ST.

HILDA’S DIOCESAN HIGH SCHOOL

Minutes of General Staff Meeting held on Tuesday January 11, 2022 on Zoom Platform

1. CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order by Mrs. Heather Reid Johnson, Principal at 3:06pm.

2. PRAYER
Prayer was said by Mrs. Angela Brown. .

3. WELCOME
Mrs. Heather Reid Johnson, Principal, welcomed everyone to the first staff meeting for the
calendar year. She stated that she wished that everyone had a peaceful, enjoyable and restful
Christmas. Special welcome was extended to Mrs. Tracey Grant- Peart who is filling in for
Mrs. Sheridene Hyde who is out on four months’ vacation leave.

4. APOLOGIES, CONGRATULATIONS, CONDOLENCES

4.1 Apologies –
Apologies were extended for the following person who would be absent: Miss Nordia Lewin.

4.2 Congratulations –
Congratulations were extended to the following:
 Mr. Campbell and best wishes to Miss Colecia Gordon on their wedding
 Mrs. Paula Kelly who is celebrating her birthday today

4.3 Condolences –
Condolences were extended to the following people:
 Tameka Rowe of Grade 7C Thomas who lost her uncle and cousin
 Fay-Hola Buchanan and Abigail Williams who were involved in a motor vehicle accident
but they are recovering.
 The Balfour Family, Mrs. Linnette Balfour, who worked at St. Hilda’s is unwell and her
husband has passed

5. MINUTES READING, OMISSIONS, CORRECTIONS AND CONFIRMATION

5. 1 Corrections
The following were the corrections made to the minutes:
Page 2: 6.3 RENWEB System – paragraph 3 should read “… the Spanish department had put
on all their mark reading grades on the RENWEB system
paragraph 2 should read … some teachers only have their
homeroom on the system
Page 3: 6.9 CXC Update - should read Wittlae Walters from 11 Cunningham has migrated
6.14 Christmas Term Examinations - please omit the following - The seven fifth form
who were in boarding having doing their examinations.
Page 5: 7.4 Successful Succession Planning – paragraph 3 should read …honest self – evaluation
and see if they qualify and are suitable for the position.
the second instance of “See if they fit the bill” should be omitted.
they share the dream of where St. Hilda’s needs to go.
Page 5: 7.5 – Term Dates – paragraph 2 – should read - Mrs. Graceann Yorke stated that if the
deadlines/ dates were met then it would not be so stressful on …
8.4 – Vote of Thanks - should read – She also wished everyone an enjoyable Christmas
break.

5. 2 Confirmation

There being no other corrections, or omissions the minutes were confirmed on a motion moved
by Mrs. Simone Sherman McLean and seconded by Mrs. Marva Johnson.

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6. MATTERS ARISING
6.1 – Class attendance by students
Mrs. Heather Reid Johnson asked form teachers if they had received the names of the absentee
students from the subject teachers. Miss Shanakay Huie said that she did not get any names
from any subject teacher. Mrs. Paulette Williams stated that she had submitted her list of names
to the form teachers. Teachers were asked to indicate if they had given the names of absentee
students to the form teachers. Mrs. Heather Reid Johnson stated that if the form teachers were
not informed then the students will not be engaged. The names should then be submitted to the
grade supervisors to reach out to the parents so that it can be put on the files of the students.

6.2 – RENWEB June 2021 Reports

Some reports are still not filed and waiting to be filed as some form teachers still need to make
the entries on the confidential cards. Some form teachers stated that the entries were made from
the RENWEB system directly and that they did not use the printed reports.

6.3 – Student Government

Lunch duties have been assigned to the sixth formers to ensure that COVID19 protocols are
observed. A roster has been put up for the sixth formers to be aware of their duty days.

