Eden Lodge Primary School is marking its 45th anniversary with a double celebration of sporting victories and character development, as President Jeffrey Bostic’s visit on Monday highlighted the school’s success and its strong community spirit.
Principal Sophia Bentham said the school continues to excel both on the field and in the classroom, as she underscored the institution’s achievements and values during a side interview at the presidential visit.
Bentham pointed to the school’s recent performances in the Andrea Blackett Zone: “Our boys are the champions of the zone, and our girls placed second.”
She added that over the years, the school has consistently excelled in sports, particularly cricket and football.
“Our footballers won the zone last year, and our cricketers also won the zone in the Herman Griffith cricket tournament. We did not go beyond the quarterfinals, but we tend to excel in our zone on a yearly basis,” she said.
On corporate support, Bentham said: “We have already started even prior to our own inter-house sports and so on, we have reached out to corporate Barbados, and there are some persons who have already donated to the school, so that would just be a continuation now of getting other persons, other members of society involved in the school itself, but we have already started to reach out. So now, given that we have performed extremely well, we are hoping that even more persons will be involved with the school.”
Addressing societal challenges, she described the school as “a microcosm of society” where “the values in society are breaking down, really,” but emphasised instilling ideals from their motto, “Truthful Speech, Honest Action, Courage, Patience, Steadfastness Are Our Ideals”, through daily affirmations like “I am an Eden Lodge Primary School student. I am created by God. I am getting smarter every day. I am a high achiever. I am respectful. I am obedient. But above all I have self-control.”
Bentham dismissed the community’s crime impact: “I do not think that the fact that certain things happen in Eden Lodge affects the morale itself in a large primary school… We focus on developing the values in our students… We want them to focus on being obedient, being respectful… resilient despite the fact that they may have challenges.”
On academic preparation, Bentham explained that readiness for the Common Entrance Examination begins early at Eden Lodge. “Preparation for common entrance begins from the time they come into school, from the time they are here in reception,” she said, noting that Class 4 students sit weekly mock exams to become accustomed to the format and timing. “It is not just about having the children do well on certain tests. We want to ensure that the entire syllabus is taught by all of our teachers.”
The principal also outlined plans to celebrate the school’s 45th anniversary later in the month. Although the official programme was postponed due to the presidential visit occurring on the school’s anniversary, Bentham said the school intends to honour past staff and students and highlight its history. “We have some old scholars that are household names, and we want them [the students] to know about these persons so they can rise to the same heights,” she said.
Describing the presidential visit as a moment of pride, Bentham said the presence of President Jeffrey Bostic was particularly inspiring for students. “All of us were excited at the fact that the head of state of Barbados came to Eden Lodge,” she said. “The fact that he came from humble beginnings is supposed to be an inspiration to our students, so that they will recognise that despite humble beginnings, they can rise to certain heights and continue to strive for excellence.”
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