Saying Goodbye to 2018-2019

The school year is rapidly coming to an end.  For many this brings excitement about summer plans which may include travel, seeing friends and family they do not see during the year, attending a fun new camp, or spending time at home. For others, this may be a tumultuous time which may include job changes, moving homes, schools and/or cities.  Emotions rise for almost everyone in schools around this time of year, students are anticipating their next year (going to the next year group, moving to Primary or Secondary, or graduating and moving to University) and teachers and school staff are ready for a break from the rewarding but exhausting task of educating students.

International schools are also unique as there is often a consistent percentage of families/staff who come and go each year. In every school at this time of year, there are two distinct groups of people: Leavers and Stayers. For those leaving YCIS, this will be an emotional time, regardless if they are moving across the world or down the street. They need support as they begin to say their goodbyes, plan celebrations and look ahead to their next chapter in life. It should also be recognized that those staying need support too! Although most of us are used to the rapid change in international schools, it still deeply impacts us. Relationship dynamics can change, negatively or positively, as we all prepare for the Leavers to leave and the Stayers to stay. In light of this, it would be beneficial to recognize a few things about our YCIS families, whether Leavers or Stayers.

  1. Be gentle with one another – Students and their families may be experiencing additional stress due to either leaving or staying preparation, planning for the summer or tackling end of year school details. Recognize that everyone has a lot going on and this directly impacts how they react to others.
  2. Monitor emotional reactions – Children may be more emotional at this time as they may have difficulty with transitions, become worried, sad or stressed. They may be more emotionally and behaviorally reactive and may need help to take a break or have a discussion about what they are feeling.
  3. Recognize loss – whether a Leaver or a Stayer, there is loss. This can lead to emotions of sadness, confusion or stress. Feelings of loss often bring up previous emotional times in our lives when we have experienced loss. Help children to accept that they are experiencing loss and help them express those feelings. It can help to write a thank you note to a friend or a teacher who is leaving, spend time with a parent/friend or use other healthy coping strategies.
  4. Stay connected – sometimes when people are leaving, people pull away from relationships (both leavers and stayers) to protect themselves emotionally from the pain of saying goodbye. This is a good time to tend to those connections. Help your child connect with friends or help them recognize that relationship dynamics can change during transitions and asking what your child needs at this time to feel better about the changes.
  5. Celebrate – attend end of year celebrations and parties, give and/or receive small gifts or notes of appreciation and friendship. It is also good to recognize growth of your child or family through this last school year and what lessons you have to look forward to this summer and into next year.

Year-end school transitions can create emotional waves, within friendship groups, the classroom and at home. It is during these times it is important to ensure the use of healthy coping techniques and validate emotions of both Leavers and Stayers. YCIS is here to support the transitions of those moving up, moving on or moving forward in our community. Enjoy the last month of school!

Renee Brossman
Puxi Secondary School Counsellor

Everything You Need to Know about Textbooks and the End of the Year

The end of the year is approaching quickly, and all textbooks will need to be returned or renewed before the summer begins.

Y11 Students:
All textbooks must be returned by June 14th at the latest. Students may return textbooks to the library as soon as they are finished with the exam for that subject.

Y10 and Y12 Students:
The same textbooks will be used during Y11 and Y13, so Y10 and Y12 students have the option to return their textbooks or renew their books and keep them over the summer. This can be done online by logging into the library catalog from May 21-June 13.

Instructions are posted on the Moodle homepage and are available from homeroom teachers.

On June 6th, students will receive an email listing all books that are checked out in their name indicating the current due date and status. All textbooks and overdue library books must be either returned or renewed by June 14th in order to receive end of year grade reports on the standard day of issue.

Y7-9 Students:
All textbooks must be returned to the library by June 14th. Students will receive an email on June 6th listing all the books that are checked out in their name to assist them in making sure all books are returned. All textbooks and overdue library books must be returned in order to receive end of year grade reports on the standard day of issue.

Summer Reading and Study:
All returning students are encouraged to borrow library books for reading over the summer break. This should be done in late June. Let the library staff know that it is for summer reading and the due date will be in August.

Karla Castle
Puxi Secondary Head Librarian

DUNKZILLA

The basketball season has ended with the junior girls’ basketball team bringing home a victory from every single game they played. Thanks to their amazing coaches:Nathalie Phongsavanh, Marcella Fioranelli and Ms. Basrai for all their encouragement and training.

Also, we would like to give a special thanks to Mr. Hotham for organizing everything ; without him all of this wouldn’t be possible. The 2019 junior girls’ basketball season was filled with laughter and all the girls showed commitment and teamwork. Although the title is ‘DUNKZILLA’, none of the girls actually “dunked” but it was still a memorable season.

