It’s been a wonderful Semester in Nursery. The children have formed such positive relationships and we have established a caring and happy community. It has been a pleasure to observe such confident children who are beginning to transfer their knowledge to their independent play. We look forward to seeing you in January 2022 and we are very excited to welcome new children to our community. We wish you a magical Christmas full of happiness and fun!

We draw to the close of a fabulous semester in Kindergarten. We have watched our learners grow in both confidence and independence where they have really made the learning space their own. We loved nurturing our learners into being more effective communicators who share their knowledge in a variety of ways. We have enjoyed working with our new writers and readers and are so proud of the hard work undertaken to develop skills in these areas. We are seeing some big thinking, inquirers taking shape in our Kindergarten.

We wish you a wonderful break with your families wherever you may be spending the holidays. We look forward to seeing the learners back in January, a little bit taller and, we are sure, with lots of stories to share and write!

The past semester has been a wonderful array of fabulous learning experiences for our Year 1 learners. Starting off the academic year exploring their well-being, developing positive relationships in the class community, building strategies that help with self-regulation and creating breathing flowers and bracelets; participating in mindfulness sessions and yoga. We then ended the semester exploring forces and simple machines. There have been many favourite explorations from the dress up days for Deepavali and Halloween, Trashion fashion parade, exploring friction investigations merging art and science, to racing on different surfaces with the bikes, drama lessons, library days, to the general everyday circle time and weekly journal writing. A big hit and special mention to weekly postcards in assembly; the showcasing of the learners achievements in line with the learner profiles. Our learners have shown great strength and determination this past semester, navigating their way through the new systems in line with the current restrictions, along with figuring out new routines.

We wish everyone a wonderful break, whether families are spending time celebrating Christmas or taking some down time to recoup and regroup. Have a fabulous term break!

The Year 1 Team

Looking back over the semester, we are so proud of how far the learners have come. They have demonstrated resilience and adaptability to changing restrictions, and always with a smile on their faces. Dress-up days, group presentations, playing with friends and helping aliens were just a few of the learners’ favourite memories. Inquiry Time was also mentioned again and again - a favourite time with teachers too! Our iTime explorations allowed the learners to develop their self-management skills and creativity. We never fail to be amazed at how individual personalities are expressed in their arts and crafts. Below are just a few of our favourite iTime projects.

We send our best wishes to the families leaving us as they move on to new adventures and look forward to hearing the exciting holiday news of returning learners in 2022. Wishing you a very Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year and a wonderful holiday!

The Year 2 Team

What a great semester Year 3 have had! They have adjusted to new learning spaces, canteen, play areas with ease and are now confidently navigating the school. They have learned how to become independent in their learning, take more responsibility for their belongings and form new friendships. Some of our highlights this term have been - creating kindness booklets, creating culture presentations and presenting them to the class, the cultural fair and celebrating Deepavali. Year 3 should be proud of their dedication and enthusiasm they have shown throughout all of their learning this semester.

Wishing everyone a relaxing and fun filled holiday season. Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it and we look forward to more learning, growth and fun in 2022!

Looking back over the semester, a lot of learning, fun and friendships have been blossoming in Year 4. Learners have explored 'Water as an essential resource' and considered how the clothes and the fashion industry tells a story. Learners are now inquiring into the meaning of 'migration', the factors that affect decisions to move and how migrations can change communities and people's perspectives. Our inquiry into how our choices impact our own well-being has been an ongoing focus throughout the semester. Woven throughout our school day is the focus on our 'Approaches to Learning'.

It has been such a pleasure to see all our Year 4 learners developing their thinking skills, research skills, communication skills, improving self-management strategies and advancing their social skills in different situations. Learners have shown resilience and understanding through the challenges they have encountered this semester. It has been encouraging to see confidence, care for others and growth mindsets develop across our Pod. Year 4 has approached everything with an abundance of energy and enthusiasm and we look forward to supporting every learning journey during the next semester.

We would like to wish all our Year 4 families a Merry Christmas and a happy holiday.

