August 20, 2021 pmedia2 Education, Getready, PFSchools, Resumption

How to Get Ready for School

Getting into a routine of preparing for school the day and night before makes getting up and getting ready in the morning much easier. Getting ready for school doesn’t just involve waking up and getting dressed. It also includes getting your assignments done, organizing your school supplies, and having a good attitude as you start the day. By preparing in advance, you’ll have more time in the mornings to sleep in or eat breakfast, and you won’t be as rushed or stressed so your school days will always be off to a good start.

Part1

Preparing the Night Before

Pick out your clothes. If you pick out your clothes the night before, you’ll save yourself a lot of time in the morning. Choose clothes that you’ll feel comfortable in throughout the day. If it’s cold out, remember to select layers so that you can put on a jacket or sweater if you need to.
- If you wear a uniform to school, you can still lay it out so that you’ll know where it is and can be sure you have a clean uniform ready to go.
- Make sure your clothes fit within any dress code that your school may have.
- Lay the clothes out on a chair or dresser so that you can find them easily.
Take a shower. Showering every day is part of good hygiene. By showering at night, you wash away any sweat or dirt that’s accumulated during the day. You’ll wake up feeling fresh and ready to go, and you won’t need to spend time showering in the morning.
- If you need to do something to your hair at night, make sure to take care of this, as well. Some people sleep in curlers or tie their hair up in a rag at night.
- Make sure to also brush your teeth and take care of any other matters of personal hygiene as well.
Pack your backpack. Double check that all of your books and homework are in your backpack. There’s nothing worse than getting to school and realizing that you’ve left a permission slip or an assignment at home. Look through all of your papers and your calendar to make sure you have what you need.
- You can ask your parents to double check your backpack and make sure you didn’t forget anything. Sometimes they might be able to help you remember something that you forgot.
Set your alarm clock. Make sure you set your alarm clock to when you want to wake up. Allow 10-15 minutes more than you think you need for your morning routine. This will ensure that you have plenty of time and can get ready without feeling rushed.
- If you’re used to pushing the snooze button a lot, you’ll want to set your alarm clock for even earlier, to allow for some snoozing.
- Check to make sure that your alarm clock works before you rely on it!

Part2

Getting Ready in the Morning

Wake up. This one is often more easily said than done. Try your best to get up when your alarm first goes off. Get out of bed as soon as you can. This will help your body and mind to wake up and will help you avoid falling back to sleep.
- It is better for your level of alertness to wake up after the initial alarm goes off. Using the snooze feature doesn’t help you wake-up.
Eat breakfast. Eating breakfast helps you wake up and feeds your brain with energy for your day of school. Try to eat something packed with protein and some complex carbohydrates to keep your energized until lunch.
- Morning protein sources can be eggs, breakfast meats, yogurt, or milk or a milk alternative like soy or almond milk.
- Reach for whole grain toast or cereal such as oatmeal or muesli. Fruit is packed with fiber, which is important to a healthy diet as well.
- There are many breakfasts that you can make in large batches at night and freeze for quick reheating in the morning.
Practice good hygiene. Brush your teeth well and floss if that’s part of your routine. You can also wash your face, brush your hair, and do anything else that’s part of getting ready to start your day.^[7]
- Some people wear makeup or put products in their hair before school.
- If you wear contacts or a retainer, you may need to have special routines dedicated to cleaning and putting in those items.
Get dressed. Put on the clothes that you laid out the night before. Look in the mirror to make sure that everything looks right. You can make adjustments if you need to, but don’t get caught up creating a whole new outfit. You’ll start to run behind.
- Check the weather when you get up. You may need to pack an extra sweater or a raincoat if there’s bad weather that you didn’t plan for.
Take everything you need. Hopefully, you’ve already assembled your backpack full of necessities and either packed a lunch or prepared to buy lunch. Gather what you need and double check that you have everything.^[9]
- It can be helpful to designate one place in your house where you keep your backpack, lunchbox, coat and shoes. That way, you have everything in one place in the morning.
- Check with your parents to make sure you haven’t forgotten anything.
Head out the door. You might be getting a ride, walking, or catching a bus (local or school). However you get to school, make sure you give yourself plenty of time to get there. You can’t control if the bus is late, but you can control whether you’re on time to catch the bus.
- If you woke up 10-15 minutes before you absolutely needed to, you should have a little extra time.
Resource From WikiHow

August 3, 2021 pmedia2 Education, WAEC

2021 WASSCE: Concludes arrangements as 1.6m candidates register

No fewer than 1.6 million candidates are expected to participate in this year’s West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) scheduled to begin on Aug. 16.

