Message from Assistant Principal, Mr Christian Bishop
Dear Parents,
In the Secondary assembly today, I asked the students, What would you do if you could change the world? The students were asked a series of questions such as what’s going on in the world? Who can do something about it? Why should I care? What could I do? The students were asked to reflect on things happening in the world that they would want to change, think about how this could be changed, and what they could do to effect change. The students gave some really mature, insightful responses, which their teachers have all commented upon to me. The assembly finished with the famous words of Mahatma Ghandi, Be the change you want to see in the World.
The highlight of the day was the visit to NAIS from the world famous Red Arrows. The Red Arrows, officially known as the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, is the aerobatics display team of the Royal Air Force. The display team is currently touring the world and stopped by to talk to the older students about what the Red Arrows do, the make up of the team and the academic path the students would have to take to become a red arrow and wear the famous red flying suit. The team gave a fantastic presentation involving all their pilots and held a question and answers session. Again the students showed their maturity and asked some excellent questions about flying under the pressure of 9G, where the pilots got their passion for flying, and what qualifications one would need to be a red arrow. This was a fantastic event and one, which I’m sure all the students were inspired by.
Mr Bishop
Assistant Principal
UPCOMING EVENTS:
1 November – Mandarin Parents Meeting (Primary)
2 November – Year 8 and 9 Parents Evening
3 November –Mandarin Parents Meeting (Primary)
3 November – Year 8 Geography Coasts Trip
4 November – Class assembly 5C
8 November – Parent Workshop: The Juilliard Programme 8.30am in the cafeteria
It’s been a busy week with lots going on. The best part about this is that it has involved a lot of celebration. From donations to charities through to competition winners and a visit from the Red Arrows, we’ve a lot to be thankful for.
YEAR 7 SCIENCE TRIP
What a great day!
This week, to consolidate learning in Year 7 Science, the Science Department took all Year 7 pupils to the Hong Kong Science Museum, where they consolidated work that has been taught during the last term. As well as watching exciting demonstrations involving liquid Nitrogen, students investigated current issues such as Climate Change, Health and Safety, and looked at current innovations in STEAM. Students were allowed special access to an ecosystem, where students investigated animal waste. The Hong Kong Science Museum is always an interactive and fun way for pupils to see the importance of Science in the modern world.
Check out our Facebook to see some great photos https://www.facebook.com/NAISHongKong/
GLOBAL GAMES ASIA Under 11 and 13’s IS UNDER WAY
We hope that you’re following our gamers on Facebook. Lots more commentary and photos to come. So far I can tell you that our Secondary girls won their first match 2-0, and are about to play a second match. In the mean time, to get you in the spirit of things, we highly recommend you practice this chant out loud whilst waving your arms enthusiastically and jumping up and down:
Two, four, six, eight
Who do we appreciate
Not the king
Not the queen
But our favourite netball* team
Gooooo Knights!
Ching Ching (that’s the sound of clashing of swords).
*Feel free to substitute with another sport
THE RED ARROWS
We were extremely happy to have the Red Arrows as our guest speakers in for our Secondary students today. In addition to the demonstration, our students also had a very informative Q&A session. Here are some of the snapshots.
https://www.facebook.com/NAISHongKong/
PAYMENT OF SCHOOL AND BUS FEES
A gentle reminder that payments of tuition and bus fees are due by next Tuesday, 1 November. This will cover the period from 1 November to 14 December. Please ensure that there are sufficient funds to cover the direct debit.
Payment details can be found here:
PARENT WORKSHOP – Supporting Reading at home
Thank you to all who joined the session on reading last Tuesday with Mrs Charlier. We hope you found it useful and are using the tips given. If you missed the talk, a copy of the handout can be found on Firefly at: https://naishk.fireflycloud.asia/parent-workshops
POPPY APPEAL COLLECTION
In support of the Hong Kong and China branch of the Royal British Legion, we will be selling poppies at school starting from Wednesday, 2 November. The Royal British Legion provides lifelong support for the Armed Forces community - serving men and women, veterans, and their families.
http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/
CHANGING YOUNG LIVES FOUNDATION
Balmoral and the PTA had an exciting day. They presented Ms Mary Cheung from Changing Young Lives Foundation with a donation of HK$27,000.
