OpiMax Learning Centre 1

OPIMAX LEARNING CENTRE
NEWPORT, SOUTH MANCHESTER, JAMAICA

BACKGROUND
Currently, a quarter of students leaving primary schools in Jamaica are illiterate or reading below their grade level. Children in Grade 4 and Grade 6 have to sit the Grade 4 Literacy Test and the Grade 6 Achievement Test. Failure to pass the Grade 4 Achievement Test will result in a child not sitting the Grade 6 Achievement Test. The Grade 6 Achievement Test (GSAT), which replaced Common Entrance, is used to place children in high schools. However, the grade achieved on the test determines whether a child is placed in a traditional high school (seen as the better school) or a non-traditional high school (a secondary school that has been given high school status). To get into a traditional high school a child has to score in the high 80s and above.

In March 2009 Maxine Donovan, a trained teacher and a returning resident from the UK, started providing literacy support on a voluntary basis to children preparing for the Grade 4 Literacy Test at Bethabara Primary and Junior High School located in Newport, South Manchester. The school operates a two-shift system from 7:30am – 12:20pm and 12:30pm – 5:30pm. This results in children spending less time in school compared to schools, which do not operate a shift system where children are at school from 8.00am to 3.00pm.

The need for literacy support was great, so Maxine Donovan held a reading workshop at Bethabara Primary and Junior High School during the 2009 summer holidays. Following requests from parents for literacy support for their children, the OpiMax Learning Centre was started in Newport, South Manchester by Horace & Maxine Donovan on 31st August 2009.

OPIMAX LEARNING CENTRE

AIMS

1	To improve the educational standards of the children attending the centre.

2	To provide innovative education to help each child realise his or her full potential.

3	To help develop the social and communication skills of each child.

4	To encourage the involvement of parents in the education of their children.

PROCEDURE FOR ENROLMENT
Every parent who wants their child to attend the OLC has a meeting to:

·	Discuss why OpiMax was set up and what is being offered.

·	Explain the role parents are expected to play.

·	Complete an application form.

·	Introduce the Home/OLC Agreement to be signed by child and parent.

·	Arrange a date for the child to visit the centre to complete a diagnostic assessment.

OPERATION OF OPIMAX LEARNING CENTRE
OpiMax Learning Centre officially started on Monday, 31 August 2009 when students came in to do their diagnostic assessments on Monday and Tuesday. Classes started on Wednesday, 2 September 2009.

Classes are held in the mornings and in the afternoons, except on a Friday when classes are held only in the afternoon. Children receive tuition in reading, maths and also in GSAT and Grade 4 Literacy Test Preparation. There are presently 22 students enrolled at the OLC. The majority of the students attend OLC three days a week for reading and maths.