Weekly Message
Dear Parents,
As ever it is a very busy week with interviews for PSHCE Co-ordinators, a new Executive Assistant as well as our annual Health and Safety Inspections of all three campuses.
Without doubt the highlight of the week has been the Christmas Concert. The performances were fantastic but what is stunning is to see the personal growth and enjoyment all the pupils displayed. We saw wonderful examples of how the ECAs can provide children with new opportunities to succeed and build confidence. The excitement generated by the Jazz Dance group and the Musical Theatre group performing “Revolting Children” from “Mathilda” was matched by all the ensembles and choirs. Congratulations to all involved for a really enjoyable evening. An especial thank you to the PTA for the refreshments and Christmas cake!
As we near the end of the term it is time to bid farewell to some members of staff. Ivy Ng, a Teaching and Learning Assistant, completed her PGCE teacher training and is going to take up a teaching job. My Executive Assistant, Vicki Brynolf, is relocating to the Netherlands while Christian Bishop, Assistant Principal, takes up a new post in Bangkok. We wish them all well in their future endeavours and thank them for all their contributions to the school.
As a result of Mr. Bishop’s departure, Mrs. Harley, Assistant Principal, will become Head of Campus at Lam Tin and Mrs. Malone will take charge of Tai Tam Campus.
The week ends in the excitement of Primary Sports Day and it was great to see all the Year 1 pupils from all three campuses coming together in preparation for the Day.
Have a great weekend.
Brian Cooklin.
Principal.
SCROLL DOWN FOR TAI TAM AND SAI KUNG UPDATE
LAM TIN UPDATES
UPCOMING EVENTS
4-8 December
Computer Science Week
5 December
Year 9 Production
Year 6 parents drinks evening at The Kerry Hotel - Red Sugar Bar
6 December
Year 9 Drama Trip to perform Aladdin
8 December
Year 1 Production
Primary School Inter-House Dodgeball
KS2 Inter-House Long Distance Swim Trophy
8-14 December
Wear your own swim cap to swimming lessons
11 December
Secondary Progress Reports
11 – 14 December
KS2 Inter-House Long Distance Swim Trophy during swimming lessons
11 – 14 December
Primary School Inter-House Dodge ball during PE lessons
12 December
Secondary Progress Parent Evening - Years 7 and 10
13 December
Secondary Progress Parent Evening - Years 8 and 9
14 DECEMBER
Christmas Jumper Day
Sleigh Debate
Primary Christmas Parties
15 December
Inter-house singing competition
End of autumn term
SIBLING PHOTO SIGN-UP
For parents who wish to sign-up their Primary children for sibling photos taking place on Monday, 15 January, please email your child’s class teacher to register. Timeslots are limited, so we courage you to sign-up early. If your child is a Secondary student, you may sign-up here.
MAKER SLAM JAM
Students from the First Lego League Team attended the Maker Slam Jam on Wednesday afternoon. It was an opportunity to show what we have been doing in our club and see what other schools are doing. They then worked on a build challenge, where they had to create a machine to transport and clean water without touching it. This was based around Global Goal #6.
GALLERY WALK
Yesterday our IGCSE Art & Design students attended the Student Gallery Walk hosted by Hong Kong Art Gallery Association. We visited four galleries in Central, including Yan Gallery, Gallery Ora Ora and Alisan Fine Arts and saw a variety of Artwork across the four galleries including ink paintings by Hu Yongkai, The Acrylic Scratch paintings by Hebime and met the artist exhibiting in Gallery Ora-Ora. In each gallery, we were given a short presentation about the artwork and then had time to look at all the painting and sculptures. It was an informative, fun and interesting afternoon.
YEAR 6 PARENTS
The Year 6 Class Reps are organising a Year 6 parents drinks evening at The Kerry Hotel - Red Sugar Bar on Tuesday, 5 December from 7pm onwards. This is a great opportunity to kick off the festive season, meet up with both old and new parents and be able to chat properly without children around! It will be a very informal evening, you can drop in and drop out whenever you like and just pay for drinks and food as you go.
GREENER SKIES SHOWCASE A SUCCESS
Today we hosted a Greener Skies showcase event in the Hall. It was an excellent chance for students to showcase the work they have done as part of the Greener Skies MIT Challenge that has been running this term. It was lovely to see proud parents and family there.
WEAR YOUR OWN SWIM CAP TO SWIMMING LESSONS 8-14 December
This December will see the first NAIS Inter House long distance swim. Year 4 – Year 7 students will compete in this event during their swimming lessons between Friday, 8 and Thursday, 14 December.
To identify the children in the pool it would be extremely helpful if your child could bring a non NAIS swimming hat for this lesson.
We look forward to seeing just how far our Houses swim. Will any of them manage the 33km it takes to cross the English Channel or the 45km to swim around Hong Kong or could they get all the way to Macau, 60km away? We will let you know!
SECONDARY PROGRESS REVIEW
You will soon receive your child’s second Secondary Progress Review for this academic year. This will be published on Firefly on Monday, 11 December from 4:00pm onwards.
The school uses an online appointment booking system and appointments can be made from 4:00pm on Monday, 4 December and will close at 11:55pm on Monday, 11 December.
