In 2015, the 193-Member United Nations General Assembly agreed a set of bold new Global Goals, which Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hailed as a universal, integrated and transformative vision for a better world. At Nexus, for the last three years, the Global Goals have acted as a catalyst for our learners' inquiries across all year groups. This week our learners have experienced Environmental VR Goggle movies that supported the Life on Land goal. In addition, David Emmett from Conservation International, visited assembly to give us an exciting update on our whale shark 'Nexus'. Year 6 learners attended a night walk in the Bukit Batok Reserve where they learnt about native ecosystems and spotted a flying Colugo. This has lead to our learners developing some exciting research projects.

Our commitment to the Global Goals has been reflected by the 625 Global Goals Pledges that have been made by learners at the front of the school. Our learners are passionate about taking action on both a local and global scale. Our Nexus learners have been spotted teaching in local Indian / Sri Lankan schools, cleaning beaches, setting up recycling schemes, tracking native species and caring for elderly... to name a few. We encourage you to support your childrens' passions, ideas and creativity when they find an issue that inspires them to take action.

The ‘Festival of Lights’ more commonly known as Deepavali or Diwali is the biggest of all Hindu festivals that celebrates the triumph of Good over Evil. Nexus International School celebrated this Indian festival on Friday, 13 October 2017 by inviting the community to wear traditional Indian clothes and indulging in special festive Indian food and activities.

It all started in the morning when families were astounded by Joshilay Bhangra Singapore who welcomed them all with the booming sound of the dhols (drums). In our assemblies learners were mesmerized by a classical Indian dance performance by our talented Nanda from Year 8 and a sitar performance by Udit in Year 11, followed by an amazing performance by our Bollywood Dance CCA learners. There was also a sharing session where learners shared their experiences about the celebration. The highlight of the assembly was of course the bhangra dance performance and an interactive dhol and bhangra session led by the dancers who taught us all some fun bhangra dancing skills.

Later in the day, the learners were involved in a list of Indian cultural activities including diya painting, bhelpuri making and bollywood dancing. They also dressed up in Indian clothes and accessories and got their pictures taken at the photo booth. The most popular of all was trying their hands at dosa making which was a hit amongst the learners. They enjoyed spreading the dosa batter on the pan and then watching them cook and ready for them to eat.

Around the school, Deepavali decorations added colour and spirit to mark the celebration of the festival. Beautiful and majestic Rangoli patterns were created by the learners early in the week. The school’s festivities also included story telling sessions for all Primary learners by a local author and storyteller who engaged the learners in a tale about Deepavali. The activities continued throughout the day along with other classroom discussions about Deepavali which all shared the significance of the celebration of the Festival of Lights.

Staff, learners and parent-volunteers worked tirelessly to make the celebration a success by creating a strong Indian cultural experience within the school. A huge thank you to all involved.

Year 3 learners are exploring how culture is expressed through the Arts. On Wednesday we held the fantastic 'Festival of Cultures' with workshops run by of our wonderful Year 3 parents. The learners had the opportunity to participate in dance from China, Ireland, Bulgaria and the UK; listen to stories from Sweden, Denmark and the Jewish culture; make music from Indonesia and the Europe; games from South East Asia as well as the opportunity to try out a variety of Arts and Crafts from Japan, Spain, China, Australia and the USA. We even had a fragrance smelling workshop from France. It was a vibrant and exciting afternoon and a huge 'THANK YOU!' to all parents and staff who ran workshops and made this celebration of cultures and the Arts possible.