The Head of National Office (HNO) of West African Examination Council (WAEC), Mr Patrick Areghan, gave the figure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Lagos.

Areghan said that the council was working day and night toward accommodating some schools still bothering it with late registration.

He said that the development was taking its toll on the council’s operations.

Areghan said ahead of the conduct of the 2021 WASSCE, the council was working with relevant stakeholders to ensure a hitch-free WASSCE for school candidates, in spite of some challenges.

“As I have always said, conducting examination is not a tea party. It is a huge task and requires collaboration of all critical stakeholders, including the media.

“It requires a lot of preparations and even more, especially in the face of the rising cases of insecurity and the resurgence of Coronavirus pandemic in the country.

“In conducting this examination, we also want to ensure that the lives of all those involved, including council’s staff, and materials are properly secure.

“Our arrangement for the successful conduct of our upcoming examination, therefore, is in top gear as we are ensuring that we do not leave any stone unturned,” he said.

Areghan noted that examination conduct required money and other resources.

According to him, the entire process of conducting the examination – from the printing of examination materials, distributing them and ensuring security, to the recruitment of ad-hoc staff and printing certificates – is a huge financial burden.

Areghan gave the assurance that WAEC would continue to do all it could to stay afloat.

”It is what the council has been doing, and we want to ensure we continue in that excellent tradition.”

He noted that the West African School Certificate was internationally accepted and required protection of its integrity.

ALSO READ: WAEC guards reputation; says exam leakages not from them

”Therefore, in order not allow anything reduce that standard, we shall be collaborating with the federal and state ministries of health and education as well as the police and other security agencies.

”This is in a bid to ensure that all precautionary measures are in place before, during and after the examination,” Areghan said.

The HNO said that WAEC members had been meeting to fine-tune strategies that would ensure hitch-free conduct of the examination.

He urged schools and candidates to get themselves well prepared ahead of the examination, warning that the council would not tolerate any acts capable of undermining the integrity of the examination.

”There is no hiding place for cheats.

“We want to warn schools, students and even supervisors and invigilators that there will be no hiding place for anyone who tries to go against laid down rules for the conduct of this examination.

“We will surely catch that person, no matter where the malpractice is being carried out.

“We have in-built mechanisms to detect every act of cheating; cheats, when caught, will not get their results.

“Even if you cheat in our objective test, we will catch you, using technology. This technology is called the Item Deferential Profile; it has been there for quite sometime,” he said.

The HNO advised parents not to indulge their children and wards in cheating in examinations by providing money to source for the questions from fraudsters.

ALSO READ: No more late registration from 2022, WAEC warns

”We have carried out a lot of sensitisation, reaching out to parents not to give money to their children in an attempt to patronise rogue website operators and other mischievous individuals, who promise to help get to WAEC questions for them, before the examination.

“There is nothing like that. Some even go as far as saying WAEC normally posts questions on the internet.

“This is laughable and misleading. We have tried as much as possible to enlighten the world that there is nothing like ‘miracle centre’.

“This is a creation of the society and not the council.

“It may be existing in their subconscious but does not exist in our dictionary,” he said.

According to him, there has been no episode of leakage of council’s examination questions in Nigeria since the last, many years ago.

He said that what some sections of the public referred to as leakage during conduct of WASSCE, was the work of internet fraudsters, who registered and sat with genuine candidates in the hall.

“They are served the examination papers, they pretend to be writing the examination, while they manage to snap the questions in collaboration with their mercenaries outside.

“But these days, they no longer snap the questions; rather, they connive with some unscrupulous supervisors and invigilators, who help them to snap the questions, using their own handsets, and send, after which the fraudsters put the questions on the internet.

“These same supervisors allow some candidates into the halls with handsets, even when they know it is against the law, all because they have been compromised.

“However, the various ministries of education have been doing a great job in this respect, as they have been taking drastic measures on those found culpable, by either sacking outrightly or demotion,” he said.

The HNO warned that WAEC would not hesitate to hand any suspect over to the police.

