Secondary Campus Weekly Update

Dear Parents,

What a start to the academic year! The NAISHK Knights have gotten off to a superb start, congratulations to our U16 netball team, U14 football team and U14 volleyball team who have triumphed with three wins in a row, all the hard work and practice put in has certainly paid off.

We are delighted to host our first Oxbridge event this Wednesday, please read the important information from our IB team and sign up to attend if this event interests you. We are committed to supporting all our students and parents in making informed decisions and guiding families through the process of moving from secondary to tertiary education. On Friday 13th September we are excited to also host our very first university fair, with over eighty universities on our campus, we hope this experience will give students a first-hand opportunity to ask lots of questions and explore universities from across the globe.

Thank you to Sophie in Year 12 for sharing her thoughts on starting the IBDP.

IB Student Takeover – Sophie T (Y12)

The Start of Something New
By Sophie T.

Colorful, vibrant, lively… the start of term is the first time that our Year 12s have worn their own clothes to school. They look smart, dressed like they are about to seal a business deal! Discussions about fruitful summer holidays were heard all around the IB Suite in the first few weeks.

The first lesson in each subject area was significant. Teachers greeted students with beaming smiles, explaining each of the courses, whilst boosting the students’ confidence; “I just know that you all will smash this!”. This put so many of us in Year 12 at ease. This was also the first time we had studying periods, TOK, CAS and EE. The IB is undoubtedly an exciting journey that we are all delighted to be embarking on.

The first three weeks went by so quickly with all students fully immersed in embarking on their new pathways, ready to face the challenge ahead. With backpacks slung over our shoulders, we Year 12s have marched forward, anticipating the next day of school and the joy of learning.

We have a long list of content to master over the next two years but knowing that our teachers will stand by us whilst guiding us through lessons and exam periods has really helped. We appreciate all of their encouragement!

Cognitive Ability Tests (CATs)
Our students in Years 10 & 12 will soon be completing Cognitive Ability Tests (CAT4). CAT4 is an assessment of student aptitude in areas known to make a difference to learning and achievement – namely verbal, non-verbal, quantitative and spatial reasoning. These tests, conducted at key intervals during your child’s educational journey, allow us to better understand their abilities and how they learn best. They also provide teachers with a standardised measure of potential student achievement. This in turn allows us to objectively measure the academic progress made by our students and our therefore evaluate our own effectiveness.

Students should not revise for these tests. We recommend that students prepare as normal for the school day by getting plenty of sleep and eating breakfast. Students should remember to charge their laptops and bring with them a set of headphones. Testing will take place on the following days:

Year 10: Tuesday 10th September P3/4
Year 12: Tuesday 10th September P1/2

Parent Focus – Jobs of the Future: What will our children be doing in 2040?
There are lots of jobs around today that didn’t exist ten or twenty years ago. With technology advancing rapidly, the world of work is going to look very different in the future. With the help of Professor Carl Frey, economist and Associate Professor of AI & Work at the University of Oxford, BBC Bitesize Parents’ Toolkit has investigated the careers your children could be involved in by 2040:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zmxgwsg

PE Updates/Fixtures ahead

Next week’s fixtures

Monday 9th September
U16 Netball away @ VSA
U14 Boys Football away @ Sun Yat Sen vs VSA

Tuesday 10th September
U14 Boys Volleyball @ SIS
U14 Girls Volleyball @ CDNIS

Fixture Results

Monday 2nd September - U16 Girls Netball vs DBIS
On Monday 2nd September the Knights Netball squad began their season by travelling to face DBIS. We started strong by finishing the first 2 quarters 19 - 5. Due to the lead, the team tried different tactics we had been working on in training, so scored less in the final 2 quarters but remained victors 27 - 6. Well done team!

Tuesday 3rd September – U14 Boys Football vs WIS
In a commanding display, the NAISHK Knights triumphed over WIS with a resounding victory. Scoring four goals in each half, the Knights exhibited exceptional consistency and positive play throughout. Despite challenging hot conditions, their superior passing skills shone, outclassing WIS. Noteworthy performances by Julian, Ronan, and Edwin, supported by Lewis's confident distribution from the back, laid the foundation for this impressive win. Final score 8-1.

