‘Neurodiversity may be every bit as crucial for the human race as biodiversity is for life in general.’ Harvey Blume
Dear Parents and Students,
This week we have been celebrating the uniqueness of each person’s mind! It has been a vibrant, thought-provoking week at school as we combined two incredibly important movements: Neurodiversity Celebration Week and Pink Shirt Anti-Bullying Day.
Walking through the schoolyard today , the sea of pink shirts has been a powerful visual reminder of our collective commitment to kindness. However, the message behind the colour goes much deeper than a dress code; it’s about the culture we build every single day.
This week, our assemblies focused on the concept of Neurodiversity. Indeed some of our colleagues were courageous enough to share their neurodiversity with the secondary school community in order to highlight the beauty of difference. Students were very engaged with the question and answer sessions. We highlighted that no matter what your challenges are, you can still be very successful. We’ve also been discussing the idea that there is no right or standard way for a brain to work. Just as we value biodiversity in nature, we must value neurodiversity in our classrooms.
Different Ways of Learning: Some of our students process information visually, some through movement, and others through deep logic or creative storytelling.
Unique Strengths: Whether it is the hyper-focus of an autistic student, the out-of-the-box thinking of someone with ADHD, or the incredible problem-solving skills of a dyslexic learner, these differences are not deficits—they are assets.
Universal Respect: Being an inclusive school means more than just tolerating differences; it means actively shaping our environment so that every mind can thrive.
Pink Shirt Day originated from an act of solidarity against bullying, and it pairs perfectly with our neurodiversity theme. Often, bullying stems from a lack of understanding or a fear of what is different. Bullying happens in all schools and we cannot prevent it totally. However, we can continue to discuss it and act promptly when it does occur with both sanctions but also strategies to stop it and even an exploration of why the perpetrator decided to be unkind in the first place. Our amazing school psychologists and learning support team help us to tackle these issues when they arise.
By wearing pink, we are making a public pledge:
To speak up: We are a ‘telling’ school. We support those who stand up against unkindness.
To embrace Individuality: We celebrate the quirks, the varied interests, and the different social styles that make our community rich.
To practice empathy: We recognise that we don't all experience the world in the same way, and that's okay.
Inclusion is not about treating everyone exactly the same. It is about providing everyone with the specific tools they need to succeed. As we explain to students; "Fairness doesn't mean everyone gets the same pair of shoes; fairness means everyone gets a pair of shoes that fits them."
"If a child can't learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn." – Ignacio Estrada
I want to thank our teachers for their dedication to adapted learning and our parents for supporting these conversations at home. Let’s carry the spirit of this week—the kindness of the pink shirt and the curiosity of the neurodiverse mind—into everything we do.
This week our Grade 5 PYP students visited the Paramytha community as part of their preparations for the PYP exhibition. It is so important for students to explore the community surrounding our school and understand Cypriot culture, heritage and traditions.
Today we had some amazing Grade 1 and 2 end-of-unit celebrations where the students explained to their parents what they had been learning in their transdisciplinary theme of ‘Sharing the planet’ and specifically their unit of inquiry on habitats, plants and animals in Grade 1 and the theme of ‘how the world works’ and materials in Grade 2.
IB PYP and Waldorf primary students have been completing their end-of-year GL progress tests in Mathematics and English this week. These will continue next week and will help us record the academic progress of our students and identify areas that still need to improve. I was very impressed with how sensible and disciplined the children were when facing these formal assessments!
We have been undergoing accreditation this week to become a Pearson BTEC school. A BTEC (Business and Technology Education Council) is a vocational qualification designed to provide practical, hands-on learning in specific career sectors, rather than traditional academic study. Focused on real-world skills, they are assessed through coursework, projects, and practical tasks rather than just exams. This accreditation will provide the opportunity for students to achieve globally recognised qualifications that further enhance our Careers Related Programme and also our new Entrepreneurship and Technology programme next academic year.
We also had a visiting author in primary this week and a very successful book fair. Many thanks to Miss Leanne, our librarian, for coordinating this and making both aspects run so smoothly. I hope you all enjoyed choosing some new books and meeting with a real, published author!
Finally, thank you to the communications team, Anna, Carmen, Boyana and Tatevik for organising such a successful Spring Fair. Many thanks also to all those colleagues who were helping or attending on the day. It was a great success, and parents and children alike really enjoyed the event.