Ongoing Assessment To Address Learning Loss

Principal of Petersfield Primary and Infant School in Westmoreland, Susan Rattray-Hammond, has said that the school is employing techniques to combat learning loss among its student population.

In an interview with JIS News, Mrs. Rattray-Hammond outlined that one of the techniques being used is ongoing assessment of students.

“We push a lot for formative assessment, that is assessment as the teacher proceeds through the lesson, and so as those are done and the challenges [of the students] are determined, the teachers address them immediately. In that way, the students are not transitioning [to another grade] with the same problems,” she said.

“For that reason, it is very important that the parents get the children into school, because the engagement in face-to face classes is not the same as it is in the virtual space. You don’t get a chance to see how the child reacts to the learning material, you don’t get a chance to have that immediate feedback and so when they come into the face-to-face classes that opportunity is there and we are able to maximise on the learning opportunities,” she stated.

Mrs. Rattray-Hammond also highlighted that the school has an enrichment centre programme which aids challenged students.

“They go into the programme where they get special attention. We have a specialist teacher that is working with them, and she does a wonderful job… so they get that kind of one-to-one, small-group engagement. That, too, is done at the class level because the programme can only take so much and no more. So, while the specialist teacher works with some, she also works with the teachers who help with the other [challenged students] who are in the classroom and need that kind of intervention,” the principal noted.

The institution resumed face-to-face classes on March 7.