KINGSTON, Jamaica — Greater Portmore High School in St Catherine has achieved a pass rate of 82 per cent in Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) English, moving from a rate of 56 per cent.

Principal Ricardo Ross has attributed this success to the “dedicated and hard-working students and the support provided by the committed academic and ancillary staff”.

Ross tells JIS News in an interview that most of his students who enter from primary schools are placed on Pathway Two and Pathway Three, based on the Primary Exit Profile (PEP) examinations, which requires his team to be very keen in their teaching, with support provided under the National School Learning and Intervention Plan (NSLIP).

In the PEP exams, children are placed on one of three Pathways, designed to meet their level of competence. Pathway One is for students who are performing satisfactorily, the second Pathway is for children who have some form of delayed learning, and the third is for students with special needs.

The principal tells JIS News that the school’s coaches and specialists worked with the students, developed intervention programmes, and then the respective heads of departments “coined their own action plans” in line with the institution’s development plan, to engage the students in “meaningful and engaging ways, and the students also committed themselves”.

Under the NSLIP, 56 high schools were provided with additional teaching time during holidays, extra lessons, homework programmes, psychosocial and parental engagement, strict attendance monitoring, provision of digital learning resources, a vigorous accountability framework, and a focus on customised learning, based on assessment data.

“So, in the afternoon, students would go to extra class. Early mornings there would be classes, also classes on weekends, because here at Greater Portmore High School, the regular eight-to-three will not cut it. There is a need for additional support for these students, and so that aspect of extended learning played a pivotal role in ensuring achievement,” Ross points out.

The NSLIP was introduced to mitigate the learning disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic by providing structure and support for curriculum management and learning recovery, and to guide curriculum management and addressing learning loss, and providing schools with a framework for implementing strategies for academic success.

“In our school improvement plan we are looking at the whole aspect of celebrating our students, celebrating our staff, and we have, on a yearly basis, awards, prize-giving and awards function. Two years ago, we included staff members in the awards function where we acknowledge persons for their hard work,” Ross notes.

Stressing the importance of parental involvement in the education of their children, Ross says he is encouraged by a recent meeting with parents of grade-11 students.

He points out that of the 100 people expected to attend, 92 turned out. “When you see that coming out for a grade, it is a sign of improvement and commitment,” the principal says.

Planning for the next exam period, the principal shares that they have had a sit-down with the maths, language and science departments, including students, for them to share their action plan for the academic year.

“We had various discussions where the adjustments need to be made, and we allow students to be a part of the process because it impacts them,” Ross says.

“We do not only expose our students to CSEC. They also do City and Guilds and the HEART Trust, National Council on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (NCTVET) examinations, and so whilst you may not find a large number of students passing five subjects in CSEC, including maths and English, a large number of our students leave Greater Portmore High School with five or more subjects when you put a mix together,” he says.

Through the NSLIP, the principal reports that the school received three coaches, three Alternative Pathway to Secondary Education (APSE) coaches, three literacy and three numeracy specialists, a digital board, an electronic board, laptops, multimedia projector, and other crucial support.

“We continue to ensure that our students benefit through our systems and programmes,” the principal tells JIS News.

Head Girl at the school, Sashneik Nicholson, shares that the atmosphere at the school is positive, and she is grateful that they saw her potential and entrusted her into leadership.

“Becoming head girl has led me to realise that I have more potential than I thought myself,” she tells JIS News.

Head of the Language and Communication Department, Kayla Francis-Tyrell, says after the poor performance stared them daily, “they were determined to get back on track, and as a result, teachers worked twice as hard to get them (students) exam-ready, hence the success”.

“We are still going to be dedicated and committed teachers. We are still going to put in all the effort that we normally make, because even during Christmas break and Easter break, we have classes; those will still happen. We will still have our extra classes after school. And once the students remain committed and resilient, it should be sustained, or it will be sustained. Because the truth is this effort is a collaboration between teachers and students,” she tells JIS News.

Acting Head of the Mathematics Department, Ruth-Ann Richards, says the institution is working to establish a fully equipped Mathematics Resource Centre to ensure that students have access to different platforms that they can use whenever they need to study.

“Having a maths room will make us able to reach out to those students who may be visual learners or auditory learners,” she tells JIS News.

Greater Portmore High School’s mission is to provide quality education and training in a caring, inclusive and enabling environment to foster sustainable development, with a vision to create a globally competitive and innovative education system that produces informed, socially conscious, and empowered citizens.

-JIS