NLCS Jeju Newsletter 10 May 2024

North London Collegiate School Jeju

PRINCIPAL’S LETTER

Dear Parents, Students, Staff and Friends of NLCS Jeju

The exams for our students in year 11 and 13 are now in full flow with examinations for IGCSE and the IB Diploma Programme every day. This is a huge logistical exercise and so our thanks go to the examinations team for all their hard work in ensuring this season goes very well. They are ably supported by our teachers and some external invigilators. As you will be aware there are stringent checks from examination boards such as the IBO and Cambridge during the examination season and so as a School we have to follow the regulations on the conduct of examinations. We are also pleased to report that our students are taking the examinations in their stride. A healthy lifestyle with sleep, a good diet and smart revision is essential through such a marathon of weeks of examinations.

The rest of the School have responded well to their annuals which results in assessments for them on their progress this year. This has been followed up with many other opportunities and it has been delightful to see year groups preparing and then embarking on their expeditions. The year 8 outdoor expedition was very successful and the students were buzzing! Likewise year 9 as they embark on their trip are exhibiting great excitement. Outdoor education goes from strength to strength under the leadership of AVP Mr. Doug Machin, ably supported by his team and so there are many trips in Junior School too alongside the International Award expeditions at all levels.

Last week our monitoring and inspection teams were in the Junior and Senior Schools and were very impressed with the quality of education provided and in particular the quality of teaching and learning they observed with excellent pastoral care underpinning this. The full report is being finalised by NLCS International and we will share this with our community when we receive it.

As always we have seen some innovative ideas and opportunities for our students with enrichment weeks. In PSD there were challenging issues to discuss around pregnancy as you will read about below. In mandarin week the excitement levels grew through the amazing range of cultural opportunities including embroidery. Each enrichment week provides our community with so many opportunities. In the First School there were many young students in training as superheroes! We also have provided further opportunities regarding disability and dance and we welcomed the Luxbit Art Company into School. I hope you will also celebrate with us the many successes of our students.

PRINCIPAL’S LETTER

Special thanks this week also goes to the PRG and Friends of NLCS Jeju for all their support and encouragement. In the Senior School they arrived en masse to celebrate Children’s Day serving ice cream. In the Junior School they have been supporting activities such as the Battle of the Celts and Romans with a magnificent spread for children and parents as well as also providing refreshments at Junior School Sports Day this week . This also enabled us to celebrate Parents’ Day with them! As you will see below, our parents have been in school so much contributing to our community over the last few weeks!

Yours sincerely,

Lynne Oldfield Principal

The Main Event

Here are the biggest stories from around the School this week.

MANDARIN ENRICHMENT WEEK

“This year’s Mandarin Enrichment Week theme was “Great Inventions from Ancient China.” In addition to learning about China’s remarkable ancient inventions through a video collaboratively produced by teachers across subjects, students had the opportunity to experience hands-on activities during lunchtime. These included trying Su embroidery, papermaking, movable type printing, Hanfu costume making, spinning tops, and TikTok photo booths.A delightful surprise was the giant panda mascot played by different teachers each day and a “Ke Mu San” flash mob dance performed by students from junior and senior schools.

Particularly noteworthy was the Su Embroidery activity, which is designated as an Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO. For this event, we were honoured to invite Ms. Hang, a renowned Su Embroidery master, all the way from Suzhou, China. She has worked for many years at the famous Yaojiangping Su Embroidery Company in China. This rare opportunity allowed her to showcase this beautiful traditional craft to the entire school. She also provided hands-on instruction in basic embroidery techniques to some students from the Mandarin classes, enabling them to create their own works. This activity was extraordinarily welcomed and enjoyed by all participants.

Highlights included Ms. Cai’s lectures on the ‘Dunhuang Flying Apsaras’ for KS3 and Year 10 students on Tuesday and Thursday. Her dance performance along with other girl students beautifully punctuated the talks with exclamation marks, leaving the audience in awe.

We are grateful to all the teachers and students who participated and assisted with this event, with special thanks to the members of the Mandarin Society and the PAC team for their tremendous support. We hope that by providing opportunities to experience Chinese cultural activities during this busiest time of the year, we can bring some joy and happiness to all the hardworking teachers and students across the school.” - Ms. Jenny Liu (Head of Senior School Mandarin). More photos.

The Main Event

The Main Event

PSD ENRICHMENT WEEK

Personal and Social Development is a crucial part of our School’s curriculum. Through PSD lessons students develop the knowledge, skills and attributes they need to manage their lives, now and in the future.

The week focused on the science of pregnancy and childbirth, and the psychology of pregnancy - with lots of informative information stands and the opportunity to try on the special pregnancy suit that replicates some of the physical attributes to being pregnant.

LATIN AND PHILOSOPHY ENRICHMENT WEEK

We are looking forward to next week’s exciting Week!

Don’t miss our posts!

