Message from the Principal

Dear parents,

I hope that you have all had an enjoyable weekend and that no one was too adversely affected by the heavy rain on Saturday. It was quite a day, and my thoughts go to those whose homes and communities were overcome by flooding.

As Principal there is always much to celebrate when it comes to the achievements and successes of our students. Last week was no exception, and here are two fabulous examples of student’s success well worth celebrating.

CIS Academic Challenge winners!
I was very fortunate to be able to accompany a group of four Year 12 students to Chengdu last week, and on Friday they took part in the NAE China International School’s Academic Challenge Final. Having battled their way through the virtual qualifiers, quarter and semi-finals, our team were given the opportunity to go head-to-head against the host team from Léman International School, and to spend some time visiting the school and the city of Chengdu. Over 4 nail-biting rounds on Friday both teams remained neck-and-neck with no team giving way to the other, with each student showing the audience their exceptional general knowledge and subject intellect to keep the scores level and their team in the contest.

It wasn’t until in the final question that our resilient team from Hong Kong finally took the competition, becoming this year’s Academic Challenge champions. Congratulations go to our victorious team members Jasmine, Rylan, Bronte, and Mattea. Huge thanks also goes to Head of Key Stage Four, Ms Ashleigh Rankin who has supported the team throughout the competition and accompanied them on the trip Chengdu last week.

As part of the visit, our students were also able to participate in Léman International School’s Diversity Day, their version of our International Day, and spend time walking through the Jinli historical area within Chengdu and visiting the Chengdu Panda Research Base, a particular highlight for everyone!

Having been fortunate to be able to accompany the group on the trip I was immensely proud of their achievements, and how well they represented our school. I am constantly impressed not only by the enthusiasm, energy, and vibrancy of our students, but also by their oracy, maturity and ability to engage and interact confidently with adults of all ages. Simply superb!

Global Campus Young Musician of the Year
Another “warm glow, feel good” experience last week was the release of our prizewinners in Nord Anglia Educations annual Young Musician of the year competition. Held virtually each year, the contest attracts the very best musical talent from around the NAE globe, and with over 750 entrants this year, from over 65 schools located around the world, the competition itself was always going to be a challenging one.

Students were able to enter a range of categories within either Classical or Popular music and could enter as an individual or part of a group or ensemble. We are very proud of all who entered, and particularly pleased to announce those students who were successful in being awarded a place within the top three in their category.

They are:

Many congratulations to all our winners, and grateful thanks to all parents and carers for their fabulous encouragement and support during the Young Musician competition, and to the Music department for their encouragement, support, and guidance. I am sure that you will agree that this is an exceptionally strong outcome for each of the students named above given the number of entries this year. We are extremely proud of these winners and all the students who took part this year. I look forward to many similar successes in the year ahead.

There is much more to celebrate within our individual campuses across the wide range of activities, I hope that you will enjoy dipping into each of our Head of School updates this week.

Wishing you all a very successful week ahead.

Kind regards,

Kenny Duncan
Principal