We welcomed one new student to the year group. Lucy Kim from Korea has joined 9C and I am pleased to say that she has settled in very well with the help of her fantastic buddies. We were also very pleased to see the return of Pushti who left us at briefly at the end of last term but managed to make her way back to join 9C.
Students received their reports just before the Christmas break and I hope that most were pleased with their current performance and progress to date. We will spend some time during Guidance sessions over the coming weeks addressing the areas for development and setting plan as to how the students can continue to be achieve their potential.
In assembly on Tuesday Year 9 students were delighted to welcome visiting Juilliard Alumni, Benjamin Moermond on Bassoon, Xiangyu Zhou on clarinet and Peng-Peng Gong on piano, to perform a mini-concert.
CCAs have begun this week with a huge sign up from Year 9. Athletes have been trialing for senior teams in football, in CISSA teams for Volleyball and 4 of our students have been selected for the upcoming U13 Sports Fobisia in Hong Kong. I wish everyone luck in their teams for the upcoming season.
Well done to everyone in Year 9 for an excellent start to the term.
Being Ambitious in the World of Art
I also arrived back to fantastic news from Mr Thomas our curriculum leader for Art. Two year 9 students have had their art work selected to be entered for the Shanghai City weekend annual Art competition. This is a prestigious competition that is entered by all international schools in Shanghai and regularly receives over 450 entries each year. The students’ Art work was short listed from all the Art work produced at NAIS Pudong for its accuracy, creativity and is a strong example of the high caliber of Art we produce at NAIS. The judges then selected the top 50 entries to be exhibited at the Hub shopping Mall in Puxi. Both Valeria Lau and Neha Adinamozhi have been invited to the awards ceremony this Saturday where the winners will be announced. We wish them both luck and wait eagerly for some news.
Through the Classroom Keyhole
Science
This week Year 9 have been investigating the effect exercise has on the concentration of carbon dioxide produced. Students measured the concentration of carbon dioxide at rest using universal indicator and an ammonia solution. They repeated and compared this after vigorous exercise.
German
Students continue their topic of 'planning a trip' in German, and they are now learning how to write a postcard from their trip, which typically contains a mix of accurate past and future tenses.
Humanities
In Geography, 9A and B have been finishing off their news programmes on Fair Trade and getting ready for assessments. In History, students have been looking at the Battle of the Somme to ultimately decide if Haig deserved the title 'Butcher of the Somme'.
Mathematics
This week Year 9 have been investigating angle relationships in parallel lines, polygons and other mathematical shapes. They have derived the formulae for the sum of the interior and exterior angles of a polygon and learned how to apply them to solve angle problems. They have also been working on constructing various shapes including perpendicular bisectors and angle bisectors, before the advent of GPS and computerized navigational systems, these were crucial skills for ships navigational officers. I doubt any of our students will ever be at the helm of a boat when the digital navigational instruments fail but I suppose you never know when these old fashioned skills might come in handy!
Global Campus
The Global Campus connects our 42 schools and 32,000 students giving our students daily access to global opportunities allowing our students to develop a truly international perspective through outstanding online, in school and worldwide experiences. Please see below a number of challenges that have been set for the students. More details will follow during registration and guidance.
Week commencing 11th January - First round of the Global Debate League
11th January – William Shakespeare Global Theatre Challenge Launch
18th January – Launch of the Global Challenge
25th January - Be Ambitious Challenge 1 winners announced
25th January – Launch of the World Languages challenge 2
Dates for the Diary
15/16/17 January – Global Young Leaders conference
20 – 23 January – ACAMIS Basketball @ BIS Beijing
28 – 31 January – FOBISIA Swim Meet @ BIS Phuket
31 January – Chinese Temple Fair, 11am – 3pm
Mrs J Parrish
Year 9 Leader