The PTA raised HK$15,000 through their annual Gala Dinner, with the other HK$12,000 raised by Balmoral through their Teachers Promises Auction. Students were able to bid for promises that included building a rocket with a teacher, having a party sleepover in the library, and a sweet making class. What a fabulous and fun way to make money for charity, well done to all involved!
http://www.changingyounglives.org.hk/movingnotice.php
FEEDING HONG KONG
Caernarfon welcomed Gabrielle Kirstein from the charity Feeding Hong Kong to their assembly, presenting her with a cheque of HK$15,000. Thank you to our wonderful PTA who helped raise the money through their annual Gala Dinner.
Feeding Hong Kong is the only food bank in Hong Kong dedicated to redistributing surplus food to people in need. By providing a bridge between the food industry and those who suffer hunger in Hong Kong, they provide a solution that simultaneously cuts food waste and feeds those most in need.
This is the second donation made by Caernarfon.
SHOE BOX APPEAL
We’ve received our first batch of boxes just this morning from Max Robertson in class 3E, and Hannah Chan, Kara Li and Tobin Meidinger from 3D. A big thank you to them for starting the collection drive.
If you’re keen to donate your own shoe box, please note that the deadline for passing them to us is 4 November.
To see what a difference your show box can make to a child’s life, click here:
http://www.boxofhope.org/home/main/en/
GLOBAL CAMPUS UPDATES
- A Natural Selection of Ambitious Photography
We are excited to announce the winners of Nord Anglia’s Global Campus Photographer of the Year Award. As you may remember, the theme of this year’s competition was nature. There were literally thousands of entrants showing exquisite plants, delightful animals and striking landscapes from the four corners of the globe. Thank you to the many entrants we had from our school and to the parents and teachers who encouraged students to join in and for the general enthusiasm surrounding the competition. Our Hong Kong school has truly excelled in our Global Family of schools with three young photographers given recognition by the judges: Jerry Qiu in Year 4, Umberto Vidali in Year 6 and Judy Zhu in Year 9.
The overall winners of the competition were:
1st place: Victoria Fasel who is 17 and is at Collège Champittet Pully in Switzerland. Her photo, ‘Parched’ showing the Nevada Desert will be on the cover of the Global Campus 2017 calendar. Victoria also wins a high performance compact system digital camera.
]2nd place: Jerry Qiu, 8, from Year 4 at Nord Anglia International School Hong Kong for his delightful picture of a Sapphire bird taken in our own Hong Kong Park. Jerry wins an instant camera.
3rd place: James Robinson, 12, at British International School Houston for his picture of a curious highland cow taken, curiously, in Devon, England. James wins a tripod.
Umberto Vidali, 10, in Year 6 was selected as one of the runner’s up for his striking shot of the Kilauea Volcano Lava Glow taken in Hawaii. Both Jerry and Umberto’s photos will also be featured in the 2017 Global Campus calendar.
Finally, Judy Zhu in Year 9 was highly commended for her picture of her sister in a forest in Bali, Indonesia
You can see all the amazing photos from across the world on Global Campus Online.
- Student choice award
There is still time for students to vote for the Student Choice Award. Just log on to Global Campus Online, find the Photographer Competition page (under primary or secondary) and click on the photo and vote using the 'Like' button. The photo with the most likes will win the Student Choice award. The prize is a photography book. Voting closes on 28 October, 5pm UK time so you will need to be very quick!
We now have a Global Campus page on Firefly (for Primary) with information about what it is, how to access the Global Campus Online website and various other activities. Feel free to take a look so you’re not missing out. http://naishk.fireflycloud.asia/specialists/global-campus
PARENT WORKSHOP –The Juilliard Programme 8 November, 8.30am in the cafeteria
Learn more about this fantastic collaboration from two very passionate and talented musicians. Our Director of Music, Miss Rowan, will be joined by Juilliard Curriculum Specialist, Ms. Erin Wight. Together, they will be sharing more about the benefits of the programme, and really getting to the heart of why music is so important to all areas of development.
Please email ricky.auyeung@nais.hk to register your interest, as this is always a very popular workshop.
