Bermuda now home to former senior Rainbow board staffer

She sold all of her belongings and moved to the Caribbean island five weeks ago.

Speir said she's spent her share of time watching sunsets and relaxing on the beach. Her condo, located in the Hamilton Parish, is within sight of the water.

“It's quite beautiful,” Speir said.

She also took in Bermuda's Good Friday festivals, which involves flying kites and eating hot crossed buns and fish cakes.

But it's not all fun and games, of course — Speir, who has more than 30 years of experience in education, is tasked with developing Bermuda's early childhood education system.

Bermuda, a British territory with a population of a little more than 64,000, is looking to “what's going on internationally” to make changes.

“The government's got a commitment to transform practices in early childhood education, so that's what I'm going to help them to do,” Speir said.

So far, she's spent a lot of time learning about how the education system works in Bermuda.

She said it has a lot of British influences, and is broken up into preschool, primary school, middle school and senior school. It's fully funded by the government.

“I've been out to see all the preschools and almost seen all the primary schools,” said Speir, who's in Bermuda on a three-year contract.

While she's been enjoying her time in the country, Speir recently came home to attend the Rainbow District School Board's yearly awards ceremony for board employees May 21.

She was presented with a Award for Excellence for everything she's done for the board over the years, including implementing the First Nations, Metis and Inuit Education Policy Framework and the Early Learning Kindergarten Program.

“It has been such a privilege to work with the Rainbow District School Board, where I've been given these opportunities to lead early years education,” Speir said. “I'm very proud of the people I've met here and worked with here and the good work they're doing.”