Dear Parents,
I hope that your families are staying healthy as we move into slightly cooler weather and that you take the time (when the fog lifts!) to enjoy the many beauties of the season.
Absence impacts learning.
We regret the absence of some of our colleagues due to illness and accidents. As a school we are working hard to limit teacher absences and the impact on student learning. Recently, MYP 1 has been particularly impacted by teacher absences, but, across the school, we are trying to react faster and more effectively to find cover teachers who can support learning as best as possible.
We also need your support as parents. When you plan trips which mean that students leave school before the holidays or return afterwards, this can be very disruptive to classes. Please take your holidays during the school holidays and if there is an unavoidable reason why you feel you need to remove your child from school during term time please consult with the Head of Programme before making plans. Some of these absences can have a big impact on learning and academic results and we would like you to be well informed before making this decision.
We learned from the pandemic that online learning can be an alternative but is not as good as face to face learning. Wherever possible the school will always favour face-to-face attendance. Therefore we will reject requests for online learning from parents.
Making this a safe place for learning.
We began the year with an emphasis on child protection training, and this issue remains a top priority for me.
This week I took the decision to expel a student. In this case, for a variety of reasons, I felt that it was necessary both for the school and for the student to have a fresh start. Other disciplinary actions have included suspensions and regular conversations with students about their behaviour. Students need to understand that bad behaviour has serious consequences.
We are very lucky to have wonderful students at this school, but many of them have developed an impulsivity and I hope that recent conversations will encourage a higher degree of reflection on their part. I also hope that students continue to feel that teachers and management are approachable and supportive whenever they have problems. We are certainly doing our best to navigate complex situations with the students’ best interests in mind.
We will organise information sessions about the transition to next year right after the October holiday.
PYP 5 parents may want to know more about the programme in MYP 1; MYP 3 parents will want to know more about the MYP 4 & 5 programme and how we are strengthening our academic provision; MYP 5 parents will want to know more about the IB Diploma Programme. We will organise information sessions for parents and students during the first 2 weeks in November. The details will be advertised next week in the School Office Notice.
Thank you for reading school communications. We will try our best to give you the information you need. I know your class representatives and the PTA are working hard to represent you and school leadership meets regularly with these parents. I am grateful for everything you all do to support your children and this school.
Warm regards,
Conan de Wilde
Head of School