Discover essential information about Secondary School below.

CAT4 Assessments

At Nexus, we use the Cognitive Abilities Test 4th Edition (CAT4) to get to know more about our learners. This standardised assessment covers verbal, non-verbal, numerical, and spatial reasoning and gives us predicted academic outcomes. Next week, all of Year 10 and Year 12 will be sitting the test and over the following two weeks, we will catch up with any other learners who have not already completed the assessment in previous years. Please reassure your child that they are not expected to prepare for the assessment. They just need to follow the instructions and try their best. The results of these assessments do not impact decisions around the curriculum they follow or the class they are placed in.

IB Diploma Exams May 2025 Session - this is the official IB exam schedule for the May 2025 exams. Link 

Please note that IGCSE and IB final exams are set by external organisations and we have no control over the dates. Examinations may fall during school holidays and on public holidays.  The IGCSE examinations schedule will only be published in 2025. 

I would like to take the opportunity to remind parents/guardians of our school policy regarding absence from school. At Nexus we take our duty of care seriously and it is important that for safeguarding reasons we are aware of our where our learners are when in our care. Our school day is from 8.20 - 3.20pm (except when we finish earlier on a Friday at 2.20pm) and during this time we provide opportunities of additional support for academics and wellbeing, offering a constructive PSHE/tutor model as well as ensuring learners have study time embedded into their timetables.

At the start of the school year we identified that for learners to be placed into the IBDP exams we will need to ensure they maintain an 85% and above attendance record, to ensure adequate academic contact time.

We wanted to outline our policy regarding absences so that we can ensure that all learners remain supported during their time at Nexus.

Explained absence

Medical/Hospital/Dental/NS appointments

This would come under explained absence if 24hrs notice is given via an email to learnerservices@nexus.edu.sg (and tutor) with supporting documents  are provided when appropriate.

Illness

This would come under explained absence, if an email is shared with learnerservices@nexus.edu.sg (and tutor) the night before or on the morning of the absence.

Unexplained absences

At present learners require parent/guardian permission to leave our campus. If none of the above procedures have been followed then Learner Services will mark the absence as unexplained and this will be marked against the percentage of attendance.

E.g. Last minute request for (non-urgent) doctors appointments, tutoring, driving lessons.

Exceptional Circumstances

We are aware that there is a small number of learners where exceptional cases may be required. Please feel free to contact Dr Heather and I about such a situation and this will be reviewed on a case by case basis. These learners will be given a card (with the times specified) to present to security and learner services.

Late to School?

We all start the year bursting with energy and ready to go however as time passes and deadlines set in we see an increasing number of learners arriving to school late. Our tutor time is very much focused on support for 'Life After Nexus'. It is important that learners arrive on time and are ready to start the day with their tutors 8:20am. This time is also an opportunity for the tutor to get to know your child as they are the ones writing the ever important 'University/college references'.

Tutor time is structured to support and is outlined below.

Monday - School News - Notices are provided through the collective reading of the learner bulletin. Learners will also be reminded of upcoming deadlines

Tuesday - CAS Reflections and Tracking - Please note, learners can NOT pass the IB Diploma without completing the CAS requirements of the course.

Wednesday - Wellbeing Circle Time - This is an opportunity for the tutor to build, maintain, and sustain relationships with their tutees both individually and collectively. Often check-ins will occur regarding wellbeing and are facilitated by circle time conversations.

Thursday - The World Today - the aim of this session is to get you up to date regarding current news that may support university applications or interviews in the future.

Friday - Life after Nexus - This is a dedicated weekly session with our Careers and University Councillor where our learners receive important information about life after Nexus.

We thank you for your support and encouragement as we aim for our learners to further develop the ATL of Self-organization, focusing on accountability and punctuality, which are both crucial skills necessary when your child moves on to life after Nexus. If you have any further questions do not hesitate to contact me.

Clare Lambert
Year Leader (Y13)
lambert.c@nexus.edu.sg

Careers and University Notices

Year 13 Careers and University Coffee Morning

Year 13 parents and guardians are invited to join Ms Aine for a Careers and University Coffee morning on 20th September in the Nexus Parent Lounge from 8.30am-9.30am. The aim of this event is to get together to discuss application processes, deadlines, trends and showcase the Unifrog platform. It also gives parents the opportunity to ask any questions they have about university admissions. Invitations will be sent our next week via email, so keep an eye out.

Invitation to Join Unifrog

The Unifrog platform is designed to support learners in making the most informed decisions about their futures and has a range of tools that are suitable for all year groups. 

Key features of the platform include:

• Exploring Pathways – personality quizzes, career and subject profiles, MOOCs, and webinars

• Recording – self-reflection about extracurricular activities and key employability skills

• Opportunities – search tools showing live vacancies, courses, and placements for universities around the world, virtual work experience and much more

• Applications – tools to help students build applications for a range of pathways (e.g., resumés, Common App Essays, personal statements)

We would encourage you to use the platform with your child so you can support them through the process of deciding their next step. We have also set up a parent login so that you can use Unifrog as if you were a student yourself, allowing you to support your child throughout the process. The sign up code you need is: NEXSparents and you can sign up here: www.unifrog.org/code

Key Deadlines for Year 13 Learners

• Draft college essays/ personal statements are due 31st August 2024. All learners who met the deadline now have feedback from Ms Aine.

• Oxbridge applications/ medicine applications to the UK are due for submission on 15th October 2024. The Nexus internal deadline is 30th September.

• US Early Decision (ED) and Early Action (EA) applications are due between 30th September - 4th October. 

• UK, US, Canada and Hong Kong applications are due on or before 2nd December 2024. 

Upcoming Events

• All Year 12 learners will attend The Lion City Fair 2024 on either 24th or 25th September. 169 universities will be in attendance making this an invaluable experience for our learners as they begin to make decisions about life after Nexus. If they are not at the fair, they will be taking part in their first CAS activity with Ms. Jo and the IBDP Team. Attendance is mandatory. 

• Unifrog University Fair will take place online on 26th September. Register for free via your Unifrog account. Event schedule:

How to ace your personal statement (4.30pm)

Understanding and accessing scholarships (4.30pm)

How to ace your Common App essay (4.30pm)

Studying in the UK (5pm)

Studying in Europe (5pm)

Studying in the US and Canada (5pm)

Studying in Asia (5.30pm)

Studying in Australasia (5.30pm)

Making the most of studying abroad (5.30pm)

Aine Massey

Careers and University Counsellor

massey.a@nexus.edu.sg

Semester 1 Residential Trips

Years 7, 8 and 9. (04th -08th November 2024).

Registrations are now open.
For further information, please click on the links below. 

Deadline for registration and payment is 13th September 2024.