Dear Parents, Teachers and Staff,

At the beginning of Term 2, early October, the school will host four visiting teams. There will be 3 teams from the IBO, one each from PYP, MYP and IBDP and one from WASC (The Western Association of Schools and Colleges.) These visits will be virtual and their purpose is to oversee our re-accreditation as an IB Continuum School as well as to gain authorisation of WASC, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. I cannot overstate how much effort has been put into preparing for these visits. We made the decision four years ago that we wanted to ensure that our standards were comparable with the best of international practice. Since that decision was made, we have compiled an initial report, hosted visitors and then undergone a candidate report and now finally we are approaching the report that, all things going well, see our candidate membership of WASC transferred into full membership.

The self-study process we have just completed has involved consultation with many groups of stakeholders. The parents have been represented by PSG and through surveys.  The students have been consulted through OSIS, StuCo and the annual student survey. We have also met repeatedly with all staff of the school, a total of 125 meetings, over a two year period. Our self-study document represents the views of all stakeholders and examines every aspect of the operation of the school imaginable. Last Friday we submitted all four self-study documents and have already updated our annual and strategic plans based upon the findings. We want to thank everyone who has been involved in this project and look forward to a successful visit in October.

The school is also about to begin its admissions process for the next academic year. This will be a virtual process. Look out for the many events that will take place as well as the discounts that are available. We look forward to the opportunity to discuss your child’s future progress in the school with you as we enter this very busy and exciting period of the year.

Have a great week.

Martin Blackburn

Executive Principal