Ailin Kelm YEAR????

CISSA Basketball

Junior Girls

I thought that this season was the best basketball season ever. I loved the coaches and every time we played we always had things to improve on and they were the ones who helped us. Through this season my team has cooperated very well and we all communicated very well. We won all our games in the season, which surprised me because at the start we did not play that well but everyone developed into very good players. Overall this was the best season ever.
Rachel Lin – Y7B

This season of junior girls’ basketball was great. I loved the coaches and they taught us a lot and encouraged us to be better. In the tournament, there were four other schools, and we communicated and cheered and showed great sportsmanship and team work, and we all had lots of fun.
Jade Ma – Y7B

 

Junior Boys


This tournament was a huge victory for us. If every point was counted we would have won every single match. However, the games were friendly and provided a chance to get to know others. Everyone contributed and played their role successfully. I also want to thank our coaches as well as all of my teammates.
James Zhang – Y7D

The tournament was fun and our team was undefeated and everyone scored. Everyone in the team got to play lots and enjoyed the season.
Brandon Tan _Y7B

 

Senior C1 Girls

From April to May, we consistently trained for the season tournament. Our coaches pushed us to demonstrate skills that exceeded our abilities and made us improve. We also performed sportsmanship and team spirit and ended on a good note. Although we didn’t bring home victory, we brought home memorable experiences, which we could hopefully work on next year.
Kehan Ji – Y8D

Our basketball season was very enjoyable. We all trained hard for the upcoming games and the CRE tournament. We all showed great sportsmanship and encouraged each other and the other teams. The tournament was a memorable experience and it ended on a good not for everyone.
Brianna Finnegan – Y8D    

Senior C1 Boys

Our coach, Mr. Peitsch is very enthusiastic and has been supportive throughout the season. We don’t feel arrogance during victory and we don’t fell remorseful during defeat.
David – Y9C

Each member of our team has put our heart and soul into every game. We all collaborated excellently with each other and demonstrated good sportsmanship.
Anthony – Y9A

Senior C2 Boys

The CISSA Season was great and I really liked it. The C1 and C2 selections were really fair I thought.
Samuel Semasaka – Y8B

The tournament was a fun experience and the games were very even. School practices were sometimes hard but we got used to the hard work.
Matias Tertsonen – Y8D

K3B Class Newsletter

The children in K3B have had strong interests in: pretending to be pets, cooking, feeding pets, planting, watering, making tunnels for ants to live in it. They have also been drawing ants, snails and ladybugs to decorate their classroom garden. The interest of cooking, feeding and pretending to be pets started few months ago. Through our observations and discussions, we decided to offer the children a wider range of resources that can support their interests further.

In the classroom, the children had their own vegetables and seeds to look after. We have gone for walks around the school for flower hunts and in search of snails, butterflies and ladybugs. These activities helped the children create a sense of responsibility and awareness of the environment they live in. To support all of their interests, a few weeks ago, we visited a Bio Farm. The children and their caregivers enjoyed time together exploring different plants, herbs and vegetables. Our children had the opportunity to pick their own vegetables, feed the farm animals and replant their herbs into a new container. This experience encouraged their imagination, social skills, fine motor skills, maths, language, science, their self-confidence and understanding of the world.K3B Co-Teachers – Teresa LARA & Alina WANG

The Implementation of a Co-Teaching Model for Literacy Lessons

Recently in Year 1, Ms Ord and Ms Tinnelly have been combining their Literacy and EAL instructional methods  to better support students in the transition to the co-teaching model. The two teachers have been collaborating to trial this style of lesson in anticipation for the next school year when the majority of the Year 1 Literacy lessons will be conducted in this way. Our future goal is for this model to be used throughout YCIS Puxi Primary, with Year 1 being chosen as a logical starting point, considering ECE students are already familiar with lessons conducted in a fully language immersive environment.

In a co-teaching arrangement, EAL and homeroom teachers combine to deliver lessons in students’ regular classrooms or within the Learning Community. This replaces the traditional model where students were taken out of their classes and supported in EAL classrooms separate from their peers.  Co-teaching benefits students’ English language growth by immersing them in a more language rich environment, which is then able to accelerate their academic language growth. Further to this, it provides students with additional opportunities to work within a variety of teacher-facilitated groups according to their individual needs. The feedback from everyone who has observed the class in action and from Ms. Ord, Ms. Tinnelly and the students themselves has been overwhelmingly positive. The entire Year 1 and EAL teaching teams now look forward to implementing this model next year and to continue sharing their knowledge of this practice with the school community.

Primary EAL Team Leader – Pat Rogers

The Pleasure of Combination with Learning and Play – Year 3 Topic Study of the Four Great Inventions

The Four Great Inventions of China were the most significant influence that the ancient Chinese people had brought to the world. In the recent Chinese Studies Classes, Year 3 students not only learned this topic but also felt the pleasure of the practical work.

