It is all systems go at Mona Heights Primary in St Andrew as the school prepares for the grade-four literacy test on June 16.

Principal Wilton Bishop said that he has set a target of at least 81 per cent of his students passing the examination at the first.

He said the school has put in place a number of measures and launched several initiatives to boost reading at the school.

Bishop said the school emphasises a print-rich environment.

"What this means is that we put up signs everywhere - on plants, on walls - this prompts the students to read.

"We have also started a measure where each child, as part of a class, has to go to the library at least one day a week."

The Mona Heights Primary principal, who was also a teacher with the former Jamaica Movement for the Advancement of Literacy (JAMAL), is passionate about reading and is bent on passing this passion to his students. "We want all our students to be able to read," emphasised the principal.

Writing exercises

He said the school has introduced writing exercises for all grades in a bid to improve the literacy of students. "The children are made to write postcards, poems and letters. If you cannot write, you cannot read. Reading and writing are linked," noted the educator.

Bishop said the school has literacy classes during the summer for students, and has been having the classes since 2005. He said the school plans to make the classes and lunches free this year. "This is part of our drive to improve the number of our students who can read," he added.

The principal said he has a strong Parent Teachers Association (PTA) which supports him. Citing this support, he said the group has launched an initiative to reward students who have an average of more than 85 per cent at the end of the first term examination in December. The initiative appears to be working. In 2007, 150 students had averages of 85 per cent or more, this rose to 217 students last year.

Achieve mastery

Bishop lauded the Ministry of Education's drive to ensure that all students who leave primary school can read. Under the new policy, pupils must achieve mastery of the Grade Four Literacy Test before they are allowed to sit the GSAT. The sitting of the grade-four test was moved from May to June, and will be administered as a national external examination, similar to the GSAT.

If a student fails the Grade Four Literacy Test at the first go, the child has three more chances to sit the test before he/she takes the GSAT in grade six.