Dear Primary parents,
Class Rep Meetings
Many thanks to our Reps for their time on Wednesday. Primary School and Senior School Reps met together for an introductory session to their new roles and heard from Mrs Suzy Pugh (HoSS), Mr Gudmundur Jonsson (HoC) and myself about the year ahead. The slides from the session can be found here and the meeting minutes can be accessed by clicking here.
Parent Meeting with David Fitzgerald, Director of International Schools
The meeting notes from last Thursday’s meeting are here.
Year 4 and Year 5 Adventurous Journeys – upcoming residential trips
Year 4 and Year 5 parents met online with Holly Brigham and I to hear more about the upcoming overnight adventures we have been planning for October. Hiking, kayaking and cycling will help children be active and develop new skills and confidences. Camping overnight and ziplining will also test the mettle of some. We know that all Year 4 and Year 5 students will greatly benefit from these important DCSL ‘rites of passage’ and that students will remember the experiences well into adult life.
Year 6 Babies!
June Kim, Year 6 TA, departs on maternity leave today and we wish her and her baby good health and an easy next few weeks. June is replaced in Year 6 by Ms Ji, who has been familiarising herself with our students and programme over the past 4 weeks ready for the role.
Mrs Kate Dark (Y6D in 21/22) was visiting on Friday with her lovely baby, Miles. She’s much missed as a class teacher with us but is a wonderful mum to Miles, and students will be meeting both again.
Queen Elizabeth II: her legacy and our thoughts at this sad time:
Students across the College had time to ponder the late UK monarch’s legacy this week at Assembly on Friday and to offer their thoughts in the College Book of Condolences. Students who wished to do so gathered with their friends at the table in the foyer to construct meaningful messages that conveyed their thoughts and prayers for the future.
World Peace Day
We will be marking World Peace Day on Wednesday 21 September. Children across the College will be involved in discussions and activities related to the theme this year which is ‘End Racism and Build Peace’.
We would kindly ask you to send your child to school wearing purple clothes as this a colour of transformation, power and strength. In DUCKS we will be reading lots of multicultural books and discussing what racism and peace are. In Primary school, the teachers will be linking lessons to the UN Global Goal 16. As a whole College we will be making a Purple ‘Peace Sign’ on the field for students to connect and reflect on the importance of communities and belonging. Students will be photographed by a drone when the peace sign is created.
This will be a wonderful opportunity for students in Senior and Primary School to connect and consider an important issue of our time.
Year 6 House Captains – meeting with Mrs Smith
The new Year 6 House Captains met with me on Wednesday to carry out the traditional cleaning of the huge silver House Cup. As the children worked to buff up the silver they chatted about their new roles. Afterwards we had juice and cookies as a treat in my office. It was lovely to hear how seriously the children are taking their new responsibilities and how well they worked together.
Our House Captains are:
Shackleton: Liam K and Drew W
Sejong: Sabina W and A Joon L
Seacole: Aparajita D and Simon W
Alleyn: Monica K and Raaghav P
Diary Dates (please check the College Calendar for additional dates and updates)
Sunday 25 September – 10am to 4pm Family Hike along a section of the Seoul Trail (6km with a gentle additional 2km at the end) (whole school)
Monday 31 October – Halloween dress-up across the College
Inquiry Hub Library Opening Times for Parents:
Mr Burrows will be opening the library to families from 8am to 8.30am and 3.30pm to 4.30pm on Monday to Friday. Please pop along to enjoy reading to your children and to borrow books to share with them at home. Please note you can return books at any time, simply by popping them in the white Returns Box at the main entrance to the campus.
Mrs Smith Out of School Next Week
From Monday to Thursday. I’ll be out of school on a visit to the Green School Bali. This innovative environmental school is now part of the EiM group (as we are) and this visit will allow us to share ‘best practices’ from the Dulwich group with our new colleagues at the Green School.
In my absence, Jim Harvey will oversee the Primary School. I look forward to sharing aspects of my learning from the Green School’s cutting edge environmental programmes with our community when I return.
Term 1 ECAs
ECA Allocation
The allocation process on schoolsbuddy is complete and an email will be sent out on Monday 19th September to confirm students ECA choices via schoolsbuddy. Please note that we have tried to ensure students get their first or second choices, but this is not always possible for oversubscribed clubs.
ECA Dates
ECAs will begin on Monday 26th September and finish on Friday 2nd December.
School Buses
Buses run at 4.30pm for students taking activities. Some activities finish at 5pm or 5.30pm. If you choose these activities, you must pick up your child from school; they may not leave the activity early. Please contact the bus department for any further questions at Buses@dulwich-seoul.kr (02-3015-8563).
Changes to ECA Clubs
We apologise, but we are unable to make any changes to ECA clubs for students due to the random selection process that was used to ensure it was fair for every student.
If you have any questions about the ECA Programme, please contact eca@dulwich-seoul.kr.
Academic Workshops for Parents:
Our handwriting workshop for DUCKS parents was well attended on Thursday and the slides are here for those unable to attend.
The Primary School holds weekly workshops for parents who wish to educate themselves further about our programmes, child health and wellbeing, friendships and emotional development and other relevant topics.
The Primary Parent Workshops will be held in the 2nd Floor of the Primary Inquiry Hub.
Our next workshops are as follows:
- Tuesday 20 September – 2pm to 3pm Understanding Assessment in the Primary School, led by Jim Harvey, DHoP for academics. How do we assess children and what do we do with that information? How can students be helped to be more reflective learners and take ownership of the progress? Learn more with Mr Harvey.
- Tuesday 27 September – 2pm to 3pm Reading with Young Children – how can adults best support young children’s early reading skills – a practical, fun session to help parents work with their own children or other children as reading helpers in school.
Year 5’s “Muffins with Mums” Breakfast Event:
Year 5 spoiled their mums and dads rotten with their courteous and attentive service on Wednesday! Well done, Year 5. Afterwards the parents enjoyed time in the Year 5 classrooms and then several had a tour of the Senior School.
Year 4’s are next: We are pleased to invite all Year 4 mums (or dads, if mum is busy) to our newest breakfast event next Wednesday 21 September. Come along at 7.45am until 8.20am for some breakfast treats served by the Year 4 students. Then enjoy some in-class time and an optional senior school tour.
Other year group dates are as follows, and look out for the email with the sign-up form nearer the time.
- Year 3 Wed 28 September
- Year 2 Wed 5 October
- Year 1 Wed 12 October
- Reception Wed 19 October
- Nursery Wed 2 November
Stars of the Week (DUCKS to Year 4) and Learning Warriors (Year 5 / Year 6)
Each week, our staff spot a child in each class who has been doing especially well with the IB Learner Profile dispositions and that child becomes SoW or the LW for the class. Click here to see who was spotted this week and click here for the week ahead summary.
Wishing you a lovely weekend.
Kind regards
Mrs Jane Smith
Primary School
Year 5 trip to the Savina Art Gallery
During our educational visit to the Savina Contemporary Art Gallery, Year 5 students had the opportunity to sketch pieces from the ‘Forever Free’ exhibition, meet the artist (Koh Sang Woo) and discuss their theories and connections to his artwork. Year 5 will continue to go deeper into the concept of biodiversity and survival as they learn about how animals and diverse populations are threatened by climate change, focusing on how we can #Kohexist.
“Colourful, creative, inspiring”; these are just a few of the words used by our Year 5 students to describe the exhibition, and they were moved by Koh Sang Woo’s commitment to art activism and preserving endangered species in Korea and around the world.
Mr Matthew Spencer
Year 5 Leader
Stars of the Week
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
