Dear Parents, students, teachers and Sekolah Ciputra community,
This week sees our first High School camps in three years. Education outside the classroom (EOTC) is an important part of our programme. When surveyed about their experiences at school the vast majority of students single out their experiences on camp as being a major highlight. They enjoy the challenges, the changed environment and the interactions with each other, the staff and different communities.
The benefits of EOTC are outlined in this excerpt:
“A significant research piece funded by Education Outdoors New Zealand (EONZ) and the Ministry of Education has just been published. This piece shows the value of Education Outside the Classroom (EOTC) within Aotearoa New Zealand schools.
This research involved 523 school leaders and EOTC coordinators. Results show that 96% of participants felt that EOTC was extremely or very important to their school. As a result, four key themes emerged on the value of Education Outside the Classroom (EOTC):
- Curriculum enrichment and real-world learning
- Increasing student engagement
- Building learning relationships and connections
- Experiencing something new.”
https://www.williampikechallenge.co.nz/education-outside-the-classroom/
We are delighted that this important programme is back in place enhancing our commitment to entrepreneurship education and service. We believe in the benefits it has for our students and the wider community and we are delighted to see it back as an important part of our programme. As a final note we normally hold EOTC activities at the end of term one but scheduled them for term 4 this year as there was still uncertainty surrounding Covid. Next year we anticipate a return to the end of term 1 for grade 7 to 11 along with the PYP programme for grades 4 to 6. We look forward to all the feedback from the camps.
We had good news from the World Mathematics Invitational with 17 students qualifying for the finals in Korea. This is a great result reflecting the efforts being made to turn the school into a mathematics powerhouse. Congratulations to the students and their teachers.
Thank you to the parent support group for hosting the parent workshop on Friday. They have organised support for parents in having conversations with their children on the difficult topic of sex and sexuality. We hope you can participate and benefit.
Finally, we have just received the news that the school has been accepted as part of the USA’s National Honours Society. We will roll this programme out to students next year beginning with information sessions for parents and students. It is great to see more international accreditations for Sekolah Ciputra.
Have a great week.
Martin Blackburn
Executive Principal
