Christmas came to Nexus this week with the superb Christmas Fair, Concerts and Carolling in the Canteen. It is wonderful to see our brilliant community working together to achieve so much. The final total of monies raised at the Christmas Fair is still being calculated but is around $7000. Many many thanks to the countless wonderful parents who were involved in making the Fair happen, as well as staff and learners; you can all be extremely proud of your efforts.

Saturday 1 December marked a milestone for our new school as the a ceremony was held to mark the completion of the main superstructure. The Topping Out Ceremony was attended by staff from Nexus, Taylor's Group (including Group CEO Dato’ TN Loy, Executive Director, Abby Loy and Director, TEPL, Karl Engkvist), as well as various representatives from the Architects, Construction Company and associated consultants. Standing on top of the new school was truly breathtaking and it was wonderful to participate in the concrete pouring and shovelling process to mark the occasion.

Also happening last weekend was the culmination of a three day coaching course for teachers which was attended by 18 staff who join those who were trained last year. The sessions were truly eye-opening and all the new coaches were inspired by the GROW model of coaching and are eager to try out their new skills. Coaching is a really important skill that is already showing great benefits to our community as staff are getting used to thinking about issues in different ways in order to find solutions.

The IGCSE and IB Options Evening on Wednesday 5th December was very well attended, despite the rain and there were lots of excellent conversations about next steps for learners and how to choose the right courses for them. Further guidance will of course happen within school as we build towards subject selections and timetabling.

Over the last week learners in Years 11 and 13 have been taking Trial Oral Examinations for Languages. These are in advance of the Trial Examinations which run in weeks two and three of the new term. We wish all our senior learners a productive revision period over the break, but they must balance this against the need for some down time with families and friends.

The Swimming Trip to the Thai Feeding Frenzy last weekend was a real success and gave a lot of our younger swimmers the chance to compete. A full report is in the Sports section. Other trips have run in the last fortnight including the Year 12 working visit to the Tyler Print Institute and the Year 7 Humanities trip to the Maritime Museum. Reports on both can be seen here.