Archive for November 9th, 2010
2010 Scotiabank Youth Nationals
(CNS): Windy conditions made for exciting racing at the 2010 Scotiabank National Youth Sailing Championship. The regatta, which determines Cayman’s best youth sailors, was held on the 30 and 31 of October at the Cayman Islands Sailing Club (CISC). Racing was held in the Optimist and Pico classes. After 25 races, Prospect Primary School sailing star, Allena Rankine, who won the Optimist class in 2009 again retained the 2010 title. In second place was Savannah Primary School racer, Matthew Whorms followed by Jhonny Wight from St. Ignatius who finished in third place. Cayman Prep student, Ben Williams, topped the Pico singlehanded division, followed by his schoolmates Florence Allen and Thomas Bishop.
The racing was closest in the Pico doublehanded fleet. On the final day of racing, Cayman Prep sailors, Gabbi Nelson and Doug Rowland overtook the Prep/Prospect Primary School team of Adrian Pasquali and Walden Kidd. Prep sailors Sammy Bailey and Keegan O’Connor finished third.
This year’s event was comprised of many novice sailors racing for their first time.
Sailing Director, Michael Weber, noted that the number of young sailors is a promising sign for Cayman. “Some of our top racers are now too old for youth sailing and are busy planning their adult sailing careers. The good news is that we still have a very large base of sailors ready to start racing.”
Some of the winning sailors were handpicked by the CISC’s Talent Identification Programme. Allena Rankine, Matthew Whorms, and Walden Kidd all hail from the Club’s school sailing lessons, which is funded by the Cayman Islands Ministry of Sport.
Weber also thanked Scotiabank for its continued sponsorship, “It really means a lot to the CISC that Scotiabank sponsors this annual event and we are grateful for its continued support for youth sailing in the Cayman Islands.”
For more information, please visit its Facebook page: Cayman Islands Sailing Club.
Minister urges seniors to make best use of healthcare
(CNS): At the Seafarers Association annual Wellness Fair, Community Affairs Minister Mike Adam urged seniors to use the CAY Health Programme, which is geared at improving healthcare access. The programme, which is a collaborative effort between the ministry, the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) and the Health Services Authority (HSA), affords seniors access to a personal physician at a local health centre and enables them to collect medication without leaving the district, HSA’s Dr Orrett Thane told those present, noting that it also provides health education and healthy lifestyle advice.
Minister Adam said, “Your health and well being are of paramount importance to us. We aim to provide you with the necessary support to enable you to continue realising your potential during this rich period of your lives. You represent a most important population segment and I thank you for your effort in building solid communities and for continuing to make a positive difference in the country.”
Part of Older Persons Month, the fair was celebrated on 20 October under the theme Older persons in Economically Challenging Times.
Seizing the opportunity to remind the seniors to participate in Census 2010, DCFS Director Deanna Look Loy told them that the exercise would enable government to plan more effectively. That, she said, would in turn lead to improvements in the healthcare and other services they receive.
The Wellness Fair also saw presentations from several others who offered the seniors advice on protecting their assets, as well as on their physical, emotional and spiritual health.
Cayman National Bank Manager Ormond Williams warned them to be wary of scams aimed at stealing their savings and to be prudent in their spending. He noted the need for children to care for elderly parents to reduce the burden on government but he also urged older persons to share and trade what they do have with other seniors as a way of coping with these difficult economic times. “If you have a breadfruit tree and can eat only one each week, don’t allow the other fruit to fall off the tree and rot; give them away instead,” Williams said.
Lands and Survey Deputy Director Ann Kirchman was on hand to advise the seniors how to protect their houses and land. Following a light lunch, the Wellness Fair concluded with HSA personnel giving flu shots to the seniors.
Ministry helps struggling readers “Catch Up”
(CNS): A literacy intervention programme for struggling readers that has been successful in the UK and Australia is being introduced in the government primary schools. A pilot scheme to introduce ‘Catch Up Literacy’ for approximately 100 students between now and the end of the school year has been launched by the Ministry of Education in conjunction with the Webster Foundation, which is fully funding this pilot scheme in the Cayman Islands. On 25-26 October more than thirty education professionals from government schools were trained to use this internationally-recognised reading intervention. Education Minister Rolston Anglin noted that this is a very timely and important development.
“As one of the strategic priorities of the ministry is to improve our students’ literacy standards, we are very thankful that the Webster Foundation sees literacy as important and that they are supportive of our efforts to improve our students’ achievement,” he said.
Catch Up Literacy is a UK-based not-for-profit charity which aims to address the problem of underachievement that has its roots in literacy and numeracy difficulties. the reading programme has had remarkable success in helping struggling readers in the UK and Australia. It is also being piloted in Ireland.
The Webster Foundation was established in 1984 by members of the family of James Samuel Webster of Cayman and Jamaica. James Samuel Webster was the founder of the Grand Cayman Company. One of the Webster Foundation’s objectives is the advancement of education in the Cayman Islands, and it believes that ‘Catch Up Literacy’ will make a major contribution to the future educational achievements of Caymanian schoolchildren.
Newly appointed literacy specialist in the ministry, Anne Briggs, noted that the reading intervention will be delivered to approximately 100 students between now and the end of the school year by trained teachers’ aides and teachers. The intervention consists of 2 fifteen minute sessions per week for an individual student. Students are typically in the program for seven to eight months.
Julie Lawes, Director of Catch Up, who delivered the training alongside the developer of the program, Dee Reid, said, “We have long been aware of the impact that ‘Catch Up Literacy’ can have for children who are struggling to learn to read. We are delighted with the new large scale research that confirms that children helped by Catch Up achieve almost two and a half times the progress of a typically developing child – which is all the more remarkable when you remember that struggling readers by definition make much less progress than typical children.”
Lawes confirmed that the outcomes of the programme are not confined merely to reading; often the disruptive behaviour that accompanies students who struggle to read lessens. Also, schools report a better understanding of the individual struggling reader’s strengths and weaknesses, and find it easier to help ‘difficult to reach’ children. The intervention also enhances the literacy teaching skills of learning support assistants and teachers.