The island’s private-school principals have banded together for a “buy Bermuda” campaign in the face of heightened efforts from boarding schools to court the island’s students overseas.

The Private School Heads Association said it had posted its statement online in response to increased boarding school marketing in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Advertising fairs, promotional materials, social media and newspaper articles do not accurately compare the well-established and outstanding educational offerings on island,” the statement reads.

“Internationally recognised and historically successful schools are right here, preventing the need to uproot your child.”

Boarding school fairs have a history on the island.

Examples include the firm Schools to Know, which goes back decades highlighting United States schools, or the 2013 inaugural British Schools Fair, which brought 11 UK institutions to advertise the benefits of going abroad.

However, they have ramped up in frequency in recent years.

The Private School Heads Association warned that culture shock and disruption could come with the move abroad.

The statement added: “While there might be a specific reason why an overseas option may work for your child, with the multitude of excellent schools in Bermuda, we believe this is the exception rather than the rule.”

The group replied to questions from The Royal Gazette with a written “collective response”.

“The association has been in operation for some 14 years and was formed out of a desire to collaborate, share and create alignment across the private schools.

“We meet at least once, if not twice, a term, with the topics ranging from agreeing on the annual academic year dates, sharing professional learning opportunities, navigating discussions with the Bermuda Educators Council, collective health insurance bargaining, and issues of the day.”

The association said responses to its online statement had been positive.

“The advertorial was placed in response to considerable marketing over the past ten months promoting boarding schools on social media, at local boarding fairs, in The Royal Gazette and on TV.

“We believe that this messaging does not do justice to what is available on island. The movement of students off island has remained steady over the past two decades and in our post-Covid environment there has been more momentum behind older students leaving.”

The association added: “We have, however, seen the choices these students are making as comparable, or in many cases potentially not as robust as what is available on island.

“We believe there is a conversation opportunity to push the ‘buy Bermuda' message when you consider the breadth of what is on offer in Bermuda — from different academic and vocational pathways to alternative environments to support learning differences.”

The association said it had more recently noticed a rise in schools from abroad looking to attract young athletes — calling it the “overseas football academy option” — but added that in some cases this was coupled with concerns about the overall quality of the experience in attending these schools.

Its advertorial said: “When looking into football academies, be sure that they can provide what you seek athletically, academically, socially and emotionally.”

The association said its online post had been aimed at putting the key points in favour of at-home private schools in the public domain.

It was also intended to “create a prompt for people to engage in the conversation with us”.

“We believe that we have achieved this,” the association said.

The statement was signed by the Bermuda Centre for Creative Learning, Bermuda High School, the Bermuda Institute, Mount Saint Agnes, Saltus Grammar School, Somersfield Academy and Warwick Academy.