This Week's News from Alison Cobbin, Head of School

December is always a busy time in schools. With the autumn term coming to a close you can be certain of many opportunities to exercise festive spirits and to sample mince pies. This December has certainly not disappointed in this regard. In the past week we enjoyed the Lower School Winter Wonderland Fair, the EYFS performance of The Snowman at Sunset, The Upper School Winter Concert, end of term assemblies and numerous class parties. It has been a great joy to celebrate the festive season with the Dwight Community and I hope that all of you have had the opportunity to join in the festivities.

Aside from the festivities it has also been a busy time for learning across the school. There have been many educational visits taking place, with trips to museums, art galleries, theatres, workshops and Bletchley Park to name but a few.

Special congratulations should go to our D2 students who have organised and hosted the first Dwight London Mini Model United Nations conference. The conference took place in the Jubilee building and it was inspiring to see students from Dwight and other London schools debating issues of international significance in a formal, structured setting. This conference was entirely organised and run by Dwight Students, who demonstrated excellent organisational, time management and collaboration skills. Well done to Aaron, Zaki, Jack, Elias, Maya and Chiara who led the group.

Learner Profile Art Competition
At the start of this term I invited students from both the Upper and Lower School to submit entries for the Learner Profile Art Competiton. The aim was to produce a set of ten postcards featuring the ten IB Learner Profiles. I am delighted to be able to announce the winners:

Raghveer Y3 - Knowledgeable
Shion Y6 - Communicator
Ahro Y3 - Risk-Taker
Seulbi Y5 - Open-Minded
Theano M3 - Reflective
Tarkan M4 - Principled
Nelly M2 - Thinker
Michaela M3 - Caring
Yoav M3 - Inquirer
Noah M1 - Balanced

Congratulations to all the winning entries, which will be made into postcards and displayed around the school.

Where to go for help
With so many helpful people in the school it is sometimes difficult to know who to ask when you have a question or concern about school. We have created the flowcharts found at the end of this newsletter to help you decide who to go to if you have a question or concern.

Thank You
It is hard to believe that I have now completed a whole calendar year as Head of Dwight School London. Thank you to the staff and parents for making me very welcome and for supporting me through out the year. I have been very impressed with the willingness of the school community to work together for the benefit of the school. A special thank you to the students at Dwight, who remind me every day what a privilege and joy it is to work with young people.

Best wishes to everyone for a happy, safe and refreshing winter break. I look forward to working with you all again in 2017.

Alison Cobbin

Head of School