As we approach the end of term and, I hope for all of us, some time with our friends and families, I reflect on another successful and exciting term. I would like to thank all of you that have committed to helping our growing need to be mindful and thoughtful of how we travel to school. The new drop off outside the school has worked well and I am looking at further options to ease traffic as we move into next year. As you will have seen from the evaluation I sent to you all, our second year of operation was full of a great many achievements for our students and the school as a whole.
It has been very exciting to see the progress the students are making in all areas of the curriculum, with parents and teachers reporting on the successes in the classroom. I have been very impressed with the new teachers who joined us in September. The Senior Team have enjoyed observing all of the new staff this term and working with them on contributing to our special academic ethos of ‘creating floors not celings’. Our academic enrichment programme continues to grow and develop, with students taking the lead on academic clubs and societies. We have had an array of external speakers in to speak to the students this term, including talks on University entrance, both US and UK; a visit from a Paralympian competing in the World Athletics Championships being held in Dubai and a powerful presentation on Internet Safety to all our students and parents.
We had the pleasure of welcoming Mrs. Sarah Clark, the Headmistress of NLCS (UK), to Dubai for a ground breaking ceremony at the beginning of November. We had many guests attend, including a team from KHDA and our partners Sobha. Mrs. Sarah Clark joined me for the School in Action with prospective parents and also had a tour of the school with students. I then managed to squeeze in a visit to the Burj Khalifa before she jetted off to our school in Singapore the following morning.
The new build has begun and with the crane now installed, work will progress towards a completion date next summer. This is a very exciting time for the school as we grow and expand. We will be able to spread out into the extension next September with more First School and Lower School classrooms, Grade 11 and 12 (6th Form) seminar style teaching areas, a designated 6th form area and new senior classrooms, including further science laboratories.
Our Junior School Library has moved to a more central location and has been renamed the Buss Library, sharing the name of the original library at our London school. In its place, we have a room used for a variety of events, such as prospective parent talks and presentations, which we have called the McCabe Room. This is in memory of Mrs. Bernice McCabe, Headmistress of NLCS (UK) and the inspiration for our family of international schools.
Our third National Day was the best we have had so far. It was a wonderful celebration of Emirati culture, with food and activities for the whole community to enjoy. My special thanks go to the parent group who masterminded the day with Mr. May and the Arabic department (see the full report below).
There are a number of exciting events next term including the Winter Fayre, which will be held next term on 25th January from midday on the main sports pitch, and the International Picnic on 12th March. Next term will finish with Founder’s Day on Thursday 26th March.
Have a wonderful break and I look forward to seeing you all back on January 5th.
Best wishes, James Monaghan Principal
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