Parent Update - 10 December 2017

Parent Update - 10 December 2017

Weekly Message

Dear Parents,

 

The week began for me providing a tour of the school for a large delegation from Bangkok Christian College. They had been recommended to see our school by our sister school in Bangkok, as our reputation goes far and wide.  They were very impressed by the school and especially by the behaviour and manners of the pupils.

 

The Year 9 production of the pantomimes Aladdin and Cinderella made for the great excitement for the audience.  Our young pupils from the Sai Kung and Tai Tam campuses were transfixed and talking about it for the rest of the week.  It was great to see the enjoyment of both the cast and the audience, not to mention the confidence shown.

 

It has also been Computer Science week with a range of interesting activities promoting greater understanding of Computing.  The Year 9 and 10 students going to Tanzania in the new year had the Sponsored Music Thon which I am sure will be a great success.  They will be providing background music in the reception area while parents gather for the climax of the week: the Year 1 Christmas production.

 

Excitement has mounted all week and now, after all the practising and rehearsals, the day has arrived. I can’t wait to enjoy it. 

 

Have a great weekend.

 

Brian Cooklin.

Principal.

 

 

PTA DRINKS & NIBBLES

Our Tai Tam PTA are hosting a fabulous event and families from the other two campuses are welcome to join. This is a great opportunity to come and see our beautiful new campus while meeting some new (and familiar) faces.

 

You can sign up here.

 

SCROLL DOWN FOR TAI TAM AND SAI KUNG UPDATE

 

LAM TIN UPDATES

UPCOMING EVENTS

 

8-14 December

Wear your own swim cap to swimming lessons

 

11 December

Secondary Progress Reports

 

11 – 14 December

KS2 Inter-House Long Distance Swim Trophy during swimming lessons

 

11 – 14 December

Primary School Inter-House Dodge Ball during PE lessons

 

12 December

Secondary Progress Parent Evening - Years 7 and 10

 

13 December

Secondary Progress Parent Evening - Years 8 and 9

ECAs preview for parents

 

14 DECEMBER

Christmas Jumper Day

Sleigh Debate

Primary Christmas Parties

 

15 December

Inter-house singing competition

End of autumn term

Last day of term 

 

 3 JANUARY

ECA registration period opens at 3pm and closes on Tuesday, 9 January at 12noon.

 

EARLY FINISH ON LAST DAY OF TERM

As school finishes early on the last day of term, please note that the bus arrival time will be 2 hours earlier than their normal scheduled time.

 

SIBLING PHOTO SIGN-UP

For parents who wish to sign-up their Primary children for sibling photos taking place on Monday, 15 January, please email your child’s class teacher to register. Timeslots are limited, so we courage you to sign-up early. If your child is a Secondary student, you may sign-up here.

 

LIBRARY BOOKS

To prepare for the coming holiday, there will be no borrowing from the library starting the Monday, 11 December. Pupils are still encouraged to come to the library during break and lunch times to read. Please remind your children to return their library books by Friday, 15 December. Thank you for your cooperation!

 

INTER-HOUSE DODGEBALL NEXT WEEK

It’s inter-house dodgeball next week so students should wear their House tops to PE.  On Thursday, they should wear a Christmas jumper on top of their House top.

 

HONG KONG BASKETBALL COMMUNITY! 

Top Flight Basketball are looking to find Hong Kong’s most Elite Basketball Student Athletes. Top Flight is seeking new squad members to compete in the HKJBL Season 2, and are hosting open try outs this weekend.

 

WEAR YOUR OWN SWIM CAP TO SWIMMING LESSONS 8-14 December

This December will see the first NAIS Inter House long distance swim. Year 4 – Year 7 students will compete in this event during their swimming lessons between Friday, 8 and Thursday, 14 December.

 

MUSIC-A-THON

The following Year 9 and Year 10 students all took part in a sponsored Music-a-thon on Friday to raise money for their trip to Tanzania: Evan Kingsbury, James Honda, Mattia Muggeri, Velvet Lung, Stephy Tsang and Nicole Tsang.

 

Beautiful sounds of music drifted through reception throughout the day as they performed non-stop from 8.30am – 2.45pm. Well done each and every one of you. You’re a talented bunch! Stay tuned to see how much money they raised from this great event.

 

1-1 INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PROGRAMME: TERM 2

We are delighted to open registration for next term’s private instrumental lessons.  If you wish to sign up, please read the information carefully and return the form by Monday, 11 December 2017. Click here for the Contract and Terms and Conditions

 

Please note that lesson fees will be billed by Pure Orchestral Centre. Payment can be made either by cheque (made payable to “Pure Orchestral Centre”) or bank transfer (contact Mr. Ringo Chan directly at 6199 9933 to obtain bank transfer details). Please, do not send cash. All applications must be accompanied by complete payment in order to be processed for lessons beginning in January.

 

SWIMMING

The swimming pool water temperature is kept at a lovely 30 degrees celsius, however some students still feel a little cold. Because of this NAIS wetsuit tops are now available to purchase from school reception. Please be aware that for these tops to keep the children warm they need to be TIGHT fitting. If there is room for the water to flow freely in and out of the top it will not keep the children warm.

