School Director

Welcome Letter (Academic Year 2025-26)

Dear Parents,

As the monsoon clouds gather and with a brief respite from the summer heat, the first notes of morning bustle return to our campus. I write to you with a heart full of anticipation and gratitude. The corridors, once quiet with summer’s pause, now hum with renewed energy, an orchestra of footsteps, laughter, and purpose. Whether you are returning to us or joining our community for the first time, please know that your presence enriches the tapestry of Pathways, and we are honoured to begin this new chapter together.

Over the summer, while our campus echoed with the industrious rhythm of renewal, machines whirring, spaces transforming, I found myself reflecting on the words of Mary Oliver, who posed a question both simple and profound: “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” It is this spirit of inquiry and imagination that we seek to nurture in our students, not merely to prepare them for the world, but to inspire them to shape it.

This year, we embrace the theme “Inspiring Growth, Together”, a call to collective flourishing. Our classrooms will be vibrant with curiosity, our hallways with camaraderie, and our stages, fields, and studios with creativity and discipline. At the heart of this endeavour is our exceptional faculty, whose dedication to both subject and student is the quiet force behind every success. They are not just educators; they are mentors, guides, and stewards of growth and development.

We continue to place wellbeing at the centre of our mission. A recent Harvard study revealed that schools prioritising wellbeing see a 23% rise in student motivation and a 20% reduction in chronic stress. At Pathways, wellbeing is not an accessory to learning; it is its foundation. This year, we deepen our commitment through expanded advisory programs, enriched social-emotional learning, and robust professional development for our staff. A school can only be truly excellent when its people, students and educators alike, are well.

To our students: You are more than just your grades and accolades. Your emotional, physical, and social wellbeing is integral in our journey, and we are here to walk beside you. You will be challenged, yes, but also cherished.

To our parents and guardians: Thank you for your trust and partnership. Education is a shared endeavour, and your support is the quiet scaffolding behind every student’s growth.

To our faculty and staff: In a profession that often asks more than it gives, your devotion is both humbling and inspiring. As we champion the wellbeing of our students, we also commit to nurturing yours.

This is a reminder that school reopens on July 15th for the whole school. The DP/CP 2 students have been in school a week before for an academic camp. As usual, be prepared for a host of events and activities planned throughout the year.

Let this year be defined not only by academic milestones but by quieter triumphs, the building of self-confidence, the rekindling of hope, the forging of friendships, and the discovery of purpose. Let it be a year in which we not only teach, but care; not only learn, but flourish.

Kind regards,
Aaron Jacob
School Director

Learn. Work. Play. Think. LIVE

 

From the Director’s Desk

Education has a natural flow that continually brings the excitement of ‘the new’ to all involved. It could be a parent sending their five-year-old off for Day One, a Grade 6 student about to make the journey to the Senior School, or a teacher walking into the first class of a new academic year. Nothing stands still!

What is that makes our school different, because different they most certainly are? It is the people: students and staff; it is the blend of convention and innovation. It is how we feed the fire without dying in its flames; it is where we emphasise the curriculum and the expectations we pass on to the students. More than anything else, the essence is in the quality of the relationships between all members of our community.

Teaching is a relational craft, and schools are a relational place. If we get it right, we enable young minds to gain flexibility, curiosity, and diversity in their interactions. We create intimacy and trust that enables them to question, initiate and lead. We show them values and allow them to grow in self-awareness as they start to unravel their beliefs and values.

The focus on the micro and macro relationship has interested me for many years—the effect of small changes on the big picture. While many thoughts pass through a mind almost concealed, others trigger specific vibrations that grow to resonate throughout a lifetime. All are interconnected and subtle changes of what might seem a minor variable can, as with the Butterfly Effect, bring about the vastly different outcomes on the broad canvas. In education, we need to work with detail to bring out the best in each of our students. This need to blend long-term goals and the details with individual needs is at the heart of my belief in education as the critical building blocks of our societies.

Former School Directors