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The principal of the St. Augustine Roman Catholic School reported that her institution continued
to perform well and there was general improvement. The student who came first for the school
and topped the island achieved a higher maximum score this year over last year’s. She pointed
out that although everyone passed, some did not do as well as expected - she had expected more
students to achieve scores in the 90% range. Only two or three students obtained 90% with the
majority in the 80% range. She further informed the Committee that the projects were
excellently done, with students more investigative and highly motivated to engage the entire
process; they were not only interested with the end results but also excited about the preparation
stage. Students were also reading more and expressing themselves better for the book reports,
but more work needed to be done to improve the different types of writing for the writing
portfolios.

She noted that most of the students completed their exams within the allocated time, but the
school had to now ensure that they understood how to analyse questions because although they
were multiple choice items, there was nothing simple about them. She concluded that over the
CPEA years, the school has seen steady improvement from pupils, and the goal was to improve
students’ ability to write the examinations.

The Committee heard that a group of current and past CPEA students were on the local radio
station Saturday, 30 September, explaining the CPEA programme. The Local Registrar
informed members that the students did such an exemplary job that she could not have
articulated the details any better. They schooled the host and radio audience with clarity and
accuracy: although they highlighted the demands and challenges encountered, they were
excellent ambassadors for the CPEA programme.

The Chairman reflected that when the CPEA was rolled out, it was met with resistance; he now
believed that there was general acceptance of its value and methodologies; however, there was
constant denigration and lobbying to abandon CPEA from some teachers and executive officers
of the Montserrat Union of teachers (MUT). Members of the Committee were asked what they
thought of CPEA.

Mrs. Hyacinth Bramble – Browne reiterated that the CPEA methodology was the way students
should be taught. She stated that practitioners should be helped to embrace CPEA because that
was how they should be teaching. She further noted that the methodology for the CCSLC
examinations was similar to CPEA; unfortunately, it was the lower streams at secondary that
were taught by this methodology.

Mrs. Claudia Skerritt informed the Committee that she had a meeting with all the parents of the
grade six students the previous week who were apprehensive about the CPEA, but wanted their
children to excel. Parents were orientated to the various components of the CPEA so they could