Dear Parents

What does the word proud mean:

adjective - Feeling deep pleasure or satisfaction as a result of one's own achievements, qualities, or possessions or those of someone with whom one is closely associated.

‘a proud grandma of three boys’

‘she got nine passes and he was so proud of her’

Is it not funny how we always associate the word proud with being a parent/family member or exam results? As a mother, teacher and a member of the Senior Leadership Team at Oryx International School, I can truly say that I felt proud in these three different roles!

As a mother, I was delighted to have been invited to my sons' termly celebrations, parents' consultations and watch them grow into confident, literate students. I am proud of their achievements but also of our proactive PTSA who will always offer to help our school and our children in growing into our community.

Being a teacher has never been a mere job but a vocation, something that impacts not only on one's life but on others! As such, I found that teaching my classes at Oryx on a daily basis is one thing that I always look forward to. I celebrate the window of opportunity it gives me, to be able to see a student's face and eyes brighten up with an "Ahhhhh!" when they understand something. I am also eager to be part of our first set of IGCSE results in 2020 and witness the joyous and proud moment in which students find out their grades, knowing that I will have had a direct impact on them.

There are many times that I stop and reflect on what has been achieved since our opening in September 2018, and I always marvel on how much we have achieved in just over half a year! Of course, my list of what to do as the Assistant Head of Secondary has no limit and I always ponder what's next? How can we make sure all of our students thrive and bloom today, tomorrow and in their future? How can we progress to make sure we are five-star school in everything we do? I was particularly proud of two of our secondary students this week when presenting them with their certificates. Nurin in Year 8 achieved an International Award via GCSEPOD for the student who created the most playlists to revise for her examinations and Sean in Year 10 who enrolled in an university course and passed his first module on Java Programming. This university diploma leads towards a career in software development! Well done to both these students on their excellent achievements.

Guiding our children/students to the correct path and aiding them in making the correct decision without crushing their creativity is the biggest challenge in an educator/parent's life. We would like to ensure that you are given as much advice to support your child in the upcoming years or months in choosing who they want to become. As such, you are invited to two parent consultations in March:

  • Sunday 17th March: Choosing the right subject options.

During this session we will explore our subscribed software https://www.unifrog.org/ and how you can use this to discover all avenues for the future of your child

  • Sunday 24th March: IGCSE Curriculum mapping, what’s next?

This session will focus on Oryx option blocks for Year 9 students and we will discuss how we can guide and support you in helping your child choose the correct subjects for Year 10.

If you cannot join us for these parent workshops, please be aware that the presentation will be available in the parent portal.

Regards,

Mrs Nadege Johal (AKA -the proud mother, teacher and Assistant Head teacher Secondary)