Message from the Principal
Dear Parents,
It has been a very exciting and varied time for me at school. Last week I attended Nord Anglia Education’s Senior Leadership Team Conference in Tanzania.
Apart from the business sessions, we were following the programme which our Year 9 students have the chance to participate in next February. We stayed in tents, went on Safari and built furniture for a local school. They have no desks so we had to build 22 double desks to seat 88 children in the class. Other Nord Anglia students had built desks, houses and goat sheds to provide shelter and income for the elderly and taught English in the schools.
It was a humbling and amazing experience. Seeing lions, elephants, giraffes, rhinos and hippos close at hand was incredible. I think any of our students who are able to attend will find it a wonderful and unforgettable experience.
On my return to school I was delighted to hear of our outstanding success in the Global Games at Hanoi, and in the Global Campus Art competition – congratulations to all involved.
Even more exciting was the opportunity to share the location of our new campus. Work is progressing, preparing the site for opening next August, and our Project Manager took up their post this week to oversee the progress.
We will be holding meetings in the future to explain how we will be developing both sites to have a very successful through-train school from Nursery to Year 13.
At the Secondary assembly this morning, I reminded students about our expectations in and around school and their responsibility as role models for our younger students. I also spoke about the importance of e-safety and proper use of technology in school. Mr. Malone then led the congratulations for our Secondary Global Games participants and laid down the gauntlet for other students to compete for places at the COBIS Games later in the year.
Have an enjoyable weekend.
Mr Cooklin
Principal
UPCOMING EVENTS:
8 November – Parent Workshop: The Juilliard Programme (guest speaker Erin Wight) 8.30-9.00am
10 November – International Day
11 November – Class assembly 2B
14 November – Year 8 Two Day Trip
15 November – Year 1 & 6 Immunisation
15 November – Parent Workshop: Global Library 8.30-9.00am in the cafeteria
17 & 18 November – Class Photos
SPOOKTACULAR WAS SPECTACULAR
Huge congratulations to the PTA and all of those involved in making this year’s Halloween party a resounding success. From ghosts and ghouls, witches and zombies, through to Minions and mad scientists, we saw them all (and more!). Everyone had so much fun getting involved in the difference games and activities, and exploring all there was to offer. Shame we have to wait another year before we can do it all again.
See if you can spot yourself in our photos from the event. https://www.facebook.com/NAISHongKong/
GLOBAL GAMES ASIA A RESOUNDING SUCCESS
Gold … always believe in your soul
Yes, we took the Global Games Asia by STORM!!!!! Our teams knocked it out of the park, taking home three out of the four trophies (and many more medals), making us the overall winners of the GGA Hanoi. Way to go Knights. We won trophies in:
Under 11 Girls
Under 11 Boys
Under 13 Girls
It was a great weekend for our athletes, who excelled in their performances, and demonstrated sportsmanship and effort in every event. All of the staff and parents enjoyed the competition, in part because of the attitude and determination of the children, but also the excellent organisation by BIS Hanoi, who made them feel welcome and were warm hosts. Here’s to making new friends and great memories, and to taking home more trophies next year.
Want to see some medals … https://www.facebook.com/NAISHongKong/
RECIPES REQUIRED
Got a fantastic recipe that’s been handed down through the family or a signature dish that you’re super proud of? If yes, we need you. The PTA has come up with a fantastic initiative to bring the NAIS community together and celebrate the diversity of cultures of our school.
The project is called “The NAIS Community International Food Festival Initiative” and they would like to create a recipe book full of international flavours to be sold before we break for the Christmas Holidays.
If you have any queries please contact Maria or Ira at naisrecipebook@gmal.com.
HONG KONG INSTITUTE OF LANGUAGES SPANISH WORKSHOP
Olé!
Year 7 students participated in a Spanish Language Workshop where they completed a variety of grammar activities and learnt lots of new vocabulary. The main focus was to sing Spanish songs and learn to dance the flamenco. They learned how to sing some traditional Spanish songs and Let it Go (Libre Soy) from the movie Frozen. It was a very successful day, which the students took a lot from.
HEEP HONG SOCIETY
Thank you to the PTA for their donation of HK$15,000 to the Heap Hong Society at the Windsor Assembly. Thank you also to Anita Chan from the Heap Hong Society who kindly shared their organisation's wonderful programme and great work.
For over half a century, Heap Hong Society has been providing professional training and education to children of different abilities and their families, with the mission of helping these children develop their potential and lead a fulfilling life.
BRING ME A BOOK
Thanks to Pia Wong from Bring Me a Book for talking to the children at the Sandringham Assembly about the programme today. Also a huge thank you to the PTA for supporting the charity and presenting them a cheque for HK$15,000 which was raised from the annual PTA Gala Dinner.
Bring Me a Book envisions a Hong Kong in which every child is read to, strengthening family and community bonds, and creating a love of learning.
DIWALI
We had a lovely assembly on Monday led by our team of dedicated TLA’s, which saw the children learning all about the five-day festival that celebrate the triumph of good over evil.
CONSULATE GENERAL OF CANADA IN HONG KONG
Yesterday Principal Brian Cooklin had the opportunity to attend an event at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and meet with the new Console General. Whilst there he had the opportunity to share more about our wonderful school to those in attendance, providing insights as to what makes the Nord Anglia family special and recognising the great Canadian community within the school.
