Principal’s Message
Dear Parents,
The last week of term before the holidays is always special and this year is no exception. The Lam Tin Christmas concert followed by the wonderful Year 1 Christmas performance set us all up beautifully for the holiday season. This week has seen Christmas with Aliens at Tai Tam and a Whoops-a-Daisy Angel at Sai Kung – I think we had cornered the market in cuteness with the performances by the children!
Both were great fun and it was especially notable that the children enjoyed what they were doing and were so confident on stage. Congratulations to all the staff, children and parents for their great achievement and the progress made in such a short time.
Christmas activities have been abounded with mince pies, cookies, Christmas Jumper day, the Sleigh Debate and, of course, Christmas parties.
In addition, secondary parents have participated in the parent consultation evenings in substantial numbers and found the opportunity to talk to teachers as beneficial as ever. Thank you to staff and parents for their commitment and support.
This week also saw the Asia Pacific International Schools Conference and Expo in Hong Kong and I was asked to speak about how we transform learning and help children to progress. It was a little strange because it was a silent presentation with the audience all wearing headsets but it seemed to go well. Mr. Sheehan and Mr. Nicholls were also speaking so the school was well represented.
We end the week with the amazing Inter House Singing Competition and excitement mounts!
I wish you and your family a wonderful holiday, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year when it comes.
Best wishes,
Brian Cooklin.
Principal.
PTA DRINKS & NIBBLES
Our Tai Tam PTA are hosting a fabulous event and families from the other two campuses are welcome to join. This is a great opportunity to come and see our beautiful new campus while meeting some new (and familiar) faces.
AN INTRODUCTION TO PARENT EFFECTIVENESS TRAINING – 17 Jan, 6:00-7:00pm @ Sai Kung campus
17 JANUARY
We are happy to have Katherine Sellery coming into school and offering a free hour-long class on an introduction to PET. For those who are interested she will then be putting on an 8 week course at our Sai Kung school for those who wish to sign up for the full training. We will pass on more information in the new year but please note the date of Wednesday, 17 January at 6pm in your diaries.
LEADERS IN EDUCATION
We were very proud to have Mr. Cooklin, Mr. Sheehan and Mr. Nicholls all speak at The Asia-Pacific International Schools Conference. Yes, that’s right, we had not just one but three speakers from NAIS presenting!
Mr. Cooklin spoke about how to improve progress for all children, Mr. Sheehan talked about detecting and responding to self-injury in the school settings and Mr. Nicholls presented The COBIS Patron’s Accreditation: A Supportive Approach to School Self Evaluation. The feedback was great, and we’re very happy to be at the forefront of educational excellence.
SCROLL DOWN FOR TAI TAM AND SAI KUNG UPDATE
LAM TIN UPDATES
UPCOMING EVENTS
3 JANUARY
ECA registration period opens at 3pm and closes on Tuesday, 9 January at 12noon.
8 JANUARY
Back to school
12 January
Year 7 Inter-House Basketball
Year 9 Inter-House Squash
19 January
Class Assembly 3A Katie Doherty
INTER-HOUSE SINGING COMPETITION
Forget the X Factor, American Idol or Britain's Got Talent. Yesterday’s Inter-House Singing Competition beat them all hands down. It was such fun listening to and watching all our students, sing, dance and enjoy themselves as they fought to win the title of this year’s singing champion. Congratulations go to Caernarfon for beating the competition to take home the Cup. Check out our Facebook to watch the Houses compete.
SLEIGH DEBATE
Congratulations to Wonder Woman (aka Nina Finch) and her Caernarfon teammate, the Canadian cancer research activist Terry Fox (Samson Dyck) for speaking their way to victory in this year’s Great Sleigh Debate.
This year’s debate centered around the United Nation’s Global Goals as Santa Claus attempted to bring the North Pole in line to reach the goals by 2030. The winners faced some highly competitive opposition from Bill Gates (Oliver Ansell) and Iron Man (Maithili Parekh) who came in second and third place.
The real winners, however, were the audience who got to hear eight passionate and prepared students demonstrate amazing ambition, bravery and determination to take to the stage for their houses and share their research into some vital figures who can inspire us all to reach the SDGs .
We learnt the heartbreaking story of the late Pakistani children’s activist Iqbal Masih (Rylan Holt) and the amazing work being done to solve our plastic oceans problem by young inventor and entrepreneur Boyan Slat (Isaac Reid), CEO of The Ocean Cleanup. We were lucky to joined by mother and daughter team Athena, Godess of Wisdom (Keira Walsh) and her daughter Annabeth Chase (Lune Delettre Gros) a character from the very popular Percy Jackson series of books. Thanks again to everyone who took part and especially to Mr De Sousa who MC’d with his usual comedic excellence.
To find out more about some of the less well known but hugely important figures featured in our debate today, click on the names below.
ART INTER-HOUSE CHRISTMAS CARD COMPETITION RESULTS
Congratulations to the winners of Art Inter-house Christmas Card Competition.
