Nexus Singapore’s Unique Approach to Learning, Motivation and Academic Excellence

Edarabia had the opportunity to interview Simon Mann, the Principal of Nexus International School, Singapore, to discuss the school’s plans for 202. Mr. Mann provided valuable insights into Nexus’s educational philosophy, their commitment to student well-being, and their innovative approaches to preparing learners for success in a rapidly changing world.

1. What are your plans for 2025?

Firstly, it’s playing back into our major strength – at Nexus, this is the relationships between learners and teachers are based on care, support and growth. This is central to our ability to improve and central to the capacity of our children to learn. In 2025, alongside continuing to grow and maintain this culture and climate, we are focusing on how we can further challenge ourselves academically and outside the classroom. We will be engaging the wider community and involving them in this process, with a particular focus on our communication, and we believe this collective approach will develop learners who are really ready for whatever the future may hold.

2. How do you decide what to focus on academically each year, and which new ideas are you pursuing?

We delve into the feedback cycle with various ways to collect data to find out what’s going well and where our gaps are. This allows us to reinforce what’s going well and put interventions into areas for improvement. We have run parent forums at the beginning of this year, sitting with families and talking about what they desired for their children and what they felt the school could develop further. We also repeated this process with the staff. Then, as a senior leadership team, we digested this information to identify specific goals and work out what success looks like and what challenges we expect as we work towards these goals.

3. What challenges do you anticipate in the field of education over the next 5 years?

I think the challenge in education always remains the same – it’s preparing learners for a successful, meaningful and satisfying life post school. I love the language that Martin Seligman uses, that we want our students to “flourish” with us.

I think when we talk about the next five years, we’re talking about an increasingly complex landscape. This includes the complexity of social media which is further compounded by AI – with both influencing the job market and our understanding of how we function as a society. I think we are also still experiencing post-COVID anxieties of learners, families and to some degree, staff.

An area of focus for us is resilience. As a school, we need to build the capacity for our learners and adults to support their own personal well-being and prepare learners for change. This includes teaching them to adapt, pivot and accept that what they’re doing now may not be what they do in the future. By nurturing individuals who deal with failure positively and have the capacity to bounce back, we produce adults who not only function well in society but also contribute to their communities.

4. How do you keep students interested in learning, especially those who struggle or seem unmotivated?

I love talking about the word “pride”, and I think that success is defined by pride. If you measure success by how proud learners are of their output, we will be looking at engagement which is the key for those less motivated. Pride and engagement give us a starting point for how we are able to motivate that learner. We also use rich and engaging curriculums like the PYP, MYP and IB Diploma, which cover topic areas that are not only interesting but also important, while relating to the real world. This helps to grab the child’s interest through action-focused experiences that relate to real-life situations. All of this increases motivation for each learner.

From here, we work out where each learner’s progress is at any given time and make sure that we are challenging each unique individual through tasks that suit the level of engagement, action and challenge that they need to make them proud of their own product.

5. How does the school ensure all students feel welcome and have the same chances to succeed?

Starting with a really strong induction programme and providing clarity before a child joins the school, we make families feel welcome from the beginning. This starts with the admissions experience. We continue that parent partnership when they arrive at school, making sure that families are aware of events, activities, and programmes that their child is involved in. Teachers really focus on engaging new learners as individuals and also offering school buddies. As mentioned before, one of the core strengths of this school is care, support and relationships. By focusing on these positive relationships, we ensure that all learners have at least two significant adults whom they can reach out to. This supports us in knowing each child.

6. How proactive is the school in matters of student stress and bullying?

Bullying is a common theme in all schools, and we deal with it proactively. At Nexus, we believe in leaning into relationships, once again, encouraging learners to take ownership of their community and look after each other. All learners can contribute to the environment they wish to create – learners help us help learners.

When an individual is in a high-stress, high-anxiety or bullying situation, they are probably unable to take sensible action. That’s why we ask learners who may be slightly outside the actual issue to let the school know what’s going on to help their friends and community.

During our assemblies and tutor times, we make our expectations of what is acceptable and unacceptable very clear. We also support our learners with the skills and information on what to do if this happens in the school. This is further supported by our counsellors, peer supporters, small tutor groups and a strong pastoral system.

