Having wandered the corridors reminding myself of the building layout in an attempt not to get lost in my first few days, I now very much look forward to the school coming back to life this week as our students return; schools are eerie places in the holidays without our children in them! Like me, I am sure you are also looking forward to your children getting back into the swing of things and returning to the routine of school and after-school activities.
I do look forward to meeting as many of you as possible over the next few days and weeks. It’s an honour to be here leading this fantastic school and I look forward to working with you in partnership to understand your views, where you believe our many strengths are and, of course, how we could improve further. I will also be hosting a series of opportunities to meet up with me throughout the term. To start with, the new parent Coffee Morning is being held this morning whilst all parents are invited to the Welcome Back Coffee Morning this Friday 9th January in the Forum immediately after school drop-off. However, please do feel free if you are in school to pop your head into the office and introduce yourself or to drop me an email. The PA to the Principal, Sarah Harris, can also make individual appointments and I’m always happy to meet after working hours if that means working parents can also have the opportunity to attend.
The term ahead is a particularly busy one. First and foremost our priority is to build on our academic achievements from last term and ensure every learning opportunity stretches the minds of our students and develops their cognitive abilities in enriching and inspiring contexts. Additionally, we have many events to look forward to with Footloose our school production looming around the corner, the annual Daddy Daughter Ball taking place in March, Book Week a firm favourite in the school calendar and countless opportunities to watch our teams compete in school sport.
The start of the year means we welcome a group of new families as well. Thanks in advance to our Community Group for their support in ensuring a smooth transition for newcomers to Shanghai. On a personal level a huge thank you to those people I have bumped in to already wearing my parent hat; the warm welcome the Wallace family has received has really made our transition easy.