Week at a Glance - Week at a glance - See our Head of School’s weekly reflection
2025-12-19 09:19
Hanukkah and Christmas
"If there is to be peace in the world, there must be peace in the nations. If there is to be peace in the nations, there must be peace in the cities. If there is to be peace in the cities, there must be peace between neighbors. If there is to be peace between neighbors, there must be peace in the home. If there is to be peace in the home, there must be peace in the heart."
Lao Tzu - Chinese philosopher
Dear Colleagues
The end of term has arrived and we have been marking the festivities of Hanukkah and Christmas across the school this week, playing music reflecting the message of peace in both of these festivals. Hanukkah is a Jewish festival to commemorate the rededication of the temple in Jerusalem. It is celebrated by the lighting of 8 candles to remember the miracle whereby the one day remaining supply of oil in the lamp of the temple burned for 8 days. The Christian festival of Christmas is also celebrated at the end of December. This significant date in the Christian calendar is a time where worshippers remember the birth of Jesus their saviour. In the run up to Christmas Christians light 4 candles to mark the passing of the weeks and to remember that for them Jesus is the light of the world who came to banish darkness and sin. People often focus on the differences or even conflicts between religious groups but I always like to focus on the similarities. Religious festivals are often marked by using light as a symbol of love, hope and goodness. They also involve opportunities for families to reunite and spend time together. Furthermore, major world religions fundamentally advocate for peace, both as an internal state of being and as a guide for ethical conduct and coexistence in society. Reflecting on Peace at this time is very important for our school community as our students recognise that the world is currently facing many conflicts, including in their home countries.
"Shalom" (שָׁלוֹם), in Hebrew means an absence of conflict but also completeness, harmony, and well-being. The message of Jesus often centers on love, forgiveness, and the peaceful kingdom of God. The universal greeting in Islam is "Assalamu alaikum" ("Peace be upon you").In Hinduism, Peace (Shanti) is a central concept.The pursuit of inner peace through meditation and quieting the mind is paramount in Buddhism and Peacefulness is considered a common denominator of Sikh beliefs.
In The Island School we strive to respect and honour all the faiths held by children and adults in our community. This also helps us to have a positive outlook on diversity and the international nature of our community. There were assemblies this week considering the similarities of Hanukkah and Christmas and to celebrate their uniqueness too. Thank you to Tehila for her work on the Hanukkah assembly.
In the last couple of weeks IB, Waldorf and Montessori Pre-primary children and teachers held a number of festive activities including the wonderful Winter celebration where parents were invited to listen to the children singing Christmas songs and playing instruments. Well done to all colleagues for contributing to these additional duties at such a busy time of year!
Our DP2 TOK class visited the Paradox Museum and an Escape Room this week as they have been learning about knowledge in Mathematics, including the concept of axioms, invented or discovered Maths and various perspectives on Maths including Platonism, logicism and formalism. During the trip students considered how the brain receives and processes knowledge and they had to use logic and calculations to escape from their challenge room. Thank you to Tagir for accompanying us on the trip and also for Troodia for all her work behind the scenes to make it happen.
Our teacher’s committee which organises events with the community worked with children this week to create gifts to be donated to those in need via Paramitha council. This was a wonderful initiative and we thank all pour colleagues who took part in order to help others and show kindness at this festive time. Well done to Tatevik and the whole committee!
On Wednesday parents in secondary IB received the end of term academic reports. Secondary teachers have spent a lot of time and effort on these reports which are intended to record progress, success and areas for improvement in each subject area for each student. Thank you for all the hard work in writing such in depth and insightful reports, team. A special shout-out to the proof reading team too of Grajina, Jenny, Sharmistha, Tagir, Tania and me!
It was wonderful to see so many of you at our re-arranged Winter Fair on Sunday. Thank you so much for supporting this amazing event and for bringing such a sense of community. I hope you all enjoyed the stalls, activities and musical performances. A huge thank you to Anna and the communications and operations team for ensuring this was a success and for all those teachers who supported as one of their service days.
We will be back in school on Wednesday 7th January. We look forward to welcoming you back to school that day.
Whatever festival you are celebrating this December, or even if you are not, may I take this opportunity to thank you for all your ongoing support and hard work this term and wish you a peaceful, happy and wonderful holiday season with your families. If you are travelling we wish you safe travels and hope that reunions with families in other countries or just relaxing vacations are filled with joy. Happy well-deserved holidays!