Dear Parents and Guardians

I hope you have had a good week and that the opening up of some Vaccinated Travel Lanes has brought some much needed optimism around being reunited with family.

It has been wonderful to have everyone back on campus these last two weeks and to see the work of the Nexus Community Group decorating the school for Halloween. With the current restrictions it is important that we capitalise on what we can do and focus less on what we cannot do. It has been fantastic to have learners coming forward this week with their ideas on how we can use some spaces better. They have shown great skills in collaboration and preparation and planning and really taken the initiative. It is so important to us that learners are allowed to develop this entrepreneurial spirit that will serve them well in the future. Our learners have a diverse range of talents and are supported by their teachers to find these through engaging learning experiences. Please read on and see who we are celebrating in this edition.

We have an exciting Professional Learning day next week for our staff. Education never stands still and it is essential that we support our staff to access research based pedagogy and practice so they may continue to deliver the best possible learning opportunities for our community. We have been lucky to secure some highly regarded experts from around the world to support us with our quest for high quality teaching and learning and academic rigor in an inclusive school. Many of our own staff lead others in their subjects and provide international training and support for colleagues around the globe so it is nice to be able to support them to receive training.

As part of our work towards reaccreditation with CIS/WASC and IB we are continuing with our self-study and reflecting on what we do as we know there is always room for growth. As an evaluator for CIS I am continuing my own professional growth by leading an evaluation team in another international school next week. It is such a privilege to be able to share a school with a group of peer evaluators which is why we value our membership of these leading global accreditation organisations. Meeting their standards provides quality assurance and ensures we are doing all we can to support our mission of supporting learners to become productive leaders in global society.

May I take this opportunity to wish all our Hindu, Jain and Sikh families who are celebrating next week a happy and safe Diwali.

Best wishes

Dr Heather

Head of Secondary