As our schools across the world settle into a new academic year, with a new intake of pupils and staff and the logistical issues that they’ve had to overcome to ensure we are all Covid-secure and as resilient as possible, I have been reflecting on the extraordinary events of the last 12 months and the success of our schools in meeting the challenges we have had to face as a result.
The 2019/20 academic year started with the opening of a second campus in Chengdu and a new pre-school campus in Hong Kong, taking the total number of MCI campuses globally to seven. This is an achievement of which to be justifiably proud, but soon we were facing challenges of a very different type, with political unrest in Hong Kong and then the global pandemic disrupting the education of our pupils around the world. And yet, in the face of this unprecedented challenge and disruption, our schools have continued to provide the best education possible, with many turning to Microsoft Teams and other online platforms to deliver a virtual classroom experience.
The resilience demonstrated by our schools, their leadership teams and teaching staff, as well as the understanding and adaptability shown by parents and pupils around the world, is a real testament to the strength of the Malvern Family and the values it espouses. The ability to collaborate across multiple time-zones for the mutual benefit of pupils attending different schools has been a particular advantage of the technology now available to staff, pupils and parents.
Let us hope that the new academic year brings fewer challenges that the last, but we should nonetheless feel immensely proud of the achievements of the last year. As the old proverb goes, necessity is the mother of invention, and there is no doubt that in the face of adversity, the Malvern College Family of Schools has grown closer and stronger, with technology enabling new teaching and educational methodologies, and a greater sense of community now developing between pupils, parents and staff around the world.
Allan Walker, Director of International Schools