Weekly Message
Dear Parents,
It has been another busy and exciting week.
Starting on Monday with World Children’s Day, several other events took place including activities for our MIT Greener Skies Challenge and talks from special guests, Captain Saskia Van De Ridder and Ms Helmersson, the Global Head of Production for H&M to inspire our students on the topic of gender equality.
Our Year 8 students went off camping to Sai Kung, while our Year 3 students all had fun dressing up for Greek Day. We had two great assemblies and ended the week showing our support for Global Goal #5 Gender Equality by wearing red to school.
Enjoy your weekend.
Kind regards
Jane
LAM TIN UPDATES (scroll down for Tai Tam and Sai Kung campus updates)
UPCOMING EVENTS
27 November
Pupil Council Visit to Sai Kung
Year 7 Greener Skies Project
27-28 November
Year 9 Camping Trip
Mandarin Meeting (Primary)
29 November
Maker Slam Jam
30 November
Christmas Concert
ECA Season 1 ends
Pupil Council Visit to Tai Tam
1 December
Primary Sports Day
Greener Skies - Show and Tell event
4-8 December
Computer Science Week
5 December
Year 9 Production
8 December
Year 1 Production
Primary School Inter-House Dodgeball
KS2 Inter-House Long Distance Swim Trophy
14 DECEMBER
Christmas jumper day
GENDER EQUALITY WEEK
In Friday’s Gender Equality Week assembly, we were very grateful to be joined by Helena Helmersson, Global Head of Production at the Swedish clothing and retail company H&M. Ms Helmersson was awarded the “Most Powerful Woman in Business” award in Sweden in 2014.
In her inspirational speech, she spoke about her own career and the challenges she has faced as a woman working alongside powerful men in business and politics, and how she has overcome the obstacles she has faced. She also spoke about her time in Bangladesh and the work H&M are doing to improve the working conditions and lives of their workers and to empower women. She also introduced us to the Foundation 500 “a list of entrepreneurs growing their businesses in the harshest startup environments in the world. Even more, it is a list of 500 women, who are actively changing the future for themselves and creating an impact on the economy”.
As a follow up to her assembly, Ms Helmersson has set our teachers and students from Years 6 to 10 a task. Participants should read the two questions below, think carefully, conduct any required research and then upload their own short video to respond to the questions. Videos should be short and simple – no need for fancy graphics, music or editing. It is your ideas we are interested in.
1. What more can be done to reach the goal of gender equality?
2. What can you do to contribute?
All videos should be uploaded by Monday, 4 December. Click here.
MIT Challenge - Greener Skies showcase on Dec 1 – 2pm
On Friday, 1 December from 2pm we will be hosting a Greener Skies showcase event in the hall. This event is an opportunity for pupils to showcase the work they have done as part of the Greener Skies MIT challenge that has been running this term. Parents and members of the community are invited to attend the event, look at the work and chat with the pupils and staff about the project.
We have had an exciting time in Primary and Secondary, with students working on an MIT inspired paper airplane investigation in primary and Greener Skies related activities in Year 7. These activities have been supported by two pilots from Cathay who visited the school and worked with groups of students, sharing their expertise and answering any questions the pupils had about flight and the airline industry.
Next week, students in Year 7 will be working on a very special Greener Skies project on Monday and are asked to come in their PE kit for the day as they will be actively investigating airplane design before pitching an idea for a future airplane to a panel of judges made up of pilots and engineers. This exciting house competition will allow students in Year 7 to collaboratively use all the knowledge of aviation and flight they have gathered over the past month, to come up with exciting designs that meet the specifications set out by the judges.
IT’S CHRISTMAS CONCERT TIME - Thursday, 30 November 4-5:15pm
A warm reminder to all parents of the Christmas Concert on Thursday, 30 November, starting at 4pm. Refreshments will be available for parents in the Hub beforehand and the concert will finish at approximately 5:15pm. We would be grateful if you could ensure that your children have their full school uniform with them on the day (including school socks and black shoes as they will not be able to perform in PE uniform). At the end of the concert, it would be extremely helpful if all parents could remain seated whilst we take children back to their allocated classrooms to collect their belongings and sign out. With more music clubs than ever involved, it looks to be another wonderful and festive event!
