St Ignatius Catholic School recently celebrated the success of one of its students, Stuart Jennings, who was awarded a place at Oxford University this year (a first for the school) after a stellar performance in his A-levels. This tremendous achievement has focused the spotlight on the age-old discussion of whether to keep youngsters in Cayman for their high school education or send them to boarding school abroad. The Journal assesses whether there is still a need in Cayman to break up the family and send children overseas for their education.

Years ago parents who were fortunate enough to be able to send their offspring to school overseas did so almost as a matter of course, with schools on Island lacking the capacity to offer students the possibility of much variety in the way of higher education such as A-levels. Nowadays however schools have developed their curriculum and facilities to such an extent that a wide range of opportunities are now available, which begs the question as to whether students really need to be sent abroad for their schooling. This month we look at the advantages of keeping children on island for their education.

Tremendous opportunities at home

Cayman Prep and High opened its brand new facility in September, which houses among other state-of-the-art facilities a brand new sixth form block. A-levels courses on offer are wide and varied.

Head of Sixth Form at Prep, Brendan Touhey says: “Our entry requirements for the sixth form programme are the same as schools in England and more demanding in some instances. We predominantly offer Cambridge A-levels, which are regarded as more rigorous than other examination boards which fall under the umbrella of the Joint Council for Qualifications. This year’s GCSE results were outstanding, with 100 per cent pass rate and 92 per cent of students attaining 5 passes at A*- C.”

Touhey furthers: “The past few years has seen a rapid growth in the sixth form, mainly in part due to the success of our programmes. We have the largest sixth form programme on the Island and next year will continue to expand with the introduction of some new A-level subjects.

The results will always speak for themselves, but as with any school there is more to the education of the students than just the results. We have an extremely active Key Club, Duke of Edinburgh, and leadership programmes for all of the sixth form. All in all students can achieve as much here, if not more, than overseas.”

He believes that the school’s new building has increased the potential and scope for sixth form study and all high school work. 

“With five brand new science labs, two new IT labs, a large library and dedicated maths, English and business studies classrooms, every student in the school will be utilising the new building,” he confirms. “In addition the introduction of Marine Sciences last year has been very popular; the school is the only institution on the island offering the course. As well as the new building we have also expanded the art suites, so they have now tripled in size, and renovated part of the original building to include a drama studio. Finally, the new sixth form centre - with study rooms, university admissions centre and a careers office - will ensure that all of the students have endless access to all of the tools they need for moving into further education.”

St Ignatius Catholic School also has excellent opportunities for study at A-level. Head of Sixth Form, Jennifer Artuch, confirms: “Our A-level programme offers 31 different academic classes across 15 different subjects with small class sizes and very knowledgeable, highly qualified and experienced instructors. By working with teachers in smaller groups the students receive much more individual attention they are likely to get in a larger school. A-levels are very demanding courses and therefore instilling good study habits from the start is important both at school and at home. Students who dedicate time to their courses and get into a routine early are far more likely to cope with the academic challenges of the A-level programme. St. Ignatius staff take time to support the new sixth form students to help them adjust to the transition to more demanding A-level work.”

Outside of academics, Jennifer says the school’s programme offers university guidance, assists with the university application process and prepares students for applications and interviews for higher education scholarships. 

“We also encourage all students to take part in our extra-curricular programme, our community service programme and to act as peer mentors and prefects within the school. These are experiences that help to create the type of well-rounded student that good universities look to recruit,” she adds.

Head of Secondary, Peter Embleton, feels that the quality of the St. Ignatius Sixth Form programme has been demonstrated over a number of years through the academic success of its students and the number of private scholarship recipients.

He states: “This year, one of our graduating sixth form students, Stuart Jennings, was accepted into Oxford University in the UK, and over many years our sixth form students have not only achieved very good results at A-level but have been able to access top universities in the UK, Canada, the US and elsewhere, with many being awarded excellent private scholarships. 

“For parents who are unsure as to whether or not they need to send their children overseas to boarding school, the school’s record in this respect should reassure any parents about the quality of the sixth form programme that we offer. We will soon be opening a new sixth form centre, which will include a lounge, conference area, study area and computer access further to that available in our sixth form IT lab. Our students are excited at the prospect of being able to use this new area and they and their parents recognise it as a statement of the school’s on-going commitment to provide our sixth form students with the best support possible for their education.”

Stuart Jennings completed his A-Level examinations in English literature, physics and mathematics, earning A* grades in literature and physics as well as a grade A in mathematics, affording him a place at Oxford University to read ancient history and classical archaeology at Magdalen College.

Keeping the family together

Stuart’s parents, Conor and Lesley Jennings (who also have son Ronan, who is almost 15) say they chose to keep Stuart and Ronan on Island for their education “because we believe that parents are an integral part of any child’s education. We wanted to stay together.” 

Both parents were confident that Stuart would receive the level of education necessary for his academic level and say:

“We had done our research into the schools in Cayman. If the schools were not good enough we would not have come to Cayman in the first place. We had been living on another Caribbean island where we were becoming concerned about the education, so rather than send the boys off to boarding school, we left.”

Mr. and Mrs. Jennings were not concerned that their sons were missing out on opportunities and facilities afforded to youngsters abroad.

“Our boys sail and windsurf,” they say. “Where else in the world could you finish school at 2.45pm and be on the water by 3pm?” They also had no hesitations about the development of their children’s resilience and self confidence

by keeping them on island. “It depends on the child and the parents,” Conor Jennings says. “Also, we have lived in many countries, so our children have a very broad experience of the world by staying with us.”

He confirms that Stuart realised that he wasn’t competing with his peers in Cayman, but with students worldwide, and he had great motivation to do well. “We think he will do very well.  In an academic environment like Oxford he should thrive.”

Conor adds: “Having gone to boarding school myself at 8 years of age, I know very well that being away from home does not suit all children. Furthermore, just attending an expensive school does not necessarily mean that you will do well.”

He believes that boarding verses staying at home in Cayman all depends upon the child and the parents. “The schools can do little more than point the students in the right direction. If the student isn’t interested then it’s their choice. At 15 or 16 years of age a child should know what’s involved,” he states.

Stuart says he didn’t find studying in Cayman to be a problem. “Perhaps some students would have found it helpful to be at a boarding school, where they would be pushed more to work harder, but I knew how much work would be necessary,” he says. “It really wasn’t much of a sacrifice to get the work done. I enjoyed myself but I also kept the big picture in mind, knowing that poor results would be damaging to university prospects. My offer from Oxford strongly motivated me in my A-Levels, and my friends were very understanding so there wasn’t much peer pressure to waste time.”