6.4 – Staffing
Mrs. Sheridene Hyde is on leave and Mrs. Tracey Grant -Peart is working in her place. There is
still a vacancy for teachers of English and Spanish. Miss Nordia Lewin teacher of Agriculture has
resigned with effect the end of January. Therefore there will be a vacancy for a teacher of
Agricultural Science. Interviews will be conducted on Thursday.

There is also a need for two housemothers. So far no applications have been received. One
application has been received for System Administrator.

6.5 – Technology Policy

Mrs. Vanessa Walters stated that the committee had the first technology meeting however there
has been no second meeting. In the first meeting the structure and what we want the policy to
cover was discussed. There will need to be some fine tuning. She stated some of the points
highlighted. They are as follows:
 Technology caters to the needs of everyone and everyone uses it from the administrative
staff and the ancillary staff to the individuals who come onto the campus. It is also used
by Ministry of Education Youth and Information officials who also come and utilize the
campus.
 The policy has to cover and govern how technology is used in the physical as well as the
online space.
 It also has to cover access points.
 The policy has to be usable and be able to grow with the changing needs of the school.
 The safety and the security of devices will also have to be covered by the policy.
No information was given to the students at this time.

6.6 – Mark Reading

Two mark reading exercises have been held so far. Mrs. Heather Reid Johnson asked that the
grade supervisors examine the tri-weekly documents and see if all the mark reading grades are
written on. They should give her feedback as soon as possible.

6.7 – Prize Giving

Mrs. Heather Reid Johnson stated that the first virtual Prize giving had been held on the last day
of the term. She expressed thanks to Mrs. Graceann Yorke and her team for the ground work
done and the execution. It was a job well done.

Mrs. Vanessa Walters and Mrs. Marva Johnson also expressed commendations to Mrs.
Graceann Yorke and her team for the presentation. Mrs. Graceann Yorke thanked the staff for
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their words of praise and also expressed thanks to Miss Ramona Simmonds, Miss Vena
Finnegan Mrs. Rose-Ann Pryce and Mrs. Angela Brown for all their help in the prize giving
exercise.

6.8- School Improvement Plan (SIP)

Mrs. Heather Reid Johnson stated that Mrs. Jacqueline Watson was in the process of typing up
the document that had been prepared by the senior management team.

6.9 – Christmas Term Examinations 2021

The names of the students who missed their examinations should have been submitted. Miss
Israelie Griffiths stated that she had received some names from the Spanish Department and she
contacted some parents. It was suggested that we may have to move from calling the parents to
writing them. Mrs. Paulette Williams stated that she did not give the names to the supervisors
and had to give zeros to those who did not turn up for their examinations.

Parents were sent an email to inform them of the deadlines for their daughters to do their
examinations. Mrs. Vanessa Walters stated that she did not submit any names. She tried to
reach out to one student – Sheri-Ann Dennis from Grade 11 but received no response.

6.10 – Student Registration form

There are some challenges as some teachers are not submitting the data on time. Mrs. Angela
Brown asked teachers to ensure that the data given is correct and that it adds up. She also
encouraged teachers to submit the data on time. She also encouraged teachers to make an effort
to sign in before they do registration with the students. If they forget to sign in teachers are
asked to write a note and submit it to Mrs. Heather Reid Johnson.
Teachers were reminded that school begins at 7:40am and that the electronic sign in is still
being used.

6.11 – Professional Development

This was to have taken place on January 3, 2022 however, it had to be rescheduled twice.

7 ITEMS TO BE DISCUSSED (NEW BUSINESS)

7.1 – Face to Face engagement.
Face to face engagement began on Monday January 10, 2022. There have been some challenges.
Mrs. Heather Reid Johnson stated that she did a walkthrough with the Education officer. She
also expressed to hope that ll will go well and that we will be able to continue in the face to face
for a long time.

There are some duties that will have to be performed during the face to face engagement. Grade
supervisors were asked to remind their form teachers that they need to help with checking and
recording of the students’ temperatures when they come into the physical space. Teachers were
reminded that we have to do all we can to ensure the safety of all persons on the compound.

