The system implemented by the St Leonard’s Boys’ School to remedy the problem of lateness has been yielding results.
Both principal Joseph King and Minister of Education Ronald Jones commented on the improvement when the minister toured the school yesterday.
The principal said that when he took over in 2008 over 30 per cent of the students were arriving after 8:30 a.m., way beyond the official 7:50 a.m. start, but this number had now been reduced to two per cent.
Jones expressed pleasure at seeing so many students at school in time for morning assembly.
Jones added that when King went to the school in 2008 it was understood that quick action was needed to “reengineer an ethos” that would be good for learning and to create the level of confidence that the school so badly needed.
Jones said that his assessment of the school over a three-year period showed that the school was on “an upward trajectory”. He noted the school’s success with the choir, Spanish, sports, the Junior Duelling Chefs competition and science and technology.
King said that some adjustments had been made to increase the number of students entered for exams, including giving an opportunity for students to take a second year to increase their tally of Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) subjects as more than 55 boys had passed four or more subjects and the majority of the failures were at grade four.
Another accomplishment at the school, King said, was the increase in the number of parents choosing the school as a first option when their children were making the transition from primary to secondary school.
The principal said that this year’s top intake mark was 86 in English and 79 in Mathematics.
