In accordance with Section 15(3) of the Immigration Ordinance, 2011, the following persons have been granted St Helenian Status with effect from 28 July 2015:
SHG
29 September 2015
Walter Scott has been appointed by Governor Capes as Acting Attorney General while the substantive Attorney General, Nicola Moore, is away from the Island on overseas business.
Walter – who is Solicitor General on Ascension Island – took the prescribed oaths for Attorney General before Governor Capes today, Thursday 24 September, in the Governor’s Office at the Castle (photo attached).
The Attorney General on St Helena is the principal legal adviser to the St Helena Government.
SHG
24 September 2015
Derrie Yon and Laura Lawrence have recently returned from the UK after completing their university studies and are now employed at Prince Andrew School as English teachers. Both Laura and Derrie teach Key Stage Three, Four and Five students and specialise in the subject areas of English Literature and Language at A level.
After gaining a BA (Hons) in English Literature and Creative Writing in 2014, Derrie completed her one-year Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) at Bath Spa University in south-west England.
Derrie spoke about her reasons for choosing a career in teaching:
“Whilst doing my A levels, I knew I wanted to be in Education and when I began tutoring a friend I enjoyed it so much and knew this was something I wanted to pursue. Whilst in the UK, I volunteered for a Church of England School and that reassured me that a career in teaching was the right path for me.”
Laura embarked on a different route into teaching, as she became a locally qualified teacher under the direction of Wendy Benjamin, before her departure in 2011 to study in the UK. Laura completed her BA Honours in English Language and Communication, with English Language Teaching – allowing her to teach at a higher level in the English syllabus. She then commenced a Masters in Education, Laura said of her experience:
“My Masters was based around recent school practices, and for my Dissertation I researched around the teaching profession and professional skills testing. Throughout the course I became more exposed to gaining the relevant knowledge of teaching in the classroom, as well as having an insight into senior management organisation and planning. I also had the added benefit of studying special needs situations and learning how to deal with children in different ways.”
Laura is now applying what she has learnt in the classroom and applying it to her high level teaching subjects, covering child language development, language acquisition, the history of the English language, phonetics and phonology.
Laura would like to thank her mum, dad, sister, family and friends and the Education Directorate for their support throughout her journey. Derrie thanks all those on St Helena, and her family – who have offered her support and best wishes on her return to St Helena.
SHG
25 September 2015
PUBLIC MEETINGS
St Helena’s first comprehensive piece of environmental legislation was released for public consultation on 15 September 2015.
The draft Environmental Protection Ordinance deals with the protection of St Helena’s environment, including the conservation of biodiversity, the control of pollution, waste and litter, consideration of environmental impacts in decision-making and environmental monitoring.
The Environmental Protection Ordinance has been developed over the past four years and includes stakeholder input given prior to legal drafting. We now invite comments on the final draft version by Friday 9 October 2015.
In order to increase awareness of the policy, conduct wider discussions and share ideas, two public meetings are set to be held in order to gather additional public input.
Public Meetings are due to be held at the following times and locations:
Anyone requiring transport to the public meetings are asked to contact the receptionist at Essex House at 22270.
SHG
24 September 2015
The calibration flights at St Helena Airport – led by Flight Calibration Services Limited (FCSL) working with TAB Charters – were completed yesterday Wednesday 23 September 2015, and the Beechcraft King Air 200 aircraft will depart St Helena for Namibia between 5am and 6am tomorrow Friday, ten days after its arrival.
Speaking yesterday evening at a reception at Plantation House, held for the crew (photo attached) and others working on the Airport Project, Governor Mark Capes said:
“Tuesday 15 September 2015 will always be a special day to remember on St Helena. For this entire community it was an exciting day and for some an emotional one.
“For those who have worked so hard on the Airport project, some for many years, it was hugely rewarding to see their work make possible such a momentous event. There are of course too many people to thank but quite a few are here tonight to share in celebrating their contribution to making it possible for the first flight to land on St Helena.
“Thanks of course to Deon de Jager and his Basil Read colleagues, to Janet Lawrence and the Access team, to DFID represented here once again by Nigel Kirby, to Halcrow, to the team that received and processed the flight on landing – Customs, Immigration, Bio-Security, the Emergency Services – and of course to those magnificent men in their flying machine, thank you for that oh so perfect touchdown.”
Captain Grant Brighton commented:
“We didn’t know what we were coming to but the runway was very good, solid and conditions were great. When we were first approaching the runway and experienced the turbulence you realise that no one has ever experienced that turbulence before. We probably did a dozen landings over the last nine days.
