​Clare Valley Government School completes math initiative

A six week math initiative among Grade K students at the Clare Valley Government School involving parents wrapped up last Friday, June 20, 2025, with everyone involved giving the project a thumbs-up.

Principal of the School, Maxine Coombs, said she is very pleased with the collective response of the Grade K students and their parents to the ‘Written Numbers in Everyday Life’ also referred to as NIEL that was implemented during the third term of this academic year.

She explained to SEARCHLIGHT that the project was conducted in collaboration with Dr Lois George, Acting Director, School of Education and Senior Lecturer, Mathematics among her other portfolios at The University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica. She said the Clare Valley Government School was the only school to date in the OECS sub-region with such a programme, but she is hoping that it could be adopted by other learning institutions in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the wider OECS sub-region.

“The programme’s initial implementation was in the United Kingdom, University of South Hampton, and subsequently it was implemented in Jamaica where Cycle 1 was done. Fast forward to Cycle 2 which was extended to us at Clare Valley Government School, and we have embraced the opportunity wholeheartedly.”

She pointed out that the initiative “was successfully and effectively implemented with the collaboration of Grade K teachers, 15 of the students in that class and their parents, who actively participated in the project.”

Coombs further outlined that the programme focused primarily on parental involvement in Math learning, the adults being encouraged to engage their children or ward to talk about numbers in various contexts at home and outside of the school’s environment.

Click here to subscribe to read the full article in the E-paper!