Principal’s Message
Dear Parents, Staff, Students and Friends of WIS,
Your home is where your heart is when your feet are somewhere else.
For me, my heart has been tugged in many directions this week as I have spent time in London training with the ‘Mindfulness In Schools Project’. I am pleased to say that we have 22 staff who have undertaken their own dedicated training in mindfulness and 3 staff now fully trained to teach a ten-week student programme. I am looking forward to holding some information evenings for parents in due course so you can share your own knowledge and experience as well as getting to know the discrete programme we are beginning to use at West Island School. More to follow in a few weeks time.
With my feet in London, my heart has been most definitely with West Island for the celebration of Diwali. I am grateful to the students and Mrs Hannaford for their hard work to prepare such a joyous occasion and most grateful to parents and the partnership they bring to the school. A huge shout out for Anjali and Gargi who have completed their final production for us and I can’t wait for them to return and be in the audience as Alumni. Well done to the cast, behind the scenes and producers!
Parents are also invited to continue their partnership through some physical exercise. Our guiding statements as a school speak to parents too about the need to keep up good physical health for well-being. Give thanks to Karen Carmichael who has set up a basketball evening for parents every Thursday 8-9 pm on the 9th Floor Arena (no charge). More parents are needed to join in who who would like to play some sport, but maybe cannot commit to a team – all are welcome. The first session this week included beginners and experts alike in a series of casual games and drills. Please contact the PTA for more details if you would like to get involved.
Finally, I would love to see as many WIS parents as we can muster for the ESF Run on 26 January, 2019. The event was a huge success last year and we would like to invite more students and parents to join us. Many of us from West Island will be attempting to raise some funds for the Joshua Hellman Foundation in memory of Kelly Cheng and it would be lovely for Kelly’s parents if you, who would like to run alongside us, too. You can run, walk or crawl over a variety of distances: 1 km, 3 km or 10 km. The deadline for sign up is 14 December.
Happy weekend!
Christopher Sammons
(Principal)
Coming Up:
Monday 29 October: Visit by seven Austrian universities and Austrian Trade Commission
Monday 29 October: ID Rice Race
Tuesday 30 October: Year 7 Parents’ Evening
Wednesday October 31: ID Cross Country
Saturday 3 November: Terry Fox Run
Thursday 15 November: PTA Comedy Night
