Lower School Newsletter 13 February 2023

HIS CALENDAR

DATES                 Upcoming Events

*22 February   Mandarin Curriculum Night

*3   March       100 Day Celebration 

*27-29 March  Book Fair

*28 March        Student-Led Conferences    

*31 March        Mid-term progress reports

*3-5 April        Spring break/tomb sweeping

2023-2024 dates

*23 August -15 December -Semester 1 2023

*09 January -21 June         -Semester 2 2024

CHINESE LUNAR CELEBRATION

 Principal's Message

Dear Parents,

EY 1 & 2 Parent Coffee Morning

What a wonderful group of parents who braved the wind and rain to attend a welcome and getting-to-know-you session. It was fascinating learning about your child thru the work you created to give us a glimpse of their personality. 

All had fun, and there was laughter completing the question sheet while racing to get prizes.

Parents have requested further sessions on issues related to the early years, and we are already planning our next event. Stay tuned!

Lunar New Year Celebration activities and Experience Day

 Friday was a riot of color and movement as students across the LS participated in many activities to celebrate the Lantern Festival and the new year.

A huge thank you to the Mandarin team, who did a fantastic job arranging this event that the students and staff warmly received.

Swimming

Students have done a great job in participating and enjoying their swimming lessons. This activity is part of the student's Health and PE curriculum, and wherever possible, students should come prepared and ready to join in with the kind and gentle support of their swim coaches and teachers.

If a student is not going to swim for the day, they must have a note from the doctor or a parent stating they are unfit to participate. e If a child forgets their swim gear, we will endeavor to contact a parent.

Save the date-Mandarin Curriculum Night 

Wednesday, 22 February, 6.00 pm-7.30 pm EY1-GR 12

Wednesday, 22 February, 8.15 am -9.00 am- ECE parents only

Our Mandarin teachers across the school will explain and showcase how Mandarin is taught and developed across the school from EY1 to grade 12 for students new to the language through to native speakers.

This evening will be a very informative and excellent opportunity to see how the curriculum and your child's language skills are supported and expanded.

ECE parents are welcome to join a session presented by the ECE Mandarin staff with a video, an explanation of the program, and a tour of the classes with the teachers. ECE parents can also attend the evening session to learn about the program from Gr1 and above.

Further details will be coming to ECE parents.

Masks

Please note masks are no longer required to enter the school grounds; however, students, staff, and parents may choose to wear one. Spare masks will still be available at the gates.

Have a great week!

Lynn

Lynn Pendleton 

LS Principal

 EPIPEN training for ECE staff.

ECE staff undertook Epipen training to know what to do for several of our students who suffers a severe and life threatening allergic reaction called anaphylaxis.

New Gate Procedures

Masks optional to enter the campus!

Starting tomorrow students wearing masks to enter the school is optional. Masks will still be available for students who want to wear them. 

Temperature and hand sanitizer checks will still continue.

New Drop Off Procedures Main Gate 

To assist with traffic flow and wet weather there will now be two entry points for students when they enter the Main Campus gate from tomorrow. ECE procedures remain the same.

HIS MANDARIN CURRICULUM EVENING SAVE THE DATE

SAFETY MESSAGE TRANSPORTATION  

COUNT UP TO OUR 100 DAYS OF SCHOOL CELEBRATION

Our students from K-Grade 5 are counting up to 100 days of school this academic year. This is a terrific opportunity to be involved in Math talks and to see the different ways the numbers can be represented! Each class will have about 3 numbers to explore! We will have a celebration when we reach 100 days!

Buddies Grade 4 and EY1 

HOW TO CONTACT TEACHERS WE ARE ONLY USING WECHAT FOR EMERGENCY SITUATIONS SUCH AS SCHOOL CLOSURES AND LOCKDOWNS

Moments 365 Help

Help with Moments 365 is available from Mr Emlyn Majoos (Mr.M) to ensure we have all parents using this platform.  If you need a Chinese or speaker of another language please contact Mr M.and we will arrange support.

emlynmajoos@hisdragons.org.cn

Contacting Teachers

We ask parents to contact teachers via Moments 365 or by email. Teachers are busy working with students, attending meetings, preparing class materials, and ensuring student safety. They infrequently look at their computers or mobile phones and may miss your message. For changes to pick-up arrangements or urgent news, please get in touch with the school secretaries, who are online all day.

ECE lilyfan@hisdragons.org.cn                           LS main building florali@hisdragons.org.cn

Online teaching and Student/Teacher contact

For online teaching and correspondence between teachers and students we use TEAMS.

                SWIMMING NEWS                  

ECE Swimming 

Pre-K and K: The purpose of this class is to help students feel comfortable in the water and work on the fundamentals of swimming. Sophie the Safety Seal’s WaterSmart rules are enforced for increased water safety. Pre-K and Kindergarten start swimming on Monday, February 6th and will continue for 4 weeks. Please ensure to pack the required swim kit (one piece swimsuit, swim cap, goggles, towel, flip flops, arm bands, and waterproof bag for all swimming equipment) and label all belongings with your child’s name. 

