British High Commissioner, Arthur Snell recently visited the Excel Composite Primary School, Beetham Gardens to meet with students and staff.
While at the school, Mr Snell read Dr Seuss' ecological parable The Lorax to a rapt audience who then enthusiastically discussed what should be done to save their fragile environment. The High Commissioner was also given a tour of the school by Principal Ann Antoine. He saw their well-equipped computer lab, music room and library.
A release from the British High Commissioner said High Commissioner Snell was interested to find out more about the excellent work going on in the Beetham community. Of interest to him is an after school programme at Excel Composite.
The programme is funded by BG T&T and is managed by the Rotary Club of Central Port-of-Spain.
This programme is held each afternoon from 2.45 pm to 5 pm and targets students in standards three and four. The goal is to improve academic performance, with the long term objective of successful SEA completion, ensuring entry into secondary schools.
While the homework program focuses primarily on academic performance, there are a number of other components which have been integrated to both motivate and reward the children who participate. These include:
Jump rope classes
Field visits to places such as the Emperor Valley Zoo and Movietowne
Computer literacy classes
Music and dance
Civic pride
The British High Commission is looking forward to working with the Excel Composite School as well as community groups at the Beetham Gardens.
To help stock the school's library, the British High Commission is collecting used or new children's books (for ages 0-14). These can be dropped off at the High Commission offices, 19 St Clair Avenue, St Clair.
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The Rotary Club of Central Port-of-Spain is part of the international Rotary family, which is made up of 1.3 million professionals in over 33,000 clubs. Rotarians focus on fellowship through service, creating bonds of friendship and partnership through service to the community.
Although club projects vary according to local needs, our universal mission, led by our Rotary Foundation, is the eradication of polio.
The club, led by President Rabindra Outar, comprises 41 members, who meet each Thursday at noon at the Normandie hotel in St Ann's for fellowship, speakers and service updates.
To learn more please visit www.rotarycentralpos.org and www.rotary.org, or find them on Facebook.