A couple of years ago, following our first IB Diploma review, one of the recommendations that we were asked to do was to review and expand our Hope Mission and Vision (obviously you know these), with some School Outcomes linking our philosophy and the IB’s philosophy of education. The board spent some time working on this and came up with our School Outcomes. 

I am aware that for many this type of thing won’t appeal to everybody (including myself at one time) but actually the more I have been involved in the school leadership, the more I can see the value in these statements. 

They are:

HOPE students will be Global-minded by, and reflecting on International-mindedness and Intercultural Understanding and Respect

HOPE students will be Servant-Leaders by Active Involvement and being Caring and Compassionate

HOPE students will have Biblical Understanding through Inquiry and Reflection

HOPE students will be able to Apply their Knowledge by Challenge, Lifelong Learning and being Knowledgeable

HOPE students will have the potential to impact the world for Christ

In the School Outcomes document, we have clarified these statements a little more. 

Ultimately, these statements are important because these are the characteristics we hope our students will have when they leave this school. We want them, obviously to achieve well academically, but we also want them to grow spiritually, with solid biblical understanding, to be involved in the school community and beyond and to be critically aware of the culture they are in and of the big global picture, so that they may leave here with all the tools needed to make an impact wherever they end up. We would then hope to see them growing in these areas as they progress through the school, and hopefully you will notice the development of these characteristics too. 

My aim in my noticeboard segments over the rest of this year is to look in more detail at the statements above, explore them and reflect on them. Please take the time to check out the document above and hopefully you will come and do this with me too. 

Please keep our Year 10 Additional Mathematics students in your prayers as they look to taking the first of their exams in November, along with a couple of resit students. Feel free to pray for them and bless them over this potentially stressful period.

If you want to read them, please go to the Hope website, go to the ‘About Us’ tab and scroll down until the link ‘Download Full Position Statements’

Michael Emery

The Graduating Class of 2023 … Year 9s!