For some 200 Grade 6 children in the six Primary Schools in Anguilla, it may seemingly be early to think about entering Form 1 of Campus B of the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School in September 2015. But the Department of Education is preparing the way for them anyway.
The latest effort in that direction was on Friday, December 5. The event was called “Grade 6 Transition Day.” The activities were arranged by Mrs Vivienne Fleming, Anguilla’s longest-serving Primary Schools Guidance Counsellor. She was assisted by the other two Counsellors: Chanicia Buchanan and Janelle Lake. They had as the Motivational Speaker Ms Dorn Henry, Acting Supervisor of Zenaida Haven.
Mrs Fleming spoke with The Anguillian in the following interview:
Question: Tell us about the event for the children.
Answer: It was called Grade 6 Transition Day and it was the first one for the 2014-2015 year. The purpose of that event was to get all the Grade 6 children who attend the six public schools together, so that they can start creating bonds and friendships that we hope will be fostered and continued when they go to Campus B in 2015.
Q. How long has such a programme been in place, and how useful is it?
A. Maybe four years. We started it because we realise that when children get to Campus B they do not really know many children from the other parts of the island, and some time we had some conflict taking place among the children. We therefore said, let us get Transition Day together earlier so that it can breakdown some of the fears they have of entering Campus B and not knowing anybody there. I think the children enjoy it. I also think it has been working because, when they reach Campus B, they see faces they have known before and that helps their transition to be smoother as they go through the year.
Q. What were some of the activities for Transition Day?
A. It was a half-day event and we had a motivational speaker who talked to the children about teamwork, and they did some activities where they were randomly grouped and had to show cooperation to get the activities done. Our next activity was a getting-to-know-you event where they had to go around and find different persons to answer different questions for them; and the last event was a tug-o-war which they enjoyed a lot.
We want to have those children together two more times: one during the second term, and the big one during the third time.