“We have a way of detecting those posting these things to the internet and go after them; that is why we always need the collaboration of the police,” Areghan said.

(NAN)

Vanguard News Nigeria

August 3, 2021 pmedia2 Education, WAEC

WAEC guards reputation; says exam leakages not from them

The West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) has indicated that it is guarding its reputation jealously and will always ensure that the credibility of its examination is always intact.

This comes after investigations by Education Think Tank, Africa Education Watch, revealed recently that question papers for the 2020 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) by WAEC were leaked to candidates.

The Executive Director of Africa Education Watch, Kofi Asare, on the sidelines of unveiling the report, indicated question papers were sent from WAEC’s IT department to other online platforms which were subsequently forwarded to his outfit by a member on the platform.

But Miss Veronica Asante, Controller of Private Candidates Examination Administration Department (PCEAD) at WAEC has denied the claims, saying the claim by Education Watch was factually inaccurate.

Speaking on TONTON SANSAN on TV XYZ, Madam Asante argued that the students complained that the supposed “apor” did not appear in the exams, adding that even if some of the questions leaked, it never came from WAEC.

Despite the research institution insisting that some parents were asked by handlers of the platform to pay some amount of money for their wards to get access to the questions and answers, Miss Asante stated their officials are people with integrity.

“Our officers are people of high integrity so there is no way they will leak examination questions,” Miss Asante added.

Assuring Ghanaians of tackling the malpractices, Madam Asante disclosed that “nine supervisors were arrested, prosecuted and jailed during last year’s BECE for examination malpractices.”

Reported from: Ghana Web

August 3, 2021 pmedia2 Education, Lagos State Education

No more late registration from 2022, WAEC warns

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) says late registration of candidates by schools for its West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) would no longer be allowed, beginning from 2022.
The Head of National Office (HNO) of WAEC, Mr Patrick Areghan, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Lagos.

Areghan spoke against the backdrop of late registration of candidates by some schools in an alleged bid to shop for external candidates.
The HNO warned that there would be no going back on deadlines set by the council for registration of school candidates, henceforth.

According to him, there is a need for school owners to respect deadlines for uploading their candidates’ details for the examination.
He said that late registration was a major challenge to the council.
”Late registration makes preparations very cumbersome. On the contrary, we do not experience the same during examinations for private candidates.
”This year, we opened our portal for registration of candidates on Feb. 5, to close on May 16; that is a three-month interval.
”We later extended it to May 31, but due to activities of defaulters, we kept shifting the goalpost until the end of June. This is July and as of the 15th, these stragglers were still calling for more extension.

”These are people who will not do the needful within the given period; this will no longer be tolerated, no matter the explanation advanced,” he warned.

The WAEC boss noted that there was a Federal Government policy on education which stated that no school should enroll external candidates for WASSCE for schools.

Stop forcing under-age children into secondary school

July 10, 2021 pmedia2 Lagos State Education, News, OEQA, Resumption

Lagos Releases Harmonised 2021/2022 Academic School Calendar

In line with its mandate to ensure a harmonized academic school calendar for both public and private schools in Lagos State, the Office of Education Quality Assurance (OEQA) has released the approved school calendar for the 2021/2022 academic year.

A statement by the Public Affairs Officer of OEQA, Mr Olaniran Emmanuel, said the calendar was arrived at during a stakeholders’ meeting comprising school administrators, members of various private schools associations, proprietors and representatives of the state Ministry of Education.

“The purpose of the academic calendar is to ensure that students spend productive learning hours in the classrooms and to serve as a pre-emptive measure in planning for unforeseen events.

“The approved 2021/2022 harmonized school calendar, would ensure that schools are held accountable on the same standards bearing in mind that the pandemic and other emergencies have facilitated the need to create proactive policies and embed flexibility in schools.

By Clever Advertising

“The academic calendar has reflected the introduction of Staff Professional Development for all schools prioritizing a Five-Day capacity development for teachers prior to the first week of resumption.

“As schools will be resuming for the First Term (2021/2022 academic session) on Monday 13th September 2021, the Lagos State Government through the OEQA has reassured stakeholders of prioritizing harmonized instructional days of learning for all schools in the state,” the statement read.

