PEP Results Bring Joy at St. James and Hanover Schools

Several primary schools in St. James and Hanover are reporting favourable results for the first sitting of the Primary Exit Profile (PEP).

School administrators and parents were provided with the grade six results on June 21.

Principal of the Corinaldi Avenue Primary in Montego Bay, June Neil-Anderson, tells JIS News that she is pleased with the performance of the students, noting that the hard work put into preparing them was not in vain.

She says that despite the anxiety going into the exams, most of the 262 students secured a place at a traditional high school in western Jamaica.

“Our (grade six) teachers have worked tirelessly… They collaborated, they challenged each other, they split up their (lessons)… so that’s how they worked,” she notes.

“I am very pleased with what I have seen. A great number of our students fall in the highly proficient category,” she adds.

In the meantime, Principal of the Barracks Road Primary School in Montego Bay, Maxine Coates-Brown, says there was a jubilant atmosphere at the institution.

“The results caused a pandemonium at the school and everybody was happy because a lot of our children did extremely well. They got their first or second choice in terms of school placement and based on that, they were really elated,” she says.

She notes that parents lauded the teachers for their dedication in preparing the 247 students for the examination.

“Parents are really pleased that we have worked with their children and they commended us for our efforts,” she notes.

Mrs. Coates-Brown tells JIS News that seven students were highly proficient in all the subject areas, with the top boy having a placement score of 346.3 and the top girl having a placement score of 350.2.

“We have two students who scored 100 per cent in the Ability Test,” she adds.

Over in Hanover, Principal of Lucea Primary, Yasmin Anderson-Jackson, says that students performed “exceptionally well” despite the anxiety surrounding the sitting of the exams.

“This year was so different, you don’t see the crying and so on. Most of them were happy with their placement. Overall, I think the school did well. We sent up 133 students and just a few of them were placed in pathway three (developing),” she tells JIS News.

“I am satisfied with the performance of the teachers as well as the students but we know that we have to step up our game. We have room for improvement,” she notes.

Principal of Green Island Primary in Hanover, Vaccianna Moseley, is also expressing pleasure at the performance of the 75 students at the institution, who sat the examination.

He says there was a celebratory atmosphere at the school when the results were released.

“We celebrate the placement of every child. The bottom line is everybody’s ability is not the same. Overall, the atmosphere is good, the teachers are excited. We are pleased with the results. It reflected, to a large extent, what we were expecting,” he tells JIS News.

Grade six student at Green Island Primary, Damarle Mico, who copped a spot at his school of choice, Munro College in St. Elizabeth, tells JIS News that he studied hard for PEP, with the help of his teacher and parents.

“When I was about to do my first exam, I was a little anxious, but as the days went by I kinda built up a little confidence. Friday was the PEP results and I am still happy right now because I got my first choice,” he says.

Head girl at the institution, Kemonie Williams, who will be attending The Manning’s School in Westmoreland, says she was pleased with her results.

“I studied a lot and I also had some help from my mom, my dad and lots of cousins. I was a little nervous, but I continued believing in myself and continued studying, so I am extremely happy,” Kemonie says.

PEP has replaced the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) as the national secondary school entrance test.

It is intended to provide a better and more complete profile of students’ academic and critical-thinking capabilities at the end of primary-level education.

The grade six students were tested in three stages with a Performance Task Test on March 27 and 28, an Ability Test on February 26; and a Curriculum Based Test on April 16 and 17.

Students were placed in four pathways – Highly Proficient, for those students, who demonstrate an advanced level of competence necessary for grade seven; Proficient, demonstrating adequate evidence of the required competence; Developing , showing partial evidence of the required competence; and Beginning, for those students, who demonstrate limited or no evidence of the required competence.