EY 1 and EY 2 (Water Exploration and Safety): Designed for parents and children to work together to explore the water in a supervised and fun environment. We introduced the WaterSmart Rules that are encouraged by Sophie the Safety Seal. If you are interested, please register by emailing swimming@hisdragons.org.cn with subject line: EY SWIM WEEKEND. Include the dates (February 19th, 26th, and March 5th) you will attend, the adult attending and in the pool with the child, child’s name, and the class. 

Ex.  

Dates Attending: February 19th, 26th and March 5th. 

Child: Michael Xu 

Parent Attending: Alan Xu (Father) 

Class: EY2A – Ms. Jackie 

CONGRATULATIONS DRAGONS SWIMMERS 

Congratulations, everyone, for a fantastic weekend at the SSL Round 3. Shanghai Swim League has waited three years for the face-to-face swim meet to return. The 2-day swim event attracted 536 athletes from 11 SSL Member Schools. HIS Dragons wrapped it up with 98 percent of swimmers improving and beating their Personal Best, an outstanding 111 PBs throughout the meet. Our Girls 9-10 came home 2nd Place in Team High Point, Boys 9-10 2nd Place in Team High Point, and Girls 13-14 2nd Place in Team High Point. Hangzhou International School ranked #4 Overall. Well done! 

Thank you to all parents who dedicated time and effort this past weekend to supporting our young swimmers at the SSL Round 3 hosted by Nanjing International School. Swimmers, coaches, and parents had an unforgettable time! 

HIS Dragons Swim Team cannot wait to see the swimming action unfold in the SSL Championships at SAS – Pudong on 22nd-23rd April. 

AWARDS 

Team High Point 

Boys 9-10 – 2nd Place 

Girls 9-10 – 2nd Place 

Girls 13-14 – 2nd Place 

Day 1   

400 IM  

Girls 13-14: Tina Liu - 1st Place 

 200 Free Relay 

Girls 9-10: Team A - 2nd Place (Shirley Lin, Carol Zhong, Mable Lu, Coco Jin) 

Girls 11-12: Team A – 8th Place (Amber Lam, Helen Zhong, Lisa Wu, Allison Wang) 

Boys 9-10: Team A – 2nd Place (Leo Guo, Flynn Yu, Jake Li, Eachann Lu) 

Boys 11-12: Team A – 7th Place (Jean Mao, Astin Hong, Peter Pan, Richard Xu) 

Girls 13-14: - Team A 2nd Place (Alice Wu, Naomi Xia, Anna Lu, Tina Liu) 

100 IM  

Girls 9-10: Shirley Lin – 2nd Place, Coco Jin – 5th Place 

Boys 9-10: Leo Guo – 3rd Place 

50 Free 

Girls 9-10: Coco Jin – 3rd Place, Carol Zhong – 6th Place 

Boys 9-10: Leo Guo – 6th Place 

Girls 13-14: Alice Wu – 2nd Place 

50 Breast 

Girls 9-10: Coco Xie – 3rd Place, Mable Lu – 4th Place 

Girls 13-14: Alice Wu – 2nd Place 

100 Free 

Girls 9-10: Coco Jin – 6th Place, Carol Zhong – 8th Place 

Boys 9-10: Eachann Lu – 5th Place, Flynn Yu – 8th Place 

Girls 13-14: Alice Wu – 1st Place 

Boys 13-14: Harry Wang – 6th Place 

Day 2 

50 Back 

Girls 9-10: Shirley Lin – 1st Place, Carol Zhong – 4th Place 

Girls 13-14: Tina Liu – 1st Place, Anna Lu – 8th Place 

50 Fly 

Girls 9-10: Shirley Lin – 4th Place 

Boys 9-10: Leo Guo – 2nd Place 

Girls 13-14: Tina Liu – 1st Place 

Mixed 200 Medley Relay 

9-10: Team A – 2nd Place (Shirley Lin, Coco Jin, Leo Guo, Flynn Yu), Team B – 7th Place (Carol Zhong, Mable Lou, Eachann Lu, Jake Li) 

11-12: Team A – 7th Place (Richard Xu, Lydia Yu, Amber Lam, Jean Mao) 

13-14: Team A – 5th Place (Tina Liu, Alice Wu, Harry Wang, Derek Xu) 

Congratulations all! 

Upcoming Swim Meets: 

March 17-18 – ACAMIS Senior Swim Championships at ISB Beijing (Updated) 

March 24-25 - ACAMIS Junior Swim Championships at SWIS Shenzhen 

April 22-23 – Shanghai Swim League Championships at Shanghai American School – Pudong 

April – HISAC Round 3 at Wellington College Hangzhou 

May – HISAC Developmental Meet at The Wave HIS 

CLICK THE LINK BELOW for Swim Meet Results 

https://www.his-china.org/extend/swim-team/results 

Email swimming@hisdragons.org.cn for inquiries, and visit the Aquatics Swim Meet Calendar for updated events and practice schedules. 