July 8, 2021 pmedia2 Education, JAMB, News

Stakeholders, JAMB disagree on 2021 UTME results

The controversy over results of this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) conducted by Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) is yet to abate as educationists and parents have demanded a remark or outright cancellation of the examination to pave way for a fresh exercise.

They also called for a total overhaul of the examination body to conform to global examination practices.

National President, Association of Formidable Educational Development (AFED), otherwise called low-profile schools, Mr Orji Kanu, said this year’s examination should not have taken place considering the backlog of those who are already qualified for the available little spaces existing in universities.

Kanu said if those who were successful in the last exams are yet to get admission to their choice institutions, JAMB should have stayed action on this year’s UTME.

The AFED president alleged that mass failure of candidates currently being protested by stakeholders might be a deliberate ploy by the examination body to give room to only few prospective students to join those already on queue from last year’s examination.

He said: “University of Ibadan (UI) for instance, announced that its 100 level students are still at the orientation stage, which means no space for new students. We are aware that COVID-19 pandemic disrupted global academic calendar and Nigeria does not operate in a separate space. One may be forced to believe that JAMB is more focused on revenue drive rather than its primary responsibility of selecting qualified candidates who can fill few spaces available in our institutions.”

He however noted that if JAMB thinks otherwise over all the agitations, it should present stakeholders with explanations on why parents should continue to trust the body as not serving a revenue-generating agency.

To address the deficit on human capacity, Kanu said there is an urgent need for the country to replan its educational policies and programmes.

Considering the stress students and parents go through to register and participate in UTME, Kanu said results should be valid for at least two years, to enable those who performed well but could not secure admission due to carrying-capacity of the institutions, use same result the following year.

An educationist, Sammy Ndubuisi, called on the examination body to undertake holistic review of the exercise to unravel the cause of the mass failure, whether human, programming or some other scientific error.

Ndubuisi said if those affected are in the overwhelming majority, drastic measures have to be taken, including re-marking or re-running the tests, at no cost to the candidates. Equity must be ensured in favour of the candidates, who should not suffer any disability or enjoy undue advantage from the exercise.

On the validity of JAMB results for more than a year, Ndubuisi noted that entrance examinations and admission exercises take place on an annual basis, hence, UTME results should always be fresh and not warehoused like factory products.

According to him, each examination tests the current ability of a candidate who is fairly judged against other candidates in the same cycle of examinations.

“This cohorting is how to get the best candidates into our tertiary institutions. It happened before JAMB and should remain so. I agree that, once admitted and matriculated, a student’s admission could be deferred for a good reason,” he stated.

While insisting that the examination body is still relevant, the educationist called for the decentralisation of the agency for greater efficiency.

“Centralisation has never been effective for any length of time in Nigeria. Perhaps, the body could be decentralized or its examinations run in batches. It will take a rigorous and sincere internal audit of its operations and the input of end-users (tertiary institutions, education stakeholders and prospective candidates) to make JAMB more efficient and responsive to emerging situations, Ndubuisi added.

In the same vein, Association of Tutorial School Operators (ATSO) has described this year’s UTME as the worst in recent years. The group lamented that the examination was marred by irregularities, including unnecessary frustration of candidates, extortion, computer malfunction, multiple results and subjecting candidates to danger and risk.

Speaking at the annual review of public examinations, the association, led by Mr Dotun Sodunke, said considering the plethora of errors in the initial results released and subsequent mass failure, it is most likely that the software used in marking the script malfunctioned.

Sodunke recalled that a similar situation played out in 2013/2014 during the tenure of Prof Dibu Ojerinde, when JAMB had to add 40 marks to the score of some science students after results had been released.

He said: “The advent of JAMB’s misadventure in this year’s UTME is the mandatory use of National Identification Number (NIN) for registration. We knew it was a recipe for disaster when over 1.5 million teenagers were being forced to get NIN with one month in a country technology; infrastructure, centres and personnel to get them registered were almost non-existent.

“What is the fate of those students that were caught up in the computer glitches and logged out of the system while writing the exam? JAMB’s policy summersault in Literature in English syllabus is another sore point in the examination. Candidates had prepared adequately with the new syllabus released by JAMB but they found out too late that the examination body had resorted to setting questions from the old syllabus that was supposed to lapse by 2020.

