Free Town Primary parents lauded

PFREE TOWN, Clarendon: ARENTS WERE honoured last Thursday at a special Parent’s Day function held at the Free Town Primary School for their active involvement in the school’s affairs.

Principal Ann Marie Brown lauded the parents for taking great interest and giving support to the school community.

“Teachers can’t do it alone, we need your support and I am happy to see many of you being so involved in your children’s lives and supporting the school’s activities,” she said.

Guest speaker Marjorieth Manning encouraged parents to practise the art of differentiation when it comes on to their children.

She urged them not to compare one child with another, and to remember that all children learn differently. Manning urged parents to allow their children to be all that they can be and not to stifle them.

“Parents are now in the age where children are not afraid to say to them, ‘I don’t want that!’ and they are not being rude. They are expressing themselves...and as a parent, you need to learn to give your children a voice,” she urged.

Reminding them how it feels to be ‘shut up’, she said the same freedom should be given to children.

“All you need to do is say to the child, ‘Be respectful when you speak’,” she said.

Manning gave the parents in attendance a lot of food for thought during her presentation, sometimes eliciting laughter as she reminded them that many want their children to think they were angels growing up.

She also issued a challenge to parents, reminding them that if they have problems controlling one child, “imagine a teacher with about 40 to control!”

It was in that light she reminded them that they have a duty to train their children and make teachers’ jobs lighter.

The evening also saw some delightful performances from students who ‘walked the runway’, and entertained with song and dub poetry.

Awards and certificates were presented to the parents who went ‘above and beyond the call of duty’ in their assistance to the school.