Editor’s Note: This is the third in a series of posts exploring the results of the first cycle of school inspections by the Cayman Islands Office of Education Standards.
The Office of Education Standards has concluded its first cycle of inspections of Cayman Islands schools, which began in 2018. In total, inspectors issued reports on 53 public and private schools.
There are 31 schools in Cayman that are Early Childhood Care and Education Centres (ECCEs), or who offer Early Years education (pre-Kindergarten). Apart from the public Cayman Brac Day Care Centre, all of the schools are privately owned or not-for-profit.
Inspectors rated 23 ECCEs in 28 individual categories, using a scale of Weak/Satisfactory/Good/Excellent. The overall grade is determined according to the individual scores.
Inspectors also rated 8 other schools that offer Early Years education in 18 individual categories, plus the overall grade, paralleling their assessment of Primary and Secondary education.
To account for the differences in assessment strategies, the Cayman Current has created 2 infographics covering all 31 schools.
The first infographic shows the 23 ECCEs’ results in in all 28 individual categories, as well as the overall school rating, and also includes links to the individual schools’ inspection reports. (You can find the reports for all 53 schools here.)
The second infographic shows the 8 other schools’ results in 18 individual categories, as well as the overall school rating, and also includes links to the individual schools’ inspection reports.
Of the 31 schools, only 1 was rated ‘Excellent’ overall — Little Trotters Farm & Nursery School. Little Trotters was the only school in the Cayman Islands, private or public, for children of any age, to earn the highest ‘Excellent’ rating.
(Read our interview with the leaders of Little Trotters here.)
In all, 9 schools were rated ‘Good’ — Cayman Academy, Cayman International School (CIS), Cayman Prep & High School, Island Montessori, Montessori by the Sea, Montessori del Sol, Montessori School of Cayman, Sprogs Garden Play School and Starfish Village.
Eight schools were rated ‘Weak’ — Bright Start Learning Centre, Miss Nadine’s Preschool, Precious Gems, Quality Child Care, Rite Start, Tiffany’s Pre-school, Triple C School and Wesleyan Christian Academy.
Note: This analysis includes Early Childhood Care and Education Centres and ‘Early Years’ programmes (generally ages 4 and below), as identified by OES inspectors. It does not include Kindergarten, Primary School, Middle School or High School. Additionally, this only includes the initial ‘full inspection’ reports, and does not consider the results of follow-through inspections where schools were assessed on their progress toward implementing inspectors’ recommendations.
Little Trotters set the bar by achieving 17 ‘Excellent’ marks out of the 28 categories.
Montessori del Sol also achieved 17 ‘Excellent’ marks, some in different categories than Little Trotters.
Sprogs achieved 12 ‘Excellent’ marks out of 28 categories, while Island Montessori had 10 ‘Excellent’ marks, and Montessori School of Cayman had 6.
CIS had 8 ‘Excellent’ marks out of the 18 categories on which it was assessed.
*Editor’s Note: The initial version of this article inadvertently omitted Cayman Academy, which offers an Early Years programme for children starting at age 3.*
Inspection results: Comparing Cayman Islands primary schools
Inspection results: Comparing Cayman Islands secondary schools