“ATSO hereby join other critical stakeholders in rejecting the UTME results. We hereby call for the remark of the examination or outright cancellation to pave way for a fresh and less controversial exercise. JAMB is the only examination body I modern world that will charge candidates for printing results of exams paid for; charge as high as N2,500 for each error a candidate wishes to correct on his portal and same for change of course or institution,” Sodunke lamented.

To address these problems, the group enjoined the organisation to give adequate time for registration. “What is the essence of a one-month registration window hat would always bring untold hardship? At least a four-month registration window should be considered. Registration can start in November and close by April. All impediments to successful registration would be cleared within this period, paving the way for a successful examination while candidates will have enough time t prepare for the exam.”

Some parents blamed the development on insecurity and poverty, saying many families cannot feed well, hence, students find it difficult to read or concentrate.

“It’s like JAMB just wanted to extort money from parents. Do universities have the capacity to carry candidates that wrote last year and this year? JAMB should not have conducted exam this year, it sold forms just to collect money.
MEANWHILE, JAMB has confirmed that the performance of candidates in this year’s examination is poorer than what it recorded in the last three years.

The Registrar, Prof Ishaq Oloyede, blamed the development on coronavirus pandemic, which disrupted academic activities, as well as peculiar environmental factors such as insecurity and kidnapping of school children.

Oloyede said when the data of candidates who scored 120 marks and above out of the possible 400 in 2021 is compared to what obtained in 2020, there is a difference of 0.25 per cent. But worse when 2018 and 2019 performances are considered.

He said: “In 2018, it was 99.99 per cent but in 2019 it dropped to 99.92. Also, in 2020, 69.82 per cent of the total candidates who sat the UTME scored 160 and above but in 2021, it reduced to 65.62 per cent. In 2019, the percentage of those who scored more than 300 out of the possible 400 marks was 0.16 per cent while it was 0.26 per cent in 2020. But in 2021, he said the figure fell steeply to 0.06 per cent.

The examination body said a total of 1,415,501 registered for both UTME and direct entry. Out of this figure, 1,340,003 candidates registered for UTME and 75, 498 registered for DE. The total number of candidates who took the UTME is 1,300,722 with 78, 389 candidates absent.”

Oloyede, while justifying the mass failure said: “Last year, when they took the examination, candidates had gone far in their syllabus. But this year, they suffered incomplete academic session; they had to cope with emergency online lessons and even many other disturbances like insecurity.”

July 8, 2021 pmedia2 Education, Lagos State Education

Stop forcing under-age children into secondary school

The Lagos State Education Commissioner, Mrs. Folasade Adefisayo has counselled parents not to rush their wards to secondary school without completing six years of primary education stipulated by the National Policy on Education (NPE).

Speaking during an interactive session with educators and visitors at the 2021 Total School Support Exhibition (TOSSE) held at the Ten Degrees event centre, Oregun, last Friday, the commissioner also cautioned secondary schools against accepting children that do not complete primary six.

Responding to question about the culture of rushing children off to secondary school from primary four or five, Mrs. Adefisayo said: “As principal of a secondary school, I never admitted a child without primary six report card. But I want to appeal to secondary schools too especially private secondary schools stop taking underage children because it even undermines your school because it takes them long to settle down they don’t really. They may be brilliant but I have hardly seen anyone who kept it up till SS3 because they are so young.”

Continuing, she said schools should counsel parents on the danger of admitting an eight or nine year old in secondary school.

“Schools have to let parents know if a child comes in at eight he is going to be like 13 or 14 in SS3. Do you really want a fourteen year-old in the university? A child who cannot make decisions in a free environment free for all where you know the people there are much older than them you don’t want your 13, 14 years old in an environment of 20-year old who in turn will force them to do things they do not want to do. So I think it is a campaign that we all have to work on together. We are working on that to bring back Primary six.”

When asked if the government may consider sanctions against schools that admit underage children in an interview, Mrs. Adefisayo said: “We are going to look at that … to sanction them because the national policy on education is clear on it that children from so-so age to so-so age should be in primary school.”

Speaking on the various reforms initiated by the Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu-administration the Commissioner said there had been improvement of schools infrastructure, teacher training, curriculum review and the integration of technology in teaching and learning.

She spoke of the government’s plan to build technological eco-friendly schools, saying that the pilot had started at Vetland Junior School, Agege.

