Parent Update - 11 September 2015

Dear Parents,

ROALD DAHL DAY – Please enjoy these lovely photos and videos on our website andFacebook
As a truly international school, we take time every term to celebrate different countries and cultures. Today, in our first all-school Assembly of the year, we celebrated Wales and the birthday one of its most famous author, Roald Dahl. It was such a delight to see our pupils, from Year 1 to Year 8 enjoying a wide array of skits, songs and activities.

The children got to learn words from Dahl's famous BFG novel as well as some Welsh expression (who knew that you could sing ‘Let It Go’ in Welsh?). We were also visited by a number of Dahl’s colourful villains, including the scary Mrs Twit! We all enjoyed Georgia’sMarvellous Medicine bubbling away under the watchful gaze of our very own Mad Scientist, Mr MacKinnon. The grand finale was our Year 7s and teachers performing ‘When I grow up’ from the hit musical based on Dahl’s book, Matilda.

A huge thank you to all the staff and teachers who made today such a memorable assembly!

PRIMARY CURRICULUM EVENING (invitation attached) –17 September – Years 2 to 6 only
Our Primary Curriculum Evening is an excellent opportunity to understand more about how and what your child is learning this year. Please RSVP to ricky.auyeung@nais.hkand remember that, if you’re not able to make it, then we will be uploading presentations the following day.

SECONDARY OPEN EVENING (invitation attached) – 29 September – Open to Years 5 and above (current and prospective parents welcome)
We are incredibly proud of the opportunities that we offer our Secondary School students both here in Hong Kong and via our Global Family of 41 schools around the world. Our Secondary Open Evening is an opportunity to learn more about how we teach Key Stage 3 (Years 7 to 9) and beyond. Please RSVP to ricky.auyeung@nais.hk.

SWIMMING UPDATE

Our Head of PE, Martin Pate, has asked to share the following update on our swimming lessons:

“Our swimming lessons are going extremely well with many pupils already making significant progress in terms of technique and confidence. Our pupils are thoroughly enjoying the lessons and are maximising their time in the pool by getting changed quickly at the start and end of lessons. We have received some queries about the use of floatation aids. Please be assured that if a pupil is using a floatation aid it is designed to improvestroke technique and not an indication that they are a weak swimmer. Our swimming coaches are highly experienced and are insuring that our pupils are receiving lessons of a very high quality.”

SWIM SQUAD TRAINING

Now that our Coaches have had a chance to assess all our pupils, we will be send out letters about Swim Squad Training next week.

PARENT WORKSHOPS – Tuesday 15 September @ 8.30am

Our PE Team will be talking this week about the way we teach and the values are important in our Sports Programme. Please RSVP to ricky.auyeung@nais.hk

REMINDER: ‘EFFECTIVE PARENTING’ FOR CHILDREN 11 AND UNDER – Starting on 23 September

Marie Marchand, founder of Parenting Dialogue, is holding a seven-session workshop on Effective Parenting at our school, starting on 23 September. The workshops run from 8.15am to 10.30am on Wednesdays. The cost is HK$3,000 per person and Ms Marchand is happy to provide more details via email or telephone:mariemarchand.parenting@gmail.com and 9188 3241. Please view:www.parentingdialogue.com

YEAR 1 APPLICANTS – AUGUST 2016
Within the next two weeks, we will be contacting all the siblings that have applied to start in August 2016. If you have not yet submitted an application for a child born between 1 September 2010 and 31 August 2011, then please email our Admissions Manager, Deborah Stephen: deborah.stephen@nais.hk

PARENT SOCIAL EVENTS:

The Monday Hiking Club is going strong and next Monday (14 Sept) more than 20 parents have already signed up. Please email Jane Candlish if you’d like to join this this social group of parent hikers.

Another of our mums, Heather Ring, has organised a group of parents to join a historical walking tour of Central. There are five places remaining if you would like to join on Monday 21 September from 8.45am to 12.30pm. The group is led by well-known Hong Kong historian, Jason Wordie, and the cost if HK$400 to be paid on the day. Please email or call Heater on heatherring@me.com or 9686 0802.

Last Friday of the month (25 Sept): Drinks at Casa in Sai Kung from 8pm onwards. No booking necessary. Just come along. If you’d like more details, please contact Susie Holt (susaneholt@icloud.com) or Lexie Sanderson (lexie.sanderson@gmail.com).

OUR GLOBAL ORCHESTRA – Click here to see what 82 Nord Anglia students did in New York!
At the end of last term, three of our pupils were chosen to represent Hong Kong in our Nord Anglia Global Orchestra. It was such an amazing week of music and cultural opportunities, and a fabulous example of the kind of opportunities that being at a Nord Anglia school offer our upper Primary and Secondary students. We’re already planning ahead for our two-week Summer Arts Programme to be held in Switzerland in July 2016. We’ll keep you posted!

FAREWELL MADDI, HELLO DEBBIE!
Finally, a big farewell to our amazing friend and Admissions Manager, Maddi Palser. In our Assembly today, Mr Cooklin spoke to all the pupils about her important role in looking after them, and their parents, when they joined our school. Good luck with your move back to Australia, Maddi.

We’re fortunate to be joined by Deborah Stephen, as our new Admissions Manager. She is already a great addition to the team and brings with her many years’ experience in education (she was the Head of School at the Bebegarten Education Centre) and of living in Hong Kong. Please join us in welcoming Debbie to the team:deborah.stephen@nais.hk

Have a lovely weekend.