All six public primary schools in Anguilla opened on a phased basis on Monday, October 4th, with some students attending classes in the morning and others in the afternoon. Measures have been taken to have all students abide by a systematic set of rules in the classrooms, and on the playgrounds, that would minimise the risk of catching the Covid virus.
The schools had remained closed after rising positive cases of Covid had barred their opening on September 6th, when the official opening was scheduled, following the summer break. For three weeks, from September 6th to October 1st, students had been engaged in online class sessions.
But in a meeting last Friday October 1st , Education Minister, the Honourable Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers, broke the news that students would be free to attend sessions in the classroom settings on Monday, October 4th – for the most part – putting aside the online e-learning platforms. The Honourable Minister announced:
“As many parents would have wished, as many teachers would have hoped for, and as many students would have prayed for, we are looking at entering into a phased reopening of schools starting on Monday, October 4th 2021. The phased reopening of schools does not mean that all school will enter in the same arrangement come Monday, but it does mean that we will be increasing a face-to-face presence in classroom learning.”
Based upon that premise, schools indeed opened and, recently, The Anguillian newspaper had the opportunity to visit the Orealia Kelly Primary School, The Valley Primary and the Adrian T. Hazel Primary School to speak with the Principals – as well as to tour a few of the classrooms. The Principal of the Orealia Kelly Primary School is Ms. Marcia Brooks. She told The Anguillian:
“On behalf of the school, I would like to say that we are happy to be back in school with our students. Over the past few weeks we have been doing our best with virtual learning, but there are some children whom we were not able to reach out to with online classes and, of course, there are those who would benefit more from physical classroom instructions. So we are grateful and happy to be back in school.
“We are following all the protocols as stipulated by the Ministry of Health. These include temperature tests for everyone entering the school’s interior, frequent hand washing sanitising, staggered break times. Staggered break times mean that the entire school will not have their break at once, but students in selected lower classes will have break at certain intervals with students of higher classes. This helps to minimise the risks of students’ contact on the school grounds and, of course, we also observe social distancing inside the classroom.”
Tr. Marcia was pleased to introduce her Deputy Principal, Mrs. Shirlene Hodge. She said: “Mrs. Hodge previously served as a classroom teacher, but as Deputy Principal she has been assigned to assist with teaching and learning throughout the school, and to help enhance learning experiences.” She congratulated Tr. Shirlene on her new post and expressed her delight over the anticipated service she will render in augmenting the educating experience.
She also made mention of a few other new posts in the school which include the role of two Remedial Reading Teachers, namely Mrs. Kenda Lake and Mrs. Dinah Lake. Also assigned to new posts are: Special Education Needs Coordinator, Ms. Marian Abbot; and Numeracy Coordinator, Mrs. Renee Wills.
At The Valley Primary School, the new Principal, Ms. Trisha Richardson, thanked God for enabling the schools to reopen. Just as well, she minced no words in expressing her gratitude for her new post at The Valley Primary, commonly termed as the Golden Horses:
“As a new Principal of The Valley Primary School, I am very humbled to join the Golden Horses Community,” she said. “Looking back on my life, leaving secondary school with one solitary subject, God enabled me to persevere and excel to the standard where I am now the Principal of Anguilla’s largest Primary School. It is clear that there is none like God.
“I am pleased to know that the decision was finally taken to reopen our primary schools. My message to the students of this school would be: remain humble, trust in God and continue to aim for excellence. I am elated to have a wonderful faculty of teachers as my team.”
“We are destined to work together to develop the minds of the youngsters we educate,” Tr. Trisha said. “I appreciate my Deputy Principal, Ms. Estelle Laurent-Carter, who is also very enthusiastic about joining the Golden Horses. Our team is dedicated, committed and passionate about providing each student with an outstanding education that will prepare them to face the rigours of the 21st century.
“Let me say how delighted I am with the support and commitment of our PTA as well. In these unprecedented times, our objectives of success will be achieved with this spirit of togetherness. Although this school year began with e-learning, and a phased approach to classes, we will endeavour to serve with the same zeal as we have always had in regular classrooms. I would like to wish every student, parent, teacher and community member a wonderful school year 2021-2022.”
Teacher Tiffany Thomas, the Principal of the Adrian T. Hazel Primary School, hailed the schools’ opening with a great deal of excitement and compliments for her teachers.
“I must say that I am extremely happy that the school is opened once more so that we can teach as usual. I must commend the teachers. I have experienced the quality of their online platform classrooms, and I can definitely say that all of the teachers at Adrian T. Hazel Primary are experts now in the Google Classroom. We have links and attachments within our classrooms so that the teachers have made the online learning experience as interactive with the students as possible.
“We are delighted to be back out in the school environment. We are aware that it is rather risky, and we know that we are working under unpredictable conditions as far as the pandemic is concerned. However, we have hope that we can be sustained for a long while amidst the uncertainties. We know the children and their families will be tested. We have sent emails out to all the parents inviting them to maintain regular contact with us so that together we can work towards maintaining and enhancing the children’s grades.
“The children are not mingling as in times past. They are conscious of the risks. Besides, going outside for break is minimised, and for lunch they all eat at the same time together inside their classrooms. When they exit the school, they exit as a class, and they are taught to stay within the boundaries of their grade. In such a way, if there is need for contact tracing, it can be confined to a particular group, so that there would be no confusion, and the entire school would not need to be shut down.”
Teacher Tiffany stated that all the teachers are in school and more than 70% of the student body is attending classes. “They are indeed very happy to be back out to school,” she said. She made it a point of duty to issue a word of caution to parents: “Parents, please be vigilant. Do not take you children into unnecessary places. Refrain from going to parties. And if they have to go out, make sure they are wearing masks and are sanitising frequently.”
“Between last year and this year we have lost a lot of time due to Covid,” she observed. “We don’t know what the future holds, but by the grace of God we can overcome.”
For next week’s edition, The Anguillian will tour the other three public primary schools, namely: Vivien Vanterpool Primary, Morris Vanterpool Primary and Alwyn Allison Primary School.
