By Lucy M. Gowdie, Head of School
While we know that the learning opportunities we provide our students are rich in the classroom, we are a school that is committed to the extra-curricular learning journey of our students.
Over the past six months, the school has worked to review and reflect upon the opportunities we provide our students outside of the classroom, to make sense of their world and to learn what it is they love doing.
We have considered where our strengths lie as a school and have assessed the structure of our systems. In capturing the uniqueness of our identity, we are excited to have defined the structure of our Student Life Programme and to advance this through preparations being made now for the start of next year.
We are a school whose mission is centred on every member of our community being challenged to achieve their potential, pursue their passion, and fulfil their responsibilities. We believe that across these portfolios we will drive determinedly towards these goals, by providing for our young people the opportunities they deserve to find themselves and develop their skills accordingly.
At the heart of who we are is our commitment to living a responsible life, which is at the nucleus of service learning. From Round Square to Gemeinde Associations, to the high Himalayas - creating a whole school strategy for service learning has enabled us to truly live out the philosophy of the IB. At ICS we strive to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through education that builds intercultural understanding and respect.
The evolution of our Clubs will continue this year, with a refinement of our Programmes and a recalibration of what constitutes a meaningful learning experience. We are excited to share this offering with you prior to the conclusion of this year. Clubs for our school are never babysitting endeavours, rather they are meaningful, purposeful experiences that build upon the notion of inquiry for our young people and advance their thinking and curiosity.
"Our students will have the opportunity to compete across Europe so as to live out our belief that we create champion people through sport, not just champion sports people."
With a long tradition in Athletics and Team Sports, we are excited to announce that over the past six months a number of schools across Europe have worked assiduously to reinvent the SCIS Tournament programme, and ICS has been at the centre of these discussions. Our students will have the opportunity to compete across Europe so as to live out our belief that we create champion people through sport, not just champion sports people. We are excited to share more information about this at the commencement of the new academic year. We also look forward to sharing with you the possibilities of the local inter-school sports programme, one where schools around Zumikon will play friendly matches with our students over the course of the year, building community connections for our young people.
The ties that bind our school together, the experiences our children have, are sewn together by the strength of the culture that we commit to. I am proud that we have a staff committed to the whole student experience, and that we have started our journey towards a new horizon of opportunities.