Students who deferred taking the 2015 Barbados Secondary Schools??? Entrance Examination (BSSEE), will get the opportunity to improve their knowledge this summer.

The Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation will hold its annual Summer School (Primary) from July 7 to 30, at George Lamming Primary School, Flint Hall, St Michael. It will run from 8:45 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. daily.

Summer School (Primary) will be officially opened on Tuesday, July 7, at 9:00 a.m. Senior Education Officer (Ag), Fernando Carter, will address the students and parents.

This four-week activity is intended to improve students??? competencies in literacy and numeracy and to enhance their social interactions.??Facilitators 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. At the end of the period of instruction, students will be retested to monitor gains made during Summer School.

Various forms of technology will also be employed to support the reading component of the programme, including tablets, the whiteboard, laptops and the Mimeo. Levelled Readers will be provided through an online programme and reading application.

Students attending 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.

Classroom instruction will focus on two important pedagogical practices which are needed to learn mathematics meaningfully. The first one, Number Talks, will be used by facilitators to develop students??? number sense, by providing opportunities for them to work with computations in meaningful ways and to communicate their thinking.

The other practice is teaching through Problem Solving. This approach emphasises both processes and strategies which must be used to solve word problems. Facilitators and students will use a variety of interactive mathematical websites to enhance teaching and learning.

Resource persons from the community will assist with spiritual development of the students and offer counselling sessions. Community Activist, Corey Lane, will address parents and guardians on the topic: Self Esteem Building in Children- What Parents need to know.

Students will also gain additional skills in jewellery making, drama, art & craft, weaving, music, sign language, dance and martial arts. And, there will be an educational tour of Welchman Hall Gully on Thursday, July 16.

Summer School (Primary) will conclude on Thursday, July 30, with a Graduation and Closing Ceremony, to be addressed by Deputy Chief Education Officer (Planning and Development), David Clement.

joy-ann.gill@barbados.gov.bb

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