7. How do you help students build the skills they need for life after graduation?

There are two components as we move through school. One is the idea of opening as many doors as possible so learners have many opportunities to go to their first-choice university or post-school opportunity – that aspect is almost entirely driven by academic results, which is central to our work.

The second is nurturing them to become individuals who will be successful when they arrive. This means developing independence with the capacity to self-direct their learning, during and beyond university. As adults, we need to work through things as they are, without a teacher or lecturer to help us. Developing the ability to self-assess the needs, gaps, and next steps of a situation is an essential skill we aim to build and link seamlessly with our curriculum. This also ties back to the resilience piece we discussed earlier.

It is very important to help learners find their meaning and purpose so they understand what makes them tick and know what they care about. This helps give them direction and focus. Whether learners pursue these passions as a career or something that they continue to engage in for their personal fulfilment, this is an area that will be central to their development. In my mind, this is why we offer a truly holistic education at Nexus.

8. How involved are parents and the community in making the school better?

By Singapore International School standards, Nexus is smaller, allowing us to work actively alongside the community to develop relationships that will collectively improve the school. We have a very strong parent group at Nexus, which partners with us in all major activities. We are also building this rapport through our Class Representatives who work alongside our teachers to communicate and enrich our programmes. By increasing volunteer opportunities, we enrich our learners’ experiences with things like reading buddies, support on trips, career sharing and mentoring.

One of the beauties of Nexus is its diversity; as such we recognise we have to offer a multilingual approach. We use forums and workshops in more than one language to really draw our families into the conversation to get a stronger understanding of their experience of our education. This work with our community further refines the Nexus experience.

9. How do you develop a school culture that attracts and keeps great teachers?

Just like the learners, teachers and staff also need to feel cared for, valued and have a sense of belonging whilst having opportunities to grow. We provide social events so teachers and staff can relax, especially during periods of the year when there is high stress. We also focus on ensuring that teachers and staff find their work meaningful and provide them with learning that allows them to grow as professionals and individuals. When teachers and staff feel like they belong, are cared for and have chances to grow, not only will you attract great teachers, you will retain the ones that you have.

10. Do teachers at your school have growth opportunities for leadership roles?

As far as what we call “classic leadership positions”, there is only a limited number of positions open within each school, but when they become available, we certainly look at internal candidates. Apart from these, we see many Nexus teachers take leadership roles for various programmes and aspects of the school. Our teachers have significant space to contribute and lead programmes that they are passionate about, like the “Learner Achievement Awards”, CCAs, sports, the arts, and so much more.

11. Which after-school activity would you say has the biggest positive impact on a student’s future?

Rather than just one activity, I think that this really depends on each learner and their passions. We aim for them to find something that they will continue for the rest of their life. In Primary school, we encourage them to try as many things as possible. As they move towards upper Secondary, we suggest that learners start honing in on something that really makes them tick. It may be music, drama, a sport or community service – whatever it is, we believe it’s critical to develop this passion and their skills in a particular area so they can confidently continue their journey outside of the school environment and/or when they leave school.

Camps are also incredibly important for all learners, particularly learners in Singapore, as it is important to get them out of their comfort zone and away from their devices to enter a more natural environment. Personally, I also hope that every learner leaves Nexus with a physical activity that they will continue.

This combination of finding that passion, being comfortable outside their comfort zone, and being physically active is central to developing their well-being and resilience as they leave school and continue to move through life.

12. As a Principal, what is your definition of success?

Seeing learners who have been through our school when they’re 26 and seeing their successes. I’ve been in three schools now, which is long enough to actually meet these 26-year-olds. It feels like a long-term project, but it is how they evolve into adults that truly is a measure of our success. During school, we check academic progress, encourage passions and plan and quality-assure all of our programmes. In the end, none of these things are as important as the impact we have on learners and how we have supported them to become adults who lead meaningful lives, contribute to others and find joy in what they do.

13. If you had the opportunity to inspire the world in one sentence, what would that sentence be?

Your contributions to others will be the most significant thing in your personal growth, development and joy.