Philosophy

Cayman Prep & High School is a private, co-educational primary and high school catering for a range of abilities. It is owned and operated by the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands and has a heavy bias towards the British system of education. We continually strive to make sure that all students reach their full potential.

If we accept a student with special educational needs (SEN), the school is acknowledging that it is genuinely willing and able to offer adequate and appropriate educational provision that will meet the needs of that student. It would be disingenuous for the School to offer a place to a student knowing that the student’s special educational needs could not be adequately met at the School.

Entry Points

Children must be at least four years of age before 1st September in the school year in which they are to enter into Kindergarten. Other common entry points are: ages 11+, 14+ and 16+ (A-level entry)

Places for entry into these and other years are subject to availability and fulfilment of the admissions requirements.

Priority of admission is given to:

◊ Children or grandchildren of members of the United Church in good standing
◊ Children of active adherents of the United Church
◊ Children of current and past teachers of the school
◊ Children who have or have had siblings in the school
◊ Children of past pupils of the school
◊ Other children in order of registration

For students applying from overseas:

Arrangements can be made for a placement evaluation to be conducted at the student’s current school. For further information please contact the Admissions Secretaries:
johnsons@cayprep.edu.ky (Primary School); mcmillank@cayprep.edu.ky (High School)>

Registration

The procedures involved in registering a child are as follows:

◊ An application form must be completed in full and returned to the school for all admissions.
◊ A non-refundable Cl$100 registration fee must accompany this form. No child is registered until this form and the fee are received.

The date of receipt of both the completed form and the registration fee is the actual date which is considered as the registration date.

School fees are reviewed annually by the School Board. An up-to-date fee structure can be found on the school website and/or is obtainable from the Admissions Secretaries:
johnsons@cayprep.edu.ky (Primary School); mcmillank@cayprep.edu.ky (High School)

Responsibility for Admissions

The Admissions Panel is responsible for admissions and for the operation of this policy.

Admissions Timetable

Admissions Timetable for students entering Kindergarten

Details:
  • The priority registration deadline is 31st October, during the year prior to commencement.
  • Parents of those applying for entry into kindergarten, are contacted before the proposed term of entry. This seeks confirmation of the parents'/guardians’ wish to proceed with their application.
  • Places are offered as per the admissions priority. Please note that any “priority” registrations received after 31st October cannot be guaranteed a place.
  • A letter of offer is then sent to parents/guardians.
  • Parents/guardians are asked to reply before the stated deadline indicating whether or not they wish to accept the place for their child.
  • A place deposit of CI $600 is payable on acceptance of the place and is deductible from the first term’s tuition. Failure to pay the place deposit within the deadline stated on the letter of offer will result in the offer being withdrawn.

Parents are required to provide the School, prior to admission, with the following:
  • Birth Certificate
  • Medical Records/Cards issued by the Public Health Dept of Cayman Islands or a Private Doctor
  • Any relevant information such as reports from a Speech and Language Therapist, Physiotherapist, Occupational Therapist, or others.

All information will be treated in the strictest confidence.

Admissions Timetable for applicants for Years 1 to 11

Details:
  • Parents of children applying for entry into years other than kindergarten and who are not currently attending CPHS, are contacted before the proposed term of entry. This seeks confirmation of the parents'/guardians’ wish to proceed with their application.
  • Parents will then be contacted with an evaluation date and time.
  • On the day of the evaluation, applicants are invited to attend an informal interview.
  • After the evaluations and interview have taken place, the Admissions Officer will meet with other members of the Admissions Panel. The panel will recommend to the Principal which applicants should be offered places.
  • A provisional letter of acceptance or refusal is normally sent to parents/guardians (with a copy to the Principal of the child's current school) within ten days of the evaluation and interview.
  • On acceptance of the place, an admissions package will be sent to the parents.
  • Successful applicants and their parents/guardians will then be invited to meet with members of the Admissions Panel to discuss and sign the admission documents.
  • A place deposit of CI $300 is payable on acceptance of the place and is deductible from the first term’s tuition. Failure to pay the place deposit within the deadline stated on the letter of offer will result in the offer being withdrawn.
When submitting the registration form, parents/guardians are required to provide the School with records of their child’s past educational history, including the following:
  • Previous school reports. (i.e. for the previous 2 years)
  • Any Special Educational support history.
  • Any relevant documents such as reports from an Educational Psychologist, Speech and Language Therapist, Physiotherapist, Occupational Therapist, or others.
  • Any Special Educational Needs assessments, English Language assessments (in the case of a non-English speaking child), or other reports.
  • Medical Records/Cards issued by the Public Health Dept of the Cayman Islands or a Private Doctor.
  • Any child with SEN requirements must have a current Educational Psychologist report.
  • Any other significant or relevant information.

