St Giles’ Primary School’s newest graduates have been challenged to step confidently into the future, as a school leader and a prominent old scholar celebrated the institution’s legacy of producing Caribbean trailblazers.
Addressing the 2025 graduating class, speakers emphasised resilience, ambition and the school’s historical role in shaping regional leadership.
During the school’s graduation ceremony at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, principal Stuart Mayers celebrated the 56 graduates, reflecting on their growth and the theme of the ceremony, “Celebrating our past, creating our future”.
“Our theme beautifully captures the spirit of today’s events,” Mayers said. “For some of our students, it began with the nervous steps into St Giles’; for others, it began with a transfer, a new teacher, or a new friend. No matter where or how the journey began, each one of you has grown — academically, emotionally, socially.”
He spoke fondly of watching students learn their first words and numbers, give their first presentations, and overcome their first failures, calling those experiences essential stepping stones towards maturity and resilience.
“Graduates, today is not just about what you’ve completed — it’s about what you’re beginning. You’re stepping into a future filled with possibility, and while the path ahead may not always be easy, I want you to know that you are ready,” he said, reminding them of the school’s core values under the ‘RRCS’ motto — respectful, responsible, caring, and safe.
“Creating your future doesn’t mean having all the answers. It means staying curious, staying kind, and staying brave.”
Also addressing the ceremony was St Giles’ old scholar and president of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Daniel Best, who shared inspiring stories from the school’s past and highlighted the impact of St Giles’ on regional leadership.
Best said: “This institution, our institution, our school has a proud legacy. St Giles’ has also been instrumental in shaping the history of this country and our region. Do you know that St Giles’ produced the first and only prime minister of the West Indies Federation? Sir Grantley Adams. The one and only time in the history of the Caribbean that we came together under one leader, it was the St Giles’ boy. The next thing I want to tell you about is a gentleman called Sir Neville Nicholls, who was the third president of the Caribbean Development Bank. Also, a St Giles’ boy, and that’s significant because in the 55-year history of the Caribbean Development Bank, there’ve only been seven presidents chosen from across the entire Caribbean, and two of them went to St Giles’.”
“So what I’m saying to you is let the other schools boast about what they want to boast about… we produce Caribbean leaders at St Giles’. And who knows, we could be talking to the next great Caribbean leader sitting right here today.”
Best also called on students to persevere through their future challenges, as they seek to realise their full potential in their upcoming academic journey.
He said: “Don’t give up when it gets hard. When you think that dream that you had is slipping away, don’t give up. Keep going because we [who are] here, and this country, and this region, and this world need you. Most importantly there’s a future version of you that is counting on you to succeed, to keep going.” (SB)
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