WHO’s WHO & WHEN TO CONTACT THEM
TAI TAM UPDATES
Message from the Head of School
Dear Parents,
We have had numerous visitors this week, many prospective children arrived for Nursery and Reception assessments for next year – wonderful to welcome them and show them around our beautiful learning environment. The Pupil Council from Lam Tin came and presented an assembly to the children about Gender Equality and then read stories in each classroom. We also received a Health and Safety Inspection from our Regional Management team who were very impressed with our environment, our Safeguarding and Risk Assessments which we carry out on a regular basis to ensure our children are all safe and happy. All the Year 1 teachers from Lam Tin also visited us yesterday for a shared staff meeting and to look around the school.
Today saw our Primary Sports Day with our Year 1 attending along with the Sai Kung and Lam Tin children – they did very well and it was lovely to see many of you there. Now we are into December, our Christmas preparations and celebrations are in full swing – you must ensure you see the doors to the Reception classrooms as they are all looking very festive!
Have a good weekend.
Kind regards
Mrs Sarah Harley
Head of School
NOTICES
4 December
Trip to Lam Tin to see Year 9’s Pantomine ‘Cinderella’
12 December
Christmas show at 10am
14 DECEMBER
Christmas jumper day
STARS OF THE WEEK
Nursery: Corey Pan
Lower Kindergarten: Cameron Tsui
Upper Kindergarten: Dunstan Lai
YEAR 9 PANTOMINE ‘CINDERELLA’ TUESDAY, 5 DECEMBER
We are looking forward to all our children catching the bus to Lam Tin in the afternoon to watch the Year 9 Pantomine. Please ensure that the consent form is bought back if you haven’t already.
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 10:00am. 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 spirit 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.
TEACHER SPOTLIGHT – MISS L ABRAHAMS
Miss Abrahams previously worked as an English teacher in South Korea and then in Hong Kong. She loved her experience in Asia and fell in love with teaching, so she returned home to Scotland and completed a PGDE in Primary Education at Strathclyde University. Miss Abraham spent some time teaching in Scotland but she knew she wanted to return to Asia. She happily accepted a job as an EYFS teacher at the British School of Guangzhou in China where she worked with some outstanding teachers and taught some wonderful children. She is passionate about the Early Years and she believe it is the most vital phase in a child’s education.
“Some of my hobbies include socialising with friends and family, reading, watching films, hiking and sightseeing! I just love to travel and discover new cultures and experiences. I am looking forward to exploring more of Hong Kong and discovering all the exciting things it has to offer.”
BLOGS
Please continue to check the blogs for weekly information about what your child has been learning in school.
NO NUTS
We are a ‘nut free school’ as we have several 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,
This week started with a very busy day on Monday as we had visits from our Year 9 pupils, who were off on an overnight camp. They put on special PE lessons for the all the classes. I am not sure who enjoyed themselves more but our Year 9s were amazing and it was lovely to see them interacting and enjoying being with the younger pupils. It was especially lovely for me as many of them were in my very first class when I arrived in Hong Kong over three years ago. How they’ve grown! We are also very lucky as some of them will be returning to our campus next week to put on the pantomime Aladdin. All the children will be treated to a special performance on our very own stage.
We were also visited by our Pupil Council from Lam Tin. They spoke about the important issue of gender equality during our assembly and then went to read stories to the children. They introduced the idea of ‘is it fair for only boys/girls to…’ All the children decided that both boys and girls can play with or be whatever they want. Which is very positive.
Reception children have also been continuing their learning about flight but have now taken it into space. There are rockets and stars all over the campus. This will set us up nicely for how father Christmas’s sleigh flies? Which I am sure will be on lots of their minds in the run up to the holidays.
As you know, we will be having a Christmas party for the children in the last week. The PTA is asking for each child to bring in one gift wrapped book which we will collect on the 8th December. Then at our Christmas party we will arrange for Santa to give out one gift to each child.
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.
12 December
Christmas show at 10am
14 DECEMBER
Christmas jumper day
GENERAL UPDATES
STARS OF THE WEEK
Nursery: Emily Shiao, Charlie Zarin
Lower Kindergarten: Casper Phoon, Jack Champion, Louis Kwok, Iselle Mulder
Upper Kindergarten: William Chen
TEACHER SPOTLIGHT - ELLIOT SCRIVENER
Mr Scrivener graduated from the University of Auckland with a Bachelor of Science Degree and a Graduate Diploma of Teaching. He was Head of Primary P.E. at an International School in Shanghai before joining NAIS.
“I am an experienced educator who has taught in New Zealand, England and China, throughout a broad range of age phases. My passion is sport: an area in which have enjoyed many personal successes that have shaped my values around Physical Education.
I am passionate about the crucial role played by Physical Education in developing confidence and nurturing wellbeing in learners. My aim is to forge constructive relationships with my students and foster an ethos of teamwork, good sportsmanship and positive social interaction.
Sport continues to play a pivotal role in my life and outside of school and I play as much as possible in my free time. If I can instill just a fraction of my passion for sport into my students, I know that they will gain a tremendous amount of enjoyment and satisfaction from their participation.”
CHRISTMAS GIFTS
Please send in one gift wrapped book (this can be new or nearly new) to give to the class teacher. We will give these out to each child at the Christmas party.
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 spirit 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.
