BOUNTY HALL, Trelawny – For the first time in its 11-year history, students of Hammersmith Preparatory School in Trelawny will go abroad to study. The exchange programme is open to all grades but it is anticipated that mostly seniors from the private educational institution will make the trip to Canada. They will study at Stanstead College, an independent boarding school in Quebec that covers grades seven to 12.

The exchange programme is being supported by Hammersmith’s charity arm, the MAS Foundation.

Hammersmith Prep’s Acting Principal Claudine Gayle is convinced it will do students from both institutions a world of good.

“It’s very good exposure for the students because the children will get to experience different cultures, different backgrounds, different styles of teaching, and those there that will come will also get to experience the same here,” she told the Jamaica Observer.

“We’re in a global environment now and therefore the exchange programme is good,” she noted, adding that her students will continue the planned curriculum, just from a different geographical location and under tutelage from different teachers.

A recent visit to Hammersmith Prep, which included attendance at the graduation ceremony, provided representatives from Stanstead College an opportunity for continued discussion about the initiative.

“Although an initial date has not been set, we expect — based on the discussions — that the programme will get going during the upcoming school year,” Gayle told Observer West.

While the details are still being hammered out, she said, there is high anticipation about what the programme holds for her students and teachers. One aspect that is being keenly watched is the possibility for scholarships.

“Last year we initiated the scholarships and we had one student that was granted the scholarship to a Canadian high school,” Gayle said.

There was no scholarship awarded this year, which has heightened expectations for the coming school year. These opportunities, the acting principal noted, continue to come along because of how well her students perform.

“We have two Westwood High [students], one Cornwall College, one Rusea’s High, one Holland High, and one Muschett High,” she said of some of her students’ placements from the Primary Exit Profile examinations.

The recent graduation ceremony was a celebration of grade six students and those moving on from kindergarten.