Trimont College: a young school with a future

Have you ever heard of Trimont College? If not, then read on about this young school for boys.

Trimont school for boys is located in the Glencoe area of Port of Spain, on a hill that suggests the physical and spiritual ascent that education purports.

Its motto In unum aedificantes futurum (United we build the future) expresses the joint effort of parents, teachers, and students in the pursuit of a sustained, vigorous, and enjoyable process of maturing into adulthood.

We must first refer to the parents. In fact, it was a group of interested parents who sought to create a boys’ school and a girls’ school (Rosewood Girls is the sister school following the same ideals) tailored to their highest expectations; effective character building, clear value instilment, excellent academic standards, amicable environment, love for family and country, openness, and brotherhood to all.

The school staff, 20 full-time teachers and 10 part-timers for primary and secondary school combined, understands that their role is subsidiary to the parents’ primary role, and seek to be in close mutual attunement.

In the higher levels, each student has a tutor. The task of the tutor is to help the student pinpoint areas for growth in his academic, personal, and social lives.

With parents and teachers on the same page, school-life proceeds, in the words of Christopher Chin Lee, the school principal, with “the maintenance of school rules while allowing boys to be boys”.

If we consider the goal in education to be that of preparing children to use their freedom responsibly, then its metric would be the producing of students who are willing and able to act uprightly, especially when no-one is around to observe them.

To achieve this, at Trimont, we view the everyday interactions between students and teachers, as well as among students themselves, as training opportunities. Students feel encouraged to own up and rectify their errors, knowing that the consequences of not doing so would be worse in the long run.

They are also eager to use their initiative as well as make suggestions for improvement as the school attempts to implement the feasible ones as soon as possible.

The students follow the Cambridge certified programme. The teaching is concentric; the same topics are taught in every subject every year, so that there is a progressive broadening and deepening of the content.

One of the results pursued is the growth in confidence of the students. The systematic reinforcement of content leads to the development of habits of study and discipline at a moderate yet demanding pace, giving time for attention to other key aspects of their development.

Small classes (never more than 25) contribute to warmer and more personal interrelations. Plans are underway to accommodate, in the future, more than one class per level.

As far as content covered, there is little difference between the Cambridge curricula and that followed in the local secondary schools.

However, the Cambridge school leaving certificate, i.e., the International General Certificate of Secondary Education, or IGCSE, has a higher acceptance internationally.

Since May 2018, the year of the first Form 5 graduation, Trimont students have consistently been performing well at the IGCSE Qualifications exams with 95 per cent passes. We trust that the seven students sitting exams this year will maintain the bar set by the 22 students who have graduated in previous years.

Solid education

The teachers are patient and dedicated. During the pandemic, they overcame the numerous difficulties encountered. In the later phase, with the support of the principal, they organised outings to help keep the boys active.

As a young school, it is growing and aspires to flourish with the variety we have in the Trinidadian-Tobagonian population. Since it is a private school, the cost is not within the reach of every pocket. Trimont has the policy of facilitating, with partial or full scholarships, the acceptance of any student according to their needs.

It is difficult to say, when receiving an application, what the school looks at the most–whether the boys themselves, or their family. But if the family wishes a solid education as offered, the boys are looked upon favourably, and negotiation settles the rest.

The school is non-denominational but counts on the moral support of the Catholic institution Opus Dei. Students whose family so wishes, are prepared for First Communion.

As everyone who participates in this process knows, it is great joy to see the children’s simple and solid piety! Family and teachers pray this fervour will last and accompany them all their lives.

—Trimont College