Bermuda Education Network

As we wrap up another successful summer, we want to take a moment to highlight the contributions of our incredible interns - Alexandra Calauro, Morgan Kempe, Ines Bolarinho, Charlotte Neal, Harlee Purvey and Kyiah R. Robinson. Their energy, dedication, and passion for education have made a lasting impact on our students and our team. BEN's Summer Internship program includes two weeks of experience in a public school classroom and three weeks supporting our Summer Learning Programme. Alexandra Calauro commented on the value of the internship program, noting that it is "invaluable for future teachers." She believes that "the support we receive from the teaching staff at BEN and in the public school system is unlike any other internship. We are given the unique opportunity to learn from a huge team of amazing educators in Bermuda and get to be involved in teaching rich and engaging lessons." Our interns also played a vital role in creating a supportive and engaging classroom environment. Reflecting on her experience, Charlotte shared that "during my time at the Summer Learning Programme, I learned a lot of valuable skills and built meaningful connections with the staff and the kids. It was an incredible experience and gave me a great introduction into the real world of teaching." Ines commented that the internship has provided the opportunity to "not only lead student learning, but also to learn with the students." It has allowed me to explore different classroom strategies to implement as a future educator, while also fostering relationships with students, interns and teachers. BEN has provided me with one of the most hands on and advantageous experiences of my education career and I look forward to implementing what I have learned in a classroom of my own one day." Kyiah R. shared that she "had a wonderful experience working for BEN's Summer Learning Programme. It was so fulfilling to connect with the students and see them grow in their reading skills. The BEN team was super supportive and every day was a fun experience." This year, Harlee Purvey joined the BEN team as a Speech & Language intern to help provide additional phonics support. Harlee shared that, "by pursuing a degree in Speech Language Pathology, I understand the importance of literacy concepts. Working for BEN allows me to share my passion for literacy with so many children. It's so rewarding to see every child's progress and to be a part of their academic journey!" Thank you Alexandra, Charlotte, Ines, Morgan, Harlee and Kyiah for your hard work. You have made a significant difference in the lives of our students and we are excited to see where your future endeavours take you! To apply for a summer internship at BEN, please see our website https://lnkd.in/ehmriR8b or email [email protected].

We're so grateful for the three weeks donated by Somersfield Academy Bermuda for our Fortitude Re Summer Learning Program. Our dream team of teachers, tutors and interns work hard to make sure every student makes progress with our intensive reading program. We also pack in a whole lot of fun including fabulous art lessons provided by Kaleidoscope Arts Foundation but none of this would be possible without Somersfield's generous support.

BEN is excited to share our 5 core beliefs that underpin our programs for supporting reading success.

If you ever wonder how a small charity like ours keeps our head above water, we have some AWESOME supporters! We particularly want to thank our friends at Kattegat Ltd. for ten years of support with funding, governance and financial management.

At BEN, we’re all about seeking new ways to expand learning opportunities for public school teachers and students. New things we introduced into our 2023 programs: collaborations with Bermuda Zoological Society and Planet Math to reduce transportation costs, four new field trip expeditions around the island, an expansion to our BEN Book Club for 4-5 year olds and increased professional development offerings for teachers.   However, the real game changer has been our summer reading program. This is an intervention program targeting students in Grade 2 who have not fully mastered phonics and the alphabetic code. With limited spaces available to just one year group, we wondered how this summer program could make more impact on reading challenges in schools. Our solution: to create five paid internships for education undergraduates giving them first-hand experience of evidence-based reading teaching methods.  We couldn’t have done this without the support of our summer program host, Somersfield Academy Bermuda and the generous support of Fortitude Re and Centennial Bermuda Foundation.  Innovation isn’t just a buzzword: it’s the backbone of our mission to build a professional learning community that expands opportunities for Bermuda’s public school teachers and students. #schoolsuccess #educationalleadership #bermuda

We are immensely grateful to Ark Underwriting for generously supporting an after-school program for public school senior students. BEN plays a small role in giving access to the excellent coding and robotics lessons at Connectech Coding and it's mainly thanks to the vision and leadership of Troy King that these opportunities have come together. Thank you to the Ark charity committee, Troy and the team at Connectech!