SOUTH REWARD–The schools under the School Board for Secondary Education SVOBE – Milton Peters College (MPC) and Sundial Schools – are all set for the new school year, which starts on Monday, August 14.
General Director of MPC and Sundial School Wim de Visser said classes at the two educational institutions have been set, the schedules are “as good as ready,” the teachers are in, and “we are looking forward to the new educational developments that we will be initiating. Hopefully, we can continue with the good results we had last year and even improve on the ones that need improvement… We are all set for the upcoming school year,” he said.
De Visser said all vacancies have been filled for the two schools, therefore both have their full complement of teachers. One new colleague, who will join the staff, is expected to arrive in October. Other teachers will cover the teaching hours in the interim. “We are very satisfied having a competent and motivated team of teachers, and we are welcoming new staff to our schools. Some of them are former MPC students. So we are very proud of these colleagues as this will be good examples for our current generation of students,” de Visser said.
The General Director said a lot of work was done during the summer vacation to enhance certain facilities at the institution. Besides the painting of some walls and classrooms at MPC and Sundial School, the fibre optic cable ring at MPC has been completed, thanks to the generous donation of Windsong Foundation, in collaboration with Foresee Foundation.”
He said United Telecommunications Services (UTS) also has to be thanked for connecting the fibre cable to the fibre optic ring at the school. In addition, at Sundial School a completely new gazebo was constructed at the inner square of the institution for students. The new gazebo will provide a nice new shelter for students during school breaks.
The Construction Department at MPC, he added, received new machinery for its students. “So with the latest technology we can offer high quality work to our vocational students, and as we are preparing for a definite switch to digital learning, we upgraded our servers and the computer devices in both schools,” De Visser said.
According to De Visser, the most important period is when the new developments are implemented at the schools. “Training and schooling of our teachers is a key component in our educational development process. Also, a different mind-set of our students is needed for them to understand that they are the real owners of learning,” De Visser noted.
“Stimulating the intrinsic motivation for learning is our challenge. The term, ‘make school and learning fun,’ is a way to say it in a St. Maarten metaphor: Make learning serious fun.”
He listed digital teaching and learning with the goal of creating more intrinsic motivation to students as being amongst the top plans for the schools this year. “Digital teaching and learning not as goals in themselves, but they are high-quality tools that fit nowadays into teaching and learning – teaching that appeals to the world our students are living in.”
Other goals are to expand and improve on the development of English as language of instruction in the vocational department at MPC, and looking into possibilities of adapting Caribbean educational programme at the school in close collaboration with government.
As the opening of the new school year approaches, De Visser shared some words of advice to students and parents: “Let us all make teaching and learning serious fun. The intellectual development of our youngsters cannot be done solely by students and schools. The triangle: home, student and school must be strong, intense and communicative in order to make our St. Maarten youth successful in their future endeavours. We all will benefit from this close partnership.”
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/68320-mpc-sundial-school-set-for-new-school-year
View comments
Hide comments