It was her first time teaching a Grade Six class but Nadeen Fisher gave it her best shot and the results are there to prove it. Her students have done exceptionally well in the 2016 Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) with all 20 gaining a place in the school of their choice.

“The 20 students who sat the examination earned very impressive scores,” Fisher said.

She had unexpectedly assumed teaching responsibility for Grade Six, following the death of Camille Williams-Campbell, acting principal of the Retirement Primary School last September. Williams-Campbell was responsible for grades five and six. It was a very challenging period for the St Ann school after she died.

“The death of our beloved principal Mrs Camille Williams-Campbell resulted in changes in the school’s administration but no change in the zeal and dedication with which we approached our task of ensuring that our students receive the best education possible,” Fisher told attendees at the 2016 school leaving ceremony held at the Retirement Methodist Church recently.

She said the GSAT results for the rural school are testament to the hard work put in throughout the last school year.

“This year’s performance saw one student being placed at Westwood High, three at St Hilda’s High, four at York Castle High, seven at Ferncourt High and five at Aabuthnott Gallimore High,” she explained.

Fisher said she expects the results to place Retirement Primary and Infant School among the top schools in the area.

“This performance will without doubt again place us very high on the totem pole in QEC 29 and I dare say in the entire Region 3,” Fisher said.

At the same time, she said the school is also expecting great results in the Grade Four Literacy and Numeracy exams.

“At a recently held principal meeting, the result of the grade four mock exams was revealed, and you will be pleased to know that of the schools in QEC 29, Retirement Primary & Infant School was one of the only two schools who scored 100 per cent. We are therefore confident that in the real exam we will score nothing less,” she argued.

She added that a number of clubs were put in place to boost the academic performance of students. These included the literacy, mathematics, 4-H, and environmental clubs.

She also suggested that the excellent performance of students at the institution has resulted in the school population growing significantly. Until recently, the school had less than 100 students with four teachers. The school’s population at the end of the 2016 school year stood at 174 students.

The school also made another transition last September when an infant school department was added making it the Retirement Primary and Infant School.

“Our report card, as far as teaching and learning go, continues to be good,” Fisher said