Woodside Energy helps pupils with Arrow training

More than 200 pupils from primary schools across the North-East Education District were empowered through Arrow literacy training funded by Woodside Energy (formerly BHP Petroleum).

Approved by the Ministry of Education, this initiative focused on the creation of a homework centre at the Toco Regional Complex that will offer Arrow remedial literacy training to standard one and two pupils from all 13 primary schools spanning Toco to Matura.

In a media release Sheldon Narine, corporate advisor, Woodside Energy, said, “This programme demonstrates our commitment to sustainability and investing in developing the greatest natural resource that any nation has – young people. Through these students, we will transform the educational landscape while nurturing future leaders. Apart from the environment, agriculture and safety, education is another facet of our investment in this community, but in our opinion, it is the most important. We look forward to working with the Arrow Foundation and seeing these students achieve their full potential.”

The literacy programme was hosted over the vacation period, and each student received at least eight contact hours. The Arrow software provides a multi-sensory technological approach to help pupils with reading, spelling and writing skills. Pre- and post-assessments were also measured to track the pupils’ progress along the course of the training, the release said.

Darrin Parkes, a standard five teacher at Matura Government Primary School, said, “We were privileged to have the Arrow programme at our school this year and the expansion of this programme will only build on the progress made. We are thankful for this intervention by Woodside Energy and we hope that this training becomes a permanent fixture in our community as it helps teach critical literacy skills.” The Arrow support will continue until the pupils reach standard five. It is also anticipated that going forward, other centres will be created across the community to better facilitate the pupils, the release said.

The creation of the homework centre represents a continuation of the company’s partnership with the Arrow Foundation. The centre is free to pupils, who will benefit from special care and attention from the Arrow tutors in the areas of reading, writing and remedial education. Through this programme, it is expected that pupils will develop oratory, listening and understanding skills, together with marked improvements in their confidence, concentration, self-esteem and behaviour, the release said.

Earlier this year, the partnership provided remedial training for 100 standard five pupils ahead of the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) examination and resulted in pupils showing a significant increase in their reading ages.

Kelani Matthew of Matura Government Primary School, who took part in the programme, said, “The Arrow literacy programme really helped me to fast track my learning and I quickly improved my reading and spelling. The training also helped me to make progress in all subjects, even maths. Arrow, together with the support of my teachers and parents, helped me to perform at a higher level in the SEA exams.”

Christopher Bonterre, managing director of the Arrow Foundation lauded the results of the programme. “A recent United Nations’ report stated that the learning losses for children because of covid19 is ‘the largest disruption to education in history.’ Our programme seeks to reverse this statistic by enhancing basic learning skills including communication, concentration, writing and oral fluency. Over the years, we have seen incredible results with students, not only in terms of their academics, but also marked improvement in terms of their overall attitudes and self-esteem.

“This partnership with Woodside Energy is critical and the benefits will extend far into the future. The Arrow Foundation is strategically poised to help these students and the energy shown by the schools and parents will only serve to enhance the results,” Bonterre added.

Developed more than 50 years ago in the United Kingdom, Arrow stands for aural, read, respond, oral, write. It focuses on remedial work in reading, spelling, dictation, speech and listening skills and assists pupils who experience academic challenges by transforming their entire approach to learning. The computer-based learning applies use of the self-voice – a recording of the learner’s own voice while reading – which forms the basis of the multi-sensory learning approach.