Swim Team List for Semester 2. Swim practice starts tomorrow, Monday, 30th January.

Please refer to the live document link below for any changes this week.

Swim Team List - S2 SY22-23 (Updated Jan. 27)

Thank you for your constant support. Should you have questions, I’ll be happy to answer them.

             COFFEE MORNING                                EY1 AND EY2 Parents                  Lots of fun and getting to know each other !

            CCA INFORMATION                

CCA 2  Dates

Monday 30 January- 31 March 2023

Please visit the Co-Curricular page on the HIS website for more information https://www.his-china.org/extend/co-curricular-activities-clone.  

You can also send an email to activities@hisdragons.org.cn if you have any inquiries. 

          WHAT ARE LOOSE PARTS?               We Need Your Help collecting Loose Parts!

PICK UP OF STUDENTS DELAYS  AND IMPORTANT MESSAGES TO TEACHERS

Please assist staff by advising us early (before lunchtime) wherever possible, if you need your child to do something different at their usual pick-up time and location. Teachers focus on working and engaging their class while maintaining a safe environment. They get to their computers sporadically and may miss changes. In addition, some classes are with Specialist staff for the last lesson and bring the students to the pick-up locations. They may be unaware of last-minute changes.

If you need to make a late change to plans, I'd suggest you send a message to our Lower School secretaries, florali@hisdragons.org.cn or in the ECE lilyfan@hisdragons.org.cn, and they can pass on your message.

COVID Procedures and Protocols

Please pay strict attention to your COVID prevention protocols and monitor your health code status regularly.

Masks are optional on entry and can be removed when children are inside the school grounds.

Please note that if your child is absent due to COVID you must ensure they have a valid COVID test to reenter the school. Please forward your child's result to lilyfan@hisdragons.org.cn or florali@hisdragons.org.cn

HIS Social Media.

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#GoHISDragons!

                   Lost Property               

Please label your child's jackets, coats, umbrellas, waterbottles......everything! It is very worrying to see the number of unclaimed items, some of them brand new, but without a name and the ability to find the owner! We will try and locate the owner if the item has a name on it! Please help us and avoid needing to buy new items that could be located, if only we knew who it belonged to.

                  LIBRARY NEWS                

Dear Families,

It is almost Valentine’s Day and to celebrate the month of February we have a Wall of Kindness up in the LS Library! Students can come and add hearts to it and say who they think is super kind.

We have the Bingo winners for ECE and LS libraries! Congratulations to all the students (and parents) who participated. Please have a look at the photo to see the winners!

It is time to start reading for the Semester 2 Battle of the Books! This semester, Grade 2 to Grade 5 can participate! Please check out the poster to see what books are in the running for this semester. Come to the library to check out a book and then do the quiz! One of the books competing is called “Aaron Slater, Illustrator” by Andrea Beaty. Here is the synopsis of the book:

Aaron Slater loves listening to stories. But when it comes to reading, the letters just look like squiggles to him. He is sure his dream of being a storyteller is out of reach . . . until inspiration strikes.

Aaron finds a way to spin a tale in a way that is uniquely his.

The winner for the second Sticker Activity is Henry from 5B! We had so many students guessing what the picture could be (over 100!) but only Henry guessed it to be an eye. It was a tricky one but great work, Henry!

If you would like to contact the libraries, please use the email addresses listed below:

ECE Library, Ms. Ivy – ecelibrary@hisdragons.org.cn

Lower School Library, Mrs. Majoos and Ms. Amy – lslibrary@hisdragons.org.cn

Upper School Library, Ms. Sara and Ms. Cocoa – uslibrary@hisdragons.org.cn

Happy reading!

Best wishes,

Mrs. Majoos

Lower School Librarian

Parent and Student ID Cards

All students and parents should have an HIS Identification Card. Please review the information on the website to submit your photo to the secretary for ID card generation. HIS ID card information

DRAGONS WEAR THEIR UNIFORM WITH PRIDE EACH DAY!

School Uniform

Please wear our school uniform with pride each day, and we seek your support in having your child dressed in the complete uniform each day. We will notify you if it is a special day to dress up; otherwise, students should be in uniform. Also, please have your child wear their PE kit on swim days (Grade1-5). Please label your child's clothing to help us return it to you. We often find many items without names, and the students cannot recognize their belongings.    

Purchasing School Uniform

Families can purchase items at the Dragon Shop. It is open

Monday to Friday from 

9.00 am-11.00 am and 1.00 pm-3.00 pm

For more information, please contact the dragon shop:

olivexu@hisdragons.org.cn

LS ADMINISTRATION TEAM

Lynn Pendleton

Lower School Principal 

Aaron Ayers

Lower School

Vice Principal

Student Welfare

Cilla Giannopoulos

Lower School

Vice Principal 

PYP Co-ordinator

SCHOOL LUNCH

See this week's cafeteria menu

HIS Mission Statement

We provide international learners with opportunities to pursue academic and personal excellence within a caring community.