Head's Letter to Parents

Dear Parents, Welcome back after what I hope was a relaxing and enjoyable break for you all. We have now a long run in before the next vacation in December and there is much to achieve.

I would like first to remind you of the school web site which we are working very hard on keeping updated and relevant. The site address is:

http://www.agakhanschools.org/academies/mombasa

We are adding to it almost on a daily basis. New additions to the site are the weekly menu and the calendar as well as “breaking news” about happenings in and around campus. Please bookmark this site and visit it frequently.

This week sees the Mau Mau Festival being hosted at the school and it also sees the important visit of our IBO pre-authorization team for the Middle Years Programme. From this visit, the Academy will be receiving a report on the status of its preparations for the full authorization visit which we hope will take place some time in 2009.

A few weeks ago, several Senior School staff, along with the Senior School Principal, attended a ceremony where three of our IGCSE students were honoured: one for obtaining the highest marks in Kenya for Economics, one for the highest marks in Kenya in Chemistry, and a third for the highest marks for Home Economics. My warmest congratulations go to the students, their families, and, of course, those teachers involved in preparing them for the examinations.

We have recently accepted a number of KCSE students to the Diploma Programme and that means our Diploma one cohort will number almost forty. It is clear that there is growing recognition for the quality of this programme, its attractiveness to potential Universities and Colleges, and its ability to prepare our young people well for the next stages in their academic careers.

The feedback we are receiving from those graduates who have moved on from the Academy speak of them feeling well prepared and well able to cope with the early challenges of University life.

School enrolment currently stands at 554 with these numbers growing on a weekly basis. New students have already been accepted for a January enrolment.

There are several staffing needs which I am currently addressing, including the pending maternity leave of our Senior School Chemistry teacher.

In January, we also will be welcoming several volunteers to the campus as our work in certain areas accelerates. The five curricular strands which are to be a presence in all future Academies’ curricula, are now being infused and we are hopeful that this work will really blossom over the course of the next six months.

Phase two work continues at a fast pace and our current planning is to have the first cohort of sixth grade residential students being identified from throughout Kenya by April, by which time the Academy will be ready for the new residential life of its community.

I will attempt to keep you up to date with any changing circumstances to this plan.

Meanwhile, may I end by wishing for next week a very happy Divali and a prosperous new year to all.

Sincerely,