Welcome to 2023! I do hope you all had a restful break. To me, the New Year has always been a time of reflection. It is a time when I look back on what has been achieved over the last year, and an opportunity to develop targets for improvement.

Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher, is credited with saying “The only thing constant is change”. I would argue that this is true if the change is both relevant and an improvement on the present circumstances. Education is a field that has undergone wide-ranging change in the four decades that I have been a teacher. We constantly strive to improve and modify our teaching techniques, resource types, and philosophy of education, to prepare children for a world, which itself, is constantly changing.

During this time, Primary Education has tended to move away from ‘rote learning’ (Although there is still a place for it in certain circumstances), and towards critical thinking, problem solving and collaborative learning. All these skill sets are those that are asked for by employers in the modern world. Modern International Primary Schools are now very different places to those most of us adults experienced, when we were younger.

The increase in connectivity, the internet, and the ease of access to information are now so far reaching that, given the opportunity, training and technology, anyone can find out almost anything, on-line.

Those of you who can remember slide-rules, books of logarithmic tables and the time before calculators will understand the difficulties involved. However, the use of a calculator still needs the user to understand the four rules of number and how operations work.

So, it is with all the latest technological tools we now have at our disposal. The basics still need to be taught. You can not write a report without a grasp of language. You can not use a spreadsheet without a grasp of number. Some children will go on to study computers and information technology as a career choice, but the majority will need to know how to use computers, software, and the internet as tools to carry out other functions. Again, this is impossible without a thorough grounding in the basics. This is the function of Primary Education. With your help, we can give all of our children the opportunity to explore, experiment, and engage with the world around them despite the constant change.

Glyn Lewis

(Marbled reed frog and Drop-wing dragonfly – both residents of MIA)