 

From January 2018, any students who wish to wear any sort of top to swimming lessons must wear a NAIS top.  We currently have a stock of the following sizes;

Size : (CM)	0	1	2	4	6
Chest	25	27	29	31	33
Centre back length	32	35	38	41	44
sleeve length (from side neck)	39	42	45	48	51
Collar height	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.5

 

If you are not sure of your child’s size, then we will allow your child to try on the top and help them to get the correct size. As wth other pieces of school uniform, exchanges can be made if the garment is returned within two weeks of its purchase date and in its original packaging

 

The cost of an NAIS wetsuit top is HK$250. Payment can be made either via cash or cheque. All cheques must be made payable to Nord Anglia International School, Hong Kong Limited

  

ASSEMBLY

Miss Cattrall’s Musical Theatre ECA group performed a scene from Matilda for which they have been rehearsing for this term. The students ranging from Year 7 - 9 acted, sang and danced in a lively piece showing great work by the students and staff involved. Miss Cattrall announced that there will be an end of academic year Musical that all pupils in secondary can audition for in early January.

 

AND THE WINNERS ARE…

We are pleased to announce the winners of this year’s Global Campus Photographer of the Year competition. Out of thousands of entries from the all the Nord Anglia schools around the world, we are immensely proud that three of our students were selected for their skillful and thoughtful photographs!

1.       Overall Winner of the 11- 14 category: Jasmijn Knaap 8C

I took this picture in Aberdeen Market and I think it links to Global Goal 1: No Poverty because the man is working very hard to earn money and probably goes home with way less than we do.

2.       Shortlisted by Nord Anglia: Leon Helmersson 7A

“I took this picture of plastic because it shows how much plastic is thrown into the water and why it has to be stopped.”

3.       Highly Commended in the Under 8s category: Jasmine Kincaid 3E

'I took this photo because it shows that we use lots of tin cans and we should recycle them better. We should reduce our waste to live more sustainably.

 

All three images skillfully demonstrate the theme of “Where I Live” and help to spread understanding of the UN Global Goals and how they connect to our lives here in Hong Kong. We can see beautiful illustrations of the importance of Goal #11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, Goal #12 Responsible Consumption and Goal #14 Life Below Water among other goals. Jasmine and Jasmijn’s photographs will be included in the Photographer of the Year calendar which will be shared in schools around the world and in the United Nations offices in New York and elsewhere. Congratulations to everyone who entered and we look forward to more Global Goals related activities and opportunities in the new year.

 

TAI TAM UPDATES

Message from the Head of School

Dear Parents,

 

This week saw our first whole school trip – to see the Year 9 performance of Cinderella in Lam Tin.  We had all been rehearsing our panto lines and we had the opportunity to join in with the rest of the audience on Tuesday afternoon.  The children thoroughly enjoyed their first whole school trip and their behaviour was fantastic.  We were very proud of them all.

 

Christmas is definitely arriving! In Tai Tam, the children have all been rehearsing their lines, singing the Christmas songs and making decorations to share with you.  We are looking forward to welcoming many of you to the performance on Tuesday morning.  There are lots of exciting things happening next week so please do read through the notices carefully so you don’t miss out on anything!

 

Have a good weekend.

 

Kind regards

Mrs Sarah Harley

Head of School

 

 

NOTICES

12 December

Christmas show at 10am

 

13 DECEMBER

View ECA Choices

 

14 DECEMBER

Christmas jumper day

 

15 DECEMBER

LAST DAY OF TERM

School finishes 12:15pm. Buses will arrive home 2 ½ hours earlier than usual.

 

9 JANUARY

ECA Choice Closes

 

18 JANUARY

PTA Drinks and Nibbles

 

STARS OF THE WEEK

Congratulations! You should feel very proud of your achievements.
Nursery: Hudson McCarthy-Wallace

Lower Kindergarten: Emmy Naber

Upper Kindergarten: Diego Pardo Aldana

 

ECAs

Please check our Firefly ECA page from Wednesday, 13 December.  We will continue to offer ECAs on Monday and Wednesday. Please email TaiTamReception@nais.hk by Tuesday, 9 January with your preference if you would like child to participate. Our recommendation is that Reception and Year 1 only choose one ECA and we do not offer ECAs for Nursery students. There are no buses after ECAs and they finish at 3:45pm.

 

CHRISTMAS SHOW - Tuesday, 12 December at 10am

We can’t wait for our Christmas show on Tuesday at 10:00am.  Parents are invited from 9:30am to take their seat. Don’t forget to join us for Mince Pies and coffee afterwards. Only 2 more sleeps!

 

CHRISTMAS JUMPER DAY – THURSDAY, 14 DECEMBER

On this day, we will be celebrating Christmas by asking all our children and staff to wear Christmas jumpers. We will also have our Christmas parties on this day.

