APSE programme reaping success at Hopewell High School

Hopewell High School in Hanover is reaping success through the Alternative Pathways to Secondary Education (APSE) programme of the Ministry of Education and Youth, led by English teacher and Grade-nine coordinator, Natalie Wedderburn.

Hopewell High School is among a cluster of schools in Region 4 that actively use the APSE to ensure that every child has the best opportunity to succeed academically.

The APSE targets students in grades seven to 13, by utilising a curriculum that takes into account their aptitude, interest and ability, and enables each child to perform to his fullest potential.

Wedderburn, who is also the Jamaica Teaching Council (JTC) awardee, shared her targeted strategy for working with the students.

“So, one of the things I do with my students is the Response to Intervention (RTI) method, where we identify support for the students who need extra help academically or behaviourally, and then we continue with them in that support area,” Wedderburn said.

“We intentionally take those students, and we focus on them from early. So, some of them need extra academic support, and some of them need behavioural support. We make sure that we do a programme for them that will help them,” she added.

The teacher said she also uses an ‘intentional mistake’ strategy, “so, if I’m writing on the board or I’m reading something to them, the mistakes are there, and they need to know what the mistakes are … and then identify what they are and be able to correct them”.

In testament to Wedderburn’s diligence, the school boasts of producing the deputy junior mayor and junior councillor for the Sandy Bay Division, Jada Lewis.

Wedderburn underscored that the school ensures that students get involved in varying external competitions as a way of encouraging them to apply what they have learned.

“We try to take them out of the classroom and take them out into the world where they will be able to use whatever it is that they are learning now in the classroom, because success isn’t really a straight line. It’s about finding the knot in the rope and learning to pull (undo) the knot by themselves to achieve what they want to achieve,” Wedderburn said.

“I have students who have been in that programme (RTI) from grade nine and when they came, they didn’t know some of the letter sounds, and those students have learned, are reading well now and have gone on to get distinction in City and Guilds (examinations),” she added.

She emphasised that although the task of being an educator is not always easy, she is responsible for their well-being and journey to success.

“Sometimes when you step into the classroom you can see that today is the day that students don’t really want to learn anything. However, I try to treat the students the way that I would want the other teachers to treat my kids. And if there is a problem and I see that there is some way that I can help out, I am going to just grab that opportunity to help out that student,” Wedderburn said.

She said that a notable asset in the teaching and learning experience is staying current with developments in the sector.

“Ensure that you are professionally developing yourself along the way, because things are changing, the strategies that we use are changing, and the technology is changing. The JTC has a number of mentorship courses and you can grab them and be mentored,” the teacher encouraged.