MESSAGE FROM THE SCHOOL
Dear Parents
It has been a very busy week with the visit of our Reporting Inspector, Mrs. Linda Donowho. She is an experienced Head Teacher from England, who leads the Inspection team from the International School Inspectorate (ISI) who will be looking at all aspects of the work of the school in under three weeks’ time.
The purpose of her Pre-Inspection visit was to check our compliance in terms of the standards and meeting regulations. She also observed lessons and all the life of the school. It was very useful because it highlights in advance anything we need to work on for the inspection.
There will be surveys next week for parents and pupils (Years 4-9) from ISI. It is very important you take part because the more parents who participate the clearer the picture the inspectors have. Whatever the strengths of the school or the issues you or the pupils identify – this is what the inspectors look at, when they visit. You have a major influence in shaping their views.
Details will be sent to you next week and the survey will be open for one week. Please encourage others to participate too through your usual networks and social media groups.
Thank you to the 27% of parents who have completed the Parent Satisfaction Survey which closes on Monday. Please click the link and complete the survey which means we can, at least, match last year’s 30% return. It would be great if we could beat last year’s figure. The information given by you does shape the school’s development and future plans.
On a different note, it was great to see children enjoying so many different activities this week, for example, Year 3’s murder mystery and Year 2’s Living Museum. 2A’s Ancient Sumerian rap was a joy to behold at Assembly this morning and I was delighted to see the winners of the Year 3 STEAM project of “Pneumatic Monsters” get recognition.
Have a good weekend.
Brian Cooklin
Principal
UPCOMING EVENTS:
It’s Inter-house Hockey next week so please ensure that your children wear their house tops to PE lessons.
20 February
Year 6 Residential
21 February
Year 8 Spanish Cookery Workshop
22 February
Year 9 trip to Tanzania
23 February
Year 9 HKTDC Education and Careers Expo
24 February
Class Assembly 5B
Guest speaker Emma Pickering, EYFS Curriculum Fellow (9-10am)
27 February
INSET Day – No School for pupils
16 March – Save the date!
The NAIS PTA Quiz Night is back! This year we are celebrating St.Patrick's Day. Join us for a night of fun and laughter on 16 March from 7pm to 9.30pm at the School Hall.
EARLY YEARS FOUNDATION STAGE (EYFS) CURRICULUM FELLOW VISIT AND TALK: 24 Feb (9-10am)
If you want to learn more about the EYFS then don’t miss your chance to meet and hear from Emma Pickering, the Curriculum Fellow for EYFS for Nord Anglia University. Emma will be sharing the very latest in best practice in Early Years’ education, and there are some interesting developments I’m sure you’ll want to hear.
Emma is committed to leading the team on delivering the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework, taking guidance from the principles and practices of Reggio Emilia. She views children as being unique, resilient, confident and capable. She works with the team to ensure this image of children is reflected in the way the Early Years environment it set up in a playful way to facilitate developing independence, along with academic skills. She is ambitious for the students in her classes, believing that through a positive Early Years experience, the children will enter primary school with strong foundations and a love for learning.
Spaces are limited so if you’d like to attend please RSVP to receptionist@nais.hk by Wednesday, 22 February.
MARCH LUNCH MENU
The new March lunch menu has been posted onto the website and Firefly. Please remember to send in your lunch forms ASAP. https://naishk.fireflycloud.asia/school-life/school-lunch
TIME’S RUNNING OUT TO LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK
Only three more days for you to tell us what you think about our school. We would love to hear from you so please, if you haven’t already done so, go online and give us your feedback.
http://parentsurvey.nordanglia.com/survey/selfserve/5a0/160104?wave=y2017
YEAR 2 MUSEUM DAY
This afternoon our Year 2 parents had the chance to experience how their children learn in class! Our teachers and students showcased their teaching and learning live for parents in an interactive way. The children were so excited to see their mums, dads, family and friends in school and we could see how proud they were from their beaming smiles. Parents had the chance to make a clay pot and to try Sumerian barley bread, both of which the children had learnt about as they covered the topic of the Ancient Sumerians these past few weeks. We hope that from this experience, parents gained a better understanding of why we believe fun, and hands on learning works well together to ensure knowledge is embedded. Thank you to everyone who helped make this marvellous Museum Day such a success.
Can you spot yourself in our pictures from the event? Check here.
