Kalmar Richards, the Commissioner of Education, issued the following statement regarding Education Month:

Education Month 2019 has come to an end and I want to extend a big thank you to all of the staff in the Bermuda Public School System for the work they do each day. I also want to thank staff who contributed to the Education Month Campaign during the month of April.

For the past month, the Ministry of Education and Department of Education have worked together to address questions surrounding Standards-Based Education (SBE). More specifically, we focused on tackling the misconceptions parents, teachers, students and the public might have in relation to Standards-Based Grading. In addition, parent and the community meetings were held on April 25 to continue ongoing education about Standards-Based Education.

One of the tools that we used to provide more information about Standards-Based Education was through a video collaboration with Qian Dickinson from Bermemes. Technical Officers from the Department of Education who are directly involved with Standards-Based Education, along with myself and the Minister of Education, The Honorable Diallo Rabain, participated by explaining why we are moving to SBE, what SBE entails, what it means for parents and students, how it fits into the Government Plan 2022 and what will be needed for its successful implementation. To view the video please click here.

Another Education Month activity included events held by the Bermuda Preschools Committee and Preschool Administrators and staff. One of the highlights for the preschools was the preschool displays in the Washington Mall which demonstrated the extent and level of inquiry in which preschool students are engaged. These displays and interactions with preschool leaders proved to be quite enlightening for the public.

During Education Month we also released the Annual Report for Plan 2022. It has been a year since the Government launched Plan 2022 which contains aspirational strategies which will enable us to transform the Bermuda Public Education System. You can review the full Annual Report, inclusive of a video message from me, here.

Minister Rabain held the second Fathers in Education Event on the 18th April, and he released a budget video as well. Weekly highlights of students within the Bermuda Public School System were also published. We hope that the public were encouraged as much as we were by our students and the work that they are doing in and out of school. To see a few student highlights, please see the attached photos.

Over the next two months, we will continue with our ongoing focus on quality teaching, learning and improving the outcomes for our students. As we do so, we ask for the continued support of the Bermuda Public School Family and the community at large.