Montessori model gets another good grade
(CNS): The Montessori School of Cayman, based in the South Sound area, became the fourth pre-school using this model given a ‘good’ grade by government inspectors. The Montessori model is dominating the successful inspection reports of early learning in Cayman, with only one other pre-school surpassing these four schools.
Most nurseries have received ‘satisfactory’ or ‘weak’ grades; Little Trotters is still the only one marked as ‘excellent’. All four Montessori schools that have been inspected have achieved overall ‘good’ grades and ‘excellent’ grades in specific areas.
In the case of the Montessori School of Cayman, which was the first of this model to open in Cayman, inspectors said that across all quality indicators, most judgements were ‘good’ with some graded ‘excellent’.
“Staff at the school effectively facilitated Montessori principles such as the promotion of children’s independence, choice and responsibility in learning. The school was a happy, safe community characterised by an ethos of mutual respect and care for the children’s welfare,” inspectors from the Office of Education Standards wrote in the report.
“The learning environment was well planned and engaging and provided a good quality of multisensory experiences for the children who displayed high levels of enjoyment and engagement in their learning.”
The inspectors found that children in all age groups had positive learning dispositions and often concentrated well on their tasks.
“Interactions between the staff and children were nurturing, respectful and affirmative. Staff morale was high,” the report said, adding that parents expressed high levels of satisfaction with all aspects of the work at the school.
See the inspection report in the CNS Library and on the OES website
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Category: Education, Local News, Politics, Private Sector Oversight
What is the purpose of grading? Especially Montessori?
Talking about schooling, on another subject. I thought Government implemented strict Uniform Rules, boys pants not be worn gangsta style, girls skirts at a normal length? Well everyone is talking about Public Schools, I have to say their uniforms seem to be worn in an appropriate manner. I myself and a few parents have noticed the girls at Prep School from the Navy Blue Skirts to the Tan Skirts are not at the required length. They are so short that they have to keep tugging on them. Its just not appropriate for a school uniform. There is also an advertisement with Prep School children and the girls skirts on the picture is barely covering their backside. Doesn’t the teachers notice this? how about the principal?
This is a Private School!
Yes, it’s a private school. The uniform policy is for government schools. Which I don’t understand either. To be told that it is policy that boys must have very short hair but then also to be told that it will not be enforced. Kinda bizarre if you ask me.
I have friends who work for Montessori both here and in the UK. One thing they all say is that their employment is subject to a zero tolerance policy on misconduct in and out of work. Maybe there’s a lesson to be learned there?
Did they also say that the kids who normally attend Montessori generally come from more affluent families, families who have regular routines and structures in place, whose parents ensure that they are respectful, ready to learn, etc…so that when they attend school, they are far more manageable, eager to learn, etc.
Well these inspectors do not believe in differentiation. The fact that 30% of children are creamed off from the public schools in private schools and still they continue to compare is a total nonsence.
Absolutely and the grades are given again an English model. Madness!
9:20 Did you mean ‘again’ or ‘against’? And there should be a comma after ‘Absolutely’. Looks to me like you (and 8:47) are typical products of the public school system here.
Lol. You obviously never been to Mango Tree on a Friday night.
The problems in the public schools are primarily that the majority of parents are not equipped or prepared for parenthood. Teachers will teach the students who want to learn but are hesitant to call parents to address issues with disruptive students because 80% of the time the parents do not want to hear it or do not know how to handle it.
There have been teachers actually threatened by parents because the teacher had to speak to the child about some form of wrongdoing or disruption. And then there are those parents that will bombard the campus to confront and threaten other students in defense of their own disruptive and bully of a child instead of being a positive example and addressing whatever AT HOME is causing their kid to act out.
This sort of thing rarely happens in the private schools because most of the parents’ pay grades and education has risen above “petty” – the public school system has a heavy dose of societal rejects and neglects of parents who are very good at raising the next generation of the said.
Until proper intervention is in place to steer children from these backgrounds away from the course their parents walked the public schools will always have difficulty rising above weak or satisfactory.
It is sad to admit but the majority of the public school population springs from the depths of our community pits and the children from there must be shown there is another way of life. Often, this is all they know – the drugs, gang behavior, parents playing vulgar and violent music, deprivation, poverty, struggle, fights, domestic violence and family yards filled with unemployed men who attempt to make their drug dealing look like fun and to make themselves appear to be the most happy and successful in the eyes of the children around them. These are the islands forgotten and the children who have no educated advocates to protect them, they grow up to be our thieves, murderers and rapists as an appalled society calls for their incarceration not remembering that 18 to 20 yrs before that now convict was an innocent baby screaming for a bottle that an angry, hardened mother could not provide and so the saga begun.
