Dear Parents, Teachers and Staff,

You may be aware we are hosting guests this week from the Indonesian Ministry of Education. The purpose of their accreditation is to confirm our status as an SPK school. Essentially, in order to be able to teach our international qualification, the International Baccalaureate we need to demonstrate our commitment to ensuring that our programme covers those areas considered vital by the Indonesian Ministry of Education. The particular focus of the visit are the subject areas of Religion, Bahasa Indonesia and Civics. We are obligated to ensure that our teachers are properly trained in the delivery of these subjects and that they are taught for a specified amount of time each week. This fits nicely with our school vision which is centred around the idea that our students are proud Indonesians who at the same time are internationally minded. Confirmation of our SPK status allows us to demonstrate both our pride in our national identity as well as the commitment to internationalism inherent in the phrase, possess the skills, integrity and resilience to participate in a changing global society.

Speaking of the capacity to participate in a changing global society, it is wonderful to note that following hard on the heels of our success at the World Scholars Cup tournament of champions at Yale, Siane Putri Tanudjaja in Grade 11 has won a gold medal at the National Young Scientist Awards. This is a stunning achievement. Congratulations to her and her coach Ms Kustiani. They have qualified for the international competition in Belgrade next year!

Have a great week.

Martin Blackburn