The K3B children energetically shared a new interest with us this March during Book Month. We learnt about their Rescue Pet interest related to a book/television program they keenly enjoyed called Paw Patrol. The K3B children used their prior knowledge of community helpers (firefighters, police officers, doctors, chefs, and dentists) and applied it to transforming into a variety of rescue pets. The children designed costumes with their parents and happily wore them all day during Parent Open Morning. They have assigned roles, rescue vehicles, and tools needed to complete each mission. Whenever you’re in trouble, K3B Rescue Pets are there on the double!

K3B Class Teacher – Rebecca PAIKOWSKI

Year 3 classes recently finished a Science unit on ‘plants.’ It was an exciting opportunity for students to explore the various different parts of a plant and why plants are an integral part of our environment. Students then had the opportunity to design experiments by participating in the scientific process through formulating a question, making a hypothesis and then tracking and concluding on results. Results were tracked using ideas of measurement studied in Mathematics and results were shared by graphing the data using technological applications. Students were highly engaged in the study of plants and came out with a deep understanding of how plants function and how Technology and Mathematics can help us understand the world better. Fantastic effort Year 3!

Y3B Class Teacher – Matthew YANKO

 

Traditional Chinese painting is a very unique painting style, where painters use Chinese brushes dipped into water, black ink or coloured paint, and drawn on silk or rice paper. Figures, landscapes, flowers and birds are common subjects of Chinese painting, while Chinese painting techniques can be categorized into “Gongbi (meticulous)” and “Xieyi (freehand style)”.

In recent Chinese Studies class, Year 2 students had an opportunity to learn about traditional Chinese painting. During the class, students were highly concentrated on the teacher’s introduction of Chinese painting category, tools and materials, etc. They got to know about a few famous Chinese painters and appreciated their classic art pieces. Students were not only amazed by their fabulous works but also showed great interest.

Finally, it is time to try themselves! Students eagerly held the brush in hand and carefully dipped the brush into the paint under the teacher’s instruction. Then they drew their favourite objects on the paper, using painting techniques like side-brush and frontal-brush. Look how they immersed themselves in the painting!

Although students were all beginners, they made their best effort to try and each painting looked great! Learning traditional Chinese painting is indeed an unforgettable experience for them.

Y2B Chinese Teacher – Juliet JI

 

The children were enthusiastically greeted by Geronimo Stilton when they arrived at school last Monday. It was heartwarming to see how their expressions changed from surprise to excitement at seeing the very popular fiction book character on the playground!

It warms any teacher’s heart to see children getting excited about books. They certainly had good reason to be excited about all the books available at the Book Fair. I also wanted to start reading immediately!

Thank you for all the great support that the Book Fair received from you!

We were very privileged to have Trevor Lai visiting us this year. He is a young, vibrant author, illustrator and animator who is well-known for his Boomi and Piggy in Love characters; and is a longstanding YCIS friend who designed the Yao Yao Panda. Besides his creative talents, he entertained the children with his warmth and charismatic manner. They certainly had a great time enjoying his sessions!

We would like to remind everyone of the exciting opportunity for each student to design a bookmark for their year level. There is also a chance to get their description of themselves as a giant, changed into an A3 size art piece by our Artist-in-Residence!

I appreciate all the outstanding work I received today!

For the final week of Book Month, we are looking forward to the Character Costume Parade and the Charity Book Sale this Friday, 31 March.

Let’s all enjoy being our favorite fictional character for a day!

Teacher Librarian – Theresa KEMP

Book Month got off to a fantastic start last week! The first week of Book Month saw children come to school dressed in their Pajamas and excitedly looking forward to sharing books with the adults who came into school to read. Clutching their hot chocolate, they heard tales of adventure and excitement. We would like to thank the parents who came in to read and especially for dressing in their pajamas as well.

On Friday 10^th March, the children in Years 3 – 6 attended a presentation by Chinese author – Zhang Yu who wrote a series of books about children’s school and home life. The children enjoyed the Zhang Yu’s presentation as it connected to their own daily lives. She also engaged the children in activities that promoted writing skills.

We finished off the first week of Book Week with a House event where the children enjoyed buddy reading with children from another Year level. Buddy reading has also been a focus this week where the children read with their buddy class.

We would like to thank all the parents for the many donations of books towards the “Library Project”.  Please look out for diary notes and on the blog for information about upcoming Book Month events.

Year 6 students all took part in a ‘Cuddle Up with A Book’ day. Dressed in Pajamas and carrying teddy bears, the children were keen to get started and curled up comfortably to spend time enjoying their favourite book. There were also other activities on offer, such as story reading from Ms. Kavanagh and Mr. Jones, who took small groups to listen to a short story. To make things even better, the children had cups of hot chocolate delivered to the classroom for them to enjoy while they read their books.

