It’s been a fantastic start to Nursery and we have enjoyed observing the children's energy and enthusiasm. The children have loved seeing their teachers and making new friendships. We have been getting familiar with the classroom routine and exploring the indoor and outdoor environment. The children have also met their single subject teachers and explored new areas of the school. The children have shown great interest in a variety of story books, a particular favourite is the ‘Shark in the Park’ by Nick Sharratt. The children worked imaginatively to create telescopes and have had lots of fun retelling the story. We look forward to supporting the children on their learning journey in Nursery.

The Kindergarten learners have bounced into their new learning environments with enthusiasm and ease. These first days at school have been all about getting to know where we work, how we work and also a chance to get to know each other too. It has been great to see different learners coming together to build, draw, create and play, we can see some lovely friendships forming already. We have started on an art piece for our first Unit of Inquiry, Who We Are, this has been a lovely focused time with the teachers. We have a very creative and imaginative group of learners in Kindergarten, we are excited about the learning journey ahead with our new classes.

A huge welcome to Year One. The learners have thoroughly enjoyed experiencing their new learning environment in the Year One hub. They have been introduced to the first unit of inquiry of the year ‘Who We Are’, exploring themselves and family. They have engaged in many learning engagements this week, including self portraits, family trees and exploring numbers by creating graphs. They all should be very proud of the way they have settled into their new environment and we look forward to their journey ahead.

We could not have been more proud of how the learners dealt with the unexpected start to the new school year. It was not how we had imagined or hoped it to be, but the learners’ enthusiasm, friendliness and eagerness to participate helped us make the very best of a challenging situation. Coming together in-person for the first time on the third day of term was exciting for teachers and children alike, and allowed us to continue building on the new friendships from our short home-learning period. The learners quickly set to work on establishing their class Essential Agreements and have been doing a wonderful job following these and the Nexus RECIPE. We look forward to seeing everyone at the Welcome Evening next Wednesday.

What a great start to the school year Year 3 has had! They have been busy exploring their exciting new learning environment on Level 7 and settling into the new routines and expectations. Year 3 have spent the last week creating their own ‘Essential Agreements’ based on the Nexus RECIPE (Respect, Excellence, Communication, Integrity, Passionate, Enjoyable Environment) which will guide how we behave towards each other, learning and the spaces for the year. It has been an excellent starting point for us as we start digging into our first Unit of Inquiry, ‘People’s Action Affect Others”. The jump from Year 2 to Year 3 is filled with many changes and the learners should be very proud of the way they have settled into their new environment and taken on the responsibility and independence of Year 3.

A very warm welcome to all our Year 4 families! It has been a delight to see how quickly the learners have settled into their new classes and year group. We would like to extend a special ‘Welcome’ to all families who are new to Nexus. We were very impressed with how well the children managed their ‘Off Campus Learning and we were very pleased at how well everyone communicated in their Google Meets. Now we are thankfully back on campus, Year 4 is settling into their learning and adapting to the expectations of their new year group. It has been a great pleasure to see their enthusiasm, energy and consideration for others. We look forward to a great year of academic, social, emotional and self-management learning ahead.

Congratulations to all of Year 5 on the wonderful way you have started your new year. You have risen to the challenges we have been faced with and adapted quickly to changes that have taken place over the last two weeks. Learners have identified that they would like our learning community to feel joyful, comfortable, relaxed, calm, surprising and energising. They would like it to look like everyone is happy, helping others, excited, organised and clean. It would sound like learners asking if you are okay, enjoying a laugh, using their manners, asking questions, talking and knowing when to be quiet too. Wow, what a reflective and caring group of learners we have! Our RECIPE essential agreement is a collaboration from every homeroom. Learners have created shared statements for each value. These guide learners in the way that they interact and treat every member of our Nexus Community.

Learners have enjoyed participating in ice breaker activities, creating their 'Passport to the World' and writing about a 'Best Part of Me'. These activities have been a great way to make connections and develop relationships with others. A highlight would be our 'High 5 for Year 5'. Every learner has traced around their hand and shared strengths and talents that they bring to our learning community. In Year 5 we are a TEAM. Together Everyone Achieves More. We look forward to seeing our families online next Wednesday for our Welcome evening and together supporting your child throughout the coming year.

