Parents told to set parameters

STUDENTS who deferred taking the 2016 Barbados Secondary Schools’ Entrance Examination (BSSEE) will get the opportunity to improve their knowledge this summer.

They will attend the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation’s annual Summer School, being held at Hindsbury Primary.

Yesterday, the four-week activity got underway with an opening ceremony and orientation session at Solidarity House, where parents and guardians gathered were encouraged to create the environment in which they set parameters for discipline.

“If it means that between 5 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. there is no other activity other than some form of stimulating work – reading, mathematics or science – you have to set the parameters. Hold on tight to those parameters so that the environment of discipline is created,” stressed Deputy Chief Education Officer, Dr. Roderick Rudder.

“That extra being time spent reading per day can make a significant difference. That extra time taken to solve the mathematics problem or to consolidate the understanding of mathematics concepts will make a significant difference, not just for the next four weeks, but for the rest of their lives.

“I want you to seriously think about what are the conditions what would help to make the difference in your child’s performance, not only over the next four weeks, not only over the next year, but into the future. It is that capacity to exercise a level of control, and to foster it in a stable environment in which each child can focus on very clear objectives and targets, that they want to reach; and to make every effort – shutting out all the distractions – to ensure success at the end of the day,” Dr. Rudder urged.

The Summer School is intended to improve students’ competencies in literacy and numeracy, and to enhance their social interactions. Facilitators, who are teachers, will employ a Balanced Literacy Approach, which will address reading fluency, strategies of comprehending, independent reading and vocabulary development. Each student will receive individualised instruction based on the results of a diagnostic reading assessment.

Students selected to attend Summer School wrote a mathematics diagnostic test to determine their competencies on entering the programme. The theme for this year’s mathematics programme is: Developing Number Sense through Problem Solving.

In addition, resource persons from the educational community will assist with spiritual development of the students and offer counselling sessions. Students will also have the opportunity to gain additional skills in jewellery making, art & craft, music, sign language, dance and martial arts as part of co-curricular offerings. (TL)