St Helena : St Helena Meetings Commence with Education Advisors
Submitted by Saint Helena Herald (Public Relations Information Office) 30.01.2010 (Article Archived on 13.02.2010)
The visiting Education Advisors are meeting with Councillors from the new Education and Employment Committee and staff from the Education Department to discuss education priorities for the next three years and beyond.
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Meetings Commence with Education Advisors
The visiting Education Advisors are meeting with Councillors from the new Education and Employment Committee and staff from the Education Department to discuss education priorities for the next three years and beyond.
Members of the team include David Levesque, Education Advisor for the Department for International Development; Patt Flett, Programme Manager for the DFID funded Education project; and John Sullivan, Secondary Trainer and Advisor. All have wide experience in education, from teaching in the classrooms to working in management and advisory positions.
Early meetings have focused on priorities for Prince Andrew School, the Primary Sector, the Adult Vocational Education Service, Teacher Training, and the department’s Administration Section. These priorities are all geared towards lifelong learning for everyone and includes, among a number of other things, looking at how to provide more scholarship opportunities for students; planning ahead to ensure the continuous professional development of teachers; implementing plans to take AVES into 2013; and expanding the curriculum at Prince Andrew School through distance learning so that students will have more subjects to choose from, as well as looking at ways of securing funds to introduce more computers into primary schools.
Patt Flett has also been talking about what her team will be doing over the next three years to help the Education Department. In an overview, she explained that their support will include providing all teachers with access to an education website called the Shropshire learning Gateway , which holds a volume of teaching and educational management resources. The website will have information and resources on all subjects from maths to history, and guidelines on how to improve teaching along with access to other educational material.
An added bonus is that the project will look at ways of helping to introduce more distance learning opportunities.. The project will also allow for four members of the teaching profession to visit the UK each year, for the next three years. This will allow them to gain experience in UK classrooms and to obtain professional qualifications in education.
In addition, the project will make links with schools in the UK, allowing staff on St Helena to discuss ideas and
challenges with others in the teaching profession. Schools being selected will be of similar size to those on St
Helena in terms of pupil numbers and these primary schools will have vertically grouped classrooms like on the Island, where students of different age groups are taught in the one class. Overall, it is felt that while St Helena will benefit greatly from the relationship, the UK schools will also learn a lot from the Island.
Advisory support will also be on hand at a distance, and through the visit of other educational trainers and
advisors over the next three years.
Public Relations/Information Office, Office of the Chief Secretary, 27 January 2009
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