From the Principal 24.08.19

Dear KIS Community,

Welcome back and a very warm welcome to our new families. I trust you are all refreshed and well after the summer break. I am looking forward to an excellent year with you all; we have been joined by a fantastic group of new staff who have settled into the school already. Our calendar is busy with curricular and extra-curricular events and activities for all members of our vibrant and supportive community. We also have a visit in October from CIS (Council of International Schools) as part of our re-accreditation and more information will follow.

Our students have done extremely well in their examination results, the IGCSE and A levels results from the end of last year are very good and you can read about these in this newsletter in the secondary section by Mrs Renshaw. We are so proud of all our students’ achievements and thank you as Parents for supporting your children during their studies. Our thanks also to their teachers.

I am not sure where to start when describing the developments over the summer break. Certainly I need to express my sincere gratitude to Ms Elis Ho (Office Manager) and our team of office and ground staff for ensuring the school was ready to start earlier this week. The main highlights of work include, the enclosure of the sports hall with air-conditioning (many thanks to our Board of Governors), the painting of the secondary building, refurbishment of toilets, office spaces and the secondary locker area, development of our IT resources with laptops, Chromebooks, IPads and a 3D Printer to support the teaching and learning (including design & technology). There are other areas of the school where work has been completed such as the Sixth Form Centre being expanded and the School Shop having a face lift. I am sure many children will come back home excited and tell you more. All of this took place around a very successful (and first) Summer Camp at KIS; more news about how that went in the coming weeks.

As well as the physical developments, I would also like to introduce our Primary and Secondary Leadership Teams. Primary is led by Mrs Joanne Smith and supported by Mrs Amy Garrick (Head of KS1 & EYFS) and Ms Karen Wallace (Head of KS2). Secondary is led by Mrs Margaret Renshaw and Mr Ian Barker (Asst. Head of Secondary and Head of Sixth Form) with Ms Laura Jane Service (Head of KS4 Pastoral) and Mr Daniel Kelly (Head of KS3). These teams bring great energy to their respective sections and give greater potential for development and growth across the school. Please do contact them with any concerns or questions.

I am also very pleased to announce that from September we will have our own counsellor available at school, Ms Siti Naim. Her office is next to the Reception Class and she will be available to all members of our community. Ms Siti will also be arranging various workshops and lectures throughout the year for parents, students and staff. I am sure you will agree that this is a welcome addition for our school and another way we can support the wellbeing of our community.

To help with small payments in the office for things like trips, pass club and ECAs etc. we have introduced the use of Boost (mobile wallet), if the use of Boost is sufficient we will look to introduce it to support payment across other areas of the school. We will also be introducing the use of WhatsApp as a tool for communication and a separate letter will be sent regarding this. Ms Melissa (in the front office) is responsible for communications, please make sure she has your correct contact details. Also this year, Ms Melissa will be overseeing the ECAs.

Finally, a reminder, many of us have been away from home and travelling through the summer break. This brings us into contact with many other people and environments. Often it is easy to pick up an illness along the way. Please check your children for signs of illness and take them to the doctor before bringing them into school.

It’s been great seeing you these past few days, but for now I wish you all a lovely weekend.

Ian Gross
Principal