With the teacher’s instruction in class, the students firstly learned the development process of paper and the invention of paper-making. Then, everyone took an active part in the practical work and experienced the interest of paper-making. After adding the proper proportion of paper pulp and vegetable gum, they kept stirring the liquid until its color became even. After that, they poured the pulp liquid onto the prepared gridding and sprayed several dry leaves or flowers on it. When the pulp liquid became totally cry, the students gently teared it down and pieces of creative work came into our view.

We couldn’t avoid mentioning the art of printing when we had paper at our hand. On the special pattern, the students quickly used little lead squares to assemble their familiar Tang poetries such as Dawn of Spring, Sympathy for Peasants, In the Silence of Night, etc. They felt the sense of achievement when they read and assembled the poetry.

Moreover, the students learned different  compass  points and used them to tell directions everywhere on campus. What was more, some students even adapted the story of gunpowder into a short play. Bravo for the children’s creativity and fantastic performance! They tasted the pleasure of combining with learning and play.

Y3D Co-Teacher – Lavender XU

Student Captains and Councillors Visit Local Retirement Homes

As part of an increased focus on community service for our student leaders, in Week 32 and 33 Mr. Jones took the YCIS Puxi Primary Captains and Student Councillors to visit the elderly at two local retirement homes, Shen Zhou and Xi Jiao. The students were invited to sit with the retirees for a morning, sharing stories, playing board games, making origami, and even performing musical pieces. We especially enjoyed hearing stories from 上海人 about what their life was like when they were young.

Interactions between the elderly and the young have been shown to be mutually beneficial for both groups. In a setting where daily routines may not change much, the local retirees were grateful to have our student leaders visit them, listen to their stories and brighten their day. They eagerly invited us to visit again next year. Thank you also to the parent helpers who accompanied us and helped the students in their interactions with the elderly.

ECE & Primary Student Well-being Coordinator – Jana van Zyl

Year 8 CFL Chinese Field Trip

The Year 8 Chinese first language class went to the Shanghai Museum on Thursday the 16th of May 2019. By the time we arrived in the morning, we were all excited to start our day adventure discovering the history and wonders of traditional Chinese art.

Having the Musuem tower over us made everyone feel as if we were small ants looking up towards a gigantic giraffe. When entering one gets a sense of the majestic as your eyes sweep across the room.

In the art exhibition, we all admired the many pieces of art. Looking intently at the details in the fine art, seeing how every stroke had a purpose, the rapid waterfalls, the fields of grain drifting in the wind, and the rocky mountain tops.  As we ventured further into the gallery, we saw how the art changed, there were now pieces which were simple, yet elegant, and some were colourful but vivid. Seeing all the years of history flow by, you start to have an immense amount of respect to the artists.

I feel that our trip to the Shanghai Museum was a fascinating experience, it educated me about the history of art. And made me wonder about the process of creating the art, it made me appreciate the fact that we can still admire the ancient works today. The museum is an outstanding place to go just to admire the arts that were created so long ago that make up our world today.

BALL Alexandra Zhou  – Y8A

A Dive Into the Swimming Programme at YCIS Puxi

At YCIS Puxi, among the plethora of activities available, students are always encouraged to participate in different sports. One such sport is swimming, which offers students the chance to utilise valuable life skills in practical, fun, and competitive contexts.

There has been an abundance of aquatic action this year for Primary and Secondary students at our Ronghua Campus. The state-of-the-art campus, which opened in February 2018, is home to a beautiful swimming pool. Located in the campus’ B1 level, the pool is part of an extensive fitness centre including a gym, rock climbing walls, and a dance studio.

All Primary and Lower Secondary students have swimming lessons as part of their Health and PE classes, which includes water safety and lifesaving lessons, as well as water polo for the older students. The school also established a competitive swimming team to represent YCIS Puxi in swim meets this year.

Ms Annie Wright, Head of YCIS Puxi Swimming Programme, has been delighted to spearhead the evolution of swimming, saying, “Alongside swimming lessons for all Primary and Lower Secondary students, our competitive swim team has grown from 30 to 42 students since August, and next year we hope to grow the team and offer even more training sessions.”

Students now participate in multiple competitive swim meets, including the Shanghai Swim League, dual meets between YCIS and other international schools, as well as competing in ACAMIS tournaments. Next year, the ‘Shanghai Cup’ competition will introduce a competitive friendly annual event between YCIS Puxi and YCIS Pudong

All of these experiences – both in and out of the pool – are shaping our students, and the foundations are in place for a bright future for the YCIS Shanghai swimmers.