These are extraordinary times and we are all part of a truly extraordinary community.
This isn’t the start to the academic year that any of us hoped for, but it is one which we have planned for over many weeks. And – working together with our community – it will be a start which is based on the guiding principle of doing what is best for the learning of the students, and keeping all safe and healthy. I am proud to be part of this community responding with tremendous resilience to the challenges of COVID-19 and yet embracing the opportunities which any new academic year offers.
A big part of our planning has been how we work together in partnership – school, parents and students – coming together whatever the challenge. This video from Australia sums up the importance of partnership between school and parents very neatly, and shows the benefits of working together for lasting change and positive impact. Relationships are central to learning and many consider the relationship between parents and the school is just as vital in supporting student learning as that between students and teachers.
Many of us will have spent this summer exploring and researching the big issues facing our community: my last blog was about the catalyst of BlackLivesMatter, the work being done in the College to address racism, and our wider DEI work. I am no exception: less travel has definitely led to more time for reflection and exploration and I look forward to sharing more of this in due course.
As we head towards National Day this weekend, and Singapore’s 55th birthday, I am struck more and more by what an extraordinary place Singapore is, managing a careful, cautious response to the COVID-19 crisis and already promoting a sense of optimism and recovery, focusing on the positives of building back better, and building back green.
There is an incredible, rich diversity in Singapore which has always been about nation building and fostering a community spirit and a shared response to shared challenge. As a College, we have always been proud contributors to Singapore and partners in the nation’s economic development and, as ‘the place which made us’, our home Singapore is an integral part of our identity. We will be exploring that identity further as we actively plan our celebrations for our 50th anniversary.
50 years on from the College’s birth, we are once again asking ourselves what kind of world we want to live in, what kind of world we want to shape through education and learning, and by promoting international understanding and trust. As one College with many cultures, and with our strong mission to act as our compass in the choices we make, this will be an opportunity to celebrate our diversity and reignite our mission, as well as launching our student-centric vision for the future College.
Looking forward to bringing you into these discussions soon.
Carma