Belfield Primary to get new playing field

A COMBINED team from Jamaica YES and American Airlines Caribbean Employee Business Resource Group will descend on Belfield Primary School in St Mary on Saturday to build a playground for the benefit of the 126 students at the institution, and the wider community, by extension.

Principal Michael Calvert has welcomed the gift, telling The Gleaner on Tuesday that the school is lacking the facility, and the move by the charity group is a welcome one.

“We don’t have a playground now, we have an area we have set aside that can be used for that purpose and we’ve actually started to fence it,” Calvert said.

SITE INSPECTION

“On Wednesday, the building officer from the Ministry of Education Region Two Office will be coming to look at the site and to approve it for that purpose. They have given us the go-ahead already, but they still have to come and ensure everything is okay.

“The playground will help because it is a means of recreation for the students where they can go and relax and socialise and develop those social skills.

“It is really something I’m sure that they will benefit from, especially the students who are in the lower school, grades one, two and three.”

Meanwhile, Marty Walker, school outreach coordinator for Jamaica YES, disclosed that the participating members who will turn up on Saturday are “devoting their own uncompensated time and paying most of their own expenses to carry out the project”.

Walker explained that 100 per cent of funds raised by Jamaica YES go towards feeding and supporting students most in need.