CELEBRATING SPORTING SUCCESS
Our Girls U14 basketball team had great team performance this week! Congratulations to all the team members who gained silver medals in the International Secondary Schools of Hong Kong League 2 finals. You ROCK!!!!!!
Check out our Facebook to see some great photos here.
SWIMMING POOL UPDATE
The pool has been filled, the filtration system turned on, the pool boiler is running smoothly, and tests and samples conducted! Yes, we are very happy to say that we are aiming to resume swimming lessons from Monday, 27 February. Thanks again for all your patience and understanding. We can’t wait to see the students back in the pool practising.
TALKING OF SWIMMING …. ELITE KIDS SWIM CLINIC WITH TOP USA COACH
We have another exciting swimming opportunity for our top swimmers. This is a great chance for any of our swimmers who want advice and tips on how to improve their swimming strokes.
Dave Cameron is a top USA coach and is coming to HK to run the clinic at The Repulse Bay Club. Dave coaches elite youth swimmers in his home state of Minnesota. His swimmer Natalie Sims represented USA in the Paralympics in Rio. Dave himself is a marathon swimmer and has crossed the English Channel twice.
The children who attended his last camp learnt lots and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. If you are interested in your child attending this clinic, please sign up directly at www.floatplus.hk
UNIFORM REMINDER
Please note that while pupils can wear additional layers underneath their PE kits, these should be black or navy. Jumpers/hoodies should be school uniform and pupils should also be wearing black school shoes with their school uniform and white trainers with their PE kit. Finally, hair should be neatly tied back with dark hairbands. Big hair decorations should not be worn to school.
Thank you for your support and co-operation in this matter.
STARS OF THE WEEK – Drama
Another week and more successes to celebrate. Congratulations to the following students:
Year 1: Isaac Lewell, Eunice Fung, Molly Champion, Maggie McClure, Isaac Beattie
Year 2: Biel Molinas, Adam Hang, Leon Smeets, Denise Manuel, Reon Kubota
Year 3: Arthur Au, Claire Chan, Julius She, Tobin Meidinger, Piyaa Tejas
Year 4: Benjamin Thomas, Lucus Vandeweghe, Eva Simmonds, Jerry Qiu, Henry Francis
Year 5: Anthony Tjia, Hanna Ayoung, Wing Wing, Saachi Das, Jayden Chan
Year 6: Luke Incledon, Alessandro Conzato, Chloe Skovgaard, Aarohi Karnavaat
HIGH COMMENDATION AWARDS – Drama
Year 7: Jasmine Knapp
Year 8: Caleb Herron
Year 9: Velvet Lung
Photos can be found here.
PRIMARY ASSEMBLY – Class 2A, Hannah Haines
Class 2A gave a wonderful and informative assembly this morning that taught us all about the Ancient Sumerians. They introduced us what they have learnt about Sumerians, the first urban civilisation in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia, modern-day southern Iraq. They also introduced us the Sumerians’ inventions, lifestyle, religion and writing system. To end on a high, they performed a Sumerian rap! Amazing!
Next Mr Cooklin and Mr Sutton presented five of our Year 3 students with Design and Technology Award certificates. They did an excellent job in designing a moving monster, which introduces us the pneumatic system. Mr Sutton, later announced that our Year 5 and Year 6 teams performed excellently in the national finals of the First Lego League last weekends. He said Mr Ford and himself are impressed with their efforts made over the last couple of months in preparing for the competition. Keep up the good work!
SECONDARY ASSEMBLY
In the Secondary assembly this morning Mr Cross spoke to the students about prejudice and the importance of not pre-judging people by any means. He linked this to our school promises of every student being respectful to every member of the school as part of being a global citizen. He talked of how this notion works in our global context and in these interesting times where political leaders are explicitly showing prejudice against others. Mr Bishop then reminded the students to be thankful for the diverse community we have at NAIS and how lucky they are to be non-prejudiced and global ambassadors.
PTA St PATRICK’S DAY QUIZ NIGHT
Thursday, March 16th from 7:00pm in the school hall. Round up a team of 6 or sign up and join in on the fun and let's try and stop the teachers winning for a third time! Registration opens at 10:00am on Thursday, 16th February at https://naisptaquiznight2017.eventbrite.hk
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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.
Have a lovely weekend.
