Month: August 2017

Introducing our Campus Leadership Team

Ivy Li

We would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to our YCIS Leadership Team for ECE and Primary, Pudong.  This is a highly committed team with many years of experience in school leadership and especially with YCIS. We are approachable and will do our best to work with parents for the benefit of all students. We look forward to leading the ECE and Primary school in 2017-18 and serving our YCIS community.

Damien Hehir, Co-Principal

“I have been with YCIS Shanghai for 16 years, having worked at all four Shanghai campuses.  I have been the Co-Principal in Pudong for the past 5 years, and along with my partner Mary Yu, I oversee the ECE and Primary.  I am originally from Australia.  I am looking forward to leading our school community this year and helping our school be the very best it can be.   I wish everyone a productive and successful 2017-18 school year.”

 

Mary Yu, Co-Principal

 

“I joined YCIS Pudong in 2000. I have been the Co-Principal for the past 6 years. It’s a great honor for me to witness the success as well as the continuous development of YCIS Pudong. I am looking forward to working closely with our students, parents and colleagues to have many achievements in the new school year.”

 

Rob Watson, Vice Principal

 

“I originally started working at YCIS Pudong in the very first year that the campus opened in 1999. It was of course a very different school at that stage, with only 8 students on roll! Over the past 18 years, it has been great to watch the school grow and mature. This is my third year of being Vice Principal and I am looking forward to continuing my journey with YCIS over the coming year and beyond.”

 

Sissy Shen, Primary Head of Chinese Department

“I have been with YCIS Shanghai for 9 years. This is my second year being the Head of the Chinese Department. I am also the Co-Teaching Facilitator and PD Coordinator. I am Chinese and was born in Shanghai. Our school will keep striving to provide a holistic education for all the students supporting their social and emotional development, as well as their academic development, to prepare them for a wider and longer experience of life.”

 

Melissa Shaw, Primary Curriculum Coordinator

 

“I joined YCIS in 2005 and have worked in both ECE and Primary. My home country is Australia! This is now my 4th year working as the Primary Curriculum Coordinator. The best part of my job is having the opportunity to work and collaborate alongside all the year levels; supporting each of our Teachers which in turn, supports our students.”

 

 

 

John McEnhill, Primary Curriculum Coordinator

“I have worked for YCIS for 6 years, including 2 years as a Teacher and Year Leader at YCIS Beijing and 3 years as Primary Coordinator at YCIS Qingdao, before joining YCIS Shanghai last year. I am originally from London. I am looking forward to an exciting year of learning together with the students, parents and staff who make up our school’s vibrant international community.”

 

 

Veronica Martin, ECE Coordinator

 

“I have been with YCIS for 7 years and am passionate about Early Years education. I began as a K4 Teacher and moved into the ECE Coordinator role. I am from Australia and enjoy sharing my culture with others. I am looking forward to a year where children are encouraged to explore and learn with curiosity and wonder.”

 

 

 

Michelle Wang, ECE Coordinator

“I have been at YCIS since 2003, I taught ECE at all year levels.  This is my second year in the role of ECE Coordinator.   I value play base learning for all early year children. I am looking forward to working together with all of you to make this a successful school year.”

 

 

Andrea Griego, Student Support  Coordinator

 

 

“This will be my fourth year with YCIS. I am from the United States, but have previously worked in Dubai and Colombia. I am excited to continue working with students, parents, teachers and leaders for the continued success and growth of YCIS.”

 

 

Jenni Wang, School Office Administrator

 

“I joined YCIS Regency Park Campus as the Office Administrator in 2015. I was born in Shanghai, and I studied and worked in Canada for 10 years.  I have really enjoyed these 2 years working here in the YCIS community.  And I am looking forward to another successful year to support and work with our parents and teachers.”

 

 

Introducing our Parent Relations Team:

“I’m Nadine Runkel and I am from Germany. This is my second year here at YCIS Shanghai as POP Liaison Officer and my 2 children have been attending YCIS since 2014.”

“I’m Roseline Yang and my role is Community Relations Officer. It has been a pleasure to join a school that reflects my values and beliefs in the role of education for our future generations. This also happens to be the exact learning environment I have wished for my daughter to grow.”

Nadine Runkel, POP Liaison Officer and  Roseline Yang, Community Relations Officer

Together, we form the “SCOOP” team, which stands for “School Community Open Officers Platform”. This means that we are always looking forward to engaging our parents in the school life and culture and building a strong community together with you, all for the benefits of our children!

Welcome to the New YCIS Teachers

Ivy Li

Written by: Damien Hehir and Mary Yu, Co-Principals

YCIS Shanghai is committed to recruiting highly educated and skilled teachers each academic year.  As in all international schools, teachers do move on to other countries or return home.  We generally have low turnover of staff but when we do need to replace teachers, we strive to find teachers who can adapt to our school environment, and can strongly support our school’s Philosophy and Objectives.  We begin recruitment of staff as early as November for the following year and use international recruitment agencies to help us.  YCIS ensures the teachers are well compensated so we can attract and retain the very best teachers and we also work hard to ensure that the teachers are developed and reach their full capacity when they are employed at YCIS.  After all, the beneficiaries of this commitment to recruitment and retention of the best teachers is of course the students themselves.  Nothing is more important to a child’s education than the quality of their teachers.

This year we are proud to introduce our new staff to you:

Shiho Hasui, from the United Kingdom – K4C Co-Teacher
Joanne Taylor, from the United Kingdom – Year 1A Co-Teacher

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lily Wang, from China – Year 1C Co-Teacher
Michelle Tasa, from Canada – Year 2A Co-Teacher

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rachael Taplin, from the United Kingdom – Year 3C Co-Teacher
Alex Hemley, from the United Kingdom – Year 4B Co-Teacher

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Helen Szeliga, from the United Kingdom – Year 4D Co-Teacher
Colin Gallagher, from Ireland – Year 5C Co-Teacher

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Michele Rowland, from the United Kingdom – Year 6A Co-Teacher
Zaid Saleh, from the United Kingdom – EAL / Year 6 Teacher

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joshua Williams, from the United Kingdom – EAL Teacher (RP)
Robert Cooke, from the United Kingdom – EAL Teacher (RP)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ginger Hsieh, from USA – Resource Teacher (RP)

There are also two new Secondary Teachers who will teach our Year 6 students.  They are:

Tracey Cooney, from New Zealand – Physical Education Teacher (Year 6)
Gillian Skingley, from Scotland – Music Teacher (Year 6)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are sure that our parent community will make them all feel very welcome.

We are excited about these wonderful new teachers and we wish them all a successful and enjoyable career with YCIS.

Welcome Back to School

Ivy Li

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.