CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (September 8, 2009) -- This day comes only once in a year and staff at the Vern “N” Llew Preschool on Craddock Road in Charlestown know how to handle it and they do it with meticulousness. Monday September 7 was the day and at Vern “N” Llew, it kicked off with less tears.
The start of the academic year poses a great challenge to parents and their children if a child is attending school for the first time. Teachers, unless one is new in the job, are used to it and at Vern “N” Llew they look forward to it and are always prepared to handle children who are being torn apart from their family comfort for the first time.
When the 2009/2010 academic school year kicked off on Monday, Vern “N” Llew received 15 new students in a roll of 50. As usual, a few of them cried when left behind, and others blended in quite well. Only one made a real fuss, but he was contained quite easily by the trained staff.
“I have a natural love for children and I always look forward to this day,” commented Vernitha Barry-Collins, manager at the Vern “N” Llew Preschool. She said that her love for children was first recognised by retired educationist, Maude Crosse, who was at the time the headmistress at the Charlestown Preparatory School.
She recalled that after she finished her high school education, and before she received her results, she held a children’s programme at her home on Craddock Road, where neighbourhood children turned up in their numbers. When Teacher Crosse saw how she handled the children, she commended her and invited her to join her school as a teacher.
But young Vernitha had a different line of thought as she decided to open her own preschool where she could give children her undivided attention. The Development Bank of Saint Kitts and Nevis came in handy when it approved her loan application as the school, which was then situated in Stoney Grove, on Pump Road opened for business.
“The school was established on April 29, 1996,” noted Barry-Collins. “Now it is almost thirteen years and I must give thanks to the community, my bank, the Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis, for the way they have helped me to provide this institution. I went to the bank and in less than no time I got a call saying, Teacher Collins, your loan has been approved.”
The bank was instrumental in her move from Pump Road to Craddock Road as it gave her a second loan which enabled her to buy the building which is adjacent to her family land and was up for sale. This has enabled the school to have not only a spacious building but also ample space for the children to play.
“After the building was up for sale, which is the present location where Vern “N” Llew is, here at Craddock Road, I then decided again to go to Development Bank and as usual, my loan proposal was accepted and I must really give God thanks,” observed Barry-Collins.
“The manager at the Nevis branch, Alexa Pemberton, said to me, ‘Teacher Collins, you belong to us now and we are proud to help you’. From since then they come in, check on me, making sure all is well at my school and I appreciate that.”
Calling on them on Monday was recoveries officer Avelyn Browne from the Nevis branch of the Development Bank. She is the officer who is assigned to the school. Her role is to ensure that the clients are making good progress in their business.
“A lot of interest is placed on our clients,” reports Browne. “We have to ensure that they are comfortable in whatever they are doing, and if not how the bank could assist. The Development Bank of Saint Kitts and Nevis is for the development of the country and its people, and we have to be satisfied that our clients are prospering in their different fields of entrepreneurship, and that is our primary concern.”
Parents interviewed on the first day of school in the 2009/2010 academic year were confident that good care would be taken of their children at the school. Ramla Hanley, a nursing attendant at the Flamboyant Nursing Home said that while she is busy taking care of the elderly she is at peace as her child is taken care of at Vern “N” Llew.
“My daughter started school in January, this is her second term,” said Hanley. “She cried maybe for two days and then she settled. They are able to take care of our kids and they do a very good job. I am very comfortable with my child being here the whole day as they have very nice teachers.”
Cherita Grante said that she had a son who attended the school before he went on primary school. On Monday she had brought her second son on his very first day.
“As you can see, he is playing and getting along,” said Grante during the interview. “I am confident that this is the right school for my second child, because if I did not feel so, I would not send my second son here. I have full confidence in the school, I have seen what they do. I not having anymore (children), but if I have a third, it would right here again. I was hoping she (Barry-Collins) would start a primary school but she said pre-school is it.”
Teacher Carol Thompson, an eleven-year veteran at the school, told how they comfort those who are coming to school for the first time.
“We try to comfort them and to assure them that they can trust us and just to tell them they will be with us here for awhile and that the parents would be back for them,” she said. But how quick the children adjust depends on whether they came straight from home or if they had been to a daycare centre before. It is always harder for those coming from home, she noted.
“I guess when they see other children are not crying and are playing, they tend to realise what is in store for them and they just stop crying and start to mix. Now and again when they remember home or mummy, they will cry,” she observed.
When the Vern “N” Llew opened on Monday it had a roll of 50 students, but manager/teacher Vernitha Barry-Collins said that they number would increase to nearly 60 as some of the parents are still off island on vacation. Facing another new school year day is now behind them and she looks forward to taking those children through to the next level, which is primary school.
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