Role models for new students

First formers of the Garrison Secondary School are to benefit from a new mentorship programme.Principal Matthew Farley told the SATURDAY SUN the programme would involve past students working alongside teachers and parents to encourage the new students to strive for excellence.On Thursday parents watched as students settled down for their final orientation inside their classrooms where their uniforms were inspected and timetables were given out, after full assembly.It was the students’ fourth visit to the school. The first was on June 22 when they were registered and taken on a tour of the building.On August 5 and 6 they went through a transitional educational skills programme.Farley also spoke to parents and students who had received letters about the school’s strict dress code.Silvana Joseph, who left the school in 1992 and is now one of the mentors, helped the new students settle down and get the correct time tables.Joseph said mentors would make themselves available to the school and visit students on a regular basis.“We will be working with the students and helping them in this transitional year. It isn’t always easy leaving a primary school and entering secondary school. It’s a change and sometimes students need help with that, and we will be here to help them with any issues they encounter,” she told the SATURDAY SUN. (CAT)