WELCOME

It has been a truly incredible year since becoming UWC Atlantic Principal. During my short time here, I have been touched on countless occasions by the impact of a UWC education - not just on our students but on the communities they go on to serve during their time here and upon graduating.

Central to this has been the generosity of our alumni and friends, whose support provides opportunities for those fortunate enough to be educated here. As HM Queen Noor said at our 60th anniversary event, by supporting our students, you have helped to create ripples of change that multiply into the wider communities of UWC students and alumni. I witnessed this first-hand when I got to meet so many of you at the three sets of reunions at the college this summer, and more recently in October. It is so heart-warming to see, even for those of you who left maybe 40 years ago, or more, that the cultural connection between alumni is still present.

The founding vision of the movement was to build bridges across different backgrounds, beliefs, and often deep cultural divides, to work out the greatest societal challenges that humanity faces. And for me, as we witness continuing great divides and even greater challenges, I think our mission is perhaps as important as ever. However, I also believe profoundly that now, more than ever, we need to come together as a movement. We need to learn from one another and grow together. And above all, be humble and bring the best out of one another.

I also want to acknowledge the important role that UWC Atlantic can continue to play within the wider UWC community. This year we have forged an historic partnership with the International Baccalaureate - one which promises to have a long-lasting impact on education globally. Our education prototype, which we’ll be piloting in 2023, is an innovation that goes to the heart of the UWC mission. It will see 20 students in September 2023 forgo part of the IB diploma, taking four IB courses and the remaining of time (c. 400 hours over two years) spent on the new pathway. 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.

The investment needed to develop this new educational pathway will initially be £750,000. Our recently appointed Vice Principal for Education Innovation Marija Uzunova Dang goes into more detail in the newsletter, and I know that she would really value your support in ensuring its success.

The past year has also been an important one for building, and re-building, trust with our community. It has been important for me to spend time listening to them about how things were going and the path they wanted to see us take. This also had an important and welcome influence on the new 10-year strategy for UWC Atlantic, which we completed over the summer break. I know that a number of you will have heard me share about this at the reunions, and I am really looking forward to sharing with the rest of you over the coming year.

Our students, and their generation, face some phenomenally difficult challenges, and where I want us to play our part is helping to empower them to tackle these challenges head-on. So that, despite conflict, injustice and climate & ecological breakdown, they (and we) can have a lot to be hopeful and optimistic about. With the kind of movement that UWC is, thanks to its students, staff, alumni and friends, we are perfectly placed to make this happen.