Wave Leadership Edition Aug 2016

Inspiration

Integrity

Achievement

Special Edition

LEADERSHIP NEWS TKS Leadership from left to right: Leny De Ruijter - Elementary Principal, Justin Somerville - Kindergarten Principal, Madeleine Hewitt - Director, Jeffrey Woodcock - Asst. Elementary Principal , David Tichgelaar - Secondary Principal, Anne Mills - Admissions Director, Dwane Harris - Asst. Secondary Principal , Jessica Dalton - Asst. Kindergarten Principal

Leadership transitions are underway at the KAUST School In March Board Chair Nadhmi al Nasr, announced that Principal Leny de Ruijter will assume the position of School Director when Maddy Hewitt leaves in June 2017. Being actively involved with the School’s strategic development, the TKS Board of Education saw the opportunity to appoint Leny with her proven track record, to lead the school forward.

This special edition of The WAVE is to communicate our leadership shifts and the transition plan that will allow Leny to smoothly assume the helm and for the school to undergo healthy transitions at every level.

Whole School Leadership The school is very fortunate that the Board has endorsed a transition period for Maddy and Leny during the Second Semester. During the transition Leny will assume the Director position in January 2017 while Maddy continues on at TKS as Advisor to Leny and the senior leadership team.

Leny had previously accepted a lateral transfer to the Elementary School Principal position, to replace Kyle Brewerton and she will continue with this role for Semester One, from August 2016-January 2017. The school has appointed Assistant Principal Jeffrey Woodcock to the Elementary Principal role in January.

Leny’s Note is available on page 4. A simple diagram on the next page shows the leadership transition for 2016/17.

TKS Leadership Transition Madeleine Hewitt

August 2016 January 2017 2016/17

Director TKS

Justin Somerville

Leny de Ruijter

David Tigchelaar

Principal KG

Principal GES

Principal GSS

Jessica Dalton

Jeffrey Woodcock

Assistant Principal KG

Assistant Principal GES

Dwane Harris Assistant Principal GSS

TKS Leadership Transition January to June 2017

Justin Somerville Principal KG

Jessica Dalton Assistant Principal KG

Leny de Ruijter TKS Director

Jeffrey Woodcock Principal GES

Jon Davidson

Assistant Principal GES (Acting)

Madeleine Hewitt

David Tigchelaar Principal GSS

Dwane Harris Assistant Principal GSS

Kindergarten Justin Somerville now takes up the position of Kindergarten Principal serving K1-3. Justin comes with nine years in School Administration, seven of them serving as an Intermediate Principal in New Zealand. He joined TKS in 2013 as a founding Pedagogical Coordinator for the Elementary School. In 2014, Justin embraced the opportunity to become the Early Childhood Assistant Principal, committing to Reggio Emilia and PYP Training, familiarizing himself with the Reggio Emilia philosophy. Justin holds a BEd and Diploma of Teaching from New Zealand.

Jessica Dalton, steps into the role of Kindergarten Assistant Principal. Having already served as the ECC PYP Coordinator, Jessica Dalton is well suited to take the combined role of Assistant Principal and Kindergarten PYP Coordinator. Jessica has an Early Years background and sixteen years of experience within International Schools. She has served as the TKS PYP Coordinator for three years, two inclusive of ECC. Jessica holds an MA in Curriculum and Teaching as well as a Principal Training Center (PTC) Certificate.

Note from Justin Somerville ECC Principal Dear Parents, Welcome back to another exciting school year!

I am really excited about my new role as the Kindergarten Principal at The KAUST School.

This is a wonderful opportunity to lead a highly skilled staff in providing a world class early childhood education program.

I believe in the power of a quality early childhood education which focuses on fostering and developing children’s natural curiosity about the world around them. I value the uniqueness of each child as a learner and the need to create an environment that is safe and secure. Establishing positive relationships with children and families is paramount to success for the kindergarten child.

As early childhood educators we need to be open minded, culturally sensitive and understand that children bring a wide range of knowledge and experiences with them to the classroom. We need to use students’ prior knowledge and previous experiences as a basis for further learning. Finding a balance between the academic, physical, social and emotional development of young learners is an integral part of early childhood education.

