Three SChool Leaders were recently recognised for outstanding achievement when the Education Ministry presented them with their awards for successfully completing the National Education Leadership Programme (NELP).
The NELP training programme is designed specifically for education professionals in, or seeking to adopt, leadership roles. Those who have been through the NELP programme agree that its rigorous demands put educators through their paces.
Education Ministry Chief Officer and Permanent Secretary Angela Martins, who presented the awards, said: “We are tremendously proud of the achievements of these three education professionals, who have demonstrated exceptional determination and ability by successfully completing the NELP.” She added: “We believe firmly that the professional development of our educators is an essential strategy for building an effective education system, and that leadership potential must be harnessed where it clearly exists.”
The three proud recipients of the NELP award were, Allison Wallace, Deputy Principal, Red Bay Primary School; Deborah Chaves-Thompson, Principal, Montessori-by-the-Sea; and Lyneth Monteith, School Leader of Leading Edge High School on the George Hicks Campus in George Town.
The NELP programme, which started in 2003, was developed specifically for the Cayman Islands and has to date been administered by the Education Standards and Assessment Unit, the government body responsible for conducting independent evaluations of Cayman’s public and private schools. Mary Bowerman, Acting Director of the Education Standards and Assessment Unit, explains: “NELP is a challenging, practical programme based on best practices in real schools. It focuses on developing the leadership and management capabilities of principals and senior managers.”
The two-year programme was developed in partnership with the London Centre for Leadership in Learning in the UK and takes into account the particular needs of schools in the Cayman Islands.
“NELP integrates well with the current student-centred thinking in education in the Cayman Islands, because it benefits students directly by equipping school leaders with the practical skills they need to run institutions which focus on students’ needs,” she said.
NELP provides its successful candidates with the equivalent of the UK’s National Professional Qualification for Headship, which is compulsory for Principals in England and Wales. Topics covered by NELP include developing and implementing a vision, strategic and development planning, target setting, performance evaluation, team-leading, managing resources and meeting students’ needs.
Shirley Wahler, Chief Education Officer at the Department of Education Services, also reiterated the value of NELP in the professional development framework for educators. “Successfully completing NELP is a significant achievement. These three professionals are testimony to the level of talent we can boast to possess locally, and we hope to see greater numbers coming through the course successfully in future years,” she said.
“Strong and visionary leadership is the key to running an effective education institution. By helping to develop the leadership and management skills of our local educators, we can be sure that we are also developing the standard of teaching and learning delivered to our students.” (GL)
The Central Tenders Committee has approved the award of contracts for the construction of two new secondary education campuses, John Gray Campus in George Town and Clifton Hunter Campus in Frank Sound, signaling the imminent start of these much-anticipated capital works projects. Whilst plans to start construction on the Beulah Smith Campus in West Bay are also progressing, further dialogue is required at this sensitive stage of contract negotiations, in order to secure the best value for public expenditure. It is hoped that these negotiations will be resolved in the near future at which time details will be submitted to the Central Tenders Committee for review and evaluation.