EMPOWERING STUDENTS FOR WORLD CHILDREN’S DAY
For World Children’s Day on 20 November, students around the world came together to raise their voice on the importance of children’s rights. To mark the celebrations for World Children’s Day on 20 November, students have rallied around the world in numerous #KidsTakeOver events. Throughout the day, students have taken over schools, businesses and government institutions to raise their voices about the importance of children’s rights and advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Students from Nord Anglia International School Hong Kong also visited Nord Anglia Education’s head office in Central to interview CEO Andrew Fitzmaurice on his views about the Global Goals and the future of our planet.
ORDERING SCHOOL PHOTOS
Please access your child’s photo via http://www.schoolmaster.hk/
To login, please click “User Login” on top right corner and 3 boxes will pop up:
School id: nais1718
User id: Student code (12 digits marked on student card)
Passwords: Student birthday in YYYYMMDD format, i.e. YearMonthDay
User Guide and Service Details are available here for easy reference.
For queries, please contact us by email cs@schoolmaster.hk or by phone 2880-5000.
GIDDY UP THERE
More horse riding news – Velvet took part in an inter-school higher division dressage competition yesterday at Tuen Mun Public Riding School, where she won her class. Congratulations, Velvet!
YEAR 8 CAMPING
Our Year 8's were amazing in their camping trip on Tuesday and Wednesday. They first stopped off on their way to camp to help out some of our younger pupils at the Sai Kung Campus. Each group completed a challenge, which saw them teaching playground games, helping with STEAM work on flight or putting on a play. After that, they were busy in different sport games, such as archery, kayaking and ball sports in the campsite. It’s great that the weather was perfect and they all enjoyed their activities.
ASSEMBLY TIME
Primary Assembly – Class 5A, Sophie Halmshaw
On Monday morning, our students from 5A brought to us a gorgeous assembly in the morning. They introduced the story of Mulan, Grace O'Malley and Amelia Earhart to talk about Gender Equality.
No matter what the gender is, we should all be equal!
Primary Assembly – Class 6E, Laura Rhodes
6E brought us back to the era of the World War II this morning. They shared with us three stories from the holocaust in WWII. Sir Nicholas Winton, the British humanitarian who organised the rescue of 669 children. Anne Frank, who gained fame posthumously with the publication of The Diary of a Young Girl, in which she documents her life in hiding during the German occupation of the Netherlands. Also, George Brady, a Holocaust survivor who presents his story of the holocaust all over the world.
STARS OF THE WEEK – MUSIC
Year 1: Zoe Chiu, Hannah Li, Brandon Chan, Cathy Cheng, Charlotte Hong
Year 2: Silas Franczyk, Anokhi Parekh, Zachary Touzel, Shinnice Sy, Dou Dou Zhang
Year 3: Minnie Wang, Leopold Charlier, Chloe Macdonald, Jontae Law, Jana Lau
Year 4: Lucas Cheng, Gypsy Hignett, Daisy Deacon-Potter, Lawrence Lee, Annie Helmersson
Year 5: Tiana Jiang, Jinho Park, Yasmin Merrill, Benjamin Thomas, Heeju Suh
Year 6: Alison Woo, Paarth Bhargava, Adrian Li, Hanna Adler, Ayla Heasman
HIGH COMMENDATIONS – MUSIC
Year 7: Boco To, Felix Hatherhall
Year 8: Lottie Jenkins
Year 9: Amaya Berrisford
Year 10: Velvet Lung
DECEMBER LUNCH MENU
It’s time to check out what’s for lunch next month and to place your orders. You can view the menu here.
PLEASE READ - PRIMARY SPORTS DAY – 1 December
Please read important information about the Primary sports day here.
WHO’s WHO & WHEN TO CONTACT THEM
TAI TAM UPDATES
Message from the Head of School
Dear Parents,
This week the children in Tai tam have taken to the skies with their learning. We began our Steam Challenge week by boarding Nord Anglia Airways and flying with Captain Brodie. Oscar’s dad spoke to the children about his passion for flying, what happens on the flight deck and how he became a pilot. The children all seemed very comfortable and confident boarding the plane and taking off!
