By Glenda Anderson, Staff Reporter INSIDE THE schoolyard, squeals and chatter rose and fell as groups of small children, students of the St. Peter Claver Primary School, darted about the compound.
Happy, excited children. But it has not always been like this.
Some say the small school located off Waltham Park Road in Kingston has had a dramatic turnaround in recent years.
Lately it has been with support from a dynamic project called "Change from Within,"
Facing hard times in 1991, the school had embarked on a risky move to teach reading and build confidence among staff and students using the popular lyrics and music, and the arts.
"The school was in a slump. Teachers were demotivated, students were demotivated so we really started doing some crazy things," Principal Margaret Bolt said.
"We found that the children couldn't read but they'd know the words to some songs so we used that to teach them to read, songs you normally wouldn't sing in school. In some ways they were teaching us and building their own self-esteem at the same time."
FUNDS
With the support of priests Brian Massey and Jim Webb, funds were raised to fix up the school which was in poor physical shape.
"Teachers were now in their own classroom and had chairs to sit on. Things began to happen at the school and we saw a whole change in attitude.
It was this radical move that sparked the interest of historian and former University of the West Indies Vice Chancellor, the late Sir Phillip Sherlock.
Other schools engaged in similar desperate strategies were Friendship Park All-age, Charlie Smith High School and Windward Road All-age. The Change From Within concept was developed in 1992 to support and extend the idea.
RESOURCES
"UWI gave us resources, within the group were psychologists, lecturers, and they helped our staff. These people gave of their time, freely," Mrs. Bolt gushes with enthusiasm at the improvements following the intervention of the UWI group.
"Most of the staff who were pretrained now nearly all have first degrees. Some have their master's, and the staff is more self-assured and confident. It's like if you're not careful you forget where you're coming from. That's how good it is now," she says.
Residents say there have
been impressive academic improvements.
Paulette Roache, has lived in the Whitfield Town area for the past 15 years, and says all her children attended the school. Her last child left in July of this year.
"This school has been 'upgraded' over the years. At one time it wasn't a lot of children who pass, (examinations), less than a dozen, and people never use to send them children here. Now you have all 50 pass," Ms. Roache says with pride.
CFW is now monitored by a group of UWI lecturers headed by Paulette Chevannes (project manager). Principals of participating schools and the support team (Circle of Friends) meet monthly for leadership workshops.
"It's taking a new approach to teaching where we encourage the staff to extract the positives in every situation to build self-esteem and discipline among the students," Mrs. Chevannes says. "The programme is about exploring the problems of particular schools and attempting to see how they can influence their own change."
The schools are selected largely through their own interest, or are invited to join. More than 30 primary and secondary schools now participate.
School administrators are asked to present a descriptive profile of their schools. It must include the learning problems as well as lifestyle and social problems which impact on the school community.
Grade two teacher Michael Pinnock who has been at St. Peter Claver for 13 years, says the school and community can feel the huge difference.
COMMON ENTRANCE
"There was a time when nobody would send their children here, and for the ones who would come as soon as they pickup (academically) the parents would move them quickly. Even the children were not motivated, they were not excited about the Common Entrance because they had been told they wouldn't pass anything anyway, so they didn't even want to try."
Things started improving after a crash programme in self-esteem building.
"We changed the devotion period and started using drama and songs to encourage the children. Each morning we sang inspirational songs like Barbara Gloudon and Grub Cooper's Believe in yourself (Reggae Son, Pantomime, 1992), Jimmy Cliff's Many Rivers To Cross, and some of Bob Marley's songs. The children liked the songs and started to express themselves through songs, poems and art, and everybody started working together.
"The PTA was organised to come in and sit for a day, while community walk-throughs were planned for every September," Mr. Pinnock said.
SUCCESS
Other schools lately involved
in the programme have also had successes.
Walton Small, principal of Anchovy High School, in St. James, says the difference has been startling.
The school which had identified the low morale and achievement levels of its boys had started a focus on its male students. A mentorship programme was put in place.
"Almost immediately you could see a change in even the way the boys treated the girls. Suspension levels began to fall, we have had no expulsions all year, and the students are noticeably more focused. To get the parents involvement we arranged the PTA meetings so that parents got 10 minutes to gripe and still have enough time left to conduct parenting workshops," Dr. Small explained.
The project continues and hopes to attract even more schools, widening its Circle of Friends for change.
