Message from the Principal

It is the last day of the academic year for our primary and secondary students, and it is always a time of mixed emotions.  We are glad to have made it to the end of a chapter of the learning journey and all of its’ successes, we feel sad that some of our friends and teachers are moving on, and we are excited about the summer holiday and looking forward to next year and what it may bring.

We would like to wish all families that are leaving us this summer good luck and we send you our best wishes for the future.  Colleagues that are leaving this year include Mr. Richard and Mrs. Maude Wilkinson, Ms. Katie Woods, Ms. Emma Colling, Ms. Jodie Bromby, Mr. Kent and Mrs. Stephanie Watkins, Ms. Victoria Robinson, Mr. Eric Rutherford, Mr. Rence Rico, Mr. Thomas and Mrs. Cansu George, Frau Simone Eckstein, Mr. William Saulnier, Ms. Chloe Shill, Ms. Livia Li and Ms. Rowling Luo.  Many of these colleagues have spent a number of years with our school and we thank them for their hard work and service to our school community. We wish them all success in their next move.

As we have discussed, we have planned for a range of scenarios for August, depending on the situation with the border for foreign nationals, which affects our families and teachers overseas, as well as our new teachers.  If the borders are fully open and the embassies and consulates abroad are issuing new travel visas, then we will be fully staffed from our first day.  If the border remains as it is, we are still able to open with qualified and experienced staff leading the learning in each year group.  We will begin as follows – however please note this may change depending later on the border situation, the total number of students for each year group in Chengdu and we will continually assess and review what we can do.

We also have a new Lower Primary teacher, Mr. Ryan McKinnon*, and we will continue to have our SENCo, Ms. Patricia Williams, available and support from our EAL team.  Ms. Cheena Sotto and Ms. Silvia Zhang will be here to provide music lessons and Mr. Scofield Guo will lead learning in PE.  We will of course have a full complement of Teaching Assistants and Childcare Workers, so vital for our youngest children.  I have attached short introductions to three of our new teachers, who are in China already and will be here for our first day in August.  Please bear in mind, this plan is based on our current student enrollment status and you may notice the change with the number of classes for each year group. We would encourage you to confirm your re-enrollment plan with our admission office as early as possible if you haven’t done so, therefore we can make changes and plan accordingly if there is a need to add an additional class in different year groups. 

When the borders reopen and our families and teaching colleagues can return, we are  pleased that Mrs. Carina Corey, Ms. Erika Robinet, Ms. Kyla Kin, Ms. Bronwyn Jacobs, Mr. Ben Lepp, Mr. Alec Riley, Ms. Deondra Richey and Ms. Tessa Butler are committed to returning to our school and to be teaching our students again.  When the borders do reopen, it may necessitate a rearrangement of classes in each year group to ensure we retain a balance of nationality, of gender and of ability. For primary students not able to return by then, our teachers overseas will continue to provide virtual school support for the continuity of their high-quality learning.

For our Secondary students we have planned for a blended approach in August.  This means that our teachers on campus will be supplemented by teachers overseas, providing live teaching in every class as timetabled.   For more detailed information, please see the update from our Head of Secondary, Mr. Steven Pass.

It has been an exceptional year in many ways.  We will continue to send updates throughout the summer, sharing news and developments as we have them.  Our Early Years students remain in school until July 24^th, and I greatly appreciate all of the staff working through their summer holiday in order to be able to continue to deliver great educational experiences and high-quality learning for those children.  We remain committed to enabling your child to be the best they can be and for them to exceed their expectations academically, socially and personally.

Have a great summer, and I look forward to seeing many of you when we return in August.


Tom Ferguson