BPS Newsletter
Issue 11- 8th November 2019
A Green Week - by Mr Luke Chaeter
Dear Parents and Guardians,
This week has been a particularly busy week, however, to begin, I would like to again thank you for all of your support, without with, the British Primary Section would not be the success it is.
Firstly, I would like to say that during each day, I like to take a stroll around the campus, check in on the students, and ask questions about the learning. It always fascinates me to see the children so engaged and engrossed in the learning, they are all clearly enjoying school. I also enjoyed a quick session with Y4, showing them how good I am (or not!) at cricket.....a particular highlight of the week!
Currently, we are having a real drive on responsibility and student leadership. I was privileged to speak to Y3 and Y4 students this week in assembly, advocating the need to be responsible and caring citizens. Students were thinking around the theme 'sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.' As you are all aware, this is not the case, and quite often, what people say, can have a more detrimental impact! I think the students particularly enjoyed the toothpaste analogy, that sometimes, like toothpaste, retracting what you might have said, is like trying to spoon squirted toothpaste back into its tube!
The Green Wednesday was a great success, and it is fantastic to see, that not only on this day, but as much as possible, students are using green transport to commute to school, this is easily identifiable with the full bike racks at the front of the campus.
I would also like to comment on another successful football event hosted at the school on Wednesday - and await to hear how the TES students perform on Saturday, when again they go up against some strong opposition.
Finally, I would like to note that both Mr Stallwood and myself are currently at a FOBISIA Leadership Conference in Macau this weekend, a great opportunity to further share and take on ideas with other like minded top international schools across Asia.
Best wishes, and a happy weekend,
Luke Chaeter
Eco Action Days - by Mr Craig Gamble
This week has seen all sections of TES EPC taking part in Eco-School Action Days on the primary campus and the TES Eco-Committee, made up of students from the British, French and German Sections, were busy in the preceding weeks preparing the activities for everyone to take part in and to ensure the Action Days were a success.
The first day of action was held on Wednesday when all members of our community were encouraged to leave cars and motorbikes at home for one day and travel by bus, bike, MRT or on foot. Members of theTri-Section Eco-Committee volunteer group were waiting at the main entrance, the bike entrance, and bus bay to hand out badges to students and staff arriving by green transport. We would like to encourage everyone to wear their green badges whenever they take green transport to promote awareness. The day was a HUGE success and the number of students arriving by green transport, as well as the lack of cars, was noticeable.
The second activity in our Eco-School Action Days is to launch the start of a new garden area on the 2nd floor balcony of the Junior Building. This area is to become a quiet garden area that can be used by the whole school as an outdoor classroom space. To begin this project a student from last year’s eco-committee designed some planting pots made from recycled materials (wooden pallets and plastic milk bottles). Four of these have been built already, with the plan to add more when more materials are collected. Over the course of this week each student in the school will be planting a seed in these pots. As the seeds grow, we hope the garden will grow too.
Our third activity is a wonderful idea by Rebecca Preston to collect used clothes to be resold at the Christmas Bazaar. The fashion industry is responsible for a huge amount of waste, including the water and energy resources required to make the clothing, so this seems like a great way to do our bit to try to reuse some old clothing. The money raised from the sale will also be used to fund future eco projects at school. Any clothing left after the event will be given away to charities or recycled. We are looking to collect any used clothing that is clean and in good condition. No school uniforms though, as those are collected separately by the PTA. We would also be happy to collect coat hangers and basic clothing rails (these could also be borrowed) so that the clothes can be easily displayed at the event.
There are some large clear plastic containers out in the reception area, opposite the old Parent's Cafe, until November 21st to collect the clothing. The boxes will be labelled to help us sort it, but a group of student volunteers will be there at morning break to make sure it stays tidy and clothes are put in the right place.
Eco-Week- Planting Seeds - by Ms Jeni Wong and Year 5 students
'We planted seeds with the reception kids, it was really fun. We planted the seeds because it was ECO day.I felt really happy when I was doing it because the reception kids are soooo cute.It was good to do it because the plants create oxygen for us. So thats what happened for the planting seeds.' Sophie Lee, B5.4
'The day I was with the reception class was Monday 4th of November. My class planted seeds with the Orca class, we did it because we wanted to be eco friendly. It is better that we planted more because plants can give us more oxygen. It was exciting because we got to plant the seeds together and not just by yourself. It was fun meeting new people and learning how to properly plant seeds. I feel like I did a good thing because if we plant more and more plants, maybe the earth will have less pollution and we will have more oxygen.' Eugenie, B5.4
'On Monday, 4th of November, we planted seeds with the reception classes.We planted seeds to help our environment. It felt good and proud because I am helping our environment. It was fun because we were working with our buddies from reception classes. We did a good thing because by planting plants, we helped our environment.I wish if we could do it again!' Jeff Park, B5.4
Confucius- by Miss Hilary Trehern
Playground Mediators Project - by Ms Jeni Wong, Year 5 Katie & Jessica
'Got a problem? Who do you call? The Student Mediators- coming SOON!
This week we held our first training session for the Playground Mediator Project. Student mediation programmes are used in schools to teach students the principles and techniques of conflict resolution so that they can solve their own minor disputes. This is a joint venture across TES primary where children, who have applied for the roles participate in training to use a systematic mediation process to resolve disputes. The children are led by our school counsellor, Miss Rubecca Hou and supported by Mr Coetzee (Tribe Council Lead) and Ms Wong (PSHE coordinator). This week we completed Level 1 of the training, which allows us to act as Playground Equipment Supervisors. The children will be responsible for playground equipment and use these opportunities to observe the playground situation and their case studies. Well done working hard towards being a Student Mediator, watch out for more information.' Ms Wong
'Today was the first day of Mediator training. I thought it would take only one hour but it took three hours. In the beginning I got a sheet of paper with sentences like someone who can ride a bicycle. Some of them were super hard to find. I have learned that Janet was born on the same month as me. I also learned how to be a good mediator. I needed to understand others and listen to others. I learned how to approach an angry child. So far I think it is pretty good.' Jessica Year 5
'So far I've learned a bit about being playground mediator and personally I think learning the things that we were learning would help in being a playground mediator would also help you in many other situations. I learnt that you need to do some difficult things like you need to be kind,and no matter how it is but even if it's your friend you still need to be honest.' Katie Year 5
TISSA Football Friendly against MAT - By Mr Peter Poulton
On Wednesday we hosted MAT (Morrison Academy Taipei) for another U9 and U11 football match. This was the final match before the main TISSA Football Tournament this weekend. It was great preparation for all players and the U9 teams in particular were looking much more organised and focused compared to previous matches. All teams performed well and we're hoping for some good results tomorrow at the TISSA Tournament.
Good luck to all involved!
Reading Changes Everything! A Taste of the Read Write Inc. Phonics Programme at BPS - A Parent Workshop - by Mr Michael Norris
Jeanette Winterson, a well known English author once said, "Teach a child to read, and keep that child reading and we will change everything. I mean everything."
To be able to achieve this, every school needs a high quality and effective phonics programme. The Read, Write Inc. Phonics (RWI) programme provides exactly that. On Tuesday, 5th November, Reception, Year 1 and 2 parents were able to get a good insight into how the RWI phonics programme is carried out in the classroom.
In Read, Write Inc. Phonics lessons, children learn to read accuratley and fluetly with good comprehension. Throughout the programme, children learn the English alphabetic code: the 150+ graphemes that represent 44 spech sounds. Children explicitly learn the sounds and the letter, or groups of letters, they need to represent them. In a pacy, interactive and fun way, children learn to blend sounds to form increasingly complex letter-sound correspondences. Parents got to experience first hand how a toy frog, known as Fred Frog, speaks in sounds to aid blending into words. They got to see how children are then exposed to lively, phonic book texts that are closely matched to their increasing knowledge of phonics and 'tricky' words. This ensures children are set up for success in that they can decode these texts precisely because the underlying, corresponding phonics is accurate and fluent. It is only then that comprehension of the text is addressed through literal and inferential type questions.
The main take-ways from the workshop can be summed as follows:
· Read Write Inc. Phonics is a fun, interactive and pacey approach to teaching phonics.
· Children learn to read accurately and fluently with good comprehension.
· Children learn to form each letter, and spell correctly.
· They rapidly learn sounds and the letter, or groups of letters they need to represent them.
· The prgroamme provides enjoyable ways of learning letter sound correspondences
· Learning is taught and consolidated every day.
· High frequency words(Red words) are practiced frequently.
· Lively phonics story books are closely matched to children’s increasing knowledge of phonics so they experience plenty of success.
· Repeated readings of the texts support increasingly decoding.
· The reading of story books is focused on Accuracy, Fluency and Comprehension
The PDF link to the workshop presentation can be found below:
Important Reminder by Mr Luke Chaeter
Photos of children on school trips
Please be aware that some families within the British Primary School have reserved the right for their children not to be photographed. Please ensure that if you are taking photos of your children in events such as shows or special days, you focus on your child(ren) or ask the permission of other parents whose children may be in that image.
Please be mindful when uploading any photographs to social media platforms.
If you happen to be helping on a school trip, please seek advice from a member of staff.
Entrovirus
Please be aware, we are experiencing higher than usual cases of illness within the BPS section, in particular, cases of Entrovirus. Please see below:
Symptoms:
Common symptoms are similar to Foot and Mouth disease: i.e. sores in and around the mouth, rashes and blisters on the hands and feet, sometimes accompanied by a fever, which lasts from seven to ten days. Additional more complicated symptoms do occur, but they are very rare.
Please remember that if you suspect your child of having enterovirus, or if they display any of the above symptoms, you need to out seek medical advice immediately and do not send your child to school or let them have play dates. If a doctor confirms he or she has enterovirus, you must inform the school of this condition and the child must not return to school for at least one week from initial diagnosis.
Cycle and Scooter Racks
Christmas Season started - By Mrs Nadia Thul
Dear Parents, suddenly it's November and Christmas is around the corner! Our school will kickoff the season next week, with the annual Christmas Tree Lightning ceremony on Friday morning. Our kids worked very hard with their art and music teacher to create a festive decorated tree and to perform Christmassy songs.
TES Christmas Bazaar follows just two weeks after on November the 30th. As our children, teachers and PTA officers helped to organise the Christmas Tree Lightning ceremony, the Christmas Bazaar needs at least equal help from you. This year our British section will host a craft stall, where children (and their grown-ups) can make their own personalised Christmas cards for their loved ones. We also plan to sell unique, handmade cards made by everyone who is interested to join us. Therefore we are calling for all creative types, crafters and any Christmas enthusiast to join us. If you are interested please contact Jessica (LINE ID: jwangsimula).
We also run a treats corner. Again our kids are allowed to get creative, as they can decorate their own Christmas cookies with icing, sugar pearls and so much more. The same time, we will offer Christmas treats donated by all section TES parents and hot drinks (mulled wine, spiced cacao and tea, etc.). The donation list for your homemade treats will coming out soon. I also want to call all bakers among us, to bake with me plain Christmas cookies for the kids to decorate. Please contact me, if your are interested to help out, Nadia (LINE ID: hurgada6574).
As every year teachers and students will host their fun game stalls. I love this game stalls since our children are in charge and run their stalls with so much enthusiasm.
The Christmas season at primary will end this year with a Christmas Carol by Year 1 and 2 students on 12th of December. Again, I know our kids are practising already to give us a final Christmas atmosphere. I am to celebrate all coming events with you soon.
FRIDAY MUSIC CORNER - LET'S ENJOY THE MUSIC!
Taipei European School British Primary Section
Website: https://taipeieuropeanschool.com/index.php?id=120
Location: 99 FuGuo Road, ShiLin District, Taipei 11158, Taiwan
Phone: +886-2-8145-9007
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/British-Primary-Section-Taipei-European-School-1781787432102978/