FAMILIES NEWSLETTER
November 2022
PRINCIPAL'S WELCOME
Welcome to the first newsletter of the academic year for parents and families of UWC Atlantic students. What a year it has been and it was great to be back on campus after the summer break.
I left the college for the break full of optimism and a belief in the magic of the UWC mission. It has been incredibly moving to witness the impact of an education here - through students who come here as well as the ripple effect they have on the global communities to whom they return after graduating.
It was therefore really fitting that we celebrated 60 years of UWC’s impact at a special event on 1st October, which was attended by students, alumni and a number of special guests, including HM Queen Noor of Jordan and Mark Drakeford, the First Minister of Wales.
I am also really excited to be working with students this year to lay the foundation for a new pathway to graduation, following an historic agreement between UWC Atlantic and the International Baccalaureate.
You can read more about both of these stories in the newsletter, alongside other events and community updates since the start of term.
Principal Naheed Bardai
Lucretia Fields
Lucretia Fields
Michael Yardley
Michael Yardley
Marija Uzunova Dang
Marija Uzunova Dang
New academic leadership team joins UWC Atlantic
We are excited to introduce you to a new team of academic vice-principals at the college, all of whom were on campus to greet students when they returned for the new year.
Three new roles have been announced, including Lucretia Fields as the vice principal for student life, safeguarding (DSP), wellbeing and belonging. Lucretia grew up in inner-city Liverpool and attended UWC Atlantic from 1990-92. She has enjoyed a teaching career spanning more than twenty years in the state school sector, including as a principal and deputy head, and most recently spent time working in children’s social care after retraining as a care worker.
Lucretia is joined by Michael Yardley, our new vice principal for academics and International Baccalaureate diploma programme coordinator.
Michael has more than a decade in the education sector, and he has been at the college for a number of years now, joining us in 2016. Before becoming vice principal, Michael was a teacher of economics and theory of knowledge, before going on to become head of faculty.
Finally, we are pleased to welcome Marija Uzunova Dang as our new vice principal, learning innovation. Like Lucretia and Michael, Marija is already familiar with UWC, having been part of the movement since 2013 in various roles.
Most recently, Marija led the design and development of Pearson College UWC's Climate Action Leadership Diploma. Before then, she was at UWC Mahindra College from 2013-18 in a number or roles, including theory of knowledge coordinator, houseparent and head of outdoor education.
ORIENTATION CAMP RETURNS TO UWC ATLANTIC
For the first time since COVID began, this September we were able to re-introduce our orientation camp for first year students. The trip took place in Pembrokeshire Coast National Park - an area of natural beauty in West Wales, around two hours drive from the college.
Students slept in bunkhouse accommodation at Celtic Camping, near St Davids, and took part in a variety of activities including coasteering, hiking the coastal path and team games. Coasteering at the ‘Blue Lagoon’ in Abereiddy proved to be the most memorable experience for most, made even more special with the appearance of seals and their pups during the activity.
The students also got to explore St Davids, mostly known for being Wales’ smallest city, with a fun team treasure hunt. Evenings were a time to relax, reflect and recharge as students bonded with their new peers over the campfire.
The orientation camp is a longstanding UWC Atlantic tradition that we were thrilled to bring back to the college experience. Through this adventure, incoming students can begin to forge new friendships, step outside their comfort zone, and immerse themselves in college life through experiential learning.
One student commented:
I feel more situations like this really help the IB1s get to know each other without awkwardness, or anyone being left out.
And another remarked:
I got to experience a once in a lifetime opportunity with my friends and I loved it!
Activist workshops inspire changemaking ideas in students
UWC Atlantic hosted a series of workshops in October, delivered by a trio of international community organisers and activists from Venezuela, India, Scotland and Canada. The three-part series was organised by Lighthouse, our on-campus entrepreneurial hub.
Natali Euale Montilla and UWC alumnus Ben Reid-Howells, co-founders of the Ikake Rising Collective, and Kumar Prashant, founder of the Centre of Resilience, worked with students in three connected areas:
- Sharing stories of front-line communities organising to restore the Earth and to resist violent global systems like extractivism, colonialism and white supremacy;
- Exploring tools and tactics for dismantling these systems in our life and community work;
- Sharing ceremony, traditions, songs and wellbeing practices from our own pre-colonial roots, to maintain ourselves in this work for lasting systemic change.
The workshops were convened thanks to the support of a number of UWC Atlantic alumni, including Ben, who commented:
“We had a room full of young people naming the ways these systems show up in their lives and how to resist them; imagining how to apply scalable tactics of organising to their visions back home around climate justice and refugee rights; and acting out scenarios of how to defend their communities, the land and water from international mining companies. It was powerful to witness! If more UWC students are exposed to these analyses and skills, the movement will suddenly be much more potent.”
