Dear RCN Community,

RCN captures you! So it was an easy decision to accept the offer from the board to extend my contract beyond the initial, interim year. It is hard to know exactly where you are or what is going on in a new school, until you have experienced the full annual calendar; and living on a fjord on the west coast of Norway provides an additional environmental kaleidoscope. The breathtaking beauty of the mountains, and the fjord which they rise from, are one attraction, the Nordic way, another, but most importantly, it is our community which defines us.

RCN is a deliberately diverse community which is intentionally invitational to others, which prioritises learning and leadership and which recognises the need to work together to solve the problems of our time. It has governmental support and a sense of purpose which gives us the potential to do great things. Our collective obligation is to be as wise as we can be and to take collaborative action to enable our students and our alumni to be as impactful as possible on communities, companies, corporations and countries, and the leaders who make decisions, so that our world becomes more peaceful and more sustainable. We must have this as our focus to justify our continued existence.

Simply stated and yet challenging to achieve. Promoting individual autonomy and freedom, democratic deliberation and collective discourse whilst respecting the humanity of others and the right to alternative opinions within an established moral framework is a global challenge and it is our challenge. It is less of a challenge if we can remain compassionate, empathetic and humble in spite of our forthright determination to make a difference.

We will return after the seasonal holiday, refreshed and ready to start moving deliberately towards the future, sharing our ideas and working together as a community, drawing in those who share our vision and making plans about what needs to be done in a world which needs to be more united.

I intentionally and deliberately invite all of you in the wider RCN community, alumni, parents, family and friends, supporters and members of our local community and network, to share your thoughts and ideas about what matters with us at rektor@uwcrcn.no. I wish all of you a relaxing holiday season and a very happy and fulfilling new year.

Pelham Lindfield Roberts

Rektor