Dear H-IS Parents,
So much has happened since we welcomed your students in those first warm September days. We wanted to take a moment to celebrate all that has happened thus far during the first semester – and wish you a very Happy Christmas holiday.
First and foremost we want students to feel that our school is a safe and supportive place.
To this end, we have introduced nurses and reinforced our counsellors, learning support specialists and mentors. Our Heads of Programme continue to support students in helping them overcome challenges and make the most of the opportunities at H-IS and it is a joy to work with them and see the care they lavish on each of these meetings with students.
We want students and parents to feel part of H-IS and we hope that our many events, from the dozens of curriculum information sessions to the H-Cup sporting events to Christmas concerts and student driven fundraisers have had this effect. We know that students have been very excited by the return of school trips to Garda, Florence, Venice, Padova and Prague (to name only a few!) and that these trips bring us closer together. Whether it is university trips to the UK for secondary students or our Robomed trip to Portugal for some PYP Students in March, there are a long list of educational trips to look forward to in the second semester!
We are proud that educators in schools across Europe are looking towards H-IS as a model of expertise. In the past few weeks we have hosted Erasmus teacher exchanges and a visit by a prospective IB school in Croatia who were pointed towards H-IS by the IB as the best example of a successful IB school in the region. But being ‘experts’ doesn’t mean anything if we are not improving the quality of learning in our schools. To this end we are engaging in professional growth conversations throughout the year with all of our teachers. These conversations go beyond classroom observations and touch on curriculum, assessment, and professional development targets for teachers. If these conversations have taught us anything, it is that we are a fully committed learning community – and our commitment to improve has never been stronger.
We will continue to improve learning in all the core skills which support academic progress whether this means language support, support for SEN, more maths support, or guidance and career counselling. We will continue to review our curriculum and make sure it is providing students with engaging and challenging opportunities for learning. As our Coordinators, Heads of Programme, Counsellors and teachers continue their daily work of knowing and supporting your children, we hope that you see the benefits of these conversations and that you feel that we are grateful for any partnerships with you which will allow us to build an even stronger commitment to learning and student success.
Wishing you and your families a very happy holiday season,
Conan de Wilde and Antonello Barbaro, with Jane Andrews, Paul Iacco, Richard Pelton, Emiliano Cori, Rebecca Goswell and Alba Manso on behalf all our 172 staff members dedicated to our community