Lesbia Phillips... driving Esher Primary forward

[Sickko]

<DIV class=HTMLTitle><SPAN id=Ar0400000 style="TEXT-JUSTIFY: newspaper; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Lesbia Phillips... driving Esher Primary forward </SPAN></DIV><BR style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal; FONT-SIZE: 5px; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-VARIANT: normal"><BR style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal; FONT-SIZE: 5px; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-VARIANT: normal"><DIV class=HTMLByline><SPAN id=Ar0400006 style="TEXT-JUSTIFY: newspaper; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">BY PAT ROXBOROUGH-WRIGHT Editor-at-Large/Western Bureau </SPAN><BR style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal; FONT-SIZE: 5px; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-VARIANT: normal"></DIV><BR style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal; FONT-SIZE: 5px; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-VARIANT: normal"><DIV class=HTMLContent style="OVERFLOW: auto"><SPAN id=Ar0400001 style="TEXT-JUSTIFY: newspaper; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"></SPAN>
<SPAN style="TEXT-JUSTIFY: newspaper; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Thirty years ago when the newly formed Sam Sharpe Teachers’ College accepted its second batch of student-teachers, Lesbia Phillips, nee Myrie, was one of the few who specialised in corrective reading. </SPAN>
<SPAN style="TEXT-JUSTIFY: newspaper; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">She was just over 20 and with three years experience under her belt, having taught as a pretrained teacher at the Little London, Green Island and St Paul’s primary schools following her graduation from the Mannings School. </SPAN>
<SPAN style="TEXT-JUSTIFY: newspaper; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">On graduating from Sam Sharpe, she returned to teach at the Lucea Primary School where she had been placed to complete </SPAN><SPAN id=Ar0400002 style="TEXT-JUSTIFY: newspaper; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">her year-long college internship. It was a job she would hold for 14 years, before moving on, in 1993, to the Esher Primary School. There she taught for seven years before landing the post of principal, which was vacated by Winfield Murray, who moved to the Brown’s Town High School. </SPAN>
<SPAN style="TEXT-JUSTIFY: newspaper; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Today, as principal of the school, her training and years of experience — which includes a first degree specialising in primary education — have played a major role in the reputation Esher has gained by word of mouth as being one of the best primary schools in Hanover. </SPAN>
<SPAN style="TEXT-JUSTIFY: newspaper; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">“When you see the crowds of parents that come from as far away as Sheffield, Sandy Bay, </SPAN><SPAN id=Ar0400003 style="TEXT-JUSTIFY: newspaper; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Cascade, Orange Bay... begging us to take their children because they have heard that we have something special here, you’d think that we had put an ad in the paper,” Phillips told the OBSERVER WEST. </SPAN>
<SPAN style="TEXT-JUSTIFY: newspaper; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">They did not, of course — Esher Primary is a government school. But the results of using the British-based ‘Letterland reading programme’ are evident in the speech and literacy skills of most of its students. </SPAN>
<SPAN style="TEXT-JUSTIFY: newspaper; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">“We have very few slow readers here. The Letterland programme has been a big success,” Phillips said. </SPAN>
<SPAN style="TEXT-JUSTIFY: newspaper; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">The few readers who do not make the grade are placed in a special class that ‘irons’ out their difficulties and pulls them up to </SPAN><SPAN id=Ar0400004 style="TEXT-JUSTIFY: newspaper; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"></SPAN>
<SPAN style="TEXT-JUSTIFY: newspaper; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">mark. Additionally, the school has gone out of its way to create a stimulating learning environment with beautifully landscaped lawns — courtesy of the school’s environmental club and teachers. </SPAN>
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[Tilla]

RE: Lesbia Phillips... driving Esher Primary forward

Don't tell me that someone really name their child "Lesbia"? How close is that to Lesbian? Can you imagine the hard time this person had in school?

I have a vendor who has been doing work for us for some time. His name isMike Blubaugh? Anyway, for years I call him or he call me to discuss various issues with projects. One day while I was talking tohim, I only heard myself asking him, "Mike, you must have had a hard time in school with a name like that". He could not stop laughing on the other end of the line and admitted that it was a problem for him. If you do not get it, think Mike Blubaugh and Mike BlueBall.

[TDowl]

RE: Lesbia Phillips... driving Esher Primary forward

I am sure he knows, at first I thought he post it.

I heard that Murray had a good music program at the school. So sickko, what is their progress after leaving Esher?

[Karl]

RE: Lesbia Phillips... driving Esher Primary forward

She looks familar.

BTW - My Mom taught at Sam Sharpe when the former CC principal, Simon Clarke, was in charge. That would be during the periodthe youngMs. Phillips was a student there.

[Sickko]

RE: Lesbia Phillips... driving Esher Primary forward

She is in her early 50s Karl, I am sure you and her used to romp at river and all that back in the day and she went to Mannings, your first High school.....you a come gwaan like, 'she look familiar' ha ha ha:P:P:P:w00t::w00t::w00t: