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In a landmark moment for education transformation in Barbados, Education Transformation Minister Chad Blackman officially opened the new First Form Academy at Princess Margaret Secondary School (PMSS) in Six Roads, St. Philip on Monday, challenging the academy’s inaugural cohort to embrace intentional purpose and lay the foundation for a new legacy of academic and personal excellence at the institution.

Designed to deliver targeted, holistic support that goes far beyond traditional academic instruction, the First Form Academy expands first-year students’ learning experiences to cover both core subjects and life-critical soft skills. Alongside standard core curricula including mathematics, English language, conversational Spanish and integrated science, students will attend regular specialized seminars focused on emotional intelligence, personal financial literacy, career exploration, mental health and wellbeing, active citizenship, and leadership development.

Speaking to the founding class at the launch ceremony, Blackman emphasized that students’ status as the first cohort of the academy places them at a historic turning point for PMSS, carrying both unique opportunity and profound responsibility. “This represents the future of this school… not just in creating a new culture but saying to the rest of our village that Princess Margaret means business. Princess Margaret is deliberate,” he stated. He encouraged students to look past their immediate secondary school years and consider how they will one day give back to their school, local communities, and the entire nation of Barbados, posing a core question for every student: “This is your purpose. Why am I here? How can I contribute not just to the school but to your wider community, your country, and the world?”

As part of the broader transformation push, Blackman issued a bold five-year target: PMSS will rise to become one of the top 10 performing secondary schools across Barbados. “I want to challenge the school to embrace that bold five-year vision. And what is that vision? That within five years, Princess Margaret Secondary School should be amongst the top ten secondary schools in Barbados,” he said. The minister stressed that hitting this ambitious goal will require collective effort from every stakeholder: students, classroom teachers, parents, the school’s board of management, and the surrounding local community. “Providing opportunity does not mean lowering expectations. We are here to raise the expectations of this school and everyone that comes through it,” he added.

Chief Education Officer Ramona Archer-Bradsaw framed the new academy as a visible example of the broader national shift in education policy, which is pushing schools to adapt their structures and programming to better meet the evolving needs of modern learners. “We have recognised that our schools must continuously evolve to meet the needs of our students,” she explained. “We must be willing to adapt our programmes and our structures to do what we really want them to do, and that is to support you.”

Archer-Bradsaw pointed to early success from similar adaptive reforms already rolled out at other Barbadian secondary schools, noting that St George Secondary recorded a more than 60% increase in passing grades for mathematics between 2025 and 2026, while Daryll Jordan Secondary saw a more than 40% jump in English passes over the same period. She confirmed that PMSS now joins a growing national movement of student-centered education transformation, with the First Form Academy initiative targeting improved academic outcomes while integrating parenting support programs, psychosocial support interventions, and whole-school culture change to guide the institution’s five-year transformation journey.

For PMSS’s new acting principal Dr. Michelle Edwards, the academy’s launch marks an opportunity to build on the school’s longstanding history while equipping a new generation of students to thrive in the future. “Today we officially launch the first form academy, a sanctuary designed exquisitely to transition, nurture, and elevate our newest scholars into titans of excellence,” she said. Edwards called on parents to partner closely with the school and challenged teachers to uphold uncompromisingly high standards as they guide students through their first year of secondary education, noting: “To our phenomenal teachers and staff because we know we are architects of their future. Let our passion be the fuel that drives them. Let our standards remain uncompromisingly high.”

The launch of the academy also aligns with the rollout of a updated school uniform for PMSS, a change Blackman said reinforces the institution’s ongoing transformation. “The introduction of this modern uniform further reinforces transformation, representing renewal, pride, belonging, and the high expectations we have for both students’ achievements and conduct,” he explained.

Blackman reminded the inaugural class that their status as the academy’s first students will remain a core part of their identity long after they graduate, but warned that this distinction comes with the responsibility of setting a clear benchmark for all future cohorts. He encouraged students to take full advantage of the array of extracurricular and co-curricular opportunities available to them, including competitive sports, community service learning, and public speaking development. This week, students will begin their community service programming, and a new Student TV initiative launching later this term will give them hands-on opportunities to build communication and interview skills. He also urged language learners studying French and Spanish to use digital platforms to practice and engage with the languages outside of structured classroom time, noting: “Your world is not limited by the language that you speak. There’s a world out there, a huge world that we want to expose you to.”

The academy’s instructional framework places heavy emphasis on modern best practices including ongoing teacher professional development, cross-staff collaboration, differentiated instruction tailored to individual student needs, inclusive education, restorative disciplinary practices, and collaborative professional learning communities for staff.

As the new school year gets underway, Blackman noted that the long-term success of the academy will be measured by its lasting impact on students and the broader school culture. “This is a moment of celebration, but not just celebration. Reflect on it and ask yourself, ‘Where will the academy be within the next five, ten years?’” he said during the official unveiling of the academy’s sign.

Ultimately, the First Form Academy is positioned to serve as a national pilot model for education transformation across Barbados. Insights and outcome data collected from the PMSS pilot will be used to refine and scale similar approaches to secondary education across the island. In his closing remarks to students, Blackman challenged the inaugural cohort to believe in their own potential and pursue excellence with intentional purpose, self-discipline, and relentless determination. “Nobody can stop me from achieving what I set out to do. Nobody. And I want you to have the same mindset,” he said, urging first-formers to make the most of the unprecedented opportunity in front of them: “That all of you will be great in every single thing that you have put your mind to do.”

As hundreds of Barbadian students streamed back through school gates on Monday to kick off the 2024 academic year, education authorities launched three transformative initiatives to reshape the nation’s learning landscape: universal free early childhood education, a pilot specialised secondary school academy, and a year-round campus infrastructure upgrade programme.

Led by Minister of Education Transformation Chad Blackman, a delegation of senior education officials including Chief Education Officer Dr Ramona Archer Bradshaw, Deputy Chief Education Officer Julia Beckles, and Permanent Secretary Kim Belle conducted a day-long tour of institutions across the country to mark the start of term, starting with St Mary’s Primary, a flagship site for the new early childhood rollout.

For most returning students, the first day brought the familiar joy of reconnecting with classmates and teachers after summer break. But for the island’s youngest learners, stepping into a pre-primary classroom for the first time marked the start of an entirely new educational journey made accessible at no cost to their families under the new universal programme.

Standing at St Mary’s Primary, Blackman formally announced the nationwide launch, framing the policy as a landmark step for Barbados education equity and evidence-based early learning. “Today we rolled out universal access to early childhood education, and St Mary’s Primary stands as one of the pioneering sites delivering this programme across the island,” Blackman said. “What this means for Barbadian families is that all pre-primary children can now access a play-based early learning curriculum completely free of charge.”

The minister emphasized that the structured play-focused curriculum was developed in line with cutting-edge international research on early childhood cognitive development, drawing on best practices from education systems across Asia, Europe, North America and Africa. “Decades of scientific research confirm that for children aged three to five, guided play-based formal learning builds the foundational cognitive skills that drive long-term success in life and learning,” Blackman explained. “Today we embedded this evidence-based approach into Barbados’ formal education system, and that makes this an incredibly exciting time for our country.”

After wrapping up visits to primary campuses, the delegation moved to secondary education, where Princess Margaret Secondary School has been selected as the pilot site for a new specialised academy offering customised learning pathways for students. Blackman noted that while the school has faced systemic challenges over the years, it has undergone significant recent improvement, making it an ideal test case for education reform.

“We are unveiling this new academy today to offer a different, student-centered approach to learning for high-performing students,” Blackman said. “With a dedicated team of specialised teachers in place, we expect that in two to three years, Princess Margaret Secondary will become a source of national pride and a model we can replicate across the entire secondary education system.”

Alongside curriculum innovation, Blackman outlined a major shift in how the government addresses the island’s aging school infrastructure, many of which range from 50 to 200 years old. For decades, repair and upgrade work was limited to an eight-week window over the summer break, but the minister said that timeline is no longer sufficient to tackle decades of accumulated structural needs.

“We carried out an aggressive infrastructure improvement programme this summer, but we have made a systemic change to how we approach upgrades moving forward,” Blackman said. “Starting last year, we made the decision to shift to year-round refurbishment work. Instead of cramming all projects into eight weeks, we will now carry out upgrades on weekends, public holidays and during the academic term to continuously bring all school facilities up to modern standards.”

Blackman also confirmed that transition arrangements at the temporary satellite campus of Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic are progressing smoothly, as the institution prepares for a new permanent facility scheduled for completion in September 2027. The minister noted that early reports from the campus show students have already settled into their new learning spaces, with construction of the permanent site remaining on track for its 2027 delivery target.