BOUNCE-A-THON IS BACK - Friday 25th November
No it’s not Zebedee but that time of year when Windsor House raise money by bouncing up and down for as long as possible. Sounds crazy but it’s so much fun and last year they managed to raise lots of money for their charity Heap Hong. Let’s see if we can top it this year. More details to come.
BOX OF HOPE – ADD TO THE GROWING COLLECTION
If you still haven’t donated it’s not too late. You now have until Monday, 14 November to put your shoe box together and to make a difference to a child’s Christmas.
INTERNATIONAL DAY
Only six more sleeps to go until our fabulous International Day. Make sure you join us for a fun and informative day as we celebrate the diversity of our school.
Did you know? At NAIS Hong Kong we have over 36 different nationalities. Now that really is international.
INTERNATIONAL DAY LOGO DESIGN COMPETITION
The International Day Passport is an integral part of the event, with students submitting their designs to see who will win the logo competition and appear on the front (and back).
Congratulations to Jean Jiang who received 1st place, and to Natasha Chan and James Honda for coming 2nd and 3rd. You’ll see their designs on 10th November.
PARENT WORKSHOP – SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER ERIN WIGHT
8.30-9.00am in the cafeteria
This Music workshop is an opportunity for parents to experience a hands-on snapshot of a Music lesson, find out more about our fabulous collaboration with The Juilliard School, and meet our wonderful visiting music specialist from the Juilliard School. Erin Wight will be with us for three days next week and working with Miss Rowan to deliver the workshop.
About Erin Wight:
Violist Erin Wight is an active chamber musician and avid performer of new music. Described by the NY Times as “engrossing” and “surehanded,” she performs frequently as a member of the Red Light New Music Ensemble and Either/Or, has played with Talea, Signal, the Wordless Music Orchestra, the New Juilliard Ensemble, Axiom, the Juilliard Electric Ensemble, FiRE, and worked closely with members of the Ensemble Modern and Ensemble Intercontemporain. In addition, Ms. Wight is a founding member of the Toomai String Quintet, 2007 winners of the 92nd St. Y’s Music Unlocked! competition for emerging ensembles dedicated to educational outreach. Ms. Wight is deeply committed to community engagement and is on the teaching artist faculty of the New York Philharmonic’s School Partnership Program and the Weill Institute at Carnegie Hall. Ms. Wight completed her Master of Music degree at The Juilliard School where she studied with Paul Neubauer.
Please email ricky.auyeung@nais.hk to register your interest, as this is always a very popular workshop.
OCEAN DAY – YEAR 8 GEOGRAPHY FIELD TRIP
Year 8 spent a lovely sunny day in Repulse Bay yesterday learning about ways we can protect our oceans and taking part in a huge piece of human artwork. They joined over 800 other children, teachers and volunteers on the front page of the South China Morning Post today as they attempted to bring back “Lap Sap Chung,” Hong Kong’s legendary trash monster, in a message to the world that plastic pollution endangers our sea animals and health of the ocean.
Take a look at these great photos of the day. Excellent aerial photos! https://www.facebook.com/NAISHongKong/
HAPPY CAMPERS
Today our intrepid Year 9 students will return from their overnight camp. Yesterday they trekked around Hong Kong following a cryptic trail that led them to the National Park in Sai Kung. Once at the campsite (where Mr and Mrs Reid and Mr Bishop were waiting for them), they quickly proceeded to set up their tents and make camp, which included collecting firewood and making their temporary homes comfortable. They then did an orienteering activity that took them around the island to various points. Today they made their own breakfast and packed up camp, spending the afternoon doing a beach clean up as part of their service to the community. From all the pictures that have been shared, they looked like they were having a blast!
See how they go on here https://www.facebook.com/NAISHongKong/
JURASSIC GARAGE RETURN
Our Year 1 students were very happy this week as it was their turn to meet and greet the weird and wonderful animals from Jurassic Garage. As usual there were many excited and happy (and a couple scared) faces.
Check out our Facebook to see some great photos https://www.facebook.com/NAISHongKong/
STARS OF THE WEEK AND HIGH COMMENDATION AWARDS – Art
Another week, another set of achievements. Congratulations to the following students:
Year 1: Arin Atamer, Imogen Lawson, Nico Li, Albane Goulin, Jude Letcher
Year 2: Nicky Bowers-Martinez, Zoey Li, Nathan Wang, Loli Gai, Yuka Li
Year 3: Lily Shum, Audrey Marwood, Andrew Li, Antonio Li, Lawrence Lee
Year 4: Noah Michalski, Kiara Tagliente, Vielle Tsang, Rainie Wong, Serena Lau
Year 5: Jolyon Pease, Tony Pan, Miyu Ikawa, Rufus Goggins, Maithili Parekh
Year 6: Keith Teh, Sophie Bongardt, Keira Walsh, Aarohi Karnavat
Year 7: Tina Ma
Year 8: Emmylin Alder
Year 9: Anni Hangasjarvi
Keep up the good work!
Photos can be found at https://www.facebook.com/NAISHongKong/
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KEY CONTACTS
Quick list guide of who to email for what:
Please do not use the info@nais.hk for any of the above queries.
