Beulah Smith Campus also rises from the ground!

We have recently posted photographs on the blog of the groundworks nearing completion for the Clifton Hunter Campus and completed at the John Gray Campus. Whilst the above photograph is not particularly exciting photograph in itself, it does show the completed groundworks at the Beulah Smith Campus in West Bay and the start of a fantastic learning environment.

This major work is the first stage of the development of the new 21st century secondary learning environments being built, due to open in 2010.

Meet Ian Jordan, new ICT Systems Administrator

A key party of the transformation of the Education Service has been to ensure that schools get the services they need to support students in their learning. For ICT support the strategy has been to totally review and increase the numbers and capacity of the technical support team.
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A new member of the team this year is Ian Jordan, an ICT Systems Administrator providing technical support to Cayman's schools. Ian has worked with a number of organisations which include The Ministry of Local Government in Jamaica, Medianet Technologies and most recently Huawei Technologies de Mexico.
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Currently, Ian is supporting the Western Learning Community - George Town Primary School, and John A. Cumber Primary School as well as the Alternative Education Centre, Lighthouse Schools and Prospect Primary School.
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He is recently married to Joy Jordan, a Spanish teacher on the George Hicks Campus. Ian is very knowledgeable in the technical field and particularly strong in troubleshooting network issues. Mr. Steve Durksen, ICT Manager for the Ministry of Education says; "Ian is a great asset to the team and brings networking skills that are invaluable to supporting the many sites in the education ICT network. Ian recently completed Citrix training and will be involved in supporting the Sims MIS program and the educational programs to be delivered through Citrix in 08-09". (SD/GL)

New Playground at John A Cumber Primary School

The new playground at John A Cumber Primary School has now opened. The original playground was forced to move by the development of the new Beulah Smith Secondary Campus. Developing a previously unused piece of land to create a large outdoor playspace, it is actually better positioned within the school compound. Students love it! (GL)

SIMS in the Cayman Islands attracts more media attention

The introduction of the new Capita 'Schools Integrated Management System' (SIMS) into the education service of the Cayman Islands continues to attract the attention of the international education and ICT world. The latest press release appears in Computer Business Review online. This release has now run in many places and is being 'picked up' numerous times by the media.

To read the full release click here. (GL)

Minister interviewed by Brazilian TV

As part of the interest in the transformation of the education service, the Minister: Hon Alden McLaughlin was today interviewed by journalist Luis Nachbin, of the Futura Television Channel of Brazil.

The half hour documentary, due to be broadcast in November 2008, will focus on a variety of things, especially focussing on Helen Tse, author and her amazing literacy competition for secondary students held earlier this year, the broader literacy issues in the Cayman Islands and other issues, including the holistic approach to the education transformation process.

The interest in Cayman continues........ all the time!

The Cayman story continues to be spread around the world.

In just the last few weeks alone, the Cayman Islands story of holistic education transformation continues to be spread around the world.

Recent references include:

• an article in the prestigious 'Education Facility Planner' magazine, in an article entitled "Innovative Schools in Britain, Australia and the Cayman Islands",
• a world wide press release from Capita concerning our use of the new SIMS software to "allow the use of technology to give unprecedented access to information and data we need to help students improve their performance
• promotion of a seminar entitled "From Chicago to the Caymans" to be held as part of the "Building Better Schools" Summit in London in June. The seminar is being led by oWp/p, architects of the high schools
• a detailed description of the work being done in the Cayman Islands during a lecture given by Professor Stephen Heppell in Scotland

We have often said that the world would be watching our transformation process with interest, these are just some examples of how this is happening. (GL)

Teachers visit Tampa for IB professional development

The ongoing drive towards raising of standards and the professional development of teachers within the Government education system continues, as the system moves closer to adopting the International Baccalaureate certification in our primary schools.

Six George Town Primary and two John A. Cumber Primary teachers visited James B. Sanderlin Elementary School in St. Petersburg, Florida this past month.

The purpose of the visit was to develop a greater understanding of the Primary Years Program (PYP) and to provide an opportunity for both teachers and administrators to analyse the curriculum framework, examine assessment procedures, and explore the learning environment of an International Baccalaureate (IB) school.
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Observations took place over a period of 3 days in which professionals made numerous inquiries of the school’s management, teaching, learning and evaluation procedures. The visit provided an opportunity for educators to exchange ideas and gain knowledge of a transdisciplinary programme for primary school students.

