QC students on a high
Tamisha Straker, Christopher Alert and Melanie-Anne Holder, who all attended Erdiston Primary, are up for Scholarships. (Picture by Lennox Devonish)
Mon, August 16, 2010 - 11:02 PM
Queen’s College seems to be dominating the list of Barbados Scholarship winners again this year.
Although principal Dr David Browne would release no information, it is rumoured that the school got 13 Barbados Scholarships and 12 Exhibitions.
Results have not been officially released to media houses, but students who have achieved eight or seven grade ones are jumping for joy pending official notification.
The DAILY NATION was just in time to see a number of students collecting their results and congratulating one another.
Those seen celebrating included headgirl Melanie-Anne Holder, Christopher Bourne, deputy headgirl Ava-Marissa Lee, Oghosase Iyare, Christopher Alert, Tamisha Straker, Jamiee Wilkinson and Timothy Adams. Others said to be celebrating were Scott Gibson, Rebecca Whitehead, Emily Layne and Carla Crichlow.
Holder, who studied biology, chemistry, environmental science and the compulsory Caribbean studies, earned eight grade ones and hopes to be heading to the University of Leicester to study medicine.
The Cargo Drive, Coverley, Christ Church lass is the daughter of well-known journalist and commentator Keith Holder and wife Dianne. She expressed special thanks to her class teachers and her lesson tutors. She also noted there were some challenging moments in chemistry and Caribbean studies.
“I prayed right there in the exam room and God answered my prayers, so I am really grateful to him,” she said.
“She puts God first in everything she does, and she has always been a hard worker,” her dad Keith said.
Christopher Bourne is expected to receive an Exhibition after gaining seven grade ones and two grade twos. The 17-year-old of Chancery Lane, Christ Church, who did Spanish, French, economics and mathematics, is the son of Cheryl Byer and William Bourne.
“I’m pretty ecstatic. It was always my dream to win a national award,” he said.
A very reserved Bourne said he didn’t study a lot, and some of the exams were quite hard, so he was still surprised and very pleased with the results.
He expects to be heading to the University of Toronto to study international development studies.
Deputy headgirl Ava-Marissa Lee, who is up for an Exhibition, studied law, economics, management and business.
Lee, the daughter of president of the Association of Public Transport Operators, Morris Lee, and his wife Debra, said the experience was “kinda stressful” – not because of the content or the volume of work, but because she was deputy headgirl and president of the Graduation Committee at the same time.
She received six grade ones and (2) twos and is hoping to study law at the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies.
Nigerian Oghosase Iyare, who has been living here for ten years, is also expecting an Exhibition. The daughter of Ngozi and Sunday Iyare, had this to say: “The exams were very challenging but by God’s grace I came through.”
Iyare studied biology, chemistry and Unit 1 and 2 maths and received seven ones and a two. She is hoping to head to Mona or St Augustine to study medicine.
Christopher Alert is also expected to receive a Scholarship. He is the son of Gayle Medford-Alert and Dr Colin Alert, who reside at No. 81, Ocean Drive, Long Bay, St Philip.
Alert, who received eight grade ones, said: “All last week while I was at church camp I was praying that God would help me to be successful.” He will be going off to the University of Waterloo to do a double degree in mathematics and business administration, and is looking to specialise in actuarial science.
“He did the Common Entrance Exam at ten years old,” said mum Gayle, “and even from the time he was three, the principal at Erdiston told me he was ready for school.”
Tamisha Straker, too, received eight grade ones and expects a Scholarship. Too afraid to look at the results, she got her mother to collect them and best friend Melanie to open them. Melanie’s loud scream told her the good news.
Her mother Marlene Straker, of Edgecliff, St John, said: “I always had confidence that she would get a Scholarship.”
Jamie Wilkinson of No. 5, Ellerton Park, St George, has also made her mother Nancy and dad Oscar very proud. She now boasts eight grade ones, after having taken exams in chemistry, environmental science and biology.
Timothy Adams, who is the son of Peter and Cheryl Adams, is also another winner. He received eight grade ones, with eight distinctions.
“I really wasn’t scared at all. I just did them, finished them and was glad to put them behind me,” the very reserved Prior Park lad said. Adams said he is “taking one day at a time” and has no idea yet about what studies he will be pursuing.
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Page 1 of 1 pages
Why is it that every year Lodge and Combermere fail to make the scholarship list?
It says a lot about the failure of these 2 six form schools. These schools should be shut down and the money allocated to HC and QC who are doing very well year after year.
Questions must be asked about what is going on at Lodge and Combermere
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Comment LinkI am very proud of the acievements of the students at QC. It seems their hard work and dedication to their studies paid off. I think the scholarship awards needs to be revamped though. How can a student get 4 grade ones in the 1st year and 2 grade ones and 2 grade twos in the second year and not receive even an exhibition? This is negating all the hard work of those students too and disappointing them and their parents as well.