The School reserves the right to contact previous schools.
All information will be treated in the strictest confidence.

Admissions Timetable for Applicants for Years 12 and 13 (A-Level Programme)

For entry into the A-Level Programme all applicants must meet the following requirements:
  • A completed registration form is required from students not already attending CPHS and the following documentation must be provided:
      ◊ Letter of referral from Head of Year/Principal
      ◊ Evidence of previous academic qualifications and transcripts of previous school courses
  • Applicants are invited to attend a formal interview.
  • Students transferring from overseas may be required to sit a placement examination
  • Evidence of external examination results (For example: IGCSE, GCSE, CXC)

Parents will be notified of confirmation of acceptance or refusal. For additional information refer to the A-level handbook available from the High School Admissions Secretary.

Parents are required to provide the School, prior to admission, with records of their child’s past educational history, including the following:

  • Medical Records/Cards issued by the Public Health Dept of the Cayman Islands or a Private Doctor.
  • Any Special Educational support history.
  • Any relevant documents such as reports from an Educational Psychologist, Speech and Language Therapist, Physiotherapist, Occupational Therapist, or others.
  • Any Special Educational Needs assessments, English Language assessments (in the case of a non-English speaking child), or other reports.
  • Any other significant or relevant information.
  • Any child with SEN requirements must have a current Educational Psychologist report.

Whilst CPHS will endeavour to provide support where possible, not every educational need can be accommodated and the level of support cannot be guaranteed. Current CPHS students will be given priority to any provision available.

All information will be treated in the strictest confidence.

Evaluations

All children registering for entry into Years 1-10 will be evaluated prior to being considered for acceptance. The evaluation takes different forms dependent upon the entry point. (Students will not normally be accepted into Years 11 or 13 as each of these is the second year of a two-year external examination programme.)

Please contact the school for details of evaluations for particular points of entry.

All children accepted at the school will have a probationary period of six weeks to one term, during which time they will be monitored to assess their suitability for permanent membership of the school.

Informal Interview (on the day of the evaluation)

We aim to explore the child’s intellectual curiosity, to discover his/her cross-curricular interests and talents and to evaluate his/her interpersonal skills in order to determine those children who are most suited to life at CPHS, both in and out of the classroom.

Children with Special Educational Needs (SEN)

Conditions for accepting students with Special Educational Needs are as follows:
  • The child must, within reason, be able to cope with the curriculum in the normal classroom. (Only a limited amount of Learning Support is available.)
  • The School must be convinced that it is in the best long-term educational interests of both the applicant and the School that the child be admitted to CPHS.
  • A child with a background of Emotional or Behavioural Disorder (EBD) may be recommended for “Conditional Acceptance” (i.e. probation) for a period specified by the Admissions Panel. This means that the child must satisfy certain specified conditions of behaviour during that period. If the child fails to meet these conditions, he/she may be asked to leave.
  • The EBD child may be asked to spend an “Orientation Day” at school to assess his or her interactional skills in the classroom setting.

Children with other disabilities may be recommended for “Conditional Acceptance’ as described above.

A child with an identified medical condition or physical impairment will be accepted only if the condition or impairment:
a) does not require a level of in-school medical support that the school cannot reasonably provide,
b) does not interfere unduly with his or her learning, or that of others,
c) will not place the child unreasonably at risk when mixing/interacting with other pupils, or place other pupils unreasonably at risk when mixing/interacting with the child.

A pupil for whom English is a Second Language or non mother tongue will be admitted provided the following conditions are in place:
a) The child has a proven recent history of above average academic competencies.
b) The child is at least average in intellectual ability; this must be supported with acceptable CAT3 scores.
c) The parents have given an assurance that they will organise private tuition in English language at the earliest opportunity and by an agreed date.

Final Selection Procedure

After the evaluations and the interview have taken place, the Admissions Panel will consider each child’s application. Based on the evaluation tests, interview and educational history, the panel will recommend to the school principal the names of those students who should be offered places.

On admission, the student will enter a class of his or her own age group. The School is extremely reluctant to admit a pupil to a lower or higher age group unless the Admissions Panel is convinced that it is in the best long-term interests of that pupil.

In the case of each of the school sections the Primary Principal and High School Principal will make the decisions regarding acceptance of any student. Where the Principals feel it is necessary, the decision may be deferred to the Director.

Please Note

The Admissions Panel may defer its decision in order to call for more information to be supplied.

The School reserves the right to require parents to withdraw their child at any time after admission, for example, when the school has not been fully informed of relevant or significant information about that child’s educational social, behavioural, or medical background. In such cases, there will be no financial obligation on the part of the School.

This Admissions Policy will be reviewed and may be updated from time to time by the school.

CPHS 9 April 2008