From the Head of School

 

Making the Connection

The meetings app, Zoom, really needs no introduction: it is as woven into our everyday lives as Facebook and Whatsapp. Yet, 10 years ago it didn’t exist.  In December 2019 it was hosting 10 million online meetings a day; by June 2020, this number had jumped to 300 million.  And of course, there was Google and Skype and Teams as well.

These incredible technologies allowed us to continue with many activities that would have been impossible if we had needed a pandemic lockdown twenty years ago.  Even as all those restrictions are becoming a memory, their usefulness remains apparent.  

Every Friday, I run an open coffee morning for parents (you can see the details on the calendar).  Before the pandemic, this was in person. It was difficult for parents in full time employment to get to it.  When everything went online, attendance jumped as many people were able to take a few minutes from their schedule to log on, not having to worry about driving in and out.  

From the start of this school year, I have been running a ‘hybrid’ coffee morning with some parents in person and some online: the technology not replacing what we did before, but offering broader options.

This afternoon, we had our 50th Anniversary Opening Ceremony.  Our theatre does not have the capacity to host our whole community. What a bonus it was to be able to host many more live online!

Nevertheless, there is something special about seeing people face to face.  Before 2020 it was something we took for granted.  But after more than two years of forced separation and then mask wearing, we have realised what a difference it makes seeing people’s gestures and their smiles (and frowns). Screens could never fully reproduce the experience of meeting an actual person.

It has been fantastic to start the year with so many parents back on campus and in the building.  Tomorrow we have our first family social event in three years - our Golden Gala between 1 and 4pm (see poster below).  I hope to see as many of you as possible there with your families.  It is a great opportunity to get together as an ISA community.

Keep an eye out for all the other upcoming events - in particular, the Elementary Open House next week and Middle/HIgh School the week after.  Some events are particular to a grade level, some are online, others hybrid; some just in person.  We are trying to make them as accessible as possible for all kinds of personal circumstances.

The world has changed a lot in the past few years - with new possibilities as well as new challenges.  One thing that hasn’t changed is the importance of human connection.