To say the start of the year has been a success would be an understatement. Everyone in Year 6 has taken on the new challenges with a positive attitude and a smile on their face. This week we have been focused on our 'How we organise ourselves' unit of inquiry, where we have explored what it means to be a responsible Digital Citizen. Understanding how to keep ourselves safe and balanced will be an ongoing focus throughout the year, while we utilise the amazing features our iPads have which will complement our learning.

Next week we begin our 'Where we are in place in time' unit. Our focus is learning about how the past has influenced the present, and the possibilities of the future. One of their first challenges for our learners will be to contact someone who had a different childhood experience than themselves. It may be a grandparent, or a family friend. We are interested to see the similarities and differences between the generations.

A very warm welcome to Secondary School! Our Year 7 learners have made a fantastic start to the year and the beginning of their secondary journey. They showed tremendous resilience in their ability to readily adapt to online learning, and were also great risk takers as they approached all the uncertainty of new routines, new teachers and new classrooms, with wonderful determination and smiling eyes.

We have been most impressed and incredibly proud to hear great reports from many of the learning areas, as Year 7 are demonstrating the values of our Nexus RECIPE, and are being responsible digital citizens.

This week in Reflection Time, learners have been compiling their 'Tutor Group Essential Agreements' and our IB Learner Profile of the week has been focused on being ‘Balanced’. In particular learners have been reflecting on the ways in which they can find a happy ‘balance’ between their school life and home life, and strike a balance between home learning and relaxation time. Some learners have even been designing their perfect home study areas - so be prepared for bedroom renovations this weekend!

The Year 7 tutors and I are very much looking forward to meeting you on Wednesday evening in our online Welcome Event, and we look forward to a happy and successful year ahead.

Mr Sarah

Year Leader for Year 7

Our Year 8 and 9 learners have taken to the next stage of their middle schooling like ducks to water. It has been really great to see returning learners come back onto campus and not only sustain those peer relationships from last year but also welcome our new learners into their classes. Now that we have been back on campus for a whole week, learners are beginning to better understand and enjoy the new two-week Time Table and all the benefits it brings for both teaching and learning. It's also been really pleasing to see many of the learners new to Nexus taking risks, approaching the uncertainty of a new environment with determination. On the whole it has been a great start to the academic year and we look forward another successful year ahead in our Phase of the school. The Year 8 and 9 Tutor Teachers are looking forward to meeting the parents of those learners in their Tutor Group as part of the Virtual Welcome Evening next Wednesday (check out the 'Upcoming Events' tab for more information). Have a great weekend.

Mr Graeme Massey

Phase Leader for Years 7 - 9

Despite a little delay, I am delighted to welcome all our learners to the new academic year. It has been a busy couple of weeks, especially for the new learners as they begin to get orientated and organised for the start of their IGCSE courses. The tutors and I are looking forward to supporting the learners on their journey.

There is an opportunity for parents to meet with tutors online on the evening of the 25th of August 6-7.30 pm, details are on the main page of this newsletter.

Welcome back to all IB learners, new and old. It's fantastic to be able to welcome them back onto our wonderful campus. The IB Common Room is a hive of activity. It's a beautiful space on the top floor of the school and it's great to see it being used to its full capacity this year.

During week 1, Year 12 were involved in an induction to their IB programme of study, while they eagerly awaited their IGCSE results. The new learners had sessions with numerous teachers and staff. The sessions were aimed at giving the learners all the tools they needed for a smooth transition into the IB Diploma Programme. They had sessions on Creativity, Activity and Service (CAS), Theory of Knowledge (TOK) and the Extended Essay (EE) as well as sessions on universities and careers and study skills. During this second week, we have worked with learners to ensure they have a well balanced set of subjects based on their recent results. It's been a great opportunity for us to get to know everyone.

In the first week back, Year 13 worked on their TOK exhibition. The Secondary Learning Resource Hub (LRH) was buzzing with discussions about how knowledge is developed, issues of bias or perspective in our development of knowledge and many other ideas. Please head over to the 'recent events' section to read more.

Ms Melanie IBDP Coordinator

Jim Bevan Phase Leader for Years 12 & 13