Loud cheers erupted from the student body at the Barrouallie Government School yesterday, as they celebrated the outstanding performance of two of their students in the Caribbean Primary Exit Assessment (CPEA) examinations.

In the first sitting of the CPEA in St Vincent and the Grenadines, the Barrouallie {{more}}Government School was able to achieve two of the first 11 positions.

Jaydel King placed 3rd for girls and 7th overall, while Odion Hamlet placed 6th for boys and 9th overall.

King, the daughter of Deslyn Browne and Jason King, told SEARCHLIGHT that she was proud of her performance because it is now possible for her dream to come true.

“I feel extremely happy because ever since I was a child I always dreamt of… going to Girls’ High School, so my dream came true,” she said.

King achieved 94 per cent in Mathematics, 94 per cent in English and 92 per cent in Science. She scored a total of 93 per cent overall.

Though she described her exam preparations as tiring, King stated that her hard work paid off.

According to Hamlet, preparations were easy because “I already had some marks in class, so all I had to do was work hard in the exams.”

The son of Alcina Hamlet and Davidson Charles is also happy with his performance, and explained that he will now be able to follow in his older brother’s footsteps and attend the St Vincent Grammar School.

“One of my brothers had passed to go to Grammar School and I always wanted to be like him and pass to go to Grammar School too and now it finally happened,” he said.

Hamlet scored 90 per cent in Mathematics, 96 per cent in Science and 96 per cent in English. He is also the highest scoring student in the country for the English exam.

Grade six teachers Joy Davis-Haynes and Pamela Cox-Byam say the success of the school is due to the effort teachers put into getting the students ready for the examinations.

“One of the reasons for our success is that we had an early start. When a lot of us heard about this exam, it was like ‘wow, that’s too much work’ and stuff like that, but we embraced it very early and the headteacher was behind us, pushing us constantly so I think that’s the main reason for our success,” Byam told SEARCHLIGHT.

Haynes expressed similar views, noting that children were at an advantage when they entered the exam, because of the additional work that was done before- hand.

“I think at the Barrouallie Government School, they had a very good performance this year and on behalf of the entire school, we are very happy. It was a joyous time, for us. Seeing that the CPEA was a new exam, replacing Common Entrance, it was very hectic because the CPEA came on us one time, so it took a lot of preparation because there was a lot of additional stuff that we had to do,” she said.

“Children are at an advantage because the work that they were doing all term in class, they were able to receive grades for that work and that was a big help to them.”

The two students in the top 11 expressed thanks to their family members, teachers and friends, who encouraged them during their period of preparation and propelled them to do well.

The Barrouallie Government School recorded its highest pass rate this year, of 83 per cent, with 39 of the 47 students that sat the CPEA examinations being successful.(BK)