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swpbis jamaica maxfield park

SWPBIS: This kind of approach inspires my child to learn, so why can’t we for all children?

Lifelong learning

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All of us talk about the challenges that our schools face and the challenges that our children face, but oftentimes we neglect having found a real-life solution here in Jamaica. Having seen how the School Wide Positive Behaviour Intervention and Support (SWPBIS) framework has reduced fights and raised grades among 56 pilot schools, it is… Read more →←
Albert Town High School jamaica

Fights are down and grades are up in schools with child-friendly SWPBIS

Lifelong learning

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“I’ve seen a lot of students participating in class more; coming to school on a regular basis; less fights…Students are coming to school because they have something to achieve at Albert Town High School!” – Daniel Foster, student. In 2014, Albert Town joined a 56-school pilot of the School Wide Positive Behaviour Intervention… Read more →←
Papine High School teachers Keisha Edmondson and Joan Edwards-Taylor together with students Adriel Fraser, aged 14, and Amanda, aged

Papine High rises up against gender-based violence

Lifelong learning

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“Ever since I’ve left primary school I’ve been trying to work on my anger. I’m still working on it.” – Adriel Fraser, aged 14 Adriel is a student of Papine High School in St Andrew, which is surrounded by several community experiencing high rates of violent crime. Recently a 15-year-old student on his way to the school was… Read more →←
Theresa Wallace SWPBIS ministry of education youth and information guidance counselling unit

Tele-mental health services offer lifeline for struggling students

Lifelong learning

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Six months ago, as classrooms emptied and the island braced for COVID-19, students began to confront a new normal. For many, this would test their mettle unlike ever before. For others already grappling with mental health issues, the adjustments would be even more difficult. “A lot of the children are fearful. They are really… Read more →←
Photograph of Viviene Gauntlett, a teacher at Port Maria Primary School in St Ann

Now is the time for teachers to get creative

Lifelong learning

By Viviene Gauntlett

The wise man Solomon tells us that there is a time and a season for everything under the sun. Little did we know that in a split second it would be the time for online teaching and learning. Should we throw up our arms in despair? No, now is the time for creativity and bonding outside the classroom with our students and parents –… Read more →←
Photograph of Rhyim Roach walking to school at Holy Family Primary in Parade Gardens, Kingston, a school supported by UNICEF partner Fight for Peace. He has since graduated and entered high school.

Back to school after losing a parent to violence

Safety and justice

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It was the summer before Rhyim Roach’s final year of primary school. What was supposed to be Rhyim’s last long vacation holiday, including a country trip to go fishing with his father before the stressful GSAT exams, suddenly became anything but peaceful. A thoughtful boy, the shooting death of his father is ever-present in his… Read more →←
Charles young end violence in schools manifesto South Africa Unicef

My trip across the world to help end violence in Jamaican schools

Lifelong learning

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I recently returned from South Africa, where I represented Jamaican youth along with more than one million youth around the world who shared their voices. Our goal together? To create a Youth Manifesto to #ENDviolence in schools to be presented to education ministers from across the world in January and demand their action. I helped… Read more →←
Effortville Primary School

Effortville Primary: a safe haven, and a place for STARS

Lifelong learning

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Usually when I arrive at school, there are about five or six students who are waiting for me at my office door. Oftentimes they start unloading even before I open up. Most times my breakfast is left uneaten. Effortville Primary is their safe haven; the place where they can enjoy their childhood without fear. After traumatic events of the… Read more →←
positive behaviour in schools SWPBIS jamaica

Helping students to focus on values, not violence

Lifelong learning

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One of the first arrests in the St. James State of Emergency was a 15-year-old boy. He was arrested in connection with several murders and shootings. Ten years ago, he would have been just five years old. Back then, his photo would not have been a mugshot, but perhaps a cherubic child in primary school uniform. Sadly, it is likely that… Read more →←
end violence against jamaican children

Jamaican children fed a “daily diet” of violence

Safety and justice

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The cases are in the news almost every day. A child beaten with a machete. A child murdered brutally. A child sexually assaulted. Violence against Jamaican children – in all its forms – is a horrifying epidemic. Violence that is passed from generation to generation. Violence that is condoned as “discipline”. Violence that is… Read more →←

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