Aretha Hoban is helping to mould some of the country’s top NGSA performers

AS THE country celebrates the record-breaking achievement of Naila Rahaman, the 11 year old with a perfect score at the 2018 National Grade Six Assessments (NGSA), behind this accomplishment is one dedicated teacher who played an important role.

This Westfield Preparatory School teacher is none other than, Aretha Hoban, who has been teaching now for 20 years and who has been instrumental in the impressive performance that has been seen from students of the school in the last eight years.
Hoban has gained a track record for assisting students in working their way up the ladder of top performers and, this year, the six students from the Westfield Prep in the country’s top one per cent were all from her class.

Telling her backstory to the Pepperpot Magazine, Hoban said that although she had initially wanted to become a lawyer, she eventually found herself in the teaching profession, one which she views today as a very rewarding career.
And, it’s times like these that Hoban truly sees the fruits of her labour.

When she heard the news that Westfield Prep had topped the nation, Hoban described her feelings at the time as: “excitement, joy and pride” but added that when she heard, too, that the top student was Naila, she was not too surprised.

“I knew she had it in her. I expected that – but the perfect score: that was icing on the cake,” she said. “[Naila] is very inquisitive, always asking questions…she is self-motivated, she is always reading. If it’s not a storybook, it’s a textbook, it’s a dictionary. She’s always reading. She brings me up to speed on everything. If something happens in CARICOM, if elections take place in one of the islands or other countries she brings it to my attention, that’s just how she is. She’s always on the ball.”

As a Primary School teacher, one has to have knowledge of all the subjects which range from Mathematics to Science, to Social Studies and English and to be able to teach well.
However, Hoban was previously trained as a Secondary School English Literature teacher at the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) and, as such, had to adjust her teaching style to meet the needs of younger children.

TEACHING TECHNIQUES
Although this was challenging at times, over the years Hoban developed a few key strategies which continue to prove to be the best approaches to nurturing the minds of the future leaders.

Through an incorporation of revision, reward and motivation, Hoban has watched each year as her students excel to even higher and higher heights.
“I’m always early at school. School starts at 08:30 hrs and by 07:15hrs or 07:30hrs I’m here because there are children who are here early. So, as long as I open my door and we sit…I work with those children and when they come early we revise. I think that is one of my most effective strategies,” she said.

Added to this, Hoban says that a little reward goes a long way, as some children perform better with fun competitive games and rewards.
“We read notes, we do questioning, we play quiz games. I try to foster a little friendly rivalry among the children; there must be a little competition for them. I would buy little things and give them prizes,” she said, later adding: “I do it because a lot of children don’t revise at home. Sometimes they don’t have the help, nobody is there to help them…and for some of them it just doesn’t stick… that’s why I like to do a lot of revision in the classroom.”

When it comes to children studying, Hoban recommends that parents find a way to develop a balance between motivating their children and allowing them time to relax
“You have to give and take. There should be a balance. It’s not always study, study, study all the time, that kind of frustrates you, especially children. You have to have relaxation time, you have to free up the mind,” she said.

However, she added too that some parents do not support their children enough when it comes to their education.
At the revelation of the results on Thursday, Education Minster Nicolette Henry had lamented the glaring statistics which show that there is still an imbalance between the ratio of male to female in top performances.

On the topic, Hoban told the Pepperpot Magazine:“I once had a parent who made a comment saying ‘boys will be boys’ when her child wasn’t doing up to par. But, you can’t say that because most of them have the ability, you have to push them,” she encouraged.
Four years ago, a Westfield Prep student brought third in the country while, this year, with much support from parents, of the18 of Hoban’s students, 16 of them are now placed in top schools.

ENCOURAGEMENT
She now leaves an encouragement to other teachers for them to be dedicated to their profession and to treat their responsibility with the highest regard which will help them to see the results they desire.

In summarising her call, she said: “Teachers need to give of their best…you have to be willing to work hard. You’re a teacher, you have responsibilities, you chose that job. It is what you chose to do so you have to give of your best.”