Watooka Day Schools tops Region 10 at NGSA,

Oct 17, 2021 News

– Regma girls tie for second place

By Vanessa Braithwaite

Kaieteur News – Akiera Campbell of the Watooka Day Primary School in Linden, grabbed the first position for Region 10, in the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA). She secured a place at Queen’s College (QC) with 518 marks.

Angel Henry

Akeira Campbell

Aliyah Anthony

The aspiring doctor said she kept focus throughout her NGSA journey, despite the challenges brought on by the pandemic. She said she did expect to secure a spot at QC but not to top the region. “Right now, I am experiencing adrenalin rush, I always performed well at school but I had to stay focus and not get distracted,” the top performer said. As a result of school closure during the pandemic, Akiera had to transition from face-to-face learning to having classes on zoom and this she said was a challenge since she did not benefit from one-on-one interaction with her teachers.
Her teacher, Melissa Blair, who played a pivotal role in her performance said Akiera was a child who always took up the challenge and she is happy that she made the school and her parents proud. “I am overwhelmed, I’m happy for her and everything she would have achieved.” The Grade Six teacher said teaching remotely was difficult, particularly dealing with internet connectivity issues, but she pulled through to the end to ensure her students derived success. Akiera’s mother, Andrea Campbell, said her daughter has made her extremely proud and she encouraged her throughout the preparation period to not be side tracked with all the negativity brought on by the pandemic. “I told her not to get sidetracked from her expected goal, throughout it all, I would encourage her to work, keep working all the time and I saw that she was working so I am excited, I am elated and I am proud,” she said.
Tying for second position in the region are students from Regma Primary, Aliyah Anthony and Angel Henry. They both copped 516 marks and secured places at QC. The excited Aliyah said she feels accomplished because of her exceptional performance.
“I didn’t expect to be the second but to go to Queen’s College,” she said. Speaking on the challenges faced in preparation for exams during the pandemic, the aspiring entrepreneur said, “It was difficult adjusting to it but I got the hang of it. The preparation was stressful because I had to study a lot, most of my time was on zoom classes,” she said.
Angel Henry expressed similar sentiments of being excited about her performance as she had difficulty answering some questions in the part-two papers. Speaking on preparing during a pandemic, she said. “It was kind of hard because you didn’t have people around you to explain the work and a more one-on-one interaction, and at school we also played games to better understand the concepts, and I had really enjoyed those,” she said. Angel thanked her teacher Cheryl Wills, her parents, grandmother and God for contributing to her excellent performance.
Copping the third position in the Region is Mollya Wilson of Amelia’s Ward Primary with 514 marks. Her teacher, Shauna Cumberbatch, said she is overwhelmed because although she was confident that Mollya and the other two students in the top 10 for the Region would have performed well, she is giving all praises to God. She revealed that teaching while face-to-face learning was out, was difficult but she ensured the students got the best input from her. “It was very difficult, we went through a lot of challenges. I had zoom with them and then when I realised I wasn’t getting a lot out of them from zoom, I turned my home into a school. When the group got bigger I got another place and then a bottom house to ensure they got face-to-face learning,” she said.
She added, “I also worked with an action plan and I am happy because it all worked out.” The other students who made it into the top 10 for Region 10 are Nykasi Hodge of Amelia’s Ward Primary with 511 marks, Lakeshia Venture of Royal Hall of Learning with 511 marks, Shaniece Duncan of Watooka Day Primary with 510 marks, Angel Saul of Regma Primary with 510 marks. They all were awarded places at QC. Tia Sampson of One Mile Primary secured 509 marks, Joshua Purnell of Amelia’s Ward Primary secured 508 marks, Jalicia Douglas of Regma Primary secured 508 marks and Tierra Mc Intosh of Royal Halls of Learning secured 508 marks. They all were awarded places at the Bishop’s High School. Meanwhile Tabitha Fox of the Howell Wilson Primary School in Ituni secured 506 marks and was awarded a place at the Bishop’s High. She is the top student for the Sub Region District.