Fresh from the hubbub of an extraordinarily well-attended Open Day, we returned to the marking of One World Week and a sequence of considerably more intimate engagements, to include the hosting of a group of parent advocates at the Hong Kong Club in the inimitable company of our Chair, Bernard Chan.

Having also released a series of strategic updates to parents, I conclude the week in Bangkok and at the Federation of British International Schools in Asia (FOBISIA) Headquarters as part of a small working party on a mission to further refine the aspirations of a group almost 100-strong.

Next week, we look forward to welcoming a small team of colleagues from Thailand onto campus for two days. Punctuated by a public holiday, I'm also hopeful of making significant inroads into a report for Governors ahead of our meeting at the end of May.

The triumphant return of students on Monday marked the opening of a third and final term of the academic year. Engagements with the Shrewsbury Parents Association, friends at JP Morgan and a number of esteemed colleagues at Greenfield and Busy Bee Kindergartens have certainly kept me occupied and we now look ahead to the hosting of an Open House tomorrow morning.

If you are yet to register for the event and are keen to learn more about the many unique advantages of a Shrewsbury education, you can do so here.

Our return will see the opening of One World Week. It will also provide an opportunity for us to engage informally with parents over coffee and involve a brief trip to Bangkok so as to form part of a small working party responsible for the formation of a strategic plan for the Federation of British International Schools in Asia. An engagement with the School Management Committee will also feature alongside the delivery of our first Parent Workshop of the term, centring upon the many ways in which we might support the development of financial literacy.

A week out of the region and minds are now turning to Monday 15th April and the start of a third and final term of the current academic year.

A flurry of engagements with parents, to include an Open Day, Coffee Morning, Parent Workshop and Advocacy Dinner, will mark our return, as will One World Week and United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 13: Climate Action.

Having spent the first week of the Spring break working alongside the Operational team on the drafting of a School Development Plan for the Education Bureau, the finalisation of a letter for parents scheduled for delivery early next term and the fine tuning of an assembly on the subject of climate change and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, I now look forward to a week long break outside of the region with my wife and two young boys.

Students return on Monday 15th April and have plenty to look forward to. For our Year 6 cohort, it will be a final run, as they journey towards graduation and transition into a typically spectacular selection of secondary schools. They will be lucky to have them.

With the hosting of a special football tournament marking the end of our second term, a House Point update took centre stage and with it news that 2021 Champions, Hook House, are currently in pole position to be crowned winners of the 2024 House Cup. They sit just five points ahead of their nearest competitor however, in a more precarious than definitive position given the number of points still available to competing teams.

A positive series of engagements with the Education Bureau and the firming of plans for an upcoming engagement with friends at JP Morgan also featured, alongside the launch of registration for an Open Day to take place on Saturday 20th April.

A two week break ahead, we return on Monday 15th April. News on the refreshment of our Parent Portal and the restructuring of academic reports will follow soon after. A coffee morning with parents, the resumption of our Parent Workshop programme and the marking of One World Week also feature early on, alongside the return of an assembly series marking our commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. 

Able to draw my week to a close in the esteemed company of fellow school leaders at the annual Federation of British International Schools in Asia Heads' Business Meeting, the final leg of a typically productive term now lies ahead. Scheduled to conclude with the celebratory marking of a House Day and receipt of an update on the race to be crowned House Champions, the Spring break is now on the horizon.

The time away will allow for rest and reflection. We return on Monday 15th April and have a great deal to look forward to, as we journey steadily towards the acknowledgement of an exceptional graduation class.

An Open House event, to be hosted on 20th April, will mark our return and with it an opportunity to engage the local community on the myriad of benefits associated with the uptake of a Shrewsbury education. Those keen to join us on the day are warmly encouraged to register here. 

The hosting of a spirited debate between representatives from Harrow, Kellett, Malvern College and Nord Anglia about the relative benefits of A-Level and IBDP study for parents of students assigned to Key Stage 2 stood particularly prominently among similarly engaging interactions with the Shrewsbury Parents Association and members of the Education Committee at the British Council this week. With students in Year 3 having safely returned from their very first overnight educational visit earlier this afternoon, we now look forward to what promises to be a productive two weeks prior to the eventual conclusion of what has been an exceptionally productive second term.

