It is with a mixture of sadness and excitement that I write to you regarding the changes to Green Oasis School beginning next academic year. I feel so fortunate to have been at GOS during such a vibrant time. GOS has grown and changed over the last 19 years to reach where we are today, a fully Accredited Council of International School, with an English Curriculum that also values the Chinese language and culture. When I first arrived we made the decision to focus on our Guiding Statements. These are now embedded in all we do. We have also strengthened our commitment to high quality teaching and learning. We continue to strive to do better and our aim is to ensure all our students are given the best opportunities in all we do.

This year is a year of change for Green Oasis School. We have waved farewell to our last cohort of IGCSE students. We are handing our Year 10 and 9s to SCIE so they can continue to strive to be the best they can in all they do.  The GOS community would like to wish them all the best and remember all our students are invited to return to tell us about their wonderful adventures.

This exciting change has been planned for some time, and although we are sad to see the students leave, we know they are going to be settled to continue their high school journey in vibrant new surroundings with teachers who will challenge and ensure they reach their potential. The nice thing is of our GOS IGCSE teachers are joining them at SCIE, so there will be familiar faces amongst the cohort and staff.

The next exciting change for Green Oasis School in moving forward is the development of a GOS Primary only campus. We are restructuring the school to open more classes to give more children an opportunity to experience and become involved in our unique and exciting curriculum. Of course school is so much more than academics, but we do continue to strive to ensure our students have the best of the West and the best of the East.

So this leads us to the formation of Shenzhen Oasis International School. It is a little like out of the ashes of the phoenix comes something new and energetic. In this case from Green Oasis School comes the new middle school SOIS. The new school will continue to follow the Guiding Statements of GOS, will continue with the same policies and procedures with some changes to the curriculum which will include Chinese Mathematics and Drama. The new school will be in located on the former SCIE campus in Shui Wei. Our Year 6, 7 and 8 students will become the first cohort of this new school from August 2020, but just like at SCIE there will be familiar faces both with the staff and amongst the students.

Now of this expansion would not have been possible without the support and commitment of the whole GOS community. This brings me to another piece of exciting news. GOS/SOIS will celebrate 20 years of providing educational excellence to the families of Shenzhen in 2021. WE look forward to inviting you to celebrate with us at events to be held throughout 2021. More details will be sent to families and alumni next academic year.

Thank you to all for being part of this journey. Thank you To the Board of Directors for their vision. Thank you to the staff both past and present, thank you to our families who have chosen the ‘Oasis’ schools for their child’s education and thank you to the students who without their energy, enthusiasm and commitment we could not have grown to be a vibrant, exciting place to be.

Helen Swan

Principal