Charlotteville Methodist Primary School

Table of Contents

1. School Context
2. Vision
3. Mission
4. Goals
5. Educational Programmes
6. Teaching/Learning
7. Assessment
8. Time
9. Organizational Design
10. Environment
11. External Environment

School Context

Nestled in the picturesque rural fishing village of Charlotteville is the Charlotteville Methodist School. It is situated on #24-26 Spring Street Charlottevlille, Tobago. The school is Government assisted and managed by a Methodist Board. It is staffed with five (5) trained teachers including the Principal, two (2) assistant teacher primary, two (2) educators and one (1) On the Job Trainee. The school has an enrolment of ninety-six (96) students; twenty-two (22) infants, forty-seven (47) juniors and twenty-seven (27) seniors.

The school was established in 1937. It has equipped society with many prolific scholars in the political, medical, business, agricultural, religious and sporting fields. From 1937, the school was under the leadership of many Principals or Head Masters as they were called then. The success of the school was and still is primarily due to the leadership style employed by these headmasters (Principals). There is a concerted effort by the teachers to continue to have a high level of achievement in every sphere of school life.

With the continued thirst for success and improved school performance, the school has engaged in an extensive strategic planning process which has created an improved vision and mission. The vision, mission and goals are well articulated and shared by all stakeholders. The school’s Vision and Mission and some of these goals are as follows:

Vision

To develop fully fledged individual to service the society and wider world by the year 2015

Mission

To prepare a clean, safe, comfortable and caring environment in which students, their teachers and the society as a whole will develop their potential to the highest academical, moral, physical and spiritual level.

Goals

  • To develop numeracy and literacy in every child.
  • To provide developmental and appropriate classroom for all learners.
  • To ensure that the physical and psychological safety of the members of the school community are met.

  • Provide high quality and appropriate learning material and facilities to meet the needs of all learners.

  • To integrate differentiated programmes and instructions to cater for the various learning styles and abilities of all learners.

  • Support a culture of inquiry, respect, reflection, collaboration and collegiality.

  • Enhance the skills and knowledge of all educators, collaborators, effective practitioners and life-long learners in a Professional learning community.

  • Actively promote the exchange of ideas, information, concerns and aspirations of the school and the community.

  • Develop a harmonious relationship based on trust with all stakeholders.

In order to ensure that the vision, mission and goals are realized, the stakeholders play a pivotal role. Parents are encouraged to take an active part in their children’s learning. This is stressed through the Parents and Teachers Association (P.T.A.) which meets on a monthly basis. Parents are also invited to class meetings from time to time to experience first hand their children at work. They are also encouraged to liaise and share with the class teachers the progress of their children.

Educational Programmes

The school adheres to the curriculum as prescribed by the Ministry of Education and also the students actively participate in extra-curricular activities for instance, netball, cricket, football and music. These programmes are facilitated by personnel from the community and the Ministry of Education. Even though the curriculum is designed by the Ministry of Education, from time to time as the need arises, it is placed in a situational context. The curriculum is one that is of a spiral design, in that; one topic is done at all levels but at a higher level for each class. In addition to the prescribed curriculum of the Ministry, this school embarked on a music programme which involved the playing of the national instrument which caters primarily to students of the upper level and is expanded to the wider community.

Teaching/Learning

The teaching strategies used are varied; from whole class to group work to individual attention. Some teachers try to use different methods such as, the deductive approach, which involves cooperative learning and constructivism which are generally child centred.

Assessment

The assessment method used is mainly paper and pencil. Authentic methods of assessment such as portfolios, journals, projects, oral reports, performance task, and checklist are also used.

Time

All the subject areas are time-tabled with a break period of fifteen minutes in the morning and a lunch break of one hour. The school is a religious based school and many of the spiritual values are emphasized each morning.

Organizational Design

The school is governed by rules and regulation. These are accessed through an information booklet with policies on all the structures: for example, there are policies on admission, conduct, and school uniform. Although the school has its governing rules and regulations, each class has its own classroom rules. There are designated committees set up to manage the school’s affairs. Staff meetings are also arranged once per month and all teachers make valuable contributions in dealing with the different matters that arise. The communication channel is one that is open wherein, each person can give their view without fear of victimization. Information is disseminated to staff members through the principal and school committees. Each teacher is involved in the decision making process of the school. Nevertheless, there is need for a better system of the policy formulation strategies. Teachers report to their committee heads who then informs the principal about issues, suggestions and decisions made at committee meetings. However, bureaucratic structures are centralized; that is, the school works under the ambits of the Ministry of Education and adheres to policies coming out of the Ministry.

Environment

It can be boasted that this school has a rich school ethos. Teacher collegiality and collaboration is very high. There is a warm, harmonious and friendly atmosphere that permeates the internal environment. Teachers know what they have to do and they try their best to achieve the vision and mission of the school. There is a good relationship between teacher and teacher; teacher and students, principal and teachers and principal and students.

It must be noted also that teachers strive to develop themselves professionally, whereby they are eager to access courses that are available in order to enhance their pedagogical skills and teacher efficacy. They also engage themselves in professional discourse on a regular basis by enquiring from other staff members about school related matters and problems that they may encounter and give possible solutions. Educational literature is available at the school so that teachers can continually edify themselves. Teachers spend time to prepare their work for curriculum implementation.

External Environment

The Parents Teachers Association (PTA) and the Charlotteville Computer Foundation Centre (NGO) are the two main groups that have a positive relationship with the school. The Computer foundation Centre organizes after school programmes that cater to all age groups which the students in this school can gainfully access. The Parent Teachers’ Association (PTA) meets monthly where the business of the school and students’ progress are discussed.

Back to Top/Charlotteville Graduation 2009 /

Graduation Pictures /Top: Married in Tobago/ Tobago Pictures Gallery/Home/ Tobago house rentals/Tobago car rentals /

Enjoy this page? Please pay it forward. Here's how...

Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?

  1. Click on the HTML link code below.
  2. Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment, your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.