Dear Parents,
Last week, many students in our community returned to campus, albeit to surroundings and learning conditions that were markedly different to the ones they left back in March. As Singapore exited its Circuit Breaker, each day brought small concessions or indications of upcoming changes. Globally, COVID-19 continues to impact in different ways around the world, and there is a glimmer of hope, now some countries are able to communicate pathways out of the crisis. And of course, many of us – including our students and alumni – have been moved and galvanised by the international protests against racism and social injustice in all forms. We have a tremendous amount of work to do here.
2020 has been a year like no other in my lifetime. It can often feel as though we are facing relentless challenge, as individuals, as communities and as a society. Now is not a time for repeating clichés about unprecedented times or new normals: I would, however, like to take some time to share some thoughts with you.
In the last few months, we have received many varied communications from our parent community. Each piece of feedback (positive and negative) has inevitably caused us to reflect on our decisions. We try to act with compassion and empathy for all in our community and to stay true to the decision-making principles we set at the outset; but even those came under heavy pressure when combined with requirements from the Singapore government on the return to campus, and in the context of our large community. On some occasions, what we want to do has been in conflict with what we have been permitted to do. Given the very different situations we all face, rarely does any difficult decision land well with everyone. It has been a period of huge challenge, which I know is matched in your places of work.
Throughout this period, I have been humbled by my colleagues and their commitment to the students in our care. Like all employers across the globe, we have asked a lot of our staff. As the College revised its budget for next year, all our staff, apart from our lowest-paid, accepted salary freezes or, for teachers, salary reductions. They did this with the grace you would expect from such mission-driven individuals and teams. It is rare to see a staff community so committed and determined and I would like to publicly pay tribute to them, and thank them.
I have been reflecting on how the decisions we take now could be part of supporting us in coming together again. Because of the restrictions of Phase 1, the longed-for return to campus has not been the ending to the year that we hoped for when we left campus in March – I myself do not yet have permission to be on either campus. The summer will not be like any we have known before. Our Holiday Activities Programme will provide us with more opportunities to learn and be together over the break, but it may not meet the wishes of all families. It is clear that travel abroad for the vast majority of families is increasingly unlikely, and a proportion of our new families will not be able to arrive for the start of term in August.
With all of this in mind, and returning to the idea that it can be hard to know what’s best for everyone, we would like to invite your views on when to return on campus in August. Our choice is to stick with the current start date of Monday, 24 August, or to begin on Tuesday, 18 August. There are advantages and disadvantages to both, and we would like to hear views from our community in order to make the most informed choice possible.
An earlier start would mean that we would reinstate a two-week half-term break for the community in October, but otherwise the term dates would remain the same.
Please let us know your thoughts by completing this short survey by Wednesday, 10 June at 9am. We will inform families of our decision by Friday.
I would like to finish with an appreciation for our students, who have shown exceptional resilience and adaptivity. Seeing pictures of them ‘united in distance’ on campus last week was a reminder that parents, staff, College leadership and Governors ultimately only have one purpose – to do what’s best for our young people. Last week, in the wake of the brutal and shocking death of George Floyd and the social unrest which followed, students and alumni stepped away from their own challenges to call on the College to reflect and respond on issues of systemic racism and injustice. In the middle of difficult times, our young people are still fully engaged with the global issues that matter most. We are incredibly proud of them and thank you for trusting us to partner with you in their education.
Yours sincerely,
Carma Elliot CMG OBE
College President