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Comment Linkhard work pays off congratz to them
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Comment LinkCongratulations to each and everyone of you.Your hard work paid off. For the parent(s),teachers & the others that work with the kids,I say a big thank you too. Keep reaching for the stars.
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Comment Linkthere is a reason for that those two schools do more technical subjects so find another goose to cook guess the writer went to one of those schools
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Comment LinkListen to me “Dunce Dunce”. First of all, what do you think is the reasons schools do better than other schools, is it because the teachers at the ‘top’schools are good and the ones at the ‘lower’ schools are bad? The best students go to HC and QC. At the end of five years, the students with the best results either stay at HC or QC or go to Community College; the bright ones do NOT opt to go to Combermere or Lodge. Even if you argue that the Ministry does the placements now, the brightest ones are NOT sent to Lodge or Combermere and similarly will NOT be sent to Foundation or St. Michael’s if their sixth forms are ever established. So you work out why HC and QC have the best results; even a dunce can do that.
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Comment Link@ DUNCE DUNCE, just because they may not get scholarships or exhibitions doesn’t mean that they aren’t doing well. It is great that the other schools are excelling in their studies and gain scholarships, but look at the bigger picture. There are numerous Combermerians (and students from other schools) that do not attain national awards, but go on to do great things with their life. How can you say that those schools need shutting down? They do not need scholarships or exhibitions to prove their worth. Many of them graduate from universities Summa Cum Laude and Magna Cum Laude and are very successful in their chosen fields. You are clearly very biased. Everyone and every school cannot get national awards.
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Comment LinkCongrats to all. We give all the praises to QC and HC but how many of these children were students at other schools when they earned those 8 grade 1s and then moved on to these schools and BCC before gaining these scholarships?
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Comment LinkDunce Dunce I couldn’t have given you a more suitable name. Think outside the box and look past the awarding of island scholarships please.
Life is not just about what you accomplish in secondary school. Your insinuation that something is wrong with Lodge and Combermere’s 6th form system suggests that those schools do not have a high frequency of university graduates both in the Caribbean and abroad.
I am speaking as a proud Combermerian who did NOT win any scholarships, nor was I showered with academic praise in Barbados, but I still earned my bachelor’s with honours in the USA and I’m now at graduate school.
It’s people like you that would lead students to believe that a national scholarship is the end all and be all to life. Combermere and Lodge simply focus on other facets of life which do not necessarily result in a plethora of island scholars. But, as I said earlier, there are tons more accolades in life to be achieved - and not just by island scholarship winners.
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Comment LinkI’m very proud of the QC students who did so well in their CAPE exams, but I think it’s time the powers that be try to raise the standard of all schools, so that the media can feature good results from even more schools from across the island. Good results shouldn’t be a characteristic of only a few of them.
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Comment LinkCongratulations to all the students;along with them we too “Praise the Lord,” we can remember to keep praying and working at our goals. The students that have prayed and worked hard but have not won a scholarship they have won completion of the secondary education and future opportunities for other accolades in life. Much love and blessings to all and for sharing this story. We can also see how the support of peers, parents, teachers, tutors and governance formulate excellence.
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Comment Linkdear Dunce Dunce,
try not to be a fool and understand the reality of life.
just because comberemere and lodge dont produce as much scholars as harrisons and queens doesnt mean:
1. they arent produceing any
2. the ones that are coming out of these 2 schools may jus not be covered by the news
3. they shud be shut down
also… u dnt think that at the same harrisons and queens there are students that dont perform???
buddy take yur head out of de ground and take a deep breath of common sense
cause if u do shut down combermere and lodge you do know that will be added pressure to queens and harrisons
and less and less people will even be given the chance to even get a scholarship.
thanks for yur time…
stoute
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Comment LinkCongratulations to ALL who did well in exams. @Dunce dunce: You were not thinking clearly when you wrote. By your deduction, if we focus purely on QC & HC results, they should close out QC & HC to ALL students except those very few who (would) get Island awards. Therefore, Lodge’s & Combermere’s money should be allocated NOT to QC in general - since clearly not all QC 6th formers make the scholarship grade - but to those most likely to get an Island award? BTW - REALITY CHECK - after getting the scholarship, parents THEN have to be wealthy enough to send their kids to the COLLEGE. Ask around and see how much it costs for just ONE year of living expenses, even after scholarships. Parents need to be Doctors/ lawyers/ have saved serious bucks. In any case, they are many students who may not make the newspaper grade, but who go on to do extremely well in life. Sometimes the level playing field can be recreated outside of Barbados.
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