Beautiful Bermuda Beckoned! – Warwick Academy, Bermuda, Staff and Students September 2024

“Warwick Academy was founded in 1662 and is commonly said to be the oldest school in continuous operation in the Western Hemisphere. The school caters to students 4-18 years of age and has an enrolment of 844 with a teaching staff of 94.”

Hi Everyone, I have just googled the school I have been working in – I had no idea it has made history by being so old (maybe I’ll make history too as I am still in schools after all these years hehehe!!)

It was very exciting work because it was so varied – and also because I went to the school ten years ago to embed all the initiatives of the Whole School Quality Circle Time Model.. so this time I had the chance to evaluate how well the key features are working and what needs reinvigorating and shining up.

Post-Covid I would say all schools need to reflect on their Listening Systems. Research by organisations such as the Nuffield Foundation show that the pandemic has set back the social and emotional growth of children from all sectors. Young people need to be given time to explicitly engage in face-to-face dialogue with their class or tutor group. My model also mixes some classes into family groups so they have experience of relating to different age groups.

I worked with various age groups – the school made sure that all the teachers and teaching assistants had a chance to observe me working and had time to debrief with me afterwards. Two teachers were nominated to eventually become Trained Trainers so they can support others after I had left.

I would like to say a big thank you to all the wonderful teachers and children that I met at Warwick Academy. When I get a moment I will attach a video here of a Saturday workshop that they opened up to all the local public schools. At least sixty teachers gave up their Saturday to learn about the importance of play, traditional games and speaking and listening activities to support children’s confidence and resilience and their social and emotional intelligence.

Maria Woods, the Headteacher, sent us this positive feedback just recently – and certainly I hope it inspires other schools to review and reinvigorate all the wonderful systems they used to have in order to meet the very complex needs of children today.

“We thoroughly enjoyed having Jenny revisit us here in Bermuda. Having worked with her in 2015 we felt that it was time for a reboot; especially with the new challenges that the ‘Covid years’ have presented us with. Jenny worked with our teachers and to other educators on the island and her refreshing positive approach was very welcome.  She is an excellent presenter and left all those that spent time with her motivated to develop their practice. As a school we feel we now have a clear idea of adjustments and tweaks we need to make to polish up the Golden Model at school (it had become a bit rusty), and we now have a wonderful array of resources to support teachers in the classroom and on the playground.”  Maria Woods, Head of Primary Warwick Academy, Bermuda

Website Manager’s Notes

Firstly, a big thank you to Maria and the wonderful staff and students at Warwick Academy in Bermuda.

Jenny is frequently asked to visit International Schools overseas and is happy to explore training trips and projects. Just get in touch by emailing:  circletime@jennymosley.co.uk