHERS, PARENTS and students of the St Catherine-based Garden Hill Primary and Infant School are still celebrating the success of the small, rural institution in the Primary Exit Profile (PEP).

Over 80 per cent of the 15 students who sat PEP were placed at their high school of choice.

Eleven have been placed at traditional high schools, with boys outperforming the girls.

Principal of the school, Shakira Hudson, credits the performance to measures undertaken to get students back on track after the setbacks caused by COVID-19.

She said that one hour of free extra classes were held Mondays to Wednesdays, and Saturday classes from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The extra classes were particularly beneficial to students whose parents were not able to assist them with their lessons.

“The onus is on us, the institution, to give them maximum support. This year we took it (extra lessons) on to a greater extent; we went all out,” the principal said.

“We are grateful. The work that we put in has really paid off, and I have to give credit to my grade-six teacher [Simone Antonio]. I helped with the Saturday classes and all the staff who rallied around the students,” she noted.

PASSION FOR TEACHING

Antonio, who conducted the extra lessons, said she has a passion for teaching and wants to see her students succeed.

As a past student of the school, she said that her teachers were there for her, and “I want to do the same for all students that I encounter”.

Top student, Payton Higgins, who will be going to Kingston College, said he is appreciative of the personal attention he received from the principal, and the efforts of Antonio to prepare the students for PEP.

“She took her time to go to the school for extra classes, just to teach us and get us ready for the exams,” he said.

Higgins said he is excited to have emerged the top student for his school and is determined to achieve further success in his education.

He wants to motivate other students to pursue excellence. “Your time will come ... and you will shine. Everybody has their own time. That is how life is,” he shared.

Meanwhile, the top girl at the school, Kiera Thomas, who will be attending St Catherine High School, said that she is “excited and proud of myself”.

Her mother, Latoya Cameron, who is a past student, said the euphoria from her daughter’s success will be with the family for a long time.

The Ministry of Education’s data show that in the 2023 PEP sitting, girls outperformed boys in mathematics and language arts, and boys achieved higher scores in science and social studies.