Face-to-face classes going smoothly at Bois Content Primary

The primary institution returned last week to the original mode of learning after receiving approval from the Ministry of Health following a detailed fit and proper assessment in keeping with established Covid19 government protocols.

While all 154 students did not turn up on the opening day last week Monday, Walsh Reynolds told Old Harbour News they already had a “standard approach” plan in place for the resumption of face-to-face learning.

She said classes are being held “every day Mondays through to Fridays, but different classes come in on different days to lessen the crowding”.

“We met with the grade six (students) because they are the critical ones,” the principal added. “They have to be here Monday to Friday between the hours of 8:00 am to 2:30 pm and the only disadvantage is that they say ‘Miss, we don’t like the mask’, the fact that they have to have it on. So we ask the teachers to give them a breather, take them on the outside where we have the ‘no mask zone’ and just allow them to relax a bit before they go back inside the classroom.”

Since March of last year, the education of the nation’s children has been carried out remotely through various means.  But the sight of returning to the physical classroom space is welcome relief for students and parents alike 10 months after schools were forced to close due to the coronavirus global outbreak.

“For the most part the students were happy to return, also the parents,” Walsh Reynolds said, emphasizing that everything will be done to maximize learning over the next few available months.

Like majority of schools across the country, Bois Content Primary was no exception as it too struggled to adapt to remote learning at the start. Many of its students and even teachers were without the necessary devices to transition into the ‘new norm’, but with the help of a few past students more than 70 percent of its population, including all members of its grade six cohort, are now consistently engaged in online learning by the end of December.

One such group that played a crucial role in this aspect was the Hancel Family Foundation, which donated devices and other resource materials to assist the school and those students in need.

“They have been a blessing to us,” the school’s headmaster said of the group of native past students based abroad and also on the island. “First and foremost they sent us a barrel of stationaries, then when they sent their second gift: we received six laptops to assist with our teaching and learning and the teachers are using those… And then this morning one of the Hancels sent us a temperature gun so we have two at the gate to man the children quickly. So we must commend the Hancels.”

Speaking to Old Harbour News, Sherri Hancel said they felt obligated to help their school situated on the St Catherine/Clarendon border, eight miles north of Old Harbour town.

“Covid has been a challenge for many and especially on education in a country like Jamaica where access to internet, computers etcetera are limited. It creates an equity issue for rural communities and so we as a family considered this to be a way that we can help support the remote learning environment,” she said.

“The decisions are made internally amongst the family but mostly to support the school as we all are alumnus so we all have a heart for the Bois Content Primary School. This is our small way of giving back.”