Bianca Anderson, a PEP success story at Sudbury Primary School
Published:Tuesday | June 24, 2025 | 12:12 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Despite an overall disappointing performance by Sudbury Primary School in the Primary Exit Profile (PEP) examinations, there’s reason to celebrate. Twelve-year-old Bianca Anderson showed significant improvement in her reading skills and developed a newfound love for learning.
Bianca, who will be attending Green Pond High School in Montego Bay, St James, in September, dreams of becoming a nurse or a chef. She credits her success to the strong support of her family.
“I feel good about my PEP performance, because my brother, my sister, my father and my mother helped me to study a lot. I used to not like reading before, but I like it now,” said Bianca. “What I want to share with other students is that your families are there to help you in the rough times you are going through, and they love you and will always help you.”
SATISFIED WITH GROWTH
Her father, Howard Anderson, expressed pride at his daughter’s development.
“Bianca comes home in the evening time, and I always ask her about the daily tasks at school, and I go through her book and see where she has gone wrong from where she has gone right, and I try to help her to correct certain things. She has improved a long way, and I feel satisfied,” said the elder Anderson.
“When she was to do the PEP, her big brother would say to send her down to him from the night before, and they would go through the material together. Everybody played a little role in it, so all she needed was the support,” Anderson added. “When her results came out, I was talking to her and I said, ‘You have made a lot of improvement, so it is only for you to settle yourself, and I know you will improve along the way.’”
Bianca scored 287 for mathematics, 281 for science, 279 for social studies, and 283 for language arts. She was classified under Pathway Two, one of three pathways used by the Ministry of Education to determine the competency level of students who sit the PEP examination.
Under PEP, Pathway One is for students who perform satisfactorily, while Pathway Two is for students with some form of delayed learning, and Pathway Three is for students with special needs.
GREAT IMPROVEMENT
Bianca, who transferred to Sudbury Primary School from a private institution when she was in grade five, said that while the move was not easy at first, it ultimately helped her to grow academically.
“Coming to Sudbury Primary was rough, because I was not used to knowing the teachers and the students,,” said Bianca. “It helped me a lot, because it helped me with my reading and it helped me to improve in my work.”
Trena Harding, one of Sudbury Primary School’s grade six teachers, said that the school’s daily scheduled reading sessions contributed to Bianca’s improved reading ability.
“When Bianca came to grade six, her reading level was really low, but I know that her reading has improved. Every morning, we would do reading, and there are times when the students would go to the reading class, and the reading teacher would work with them two times a week,” said Harding. “Bianca was having difficulty pronouncing some of the words, but when she got the help with reading, she was able to use syllabication to learn how to pronounce the words and read a little more fluently.”