Message from the Head of First School

This year, as part of Founder’s Day, our theme for the NLCS family of schools was “Reflection,” a word that may not immediately be one that our First School students understand or identify with, but is in fact something that is central to their day to day experiences in school.

Our students, over the whole year, have once again demonstrated their eagerness to learn with the help of dedicated and passionate staff, who have worked tirelessly to ensure that every single one of the students has the opportunity to reach their full potential. A key way of achieving this is through regular reflection – the staff reflecting on how a lesson is progressing and adjusting where needed, the students reflecting on their completed pieces of work and responding to feedback, students reflecting on their key learning towards the end of each Unit of Inquiry and sharing this with our parents as part of their exhibitions. Every year, the standard of work and activities shared as part of our exhibitions continues to grow, and I look forward to seeing quite how the students (and staff!) will share their enthusiasm for the Units of Inquiry next year.

The year, we launched our First School Council, with representatives from Pre-KG all the way through to Grade 1 and they have asked their fellow students to reflect on how they would like to improve aspects of School. We have had some very actionable suggestions, along with some ambitious ideas of waterslides in the swimming pool and every surface covered with a Lego wall – you can certainly tell the passions of our students!

New passions have been fostered through our ever-expanding enrichment activities that take place in the last period of the day. I know that the students genuinely delight in being able to “try themselves out” and our external providers regularly comment on how focused and committed the students are in their sessions. We have a very talented staff body, and for them to able to share their interests with the students across the Grades, rather than their own class, really helps to further nurture relationships. My passion is for drawing, and asking the students what they would like to draw each week, or the themes they would like to cover, has certainly made me develop my own skills too!

This has been my first year of experiencing Sports Day with parents able to attend, since I, like many here at NLCS, joined our school during the pandemic. What an event this was! Even our rain impacted Pre-KG event, couldn’t dampen the wonderful encouragement that our students had from the parent body, and the competition was certainly strong to see which House would succeed overall. What stood out the most though, was the supportive ethos amongst the students, and how they really did cheer for and support each other.

Reflecting on the year that has passed, has made me very much look forward to seeing what the coming school year will bring - I know for sure it will be another one filled with many success for all.

Rebecca Fernandes Head of First School NLCS Dubai