On June 22nd & 23rd Newton International Kindergarten, Hui Xin campus celebrated end of the school year with a big Graduation Ceremony and Summer Concert at the SIPYCC Youth theater.
Due to this year's size, 2 concerts were held for the international domestic and foreign sections respectively with a joint theme and K2 storyline.
"The Magical Island of Newton featuring Moana & Maui" is a story of a demigod named Maui, who created this wonderful island, known as Newton.
A place full of green grass, plants, trees and life. A perfect place not so far away. However, Maui realized that having this island all to himself, was a waste of his creation. He was joined by children of PN, N, K1 & K2. Pre-nursery children represented "Explore", as in exploring colors (slogan: colors makes us explore) and they would search the island for colors of red, yellow and blue. Nursery children were all about "Play" (Teamwork makes the dream work) and demonstrated to our guests how much fun we can have, when we play together. Whether that be swimming and surfing the friendly waves, playing outside in the rain or riding the train. Nothing stops our children from having fun. K1 with "Learn" (What we learn, shapes who we are) taught us that we are constantly learning, through being allowed to try new things and to make mistakes. It is most important to be inclusive of others and to make friends. K1 took us on a rhythmical journey through street dancing, robot dancing, ballet and classic dancing to the music "ABC" by Jackson 5.
Woven in between the classes performances were original video's featuring the story of Maui and his island, in the end it culminated in a dramatic performance by K2 children with the value "Grow" (By doing good, we do well), where Maui had learnt that being good at something is not enough, we have to do good to others too. When Maui faced his biggest challenge and he had turned to stone, only his new found friends could help him to recover the Explore, Play, Learn & Grow values and restore the heart of Newton, our magical island!
We wish to thank teachers and children for their hard work and dedication and congratulate the K2 graduates, while wishing them all the best in the future endeavors. Parent speakers of the day moved our hearts and we were joined by Sarai, Aaron & Ilya on the stage a family with 3 boys, of whom 2 remembered their happy memories from when they were younger and attended Newton!
Speech by princiapl, Mr. Anders S Christensen:
Good morning and welcome everyone!
As customary... we start this event with a period dedicated to our graduating students, from 402, 403 & 404. You will see them singing, using instruments and receiving their graduation diplomas! To all of you, who have children graduating I thank you for the past year(s) and wish you all the best for the future.
Today is a big day, for us, this is a big event. An event, that takes a considerable amount of planning, preparing and rehearsing for. As such, there are always obstacles we need to overcome and problems we need to solve. This is teamwork, perseverance and commitment from all of our teachers and children.
To be committed... to dedicate yourself to something... To not give up, but to pro-actively involve yourself and commit yourself to a certain goal, especially a shared one, is always important as we face an overwhelming amount of easily available personal choices in our private life.
When I was a young boy, I remember I wanted to buy my 1st cd. First, I had to earn about 150rmb. At 14 it took a while cleaning dishes and mowing the lawn... I rode my bicycle to the small local electronics store where I had to make a selection, to decide if one CD was worth my 150rmb! I remember I picked Aerosmith "Big Ones", (which honestly wasn't so much of a hard choice at the time, because I was an Aerosmith fan)... it was a bit hard to let go of the 150rmb I had just saved. I shared the music with my friends who came over... and they shared with me in return. because everything wasn't as easy as now, It presented several areas of skill building.. To listen to music I had to make a plan, i had to work for it, save money, i had to know the value of money, make a budget, find where it was on sale, physically go there and make a purchase. With a real CD in my hand, worth something, I would read the booklet (several times). My friends would come over and we would listen together. I would learn to share it with friends and they would share with me too.
Now where we stream everything immediately on our phones and tablets or buy things on taobao. We just put our earplugs in and listen to exactly the thing we want, when we want it! or place an order for home delivery. It is easy, it is great! but, something is lost?
The world has changed so much since I was little, since you were little. I think, generally, it has changed for the better. But, I hope we will always respect children enough, to not ruin them by spoiling them, to give them challenges and let them work for things, to problem solve independently and collectively, to find solutions and to contribute with commitment and to earn their reward. Just as we encourage them to do at Newton! and as they have done during the past weeks of practices!
Our children have worked hard and committed to create a lasting memory of the 2017 summer concert & graduation for you in the audience and themselves on the stage.
Today, their reward will be your applause.... so make it "Big Ones"! Thank you!
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