TFS - Canada's International School

DIS ME DISCERN MENT "These lunches provide students with an educational opportunity to develop their critical thinking, self-confidence and ability to express their own opinions." 2014 – 2015 Report to Our Community | 3 Leading a school is one of the most rewarding professions on earth, given that heads have ultimate responsibility for the education of hundreds and hundreds of children. In my particular case, I love the fact that, as a school, we promote academic ambition among our students at the same time as we help them become discerning citizens, capable of making their own ethical choices. What a beautiful mission! These worthy goals are being supported through the implementation of a series of initiatives brought forward by our new Vie scolaire committee, which is comprised of a dedicated group of professionals from across our school. One of its first proposals was to launch a series of regular lunches with Level V students, hosted in my office. These are formal occasions around a set dinner table where the art of sophisticated conversation and polite manners play an important part. At lunch, students tell me about their daily experience at school, but we often also venture into more intellectual areas ranging from literature to science, philosophy, music and gender politics. In addition to allowing me to get to know our future graduates, these lunches provide them with an educational opportunity to develop their critical thinking, self-confidence and ability to express and justify their own opinions. I must say that I have been impressed with their poise and maturity to date, and I look forward to continuing this new tradition. There will be a number of other interesting initiatives coming out of the discussions of the Vie scolaire committee, and I will be sharing these with you in the coming months. Through our common efforts, we are aiming to develop our students into responsible citizens who can engage in intercultural dialogue and meaningful human interaction.

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