What an exciting semester we have had in year 5. This week's learning has been alive through our States of Matter investigations. Learners have applied all of the approaches to learning as they inquired into an investigation of their choice, organised their ingredients and equipment, collaborated with their partner, wrote their own instructions and reflected critically on their results. Wow! There was so much learning and fun happening. Discussions have been rich with questions, predictions, discussions and new understandings. This term brings our scientific inquiry to an end and we look forward to beginning the new year with a focus on the transdisciplinary theme of 'Who we Are'.

All of year 5 wish our friends leaving Nexus all the very best for your future adventures.. To all of our families who celebrate Christmas, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and look forward to hearing about holiday stories when you return. Have a wonderful holiday break.

How can half a year already be finished? The time has flown by and our learners have grown. We have developed our independence and teamwork skills while having a lot of fun along the way. There have been many opportunities to explore, present and share our growing understandings. Everyone has something at school which is their favourite. For some, it is the challenge of mathematics, others love immersing themselves into books and writing stories, while many of us enjoy the challenge inquiry learning brings to us. And challenging it has been. However, we have stuck together and helped each other through the tough times and we are sure that will continue into the new year as we explore our new units of inquiry in our journey towards Year 6 Exhibition.

To all of the learners who are leaving a the end of term 2, we will miss you. We hope that your next adventure is full of fun challenges and that you remember us fondly.

Have a lovely break everyone, and if you celebrate Christmas, we hope it is merry.

The Year 6 Team

And just like that, we are almost at the end of the Semester. It has been a busy end to the term so far for our Year 7 to 9 learners. A few weeks ago, our Tutor Groups took part in the Tutor Trashion Challenge as part of our Green Innovation Week. Congratulations to all learners that were involved in designing, decorating and modelling their sustainable outfits in which 'Trash' was transformed into 'Trashion.'

It was also great to see so much energy and enthusiasm at the Inter-house Cross Country event on Wednesday. It was pleasing to see everybody getting involved and having a go to earn points for their house. From the athletes aiming to win the races to learners showing a lot of resilience in some hot and humid conditions to earn points for their house.

Well done! The support of one another was immense as well. More information and photos can be found in the 'Sport and CCAs' section of this newsletter.

We would also like to thank everyone involved in the NEXMAS Singalong event that will be released this evening to share some Christmas joy with the rest of our community. Enjoy a nice sing-along with your family this evening. We hope that all Nexus families have a relaxing and enjoyable break with loved ones. Travel safe (those that can), take care and we look forward to doing it all again in January.

Mr Graeme Massey

Year 7 - 9 Phase Leader

It has been another busy term for the IGCSE learners. The Y10s have now settled into a nice rhythm as they progress in their IGCSE studies. This term they have worked with their Tutors and Mr Clive (learning support) to develop their study skills. Many have taken advantage of the large wall planners being offered. The Y11s have been busily working towards their Trial examinations in January. They have also taken steps to prepare for life after their IGCSE by working with our Careers and University Counsellor Ms Aine Gibbons.

Congratulations to IB CAS Learners for organising the Nexmas Fair!

The collaboration and problem solving skills that all those IB learners who were involved in the Nexmas Fair showed were exemplary. It was quite a challenge to get everyone together to kick start the festive season, but they achieved it. It was definitely a learning journey, but that's what our IB CAS program is all about, so well done to all those involved and thank you for bringing the Nexus community together.

Readcycle - Demand exceeds their expectations - Batch 2 now available for pre-order

Thanks to everybody in the Nexus community for supporting ReadCycle (Nexus' entry for Junior Achievement Company of the Year Competition 2021). During the Nexmas Fair, the bookmarks were sold out very quickly. The team is currently working hard to fulfil the orders they have received and today, they are launching a second batch for delivery in January. Thanks again for all your support. Your bookmarks will be delivered soon! Here is the link to order. The website will be live from 10 - 30 December with a very limited quantity of 100 pieces available.

You can place your order here.