TWO GUIDANCE COUNSELLORS have launched an initiative to make the transition from primary school to secondary easier for students.
Shauntée Walters of Grantley Adams Memorial Secondary School and Margaret Grant of The St Michael School have written a book entitled Entering Secondary School: A Survival Kit For Students With Helpful Tips For Parents and yesterday they distributed the first copies to students of Lawrence T. Gay.
“The book is about helping children say goodbye to primary school and hello to secondary school,” Grant said.
“We are suggesting they write letters to anybody in the school they’re leaving who made an impact on their lives as well as getting them to research their new school, its uniforms and crests and even interview some of its students.
“We want to get rid of the notion there are bad schools so they can go in with a positive attitude,” Grant added.
She said their next step was to host a camp, starting next month, for all students about to enter secondary school.
Member of Parliament for St Michael West Central James Paul, who sponsored the donation of the books to the Lawrence T. Gay Class 4 students, said he noticed that a lot of children in his constituency had reading difficulties.
“We are becoming a visual society with less emphasis on reading. Parents are extremely important because if the children are not getting encouragement from them, it will make the lives of secondary school teachers more difficult.
“Parents have to give teachers something to work with and this handbook is something every parent and child entering secondary school should have,” he said. (CA)