The Big learning areas have been turned into runways, airports, security areas and cockpits! It has been an amazing week and the impact of the flight challenge has been immense. We also welcomed the Heads of House to our Big Build Challenge and each House created their own plane.
It was also lovely to welcome so many parents for our Coffee and Tapestry information session yesterday. I am sure you will agree that Tapestry enables you to share in your children’s learning on a regular basis.
Thank you all for supporting our Wear Red for Gender Equality Day today, the school is a sea of red as I walk around!
Have a good weekend.
Kind regards
Mrs Sarah Harley
Head of School
NOTICES
20-24 November
STEAM week
23 November
Individual Online Learning Journal information session 8:30am (followed with coffee and cake!)
24 November
Non-uniform day - wear red to support the Global Goal for gender equality
28 November
Year 1 parent consultations
1 December
Year 1 Sports Day
12 December
Christmas show at 10am
14 DECEMBER
Christmas jumper day
STARS OF THE WEEK
Nursery: Maxime Goulin
Lower Kindergarten: Magnus Amundssen
Upper Kindergarten: Nicholas Fong
BLOGS
Please continue to check the blogs for weekly information about what your child has been learning in school.
GENDER EQUALITY WEEK – Global Goals
We are looking forward to our Student Council from the Lam Tin campus visiting Tai Tam on Thursday, 30 November, to read and discuss books that promote Gender Equality to all our children.
YEAR 1 PARENT CONSULTATION INFORMATION – Tuesday, 28 November
Thank you to all that have signed up and we look forward to discussing how your child is progressing.
TEACHER SPOTLIGHT – KAT TZAVALAS
Miss Tzavalas studied BA (Hons) History and worked as a classroom assistant in Central London before completing her PGCE at Goldsmith's College, University of London. Having specialised in early learning, Miss Tzavalas began her teaching career at a National Support School in Kent. For the past year, she has been teaching at an international kindergarten in Hong Kong.
Miss Tzavalas has previously been the Music Coordinator for Key Stage One and Two; implementing a successful music scheme, running the school choir and competing in national competitions and concerts with her students.
“I have a genuine passion for early learning and am motivated as an educator to promote an eagerness, inquisitiveness and fascination for learning in young children. My personal goals are to improve the standard and quality of teaching and be part of an ambitious international setting that works hard to achieve more.”
SPORTS DAY – Friday, 1 December
Year 1 children will join in the whole of Primary Sports Day on Friday, 1 December. Please ensure that you let your class teacher and taitambus@nais.hk know what transport option you are choosing on this day. EYFS will have a separate sports day with Sai Kung EYFS in the Spring. More information will be given about both events nearer the time.
CHRISTMAS SHOW - Tuesday, 12 December at 10am
All the children will take to the stage for ‘Christmas with the Aliens’ and parents will be invited. The shows time will be 10:00. Please don’t forget to send in your child’s costume by Wednesday, 6 December.
CHRISTMAS JUMPER DAY – THURSDAY, 14 DECEMBER
It is time to get into the festive spirt and don those fabulous Christmas jumpers we all love (to hate sometimes)! On this day, we will be celebrating Christmas by asking all our children and staff to wear Christmas jumpers. We will also have our Christmas parties on this day.
NO NUTS
We are a ‘nut free school’ as we have a number of children with severe nut allergies. This includes peanuts and tree nuts. Please remember this when packing your child’s snack and lunch. We cannot allow nut/nut products of any kind in the building. For a snack we suggest a small piece of fruit or bread.
SPARE CLOTHES
We do have a small supply of spare clothes for emergencies, can we remind everybody to add a spare set of clothes to your child’s bag every day, just in case!
WHO’s WHO & WHEN TO CONTACT THEM
Quick list guide of who to email for what:
SAI KUNG UPDATES
Message from the Head of School
Dear Parents,
Our STEAM week on ‘the future of flight’ has been a great success. The children have loved exploring different aspects of flight and enjoyed their first task working as a House team. The week started with Captain Cooklin setting the scene as we simulated a flight to MIT in Boston. Another highlight was a visit from real life Captain Saskia who explained what is was like to really fly a commercial airliner. The children were fascinated, as were the teachers.
