Luka is one of our longest-standing students, he first joined Dover Court in August 2011. We met with him for a chat about the school and how it has both changed and managed to remain the same over the years. We also wanted to congratulate him on his outstanding maths results. Luka sat his IGCSE maths exam a year early and achieved a grade of 9. He is now looking forward to deepening his maths knowledge in the Further Maths course.
"I joined Dover Court 11 years ago. I was supposed to be in Reception but was moved into Year 1 due to lack of space, where I stayed for 2 years before going into Year 2 as normal. My first teacher was Miss Tess, who is still teaching at Dover Court. I stayed in the small group classes, or Pathway 2 as they are now called, until the second term of Year 4 when I moved to Pathway 1." Luka tells us.
Luka continues, "the things I remember the most about starting Dover Court are the friends I had back then and how different it is to now. The school was much smaller, many of the buildings and facilities we now have didn't exist, there weren't any projectors in the classrooms, the uniform was completely different and the Secondary students didn't even have lockers."
In 2014 Dover Court International School joined the Nord Anglia Education group of schools, something that Luka remembers clearly: "Over the last couple of years the school has grown and developed a lot. Despite these changes, DCIS has managed to keep a lot of things the same, and I believe inclusion is the one it has done the best. The school does this by having different Pathway classes for children with additional needs, where we are all part of the same school. By acknowledging and celebrating a range of awareness days for down syndrome, dyslexia, autism etc. the school also makes sure that everyone feels seen and included."
Luka continues, "on the topic of my GCSE maths results, it obviously required some work, but I feel that Mr Mainstone has supported my class by going through the topics in full detail and giving us time to practice questions on it so we know, understand how and can do them in exams."
A lot of Luka's fellow Year 11 friends are starting to get a bit nervous about their upcoming exams at the end of this academic year. Luka has a message for them. "As for sitting full exams, my best tips would be to plan time for revision and do some past papers on the Edexcel website. The advice to my friends, all in the same position: Don't worry about it. You're better than you think - you just need to keep calm and you can do it."
Ciaran Mainstone, Luka's maths teacher shares, “I’ve been Luka’s maths teacher for 4 years and I’m very lucky in that he loves the subject! He is extremely eager to learn and has a true mathematical passion. Nothing is too hard for him, he will simply work on something until he understands it and won’t let up until he does! He has fantastic resilience and determination! He recently scored a top grade IGCSE grade of a 9, a year early, so we’ve started on the Further Maths curriculum. I am sure we are going to see similar successes when these results come out! Thanks for being in my class Luka, you are a real asset!”