From Reception to Year 9, all pupils have created their Christmas Card designs for the annual NAIS Inter-House Competition. We have seen so many creative and beautiful cards from our students and the winners were announced in this morning’s Assembly. Congratulations to the below winners:
Here are the individual winners:
Overall House winners:
WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS
Here’s a summary of the winners of the following competitions:
Term one House points winners – Windsor- 15581, Sandringham- 15431, Balmoral- 14831, Caernarfon – 14806
Congratulations to Windsor for being the overall House point winners!
Photographer of the Year
We're excited to announce that UNICEF have selected this photograph of Aberdeen Market by Jasmijn Knaap in Year 8 to be the cover picture of this year’s calendar from amongst the thousands of entries from all the Nord Anglia schools around the world. Well done to Jasmijn whose work will help to inspire her global classmates, teachers and UNICEF to work towards the Global Goals in 2018!
HOUR OF CODE
Over the last two weeks students of all ages took part in the International Hour of Code. Pupils around the world committed to take part in just one hour of coding to gain an understanding of how it takes human input to create all the digital outputs we make use of on a daily basis like apps and video games.
We learnt how to input a simple sequence of commands, and created some awesome video games like Angry Birds and Minecraft.
WHOLE SCHOOL ASSEMBLY
We start our week with a whole-school assembly on Monday. The Musical Theatre ECA group performed a scene from Matilda for us. Thank you so much for the students ranging from Year 7 - 9 giving us such a powerful show. We also announced the winners of this year’s Global Campus Photographer of the Year competition. Out of thousands of entries from the all the Nord Anglia schools around the world, Jasmine Kincaid (3E) is highly commended in the Under 8s category. Alica Poon (4B) gets a Global Library Bronze Award for reading and responding in the Global Library. Mr Bishop also presented trophies to the winner of the sports day in KS1 and KS2, which is Windsor House and Balmoral House respectively.
GREAT TRAINING FOR GREAT TEACHING
At NAIS we place a high value on professional learning. Most recently to ensure that our Teaching Assistants (TAs) are best utilised to support student’s learning they undertook they Nord Anglia University course, ‘Teaching Assistant’s – Developing your Practice’. This is a great way for them to receive a solid foundation to support them in their role, whether to develop the knowledge and experience of those who have been in the position for a while, or to introduce concepts and strategies to those new to the job.
To ensure the best experience for our TAs, we asked the Learning Technology team in Oxford if we could host the course in-school, and exclusively to our TLAs to achieve our target of a minimum baseline for all TA training. This was authorised, and the first school-based cohort have just finished the course – the feedback has been entirely positive. There has been lively discussion and colleagues have continued their conversations outside of the forums. Hosting the course in-school gave our TAs the confidence to fully participate and contribute, as the fear of being judged or thought ‘wrong’ is reduced.
“Overall, I found this course very useful and I'm glad that I have joined it. I learned some important skills on supporting children with different abilities and strategies on managing behaviours. Besides, it gave me an opportunity to reflect on my role as a teaching assistant and share ideas with colleagues. I believe this is a remarkable step towards becoming a more professional TA.” Year 4 TA.
TAI TAM UPDATES
Message from the Head of School
Dear Parents,
Superb! That is the only word to describe this week’s performance of “Christmas with the Aliens.” We were all so proud of each and every child as they sang, danced, spoke clearly and most of all had fun performing this week. I am sure you all enjoyed it as much as we did and can see the incredible journey the children have completed this term both in their learning and developing their confidence. Thank you to everyone involved to ensure the production was as polished and slick as it was.
The fun has continued throughout the week and we are all eagerly awaiting a visit from a secret visitor dressed in red this afternoon! The cards and decorations have all been completed and it is these experiences that the children remember for years to come.
We have shared the winners of our first term House Points (just in Tai Tam) with all the children and Sandringham, the winning House received a special message from the Head of House – Mr. Reid.
This term has been an amazing one and I would like to thank everybody for all they have contributed to ensuring we have been able to provide a fantastic learning experience and environment for your children. We are delighted to be welcoming 20 new families to Tai Tam in January and I am sure they will be made to feel very welcome.
I wish you all a Merry Christmas and safe travels if you are leaving Hong Kong during the holidays.
Kind regards
Mrs Sarah Harley
Head of School
NOTICES
8 JANUARY
Start of Term
9 JANUARY
ECA Choices Close
11 JANUARY
ECA Choices emailed to Parents
18 JANUARY
EYFS Trip to KidsFest – Emily Brown and the Thing
PTA Drinks and Nibbles
22 JANUARY
ECAs commence
24 JANUARY
Year 1 Volvo Race Boat Trip
STARS OF THE WEEK
Congratulations! You should feel very proud of your achievements.
Nursery: Bianca Wong
Lower Kindergarten: Kartini Singson
Upper Kindergarten: Nicholas Fong
KIDSFEST
We have organised for all our EYFS children in both Tai Tam and Sai Kung to see ‘Emily Brown and the Thing’ during KidsFest. It will be an exciting event for our children to go to the theatre and bring their learning that they have been doing in school together. Year 1 will also be going to KidsFest to see ‘Dinosaur Zoo’ in February with the Year 1’s across all three campuses. We will send further information out after Christmas.
