School Digs:

Relocating is hard work – and most of us have only had to move from home to home. Imagine moving an entire school! JUDY COOPER, principal of Nexus International School (Singapore), has done just that. We caught up with her for a peep at the new campus.

We explore the new Nexus campus

Congratulations on the move – the school looks amazing! What’s your favourite thing about it so far?

We love our new school; it’s so hard for me to decide which part I love the most. I do enjoy spending time in our Eco Café, as it gives me time to catch up with parents and staff over a cup of coffee. I also enjoy sneaking down to our Nursery and Kindergarten to spend time with our cute littlest learners. It’s so beautiful there and the children are always having so much fun!

This has been a big move from Ulu Pandan to the East. What was the decision behind it?

We rented our Ulu Pandan campus with the view to build our own school, and Aljunied is where we were awarded the land. Some of our Nexus families have moved over to the East and we’re loving the buzz of discovering a new area. For our families that have decided to stay near Ulu Pandan, the bus journey is only 20 minutes, so it’s very accessible.

How did you keep the school community informed about the move?

We’ve kept our parents aware of our move since we were awarded the land in 2016. Our families have been supportive and we’ve held several parent evenings to update them of the developments. In November last year, we invited families in for a sneak peek of the school, and all the children visited their learning spaces before the move to make sure that everyone felt comfortable. We have followed up with a variety of orientation activities to help the children feel secure in their new surroundings.

How long did the migration to the new campus take?

We moved our belongings in just before Christmas and had an extra week to unpack and prepare the learning spaces for the children – our staff did an incredible job!

Tell us a bit about the journey, from planning to completion.

We began preparations in 2016. The really hard work began six months ago as we began organising the logistics of having a working school with children. We had to coordinate how cars and buses handled morning drop-off and pick-up. We had to think about inter-school sports fixtures and ECA logistics and security. It’s been challenging, but incredibly rewarding.

This has been a once-in-a-lifetime project and one of our proudest moments to date! We’re all settling in nicely and loving our new home!

The new Nexus International School (Singapore) campus is at 1 Aljunied Walk. There is an Open Day on 25 April; register for it on the school website. 6536 6566 | nexus.edu.sg

This has been a once-in-a-lifetime project, and one of our proudest moments to date!