After years of classes at the Caribbean Dyslexia Centre Barbados and two years of sacrifice to prepare for an examination, Jakeel Padmore is over the moon that he will be attending The Lodge School come September.
Padmore, a pupil of The Ifill School, scored 85 in English and 82 in Mathematics and a C in Composition, in this year’s Common Entrance Exam, which led to him passing for The Lodge – a dream come through as it is his school of choice, he said.
He told Barbados TODAY that reaching his goal was no easy feat, since he knows firsthand that having the learning disorder means that “you have to work very hard so you can get the work done”.
It’s estimated that one in five people have dyslexia, a difficulty in recognising how sounds, words and letters match up phonetically.
However, experts say dyslexia has no impact on intelligence and opens up the dyslexic brain to alternative paths of thinking.
Famous dyslexics include genius physicist Albert Einstein whose visual thinking led to his earth-shattering General Theory of Relativity, acclaimed entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson who founded the Virgin brand and star journalist Anderson Cooper of CNN.
“Keep on pushing and never say you can’t because you can always do it. I went to the Dyslexia Centre and they taught me some stuff about reading. I would read a book and my teacher would let me go on her computer and play a fun educational game,” an overjoyed Jakeel said.
“I want to thank the school and I would also like to thank my mother, my aunt Kim and Mrs Layne at the Dyslexia Centre,” he added.
Young Padmore attended classes at the centre from the time he was in Infant’s B. And he said that while he is excited about starting classes at The Lodge, he is also excited about a trip to Canada next year, a gift for a job well done.
In the meantime, he is looking forward to a fun day at the pool.
Jakeel’s mother Shanielle Nurse, who also could not contain her excitement, said today’s results confirmed that moving her child to The Ifill School two years ago was the right choice.
She said he moved from being hesitant about attending school to appreciating academics because of the type of teaching strategies he has been exposed to at the private school.
Nurse said: “I was getting no results at the previous school, none whatsoever. He was struggling there, a whole lot. I needed to help him and I had to make the decision because I wanted him to do better than he was doing, especially knowing that the Common Entrance was coming up. He put in the work and the teachers at the school put in the work and he had an enjoyable time at The Ifill School.
“I got to say thanks to Mr Ifill and his Class 3 teachers Mrs Ross. I also have to say thanks to Mrs Layne who was his teacher at the Dyslexia Centre. They did one-on-one sessions and Mrs Layne really helped him a lot and he really did put in the work. And of course, I will be rewarding him.”
Great aunt Carolyn Maynard said she was pleased that her niece took her advice and sent him to the Dyslexia Centre from a young age.
“From the time I realized he was struggling, I told her to take him to the Dyslexia Centre. It comes at a cost but the reward at the end is excellent and the ladies at the Centre work really hard with the children who come through the Centre and we have to give them some props,” Maynard said.
Principal of The Ifill School Akil Ifill, told Barbados TODAY that he was proud of Jakeel’s accomplishment because even though he was forced to work harder than other students, he never gave up.
Ifill said it is important to listen to children’s feelings, their anxieties and frustrations when they have learning disabilities because they find it difficult to express themselves orally or in written form.
He said: “With Jakeel, we looked at setting realistic goals in both Mathematics and English. Most dyslexic students sometimes set impossible goals and do not put a plan in place to achieve them. So you can help a child with dyslexia by setting attainable goals so teachers can help them. And then the child needs to recognize and rejoice in his or her successes. One of the most amazing things for Jakeel was not even an academic component.
“He said that he wanted to represent his school at NAPSAC and Jakeel is not a star athlete, he learnt to play volleyball at the school. I told him ‘it is your last year at the school, no problem’. And Jakeel ran and he came last in the race but he felt proud of his accomplishment that he wanted to represent the school at NAPSAC. I think that we need to celebrate more of these stories, because they inspire the majority.”
The principal advised that because the majority of students did not score 100 or in the 90’s in Mathematics or English, education authorities must look at ways to help these students. He commended the Ministry of Education for giving students with dyslexia additional time to complete the examination papers.
Ifill said: “I want to encourage all schools, whether it be public or private, that they do testing early so that they can put methods and interventions in place to help the child get the most out of their education. Jakeel doesn’t even want to leave the school. He wanted to go to Lodge and I am happy and that is all you can ask for as principal and also his English teacher. (anestathenry@barbadostoday.bb)
