Petrina Francis, Staff Reporter

Concerned that some students at Angels Primary School in St Catherine were reading below the grade level, the administration has begun teaching reading as a subject to improve the school's literacy rate.

Speaking Tuesday, during the school's graduation ceremony, principal Garth Gayle said of the 196 students who sat the grade two diagnostic test, 47 were reading at the primary level, 53 at the pre-primary level and 23 were non-readers.

Gayle said the results jolted the school into action, leading to the implementation of an infused reading programme for all classes.

Reading as a subject

"Reading is now being taught as a subject and extra-lesson reading classes started in October for all grade two students," Gayle told parents and other well-wishers who attended the ceremony at Vision Apostolic Church in Spanish Town.

"What we have discovered is that if we continue to follow the revised curriculum, some students will catch on while others with deficiencies will continue to fail," the headmaster told The Gleaner.

Gayle said with reading being taught as a subject, the school now has the opportunity to focus on specific students and teach the fundamentals of reading.

He noted that other programmes that were implemented to boost literacy, include the literacy 1-2-3 and continued assessment programmes.

"I must commend our grade two teachers who put their minds, training and experience together, and instituted a reading intervention programme to tackle the challenge of slow readers and non-readers," Gayle said.

The principal told The Gleaner that, by September, the six-year-old school would hire a specialist teacher to assess the students. He also revealed that literacy specialists would be available for every grade.

Mastered the test

Meanwhile, Gayle said the grade one readiness inventory, which was administered in September, revealed that students were performing better than those in grade two.

He reported that 75 per cent of the students mastered the test, 15 per cent achieved near mastery and 10 per cent non-mastery. Gayle said every child showed improvement in all subject areas, adding that 30 per cent were now reading above the grade one level, 50 per cent at the grade one level and 20 per cent below.

The principal commended the grade one teachers for their patience and hard work with the students, and the parents for their support.

One hundred and fifty-four students who sat the Grade Six Achievement Test in March will be advancing to secondary school in September. Gayle said they received good passes, with several of them going to so-called traditional high schools such as Campion College, Wolmer's Boys' and Girls' and St Jago High.

petrina.francis@gleanerjm.com