Dear Parents,
PTA Spring Fair
What a wonderful PTA Spring Fair we had last Saturday! It was heartwarming to see so many families come together and enjoy the festivities. A special thank you goes out to the children who participated in our NAIS Sai Kung Choir. It was a debut performance for us, and I was utterly impressed by the children’s confidence and joy as they took to the Kwun Tong stage for the very first time. To the parents who attended, I trust you found the event equally special and were beaming with pride.
Our Greening Project – A Collaborative Project with the PTA
Our PTA plays an integral role in enriching our school community, and we are currently collaborating closely as they generously fund a Greening Project spanning all three campuses. This initiative aims to transform our school environment into a greener and more beautiful space. In Sai Kung, the project not only involves acquiring beautiful plants to enhance our indoor classrooms but is also providing numerous hands-on growing experiences for our young students.
In recent weeks, the Greening Project funding has empowered our students to buy soil, pots, planters, seeds, watering cans, tools, and mini greenhouses. Across all classes, activities have been buzzing with the planting of carrots, tomatoes, herbs, broccoli, sunflowers and chilies. Our ‘green thumb’ enthusiasts have been diligently planting all over the campus, from the Nursery Garden to the Reception Balcony to the Waterfront Rooftop.
As well as great hands-on learning experiences, the children have been devising watering schedules and rotas to make sure the seeds and plants are taken care of, making careful observations of growth, and deciding what we will do with our produce once we have harvested it. We can't decide if we want carrot soup or carrot cake; I think we'll have to ask the children to devise a 'Tally Chart' to see which is the most popular choice.
For those children who are keen gardeners, they have joined our Going Green ECA club and are leading the growing in our campus, supporting Mrs. Mertz. Outdoor learning provides such meaningful and rich learning opportunities that span across all aspects of our curriculum. From the geography we learn about diverse natural environments that are all around us in Hong Kong to exploring the history of how our environment has changed and adapted over time, to using our mathematics to make careful and accurate observations of the natural world, including the weather and sea currents we can see from our school campus to the birds that visit our Nursery garden—outdoor learning offers our students so many rich learning possibilities.
With this in mind, we are so thankful to our PTA for supporting us with our collaborative Greening Project. As we look ahead, we eagerly anticipate opening our doors to invite the school community to join us in planting and growing projects in the upcoming months.
Outdoor Learning - Forest School Training
At NAIS Hong Kong, we are always eager as teachers to learn more and develop our knowledge and skills to provide more enriching learning experiences for our students. So, this weekend, both Mrs. Mertz and Ms. Lewsey will be heading to Mui Wo for the weekend to undertake their Forest School Leaders training. In doing so, we will be planning more great opportunities for outdoor learning on our doorstep in Sai Kung and the beautiful country parks of Hong Kong—from the mangroves of Hoi Ha to the volcanic rock of Sharp Island. We can't wait to explore more and learn more!
Upcoming Events:
Wishing you all a great week ahead. As always, thank you for your continued support and engagement in our school community.
Yours sincerely,
Ruth Hanson
Head of Early Years Campus