EXPANSION RENOVATION UPDATE
As most of you have seen (or heard), renovations are well under way with the expansion project. So far the 4/F slab has been completed, demolition of the 5/F Link Bridge has happened, the builders have erected a form board and we are now fixing the rebar in preparation for the laying of the 5/F concrete slab.
We’re a few days behind schedule (thanks to the severe rain and typhoon over the Mid-Term Break!), however we are still looking forward to opening close to the original date in 2017.
To ensure the safety of the children, we temporarily closed the Panda Playground this week (and may do so next week too if we deem necessary) due to the clearing of debris on the 5/F . We have made alternative break time arrangements and the children are still running around playing, and enjoying themselves. We will of course endevour to speed up the work where possible to minimise disruption.
So what do the renovations mean? More space! There will be a large covered area adjacent to the current Panda Playground for meetings and small group discussion, six new classrooms, an additional Science Lab, and last but not least, a rooftop pitch with soft padded artificial grass and a covered roof with glass for shade.
More updates to come as we have them.
ART OF TRAVEL AWARD - COMPETITION WINNERS
Hong Kong Travel Company, Journeys by Chance, ran an art competition that was open to all Hong Kong Schools that required students to depict their favourite travel memories. We are extremely proud to announce that we have two winners and 93 entries selected from our school as part of the exhibition next week.
There will be an Award Ceremony next Wednesday at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre for winners and exhibition entrants. So if you have time, please join and show your support to this talented group of students.
Congratulations to:
1st Place: Janice Ooi in Year 8
2nd Place: Ty Padgett in Year 1E
INTERNATIONAL DAY PASSPORT LOGO COMPETITION
The Design a Logo for International Day competition was open to all Secondary students, and we received some excellent submissions. We can now announce that the results are in and the winners are:
1st place Jean Jang 9A
2nd place Natasha Chan 8B
3rd place James Honda 8A
To see the fabulous entries, take a look on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/NAISHongKong/
SWIMMING POOL
The investigations continue…
The contractors have narrowed down the potential cause, and on 3rd November, will be sending in special flexible CCTV to inspect each of the water inlets and outlets. After that we will have a better understanding in terms of timelines.
We appreciate your understanding that this is taking time to resolve and we are working hard to be as speedy as possible to fix the problem. As always, thank you for your patience and understanding.
STARS OF THE WEEK AND HIGH COMMENDATION AWARDS – Music
We celebrated achievements in Music this week. Congratulations go to:
Year 1: Anokhi Parekh, Niamh Walsh, Luna Yamanaka, Elliott Law, Lily Huang,
Year 2: Hannah Liu, Charles Shih, Kevin Yan, Jack Lu, Tristan Kwan
Year 3: Isaac Fung, Charlotte Clough, Claire Cheng, Lucas Cheng, Immie Harley
Year 4: Jacopo Carazzai, Lizzie Sunjajeva Hilton, Natalie Chan, Jeff Ma, Radha Peratides
Year 5: Adrian Li, Yuha Choi, Vivek Wilson, Jonathan Ring, Elizabeth Clough,
Year 6: Sonia Cheung, Ryan So, Bryant Cheung, Martha Surgenor
Year 7: Jasmijn Knapp
Year 8: Nina Finch
Year 9: Velvet Fung
Keep up the good work!
Photos can be found at https://www.facebook.com/NAISHongKong/
Make sure you don’t miss out on what’s happening in school! Check that you have changed your settings and selected the “turn on the notifications” from our posts.
KEY CONTACTS
Quick list guide of who to email for what:
Bus related - bus@nais.hk
ECAs - Tom.Ferguson@nais.hk
Homework related – Class Teacher (firstname.surname@nais.hk)
Pastoral related - david.sheehan@nais.hk
School Lunches - katherine.chan@nais.hk
Admissions and Marketing related –
General enquiry - receptionist@nais.hk
Absences - Class Teacher (firstname.surname@nais.hk) and receptionist@nais.hk if your child is sick or for medical reasons, and Sarah.Harley@nais.hk (Year 1-4), Christian.Bishop@nais.hk (Year 5-9) to request a leave of absence.
Please do not use the info@nais.hk for any of the above queries.
Have a great weekend.
