Broughton Primary Ready for New School Year

Broughton Primary School in Westmoreland is reporting a strong state of readiness for the upcoming academic year, with enhanced programmes and initiatives geared towards improving student performance in literacy and numeracy.

In an interview with JIS News, Principal, Marva Davis-Clarke, said the school has been undertaking several measures in preparation for the September reopening.

“As you can see, our physical plant is looking quite nice. The lawns are cut and the trees are trimmed. The staff are here and we are doing professional development right now because we aim to increase our numeracy and literacy rate,” she said.

The principal noted that the school performed above the national and regional levels in mathematics and science in the recently completed Primary Exit Profile (PEP) examinations.

However, she said additional focus will be placed on language arts and mathematics proficiency.

“We have improved on our literacy and numeracy intervention plans. We are going to be using the days next week to do our diagnostic tests. We have completed all our new students, so far, so we are a bit ahead,” she explained.

Mrs. Davis-Clarke added that the school will continue to build on its strong culture of academic and extracurricular achievements.

“We have different clubs for reading, maths, quiz and a vibrant 4-H club. This September we will also be participating in a debating competition and we are looking to winning that. We are a very competitive school. Be it an academic or sporting competition, we always try to win,” she said.

Mrs. Davis-Clarke also disclosed that the school will introduce a robotics club and strengthen its science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) strategies.

“Already we have the commitment for the robots coming. We have acquired numerous laptops, Chromebooks and an interactive whiteboard for our school for this September. Each year we just try to improve,” she said.

She added that parents will also play a greater role in the learning process through new initiatives such as reading competitions and the school’s annual parent quiz competition in November.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Davis-Clarke also emphasised the importance of the school’s breakfast programme, which will be expanded this year.

“We saw the need to have this breakfast programme and to maintain it. Before that, we would have children who would come in and they tell you early in the morning they are feeling sick, and we know sometimes it is because they did not have breakfast. One programme that we are really proud of is our breakfast programme and we are not going to discontinue this,” she said.

The Principal further underscored that efforts are under way to rebuild the school’s chicken coop to supplement the programme with eggs, in addition to produce from the school garden.

Mrs. Davis-Clarke reaffirmed the school’s commitment to excellence in teaching and learning.

“Our biggest priority is that every child that leaves this school is literate and numerate. We are on our pathway and we can only hope for excellence,” she told JIS News.