Playground singing

I thought you would be interested in finding out about a new initiative in school that is being led by our 2 Music specialists - Edith Kao and Patricia Lin, and this is what they wanted me to post to you today:-

"We are hoping to put singing at the heart of the Primary school community through a child led culture of singing games, and encourage the students to celebrate and share their games from home. 

Our aims are to:

1. Enable and encourage all children to play singing games together in the playground. 

2. Have the Song Leaders lead the singing games independently. 

3. Develop children's personal and social skills, in particular being considerate, helpful, kind, empathetic, and working as a part of a team. 

4. Develop children's vocal skills and musicianship."

Edith and Patricia teach the children the songs during normal music lessons, and the children then can lead the singing in the playground. We have a Singing Playground in both playgrounds, the Junior one:-

And one in the Infant playground:-

The special bus stops tell the children where to go if they want to have a sing!

Class and Year Group Shows for the year

2014-15 Show Schedule

Due to pressure on the amphitheatre, we are trying to spread out the Shows throughout the year, as opposed to having them all squashed in to the Christmas period or the end of the year. We have already had the Year 2 show, but I thought you would appreciate having the show schedule for the whole year:-

Wed 29 Oct 2014 13:40 – 14:40 Year 5 Show

Wed 12 Nov 2014 13:40 – 14:40 Year 3 Show

Tue 9 Dec 2014 13:40 – 14:40 KS1 Christmas Show

Wed 10 Dec 2014 13:40 – 14:40 KS1 Christmas Show

Thu 11 Dec 2014 11:00 – 12:00 Foundation Stage Christmas Show

Wed 25 Mar 2015 13:40 – 13:50 Year 4 Show

Wed 29 Apr 2015 13:40 – 14:40 Year 1 Show

Fri 1 May 2015 18:30 – 19:30 EPC Primary Music Concert (Y2-Y6)

Thu 28 May 2015 13:40 – 14:50 Reception Show

Tue 2 Jun 2015 11:00 – 12:00 Nursery Show

Wed 10 Jun 2015 13:40 – 14:40 Year 6 Leavers Assembly

The Year 2 Show was wonderful, and I am looking forward to seeing the rest of the shows as the year unfolds. 

Really fantastic Show Year 2 - well done! 

Swimming lessons

Years 3 to 6 are now in the swing of their swimming lessons, and I thought you would like to see some photos of the facilities they are now enjoying next door at the Judges' Academy. Patricia Tzeng and Steven Milner have been very busy 'negotiating' the use of their wonderful swimming pool, and it is now my pleasure to share these photos with you :-

The children are able to walk to the pool which obviously cuts down on travelling costs and time, but more importantly, the pool is so new and so clean. It really is an exciting thing to be happening, and we are very grateful to all those people who have worked hard to make this happen.

Chess Competition Winners

Mr Fagg has been very busy over the last few weeks organising an internal chess championship. The competition is now over, but I thought you would like to know the winners, so here they are:-

TES Year 1 Chess Champion – Jason                    Serow  B1.1

TES Year 2 Chess Champion – Stephen              Gecko B2.2

TES Year 4 Chess Champion – Brendon             4TH     B4.3               

TES Year 5 Chess Champion – Alex                  5CG    B5.2

TES Year 6 Chess Champion – Shu An              6SD     B6.1

TES Year 3 and  Overall TES Primary Chess Champion – Ethan           3AL B3.2

 Well done to all our winners, and a big thank you to Mr Fagg who gave up his own precious time to organise the competition - you're a winner too Mr Fagg!

Beate's wedding

As you know Nick and  I attended Beate's wedding in Kansas City over the half term holiday. Beate was a teacher in the Nursery for 3 years, but she left in June. It was a beautiful wedding, and I thought you would like to see a few photos, so here they are:-

 

She is now happily married and happily settled in to her new life just outside Kansas City. She hopes to start teaching again in the new year. It was wonderful to be able to share her special day.

Busy Time coming up

Dear Parents
School feels a very busy place at the moment so I thought you might like a few dates to put on your calendars:-

• Parent Evening - Wednesday 22nd October
• Week beginning Monday 27th October - Book Week with Halloween Dress Up Day on the Friday 
• School closed - Monday 3rd and Tuesday 4th November for staff training
• Terry Fox Fund Raising Run - Thursday 13th November (more details to follow) Please note that this is a change of date to the one on the PSC Calendar
• Open Week - Monday 17th November to Friday 21st November (more details to follow)
• Tribe Assembly Nursery to Year 6 - Friday 21st November (children to wear their tribe t-shirts)
• Reverse Christmas Tree - Friday 5th December (more details to follow)
• Friday 19th December - Last day of school and Christmas Parties for Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2

We also have many shows taking place between now and Christmas so look at the Class Blogs for details!

Merit certificates

I thought you would like to have some information about our Merit system that we use to reward good behaviour, good attitude to learning and good work.

Basically the children have to collect merits, and when they get 50 they receive a Bronze certificate, a further 50 (total 100) a Silver Certificate and a further 50 (150 in total) a Gold Certificate. We gave our our first Bronze certificates last week, and another couple today.

By gaining a certificate, the children also collect points for their 'Tribe' - Ami, Bunan, Paiwan and Rukai, and when we count up all the points just before the Tribe Assemblies (next one Friday 21st Assembly), the children become very excited about what tribe may have collected the most points.

If your child brings home a Merit certificate, please celebrate this with them as it is quite an achievement, and ask them tonight how many merits they have collected already!

Have a great mid-Autumn break next week. Nick and I are off to Chicago and Kansas City to attend Beate's wedding. Many of you will know Beate, as she was one of the teachers in Nursery. She left in June to start a new life in America with her future husband.

Halloween and Book Week

The British Primary PTA and the new EPC Librarian Emma Croft are jointly running a Primary Book Week from Monday 27th to Friday 31st October. There will be many activities happening during the week to encourage a love of books and reading:-

• Bookmark competition
• Poetry writing
• Book sharing activities   
• Book sale

To celebrate the end of book week there will be a Halloween dress up day on Friday 31st October. The children are encouraged to come in to school dressed up in Halloween costumes.