Minister of Training, Expertise, Youth and Info, Senator Dr. the Hon. Dana Morris Dixon, has praised the Principal and workers of Gregory Park Major College in Portmore, St. Catherine, which she hailed as a mannequin for instructional transformation and excellence.
Senator Morris Dixon lauded the varsity for its outstanding turnaround, modern educating methodologies, significantly in literacy and numeracy, and its distinctive management.
Her feedback got here throughout a go to to the establishment on Thursday (Could 8), as a part of a tour of 4 faculties within the Ministry’s Area Six, which additionally included Cedar Grove Academy, Naggo Head Toddler College, and Naggo Head Major College.
She was accompanied by State Minister within the Ministry of Overseas Affairs and Overseas Commerce and Member of Parliament (MP) for St Catherine East Central, Hon. Alando Terrelonge.
Senator Morris Dixon stated primarily based on Gregory Park Major’s achievements, “This faculty is a particular one.
“When you take a look at the info on this faculty, you’d see that a few of the outcomes weren’t what we needed. However coming right here and listening to the Principal and seeing the work of the academics and interacting with the scholars, it’s clear that we now have actually nice management right here and that we now have glorious academics at this faculty,” she added.
Senator Morris Dixon famous that, given not all college students have acquired the best preparation for major faculty, the establishment is stepping in and offering the mandatory interventions to help their growth.
“After I noticed the studying ranges of so most of the kids, I stated, ‘sure, that is the proper factor to do’. You perceive, a lot, how essential studying is and also you’ve already integrated it,” she stated, championing the varsity’s intervention programme, which was created by its Principal, Richard Williams.
Mr. Williams highlighted the establishment’s proactive method to foundational studying, noting that Gregory Park Major has been prioritising studying and phonics instruction for grades one to a few since 2018, properly forward of broader discussions within the sector.
Nonetheless, higher intervention for numeracy and literacy on the faculty started years earlier when he was appointed Principal.
“After I began at Gregory Park in 2014, in that first time period, I requested the academics to do a studying diagnostic take a look at for your entire faculty. However after we collated the info for grades one to a few – we had 285 college students between grades one and three – 187 college students had been studying under grade-one degree,” Mr. Williams stated.
He revealed that, primarily based on these findings, he drafted a proposal for an enrichment centre, which was established in 2015. Consequently, the varsity’s literacy fee rose to 74 per cent the next yr.
Mr. Williams added that he goals to lift this determine to greater than 80 per cent within the coming years.
Related interventions proved profitable in numeracy.
“That yr, 2014, 110 college students did the numeracy examination, and solely 28 college students mastered. That was like 25 per cent,” Mr. Williams stated.
He famous that the varsity noticed vital enchancment after introducing further courses, securing help from a maths specialist, and his personally partaking in maths instruction.
“When the examination outcomes got here the next yr, we moved from 25 per cent mastery to 45 per cent mastery, and in statistics, we had 100 per cent mastery,” Mr. Williams proudly shared.
He recommended his academics for his or her dedication, affirming that the varsity is on observe to fulfill its targets for the present tutorial yr, with encouraging outcomes anticipated from current Major Exit Profile (PEP) examinations.
Senator Morris Dixon, who was impressed by the varsity’s achievements and its strategic intervention plans, described Gregory Park Major College as a “nice instance for Jamaica of how we’re going to remodel our faculties throughout this nation”, underscoring its potential as a blueprint for nationwide instructional enchancment.
