You will hopefully have heard the name ‘Juilliard’, if not from its fame as a centre of excellence for its Arts programs, then from its collaboration with Nord Anglia Education and in particular the British Vietnamese International School Hanoi. Hilary Easton, one of the curriculum developers for the global collaboration, Juilliard Faculty Head and owner of her own dance school in New York, has worked with our students and staff to see how the Juilliard dance curriculum is working for our students. We are delighted to report that the progress being made in a few short weeks of term is phenomenal. Ms Kaye Meakin, our dance and art teacher, has guided the children to develop their skills, language and technique in an area that many have not tried before. The special assembly on Monday was testament to her teaching, the Juilliard collaboration, and bravery of your children to try something new. They have all certainly been ambitious! The staff can now all see and visualise the enormous benefits to the children, in the development of their language, self-awareness and the confidence that the Julliard curriculum brings us. We are very excited to see how it develops along with the music started last year. Watch out for future recitals and exhibitions that really celebrate the Arts.
Jonathan Taylor, an independent child safeguarding expert who previously worked as a covert internet investigator with the Metropolitan Police, who some of you may have seen speak on Monday evening, worked with every child from Year 1 to Year 6 on important messages on how to stay safe online. The children watched some funny videos and heard stories but all with the serious message of how we should behave online. It is basically the same as you would behave in reality, in person, all lessons learnt from last week on how to be a good friend. You should always be kind to people, share positively, including playing games with your parents, and always speaking up if something unusual happens. Telling an adult; a parent, carer or teacher is always the best thing to do if you are scared or worried about something you see online. Never talking to strangers is something we always promote to stay safe and this is also identical online. Characters in games that talk to us, and we talk to them by typing, are people we do not know, so the advice is do the same: don’t talk to them. Simple rules to follow that will mean your children remain as safe as possible whilst using the computer, iPad or smartphone.
As the children enjoy their week’s holiday, it is important to remember their internet and online safety if they are passing the time playing on their electronic devices.
We wish you all a great break and will welcome the children back on Monday 30th October.
