Over 600 Year 5 and 6 students in the Cayman Islands Government Primary School system say they are satisfied with the quality of education provided at their school, according to recent surveys conducted by the Office of Education Standards (OES).
In total, 502 parents, 189 staff (both teaching and non-teaching) and 603 students completed the online questionnaires. All responses were anonymous.

The views of parents, staff and students were included in the final report, published by the OES following the inspection. The results from each survey are included in the appendices to the published reports, which can be accessed on the OES website www.oes.gov.ky.
The schools inspected were Bodden Town Primary School (BTPS), Savannah Primary School (SPS), Prospect Primary School (PPS), Red Bay Primary School (RBPS), East End Primary School (EEPS), George Town Primary School (GTPS), Sir John A. Cumber Primary School (SJACPS), Edna M. Moyle Primary School (EMPS), Creek and Spot Bay Primary School (CSBPS) and West End Primary School (WEPS).

It was notable that the highest rate of satisfaction among students was from those attending government primary schools on Cayman Brac.

Students expressed positive views regarding the care and welfare provided by school staff. Most students felt safe and cared for at school based on the responses to questions relating to incidents of bullying, support arrangements and staff responsiveness in the survey. The lowest ratings were in schools judged by inspectors to be making, overall, weak progress in addressing the recommendations from the in 2014/15.

“This school is helping in a way I can appreciate because I have learned more than I did before in other schools,” said one Creek and Spot Bay Primary School student. “I absolutely love it’.

A Sir John A. Cumber student wrote, ‘This is a very good school but some students just don’t show it sometimes.’

The level of satisfaction from parents varied considerably across the 10 schools. In general, there was more positive feedback across schools about the quality of teaching and progress in specific subjects.
Parents believed that their children were well cared for by staff in all schools, receiving over 70 per cent agreement with the statement, ‘My child is safe and cared for at school.’ There was notable variation in response to the statement, ‘The behaviour of most students in the school is good’. This ranged from less than half of parents agreeing with the statement at Sir John A. Cumber Primary School to the highest percentage of agreement at Edna Moyle Primary School, which was 91 per cent.

The lowest agreement response rate of all the survey questions was from parents when asked about the level of parental involvement in the work of the school. The average agreement rate was 63 per cent across the 10 schools and varied significantly from less than 50 per cent in Bodden Town and Sir John A. Cumber Primary Schools to more than 80 per cent in Creek and Spot Bay Primary School. Of the 189 staff, 91 per cent expressed high-levels of satisfaction with the schools in which they worked, judging that their school ‘provided a good quality of education.’ One hundred per cent of staff at Prospect, East End, George Town, Edna M. Moyle, Creek and Spot Bay and West End Primary Schools agreed/strongly agreed with this statement.

In almost all cases staff agreed that their school offered ‘a safe and caring environment for all members of the school community.’ They agreed that the school effectively supported their professional development and felt that the schools employed appropriately qualified and suitably skilled teachers and staff. There was more significant variation in responses offered by staff concerning the resources in their schools. In response to the statement, ‘There are sufficient resources of good quality to support my teaching’, favourable response rates varied from less than 60 per cent in one school to 100 per cent in another.

As with the parent survey, a low number of staff responded positively to the statement, ‘Parents are effectively involved in the work of the school’. In several cases only about one-third of staff agreed with the statement, which aligned closely with the views expressed by parents. Higher levels of parental engagement were noted by staff in certain schools, including Prospect; and Creek and Spot Bay Primary Schools.

Parents and staff shared similar concerns on the future education plans and priorities that have traditionally been established by the Ministry of Education and by individual schools. Parents, staff and students wish to see improved student behaviour as a priority, as they consider this to be an ongoing challenge. Parents and students considered the quality of teaching to be good, although this is contrary to inspection findings from the Follow-Through reports for 2017-18.

Director of OES Peter Carpenter said, “While there is evidence that the quality of teaching has improved since the inspections of 2014/15, the stakeholder surveys also indicate that there remain further improvements required to the primary curriculum as a means to enhance teaching.”
“The views of stakeholders are critical to the inspection process and, of course, to each of the school’s own self-evaluation,” he added “We hope to gain greater levels of parental involvement in the inspection process in the coming academic year when we commence our full inspections in private schools, public primary and secondary schools and in Cayman’s early year’s centres.”

To view the full OES Stakeholder Report click on the link: http://www.gov.ky/portal/pls/portal/docs/1/12686489.PDF