The children are now eagerly looking forward to the next events on the calendar. Highlights include a Book Fair, author visits, and a charity book drive. Children are encouraged to bring in any old or unwanted books to donate. Book month will end with children being invited to come to school for the day dressed as their favourite book character. It is shaping up to be an exciting and busy month ahead!

 

Full details of all Book Month events have been added to the Year 6 students’ homework diaries and are also on Moodle!

 

Primary Curriculum Coordinator – Justine TYLER

Y6C Class Teacher – Alan LYNCH

Chinese culture is long standing, among which the philosophy of Yin-Yang has a profound implication.  A small rectangle ‘Five in a Row’ checkerboard represents a most splendid aspect of Chinese culture. It is both entertaining and challenging to play.

Five in a Row originated from ancient China, and it was a common board game for two players. The player who lines up five chess pieces first is the winner. Recently, Year 6 students learned the history of Five in a Row, rules of playing the game and how to watch the game as a bystander. We held Five in a Row Competitions among classes. Everyone enjoyed playing it!

Five in a Row indeed makes us smarter. At the very beginning, students had no ideas about how to play the game. However, they became expert at it as time passed by. Some students even figured out their own strategies of playing. While boys were more “aggressive”, girls were more “ingenious”. They all showed different techniques.

Five in a Row makes us become more elegant, too. Students realized that it was polite and respectful to watch a game without whispering to each other. They also learned that we cannot randomly change our minds once the chess piece is placed. This rule not only applies in playing a game, but also in our real life.

Students all had a great time playing, and all learnt a lesson from it.

 

Y6B Chinese Teacher – Lily SUN

Throughout this school year we have seen wonderful growth and development across all year levels, and we continue to celebrate the many successes of our talented students. As we move into the second semester of this school year, we are beginning to plan for the 2017-2018 academic year.

We are excited to announce the news of very extensive campus development projects that will significantly enhance and support our programme of learning, and which will feature:

The NEW Ronghua Campus, due for use in January 2018,  will include:

• Innovative learning spaces for our Early Childhood (ECE) classes, K2 – K4. This will be their new ‘home’
• Year 1 and 2 classes will also be located at the Ronghua Campus while HQ ‘A’ building renovations are being carried out during 2018 and early 2019
• New Resources and Equipment (eg: Playground) to support learning
• Secondary Campus purpose designed and equipped fitness center and other facilities
• YCIS Shanghai Puxi Campuses competition and training swimming pool facility

Hongqiao Campus ‘A’ Building Renovation – from January 2018

Please paying particular attention to the Departure Notice Deadline. As is the case every year, we understand that some families may relocate to other countries or return home. As such, this deadline is important for the School’s planning because it allows us to know in a timely fashion how many places we have available for students in our waiting pool. We will then be able to admit new students for the coming school year, employ the appropriate number of teachers for the classes needed, and order teaching resources accordingly.

IMPORTANT: The official Departure Notice Deadline is April 1^st 2017. 

If your child(ren) will not be returning for the 2017-2018 school year, please go to the relevant Campus School Office to collect and submit the Departure Notice Form, or you can provide your written notice of such intention by April 1^st 2017 in order to avoid the Late Departure Notice Surcharge.  If the School does not receive such written notice by April 1^st 2017, the School will consider that you have confirmed your child(ren)’s enrolment for 2017-2018.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the School Office.

We look forward to continuing to provide your child(ren) with engaging and challenging learning opportunities in 2017-2018.

 

ECE & Primary Co-Principals – Mr. Andrew MELLOR & Ms. Weiky CHANG

Over the last few weeks the children have been discussing dinosaurs and their eating habits. We looked at the dinosaurs who liked to eat vegetation and those who were carnivores. We decided to make dinosaur land. The children cut out leaves and dinosaur footprints and stuck them on dinosaur land structures. We made a slimy green swamp and asked the question “What happened to all the dinosaurs?” You might like to continue this discussion at home.

 

The children made frozen dinosaur eggs and some of our dinosaurs escaped so we had to have a dinosaur hunt. The children also enjoyed making our own big volcano with a recyclable traffic cone and plaster cast.

The whole class is looking forward to visiting ‘The Shanghai Natural History Museum’ where we hope to learn some more fun facts about dinosaurs.

 

We have also been busy decorating our door for Book month. We chose two books about dinosaurs and let the children vote on which book they would like K3A to display. ‘How Do Dinosaurs Eat Cookies?’ by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague won.

 

K3A Class Teacher – Kirstin EASTON