Welcome to the second semester! Having just returned from a two and a half weeks teacher recruitment trip it is wonderful to be back amongst our community. School was far too quiet over the break without our students and teachers. We have now almost completed teacher recruitment for next academic year. This year our recruitment exercise resulted in attendance at recruitment agencies' educator job fairs in London and Bangkok as well as interviewing candidates that approached us directly. This year we have worked with a large pool of very qualified and interested candidates so this exercise has been time consuming but critical to fulfill our vision and mission and ensure the best learning environment for students.

As Ms. Hughes, High School Principal, announced to students, she will be returning to Scotland at the end of this academic year to take care of her parents. All of us are going to greatly miss her but understand her family obligations and appreciate the importance of the decision she has made. Mrs. Nicola Zulu, current Assistant Principal High School, will assume the role of High School Principal and Ms. Rachel McCarthy, IBDP Geography and Student Services teacher, will take over as Assistant Principal. Mrs. Zulu, Ms. McCarthy,

Ms. Hughes and I are working closely to ensure a seamless leadership transition. We all want to build on the strong legacy that Ms. Hughes leaves behind.

The next few weeks are enormously busy for our community. Both Middle and High Schools will be out of school expanding their learning through our Activity Week/Week Without Walls programmes. Our Grade 12 students will be sitting their Mock IB Diploma examinations; a critical step in their preparations for the finals in May. The Elementary School has a full schedule of fieldtrips and activities such as Literacy Week and students throughout the school will be taking the annual ACER standardized tests in literacy and numeracy. The data from these tests helps us personalize learning for our students and provides teachers and school leaders with important information about our programmes.

Have a wonderful semester and many thanks to the PTA for the excellent social evening. A fabulous way to begin the semester!

Margaret Alvarez

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Happy New Year and welcome back to school!

Fun Fair

On Sunday, 15 March from 11 AM – 3 PM we will hold our annual Fun Fair. We need YOUR help in making this event a success! We are looking for the following donations...