Lower School Newsletter13  March 2023

HIS CALENDAR

                         DATES

Upcoming Event

*17 March         Grade 4 Assembly 8.15am                                            *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

Field trips-Units of inquiry in Action Students from Grade 3 and Kindergarten connect to their local community.

PARENT COFFEE MORNING 

 SAVE THE DATE  STUDENT- LED CONFERENCES

Principal's Message

Dear Parents,

Grade 5 Exhibition

Thank you to the many Grade 5 parents who attended this informative workshop on Thursday. The discussions and interest evident in the upcoming Exhibition from families were impressive.

There was a packed house in the Black Box, and parents enjoyed working together as they learned about aspects of the Exhibition. 

All staff and families working with the students must be aware of the need for the students to have support, ownership, and agency of this final investigation in the PYP. 

Moments 365

Thank you to the many parents using Moments 365 for contact with staff. As a reminder for important information or sensitive discussions, please use email to correspond.

Teachers have been updating their Moments 365 and would appreciate parents accessing their child's account and responding with a short comment to any pictures or comments. 

Thank you for your support with this matter.

Parent Coffee mornings

I hope you will join us this Thursday for our parent coffee morning, where Mr Em Majoo's will lead an interactive experience, to give you an understanding of the foundation processes in design and making using a growth mindset. 

The session will be a very entertaining experience and not to be missed! 

The event starts at 10 am, and parents should register on the QR code on the poster. 

Vehicle parking is at the ECE, and parents move to the Black Box. 

Please save the date for our Student-Led Conference

                           Tuesday 28 March

This event is one of my favorite. The students will share their goals, learning, work samples and snippets of daily life in their classrooms with their families! Families and staff always finish the day feeling impressed with ways children step up and are able to articulate and demonstrate their development, whatever the age!

If you know you can't attend, please look to invite someone else in your family, such as grandparents or your ayis. Students love sharing with a family member/s.

Please note there is no school on this day. EY1-Gr5 families will receive an appointment time to come with their child for the conference. 

Families will receive more detailed information and sign up times over the next week.  

Heating up

Spring has finally arrived, and the temperature is warming in the middle of the day. Students are now shedding sweaters and jackets and forgetting to collect them after playing. Please label all clothing and water bottles so we can return them to their owner if left.

Have a great week.

Kind regards,

Lynn

Lynn Pendleton 

LS Principal

Health and Safety Reminders Care for our LS community

Wearing masks to enter the school is optional for students and staff. Masks will still be available for students who want to wear them. 

Please note all visitors must wear masks.

Temperature and hand sanitizer checks will still continue.

Procedures and Protocols

We have a number of students with high temperatures this week. Please ensure that if your child is ill that they do not attend school If your child continues with a high temperature or remains unwell, please seek medical support. We ask that parents err on the side of caution and keep children at home until they have fully recovered. 

Please pay strict attention to your COVID/flu 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 negative COVID test to reenter the school. Please forward your child's result to

lilyfan@hisdragons.org.cn or florali@hisdragons.org.cn

GRADE 5 EXHIBITION PARENTS LEARNING ABOUT THE WEEKS AHEAD

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.

BE A WATER SMART FAMILY 

Practice basic water safety. Teach your children to always ask for—and receive— your permission before entering any body of water. And always watch your children and stay within arm’s reach of any weak or inexperienced swimmer in the water.  

Know how to recognize an emergency. A person struggling at the surface or face-down in the water or on the bottom of the pool and not moving is in trouble and needs help. Tell the lifeguard or an adult right away. 

WATER COMPETENCY: DID YOU KNOW? 

Water competency means having the basic, minimum skills needed to be safe and survive in the water. It means more than just knowing how to swim. It also includes the ability to:  

Enter the water and submerge completely.  

Recover to the surface and stay there for at least 1 minute by treading water or floating. 

Turn completely (360 degrees) and orient to the exit.  

Level off and propel oneself on the front or back through the water for at least 25 meters.  

Exit the water.  

Remember, you may be water competent in one type of aquatic environment, for example, a pool. However, this does not mean that you are water competent in another environment, such as a lake or ocean. Each environment is different, and more skill is required. 

PARENT’S CORNER: How can you help? 

Talk to your child’s instructor about strategies to help your child participate as independently as possible without mom or dad in the class with them.  

Take some time to talk with the instructor to find out how your child is doing.  

Encourage your child to use the bathroom before swimming lessons.  

Remember, children develop swimming skills at different rates. Offer praise and encouragement at each lesson.  

Review water safety tips for your home.  

Maintain a “safety-first” attitude and always be on the lookout for a possible water emergency.  

Take your child to public or family swims to increase his or her comfort level and confidence in the water. 

CONGRATULATIONS HIS Dragons Swim Team! We witnessed some fantastic action and fast swims from our Dragons swimmers this past weekend’s Shanghai Swim League (SSL) Round 4 at SASPD. Ribbons, medals, and lots of PBs! Our team is looking forward for the SSL Championships next month at Shanghai American School – Pudong. Thank you, swimmers, parents, and coaches. GO HIS DRAGONS! 

ACAMIS SENIOR SWIM CHAMPIONSHIPS 

All the best to our Upper School student-athletes representing HIS at the ACAMIS Senior Swim Championships hosted by International School of Beijing (ISB) this week March 16th-18th. 