On the schools’ appeal that the government reduce the cost of material testing from N100,000, and consolidate taxes to check multiple taxation, Mrs. Adefisayo said the Office of Education Quality Assurance would discuss the review with relevant government agencies.

In her remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Mrs. Abosede Adelaja urged all stakeholders to join hands to support government in it is a collective responsibility of the citizenry and stakeholders to sensitise parents on how to discourage street hawking and child abuse.

The commissioner was supported by directors and heads of agencies, units and commissions under the ministry of education in addressing the various issues raised school administration, multiple taxation, quality assurance, school approval requirements, among others.

Other members of the panellists include the Chairman, Teaching Service Commission, Mrs. Olabisi Ariyo, Tutor General/Permanent Secretary District IV, Mr. Olajide Charles, Tutor General/Permanent Secretary District VI, Mrs. Okelola Oludara, Tutor General/Permanent Secretary District II, Mrs. Anike Adekanye, Director General, Office of Education Quality Assurance, Mrs. Abiola Seriki Ayeni, Executive Secretary, LASTVEB, Mrs. Moronke Azeez, Permanent Board Member LSUBEB, Mrs. Sijuade Idowu-Tiamiyu, Senior Special Assistant, STEAM, Mrs. Adetola Salau. They proffered solutions to challenges facing the sector and intimated stakeholders on the roles of their respective agencies.

Sited By

Gloria Olayemi (Pfschools Staff)

Story By

Kofoworola Belo-Osagie (the Nation Newspapers)

(Reference material: https://thenationonlineng.net/stop-forcing-under-age-children-into-secondary-school-commissioner-counsels-parents/)

January 21, 2021 pmedia2 Education, News, Resumption

Characteristics of the best school

What are the characteristics of the best schools?

We explore what makes some schools the best schools.

Every now and then the question does occur to me, as it should to you, exactly why is it that I think a certain school is one of the best schools. Inevitably I have to conclude that the best schools have all of the following characteristics. What’s more, they have them in abundance. Now, before you start thinking that I am only talking about older established schools, that ain’t necessarily so. I am aware of a couple of newer schools that fit neatly into the category of best schools simply because they have all of the characteristics explained below. So let’s take a look at what I think the traits of the best schools are.

Great leadership

The best schools have strong, dynamic, dedicated leaders. They are led by women and men who have a clear vision of what they plan to accomplish. They also have the experience to execute their plans in order to achieve that vision. The head of the best school is a superb fund-raiser. She is a capable administrator. She leads by example. She expects the best from everybody in her school community.

The solid support of the trustees

I know of several schools which could have been great. But they never made it because their fractious board of trustees kept getting in the way of progress. Change is never easy. But oftentimes it seems that boards have a rather difficult time with change. That always surprises me because most board members tend to come from business backgrounds. You would think that they would understand that change is inevitable. Better that they should be guiding the changes and ensuring their success than sitting there being intransigent and rebellious. When the head of school tries to bring the school in line with all sorts of variables such as changing demographics, a reduced applicant pool, an underperforming endowment, and so on, the board needs to work with her and develop a plan to manage change. In the best schools, the board leads the charge. Cheerfully and capably.

Strong financial backing by their graduates

In so many ways a school is only as good as the financial backing its graduates provide. While every head of school dreams of that unexpected $25 million bequest, the reality is that you need to cultivate your graduates. Regular communications, alumni events, homecoming, and reunion weekends all have to be part of the mix in order to generate a strong financial response from your graduates.

Stellar faculty

At the heart of the best schools’ mission is first-rate teaching. That requires well-educated, well-trained professional teachers who are passionate about what they are teaching. They are also passionate about teaching young people. That kind of teaching is right up there with a calling in my opinion. It requires focus and patience which is not often required in other branches of the profession such as, for example, adult education. I have taught both groups. I always find that adults are in the classroom because they want to get ahead by earning some credits or a diploma. Young people, teenagers, in particular, are in such a state of flux that the professional focus and patience which we bring to our work is essential. It is a hallmark of the faculty at the best schools.

Extensive academics

Interestingly enough, extensive academics does not mean lots of AP courses or even an IB curriculum in my opinion. I feel very strongly that course content is important. But it is equally important for young people to have lots of subjects to explore. They can do that at the best schools. The approach may differ from school to school but in just about every case I can think of the best schools offer lots of subjects for their students to explore.

