Normally, when we mention courage, people think of great acts of heroism: such as rescuing people trapped in a burning building; fighting lions, tigers, alligators with your bare hands; risking life and limb battling storms in the Atlantic Ocean, racing, on foot, across the frozen wastelands of Antarctica to get to the South Pole first, crawling across the desert or reaching for the stars as a Cosmonaut. Even our three Houses: Earhart, Mandela and Cousteau are associated with the three heroes, that have been discussed before.

We all know, and are in awe of great acts of courage. But courage is also present in daily life: your child is bravely doing their best to climb upwards towards (although some are years away from) the dizzy heights of IGCSE. For all of us post-graduates, we shouldn’t lose sight of how much of a challenge this can be. As a native speaker, the task is grueling enough, but for the non-native child, the challenge is undoubtedly greater. We should really admire them, and whilst they often get good grades, we must encourage them to get back up whenever they receive a bad one: let’s look to ways to help them and their teacher. We’ve set them very high aspirations – the least we can do is have the courage to see through the difficult challenges with them, when they come; the reward at the end is certainly worth it.

Michael Leach, Headteacher
Moscow Campus