Pros and Cons of Boarding School

1532 Words7 Pages
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
Open Document