Students at the Kingstown Anglican School are now benefitting from an initiative being led by the school’s guidance councillor Carmel Leech and sponsored by the Mustique Charitable Trust.

The initiative comes in the form of an after school programme, sponsored by the Trust at a cost of EC$10,000. The programme targets students in an aim to address a number of issues, including drug abuse, violence, conflict resolution and social graces.{{more}}

On Thursday, November 6, Trust administrator Lavinia Gunn handed over the money and items for the programme to Leech and headteacher Kenneth Burgin during a ceremony at the school compound on Lower Bay Street,

Leech said that the children that attend the school are predominantly from areas that are at risk for social problems and that the programme represents a proactive approach for dealing with some of these issues which include violence, family disruption and criminal activities.

The programme is run for an hour and a half every Friday after school with 35 students and will continue for one year before it is repeated.

A manual dubbed “Enhance your social skills,” which was prepared by certified educator Shauna G Lewis, a teacher from Bequia who has a BSc in counselling and a BSc in Human Ecology,” is being used.

Leech said that a skill component of the programme will see the children learning to play the recorder, while they will learn about decision making, how to settle conflicts, problem solving, social graces, which include saying “excuse me,” “please” and “thank you,” how to properly sit around a table and how to properly address someone.

The students are expected to pass what they learn on to their peers.

Trust administrator Gunn said that the Trust will be looking at the programme with the hope of introducing it into other schools.

Some of the items donated include recorders, a camcorder and board games.

Principal at the school Kenneth Burgin said, “We are hoping to teach them how to resolve conflicts amicably, share with each other and be each other’s keepers.”

He said that some of the children are negatively impacted because of things they see in the communities where they come from and he is hoping that the programme can change this.