From Near Closure to School of Choice

In 2010, Constitution Hill Primary and Infant School in St. Andrew, located approximately seven miles away from Papine Square, was up for closure due to low enrolment.

Principal, Melicia Mathison, and former Principal, Winston Smith, have led the institution through a transformative journey, making it the school of choice for residents.

The school’s population has more than tripled, moving from 45 students to 155, largely due to improvements in literacy.

In an interview with JIS News, Ms. Mathison shared that there were students who were struggling to read.

In response, she received coaching from Creative Language-Based Learning (CLBL) to enhance her ability to engage the students and since then, four teachers have been trained.

“We utilise it in our offerings and delivery on a daily basis and we have seen the literacy rate of our students improve. Constitution Hill is a small farming community, meaning everybody knows everybody. We meet at church, we meet at community events and if you are at church, and you know that Child X was not able to read, and all of a sudden, he’s able to read and recite a poem, he’s able to read the Bible at church, then the question is, which school him guh? No man. Hill school? Sumpm a gwaan, I want my child to be there,” she explained.

She also shared that the school continues to improve its reading programme and is in need of more books.

Ms. Mathison disclosed that in the past, many parents chose not to send their children to the school, because they were of the view that the chances of them securing a place at a traditional high school were unlikely.

“Over the years, our literacy rate improved, our passes in GSAT (Grade Six Achievement Test) and PEP (Primary Exit Profile) improved and our students are being placed at traditional high schools. Last year, our top student went to Wolmer’s Girls. We have students that have been placed at Immaculate, Jamaica College, Calabar, and these students are doing well. As a result, the community has said, ‘listen, it doesn’t matter where you are’, so that helped to boost the confidence,” she shared.

The institution has also expanded its offerings to include extracurricular activities.

Its distance from Kingston and the limited financial resources of parents made it difficult to hire personnel to come to the school to conduct activities.

“We put our hands and hearts together along with the members of staff and we now offer gymnastics and swimming. So, we go to the YMCA for swimming on a Friday. We charter a bus and go to the gym on a Thursday – Jamaica School of Gymnastics,” Ms. Mathison said.

She told JIS News that the students have been doing well, participating in competitions overseas, and a student, Rajeena Bennett, is a part of the National Gymnastics Team.

The establishment of a Brain Builder Centre at the institution in September 2014 provides a ready group of students to transition to the infant and primary departments.

In July 2018, the Education Ministry launched the Jamaica Brain Builders Programme at a cost of $540 million, with the aim of reducing the cognitive learning challenges among infants in the country.

The main objective of the programme is to ensure that all Jamaican children get the best start in life by attending to their health, nutrition, total development needs, stimulation, social protection, child protection and early-intervention needs within the first 1,000 days of life.

“In 2020, we got Brain Builder Centre of the Year. We need space, so if we had a building that can house our Brain Builder Centre, it would allow us to take children that are from zero to three years old,” she said, adding that only two-year-olds are accommodated at present.

“Because of that initiative, the Ministry of Education says, if we have the building, if we have the space, then they will provide staffing and they have been good on that; I must say 100 per cent,” Ms. Mathison stated.