This video from The Latin School of Chicago describes its fine corps of teachers.

Extensive athletics

As I have mentioned at great length in several other articles about private schools, athletics are just simply part of the program. They are not optional. They are designed to teach young people the values of competition, teamwork and respect for others. Wait! Aren’t those the same things that are being taught across the academic side anyway? Yes. That’s an integrated approach to educating the whole child. The best schools are really good at teaching those values.

Extensive extracurricular activities

Tied in with extensive academic and athletic offerings are the extracurricular activities. The best schools will offer a host of activities. Some will be fairly recent additions to the extracurricular activities roster. Others will be perennial favorites. Because the extracurricular activities in a private school are guided and supervised by a member of the faculty or staff, they function at a high level at the best schools.

Superb facilities

The best schools have truly remarkable facilities. I have in mind a smallish Montessori school and a rather grand old, established boarding school. The little Montessori school is the best school in my opinion because it takes the ideals and principles of Montessori education to a level far above anything else I have seen. Everything you would expect is there.

On the other end of the spectrum, the boarding school is housed on hundreds of acres of beautiful property. It has athletic facilities which would rival the facilities found at many universities. Its learning centers and classrooms invite you to be a part of the discussion and learn.

Both the little Montessori and the larger boarding school are accomplishing the same purpose, aren’t they? They are creating an atmosphere in which children can explore. An atmosphere in which order and beauty abound allows a child to feel safe and to dream. The best schools encourage dreaming. Creativity is an essential part of the mix in the best schools. Superb facilities create the backdrop against which such things can indeed happen.

Graduates accomplish things

Go back and review what the graduates of the best schools have accomplished. Greatness was expected by the best schools. The graduate will live up to those expectations. Students at the best schools didn’t just get by. They wanted to do their best. By exerting themselves they accomplished more than they could have ever imagined.

At Potasfield Schools, all listed points make our school stand out over time to be one of the best schools because they offer not one or two of the characteristics on the list above.

January 21, 2021 pmedia2 Uncategorized

Characteristics of An Effective School

Characteristics of Effective Schools

1. A clear and shared focus
Everybody knows where they are going and why. The focus is on achieving a shared vision, and all understand their role in achieving the vision. The focus and vision are developed from common beliefs and values, creating a consistent direction for all involved.

2. High standards and expectations for all students
Teachers and staff believe that all students can learn and meet high standards. While recognizing that some students must overcome significant barriers, these obstacles are not seen as impossible to achieve. Students are offered an ambitious and rigorous course of study.

3. Effective school leadership
Effective instructional and administrative leadership is required to implement change processes. Effective leaders are proactive and seek help that is needed. They nurture an instructional program and school culture conducive to learning and professional growth. Effective leaders have different
styles and roles — teachers and other staff often have a leadership role.

4. High levels of collaboration and communication
There is strong teamwork among all staff across all grades and subject areas. Everybody is involved and connected to each other, including parents and members of the community, to identify problems and work on solutions.5. Curriculum, instruction and assessments aligned with state standards. The planned and actual curricula are aligned with the essential academic learning requirements. Research-based teaching strategies and materials are used. Staff understands the role of classroom and state assessments, what the assessments measure, and how student work is evaluated.

6. Frequent monitoring of learning and teaching
A steady cycle of different assessments identifies students who need help. More support and instructional time are provided, either during the school day or outside normal school hours, to students who need more help. Teaching is adjusted based on frequent monitoring of student
progress and needs. Assessment results are used to focus and improve instructional programs.

7. Focused professional development
A strong emphasis is placed on training staff in areas of most need. Feedback from learning and teaching focuses extensive and ongoing professional development. The support is also aligned with the school or district vision and objectives.

8. Supportive learning environment
The school has a safe, civil, healthy and intellectually stimulating learning environment. Students feel respected and connected with the staff and are engaged in learning. Instruction is personalized and small learning environments increase student contact with teachers.

9. High level of family and community involvement
There is a sense that all have a responsibility to educate students, not just teachers and staff in schools. Families, as well as businesses, social service agencies, and community colleges & universities, all play a vital role in this effort.

January 16, 2021 pmedia2 #EndSARS, News, Resumption

BREAKING NEWS: Lagos affirms resumptions on January 18, 2021

The Lagos State Government has affirmed its earlier pronouncement that all public and private schools in Lagos State below tertiary level should resume on Monday, January 18, 2021, for the second term 2020/2021 academic session.