Boys 13-14: Harry Wang, Carlos Chu, Paweike Tukula, Derek Xu, Anderson Lai, David Lou, Divay Agarwal 

Girls 13-14: Tina Liu, Alice Wu, Anna Lu, Naomi Xia, Junlin Yang, Sylvie Hao, Phoebe Spinks 

ACAMIS JUNIOR SWIM CHAMPIONSHIPS 

On March 24th-25th, the below selected swimmers will be competing at the ACAMIS Junior Swim Championships hosted by Shen Wai International School (SWIS) Shenzhen. 

Boys U11 – Flynn Yu, Jake Li, William Lou, Ethan Yang, Yihao Zhou, Alex Yuan 

Girls U11 – Shirley Lin, Carol Zhong, Mable Lu, Kaho Inoue, Pippa Willoughby, Scarlett Wawrzuta 

Boys U13 – Richard Xu, Peter Pan, Leo Guo, Eachan Lu, Astin Hong, Aditya Sharma 

Girls U13 – Amber Lam, Allison Wang, Lydia Yu, Lisa Wu, Helen Zhong, Akeelah Lyu 

CANCELED SWIM PRACTICE THIS WEEK 

Thursday AM, 16th – NO Gold/Pre-Gold Morning Swim 

Thursday PM, 16th – NO Gold/Pre-Gold Afternoon Dryland 

Friday PM, 17th – NO Gold/Pre-Gold Afternoon Swim 

CONGRATULATIONS 

Our warmest CONGRATULATIONS go out to all the swimmers who moved up a level these past weeks. You made us all proud of your consistent hard work and dedication each day, and how far you have come. Hat’s off for everyone’s amazing efforts! Go Dragons! 

LOWER SCHOOL 

Kaho Inoue (G5) - Pre-Gold  

Ethan Yang (G5) - Pre-Gold 

Vanness Chang (G5) - Pre-Gold 

William Lou (G5) - Pre-Gold 

Pippa Willoughby (G5) - Pre-Gold 

Kexin Chloe Han - (G5) Silver 

Ning Ning Wang (G5) - Bronze 

Chloe Wang (G3) - Pre-Gold 

Byron Lo (G3) - Bronze 

Eddie Liu (G3) - Bronze 

Derek Ying (G3) - Bronze 

Elsa Willoughby (G3) - Bronze 

Derek Yeng (G3) - Blue 

UPPER SCHOOL 

Joon Lee (G7) - Bronze 

Fiona Hong (G7) - Bronze 

Tiger Lu (G7) - Bronze 

Hyun Park (G6) - Bronze 

Cathy Zhang (G5) - Bronze 

NEW SWIM TEAM MEMBER  

Joanna Yan (G7) - Silver  

Prince Dong (G7) - Silver 

UPCOMING SWIM MEETS: 

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

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 (Canceled) 

May 27 – HISAC Swim 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. 

CCA INFORMATION   

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. 

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

GIN CLUB NEWS

HIS GIN Club is collecting plastic!

Please, join to HIS GIN club members and recycle the plastic at home. They will be creating an artwork piece while supporting multiple recycle efforts around the community.

IMPORTANT  REENROLMENT INFORMATION

Re-enrollment Information 2022-2023

Re-enrolment 2022-2023 –

Deadline to return the enrolment contract, save, and pay at least the seat guarantee fee for the 2023-2024 is this Friday, March 17, 2023.

After March 17, we will start placing new applicants, and we won’t save seats for any returning students who didn’t complete the re-enrolment payment.

If you have questions, please contact: astubbs@his-china.org or payment@his-china.org

SPRING LUNCH
COME AND JOIN US!

PAFA Spring Lunch -March 15-

Join us! Let’s welcome the spring season in great company, enjoying a nice meal, and making a flower arrangement!  Scan the QR code to register.

INTERNATIONAL DAY 
A HIGHLIGHT OF THE HIS CALENDAR!

HIS International Day!   -Save the date, Saturday, April 29- 

What is International Day?

It is our traditional event open to HIS students, parents, faculty, staff members, and the wider HIS community. During the event, we all represent our cultural backgrounds participating in the “Parade of Nations” followed by the Dragon and Lion Dance, traditional performances, activities, food from all over the world, and much more. This year we will be celebrating our 20th anniversary as well!

If you would like to organize as a country and participate in any way to celebrate your cultural background and community (for example, sharing traditional food, preparing games, performing on stage, or sharing celebrations from your country) please, contact Ms. Andrea Stubbs.     

SAVE THE DATE!

The Adams Family, a New Musical Comedy – Save the date, Saturday, May 06 @ the HIS Theater.

An Upper School musical production for the whole family!

                     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,

The students have the chance to learn more about Ireland and St. Patrick’s Day, which is celebrated this week, March 16th. The HIS Read Alouds will also feature a story about a naughty leprechaun loose at school – so watch out for that next week Tuesday on Moments 365!

The students have been working so hard to get a bookmark and then their faces on our Battle of the Books wall of fame. How does this happen? Students simply need to read one of the Battle books to get a bookmark put up. If the student has read five of the books, and completed the quizzes, then they get their photo up on the wall of fame! We still have a couple of weeks to go, so keep on reading to enter the next round of the competition! Please check out the images to see the wonderful faces already added!

This week the spotlight is on another Battle of The Books, the book is “Who Would Win – The Ultimate Reptile Rumble” written by Jerry Pallotta. This is a non-fiction book, and students really enjoy finding out which animals would win in a battle. Here is the synopsis of the book:

Sixteen different reptiles battle it out in a huge fight!

Who will be the champion?

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.