10th December 2014
Mr. Stanley Reid & Mrs. Rhonda Connor
Deputy Governor Chief Education Officer
Governor’s House Education Department
Old Ta The Valley
Anguilla Anguilla
Dear Mr. Reid and Mrs. Connor,
We first wrote in September of 2014 to Mr. Reid as Deputy Governor as we were grieved by:
1. The fact that the Alwyn A. Richardson Primary School was reopened without a principal;
2. One of our most senior teachers, deputy principal and reading recovery teacher was abruptly transferred to another school.
Many of us were extremely upset by the decisions made by the Department but decided to cooperate for the sake of our children. We are grateful that a teacher was appointed to grade one (1). However, we continue to be troubled as it has now been over three (3) months and the Alwyn A. Richardson Primary School still does not have a reading recovery teacher.
We, the parents, were promised that a reading recovery teacher would be appointed to the school by midterm break (October). That time has now passed and our children continue to suffer. We were informed that there is currently not enough reading recovery teachers on island and a teacher would have to be trained before the position could be filled. We find this hard to believe as Mrs. Connor first met with us in September and did not indicate this to us the parents.
Recently, we were informed that there is in fact an available reading recovery teacher as some schools actually have more than one (1). We hope that there is no truth to that statement as it would be shameful to know that any school, regardless of size, can have multiple reading recovery teachers while Alwyn A. Richardson Primary School has none.
Please be reminded that Alwyn A. Richardson Primary School would not have been in this position had the decision to transfer our deputy principal/reading recovery teacher not been made. We are aware that the standard reading test for the students is usually held in June. However, given the fact that the students of the Alwyn A. Richardson Primary School have been without a reading recovery teacher for a full term, we strongly urge that the students are excused from this test.
Whilst we applaud the efforts by the Education Department to diversify the school’s syllabus and ensure that our children are well rounded, it is very disappointing to see that the focus has been on other subjects such as Art, Music or even Spanish whilst a fundamental area such as reading has been neglected.
The school term will end in a few days. We trust that time be taken to put all schools in a position where they can operate effectively in the New Year. We trust that time be taken to ensure there is a reading recovery teacher allocated to Alwyn A. Richardson Primary School. If it is true that there will not be a reading recovery teacher to begin 2015 with the students then we revive our plea and urge you to reconsider the transfers made in September 2014 and have Tr. Tricia Richardson transferred to Alwyn A. Richardson Primary School to assist our children.
We pray that commonsense prevails.
Yours respectfully,
Concerned parents and West End community members
cc: Hon. Jerome Roberts – Minister of Education
Chanelle Petty-Barrett – Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Education
The Press – Upbeat Radio, The Anguillian Newspaper
(Published without editing by The Anguillian newspaper.)
