From the Middle School High School Principal

Launching our ships into the ocean

As Nick Little writes this week, it is indeed the last teaching day for Grade 12 before they begin the transition process through exams towards the big world that waits for them beyond the safe and nurturing harbour that has been their ISA journey.  At moments like these I always remember Kurt Hahn's famous quote

A ship in harbour is safe, but that is not what ships are built for

When a ship is launched, it is usually honoured with ceremonies and champagne dashed about the sides as it slides into the ocean.  We too have ways of marking the transition out of harbour that ends with Graduation.

Today is the day when Grade 12s have their last day of teaching, and come in early to transform the High School corridor.  This year a full 80's disco greeted community members, complete with bouncers, tinsel, DJs, balloons and glow sticks.  Beyond the foyer, each classroom had been transformed to represent something the students had enjoyed or valued in the room.

One of my favourites was Mr Ordonez' room transformed into the map of the book Heart of Darkness they have been studying.  You can follow the river around the room, with various settings along the way, until you meet Kurtz at the end of the river (a resuscitation dummy) mumbling his final words, and navigating the twists and turns, you might perhaps reflect on the long, adventurous and wonderful voyages that lie ahead for our learners as they head into a complex but wonderful world, their passport to that world as Global Citizens, being the High School and IB diplomas.