We are excited to have completed part of the Kindergarten Facilities Master Plan. Our new Kindergarten will be a wonderful place for our youngest students to learn and grow.

We are all looking forward to a fantastic year.

Justin Somerville Kindergarten Principal

Elementary Leny de Ruijter now sits in the Elementary School Principal position until January 2017 when Jeff Woodcock will move up as Principal. Leny de Ruijter has dedicated seven years to TKS, serving in various roles as member of the Senior Leadership team. Leny ensured our initial PYP authorization, and has led the implementation of guiding statements, the revision of curriculum continuums, the play-based learning initiative and the design review for the new Kindergarten.

Leny comes with a wealth of experience as a former Early Childhood Principal, Assistant Principal, Elementary School teacher and longtime PYP leader. Leny has served on several PYP Authorization teams, she holds a Principal Training Center (PTC) Certificate, an MA in Elementary Education and an MA in Law. Please see remarks from Leny below.

Jeff Woodcock has been appointed to assume the full time position as Elementary School Principal from January 2017.

The benefits of internal succession at this time were clearly identified by our Board Chair Nadhmi Al Nasr, and the opportunity to promote Jeff as a result of Leny’s promotion allows the school to move seamlessly toward its Beacon School aspirations with someone who has demonstrated attention to institutional development over the past five years at TKS, as well as leadership talent.

Jeff holds a Bachelor of Education, a Bachelor of Arts, a Bachelor of Social Science, as well as a Master’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies. Jeff will complete his Principal Training Center (PTC) Certification in July 2017.

A competitive search is underway to fill the Assistant Principal position by August 2017.

Note from Leny de Ruijter GES Principal Dear Parents, I am delighted to start the school year as the Elementary Principal. I have enjoyed my years as ECC Principal enormously, and as this new school year begins, I now am enjoying the return to my original area of focus, Elementary Education.

Those of you who have been here since 2009 may remember that my background is in elementary education, and that my first KAUST School assignment was that of PYP Coordinator and then Assistant Principal for Elementary and ECC. At the Elementary we anticipate an exciting year ahead. We will be building on the strong foundations already in place, and focusing on the further development of the Maths Curriculum, and the introduction of the new English Language Arts Curriculum. We will also be strengthening our culture of professional practices, and creating “Cultures of Thinking”.

We strongly believe that building a “thinking culture”, throughout our school is the key to better learning and greater student engagement. With that in mind, I invite you to partner with us throughout the year, taking advantage of the many learning opportunities open to all school community members.

Looking forward to a year full of partnership and learning, Leny de Ruijter Elementary Principal

Secondary David Tigchelaar now takes up the role of Secondary Principal.

A strong leader, David, a Dutch citizen, has served in 7 different countries over 24 years as School Head and as Principal, IB Coordinator/IB Trainer/IB Visiting Team member.

He holds a teaching diploma, an MA in Linguistics and an MEd in Educational Science - Management of Change.

David’s letter to the community may be found below.

Meanwhile Dwane Harris will remain in his current role of Secondary School Assistant Principal.

Having served as a Principal in two schools in South Africa, and holding a Masters in International Education Administration, Dwane brings strong educational support to both the Secondary School and David during his transition.

Note from David Tigchelaar GSS Principal Dear Parents, I am very pleased to join TKS as the Secondary School Principal. I visited the school as a consultant in 2010 and again for the interview in October 2015. I am very impressed with the vision of KAUST, the role of the School in supporting that vision and delivering an exceptional International Baccalaureate program. I wholeheartedly support the IB programmes and believe that they are the best educational option anywhere in the world and a good fit for our community.

Before I joined KAUST, I worked at IB schools in Namibia, Germany, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Indonesia and Albania. I believe Saudi Arabia is a great place to be and I look forward to learning more about my new host country.

I have sent out a longer introduction letter to Secondary parents which provided practical information about the start of the school.

I look forward to meeting you at school or elsewhere in the community and I am committed to working together with you to maintain and improve the quality of the School. Please don’t hesitate to contact me by dropping by my office, sending me an email or requesting an appointment.

David Tigchelaar Secondary Principal