This was contained in a press statement by the Head, Public Affairs, Ministry of Education, Kayode Abayomi, titled, ‘Lagos affirms schools’ resumption date of Monday, 18th January 2021′.

The statement quoted the Commissioner for Education, Mrs Folasade Adefisayo, as saying that “the resumption is in line with the Federal Government’s resolution after reaching a consensus with relevant stakeholders.”

Adefisayo also urged students and members of staff to “stay safe and adhere strictly to COVID-19 guidelines”, adding that “schools must provide soap, wash hand basin, alcoholic hand sanitizers, thermometers, and other essential items in public and private schools across the State”.

She stressed that washing of hands, wearing of face masks, and maintenance of social distancing must be adhered to in order to avoid further spread of the virus.

“All schools must ensure strict compliance with subsisting COVID-19 requirements for school’s resumption. Administrators of both public and private schools are expected to ensure full compliance with the guidelines for school’s re-opening in their respective schools as the State’s Office of Education Quality Assurance Team will be on the ground to monitor situations in all schools across the State,” she added.

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has imposed a 24-hour curfew on the state effective 4pm Tuesday (today).

The governor made this known in a statement while lamenting that the protests against police brutality and extrajudicial killings had morphed into violence.

He said, “I have watched with shock how what began as a peaceful #EndSARS protest has degenerated into a monster that is threatening the well-being of our society. Lives and limbs have been lost as criminals and miscreants are now hiding under the umbrella of these protests to unleash mayhem on our state.

“As a government that is alive to its responsibility and has shown a commitment to the movement #ENDSARS, we will not watch and allow anarchy in our dear state.

“I, therefore, hereby impose a 24-hour curfew on all parts of the State as from 4pm today, 20th October, 2020. Nobody, except essential service providers and first responders must be found on the streets.”

The #EndSARS protests rocking the country have continued for almost two weeks with youths calling for a lasting reform of the Nigeria Police Force.https://frontend.1worldonline.com/widget/smart3-5eae359d.html#!/widget/9b0ba25c-5faa-433c-af72-a94897eb2780&type=widget&code=9b0ba25c-5faa-433c-af72-a94897eb2780&mode=smart3&token=9b0ba25c-5faa-433c-af72-a94897eb2780-1&location=https%3A%2F%2Fpunchng.com%2Fbreaking-endsars-lagos-declares-24-hour-curfew%2Fabout:blank

All entreaties by politicians and business leaders for the youths to leave the streets failed as they block major highways, thereby, causing gridlock and affecting economic activities.

Suspected hoodlums had also hijacked the #EndSARS campaign in some cities, wreaked havoc on citizens and vandalised public assets in Lagos, Benin, Abuja, amongst other major cities.

All entreaties by politicians and business leaders for the youths to leave the streets failed as they block major highways, thereby, causing gridlock and affecting economic activities.

Suspected hoodlums had also hijacked the #EndSARS campaign in some cities, wreaked havoc on citizens and vandalised public assets in Lagos, Benin, Abuja, amongst other major cities.

The Lagos State Government has ordered the closure of public and private schools in the state indefinitely.

This was announced in a press statement by the state’s Head of Public Affairs, Ministry of Education, Kayode Abayomi, on Monday.

The statement was titled, ‘Lagos directs students to stay at home’.

It quoted the Commissioner for Education, Mrs Folasade Adefisayo, as saying that the schools were shut down over “tension generated by the anti-SARS protests.”

The PUNCH reports that academic activities were affected in some schools in the state on Monday as protests against police brutality and bad governance continue.

The statement read in part, “The Lagos State Government has directed all pupils/students in public and private schools to stay at home following the tension generated by the anti-SARS protests.

“A new date of resumption for all classes will be announced as soon as possible.”

Adefisayo added that “the safety of the pupils/students, parents and all staff working in schools is paramount at this critical period”.

She however advised parents to “keep an eye on their wards and not allow them to be used as willing tools in the hands of those who might want to hijack the protests to unleash mayhem on the society”.

The Commissioner also encouraged schools to “utilise other means of distance teaching and learning i.e radio, television and online media as they have been doing during and post the recent COVID-19 lockdown”.

Source from Punch

Articles by: pmedia2