Student-Parent-Teacher Conferences27 March 2024 07:30 - 13:30 & 16:00 - 18:00 Sign up before Monday 25 March |
On 27 March, we will be holding our Student Parent Teacher Conferences. This is an excellent opportunity for students to reflect on their progress and discuss their goals, successes and challenges.
My favourite quote from Nelson Mandela refers: “Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world”. And indeed, Mandela did change the world. His wisdom and greatness had a profound impact on South Africa, but also on the world and people in this world.
When we have the privilege of an excellent world class education, we also have a responsibility to give something back to our society. At WIS, we want to “prepare independent, inquiring and self-motivated citizens of the world.” (WIS Vision) We aim to “develop the full potential of each student in a stimulating environment of academic excellence, cultural diversity and active social responsibility to become internationally-minded independent thinkers. (WIS Mission)
In order for WIS to achieve its vision and mission, we are dependent on the full support of our parents as well as the motivation and commitment of our students. Academic excellence is cultivated through commitment and a dedication to growth - personal growth as well as growth as a member of our society. If we as educators, parents and teachers together, expect and demand excellence from our children, then we should be able to inspire greatness and the will to make a difference in our society as well as in the world. But we have to insist on excellence from our children, firmly but fairly expect them to make the choices that are conducive to their growth and development.
We as educators can be understanding of the challenges young people face. We should, however, not take children out of their responsibility to become the best version of themselves - academically, socially, in sports, in creative ways as well as in their society.
I urge all parents to use the opportunity of the conferences on the 27th of March to reflect on what excellence means for your child - what are they doing well, what can they do better? How can they learn from and reflect on their experiences to keep growing.
With regard to this, it is important that children early in their high school career explore their interests, and follow these so that they can confidently embark on their further studies and contribute to making the world a better place for themselves, but also for their communities.
Below is just one example of an opportunity our students have to get seen by universities through their strong academic as well as extracurricular profiles.
A different type of university entry - have universities apply to you!
For the second year now we are onboarding our final year students to Concourse. Concourse is a university admissions platform, where students create a profile and universities then approach students to offer them a place at their university. A strong profile can result in multiple offers from universities accompanied by scholarships from universities.
WIS also works with Unifrog to have students from Grades 9 onwards reflect on their interests and plans to find the best fit for their further education.
Ultimately, it is a person’s own choices and decisions that determine how their journey will be. Mediocrity will not turn into excellence - commitment and dedication, however, can result in excellence and that is what we are striving for at WIS. For that to be possible, we all need to have the same goals and support each other in a positive and understanding way. For that I would also like to add our Concerns and Complaints Flowchat. Resolving concerns and conflict on the level where it starts, is the best way to support and understand. Talking with each other to understand each other and support our children’s education is the only way to embed confidence and trust in them to take responsibility for their own learning and growth.
Maggie Reiff
Secondary Principal