 

PTA DRINKS AND NIBBLES - Thursday, 18 January 7-9pm

Tai Tam parent PTA invite you all for Drinks and Nibbles. Please click here to show your attendance. We hope to see you there.

 

TEACHER SPOTLIGHT – HELEN WHITEHOUSE

Miss Whitehouse graduated in Manchester, UK where she then taught a Key Stage 2 class for two years before moving to Abu Dhabi. In Abu Dhabi she taught a Reception class and held the Head of Year position for three years.

 

A highlight of teaching in the UAE was learning about a new culture, the guaranteed sunshine and taking her class on trips to the beach! 

 

In my classroom I like to create an environment in which children feel happy, confident and curious. Allowing the children to take ownership of their environment is important to me when developing my classroom. Together we will build a classroom within which the children can develop their independence, resilience and love of learning.

 

BLOGS

Please continue to check the blogs for weekly information about what your child has been learning in school.

 

NO NUTS
We are a ‘nut free school’ as we have several children with severe nut allergies.  This includes peanuts and tree nuts. Please remember this when packing your child’s snack and lunch. We cannot allow nut/nut products of any kind in the building.  For a snack, we suggest a small piece of fruit or bread.

  

SPARE CLOTHES

We do have a small supply of spare clothes for emergencies, can we remind everybody to add a spare set of clothes to your child’s bag every day, just in case!

 

SAI KUNG UPDATES

Message from the Head of School

Dear Parents,

 

There is a lot of excitement in Sai Kung this week as we prepare for the holiday season. Our stage is up and the children are practising for the big nativity show next week. Thanks for all your help with the costumes. The children have all learnt their lines really well and are singing and dancing beautifully. It should be a lovely show.

 

Lots of learning has been taking place this week around the Christmas theme. Children have been writing cards, lists and making decorations in addition to their usual learning.

 

Our stage was put to good use on Tuesday when some of our Year 9 pupils put on the pantomime Aladdin for us. The children sat beautifully for the full 50 minutes and loved every second. They booed and hissed and laughed and clapped. It was a really joyful treat for all of us. It also gave our children a good idea of what is expected from them as they will take to the stage next week for our show.

 

Many thanks for your continued support.

 

Naima Charlier

Head of School

 

NOTICES

12 December

Christmas show at 10am

 

14 DECEMBER

Christmas jumper day

 

15 December

Last day of term – early finish at 12:15am

 

GENERAL UPDATES

LAST DAY OF TERM

School will finish next Friday at 12:15pm. Please expect the buses to arrive home 2 ½ hours earlier than usual.

 

STARS OF THE WEEK - MUSIC

Nursery: Ayden Wong, Jack Espeskog

Lower Kindergarten: Jack Carter Williams, Ashley Robinson, Jack Champion, Kotona Shimono

Upper Kindergarten: Eric Fong

 

TEACHER SPOTLIGHT – SARAH QUINN

I originally began my teaching career in London and spent three years teaching in a Key Stage 2 setting. Following this, I moved to Brazil to experience teaching in an international school and I have taught Year 1 for two years. I have loved living abroad and experiencing everything Brazil has to offer including the cuisine, the weather and the culture.

 

In my classroom, I create a warm and welcoming environment where children are encouraged to explore their curiosities and become independent learners.

 

Outside of school I love to travel, keep fit and cook. Recently, I have been learning to speak Portuguese and I love trying to speak with Brazilian people in their home language. I also love going to the beach to relax and enjoy the sunshine.

 

CHRISTMAS GIFTS

Thank you to all those who have sent in a book for our Santa gift. Please send in one gift wrapped book (this can be new or nearly new) to give to the class teacher. We will give these out to each child at the Christmas party.

 

ECAs

Please check our Firefly ECA page from Wednesday, 13 December.  We will continue to offer ECAs on Monday and Wednesday. Please email SaiKungReception@nais.hk by Tuesday, 9 January with your preference if you would like child to participate. Our recommendation is that Reception and Year 1 only choose one ECA and we do not offer ECAs for Nursery students. There are no buses after ECAs and they finish at 3:45pm.

 

CHRISTMAS SHOW – WEDNESDAY, 13 DECEMBER 9:45am

All the children will take to the stage and parents will be invited. Afterwards, parents will be invited to stay and take some refreshments on our roof while the children change. Then we will all join together for Carols.

 

CHRISTMAS JUMPER DAY – THURSDAY, 14 DECEMBER

It is time to get into the festive spirit and don those fabulous Christmas jumpers we all love (to hate sometimes)! On this day, we will be celebrating Christmas by asking all our children and staff to wear Christmas jumpers. We will also have our Christmas parties on this day.

 

CURRICULUM OVERVIEWS

You can find detailed information about the curriculum for the coming term on our Firefly pages. Please do take a look and ask your teacher if you have any questions.

 

BLOGS

Please continue to check the blogs for weekly information about what your child has been learning in school.

Click here for the Nursery.

Click here for the Reception.

Click here for the Year 1.

 

There is also a section of photos from Sai Kung in general - you can find this in the “Welcome to Sai Kung” section of Firefly.