Principal’s Message

Dear Parents, Staff, Students and Friends of WIS,

It was lovely to see so many students and staff dressed to impress on World Book Day. It really is a global occasion and we received a number of photos from colleagues and partner schools around the world. If you can read, you can do anything. That said, we can sometimes forget as adults to read to and in front of our children. I would highly recommend Jonathan Livingston Seagull. I introduced Jonathan to Year 11 this week to talk about the important things in life. Jonathan is a seagull who is learning to fly, but the metaphor is clear and poetic in this short novel – effort and hope can carry us a long way.

And three people that are truly spreading their learning wings; Matthew, Daniel and Rachel have been placed in the top 15 scientific teams as part of the Roche Young Scientist award. They continue into the next round with an interview and exhibition and have all our support in their endeavours. Really well done to you.

So too the achievements of the PTA who have raised $42,000 from the annual quiz. It was a close call but SLT just about managed to rise out of the bottom thirds of the table. Thank you to Karen Carmichael for being a formidable quiz master and to those who came and gave it a go. Would be lovely to see more of you next year, however, I have a feeling many of you will be at the Fair which is just around the corner. A final push for raffle tickets would be valued by us all. The fair promises to be a great occasion and the weather is looking good too. Bring as many friends and relatives as you can to make this the best school fair yet. Log on to the official WIS Fair Facebook Event page to get updates and details of the day. The committee have worked extra hard this year and I am looking forward to my first West Island School Fair.

Is anybody else sneezing this week? The combination of the later cold weather and confusing hot and humid days have bought us the bugs. Whilst I would like as full attendance as possible, it felt like some students may not have been best suited being here last week. Always a tricky decision as a parent in the first half hour of the morning, however, if your child has symptoms of flu or fever, please can you check their temperature and that they are in suitable health for a full days attendance. Click here for more details to help make the decision.

Have a restful weekend.

Yours,
Christopher Sammons
(Principal)