Students urged to exercise proper oral communication

Students and teachers at the Brighton Methodist School were encouraged to exercise proper oral communication in their classrooms in order to facilitate education.{{more}}

This advice came from Senior Education Officer Joycelyn Blake-Browne, the featured speaker at the school’s Hats off to Reading march and rally, on Friday, January 27, at the Brighton Methodist School.

Blake-Browne, addressing the subject ‘talking as oral communication’, stated that teachers believe that silence in the classroom was the most suitable environment for students to learn. She, however, noted that students must be encouraged to speak, in order to express themselves and their ideas. “Sometimes it is not what you say, but how it is said,” Blake-Browne stated.

She added that parents have to play a part in encouraging students to talk constructively. Blake-Browne stated that more communication needs to happen at the home, relating to the students present that parents may limit things like television watching and long periods of time spent on the Internet to have regular conversations with them.

Literacy in the classrooms was highlighted by Education Officer Hannah Browne, who encouraged the students to continue to read. She also appealed to parents and teachers to show their support to the children by facilitating the improvement of their reading.

Literacy Co-ordinator Yvette Pompey stated that the school started its Hats Off to Reading programme four years ago, when it identified that there was a reading problem at the school.

Pompey said that they introduced several activities into the classrooms in order to improve the standard of literacy at the school. The activities include one-hour reading sessions, the students taking active parts in storytelling and writing poetry, stories and book reports.

The library of the school also received up to 1,000 books, through a successful book drive, organized by teachers and parents of the school.

Also giving remarks, Principal of the school Laverne Warrican stated that the fourth annual literacy rally was a historical event for the school. She further thanked all the persons who assisted in the collection of 1,000 books for the book drive.

The event included a colourful march throughout Brighton, as teachers and parents joined the students, decked out in creative hats, to celebrate reading. The rally also featured music from the Brighton Methodist School drummers, the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Band and a dance done by the Brighton Methodist School Dancers. The event was held under the theme “Hats off to Reading- Widening our horizons through oral expressions”.