Bermuda’s Child Development Programme has been lauded by Junior Education Minister Leah Scott, pointing to the recent launch of the Red Flags Guide which will become an important tool to be used in the Island’s public schools.

“This guide will be utilised by the Child Development team to promote the early identification of children who are in need of additional resources to meet their developmental milestones,” said Ms Scott.

“The ultimate goal is to ensure that all children in Bermuda are able to develop to their optimal developmental potential.”

The Red Flags Guide was first piloted in 2002, by the Simcoe County Early Intervention Council in Canada, and has now been modified to suit Bermuda’s needs.

“Early intervention is the best prevention and that has been evidenced repeatedly by several studies worldwide and the Child Development Programme is an excellent community resource that is committed to partnering with parents. “The Journal of the American Medical Association states that participation in a school-based intervention programme beginning in preschool was associated with a wide range of positive outcomes. It has been found that established early education programmes can have enduring effects on the general well-being of a child into adulthood.

“Early childhood interventions have demonstrated consistent positive effects on children’s health and well-being, and their impacts are unique in two important ways.

“First, early childhood intervention in the first five years of a child’s life show evidences links to a broad range of positive outcomes up to three decades later, including better reproductive health and birth outcomes, higher cognitive skills, school achievement and performance, higher school attainment, higher earnings capacity, and lower rates of delinquency and crime.

“Few if any other interventions have been shown to have such multifarious impacts.

“The second unique feature is that early childhood intervention has proven to be cost-effective in providing public benefits and increased well-being that substantially exceed costs.”

Meanwhile, the Junior Minister stressed how students’ involvement in the arts and sports were enhancing their education.

“I opened the 49th Annual Middle and High School Art Show at the Bermuda Society of the Arts at City Hall. I was so impressed by the range of talent and art work that was on display,” said Ms Scott.

“I believe that the arts are an important part of every school curriculum, and that means theatre, music, dance, whatever form of expression it takes. It is vital.

“Like music, art cuts across racial, cultural, social, educational, and economic barriers and enhances cultural appreciation and awareness. The arts teach people to work independently and collaboratively. It improves academic achievement — enhancing test scores, attitudes, social skills, critical and creative thinking.

“Arts celebrate multiple perspectives — there are many ways to see and interpret the world. The arts teach children to make good judgments about qualitative relationships. Unlike some other areas of the curriculum, in which correct answers and rules prevail, in the arts, it is judgment rather than rules that prevail.

“We recommend that all students study the arts to discover how human beings communicate not only with words, but through music, dance, and the visual arts.”

Having attended both the School Sports Federation’s Primary and Middle School track and field events, Ms Scott

told MPs she fully endorsed the importance being placed on sport.

“Participation in sports can help build self-esteem and confidence, can motivate children to excel academically and can help build social skills. Through sports, children learn leadership skills, team-building skills and communication skills that will help them in school, personal relationships and their future career,” she said.

“It has been shown that children who participate in athletics excel in academics as well, because they can apply the same principles of dedication and hard work learned through sports participation to their studies.”