Dear parents,
April has been a month full of beautiful weather and amazing nature. Trees have become green overnight and chirping birds fill our garden areas. Luckily, it has not yet become too warm to enjoy being outside and being active, so we are enjoying it as much as we possibly can! Even on days with a little rain, wearing our sunny yellow raincoats.
On April 22nd, Hui Xin campus held its annual "Open Day" for domestic families who wish to apply for enrolment in the Hui Xin program. Even though we are only able to open 1 domestic nursery class next school year, more than 200 families with nursery age children have applied for enrolment. On the 22nd, these families and children got to see our facilities, learn about the Newton program and were invited for family interviews, where families who fit the values of our program continue forward in the admissions process. We wish everyone good luck!
Since 2012, Newton Kindergartens adopted a social media policy for its employee's as a guide to how we expect staff to conduct themselves professionally in this new, often public forum. However, it is also parents of Newton Kindergartens who need to consider the appropriateness of photos or txt they take and share. Due to recent experiences at our sister campus in Bayside Garden where parents had begun taking photos of children other than their own I have attached a notice from head of Bayside foreign program Ms. Jill, which perfectly address the issue and represents the same policy as here at Hui Xin campus.
Below letter from Ms. Jill Nicole Beam at Bayside campus
Newton kindergartens do not allow teachers and staff taking personal pictures of students and posting them to their social media accounts. As you know, teachers are also not allowed to have their personal phones on them.
As part of the practice in kindergarten, it is important that the institution and family respect and follow a similar moral standard. Consistency is key in creating the best environment for growing children. With this we ask that parents also please adhere to common respectful behavior.
For privacy and respect please do not take pictures of other students, and do not post them to any social media. Each family deserves to take and post whatever pictures they like of themselves, but it is not acceptable to post of others.
With social media such a prominent part of our daily lives it is easy to forget that it is still a platform necessary of boundaries. Newton prides itself on maintaining international standards for our staff and families. Please take this as a friendly yet serious reminder to respect the privacy of others and be aware of what you post in social media.
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Additionally, this week we have sent out general notices regarding confirmation of students attendance for next school year and reminder of the deposit return deadline for withdrawals, which is on May 12th.
As something new but necessary we are issuing a penalty policy for late pick-up's from school, which will be followed strictly from Monday, May 8th. This new policy aims to protect children and stop an unfortunate growing trend of repeated late pick-ups. It should work to encourage parents to arrive on time before 16:00, preventing children's discomfort of being alone or feeling forgotten. Please understand that children whose parents are running late cannot attend late-class as an alternative, since it is only for already registered / approved families and only authorized persons in the registration papers are allowed to pick-up. It becomes your class-teachers responsibility to cancel their plans, meetings or preparation time for the next day to look after children whose parents or grandparents are late at pick-up. The penalty fee for being late at pick-up time is high, but reasonable, as it does not represent an option of late services and is not calculated per minutes you are late. It is a penalty that shows the significance of being on time for both the benefit of your child and respect to your hard working teachers.
On a positive note, we have seen many groups of parents come together over the past weeks to begin practicing for their performances at the Children's Day event on June 1st. It is one of my personal favorite events as children feel excited by seeing parents get loose and working together on this happy day. Good job everyone! On a side note, facilities that are being finished during the weekends in May include, the gym-room separators, allowing teachers and management to fully utilize the big space for games and sports and a function room by 103, which will be equipped to work as a bus-waiting area on days with heavy air-pollution.
- Pre-nursery & Nursery classes will go on their Spring Fieldtrip on May 10th, in case of small drizzle teachers will bring yellow raincoats.
- The school will close for Dragon Boat Festival on May 29th and 30th, look forward to see you back on Wednesday, May 31st.
I wish all of you a wonderful month of May and thank you for your support
Sincerely,
Anders S Christensen, principal
and the Hui Xin team!
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