Dear Parents,

We are ending May together and about to enter a short holiday period and I trust you are all well. I have been talking to many of you on the phone and it is always a pleasure to make contact and to speak to you, and I have really enjoyed our conversations.

This week we celebrated Teachers’ Day and I want to thank all of you who sent messages and videos to myself and to my colleagues. They were indeed heartwarming and touching and a reminder of the intangible reasons we do this job. The community reached out and touched us with your kindness. Thank you for this.

Another major positive is the news that both TIS schools have been awarded the first Quantum Learning Designated School in the world (QLDS). This QLDS award is in recognition of the hard work put in by our teachers to improve their impact, and by doing so to improve the school in the last two years or so. This is a major achievement and I reiterate here once again that I have seen lessons and teaching by our local teachers that would not be out of place in the best schools in the world. This is a testament to their willingness, adaptability and hard work. We are all very proud to have achieved this, but this is not the end of the journey, just the beginning.

In other areas, you will read that in Secondary they are preparing and gearing up for the Year 9 option process. Mr Mike in his section will discuss this more. In Primary, just as in the last holiday period, our teachers will be offering some activities for our students.

Finally, we are all waiting with bated breath for the Government to announce the lifting of restrictions for schools and behind the scenes we are preparing for the eventuality when schools will reopen but of course with safety being at the forefront. There will be a lot more of this in the coming weeks and you will be told well in advance of our operating procedures.