Dear parents,
With just two weeks left of the school year, we have already begun seeing families start their holidays and, for some, to say goodbye to us. It is an exciting time of year, but also a melancholic and emotional one with many hugs, tears and brave smiles from parents and teachers. All of us who were children once know how precious childhood is, and how our little ones will eventually grow up. As parents, are we ready? Are our children ready to meet the world?
What will the world look like 10, 20 years in the future. Will it be full of plastic? Will we eventually use solar power? What about global warming, will my home town by the sea still exist? Will we eventually learn to handle social media responsibly? or will everything be a popularity contest of who has the best make-up techniques or who can microwave the most iPhones and iPads on YouTube for likes? I hope not. Nothing is more beautiful than nature and real life. Life is about growing up and growing strong, from a seed to tree, a baby to an adult, we grow bigger and smarter. Through life experience we learn to handle challenges and set our own course forward. Our children's future is unknown, but I rest assured in your children's capabilities, their moral values and, most importantly, I rest assured in the fact that they have the most loving and caring parents, who always support them and help them. I am confident that your children will help shape a better future.
I give thanks to knowing all of you and to being one of the lucky ones financially able to spend quality time with my family during holidays. Many are not as lucky as I am.
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DONATE A SHOE is a new charity program that runs throughout the entire school year at Newton. Whenever you prepare to pack your child's old shoes away in the cabinet or under the bed, consider first if someone else could have better use of them and if you are willing to donate. If so, please bring them to school and give to teacher or managers. We will help to transport them to those in need. Further, I hope that your children will make a drawing or a little letter to put into the shoe with their name on.
This week, I met with representatives from the Suzhou Rotary Club, which hosts charity events for less privileged students and families of Guizhou's rural area. In this part of the world, most parents travel away from home to earn money and since holidays equal spending money they do not have, they only see their children once a year or once every second year at Chinese New Year. They will all be missing summer holidays. I saw photos of children walking to school on unpaved roads, no side-walk, just dirt and rubble, wearing oversized shoes with broken soles. I thank you for always giving a lot, especially at Charity Drive, and I hope you will support this initiative to donate useful and highly appreciated items such as shoes to children who need them. Good shoes and boots that have become too small or are not used by your child anymore can make a big difference in another child's daily comfort.
Next week our teachers will have an end of year project called "My feet take me many places" where we encourage students to bring pairs of shoes, boots or rain boots to school (a pair that has become too small or are no longer used that you are willing to donate). Students will introduce their shoe and places they have gone, such as to the playground, the forest or maybe trips to other countries. We hope to be able to donate a small mountain of shoes we no longer need to those who really need them.
DONATE A BOOK is similar to the shoe project and if ever you travel back and do not know what to do with your small library of children's books or maybe find that your child is bored of reading the same books, please consider donating to us through your teachers and we will help transport them to children in Guizhou province.
If you wish to give more, we also collect donations of the following types throughout the year: Scarves, blankets, coats, mittens, hats, paper and sketchbooks with markers and crayons.
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Holiday routine reminder:
As a child goes on an extended holiday, their daily routines changes drastically and while it is good to have fun and try new things, it can also make it harder for a child to adjust back once holiday is over. Please consider the following suggestions:
- Plan your summer: Put a calendar on your refrigerator and let your child be informed and part of the family's plans while also learning the concept of time, the importance of planning and ultimately being reminded when the holiday will end and children will return to school, so it does not come as too much of a shock on the last day.
- Spend time outside when the weather permits, feel the nature, sun, rain and clouds. Our world is amazing and nature gives us comfort. You can make a weather chart and check the weather forecast with your child in the morning. At night, you can ask "was the weather forecast accurate today?" creating a real feel of our environment and encourage your child, by example, to stay aware of weather.
- Make a behavioral / chore agreement with your child. Example: helping to put dirty clothes away, keeping their own room tidy, washing vegetables for salad, helping sweep the floor etc. and make a reward system if necessary. (I had a weekly summer allowance of 50RMB from my parents for mowing the lawn and helping in the garden).
- Prepare your child: The summer is a great time to work on reading skills as you have the time for extended goodnight stories. Make it fun, encourage children in the morning at breakfast time to review the story from the evening before and use examples in real life, if the story included cooking... cook together. If it included a treasure hunt... have a treasure hunt. Make everything relatable. If your child needs to work on his/her social skills, go to the playground and make friends, do not stay inside with grandparents or parents only.
- Practice drawing, coloring, tracing and writing. Do not use the iPad all the time, get back to basics and give your child a sketch book, a pen and some crayons or markers. Every day, encourage your child to draw something new, make notes and keep it as a diary "My Summer of 2018". You will love having these memories when your children are grown up and they will remember their summers better when they reminisce about their childhood as grown-ups themselves.
- The last week of your family's summer holiday, please adjust your child's bedtime and wake-up routine to match the school he/she is going to.
Most importantly of all, it is absolutely essential that you try to make your summer holiday a fun and memorable one!
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IMPORTANT REMINDERS FOR THE COMING MONTH(S):
- July 2nd: Summer concert videos will be finished and ready for distribution on USB, they will be available in 2 MP4 formats: 1080p HD h264 and 2160p 4K x265. Should you require the very big 4K copy, please provide your teachers with a 30gb external hard drive. The 4K file with compression codec x265 will play on most high-end TVs and powerful laptops. The HD copy will play on phones, newer TV's and most computers.
- July 12th: Last day of the school year, payment deadline for students confirmed to stay next year. Late payments will follow fee structure policy. "Non-confirmed" students have to re-apply for attendance through Ms. Cindy in admissions by email admissions-hxj@internewton.com
- July 15th - August 2nd: Summer Camp (on site management is Ms. Marie, Ms. Jessie & Ms. Tina)
- August 13th - 15th: families will receive phone calls from teachers, new teachers will introduce themselves and invite you to the meet & greet.
- August 17th: Meet & Greet at campus (exact time will be confirmed by teachers phone call).
- August 19th: 1st day of the 2019/2020 School year.
I expect all of you to have an amazing and magical summer holiday full of happy memories!
Sincerely,
Anders S Christensen, principal
and the Hui Xin team!
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Next:[School] May letter from principal