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The really collaborative way of teachers working and planning together between schools really started since the Learning Community concept was set up, and has really helped improve the curriculum planing process. This was a direct result of the 'National Consensus on the Future of Education in the Cayman Islands' and the transformation of the governance model for education.

Adapted from blogs from the Department of Education Services and George Town Primary School. (GL)

Cayman Brac and Little Cayman get their own ICT Systems Administrator!

An essential part of the education transformation process has been the strengthening of the ICT systems in schools and the technical support for teachers in ensuring that all systems and equipment function as designed. The schools on the smaller islands of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, have for the first time, now got their own ICT Systems Administrator to keep their systems 'live'.
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After working in Grand Cayman nine years ago, MaryAnn Keeler returned to the Cayman Islands last December to fill the capacity of Systems Administrator for all the schools in the Sister Islands. She has over 15 years experience as a computer trainer and technician in Canadian businesses and organizations and is a welcome addition to the Ministry of Education ICT Team of four other Systems Administrators under the direction of ICT Manager; Steven Durksen.

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MaryAnn supports the Little Cayman Education Service, West End Primary School, Creek and Spot Bay Primary Schools and Cayman Brac High School. She will also be taking a leadership role in the management of the deployment of the exciting new online portal ‘Studywiz’ which will be launched soon.
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MaryAnn brings not only skills as a technician but also as a trainer which is key as she also assists in training teachers to use ICT effectively in the classroom and integrate ICT across all subject areas in the curriculum.

Hailing from British Columbia in Canada, MaryAnn found returning to the Cayman Islands was not a difficult decision for her as just loves on this "beautiful island". She is very active in the community and volunteers her services with the Cayman Islands Humane Society. She is also a member of the Brac Business Professional Women’s club.

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Mary Ann recently featured as 'Sister Islands Person of the Week' in a local newspaper - Click here. The Ministry welcomes her to the ICT team. (SD/GL)

Clifton Hunter Campus - Groundworks continue at a fast pace

The groundworks at the Clifton Hunter Secondary Campus in Frank Sound continue at great pace. Many people have commented on the height of the 'pads' which now clearly delineate the position of the various buildings on the campus. These ground works are scheduled to finish within the next few weeks thereby allowing construction to start. (GL)

Progress moves on developing the new secondary campuses

Following the recent announcements concerning the development of the new secondary campuses, (see posts below), the myriad of meetings 'behind the scenes' carry on. This week they include contract meetings, value engineering, contract deducts, right through to the landscape requirements of the sites.

This is a very exciting time in the development of the new campuses - keep reading this blog for more updates and images very soon!
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The photograph above shows architects, quantity surveyor, the Ministry Project Manager for New Facilities and senior Ministry staff. (GL)

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Six Schools apply for International Baccalaureate Candidate status

The ongoing progress towards improving standards in teaching and learning has reached another milestone with six government primary schools applying for candidate status in the International Baccalaureate (IB) programme. The six schools are: Northside Primary School, Prospect Primary School, Savannah Primary School, John A Cumber Primary School, George Town Primary School and Creek & Spot Bay Primary School. These are the first state schools in the Caribbean to have done so.

All teachers in primary schools are now involved in collaborative planning within their Learning Communities as part iof the IB initiative.

In secondary schools, a range of new and exciting exam options are now on offer to students, as well some innovative ways of introducing extended learning opportunities at the George Hicks campus.

A key part of the overall national curriculu process, parents are currently being trained on the new form of assessment, which is based on levels. (LP/GL)

The Ministry of Education has fun as well!

Minister of Education and Culture leads the way!
The Minister of Education, (who also happens to be the Minister of Culture) leading the Ministry team during the annual Batabano carnival this weekend.

The Ministry team work extremely hard but it is great that the team spirit allows them to enjoy life and play hard as well! Winning cups for 'Best Individual Female' and '3rd Place Adult Band' (out of 14) was just a bonus

LoGB announces the start of building for the new learning campuses.

Thursday saw the Leader of Government Business, the Hon. D. Kurt Tibbetts, announce to the regular Cabinet media briefing, the awarding of building contracts for two of the new secondary learning campuses. It is hoped that the awarding of the contract for the third site will be announced shortly.

Whilst the announcement included a delayed date of 2010 for the opening of all new 21st century learning environments, Mr Tibbetts also stressed that the transformation of the education service was ongoing and even accelerating.

These are really exciting times in education for the Cayman Islands. More details of other initiatives will follow in new posts over the next few days.