Top girl in the Barbados Secondary Schools' Entrance Examination, Azaria Johnson presented with some of her prizes by Anthony Gittens. (GP)

Top girl in the Barbados Secondary Schools’ Entrance Examination, Azaria Johnson presented with some of her prizes by Anthony Gittens. (GP)

The 2016 graduating class of Charles F. Broome Memorial Primary School has been encouraged to hold fast to traditional values and positive behaviours.

Addressing the school’s graduation ceremony on Friday at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, Senior Education Officer in the Ministry of Education, Gertrude Welch, told students: “Be punctual, be regular in your school attendance, use your time wisely, prepare the night before for your classes, do your homework when set and if none is set, read or revise what was done the last time, and remember that preparation prevents poor performance.”

Parents were told if they detected children were struggling in their school work to get help early. The former teacher also stressed the need to monitor the programmes children watched on television and on tablets, as well as the time their charges spent on these devices.

Delivering her address, Principal Dr. Monica Walton urged parents to remain involved in their children’s lives. She noted that this was critical, especially at a time when they would be required to cope with heavier workloads at the secondary level and various pressures.

“I advise you to spend quality time with your children. The best thing to spend on your children is your time. It cannot be bought. When it is lost, it cannot be reclaimed.

“Get to know their friends and the parents of their friends. This kind of support assists your children as they progress to finding the right path as they progress in their life,” Dr. Walton said.

Parents also heard that they should assist the teachers at the secondary schools, and should urge children to give of their best, be respectful and “obey instructions the first time they are given”.

Students, themselves, were reminded that the theme of the graduation – Together Everyone Achieves More – was relevant, and that the will to win, the desire to succeed and the urge to reach their fullest potential were keys to “unlocking personal excellence”. They were also reminded to develop sound character and positive qualities and that their attitude would “determine their altitude”.

Meanwhile, Senior Manager and Head of Archives and Information at the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation, Sherwood McCaskie, reminded the 90 graduates that their country needed them to continue the tradition of excellence for which the island is known.

He told the children: “Barbados needs you to continue that legacy of the pride and industry that once sprung from within the inner core of our people…. I am speaking of a responsibility and ownership, pride in knowing who you are, pride in your work, and taking pride in everything that you do”.

Those gathered also heard the school continued its excellence in the Barbados Secondary Schools’ Entrance Examination. Top boy, Khalil Vanderpool-Nurse, along with 11 others, is off to Queen’s College, while top girl, Azaria Johnson, and nine others, will enter Harrison College in September. Additionally, 11 students gained places at The St. Michael School, seven at Combermere, and eight at Christ Church Foundation.

In addition, nine students will be attending The Lodge School, four will be heading to Deighton Griffith, eight to The Alleyne School, two to Lester Vaughan, three to Springer Memorial, two to St. Leonard’s Boys’, two to Parkinson Memorial and two to St. George Secondary. Five students gained bursaries.

joy-ann.gill@barbados.gov.bb

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