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Kensington Primary evolves from 'dunce school' to one of Jamaica's best BY DENISE DENNIS Observer writer editorial@jamaicaobserver.com
Thursday, May 20, 2010
WITH a schoolyard so immaculately clean, walls so spotless, and picturesque flowers blooming without interference, one hardly expects to find playful children running around.
However, Kensington Primary School plays home to some 1,200 children every day and their very environment epitomises the school's intention of being dedicated and committed to them.
MCCALLA-FRANCIS... you can’t wait until grade four to start working with your students
BOWEN... we believe in literacy and we want every child at Kensington to be literate
Vice principal, grade four co-ordinator and teacher Morine Richards goes through the different layers of soil with two of her students. (Photos: Naphtali Junior)
Grade four students focused on their class work.
MCCALLA-FRANCIS... you can’t wait until grade four to start working with your students
1/4 
Started in 1996 with 125 students and a reputation in the community of being the "dunce school", Kensington Primary has surpassed all odds and now boasts the prestige of being one of Jamaica's best-performing primary schools. A whopping 99 per cent mastery in literacy and 94 per cent in numeracy in the grade four literacy and numeracy tests at the last sittings were welcome changes for a school that, up until a few years ago, was unknown to many.
Principal Carlene McCalla-Francis said even a year after it was opened, the school still struggled to register 100 new students.
However, its fortunes changed in 2005 when student Regina Bish became the St Catherine parish champion in the Spelling Bee competition, and two years later the national champion as a student at Campion College. Since then, students at the school have received several Government scholarships as well as from private organisations for their performance in the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT).
When asked about her formula for success, McCalla-Francis said it was all due to the staff, the selection of teachers, the deployment of teachers and their work ethics.
"As a principal you have to read through your data, you have to look at your staff selection and staff deployment: those are key factors. You look at the students you get in. You can't wait until grade four to start working with your students," she said.
She said she has been accused of "creaming off" the students, but compared the system to an ice cream, saying, "If you get it and you don't start eating it, it will melt."
McCalla-Francis said when children come in at grade one, they are assessed to see how they are performing and at the end of that year they are analysed again to see how they have developed over the period.
"For example, now I know I have 85 per cent ready to move on to grade two, so that 15 per cent that is not ready is moved up to grade two and then taken at different points to our reading room and then at the end of grade two we evaluate them again, she said.
She said Kensington Primary School is one that puts its teachers on a pedestal and recognises them as the drivers behind the school's success.
"I don't have to be at school for things to be going on, they don't wait on me to make things happen. If it means they have to be here on weekends, or they have to be here until 8 pm to get books marked, they are here, they are very dedicated to the task at hand," she told the Observer.
Grade four teacher Dewayne Bowen echoes her sentiment. "Teachers are committed and dedicated to the task. We are not daunted by thinking that they [the students] may come not ready, they come and we are eager to work with them," he said. "We believe in literacy and we want every child at Kensington to be literate, and as such we work towards that."
He said teachers go overboard and sacrifice even their personal time, as they come in as early as six in the morning to help the students get prepared.
Keeno Glanville, one of the top performers in grade six who considers Mathematics his favourite subject "because it is simple and easy to learn", says he loves Kensington Primary because it is such a clean and healthy school.
Fellow student and prefect Jabari McPherson agreed, adding that although he regrets that his school was not a part of primary champs, it was still a good school and thanked his teacher for the discipline of his schoolmates.
Meanwhile, Peta-kay Hope -- another grade six student, who hopes that her GSAT score will secure her a place at Holy Childhood High -- advised those students who will be doing the exam next year to study hard.
"Study hard and you will reap what you sow, if you don't study then you shouldn't expect to pass for a good school," she said.
The calm reticence that seems a dominant element of the school and the chorus of good mornings as someone enters a classroom, all speak to the discipline that the teachers have inculcated in the students.
McCalla-Francis said it all had to do with the culture of the school. "When you come in, you learn the culture and you adapt to it. For example, at the start [at grade one] they are told if you mark it, you paint it, so you will notice on the walls, there are no markings," she said.
She noted that the biggest limitation to the school's success was the need for parental involvement.
