Ministry Pushing Child-Friendly School Concept
(ZIZ)– The Ministry of Education is continuing its drive to develop a “child-friendly” environment in all schools.
On Wednesday, the teachers of Sandy Point Primary will be meeting with parents to get them on board in this new initiative.
School Principal, Jennifer Dolphin said one of the aims is to move away from listing rules of what not to do and replace them with expectations of children’s behaviour.
She said, “For example, right outside the office they like to run; I used to say ‘Children, don’t run on the corridor’, but now I’m saying ‘Walk on the corridor’. I’m telling them what I expect them to do rather than telling them what I don’t want them to do.”
Dolphin said to make this concept effective they need the parents to practice it at home as well.
“Set expectations for their children at home. And try to move away from the rules and I believe if we have it reiterated at home and we’re doing it at school, it will work. Children, when they hear things repeated over and over…it tends to stick with them,” she said.
The school principal said the project plans to make the children the centre of the learning process. Teachers would be focusing on teaching the child instead of finishing the topic…and creating a safe friendly space that would help children learn.
Veteran Educator and counsellor Gloria Mills will be facilitating the meeting on Wednesday afternoon.