Parent Update - 16 October 2015

Dear Parents,

Please see below the highlights from this week, along with some ‘save the dates’ for upcoming events. Please remember to check the year blogs on Firefly for more detailed information about what is happening in your child’s class.

EVENTS & REMINDERS – ALL SCHOOL

Date & Time	Activity
27 October, 8.30am	Parent Workshop: “Supporting Reading at Home”. We’re delighted to be joined by children’s author and reading-advocate, Neil Griffiths. Click for more details. RSVP: ricky.auyeung@nais.hk
27 October, 3pm to 4pm	ECAs cancelled – no Late Bus: We’ve cancelled all ECAs (except swimming) as our teachers will be having extra training with Neil Griffiths on reading programmes. Children will go home at 2.45 (or 3.30 for Secondary) as usual. There will be no late buses.
30 October, 5pm to 8pm	NAIS PTA Halloween Party – We’ve had an amazing response, and the PTA has now closed ticket sales.
3 November, 8.30am	Parent Workshop: “Supporting your child’s English Language Development”. Led by our EAL Support teachers. RSVP: ricky.auyeung@nais.hk
5 – 8 November	Our year 5/6 boys and girls teams will be attending the Primary BISP Soccer 7s Tournament in Phuket. There is a parent briefing session on 27 October at 5pm in the Cafeteria.
10 November, 8.30am	Parent Workshop for Years 1 to 3: “Understanding and supporting phonics teaching”. Led by Jessica Howard. RSVP: ricky.auyeung@nais.hk
17 November, 8.30am	Parent Workshop for Years 4 to 8: “The Global Campus – What is it and how can I support at home?” Led by David Robinson, Global Campus Lead. RSVP: ricky.auyeung@nais.hk
20 November	School Photo Day: class photos, individual and siblings photos will be taken. Please make sure your child dresses smartly in school uniform with tidy hair and a lovely smile!
24 November, 8.30am	Parent Workshop for Years 1 to 2: “Maths – how to support your child at home.” Led by Robyn Dowding. RSVP: ricky.auyeung@nais.hk
27 November	Sports Day – Save the Date letter attached.
1 December, 8.30am	Parent Workshop for Years 4 to 8: “Social Thinking Skills.” Led by David Sheehan. RSVP: ricky.auyeung@nais.hk

START DATE ANNOUNCED FOR 2016/17 ACADEMIC YEAR

We’ve had lots of enquiries from very organised parents looking to book their 2016 summer holidays. We can confirm that Year 1 students will return on 23 August and the whole school will be back on 24 August. The full calendar for the academic year 2016/17 will be released after the mid-term break.

WINDSOR HOUSE BOUNCE-A-THON – 100+ photos!

The Hall has been transformed by three bouncy castles and a school full of excited children (and adults!). As well as being a lot of fun, it has been an important opportunity for all our students to talk about our responsibility to help children less fortunate than ourselves. The Heep Hong Society, Windsor’s local charity, supports children and families across Hong Kong. Click here for more details on the Heep Hong Society.

STARS OF THE WEEK – PRIMARY – Click here for photos

This week it was “Teacher’s Choice” for which child had been the most ambitious in their learning. Congratulations to our Primary students:

Year 1: Maya Altintas, Alex Gao, Shekston Lee, Claire Forbes, Jules Prin

Year 2: Imogen Harley, Keira Lister, Ardi Tse, Yahya Saad, Markos Vourloumis

Year 3: Ethan Lau, Julian Zhu, Maximus Woodrow, Oliver Walpole, Theo Lam

Year 4: Oliver Merrill, Ian Cho, Ceren Sener, Cayden Lock

Year 5: Jack Parsons, Justin Wong, Eason Ying, Rayyan Saad

Year 6: Kenan Little, Clarice Kwok, Aaron Hallworth

WORLD MATHS DAY – Click for photos

We had a full timetable of maths activities this Wednesday (and some spilling over to Thursday), including getting involved in international Mathletics online competitions and having older year groups preparing maths activities for the younger students. Our Secondary students teaching the Year 1s was particularly sweet! See some more photos here.

BOX OF HOPE – For details on what to pack in your boxes and who receives these gifts, please click here. Please check your child’s bag for the Box of Hope sticker. We do hope that you can support this wonderful initiative. The deadline for boxes to be returned to the school reception area is 6 November. So get wrapping during the half-term holiday!

TEACHERS vs DADS FOOTBALL

Last Friday evening, our Hall was the scene of the inaugural Teachers vs Dads football match. As well as being hard-fought (they did take it very seriously, despite their protestations to the contrary), it was a lovely opportunity to get families together over sport, pizza and a few post-match beers. The Teachers vs Dad match was followed by a Teachers/Dads vs Students kick-around. A huge thank you to Khiem and Tien Do, who made it all possible through their generous support. If there are any other dads who are keen to show off their football skills, then please let me know and I’ll put you in touch with Tien.

YEAR 5 & 6 – NAIS KNIGHTS vs KELLETT – Click here for photos

Our Ladies Knights showed great spirit against the Kellett team and, while we didn’t win this time, it was a close match with a lot of determination and team spirit from our girls.

SOCIAL THINKING SKILLS – David Sheehan ran a really interesting workshop for parents in Years 1 to 3 on how to nurture their children’s social thinking skills. Please take the time to look through his interesting presentation. Click here. Mr Sheehan will be holding another Parent Workshop on this subject for Years 4 to 8 on 1 December.

6B ASSEMBLY

It was a sobering Assembly for many as the Year 6s spoke to the school about their learning on World War 2 and, in particular, the experiences of Anne Frank and Jesse Owen. Thank you to Mrs Charlier’s class for sharing this important subject with us.

SECONDARY ASSEMBLY– Click here for photos

This week in our Secondary Assembly, Mr Bishop spoke to the Year 7 and 8s about how important it is to choose your words carefully and to be kind. He showed a powerful video which illustrated how changing your words can change the world.

Mrs Pate also gave an update on the Global Classroom "Big Draw” Event on 27 October. This will coincide with author Neil Griffiths’ visit when we have a full day of reading-related events. To give you some ideas, you can see here the award-winning entry from one of our Beijing schools for the last Global Classroom “Big Draw” in 2014.

High Commendations were awarded this week for computing, with all the students celebrating the achievements of:

7A Tair Alibekov

7B Derek Wong

8A Alice Dong

8B Andrew Chim

YEAR 8 – RECYCLING DISPLAY – Click here for a short video from our Year 8s

Our Year 8s made an excellent display outside the library about what they had learned about recycling from their school trip to Yan Oi Tong Recycling Centre back in August.

LUNCH MENU – for November. Please find this here.

Please enjoy your half term holiday and we look forward to welcoming you all back on Monday 26 October.