BOUTON COMBINED SCHOOL
ST. LUCIA
Profile and Vision
LUCIANS HELPING LUCIANS
May 2003
Project Name
: Providing a more Conducive Learning Environment for Bouton Combined SchoolCountry
: St. LuciaPriority Area
: Facilities ImprovementEquipment and Learning Resources
Execution Period
: July 2003 to December 2004Contact
: Mr. Marcus EdwardDeputy Chief Education Officer – Planning
Ministry of Education, HRD, Youth and Sports
St. Lucia
Tel # 758 4685257, Fax # 758 4590308
Email: medward@education.gov.lc
Or
Mrs. Sophia Lamontagne
Teacher-In-Charge
Bouton Combined School
Soufriere,
St. Lucia
Tel # 758 7191935
Project Goal
The goal of this project is to enhance the learning environment and to improve the quality of teaching at the Bouton Combined School.
1. BACKGROUND
The Bouton Combined School is situated in a very small community on the west coast of St. Lucia, approximately four (4) miles from the town of Soufriere.
The school has an enrollment of forty-two (42) pupils and a staff of three teachers and one teacher-in-charge who also teaches a class. Students are placed in grades ranging from Kindergarten to Grade 7 and their ages range from 4 to 15 respectively. For instruction, students are divided into four multi-grade groups.
The students enter the school at the age of four without any prior exposure to formal learning/teaching experiences of any kind since there are no pre-school services in the community. Consequently, the teachers are faced with the challenges of helping those students to adjust to the school’s culture, during the first year of their admission, and to follow the regular curriculum thereafter.
Given the school’s, population and the various levels/grades in which the children are placed the teachers are further challenged by the need to practice multi-grade teaching i.e. one teacher teaches students at more than one level at the same time and in the same classroom, a practice which is employed in only a few schools in St. Lucia.
2.0 NEEDS
2.1 Sporting Activities
Facilities for sports and recreational activities are very limited at the Bouton School and in the community in general. There is a playing field for the common use of the school and public but sports equipment is lacking. The principal and staff of the school have identified a set of items listed below which they consider necessary for the enhancement of that aspect of the school’s program.
There is also a community center which is located on the school’s premises. However, there is a need for extensive retrofitting to be done to render it fit for use by the pupils and the community.
2.2 Educational Needs
Given its various limitations, the school has been doing fairly well at the Common Entrance Examination. However, the staff is of the conviction that much more might be achieved, generally if they were equipped with some of the tools deemed necessary to improve their education program. In this regard the following needs were identified:
A learning resource and information center to serve both the school and the community. This would involve the establishment of a fully furnished library. The facility must also be equipped with at least 5 networked computers to provided inter alia electronic assess to information, access web based services of the government and other agencies.
Tools and equipment necessary to introduce the students to Art and Craft and other hands-on experience critical to their development.
Facilities and equipment for the teaching of music, and training opportunities for the teacher(s) assigned to deliver that program. For this purpose the school is seeking at least four electronic keyboards together with percussion, wind and string instruments.
Security fencing for the school in order to secure these costly items would also be necessary.
The establishment of a preschool would greatly enhance the readiness of children for formal primary schooling. There is at present, adequate space on the school compound to accommodate this facility. However, the school is seeking learning materials for early childhood education and assistance to retrofitting the building which will house the preschool center.
2.3 Other Needs
The school is presently equipped with computers but there is a need for some more equipment to improve the daily activities required for the smooth running of the school. These items are listed in Section 3.1 below.
3.0 TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT
Following is a list of the tools and equipment recommended by the staff as necessary to improve the learning conditions at the school. The items have been placed in groups that are presented in order of priority. The list represents the minimum that the school deems necessary.
3.1 Office
i. Photocopying machine
ii. 1 fan
iii. Printer (dell)
iv. Transformers
v. Blender
vi. Telephone service
vii. Fax machine
viii. Internet service
ix. Teaching aids
3.2 EDUCATIONAL NEEDS
i. Story books (all levels)
ii. Reference books
iii. Educational games
iv. Snakes & Ladders
v. Bingo
vi. Monopoly
vii. Scrabble
viii. Educational charts
ix. Microscope
x. Educational disc/cds
xi. Educational movies
xii. VCR tapes
xiii. Animated movies
xiv. Markers
3.3 SPORTS
i. Volleyball net
ii. Volleyball
iii. Wind walls
iv. Cricket gear
v. Skipping ropes
vi. Holler hoops
vii. Netball nets
viii. Netball
ix. Footballs
The Ministry of Education will be pleased to collaborate with any agency desirous of assisting the needs of the Bouton Combined School and the Bouton community.
