Principal's Message - 2nd December 2018

Dear Parents and Students

With the end of term rapidly approaching, I want to congratulate the Primary School students for their efforts during last week’s Assessment Week and wish the best of luck to students in Years 7-9 who will be sitting their end of term assessments this week. In Years 10-12, teachers are setting individual subject examinations when they complete a section of the syllabus. For instance, my Year 10 students that have had two minor assessment pieces this term are about to finish their first complete unit from the syllabus and will have their end of unit examination next Monday. This flexibility has a positive effect on teaching and learning, as students can be assessed at the most appropriate time that coincides with syllabus coverage.

Quality Assurance Report

NAISAK hosted a Quality Assurance visit Tuesday-Thursday last week from Ms Jayne Bennion, Nord Anglia Education’s Director of Quality last week. Jayne was accompanied by Mark Orrow-Whiting, Nord Anglia’s Director of Curriculum and Student Performance and Brian Irving, the Head of Secondary at our sister school in Abu Dhabi. Prior to the visit a number of the academic team completed the Self Evaluation Form (SEF) where we had to assess ourselves against the agreed Nord Anglia criteria that is used across all 56 schools in the family. The purpose of the visit is to ensure continuous improvement by reflecting on our strengths and areas for improvement. The Review Team observed several lessons, met with students, parents, teachers, middle and senior leaders throughout the school.

After their comprehensive review, I am pleased to report that they agreed with all our judgements about the school and in their words were, “very impressed by our visit and know that you are going in the right direction on your journey!” We scored as either ‘Strong’ or ‘Developing’ throughout.

Moving forward, we will continue to focus on implementing our Strategic Development Plan with a specific focus on continuing to develop the implementation of Positive Discipline in the Classroom and Literacy Skills. An abridged version can be accessed on our website here.

Thank you to all of the staff that have been involved and to the members of the Parent Teacher Friends’ Association (PTFA) that were able to meet with the Review Team.

I would also like to thank the parents that attended our parent workshop on Positive Discipline in the Classroom that was led by Joy Marchese this morning. Joy has flown in from England and is spending the day with Parents, Learning Assistants, the Foundation Stage Team and working with our Positive Discipline Oversight Team (PDOT).

Mr Dave Pontich
Principal