Written by: Damien Hehir and Mary Yu, Co-Principals
This year we tried something new by opening the campus up the day before school starts, so that both new and returning parents could come in to school to collect uniforms, meet the teachers, get lunch cards and transportation organized, and catch up with each other over coffee and tea. We received positive feedback regarding this new initiative and it made the first school day much smoother as a result. Feel free to pass on any feedback to Roseline Yang (Community Relations Officer) or Nadine Runkel (POP Liaison Officer).
The first day was full of excitement as the children settled into their classes and got to know their new teachers. The school year is off to a great start and we look forward to all the great events and opportunities ahead.
Regency Park Campus Facility Upgrades
The students in the Early Childhood (ECE) were very excited to see their new playground installed and ready for playing on. The children were excited to try out all the new pieces of equipment as well as see the new areas surrounding the play structure. There was also new shading installed which will add to the comfort of the students when playing.
The Primary students were also excited to get back on the Primary play equipment under the new shade that was installed in the summer. This shade will also make this area more comfortable for students, staff and parents.
The classrooms in the Primary have also been equipped with new desks and chairs that were imported from New Zealand. The seats are designed with young children’s comfort and posture in mind, and the desks are on wheels and provide flexible arrangements depending on the students and their learning tasks.
The campus had a general facelift and tidy up, and returning parents would have seen changes to our Parent Rooms, noticeboards, a new monitor for announcements and fresh coat of paint in classrooms and hallways. The school was looking fantastic for the first day of school.
Century Park Campus Facility Upgrades
The Century Park Campus where our Year 6 students are along with the Secondary, also had some major work done during the summer. The Century Park Campus now has a brand new playground designed for older students with a large pyramid installed and a zip line (flying fox) at the end of the field which is already very popular with students, and even some staff.
The Year 6 classrooms also have new furniture from the same supplier as the Regency Park Campus. Other changes have included a wonderful new entrance to the Gym which will inspire all of our young sports stars of the future, new seating areas for students near the Art Room and Office, fresh paint in classrooms and hallways and a new Design Technology room.
Parent Information Evenings
We invite you to attend our upcoming Parent Information Evenings. These evenings will give our teachers an opportunity to formally introduce themselves and take you through the routines and curriculum for that particular year level. We will be telling you more about how we communicate with you as a school and at class level, and we will be sharing our new student e-portfolio app, SeeSaw which will be very exciting and we can’t wait to show you.
This is the schedule for the Parent Information Evenings:
Regency Park Campus, Year 1-5 on Tuesday, August 29
6:00pm EAL Presentation in the RP Auditorium (3rd floor) – EAL parents only
6:30pm Classroom Presentation (in your child’s classroom)
7:15pm Repeat Classroom Presentation (for those with more than one child)
Refreshments available from 7:15pm in the Cafeteria with YCIS staff. This will be a great opportunity for parents to meet with EAL and Specialist Teachers.
Century Park Campus, Year 6 on Thursday, August 31
5:15pm Secondary Presentation in the CP Theatre – Year 6 parents are welcome
6:00pm Presentation by Year 6 Teachers in the Cafeteria followed by refreshments
Regency Park Campus, Early Childhood (ECE) on Tuesday, September 5
5:30pm Coordinator Presentation for New Parents in the Auditorium (3rd floor)
6:15pm Classroom Presentation for New Parents (in your child’s classroom)
6:30pm Coordinator Presentation for Returning Parents in Auditorium (3rd floor)
7:00pm Classroom Presentation for Returning Parents (in your child’s classroom)
Refreshments will be available for all ECE Parents in the hallway outside the Auditorium, 15 minutes before the presentations.
Parent Organisation Pudong (POP)
As a YCIS parent, you are automatically a member of our parent organization called POP. We invite all parents to come and find out what POP does, which events and workshop will be offered for our community this school year and how YOU can get involved.
PLEASE JOIN US for our annual Welcome Gathering on:
Thursday, September 7
8:15 -10:00 am
Regency Park Campus Gym, 2nd floor
You will also have the opportunity to visit several Shanghai-based medical and other service providers (Scouts, Community Centre etc.) and receive plenty of useful information.
Other Important Information for Parents
Co-Curricular Activities
YCIS continues to build on the holistic programme we offer, and that includes adding to and improving the activities the students can participate in. We have renamed our after school activities, ‘Co-Curricular Activities’ (CCAs) as these activities will often take place at lunch time (during play) as well as activities taking place on weekends. This new name of CCAs will be used in Secondary as well. We will be offering more activities and opportunities on Saturdays this academic year, and we plan to tell you more about this in the coming weeks.
Security Reminder
We remind parents / caregivers that it is essential that you wear your child’s student photo ID when entering and exiting the campus, and when picking up your child from their classroom. If you do not wear the student photo ID, you will be asked to follow the visitor procedures. If you did not receive the security notice, please see ECE and Primary Blog – New Parent Information.
Nuts and Shellfish Aware
We would like to take this opportunity to remind you that our students and visiting adults are not permitted to bring nuts, nut products and shellfish into our school campuses. This practice has been in place for the past few years. We have a number of students with serious allergies; eating food containing nuts or shellfish in the vicinity of these children can be extremely dangerous. Our teachers will be discussing this with the children so that they are aware of the situation. Whilst we can never totally guarantee that we are nut and shellfish free, we really appreciate your support by not sending food to school, which contains shellfish, nuts, or is cooked in nut oil.
We thank you for entrusting YCIS with the education and safety of your precious child. We will do our best to ensure the school meets your child’s need. We hope your child has a wonderful year at school and that YCIS is a community in which the whole family feels welcome and engaged.