“The Island itself far exceeded our expectations. The people are incredible and there’s so much history here which you don’t understand until you research it or are here to see for yourself.”
Until a full assessment of the communication and navigation findings has been made by various parties, the final outcome of the calibration flights will not be known, including any follow-up actions arising from the flights. Further information will follow in due course.
SHG
24 September 2015
ONE-TO-ONE SESSIONS
St Helena’s first comprehensive piece of environmental legislation was released for public consultation on 15 September 2015.
The draft Environmental Protection Ordinance deals with the protection of St Helena’s environment, including the conservation of biodiversity, the control of pollution, waste and litter, consideration of environmental impacts in decision making and environmental monitoring.
The Environmental Protection Ordinance has been developed over the past four years and includes stakeholder input given prior to legal drafting. We now invite comments on the final draft version by Friday 9 October 2015.
To assist with interpreting and understanding the Ordinance, a Plain English guide has been produced and copies of this and the draft Ordinance itself have been placed in the Public Library, Customer Services Centre, Essex House and ENRD’s Scotland Office. Personal copies are available on request. Both the Environmental Protection Ordinance and the user guide can also be found at: https://www.sainthelena.gov.sh/publications/.
Staff from the Environmental Management Division will be available in Essex House for One to One drop-in sessions with interested persons at the following dates and times:
Environmental Assessment and Advocacy Manager, Isabel Peters, said: “We have included drop-in sessions as part of the public consultation to provide additional opportunities for those interested to learn more about the new Environmental Protection Ordinance and raise any issues or concerns on a one to one basis.”
For further information on the drop-in sessions or the Environmental Protection Ordinance in general, please contact Isabel Peters, at Essex House, on tel: 22270 or email: isabel-peters@enrd.gov.sh
SHG
23 September 2015
The Education & Employment Directorate recently released the results of the 2015 exams and assessments which students sat in May and June of this year. After a dip in primary results last year, the results of the Year 6 SATs show encouraging progress in primary schools. At Prince Andrew School, the GCSE results were a mixed picture, with strong results in some subjects and for a number of students, but a significant drop in overall results.
Chairperson of the Education Committee, Councillor Christine Scipio-O’Dean, commented:
“The Education Committee offers congratulations to all the students who have done so well this year. We would like to particularly acknowledge the primary schools and the Year 6 students who showed dramatic improvements in English. At Prince Andrew School, there were areas of real success and we encourage teachers and students to celebrate their successes and continue to work hard.
“The graph shows the underlying improvement in the trend of our Prince Andrew School results. My personal congratulations go out to all those students who did their best and achieved their goals.”
The Education Committee recently received a detailed report and analysis of the results from primary schools and the progress achieved there. Overall, the results were very encouraging. After a dip in last year’s results, the outcomes from primary schools on the Island were up in 2015, with very significant improvements shown in Reading, Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar tests. Results in Mathematics were also up slightly from last year.
The challenging target for St Helena of 75% of all primary school children achieving a level 4 or above was exceeded in Reading, with 78% of students reaching this standard compared to only 59% last year. In Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar, 59% reached Level 4 this year, well in excess of the 35% who did so in 2014. Results in Mathematics also went up, but by a smaller margin, with 48% achieving Level 4 in 2015 against 44% last year.
For the 2015/16 school year, primary schools will continue their successful focus on literacy, working to consolidate success in this vital area. Work is also underway to review performance in Mathematics to look at how students can be taught in a way that makes numeracy lessons more practical and engaging. Overall, the performances in primary schools were very strong this year – and the improvement in literacy is particularly encouraging as this has been an area of concern for some time.
GCSE results from Prince Andrew School presented a more mixed picture for 2015, with some strong performances across the school but also some unexpected dips. On the positive side, students did exceptionally well in a number of subject areas, with 100% of students in ICT and Coordinated Science achieving A* – C grades, along with more than 90% of students in Food & Nutrition and Design & Technology doing the same.
In the core subject areas, however, performance dipped sharply from last year, with 34% of students achieving A* – C grades in English and 24% in Mathematics. This drop means that 29% of students achieved five A* – C grades overall, but only 18% earned five A* – C grades, including English and Mathematics. Last year’s results, the highest ever in St Helena’s history, had 49% of students earning their five A* – C grades with English and Mathematics.