800-YEAR-OLD FARM GIVES STUDENTS INSIGHT INTO COMMUNITY ECONOMIC MODEL
Students undertaking the Political Ecology Changemaker Programme visited a local organic farm in October as part of their curriculum. The objective was to learn more about the agriculture economy in Wales, following up on an earlier trip to a food summit.
The students were given a talk by the farmer which focused on community, food and sense of place, and discovered how the farm had been in use and a part of the community for at least 800 years.
The farmer showed the students around the organic vegetable growing area and grain store, highlighting the benefits of not using chemicals and sharing alternative ideas instead for crop management. Students were also exposed to ideas on rewilding and its place within the local economy and community, a topic which the students will cover later in the module.
UWC Atlantic signs historic agreement with IB
UWC Atlantic has launched an innovative new education pathway available to students coming to the college in 2023, following an historic agreement between the college and the International Baccalaureate (IB).
Students taking part will embark on an action-oriented and experiential programme, with a focus on bringing about transformative systems change, and empowering them to tackle global challenges towards a more just future. This new pathway to graduation will sit alongside our current academic provision, so that students entering the college in 2023 have a choice between the standard IB Diploma or the new bespoke diploma.
To support this important development, we have also opened the new Center for Systems Transformation at the college, which will be the engine room for this work.
This exciting development follows the signing of an unprecedented agreement with the IB to pilot and scale this innovation.
By replacing two subjects, we have created space of about 400 hours worth 14 points - the single largest chunk in a student’s academic programme - designed to be the crucible of a UWC education. With the IB partnership in place, students in our pioneer cohort of this program will be awarded the full IB Diploma, while allowing us to maintain autonomy over the curriculum design and the assessment model.
Helping shape this project and keep us accountable to designing an education for what the world needs of global youth is a dynamic group of student advisors, second year students Megan, Melody, Mine, Nico, Rama, and first year students Anson, Ariana, Given and Hilma (pictured).
This is the most radical step the IB has taken with the Diploma Programme in decades, and it speaks to the trust the IB and UWC Atlantic have in each other. Just as when it was founded 60 years ago, UWC Atlantic is leading the way in education reforms that could have a long-lasting impact on education globally.
UWC Atlantic celebrates 60th anniversary
Hundreds joined us in-person and virtually for a special event to mark 60 years since the college was founded, and the start of the UWC global education movement.
Guest speakers on the day included: First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford; UWC President HM Queen Noor of Jordan; and Musimbi Kanyoro, Chair of the UWC International Board.
First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford
First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford
The day was a reminder of how far we have come - from a college 60 years ago open to just 54 boys to a global education movement spanning four continents. Since UWC Atlantic was founded, UWC has grown to encompass 11,000 students from 155 countries, studying at one of 18 schools and colleges around the world.
Students greet HM Queen Noor of Jordan on arrival
Students greet HM Queen Noor of Jordan on arrival
Please feel free to watch the ceremony livestream of part of the day, which included a new video documenting our history.
STUDENTS VOLUNTEER AT ROWING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
A dozen students made their way down the coast to Saundersfoot one weekend in October, where they volunteered at the World Rowing Coastal Championships.
The team was responsible for preparing the beach for the rowing boats coming in, by moving rocks and debris from the competition area. The efforts were also appreciated by the athletes competing in the world beach sprint finals the following weekend, as the competition involved running along the beach!
The students were also part of the competition flag crew, moving lane markers up the beach as the tide came in, and helping the athletes carry their boats up the beach.
UWC Atlantic joins the big give christmas challenge
UWC Atlantic is taking part in this year’s The Big Give Christmas Challenge – with an ambitious target of raising more than £34,250 in just one week.
If this amount is raised, the college will be awarded another £34,250 by an UWC Atlantic alumni and one of The Big Give’s Champions The Step Up Fund. Funds raised will be used to support a scholarship for a refugee student starting with us in 2023.
Zainab, a Palestinian refugee from the Burj el-Shemali camp in south Lebanon, who came to UWC Atlantic on a full scholarship in 2021, said: “One day, I hope to encourage all the youth, especially girls, to take risks and support themselves in finding their interests and exploring outside their own country.
“I also hope to build hospitals to care for the poor. I was inspired when a sick man came to the hospital in Lebanon and was refused medical help because he wasn't able to pay. He died in front of the hospital.
“Donating to the UWC refugee Big Give Campaign is important because it will provide hope to young people to get access to the education they deserve and provide them with the opportunity of achieving their dreams.”
You can donate on the Big Give campaign website from 12:00pm (UK time) on 29 November 2022 until 12:00pm on 6 December 2022.
UWC Atlantic student Zainab (left)
UWC Atlantic student Zainab (left)
Built with Shorthand