ECAs
Please check our Firefly ECA page from the Tai Tam section. We will continue to offer ECAs on Monday and Wednesday. Please email TaiTamReception@nais.hk by Tuesday, 9 January with your preference if you would like child to participate. Our recommendation is that Reception and Year 1 only choose one ECA and we do not offer ECAs for Nursery students. There are no buses after ECAs and they finish at 3:45pm.
PTA DRINKS AND NIBBLES - Thursday, 18 January 7-9pm
Tai Tam parent PTA invite you all for Drinks and Nibbles. Please click here to show your attendance. We hope to see you there.
TEACHER SPOTLIGHT – Katrina Griffin
After completing an Early Years PGCE at Oxford Brookes University, Miss. Griffin moved to London and taught in a reception class in Brixton for 4 years, as well as being the curriculum leader for environment and community. During this time she started a school ‘green team’, established new school recycling policies and created a reception garden area, growing vegetables and herbs.
“Having had experience working with children from many different nationalities and languages, I strongly value the importance of communication and language. I ensure that planning is engaging and practical, allowing the children to have hands on experiences. My aim for children leaving reception, and entering Year 1 is that they are as confident and independent as possible.
In my spare time, I enjoy cooking, going to the theatre and concerts and travelling. I am very much looking forward to everything that Hong Kong 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!
SAI KUNG UPDATES
Message from the Head of School
Dear Parents,
This has been a magical week for all of us at Sai Kung. We started with a visit from Charlie’s parents who spoke in a special assembly to explain the celebration of Hanukkah. The children enjoyed learning about this tradition and hearing the stories and learning about the games and food enjoyed at this time.
Later in the week, we took to the stage for our performance of Whoops a Daisy Angel. This was a great way for the children to showcase their singing and acting skills. They all did so well to remember their lines and speak with confidence in front of our audience. Thank you for coming to see us and for joining in the mince pies and carols at the end.
On Thursday morning, the children all lined up on the balcony to see if they could spot our ‘special visitor’. They were all guessing who it could be until we spotted him waving at us from a sampan in the bay. It was Father Christmas, arriving by boat! This was a such a treat to be part of. The children loved it and were exclaiming their pleasure all the way down to the grass pitch where they got to say hello. Our Christmas party then got started and the children could choose to decorate cookies, make decorations or sing and dance to the music. Class by class they also got to go up and sit with Santa by the ‘fire’ and receive a wonderful present. Many thanks to all our parents for donating the books. They were delighted when they received these. Thank you as well, to all our parent volunteers and the PTA who organised all the activities for the party. Especially to Jessica and Anna for coordinating it all.
It’s hard to believe that we have only been open since September as it feels like we have been here a lot longer. We are so proud of the community we are building here. The children are doing really well and are learning and supporting each other. It’s a very special place to be. In January, we will welcome at least 15 new pupils into Reception and Nursery, which means all our classes are half or nearly half full. I say at least, as we are receiving new requests every day. It feels good to have created a place which so many families want to be part of. We couldn’t do this without your support. All our parents are amazing advocates for our school and I wanted to thank you all for your kind words. We are all very happy to be looking after your children.
On behalf of all the staff here at Sai Kung, we wish you and your families happy holidays and a peaceful and prosperous new year. See you in 2018!
Naima Charlier
Head of School
NOTICES
8 JANUARY
School starts on January 8th at 8:30am.
9 JANUARY
ECA Choices Close
11 JANUARY
ECA Choices emailed to Parents
17 JANUARY
Parent Effectiveness Training introductory talk 6-7pm
18 JANUARY
EYFS Trip to KidsFest – Emily Brown and the Thing
PTA Drinks and Nibbles
22 JANUARY
ECAs commence
24 JANUARY
Year 1 Volvo Race Boat Trip
26 JANUARY
Celebration Afternoon - EYFS
Parents of EYFS will be invited into school to celebrate your child’s work – Reports out
GENERAL UPDATES
STARS OF THE WEEK - MUSIC
Congratulations! You should feel very proud of your achievements.
Nursery: Ruby Rigard, Gabriela Laura Keenan
Lower Kindergarten: Mark Sui, Russell Li, Joby Woo, Oran Doherty
Upper Kindergarten: Max Ip
PARENT EFFECTIVENESS TRAINING (PET) 17 Jan 6-7pm
We are happy to have Katherine Sellery coming into school and offering a free hour-long class on an introduction to PET. For those who are interested she will then be putting on an 8-week course here at school for those who wish to sign up for the full training. We will pass on more information in the new year but please note the date of Wednesday, 17 January at 6pm in your diaries.
CLASS ASSEMBLY SCHEDULE 2018
The schedule for our class assemblies is as follows – your class teacher will give you more details nearer the time.
ECAs
Please check our Firefly ECA page from the Sai Kung section. We will continue to offer ECAs on Monday and Wednesday. Please email SaiKungReception@nais.hk by Tuesday, 9 January with your preference if you would like child to participate. Our recommendation is that Reception and Year 1 only choose one ECA and we do not offer ECAs for Nursery students. There are no buses after ECAs and they finish at 3:45pm.
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.
