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Summer School Primary 2016 will commence on Monday, July 4, at the Hindsbury Primary School, Hindsbury Road, St. Michael.
The four-week activity for students, who have been granted a deferral, is designed to assist them in achieving competencies in literacy and numeracy and to enhance their social skills.
It will officially open on Tuesday, July 5, with a brief ceremony at Solidarity House, Harmony Hall, St. Michael, from 8:45 a.m. Deputy Chief Education Officer (Planning and Development), Dr. Roderick Rudder, will deliver remarks.
This year, facilitators will utilise 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, they will be retested to monitor gains made during Summer School. Various forms of technology will be employed to support the reading component of the programme, including tablets, the whiteboard, laptops and the Mimeo. Levelled Readers will also be provided through an online programme and reading application.
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.
Classroom instruction will therefore focus on two important teaching and learning approaches which are needed to make mathematics learning meaningful. The first one is Number Talks. This technique 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 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.
To improve the parenting skills and understanding of children, teacher Dwight Saul will address parents and guardians during Parents Evening on Monday, July 25. An educational Heritage Tour of Bridgetown is also scheduled for Friday, July 22. Summer School Primary 2016 will conclude on Thursday, July 28, with a graduation and closing ceremony at Solidarity House, Harmony Hall.
joy-ann.gill@barbados.gov.bb