SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth — Just in case they hadn’t fully realised it, the last year has concretised in the minds of educators at the Schoolfield Primary and Infant School that hard work, sacrifice and teamwork pay rich rewards.

Those qualities, they say, provide the real explanation for a better than doubling of the school’s mastery of literacy rate at the grade four level in exams sat in June this year.

The school — in the remote farming district of Schoolfield, west of Malvern — recorded 95 per cent mastery in literacy, up from 44 per cent in 2014 with 17 of 18 students in the grade four class achieving full mastery. Additionally, seven of eight students who were asked to repeat after failing to cope with the literacy test the previous year, achieved mastery.

Not only was the result of the June tests a remarkable achievement compared to the previous year it was also a big improvement on mock exams early in 2015 when the mastery rate was 78 per cent. The mock exam results had earned wellpublicised accolades from the Ministry of Education, including Education Minister Ronald Thwaites.

School Principal Prim Lewis and her teachers said the improvement in literacy results came largely from longer hours of instruction, including special reading sessions starting at 7:00 am, an hour earlier than regular school, and for an hour later in the afternoons. Lewis, herself, took on a Saturday class for grade four and five to boost literacy and comprehension.

To support the programme, at least one teacher would arrive “extra early” each day to provide breakfast for the children.

For grade four teacher Leonie Mckenzie, it was a case of “hard work, great sacrifice and teamwork… the entire staff worked together and there was support from parents and the community”.

Lewis, who described herself as a “data-driven person”, said she recognised the need for a change of strategy when she checked the numbers down the years after taking over the job as principal in May 2014.

The literacy scores were not always poor. In 2011, for example, the school recorded a creditable 76 per cent mastery in grade four literacy. That declined to 70 per cent in 2012, 53 per cent in 2013, and 44 per cent in 2014.

Numeracy also showed a high level of inconsistency. At 43 per cent mastery in grade four in 2011, it soared to 68 per cent in 2012 before falling away to 32 per cent in 2013 and 33 per cent in 2014.

By getting teachers to volunteer to put in the extra effort and extra hours, not only reading and comprehension levels improved, but numeracy as well. For, as Lewis pointed out, mathematics, too, requires the ability to read and comprehend.

“I said to my teachers, ‘let us ramp up the literacy’. If children can read they can do so much better in other things;when we ramp up the literacy and thaught maths with dexterity; then we will see both coming up,” Lewis said.

And so it has been proven. The grade four numeracy from the June test was at 78 per cent, more than doubling the 33 per cent of 2014.

Lewis expects the grade four numeracy results for 2016 to be far better with extra effort now being put in that area.

She also expects stronger performances in the Grade Six Achievement Test, which is the 11-plus entrance exam for high schools. For 2015, the average exam percentage mark was 65 per cent, down from 69 per cent in 2014.

For Lewis, who has been at pains to encourage her teaching staff to set goals for themselves and their children, job satisfaction will make up for the extra effort and sacrifice.

“As somebody who has spent 20-odd years in the classroom, anything that I did for students which helped me to grow in my classroom I never consider a burden,” she said.

She concedes that her “style” initially created difficulties because they (teachers) “found it challenging to keep up”.

“They would express it. I had discussions with them, I had one to one meetings with them, I asked them to set their own goals and their classroom goals to say what do you want for your self, what you want for your students,” she said.

Lewis said she felt fulfilled as a principal that her message had been accepted and the children were benefitting.

She praised school board Chairman Evon Redman — a past student, businessman and current People’s National Party candidate for St Elizabeth North Eastern — who has maintained a consistent assistance programme for the school. Parents, past student associations, various school support agencies, business people in Santa Cruz and Malvern had all played a role in supporting the school and its programmes, she said. She singled out New River egg farmer Derrick Scott for special mention. Scott has consistently delivered eggs to the school for its breakfast programme.

Flow’s introduction of Wi-Fi internet services to the school a year ago had done wonders in supporting learning, said Lewis. “Sometimes the children grow tired of hearing the teachers’ voices and they need another element,” she explained with laugher.

However, it’s not all honky dory at Schoolfield. Lewis complained of the practice by some young people to vandalise the school property. Ironically, she said, the young people are attracted by the Wi-Fi service.

The school also needs a playfield. While there is a space for court games such as netball, the small available space cannot properly accommodate athletics, football and cricket.

As for a proper-sized field, teachers and children must travel more than a mile to the community’s Recreation Ground. It’s an area of concern which Lewis says will occupy her mind in the immediate future.

“Not everybody is going to excel in academics. We must give children an opportunity to excel at whatever it is they are good at,” she said.