According to her, some parents just don't care, which creates a problem and contributes to their children's poor performance in school.
"They don't buy books, they don't send their children to school, we have to go and find them and sometimes we have to call them and threaten that we are going to go the Child Development Agency," she said.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...Jamaica-s-best
Thursday, May 20, 2010
WITH a schoolyard so immaculately clean, walls so spotless, and picturesque flowers blooming without interference, one hardly expects to find playful children running around.
However, Kensington Primary School plays home to some 1,200 children every day and their very environment epitomises the school's intention of being dedicated and committed to them.
MCCALLA-FRANCIS... you can’t wait until grade four to start working with your students
BOWEN... we believe in literacy and we want every child at Kensington to be literate
Vice principal, grade four co-ordinator and teacher Morine Richards goes through the different layers of soil with two of her students. (Photos: Naphtali Junior)
Grade four students focused on their class work.
MCCALLA-FRANCIS... you can’t wait until grade four to start working with your students 1/4 Principal Carlene McCalla-Francis said even a year after it was opened, the school still struggled to register 100 new students.
However, its fortunes changed in 2005 when student Regina Bish became the St Catherine parish champion in the Spelling Bee competition, and two years later the national champion as a student at Campion College. Since then, students at the school have received several Government scholarships as well as from private organisations for their performance in the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT).
When asked about her formula for success, McCalla-Francis said it was all due to the staff, the selection of teachers, the deployment of teachers and their work ethics.
"As a principal you have to read through your data, you have to look at your staff selection and staff deployment: those are key factors. You look at the students you get in. You can't wait until grade four to start working with your students," she said.
She said she has been accused of "creaming off" the students, but compared the system to an ice cream, saying, "If you get it and you don't start eating it, it will melt."
McCalla-Francis said when children come in at grade one, they are assessed to see how they are performing and at the end of that year they are analysed again to see how they have developed over the period.
"For example, now I know I have 85 per cent ready to move on to grade two, so that 15 per cent that is not ready is moved up to grade two and then taken at different points to our reading room and then at the end of grade two we evaluate them again, she said.
She said Kensington Primary School is one that puts its teachers on a pedestal and recognises them as the drivers behind the school's success.
"I don't have to be at school for things to be going on, they don't wait on me to make things happen. If it means they have to be here on weekends, or they have to be here until 8 pm to get books marked, they are here, they are very dedicated to the task at hand," she told the Observer.
Grade four teacher Dewayne Bowen echoes her sentiment. "Teachers are committed and dedicated to the task. We are not daunted by thinking that they [the students] may come not ready, they come and we are eager to work with them," he said. "We believe in literacy and we want every child at Kensington to be literate, and as such we work towards that."
He said teachers go overboard and sacrifice even their personal time, as they come in as early as six in the morning to help the students get prepared.
Keeno Glanville, one of the top performers in grade six who considers Mathematics his favourite subject "because it is simple and easy to learn", says he loves Kensington Primary because it is such a clean and healthy school.
Fellow student and prefect Jabari McPherson agreed, adding that although he regrets that his school was not a part of primary champs, it was still a good school and thanked his teacher for the discipline of his schoolmates.
Meanwhile, Peta-kay Hope -- another grade six student, who hopes that her GSAT score will secure her a place at Holy Childhood High -- advised those students who will be doing the exam next year to study hard.
"Study hard and you will reap what you sow, if you don't study then you shouldn't expect to pass for a good school," she said.
The calm reticence that seems a dominant element of the school and the chorus of good mornings as someone enters a classroom, all speak to the discipline that the teachers have inculcated in the students.
McCalla-Francis said it all had to do with the culture of the school. "When you come in, you learn the culture and you adapt to it. For example, at the start [at grade one] they are told if you mark it, you paint it, so you will notice on the walls, there are no markings," she said.
She noted that the biggest limitation to the school's success was the need for parental involvement.
According to her, some parents just don't care, which creates a problem and contributes to their children's poor performance in school.
"They don't buy books, they don't send their children to school, we have to go and find them and sometimes we have to call them and threaten that we are going to go the Child Development Agency," she said.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...Jamaica-s-best
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