36 more sleeps until the first day of Summer Vacation… so little time, so much still to do. Keep an eye on the calendar to the left of this notice so that you don’t miss out on any of our future events.

Next week will see our students taking part in a wonderful series of activities for our China Alive celebrations. During the week there will be many, but hang on, why should I take time to explain when Claire does a much better job of it here…

http://portal.saschina.org/video/flv_player/Main.swf

Thanks Claire.

Well done to all of our students for completing the challenging Map Tests last week. I can testify that the tests saw some of our students pushed to their limits; but also that our students exceeded their expectations. It will take some time before I am able to fully share results with you however in nearly every test for every student a high level of proficiency was achieved. On that note, with recent Eisteddfod’s, Map Tests, Track and Field Days and upcoming soccer days, dance performances, DRA tests, writing competitions, string and band concerts, and dodgeball tournaments, I want to reinforce that EVERY CHILD HAS STRENGTHS IN DIFFERENT AREAS. I wish I knew at ten, what I know now at nearly forty; I have strong skills in some areas, and lesser skills in others, and THAT IS NORMAL AND O.K. instead of worrying when I was not the fastest, smartest, most popular etc. It is sometimes difficult in a competitive environment to realize that you are not going to be strong at everything but it is a lesson that is best learned young; it can surely save a lot of pain in the future.

On May 27th, I’d like to invite you all to our one and only Writer’s Party to celebrate our recent Literary Essays and our nearly completed Memoirs Unit. I realize what a busy time of the year we have coming up, so I am trying to cut down on your trips to the school by having our celebration on the same day as our Band and Strings Concert. The students and I only decided on this today, so details are still to come, but plan to be out at school around 12.40 that day, or earlier for lunch if you like, and we will celebrate before the musical festivities begin at 2.15 that day.