Whilst the presentation of a dramatic performance by students in Year 2 classes is likely to eclipse all else next week, I also look forward to joining the latest in our series of parent workshops and engaging with the School Management Committee, before heading off to Vietnam for a our first ever meeting as a full member of the Federation of British International Schools (FOBISIA). With a change in status inspired by our recent successes with the Council of International Schools (CIS), I very much look forward to reconnecting with colleagues once more and to exploring the many ways in which our association brings value to the school communities we serve.

The fantastic (and fantastical) marking of Book Week culminated in the physical embodiment of an eclectic selection of adjectives today, drawing a week jam-packed with literary inspiration to a rather satisfying conclusion.

Able to conclude a second phase of Parent Teacher Conferences, the onset of formal lesson observations and an engagement with members of the Student Council centring upon the reviewal of our Guiding Statements also stand prominently in the mind, with more adventure to follow.

Next week, we look forward to hosting representatives from Harrow, Kellett, Malvern College and Nord Anglia in a debate about the relative benefits of A-Level and IBDP study, while students in Year 3 set off on an overnight educational visit in Sai Kung. I also look forward to gathering with the Shrewsbury Parents Association and reconnecting with members of the Education Committee at the British Council.

A meeting with the Board of Governors and the review of our recent successes with the Council of International School took centre stage this week. Having highlighted student attainment, educational leadership, the constitution of Governance, the collation and utilisation of student views, our approach to safeguarding, the management of health and safety and standards of communication as strengths worthy of particular recognition, we were able to revel in the contents of a report which will now act to drive us further forward, recommendations securely positioned within an operational plan.

The hosting of Parent Teacher Conferences and an enlightening evening with an exceptionally talented group of musicians alongside one of our founding graduates also featured prominently, as we now look ahead to the engagement of prospective families at an international school fair tomorrow morning.

Next week, we conclude Parent Teacher Conferences, host a digital campus tour and mark the onset of a second phase of formal lesson observations which acts as part of a wider commitment to quality assurance.

Fresh from their mid-term break, students bounced back in on Monday for another productive week marked most notably by the departure and return of those in Year 4, who were away on an extended educational visit. They return tired and muddy-kneed, but alert and engaged, having grown considerably during their time in Cheung Chau.

The week also allowed for an engagement with the School Management Committee and the full review of our Operational Plan, a detailed document that acts in support of the delivery of a Strategic Plan entitled Together We Flourish, in preparation for a meeting with our Board of Governors next week. They'll land amidst Parent Teacher Conference season and shortly after the delivery of our second Primary Recital Concert of the year.

Having marked the arrival of the Year of the Dragon with a spectacular and vibrant display, we now look ahead to the return of students on Monday 19th February and the second half of what has already proven to be a thrilling second term.

Students in Year 3 and 4 will take to the road for educational visits featuring an overnight stay, Key Stage 2 teams will take part in two separate football fixtures and those in Year 2 will host a dramatic performance in the Auditorium. The Board of Governors will be with us before the end of February and Book Week lands early in March. A brief trip to Vietnam for a Heads Conference with the Federation of British International Schools in Asia will lead me neatly towards what is sure to be a well earned Spring break.

Able to draw the first half of our second term to a conclusion with a series of vibrant displays marking the arrival of Chinese New Year, I reflect with great satisfaction upon the camaraderie evidenced. Events on campus brought students, parents and staff together in celebration of the Dragon.

News of our successful accreditation with the Council of International Schools landed in perfect synchronicity and with it commendation for the quality of relationships we share and the achievement they inspire.

We return on Monday 19th February to parent conferences, football fixtures, class assemblies, a recital concert, book week and much, much more. With personal refreshment forecast, I hope that parents are able to regather over the course of the upcoming break, whether they choose to spend it here in Hong Kong or further afield.