Secondary School March Highlights from Mrs. Rinaldi

Mrs. Rinaldi reflects on another amazing term for the Secondary School at DCIS.

Dear DCIS Parents and Guardians,

It has been another amazing term for the Secondary School at DCIS.              

Year 7 have returned as confident members of the school after having made a brilliant transition, coping impressively with the extra demands of their subjects and additional homework. Year 8 have moved smoothly in to their second year of the Secondary School, with many students making the most of the huge range of opportunities available to them, whether that may through sport, Model United Nations, Student Council, the Science Olympiad or the School Musical. Year 9 have continued to work hard in building their foundation to IGCSE and have now chosen their options for Key Stage 4. Our Year 10 students have now settled in their IGCSE studies and are enjoying focusing on subjects that they have a real passion for. The Year 11 students have prepared studiously for their final exams and we are looking forward to welcoming many of these students back in to Year 12 for the IB Diploma next year. Our Year 12 IB students have been coping brilliantly with the demands of their subjects, whilst balancing CAS, TOK and EE.

Our students continue to have wonderful opportunities outside the classroom. The trips week in March was a tremendous success, with students rising to the challenge of completing service projects and environmental work as well as taking part in a range of team building activities. We have also been delighted with the increase in sporting participation and have seen some amazing successes across a range of sports, including football, netball, basketball and athletics. The students continue to build an incredible sense of sportsmanship which was epitomised by the inaugural group of students taking part in the FOBISIA games in Phuket in February. We are also delighted to have a full cohort of 20 students joining other Nord Anglia schools to attend the Les Martinets Switzerland adventure in June and to have DCIS represented by two students at the NAE United Nations conference in New York in July. 

The flagship event of the term has been our production of the School Musical, “Grease”. The performances on 27th and 28th March are a culmination of months of dedication and commitment from the cast, band and teachers involved. The performances have been an amazing success, with students demonstrating phenomenal talent in their dancing and singing and showing incredible teamwork and support both on and off the stage. Many of the parents have commented on the professionalism of the production, as the costumes, lights and music came together to make for an absolutely spectacular show. Congratulations to all the students involved and thank you to all the teachers who committed their time, energy and expertise to making the production such a success. 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the teachers, parents and, most importantly, students for all of their contributions to the success of the Secondary School. I am extremely sad to leave Dover Court International School, but know that the school will continue to go from strength to strength. It has been the greatest privilege of my career to work at Dover Court; the spirit of the community and the commitment of all members of the school lead to students making amazing progress both in and out of the classroom. By learning at Dover Court, our students are developing the skills and knowledge that they require to rise to the demands of doing jobs that may not even yet exist and I have no doubt that our students are going to be hugely successful in their future lives, due to their enthusiasm, tenacity and ingenuity. 
 

Mrs. Heather Rinaldi
Head of Secondary School