There are some concerns about the decision to have Spice Valley Middle School spend the first two weeks of the term at Warwick Camp while renovations to the school are completed.

And there have been some suggestions that the students should be kept at home for the first fortnight while the teachers prepare their classrooms.

The reason for this is that Warwick Camp is not designed as a school and teaching and all the other activities which take place at the school will be more difficult to organise than they are Spice Valley.

It is hard not to have some sympathy for the teachers. And it is worth noting that Warwick Camp will have to be fitted out, presumably at some expense, with at least the rudiments of a school for a very short period of time.

But there may be a silver lining.

What Warwick Camp lacks in scholastic facilities it more than makes up for in other facilities.

Government has long been interested in developing a youth corps, and there is a broad consensus that Bermuda's young need to develop a greater sense of discipline and self-confidence.

For two weeks, in addition to attending classes, the students could, with the assistance of the Regiment's permanent staff, go out on the obstacle course, practise abseiling and rope work on the South Shore trails and beaches, learn the rudiments of first aid and take up some of the other challenges which the Regiment is expert in laying on.

This would be a fine opportunity for the students to learn something about the Regiment and to have some experiences which will last them a lifetime. Some may go on to join the school cadet corps, while others could even volunteer to join the Regiment in two to three years.

At the same time, it would take some of the pressure off the teachers as they prepare the "real school" for the students. There are probably a thousand possible objections to the idea, but it may just be worth a try.