U14 Boys Volleyball vs MCHK & DC
A great start to the U14 boys Volleyball season. They beat both MCHK and DC by 2 - 0 in their games. A few nervous moments but overall, some impressive volleyball was demonstrated in their first games of the season. Well done to all the boys and those representing the NAISHK Knights for the first time.

MUN Update – Rylan Holt (Y13)

Model United Nations is a simulation of the real United Nations, where students are given a country and a global issue to research and have the opportunity to use that research in negotiating solutions to the topic during a weekend-long conference. It helps to develop oracy, negotiation, and research skills and gives NAIS students the opportunity to meet students from other schools across Hong Kong.

This October, our school will be hosting the fourth annual NAISMUN, an MUN conference at Kwun Tong campus and preparations are well under way! We are proud to host nine committees this year: General Assembly, Economic and Social Council, European Union, Disarmament Council, COP 29, Arab League, Crisis, House of Commons, and League of Nations.

Secondary students are welcome to attend our ECA every Monday after school in room 201 and the auditorium to join NAIS' MUN community. During club sessions, we help each other in preparing for our next conference, run practice debates, and celebrate our achievements as a club. Now is a perfect time to get involved, as any new members this term have the opportunity to join the administration team at NAISMUN, gaining crucial insight into the flow of debate and the internal running of a conference without the pressure of being a first-time delegate in another school!

Oxbridge Event and University Fair
Such an exciting week ahead. Firstly, on Wednesday, Year 11s will have an introduction to the IB Diploma Programme from our IBDP Coordinator Mr. Spanos. Meanwhile, Rostrum Education are talking to our Year 12s and Year 13s on how to make successful applications to highly competitive universities such as Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial, Cornell, MIT etc. This will be an Oxbridge and Ivy Masterclass. In the afternoon, students from Years 10 and 11 are invited to a talk in the auditorium after school to hear about getting ready in KS4 for successful university applications. You child can register here. After the student event, there is a talk being hosted by NAISHK for all families in Hong Kong about applying to elite universities. This is an open event so parents of all year groups can sign up here.

In addition, on Friday 13th, students from Years 11-13 will be able to connect with over 80 universities from around the world who are coming to our campus!

Enrichment Update
Thank you for your enthusiastic response to Enrichment Week activities. We also want to express our gratitude for your patience as we diligently work to finalise allocations and manage the influx of emails that we have received.

In terms of payments, we kindly request that you send the proof of payment to finance@nais.hk, ensuring to include your child’s form tutor in the correspondence. We are delighted to see the deposits coming in; however, they are also contributing to the increased email traffic that we are currently experiencing.

For those awaiting allocations, please be assured that we are actively processing them and working to extend the payment deadlines accordingly. Additionally, late submissions will be carefully reviewed and considered this week to ensure that every child has the opportunity to participate in the Enrichment Week activities. Your understanding and cooperation during this process are invaluable to us.

Elderly Home Outreach

This week, selected students will have the wonderful opportunity to visit a local elderly home, where they will perform a musical program and share mooncakes with the residents. To make this event special, we kindly ask for your support in donating mooncakes. Donations can be brought in by students and left in the Level 1 admin area by Wednesday 8am. Thank you for helping us spread joy and connection in our community!

Looking Ahead
Friday 13th September – NAISHK University Fair
Tuesday 17th September – Mid-Autumn Assembly
Wednesday 18th September – Public Holiday (School Closed)
Monday 23rd September – Year 7: Meet the Tutors
Tuesday 24th September – Year 8: Meet the Tutors
Wednesday 25th September – KS4/5: Meet the Tutors
Thursday 26th September – Year 9: Meet the Tutors

Have a great week ahead.

Kind regards,

Fiona Thorndike
Head of Secondary