The Bellefield High School history

SCHOOL MANTRA

‘Academic Success and Character Development … Under Construction’.

THEME FOR ACADEMIC YEAR 2019-2020

‘Success is a dream waiting to be achieved: Learning from the past … Impacting the future’.

BACKGROUND

Bellefield High School, located in Bellefield, Manchester, is perched on the lushly vegetated slopes of the Mocho Mountains about 1.6 kilometres from Williamsfield and eight kilometres from Mandeville via the Winston Jones Highway.

Bellefield Junior Secondary School its commenced operation in September 1969 under the principal-ship of Caswell Burton with a staff complement of 25 teachers, administrative, ancillary staff and 600 students.

In the early years, the school’s academic focus was on preparing students who entered at grade seven for the Technical High School Examination and Grade Nine Achievement Test (GNAT).

In order to provide more educational opportunities for the community, the school started an evening institute in January 1970, to provide tutoring for the Jamaica School

Certificate Examinations and General Certificate of Education Examinations. Classes in these areas were oversubscribed and the students’ performances were exceptional.

In 1974, the Government of Jamaica restructured the secondary education system and Bellefield became a new Secondary School. Students were now offered five years of secondary education, grade seven to eleven. Strong vocational programmes were added to the curriculum. The school adopted a double-shift system in 1974. The school was among the first set of schools to be upgraded to comprehensive high school in 1991 and received 80 Common Entrance awardees and 35 students from the GNAT in that year.

The school curriculum was again revised, placing more emphasis on Caribbean Examinations Council and Secondary School Certificate examinations while catering for students at both ends of the continuum.

Bellefield High School has a very rich sporting tradition, having made it to regional finals in football, cricket, netball, and athletics competitions.

The extra-curricular activities are timetabled to emphasise the importance of our students to developing deeper interpersonal relationships and enhance the concepts of interdependence, social tolerance, uniqueness, leadership, networking, teamwork, and respect for each other.