Weekly Bulletin

Have a Great Summer, Lions!

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Facility Notice – for Summer Holiday

Dear all,

During the upcoming Summer Holidays:

In line with the government regulations and maintenance & renovation projects requests, the NIS campus will be closed.

And we are planning to reopen some of facilities in the beginning of August, including fitness room (The Centre level 3).

Approved visitors must follow the access protocols:

• Registration
• Travel and Health Codes
• Mask
• Temperature Check
• NAT (If necessary)

At all-time, please follow the instructions from the security personnel.

Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.

Facility Team

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NIS Welcomes 18 New Faculty for 2022-23

Nanjing International School is excited to welcome 18 new faculty into our inclusive learning community for the upcoming 2022-23 school year. This diverse, knowledgeable, and passionate group joins us across our Primary and Secondary school sections, with many exciting additions in counselling, learning support, and teaching in PYP, MYP, and the DP. These professionals complete our fully staffed faculty of 91 educators from 20 different nationalities for 2022-23.

Please take a look at their bios here. Watch our social media in the coming weeks and over the summer break to learn more about our new educators and hear from them on our podcast!

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Information Updates in Veracross

Please ensure that your family's passport and contact information is up to date in Veracross. For guides on how to check and update this information in Veracross, please refer to the links below:

• Updating Passport Information
• Updating Contact Information

For more information on Veracross, please visit this page, or contact it-help@nanjing-school.com.

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Vidigami at NIS

All of our NIS school photos are available on our sharing system, Vidigami. Vidigami is a world-leading private social platform exclusively designed for schools.

For new parents and those who need a refresher on the system, please watch the videos below. If you do not see an invitation in inbox by the end of the month, please check your spam folder. If you have not received an email, please contact wickychen@nanjing-school.com.

From Our Primary Principal

So concludes our 2022-2023 School Year together! Today we celebrated our time together with the Primary Assembly and with the added treat of our parents joining us for some student performances, readings, and fond farewells.

May your holiday be filled with all the relaxation and/or adventure you seek. Don’t forget to read during our long break! Studies have shown how reading during holidays helps prevent “summer slide,” where students can lose up to 20% of what they gained in reading during the school year. Parents can support their children by keeping their brains active over summer. Our school librarian, Ms. Angela Romero suggests the following:

1. Let children read what they want. Children will be more motivated to read and will enjoy reading more if they like what they are reading! Give them options to choose from. The school subscribes to Tumblebooks and Sora for ebooks and audiobooks. Encourage kids (and yourself) to try different books by playing reading bingo.

2. Get out of the house. Visit a museum, go to a historic site, go to a park and read! Talking about what you see and do helps develop vocabulary, activates prior knowledge, and encourages curiosity.

3. Don’t forget to play. Puzzles and games, whether online or offline, are a great way to stimulate the brain.

4. Use your imagination. Kids are developing new skills, building on prior knowledge, and expanding their vocabulary when they play with legos, pretend to be chefs, or become superheroes saving the city.

I would like to share my personal thanks and appreciation to the NIS community for the past four years we have shared together, and wish the new Primary Principal, Ms. Jacqui Patrick, a warm welcome and transition. 

Until we meet again...

Adam Dodge 

Primary Principal

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NIS Podcast: New Primary Principal, Jacqui Patrick

Join us as we get to know Nanjing International School's new Primary Principal, Ms. Jacqui Patrick, including her background and teaching and leadership philosophy.

“Children are amazing. Their capacity to learn, and think, and create, and grow and experiment – it’s there. And we have to protect it, and we have to spark it, and we have to grow it.”

Ms. Patrick will be our new Primary Principal. She is presently Elementary Principal at an international school in Beijing. She has a Master of Teaching and a B.A. in Sociology both from the University of Sydney. Ms. Patrick has previously worked in IB schools in Suzhou, Nanjing, and Indonesia, including NIS. As an NIS alum, we are delighted to have Ms. Patrick back at our school. She will be joined by her partner Mr. Jamie Watson, who will teach at NIS. Ms. Patrick is Australian.

Nanjing International School is excited to welcome 18 new faculty into our inclusive learning community for the upcoming 2022-23 school year. This diverse, knowledgeable, and passionate group joins us across our Primary and Secondary school sections, with many exciting additions in counselling, learning support, and teaching in PYP, MYP, and the DP. These professionals complete our fully staffed faculty of 91 educators from 20 different nationalities for 2022-23.

Visit our podcast page here to learn more and subscribe.

 

From Our Secondary School Principal

And so we have reached the end of School Year 2021-22. 

This moment is a time for reflection. During the week, teachers and student leaders asked themselves “What am I most proud of this year’? It was overwhelming to hear the wonderful sharing of successes, achievements, points of challenge and personal struggles overcome; the journeys and the realities. What a beautiful question to ask yourself and each other; a simple way to reflect and celebrate, all at the same time.

This moment marks the end of the first year for our Secondary School; one of the things that we are proud of. Bringing all of the grade levels together into one whole school division has increased our sense of unity and community. It has streamlined our communication so that students feel part of one complete school, with connections between all grade levels. 

This moment marks the end point at NIS for some of our students. We wish them all the very very best, as they journey into the next stage of their education. It also marks the moment of farewell to some of our teaching faculty. Thank you for everything that you have done for the students and the school. We wish you well in your new roles.

The moment marks the end of another school year and the transition to the next. Plans are being finalized, schedules created and classrooms tidied. Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to making this year such a success. We are looking forward to next year with excitement and optimism. We can’t wait to see you all back in school in August!

Ruth Clarke

Secondary Principal

Sports Teams News

Please visit Vidigami to see photos of all recent events.

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Student Activities

The Activities Office would like to thank everyone for their participation and support for all our programmes: Student Activities, Sports Teams, Community Activities, Service as Action, CAS, GCD and Discover China.

We have begun planning for the 2022-2023 school year. Please let us know of other activities you would like to see offered.

Please visit Vidigami to see our students in action!

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Swimming News

NIS Sealions had a ball at the last swim meet of the year.

Every member of the team got to join in.

Yet again personal bests were achieved from a lot of swimmers. Swimmingly rounding off the day was a mixed relay with a participant of each age and gender.

Team captains Chloe and Paolo were  busy handing out awards at the end of the swim season.

Jason finally reached his long term goal, breaking the 50m breaststroke school record for the boys 13-14 years old.

ACAMIS medals were handed out , numerous top 6 place certificates were added.  The NIS series awards were given to swimmers who did not just place in the top but also showed their commitment to the NIS series swim meets. Last but not least the most valuable swimmers and coaches award were given.

Our hungry lions were happy to finally indulge in pizzas at the end of a long day.

Thank you volunteers, parents and coaches for a great swim season.

Best of luck to all our sealions who will be starting a new chapter in their lives.