New Acting Principal Intends To Make Major Impact On Literacy At Bath Primary

Having been a teacher since the age of 19, Devmarie Blake-Brown of St. Thomas has enjoyed a long and fruitful career, which has prepared her for her newest role – Acting Principal of Bath Primary School.

The dedicated educator, who previously worked at the Seaforth Primary and the Morant Bay Primary Schools in the parish, has also made it known that it was her stint as Literacy Coordinator at the latter institution that was one of the defining moments of her teaching career.

There, she led the implementation of several new programmes and strategies that saw the school attaining a more than 80 per cent literacy rate throughout her tenure.

Detailing some of these strategies, Mrs. Blake-Brown recalls that, “we put on one of the best and biggest literacy fairs and we were invited nationally, based on that fair, to do what we call a Readers’ Theatre”.

“We also did a parent poetry competition that involved the parents writing their own pieces and coming to perform them. We also had volunteers from the community coming to sit with the grade-four students and assisting them with their reading level, especially those that were at risk for failure,” Mrs. Blake-Brown says.

These successes, she notes, will allow her to make a profound impact on literacy numbers at Bath Primary, in tandem with the Education Ministry’s thrust for early literacy intervention.

“I definitely intend to incorporate everything that I know about literacy here to ensure that the students leave this institution being fully literate,” the new Acting Principal says.

She outlines that one of her main aims is to bring the school’s 52 per cent literacy rate to 80 per cent, with a focus on the male pupils and by using teaching strategies and activities that cater to the students’ learning styles.

“Throughout this week, individual learning profiles will be created for each student and their specific literacy challenge identified, so that each teacher will do targeted teaching of reading,” the Acting Principal says.

She plans to work “very closely” with her teaching staff and to also incorporate a reading club to spark the interest of students and “get them reading”.

This is in addition to other plans, such as lunch-time reading activities on a monthly basis; a buddy reading system, where upper-grade children will be peered with lower-grade children; community members volunteering to read to the children; and the continued training and motivation of teachers.

On this new role and joining a new school family, she tells JIS News that, “it’s an exciting feeling because there are great possibilities. There are many opportunities to incorporate ideas and add to what the school already has to offer to make it one of the most successful institutions in the parish”.

September 8 is observed annually as World Literacy Day, an opportunity to highlight the importance of literacy to individuals, communities and societies.

Noting the importance of literacy, Mrs. Brown points out that, “literacy is encompassed in every subject and so one cannot overstate its importance. Therefore, I believe that every institution should be pushing for high literacy rates among their students, so that the benefits can be felt internationally and nationally”.