Form teachers are expected to come in and do the temperature checks for their students when
they come in. From information that was sent out by the chairman, all staff are expected to be
vaccinated and present at work. Students should have lunches in their form rooms.

There have been some challenges with the internet and they are being sorted out so that we can
work online while at school. The students who are on the campus will have face to face classes.

7.2 – Face to face Roster

Mrs. Heather Reid Johnson stated that Mrs. Angela Brown has done the rooming of the students
when they come into the physical space. Mrs. Angela brown stated that the space is limited and
that she is trying to use the facilities in the best possible way to facilitate face to face and adhere
to the protocols. She stated that the homerooms or form rooms would be where the students
have their compulsory classes. The girls will move for their pool subjects. The two lower six
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classes 12 Patterson and 12 Fowler are occupying the third form classrooms. The two upper six
classes 13 Porter and 13 Wedderburn are occupying the classrooms on the sixth form block.

Fourteen (14) girls can be accommodated in the Biology labs. Teachers were encouraged to make
arrangements to repeat the labs to accommodate the reduced numbers. Teachers were also
reminded that a set area cannot be guaranteed to them as the numbers are taken into account.
The large classes will be placed in the auditorium. Every effort is being made to ensure that
teachers do not teach a lesson more than once. Some whiteboards are expected to be delivered
in the week.

Mrs. Graceann Yorke asked for clarity on the registration process and was reminded that the
form teacher is expected to check and record the temperature of their students and then send
them to their various form rooms which will have been decided. Teachers are asked to come in
before 7:40m to do the temperature checks. Teachers were encouraged to come in on time to
process the girls.

Mrs. Vanessa Walters asked if students could come in outside of the scheduled time to do their
SBA’s.

Flexibility with the classes

It was asked what would happen if the students cannot attend the face to face classes. However,
no answer was given for this.

7.3 – Report week 2022.

Parent consultation week is expected to take place during the week of January 31- February 3,
2022. During that week all classes will be online. The face to face rotation will continue after the
report week.

7.4 Calendly
Mrs. Vanessa Walters stated that once again we would be using the Calendly platform to
schedule the appointments. We would need to create another account. Information on how to
set up and use a new account as well as how to create the links will be sent to the teachers as
possible. The links and other relevant information will be shared with the parents before the
date. The deadlines were repeated as follows:
January 14, 2022 Completion of reports by subject teachers
January 19, 2022 Completion of reports by form teachers
January 24, 2022 Completion of reports by year coordinators
January 31 – February 4, 2022 Report Week

Teachers were encouraged to work hard to meet the deadlines. Form Teachers were asked to
enquire from their parents if they received all their reports from last term and to submit a
working email address.

7.5 – Election of Head girl and deputies

The head girl and deputies are nominated and elected by the members of the academic staff.
One deputy comes from lower six. The other deputy comes from upper six and the head girl
comes from upper six.

From Grade 12 the following girls were nominated and the results are as follows:
Mashronee Blissett 17 Shavine Bembridge 3
Aleia Greaves 3 Josephine Pinnock 1

Mashronee Blissett is the deputy head girl responsible for lower school.

From Grade 13 the following girls were nominated and the results are as follows:
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 Ayanna Barrett 13 Jada Vacciana 4

Jada Vacciana is the deputy head girl responsible for upper school and Ayanna Barrett is the
head girl for the academic year 2021-2022.

8. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

8.1 – Staffroom Door to the Lobby
Mrs. Paulette Williams asked that the staffroom door to the lobby be opened to help in
ventilating the space while the teachers were in there. Mrs. Heather Reid Johnson stated that
the matter will be looked into and rectified.

8.2 – Vote of Thanks

Mrs. Heather Reid Johnson expressed thanks to the teachers for attending the meeting.

9. TERMINATION
There being no other business the meeting was terminated at 5:05 pm.

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