Dear Parents and Guardians

I had the privilige of attending professional learning last week at the World Edulead  congress. Globally renowned researchers and education leaders collaborated to share best practice and strategies that  have the greatest impact on learning.  It has become ever more evident that skills and learning to learn are as important if not more important than content. Understanding what success looks like and how we get there is essential for young people if they are to be motivated and thrive. Learners flourish when they feel they have some autonomy over what they are learning and how they learn it. It is only by moving from surface level learning to deep learning that learners can successfully transfer and apply knowledge to different contexts and this is something that is invaluable in the modern world. 

You can help your child. By focusing less on grades and more on the learning journey we can show learners that we value progress and recognise development and effort.  I encourage you to look at the research and see which strategies impact learning. This video  and the accompanying book may help you see how you can help your child at home and understand more about how children learn. Neuroscience and educational research is moving at a rapid pace and we pride ourselves at Nexus on using research to inform our pedagogy. Secondary teachers will be updating their knowledge around teaching skills explicitly this Friday as they benefit from training by Lance King on the IB Approaches to Learning. Working collectively and collaboratively as teachers is one of the things that can have the greatest impact on learners learning and is something we very much encourage at Nexus.  Learning did not stop during the pandemic thanks to the significant collective efforts of teachers. 

This week we have been able to engage with Year 10 in the Next Steps careers fair. Thank you to the many parents and external partners who volunteered time to run workshops and interview our learners. The learners did themselves proud preparing CVs and presenting themselves for interview. Providing experiences such as these and the range of CCAs, trips and activities we have are all part of our mission to help learners become productive leaders in a global society and I hope our graduating cohorts remember their Nexus experiences. 

For our Muslim families may this Eid enlighten hope and happiness in you.

Selamat Hari Raya Puasa

Wishing you all a lovely long weekend

Best wishes

Dr Heather

Head of Secondary