“The school was a happy, safe community” Yes, very safe across the road from fuel tankers which recently caught ablaze and the neighborhood had to be evacuated.
Yay MSC!! I know first hand this school is excellent. But I’m just a parent, not a qualified school inspector. Forever grateful for the solid loving foundation my children received at this special place.
Where is the report for CIS?
It’s not been inspected yet.
It is infuriating to me that Caymanians of low to median income are FORCED to put their children in expensive private schools for basic primary, middle and high school education. Why should any Caymanian have to put their kids in private schools? Why isn’t our tax money being put to better use? I’ve paid CI$144,000 to educate one of my children from grade 1 to grade 12 in Cayman. CI$144,000 on an average salary! Why do you think Caymanians can’t afford to retire? Why do you think Caymanians can’t afford better health care? Why do you think Caymanians have to go begging to the Needs Assessment Unit? Why is the crime rate increasing every year? Why are there so many underemployed and unemployed Caymanians? ALL of these problems could be fixed with better public schools!! I don’t understand why Caymanians are not outraged and demanding better public schools!
I still wouldn’t put my child in the public school if govt improved the public school. Around the world private schools are always better than public. Why would you prefer to put your children in substandard when you can provide better for them. Plus from a social perspective, I don’t want my children around public school children and pick up the low brow behaviour.
Exactly my point. Caymanians who want a quality education for their children are being FORCED to put their children in expensive private schools. The public schools in Cayman SHOULD be good enough! I graduated from public high school in Cayman in the 80’s. I went on to university and a career in finance. The vast majority of the people that graduated with me have had successful lives and careers. Many are senior management and partners of major financial institutions today. Many own their own businesses today. I could probably count on two hands the members of my graduating class that have NOT had successful lives and careers. This tiny country has HUGE resources and a relatively small number of local children to educated annually. Caymanians pay up to almost a 30% tax rate on mostly everything that we consume. This tiny country has a $2 billion budget, we have government sponsored scholarships, we have international financial firms offering scholarships and internships, we have financial industry sponsored mentoring programs. We can and SHOULD be offering Caymanians a top notch world leading public school education, so public school kids can take advantage of these opportunities! Instead, Caymanian public school kids are at the bottom and locked out of opportunity. Caymanians who can afford it (and those that CAN’T afford it!) must now send our Caymanian children to expensive private schools, just so that they don’t become “low brow” as you’ve stated. How is that right? The public school standard and the expectations of public school students should be MUCH higher. And Caymanians should be demanding that!
Why not put these schools in charge of all the public schools. Force them to copy the model.
The Montessori teaching system is for children bellow the age of 5. Unfortunately you cant apply the same teaching style to older children. You can read more about it via a google search.
CNS: Just to note that the age range of Montessori By The Sea is 21 months to 12 years. Their inspection report is grouped with primary schools in the CNS Library.
You can teach this method through the entire life of children, it is not limited to age. Perhaps your “googling” need some education – perhaps one of the Montessori schools could help?
It’s not just the model. It’s the staff & leadership. Until government fired the staff who are unable/unwilling to do their jobs properly it doesn’t matter which ‘model’ you follow.
lets be honest, Public school has good teachers and staff members.
but how can you teach a snake to be a dog if its all the snake knows? I’m saying some kids are just not teachable because their household/parents are broken, alot of kids grew up around bad parenting so old habits die hard.
cant blame someone for the parents mistakes.
Kids aren’t born with bad habits, they pick them up from the adults they grow up with. That’s the big problem on these islands.
Don’t make it seem like this problem is just Cayman. This is a worldwide problem. Travel sometime and you will see it is not an isolated problem.
8:22 No arguments there but it should be easier to tackle in a population of about 60K than in a city with several million inhabitants. It should also be easier to sort out where so many of the population are supposedly good church-going Christians.
Yes but they are also full of incompetent teachers, teachers who are appointed because they belong to a certain church, and . have family and friends in high places. Teachers are moved from one school to another when they should be fired. There are even teachers who have in the past been fired for incompetence only to be later rehired. Also the Performance Management system is not working.
Umm, that would mean that you’d need students willing to learn. Students from families who don’t worship gangstas.