Historically, the results from Prince Andrew School have fluctuated from year to year, but overall have shown improvement over time as the graph below indicates.
Although the grades in English and Mathematics were disappointing this year, there were also real successes to celebrate. As noted above, there were very strong performances in a number of subject areas, both academic and practical. The gender difference between boys and girls, a serious concern in previous years, was much less pronounced than last year – with the top performing students split almost evenly between boys and girls.
There were very encouraging results as well from the A-level students, with an overall pass rate at 87.5% and 93% of students earning at least one grade at A-level.
Director of Education & Employment, Shirley Wahler said:
“We thank all our teachers for their hard work last year and congratulate our students on their successes. While not all the results this year have been as positive as we had hoped, there is still real reason to celebrate what has been achieved. The results from primary schools are extremely encouraging, and it is notable that schools far exceeded their target in reading. We need to work hard to maintain and build on this success.
“At Prince Andrew School, individual students have done extremely well and there are subjects like ICT, Coordinated Sciences, Design & Technology, Food & Nutrition and PE in which the performance is really excellent. Our goal going forward is to ensure that our schools have a consistent focus on improving attainment and help all students to reach their potential.
“This can only happen if we all work together. Education is a partnership between teachers, students, parents and the entire community. If we commit ourselves to excellence, we can achieve it, and St Helena deserves nothing less.”
Headteacher of Prince Andrew School, Paul Starkie, concluded:
“Whilst there were some disappointments in some of the results this year, every cohort of students presents different challenges and our aim is always to ensure that every single student is provided with the right support to help realise their potential.
“We had some very pleasing overall subject results at GCSE and A-level, and we are also pleased to report that 76% of students achieved one A-C grade – which is the highest since records began in 1996.”
SHG
23 September 2015
St Helena’s Mental Health Ordinance is a comprehensive piece of legislation with the primary aim of protecting individuals with mental health vulnerabilities.
The current Ordinance has recently been discussed in the Public Health Committee and recommendations were put forward to slightly amend the Ordinance. These recommendations relate to Human Rights obligations. For example, currently there are no provisions in the Ordinance for patients who need to have a guardian appointed to act on their behalf.
To ensure that Human Rights protections are in place for all, it is recommended that the suggested changes are made to the Mental Health Ordinance.
A short public consultation, led by Councillor Cyril George and Community Psychiatric Nurse, Ian Rummery, on proposed changes to the Ordinance will run until Friday 9 October 2015. It is hoped that the new Mental Health Ordinance incorporating any comments received can then be taken to the next formal Legislative Council meeting in November.
Community Psychiatric Nurse, Ian Rummery, commented:
“The new Mental Health Ordinance will be a positive development for the care and treatment of some of the most vulnerable members of our community. It will protect their human rights and bring us into line with other mental health services internationally.”
Councillor Cyril George added:
“It’s a privilege for me to be presenting the Mental Health Ordinance for public consultation. I would like to thank Community Psychiatric Nurse Ian Rummery for his hard work in preparing this legislation.”
Hardcopies of the Ordinance are available for viewing at the Public Library. The Ordinance can also be viewed under the Public Consultation section of the SHG website at https://www.sainthelena.gov.sh/publications/
Comments should be sent in writing to the Secretary to Elected Members, Anita Legg, at the Castle or via email sec.em@helanta.co.sh by no later than 4pm on Friday 9 October 2015.
SHG
23 September 2015
Following routine inspections at the Seafront, the Roads Section would like to advise the public that work to install new safety rails in the area will commence from Monday 28 September 2015.
Barricades and signs will be in place but drivers are asked to drive cautiously in the area and to be mindful of obstructing this work when parking.
The Roads Section thanks the public for their continued support.
SHG
22 September 2015
The Education & Employment Directorate launched a Training Needs Assessment Survey on Wednesday 2 September 2015 to gather information on the training needs of organisations on St Helena.
This survey aims to highlight the training needs of private sector companies and the public sector at an organisational level – both for the forthcoming academic year and future years. The results of the survey will be used to inform the training plan for St Helena and to help develop training provision going forward.
This survey needs your input – so that we can get our training plan right for the long term.
The Training Needs Assessment survey can be completed electronically via the St Helena Government website at: https://www.sainthelena.gov.sh/education-and-employment/ or you can link to it directly at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SHG_TNA
Hard copies of the survey are also available from the Public Library and Post & Customer Service Centre. All forms, whether electronic or paper-based, must be completed by Friday 25 September 2015.
SHG
21 September 2015