The giant art attack on Wednesday was another great opportunity for team work, House spirit and creativity to all come together, as each team worked to create a giant sculpture. Make sure you view the videos on our school Facebook page.
To add to all the excitement, we were also visited by the Year 8 pupils who were on their way to camp. They stopped by to organise playground games, help construct airplanes and put on special plays. It was lovely to see the older and younger children enjoying learning together.
The final event of the week was our whole school paper airplane competition. Again, each child designed, made and flew their own paper plane and the teachers helped to record the data onto a spreadsheet. This data will be combined with the rest of the school to see just how far NAISHK has flown. I am sure you will agree, that it’s been a busy week for the children and teachers.
We also hosted our first curriculum evening and PTA event this week. The EYFS parents were invited in to learn more about our assessment tool ‘Tapestry’ and how you can access this at home to support and extend learning taking place at school. If you couldn’t attend and wish to learn more, please do drop us a line and we will be more than happy to help you. The PTA event afterwards was our ‘drinks under the stars’ and it was a wonderful evening. All the parents were invited and we had a good turn-out of both staff and parents enjoying the chance to socialise with the beautiful back drop of Sai Kung. Thank you so much to our PTA for arranging everything. A special thank you to Jessica, Anna and Krista for all that they have done to make this happen.
Next week continues to be busy with visits on Monday from our pupil council, to talk to the children about gender equality, as well as our Year 9 pupils who will visit on their way to camp. They will help our children with special PE lessons that will take place on Monday.
Many thanks for your continued support.
Naima Charlier
Head of School
NOTICES
Next week PE will take place on Monday, 27 November so please can Year 1 wear their PE kits. There will be no PE on Tuesday, 28 November.
28 November
Parent Consultations
1 December
Year 1 Sports Day
12 December
Christmas show at 10am
14 DECEMBER
Christmas jumper day
GENERAL UPDATES
STARS OF THE WEEK
Nursery: Andrea Ferrante, Bowman Fu
Lower Kindergarten: Helios Chan, Gary Chen, Zhitong Tian, Jayden Leung
Upper Kindergarten: Dhruv Sinha
GENDER EQUALITY WEEK – Global Goals
We are looking forward to our Student Council from the Lam Tin campus will visit Sai Kung on Monday, 27 November to organise events for our children in Sai Kung to mark this event.
PARENT CONSULTATION INFORMATION – YEAR 1 - Tuesday, 28 November
If your child is in Year 1, you should have already received information about a suitable appointment form Miss Man. You will also be able to meet with Miss Lo about Mandarin at this time.
SPORTS DAY – Friday, 1 December
Year 1 children will join the whole school Primary Sports Day on Friday, 1 December. The letter with information about this will go home in your child’s book bag. Please let us know about your transportation plans.
CHRISTMAS SHOW – WEDNESDAY, 13 DECEMBER 9:45am
All the children will take to the stage and parents will be invited. Afterwards, parents will be invited to stay and take some refreshments on our roof while the children change. Then we will all join together for Carols.
CHRISTMAS JUMPER DAY – THURSDAY, 14 DECEMBER
It is time to get into the festive spirt and don those fabulous Christmas jumpers we all love (to hate sometimes)! On this day, we will be celebrating Christmas by asking all our children and staff to wear Christmas jumpers. We will also have our Christmas parties on this day.
CURRICULUM OVERVIEWS
You can find detailed information about the curriculum for the coming term on our Firefly pages. Please do take a look and ask your teacher if you have any questions.
BLOGS
Please continue to check the blogs for weekly information about what your child has been learning in school.
Click here for the Nursery.
Click here for the Reception.
Click here for the Year 1.
There is also a section of photos from Sai Kung in general - you can find this in the “Welcome to Sai Kung” section of Firefly.
WHO’s WHO & WHEN TO CONTACT THEM
Here’s a quick list guide of who to email for what:
