BPS Newsletter
Issue 16 - 13th December 2019
'It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas...' by Mr Luke Chaeter
The end of Semester 2 is here, and I would like to begin by wishing you all a wonderful winter break, and best wishes whether you are remaining in Taiwan, or flying afar!
I would also like to thank all within our community, for the wonderful support that you have given, it really does make a difference!
Thank you to all who attended our Parent Evening on Tuesday, it was a great turnout, and a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the learning and progress of your children. We value feedback, and do truly believe that for children to exceed, a strong relationship between the school and family must exist.
Thursday was a great morning. The key Stage 1 department certainly put on a wonderful performance with beautiful renditions of some classic and modern Christmas songs, further made special with the smell of mince pies floating through the air (thank you PTA). It was a great turnout, thank you to all who attended to make this a special event. Further, the Friday Music Corner, which was held in the Glass Tube this week enhanced the feeling of Christmas, thank you to all the musicians for making the walk into school on the last day of the semester extra special.
On behalf of the Tribe Council, I would like to thank all who supported the 'Reverse Christmas Tree', again a success, and further emphasising the spirit of Christmas.
It would be remiss of me not to mention both the class parties which have been happening throughout the section, again supported by our parent community, as well as the TES Pantomime, which all the children enjoyed (oh yes they did)! Thank you to both Mrs Bottomley-Chang and Miss Edwards for your hard work!
Merry Christmas, and looking forward to seeing you all on your return in 2020!
Luke Chaeter
TES Football Challenge
Dear Parents,
I am pleased to announce the launch of the TES Football Challenge. Although the TISSA football season has now finished, we would like to continue football provision into semester 2. The TES Football Challenge will enable students to develop their football skills and techniques in a fun coaching environment. This programme will build towards a challenge that has five levels based on different skill areas - Ball Control, Passing, Dribbling, Shooting and Game Evaluation. Students will be awarded a certificate every time they complete a challenge level.
This is a great way for our students to continually improve and develop their football skills during the off-season. Below is an example of the Ball Control challenge:
________________________Ball Control_______________________________
___Level________________Challenge_________________________________
____1____Bounce kick catch - Right foot/ and left foot - 10 in a row
____2____Bounce kick - strong foot only - 10 in a row
____3____Bounce kick - Right and left foot - 10 in a row
____4____No bounce - 10 in a row any foot
____5____No bounce - right / left 10 in a row
These sessions are late ECAs and as such, there is no bus available for this ECA. Also, Please also note that if your child is not in an ECA between 3:00-4:15 pm, then they must be supervised by an adult.
Please see below for key details.
Time: 4:15pm: to 5:15pm
Start Date: Week commencing 3rd February 2020
Monday: Year 2
Tuesday: Years 3 & 4
Wednesday: Year 5 & 6 Girls only
Thursday: Year 5 & 6 Boys only
Fee: 5000 NTD for the entire semester
A TES Challenge T-shirt will be provided for all participants.
To register, please click HERE
Kind regards.
Peter Poulton
'It's Christmas time! Ho Ho Ho!' - by Ms Patricia Lin
What a wonderful festive time we had at the KS1 Christmas Sing Along this week! The atmosphere was full of warmth and cheer, especially due to the PTA so generously providing mince pies, non-alcoholic mulled wine, coffee and Christmas treats. Everything looked so Christmassy and tasted delicious! The children were very excited and proud to perform. They sang confidently and with each song shared the magic of the season. Thank you to the Art department Mr. O and Ms Lin, who helped the children make the beautiful Christmas decorations.
A big thank you to all the parents who were able to come along and join us. Thank you to the PTA for adding that extra special Christmas touch and well done to all our children for putting on a fantastic show! Merry Christmas, everyone!
Year 5 Space Narrative Book Launch - by Ms Jeni Wong
After completing our narrative genre in October, Year 5 had all their class space narratives published into class anthologies. As authors , it was important for the children to experience a book launch where they invited the parents in and gave a presentation of the writing process. From the planning right through to the published piece, the children celebrated their book launch with their parents, even signing copies- as authors do. Copies of the Year 5 space narratives can be found in the library.
Year 3 Rice Restaurant - by Mr Chris Bonnett
Year 3 finished our topic on Rice by inviting parents to come in and try some rice based products and toppings in our themed restaurant.
Mrs. Woodall’s class made delicious cookies. Cranberries and caramel were included in these well prepared products. Ms. Liufalani’s class made Mochi in different flavours and they proved very popular with both children and parents. Mr. Gosling’s class made pancakes with a rice base. A variety of toppings left parents searching for more! Mr. Bonnet’s class took their parents to the Korean peninsula to try Tteokbokki covered in a range of sweet and savoury flavours.
The children went through a process of making a few different recipes before selecting their final product. To help ‘sell’ their product, they created a banner advert (similar to ones that can be found on web pages) and the children were able to demonstrate their advertising skills to their parents too.
It was great to see so many parents at our restaurant and perhaps the children can share and develop their recipes at home over the holidays.
Cricket with one of history’s greatest players - by Mr Peter Poulton
For the past 6 weeks, students have been learning about striking and fielding games. Our focus throughout this unit has been the world's most popular striking and fielding sport - Cricket. Although cricket is less popular in Taiwan, many of the skills and techniques associated with the sport are very similar to that of baseball and the children have been really enjoying the lessons.
On Monday some students from years 4, 5 and 6 were lucky enough to meet and play cricket with former international cricket star Mike Gatting OBE. A selection of cricket-based activities was set up and the children were able to practice and develop their skills and techniques with expert feedback from Mr Gatting himself. The students also played a fun game of quick cricket where they had the opportunity to implement some of the new skills they had learned in a competitive game situation.
This was a unique experience for the children and a wonderful way to learn about cricket from one of the all-time great players. Well done to all involved!
Kelly Yang - by Ms Emma Crofts
This year, students in Year 5&6 took part in the Global Read Aloud project. The book chosen for this year’s middle grade read aloud was ‘Front Desk’ by Kelly Yang. ‘Front Desk’ has won many awards including the 2019 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature and was chosen as Best Book of the Year by multiple publications, including NPR, The Washington Post, and the New York Public Library. Kelly Yang’s presentation to students on Monday 9th December was an exciting event for students who had spent the last three months listening to their teachers and classmates read them the story of Mia Tang, an immigrant from China whose family moves to the US. The story is based on Kelly’s life after moving to the states with her parents when she was young. Kelly spoke about what it was like for her moving to the US and speaking no English, relying on the one other Chinese classmate to help her communicate with her teacher. She talked about the parallels between her life and that of Mia’s. The students were thrilled by her presentation, asking fun and interesting questions. Her most important piece of advice to our students was to practice their writing in the same way they do their sports; frequently and with dedication. Everyone had an amazing time, and we’re all looking forward to following Mia’s story in ‘Three Keys’ when it comes out in September 2020.
Reverse Christmas Tree - by Mr Corné Coetzee
I want to extend my gratitude for all the red envelopes that made it to school today. It was wonderful to see the spirit of giving in action and we managed to raise NTD167,717. The children looked lovely in their Christmas colours and were very excited to place their donations into the little green house - representing the houses that will be built in Cambodia this coming year. It is a great project, and we are definitely making a difference in people's lives.
I want to wish all families of TES a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Have a great holiday!
Student Voice feedback- by Mr Aidan Stallwood
As both teachers and parents we know listening to the children can be very powerful, that is why this year the BPS has built into the timetable opportunities to talk with a mixture of children from each year group to gather their thoughts on a range of subjects.
We had the first of these recently and I am happy to share some of the key takeaways. We were overwhelmingly struck by how amazing our children are, they were able to articulate their learning and understanding on a range of processes in our school - such as the marking in their books. It was also evident that the children feel proud of our school through their awareness of projects and extra opportunities as well as the challenge offered in the learning for example in mathematics.
But it doesn't stop their. Through these chats there were some common themes for us to consider as a senior leadership team. This included considering an alternative reward systems for learner profiles in Year 6 through to the food in our school canteen.
All in all, it offered us another form of feedback which we can utilise once we return from the Christmas holidays. Which just leaves me to wish everyone a lovely Christmas break, may you all have a restful and enjoyable time with your familes and we look forward to seeing you in the new year!
TES Christmas Pantomime - by Mrs Elizabeth Bottomley-Chang
This morning, saw a sensational end to a busy first term. The children from Nursery to Year 6 were treated to a TES adaptation of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in this year's staff pantomime.
A whole host of teachers took the stage and children were encouraged to join in with traditional lines including 'They're behind you!' and 'Oh no you don't!' There were jokes, chases and a whole host of other Christmas fun! The story ended, with Snow White and Prince Charming living happily ever after.
We hope you have a wonderful festive season! (Oh no we don't.... Oh yes we do!!!)
Important Reminder by Mr Luke Chaeter
Safeguarding training update
In line with our expectations of ensuring that we provide the safest environment for all children, I would like to make you all aware that currently all office staff are undergoing specific safeguarding accredited training.
Sign in for those who have no lanyard
During Semester 2, we will be further enforcing site access through a parent/guardian sign in procedure for those who do not have a lanyard. Please do not be offended.
ECA's update
As has been communicated, apart from music and Fobisia Training Sports, our ECA program will not resume in full until after the Chinese New Year (February).
Update to Library System over holidays from the Library Team
Over the winter break, we will be updating our library system. Because of this, the library catalog will not be available for several days. We don't know which days this will be but we want to make you aware that at some point over the break, the system will be unavailable.
FRIDAY MUSIC CORNER - LET'S ENJOY THE MUSIC!
BP-PTA Meeting Minute
Dear parents, in the future BP-PTA will present their monthly meeting minute within the newsletter. Please read the minutes to get update information about British section academic plans, community events and whole TES related topics such as facility improvements.
Please check the link below!
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ff4Bl6BfSJS-alr6Ojt8wCu4axTIT6pkBlm3Yt6Q_jU/edit?usp=sharing
I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Your BP-PTA Team
Taipei European School British Primary Section
Website: https://taipeieuropeanschool.com/index.php?id=120
Location: No. 99, Fuguo Road, Shilin District, Taipei City, 111
Phone: +886-2-8145-9007
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/British-Primary-Section-Taipei-European-School-1781787432102978/