Friday, 15th January 2016
Whole School Newsletter

Alison Cobbin - Head of School

Thank you to everyone for the very warm welcome I have received on my return to Dwight School London. I have had a busy but enjoyable time getting reacquainted with the school and meeting many new people. There are still many more people to meet and I hope to have the opportunity to meet you all in the near future  

I have been particularly delighted to be back in an IBO World School. The distinct ethos of the IB programmes permeates the fabric of the school and enables Dwight students to have a meaningful learning experience. In my first staff meeting I was pleased to hear the Upper School teachers planning interdisciplinary units and discussing ways they can help students connect their learning across different subject areas. Visiting Lower School classrooms has been a real pleasure and as a secondary school teacher it is a learning experience for me. The enthusiasm of the young learners is in evidence all around and I have been touched by their openness in talking to me and sharing their experiences of school. The friendly and relaxed interaction between staff and students throughout the school is a real credit to the school community and a distinctive aspect of the Dwight School London ethos.

The Three Pillars
At the centre of any school is its vision and values. As an IB school the Learner Profile underpins all three of the IB Programmes that we offer and this is an essential part of who we are as a school. The learner profile is one of the ways that IB schools distinguish themselves from other schools; there is a very clear understanding that we value the caliber of the individual and we seek to nurture our young people so that they become adults of good character with a diverse range of life skills rather than having a narrow focus on academic achievement.

As a Dwight School our vision is also built on the three pillars: Personalised Learning, Community and Global Vision. I have already seen many examples of the three pillars in action around the school: discussions about the needs and strengths of individual students, leadership and collaboration in the classrooms and playgrounds and a desire for action about real life issues of global importance. It is reassuring to witness first hand that this is a genuine part of the Dwight School London experience.

Earth Day
One of the first students I met was Ion in M4. Ion is a member of the Upper School Student Council and he spoke to me about a project that he has been working on with students from all the Dwight Schools in preparation for Earth Day on 22nd April. He has been having Skype calls with Dwight students across time zones to discuss what we can do to mark the day. He then interviewed me about what we could do here for the environment in order to support a Dwight Seoul student with his personal project. It was very encouraging to hear him talking about the concern our young people have for the environment and to hear of the collaboration and support between Dwight students in different parts of the world.  

School Year Calendar
The Senior Leadership team has been looking at our term dates and comparing them to other schools offering IB programmes. As the Diploma exams take place in May, schools who start their academic year earlier are securing up to four extra weeks of teaching time for D2 students. As Dwight currently follows a British, rather than international school calendar, our D2 students have a relatively short school year. For this reason we are considering changing our school year to be more in-line with other international schools and will be providing more information for you about this in the near future.

Wishing you an enjoyable weekend.

Kind regards

Alison Cobbin
Head of School

David Rose - Director's Blog

In the UK, successful football/soccer managers don’t retire – they become Directors of Football. It is said that they ‘move upstairs’ away from the daily management of the club to let new ideas flourish and to let younger and fitter professionals take their place. However, they are still there to give advice based on their experience and knowledge and they keep a close overview of what is going on.

That analogy suits me quite well – I have literally moved upstairs to a new office at the Jubilee Hall with Alison Cobbin as the incoming Head of School taking over my office and many of my responsibilities.

I started teaching in 1973 and I took on my first Head of School role in 1992 and as a footballer can move from club to club, I moved from school to school. Like an international player I moved between UK - Sweden – Pakistan – Germany – Cyprus – the US and then came back to the UK to Dwight in 2005.

I enjoy watching football and my team is Ipswich Town, who, back in the 1980s were a highly-ranked English team, winning what is now called the Europa Cup. They have been managed by two of England’s most successful managers – Sir Alf Ramsey, who managed England to the famous World Cup victory in 1966 and the hugely respected Sir Bobby Robson. Ipswich Town are well-known as a friendly, family-based club who play attractive football and nowadays they are in the second tier of English football, the Championship, and they are fighting for promotion.

I see quite a few parallels between them and Dwight – they were innovative, bringing some of the first overseas players to the UK – Arnold Mühren and Frans Thijssen; they developed a great youth programme; they needed to be creative to survive and they built a very supportive and inclusive community around the club.

Before I ‘hang up my boots’ there is still a lot that I would like Dwight School London to achieve so that it can be fully recognised as a premiership school!

OTHER NEWS

  • Rehearsals are in full swing for our Upper School musicians as they prepare for their trip to New York at the end of this month Mr. Kraft and Ms. Thomas and our talented musicians will be flying to New York for a week of rehearsals and collaboration with Dwight Seoul, Shanghai and New York, culminating with an exciting performance at Carnegie Hall on 6th February.

Upcoming Events

Monday, 18th January
6pm - Ski trip information meeting
Jubilee Hall

Tuesday, 19th January
Y5 & Y6 football match vs
Hereward House
6.30pm Diploma Tennessee
Williams Drama Adaption

 

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