Jonathan Saunders is top Region Four Special Needs student
Ten-year-old Jonathan Saunders was recently announced as the top student for Region Four from the list of Special Needs children who sat the 2018 NGSA exams, according to a release from Region Four.
The St Paul’s Primary student and aspiring economist has earned a spot at Plaisance Secondary after scoring 400 marks. Mother of the child Annesia Woolford-Saunders said that she remains confident that her son has a solid mind in terms of his capacity to perform very well. “I know that he has a great memory because as long as he is taught something he remembers it,” she said.
She disclosed when she was delivering him she encountered pregnancy challenges. According to the release the mother disclosed that one of those challenges has resulted in him taking a very long time to speak and walk. This, she noted has resulted in him being unable to write as fast as other learners, adding that he is also unable to pronounce some words.
The Plaisance secondary teacher said that when her son started his educational pursuits he was at the Green Acres school but owing to a number of challenges she and her husband were forced to remove him sending him to another private school. She said that moving him to another private school resulted in a lackadaisical approach to her son’s education and it was only those teachers who knew her and the challenges that she was facing who sought to lend a helping hand in terms of ensuring that the quality of education that he received was of high quality.
“We …eventually moved him to the public school as most of the work that they taught him at the private school was colouring. It was as though he was specialising in colouring and therefore, we recognised that we had to move him, and we did to a public school,” she said.
Woolford–Saunders said that had the school provided her son with a scribe and a reader he would have excelled at the exams. “Jonathan is a very alert, intelligent and focused child, however because of how his brain works and the fact that he is slow in communicating his thoughts into writing, he certainly would have been at a disadvantage,” she said. The mother of one said that she is excited and pleased that he was able to pass and promised that she will continue working with him.
“I must say that I am exceptionally proud of my son and his performance and
The trial of Richard Stanton, who is accused of murdering Patricia Sanasie in 2015, continued yesterday with the testimony of Detective Constable Samuel Headley, who conducted the initial investigation into the crime.
It is alleged that Stanton, of Lot 53 Princes Street, Lodge, killed Sanasie, 45, on January 12th, 2015.
Yesterday’s questioning revealed that exhibits lodged by Headley at the Sparendaam Police Station after he gave evidence at the Magistrate’s Court have been misplaced. The exhibits, this newspaper understands, include the ballistics report and two warheads removed from Sanasie’s body during the post-mortem exam.
In his evidence-in-chief, Headley, who was then stationed at the Sparendaam Police Station, testified that he had gone to the scene with a team of police on the evening of January 12th, 2015, when the shooting occurred.
At the scene, he recalled observing a pool of blood, containing what appeared to be a warhead and a pair of slippers.
He reported that the area was brightly lit from light from the lantern posts, as well as from the exterior lights of the properties opposite and obliquely opposite. He estimated that the closest post was located about 13 feet away, and was able to project light a distance of approximately 20 feet.
The witness indicated that he had contacted a Constable Pedro, who came to process the crime scene and take photos. He stated that Pedro found two metal objects which appeared to be warheads. He did not state what became of those warheads.
Headley further testified that he questioned persons at the scene and at around 7.45 pm he proceeded to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he learnt that Sanasie had been pronounced dead on arrival.
He said he made contact with her daughter and questioned her. The daughter, Romona, testified last week via Skype that she had witnessed her mother’s shooting.
Headley said that based on what Romona told him, he reported to the Officer-inCharge, Assistant Superintendent of Police Grant, who gave him instructions which led to Romona being escorted back to the scene, where she was further will seek to continue providing the relevant support for him to do well,” Woolford–Saunders said.
She added that one of the critical challenges relates to the stigma and discrimination her son faced. She said that while the children at his school didn’t care about his disability as they were all open and loving towards him, a teacher at the Grade six level declined to have Jonathan in his class because she claimed that she was not comfortable working with him.
She however noted that after the teacher’s interviewed by Headley’s presence.
Headley said that while there he also conducted further interviews.
The witness related that those at the scene provided him with useful information. Later, when asked by the prosecutor why he had not taken statements from the others, he indicated that two of them were fearful and the other was a child, whose parents were not keen on him going on record.
Two days after the shooting, June 14, the post-mortem examination was conducted by Dr Nehaul Singh, and the cause of death was given as multiple gunshot injuries. During the autopsy, two warheads were reportedly removed from Sanasie’s body.
Headley related that the original autopsy report was lodged at the Sparendaam Police Station on February 10th, while a copy was placed in the investigation file.
The warheads, he said, were later examined by Sergeant Eon Jackson, and on January 26th, retrieved, along with the ballistics report, and lodged at the Sparendaam Police Station.
Headley related that the last Grant in refusal to work with her son, another teacher offered to work with him thus resulting in him being given an opportunity to write the Grade Six exams. “After the teacher refused to have him in her class another teacher stepped forward and worked with Jonathan and I am grateful for that. I would like to see more training for the Special Education Needs as while NCERD (National Centre for Educational Resource Development) does a number of short programmes, I firmly believe that the training should be longer so as to ensure that the teachers working with special needs children better understand their roles,” she opined. time he had them in his possession was when he testified at the preliminary inquiry into the charge in January 2016, following which they were again lodged.
He said that last Monday he went to retrieve them, but was told by the current station sergeant that the exhibits could not be located. Headley stated that the following day, he returned and did physical checks himself, searching the general property room, but to no avail.
Asked about the last time he saw the autopsy report, he related that it was also when he gave evidence in January, 2016. However, he noted that the original document had been left in the possession of the court. Headley identified that document yesterday.
The witness was also questioned as to why he had not retrieved the metal object he saw in the pool of blood, which he believed to be a warhead. Headley explained that he is not a crime scene rank and so has not been trained in that capacity. Furthermore, he noted that the scene had to be photographed before the item was removed.
He later revealed that Corporal Pedro, who he related was called to the scene to process it and take photos, to his knowledge, is no longer a member of the Guyana Police Force.
The witness had related that based on instructions, the matter was eventually handed over to the Major Crimes Unit and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Headquarters after it became publicised.
He said that the officer-incharge of the CID would usually keep crime files.
The matter continues this morning, when Headley will be recalled for cross-examination.
Stanton is being represented by attorney Mark Waldron, who is appearing in association with Keoma Griffith, while the case is being prosecuted by state prosecutors Tiffini Lyken, Narissa Leander and Seeta Bishundial.
Headley was led in evidence by prosecutor Lyken.