Assistant Principal's Report

International Sister School relationships

JHAPA Model English School, Nepal

Our Year 3 students have engaged in their first live videoconferences with the students at Jhapa Model English School. The topic of their first discussion was ‘school.’ The students from both schools shared prepared presentations that covered information about each school. There were many similarities and some differences. 

Student quotes:

Mick: “They learn more languages than us, like English, Nepali and Hindi.”

Tim: “JMES school is somehow similar to Chinese schools, because they have individual chairs and tables. They also have their own canteen.”

Grace: “It is interesting to know that their assembly is outdoors and ours is indoor. I feel happy because we two schools learned about each other.” 

Prayag: “I enjoyed the presentation because of how respectful they were towards us.”

Jacob: “I really enjoyed how the JMES shared their information even though their main language is not English.”

Sithuki: “JMES shared with confidence and introduced themselves politely.”

Our next live videoconference is scheduled for the end of August and the topic will be ‘our countries.’

Our Year 5 students have all written a letter to a pen pal introducing themselves, their hobbies and family life. Our students were deliberate about asking questions in their letters to support their sister school students’ responses.  They are awaiting return letters.

Here is an example of one of our students’ letters:

Araria Springs School, New Zealand

This connection has been focused on the Year 4 cohort. To begin the year sister school students analysed each other’s websites and posed questions. Following on from their camp, the Araria Springs students created camp themed newsletters for our students to learn about their camp experience. In Term 2 our students wrote, published and shared identity poems with the Araria Springs students and are awaiting responses. Mr Catalano and I are looking forward to meeting the team and students at Araria Springs as part of our study visit to Christchurch for the Trans-Tasman Principals’ Conference in September.

Science Week

Last week we celebrated Science Week with our Year 6 Science Captains hosting three lunchtime activities for our learners and a group of Year 5 learners attended John Monash School of Science for the first time. Please enjoy their reflection:

This year, as Science captains, we were thrilled to host Science Week at our school. We kicked off on Monday with a science quiz on the school radio, asking five fun and educational multiple-choice questions that sparked discussions amongst students.

On Tuesday, we held a paper aeroplane competition where students from all year levels competed to see whose design would fly the furthest. The winner received an icy pole, adding to the excitement and making it a fun-filled event for everyone.

Wednesday’s blind drawing competition was lots of fun to host! The participants drew based on our verbal instructions. The results were both impressive and amusing, with lots of laughter as everyone admired the creative outcomes. 

Hosting Science Week was a fantastic experience, and we’re grateful for the opportunity to plan these activities and share our love for science with the whole school.

- Shaya and Naysa

Our Trip to John Monash Science School

Hi! We are Ranuli 5B, Neha 5E, Rishaan 5E, and Samihan 5D. On August 8th, we were super excited because we were chosen out of 42 other students with amazing applications to go to a special program called Little Scientists at John Monash Science School. We were so happy to find out that we were the ones selected!

On August 14th, we went to our first session, and it was amazing! When we walked up to the huge campus, we felt a rush of excitement. We kept thinking, “We’re really going to learn at John Monash Science School!” We smiled at each other as we walked inside and saw the three-story building. It was so cool! We wore our Little Scientist badges proudly and waited in what looked like a canteen until it was time to go to the lab.

When we got to the science lab, we sat around a whiteboard and wrote down what we thought “Chemistry” meant. Then, we got to do an experiment٫ we were going to make a pH indicator from red cabbage! A pH indicator tells us if something is acidic or basic (acidic substances are not good for the environment in lakes or soil٫ basic is plain with no acidic reactions). Gabby and Ritesh, our mentors, helped us start with orange juice, which had a pH of 4 (Orangey Red).

We want to say a big thank you to our mentors, Ritesh and Gabby, for helping us during the session. We also want to thank Miss Seach for driving us and watching over us the whole time.

Kind regards,

Neha, Samihan, Rishaan, and Ranuli