Clapham Community Basic School in St. Ann Gets Transformational Facelift

Deep in the heart of Clapham, St. Ann, sits a small early-childhood educational institution where the administrators and teachers have big dreams for their students.

The realisation of these dreams for the youngsters at Clapham Community Basic School is poised to be significantly driven by tangible stakeholder support extended to the institution recently.

This entailed a well-needed facelift as well as the provision of critical supplies and other donations necessary to better enable the administrators to serve the institution’s 29 students, three staff members, and one volunteer.

The collaborative engagement involved the Ministry of Education and Youth’s Early Childhood Commission (ECC), the Sandals Foundation, the Canadian High Commissioner to Jamaica, Her Excellency Emina Tudakovic, and the crew of the Canadian sea vessel, the HMCS Margaret Brooke.

ECC Early Childhood Development Region Three Supervisor, Brandi Aronson, highlights the project’s significance to the school’s certification process.

One of the key certification requirements was addressing the institution’s physical environment, which needed improvement, particularly in terms of aesthetics.

The initiative to paint the school and uplift its appearance directly addresses this need and brings the institution closer to meeting Standard Four of the ECC’s certification criteria.

“This school has been working for certification. They are not quite there yet, and one of the needs that they had was painting because in our Standard Four we speak to the physical environment, and as you can see, the school really needed a facelift. So that’s one of the reasons why [we were at the institution],” she explains.

Under the Early Childhood Act and Regulations of 2005, all early-childhood institutions (ECIs) operating in Jamaica must be registered and certified with the ECC, which is the sector’s regulatory agency.

Ms. Aronson, who has high praises for the stakeholders collaborating, gives the ECC’s undertaking to continue working closely with the school to support their certification journey.

School Board Chairman, Steven Kelly, who expresses gratitude for the support extended, welcomes this commitment.

He says certification will validate the school’s operation as a government-approved educational institution.

“This project… is vital because we are up for certification from the Early Childhood Commission (ECC) and we are at… 97 per cent [of the criteria]. Things such as the painting were holding us back. But now, I think because the school is now painted, we will get to 100 per cent. So, hopefully, we’ll be certified in short order,” Mr. Kelly says.

Clapham Community Basic School’s enrolment, which extends beyond the area, incorporates children from neighbouring districts of Blue Hole, Forman’s Hill, Swamp, and Moneague, among others.

“I would like to say thanks to the Canadian High Commissioner. We appreciate her choosing our school for this project, and also the Canadian team on the HMCS Margaret Brooke, the Commanding Officer, and also Sandals Foundation. They have done a wonderful job and as you can see, our school is looking so beautiful,” Mr. Kelly adds.

General Manager of Sandals Dunn’s River Resort, Deryk Meany, expresses his enthusiasm for the partnership with the Canadian High Commissioner and the HMCS Margaret Brooke in giving back to the local community.

Equally satisfying for him is the joy he anticipates will be on the faces of the children when they walk into the brightly painted school, which is expected to create a positive environment for learning.

Mr. Meany points out that while the engagement at Clapham Basic School was the Foundation’s first outreach project in the community, “it won’t be our last”.

He says the experience and commitment resulting from that undertaking will ensure that the Foundation returns to give back.

“This [school] was picked by the Government, through the ECC. They asked us to come on board to partner with them and we happily obliged. Any opportunity that we can do to enrich the lives of our Jamaican people, we are here for it,” Mr. Meany adds.

The Sandals Foundation is actively involved in outreach programmes throughout St. Ann and the wider country.

The organisation engages with schools, assists the elderly, and undertakes various community projects such as building bathrooms for schools and providing wheelchairs for the elderly, among other gestures.

“So, it’s not just development in education but in other areas such as the environment and health. We appreciate the partnerships [forged], and we will be here for many years to come,” Mr. Meany assures.

High Commissioner Tudakovic points out that the strong bilateral relationship between Jamaica and Canada prompted her and the crew of HMCS ‘Margaret Brooke’ to join forces to engage in the worthy community outreach engagement at Clapham Basic School.

She informs that some 30 Navy personnel aboard the patrol vessel volunteered to support the impactful initiative.

High Commissioner Tudakovic emphasises that while paint may seem trivial to some persons, it plays a crucial role in creating a clean and safe learning environment.

High Commissioner Tudakovic adds that a positive environment contributes greatly to effective learning, especially for children in rural communities who may have to travel long distances to attend school.

Her sentiments were echoed by HMCS Margaret Brooke Commanding Officer, Commander Nicole Robichaud, who shares the crew’s enthusiasm in being able to play a pivotal role in helping to brighten up the school and, by extension, the community.

“You [could] hear the chuckles from the crew when they were painting. You [could] see the smiles. So, I’m pretty confident that everyone was enjoying what they were doing. [Additionally], Canada and Jamaica have close ties, so the fact that we [could] get out in the community [meant] a lot to us,” she adds.