Dear Parents/Caregivers,
It is hard to believe that we are already at the end of week six. The new school year feeling has well and truly given way to the familiar rhythm of lessons, meetings, activities, and deadlines. Across the campus, students and teachers are settling into their routines, relationships are developing, and learning is is in full swing.
It has been a particularly busy two weeks, with plenty happening both inside and beyond the classroom. As always at SNA, there are many moving parts, but beneath the activity there is a clear sense of purpose as we continue to build the kind of school environment in which our students can learn, explore, discover and grow. So let’s take a look at some of what has been happening around the school.
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about our plans to welcome a visiting team of school leaders from Sekolah Evans Indonesia in Kalimantan, and I am pleased to report that their visit was every bit as worthwhile as we had hoped. Over their two days at SNA, the Principals observed a range of lessons, spoke with our teachers, and gained an insight into the way we approach teaching and learning.
Their feedback was particularly encouraging. They commented on the strong engagement of our students and were impressed by their ability and the way they participated in lessons. For us, it was also a valuable opportunity to share ideas and experiences with fellow educators and listen to the challenges they face and their solutions in a school setting very different from our own. Schools inevitably face many of the same challenges, but we do not always approach them in the same way, and there is real value in comparing notes.
We very much enjoyed having the Evans team with us and hope that this will be the beginning of a longer relationship between our schools. We look forward to the opportunity to visit them in Kalimantan in the future and to continue the sharing of ideas, practices and, hopefully, a few good stories along the way.
On 21st August, our Sports teacher, Pak Sigit, organised a friendly football match between Sekolah Nusa Alam and SDN 59 Mataram. The match was played over two 15-minute periods, with both schools rotating their players so that different students had the opportunity to take to the field.
Things looked rather less friendly for Nusa Alam after the first period, when we found ourselves 4–0 down! Fortunately, the boys had other ideas, and a determined second-half performance saw them fight their way back to a 4–4 draw. There were moments of impressive skill from both teams, along with plenty of spirit and determination.
For our students, it was also a useful lesson in the difference between kicking a ball around with friends at break time and playing in a competitive match, where suddenly that same ball seems to acquire rather more importance! The match was well supported by students, teachers, and families, who provided plenty of encouragement from the sidelines.
A thoroughly enjoyable session of football, competition, and learning, and a great opportunity for our students to play against new opponents while building connections with another local school. A huge thank you goes to Pak Sigit for arranging this and we hope to see many more games!
Over the past week, a group of Primary and Secondary students had the opportunity to explore music in a rather different way through a series of workshops inspired by Camille Saint-Saëns’ The Carnival of the Animals. The workshops, led by visiting classical pianist Ibu Imma, invited students to look beyond simply listening to the music and instead explore how musical ideas can be interpreted through movement, painting, and writing. Ibu Gill and Ibu Susan joined Ibu Imma in guiding the students through these creative explorations, while Pak Kenan and his father, Bapak Maddi, were also welcomed to the school.
On Wednesday, the students shared some of their creations at an assembly in the cafeteria, with their presentations interspersed with live piano performances by Ibu Imma and Pak Kenan. It was wonderful to see the students taking ownership of their interpretations and finding their own ways to respond to the music.
The experience continued on Thursday evening, when the students and their families, along with members of our wider community, were invited to a concert at Ibu Sopan and Pak Mark’s home. By then, Ibu Imma’s partner, Pak Nigel Clayton had arrived, making for an entertaining and highly accomplished performance. Our students also presented their work to the guests, providing a fitting conclusion to what had been a wonderfully creative few days.
It was a fantastic showcase of musical talent, but perhaps more importantly, it demonstrated how powerful learning can be when students are given the freedom to experience an idea through different forms of expression. Music became movement, colour, words and performance, and, for a few days at least, the animals came very much to life.
Following the devastating fire at Desa Sade last weekend, our community quickly came together to collect donations for the families affected. On Friday, Ibu Erma, Ibu Susan and Ibu Icha, along with members of our Student Council – Syal, Taina, Nayra and Una – delivered the donations to Sade. They also spent some time meeting and talking with local residents, which gave our students an opportunity to see first-hand the people and community behind the news we had been hearing about.
Our thoughts are with all those who have been affected by the fire, and we will continue to look for ways that we can support them in the weeks ahead. We are also mindful of the communities affected by the recent earthquake in Flores, and will be looking for opportunities to support them as well.
A sincere thank you to all the families who contributed donations. It was wonderful to see such a generous response, and an equally big thank you to Ibu Melita for providing the truck that allowed us to transport everything to Desa Sade. These may seem like relatively small things, but when a community comes together, they can make a meaningful difference.
On Friday afternoon, we held a series of parent meetings to introduce the educational tours that we have been planning together with Sejiva Tours. Pak Matteo and I presented a number of ideas to parents, with Pak Matteo and Ibu Ayu bringing their experience from running Sejiva Tours as well as their perspective as parents in our school.
At Sekolah Nusa Alam, we believe that learning should not stop at the classroom door. Educational tours provide perhaps the most direct way of bringing learning to life. They give our students the opportunity to visit different places, meet the people who live and work there, and understand how communities have developed and continue to thrive.
There is also so much that can be learned from local experts. Cultural traditions, craftsmanship, food, agriculture, sustainability and the many different ways people make a living all offer lessons that are difficult to replicate in a classroom. Sometimes the best lesson is simply being somewhere, asking questions and seeing things for yourself.
We hope to develop this into an annual programme that gives our students regular opportunities to explore, discover and be inspired by the world around them.
Following the meetings, we will use the feedback to refine the tours and present them to parents as soon as we can.
On Saturday, 5th September, the Nusa Alam and IT Nurul Qu’ran school communities will come together for a beach cleanup at Loang Balok beach. As our local partner school, IT Nurul Qu’ran has become an important part of our wider school community, and this is a great opportunity for us to continue work together on something that benefits us all.
The morning is not only about cleaning the beach, but also about building relationships and developing a shared sense of responsibility for the environment around us. There is plenty to be gained from rolling up our sleeves, getting a little sandy and doing something practical together.
The two-hour event will begin at 8:30am, and we would love to see as many members of our school community as possible. Please join us and help make the morning both memorable and impactful.