Follow us on our social media pages to never miss out! Our recent posts include:

• NLCS International Alumni Group

• Jeju Olle Beach Clean

• JS House Captains

• Chinese Coffee Morning

• COEX Fair Seoul

• Luxbit Art Company

FLICKR

Did you know we add all our photos to Flickr? With no restrictions on the number of photos we can share, you will be able to see every photo from all the events around School. Why not have a look now?

NLCS Jeju Awards and Achievements

INTERNATIONAL MATHEMATICS MODELLING CHALLENGE

“IMMC (International Mathematics Modelling Challenge) is an international competition where a team of maximum four students solve a mathematical modelling problem for a span of five days. This year’s challenge was regarding the increasing rates of pet abandonment across the world. We had to design a suitability model of whether the prospective owner will be suitable to have a pet receiving diverse factors of our choice. This year’s task was subdivided into three different sub-tasks: designing a suitability model for cats, extending the designed model to four different pet species, and estimating the number of future pet owners using our model.

Our team initially tackled this problem by selecting suitable inputs that we will receive from the prospective owners and finding suitable data regarding these inputs. We then came up with a suitability model using a radar chart consisting of four different major factors which we thought the pet would need in order to grow in a suitable environment. We mostly modelled the inputs to the outputs using a logistic function (function that outputs between 0 and 1) to measure the suitability and drew a radar chart using the output as its edges forming a square. By finding the area of the square formed through the radar chart, we have assessed that the pet owner will be suitable to have the pet when the area is larger than 0.5 out of maximum of 2 as having 0.5 on every criteria will yield the area of 0.5.

Our biggest challenge throughout the competition was accessing data and analysing the data. In order to model logistic curves and other types of regressions, we needed a wide range of raw data available to us, which was very hard to find and access. Additionally, we also needed to suit our model into 5 different animal species which was a challenge as we had to have different constraints within our model.

Overall, this year’s IMMC problem was very insightful and interesting as we could dive deeper into the issue of pet abandonment which is a prevalent issue around the globe. Our team worked very collaboratively in the short span of five days to complete the model and write a 20-page report regarding our model. Personally, as this is likely to be my last competition at NLCS Jeju, it will become an unforgettable memory for me.”

Aaren Joonseok Kang (Y13)

NLCS Jeju Awards and Achievements

2024 ICU JUNIOR WORLD CHEERLEADING CHAMPIONSHIP

Year 3 Ian Kong participated in the 2024 Junior World Cheerleading Championship held in Orlando, USA as a Korea representative. Although they didn’t win the award, you can check out the Korean team’s wonderful performance through the link below. Well done Ian!

Final Performance https://youtu.be/zKlcOzGrfMY?si=AdJ3g8KRXYJNAMNN

RED CAMPAIGNER

Following last year, NLCS Jeju was selected as the 10th Red Campaigner, a high school blood donation ambassador by the Red Cross. Among the 48 high schools in Korea, Ohyun High School and NLCS Jeju were selected in Jeju, and a launching ceremony was held at the Jeju Blood Institute of the Red Cross on Saturday, May 4th.

NLCS Jeju won a service award for being in the top six of the 48 ambassadors nationwide in the 9th Red Campaigner last year!

Enterprise ABO supporters will work hard to improve blood donation awareness and promote blood donation on campus, online, and offline this year as well.

NLCS Jeju Awards and Achievements

RED CAMPAIGNER

Year 10 Ahyoung (Bella) Kim, Ryeogyung (Esther) Kim, Nayeon (Chloe) Kim, Siwoo Hwang, Soul Park, Sooin Cho, Jio Jung

Year 11 Wonjun (Aaron) Cho, Ryan Hoseung Jung, Yunseo (Claire) Park

DON’T MISS YOUR CHANCE TO SUPPORT OUR GREAT AWARD WINNING STUDENTS….

BLOOD DONATION BUS

The blood bus is back on campus tomorrow, there is still time to sign up and donate! We will be sharing photos of everyone who donates on our social media throughout the day tomorrow, so cheer them on!

• Mach Form for Students and Staff

• Mach Form for Parents.

Other News

CALENDAR COMPETITION

Last year we provided an opportunity to our community to enter a photo competition with the winning submission featuring on the front page of our desk calendar. Due to its great success we are back and looking for a new front cover!

Students and staff are invited to enter - if you have taken a great photo of Jeju - in landscape mode - why not enter? One entry per person.

Entry form

Deadline: 7 June

Winners announced: 14 June

ROMANS VS CELTS

The annual Romans vs Celts battle took place last week. The event is a great opportunity for our Junior School students to put into action what they have been learning in class. Such activities help to reinforce and deepen an understanding of a subject and makes learning fun.

Thank you to our Junior School PRG for arranging the family picnic at the event. It was a great day! More photos. Here’s a reminder of the fantastic photo, submitted by Ms. Hyunjin Jo, that won last year!

RESCUE RED TED!

Other News

To rescue Red Ted, who got stuck at the top of the tower, Year 1 students have trained to be superheroes!

To become a superhero, students had to undergo training - including a physical fitness session and a nutritious cooking class, to build their superhero strength and a lesson on coding to help them solve puzzles.

After the training, they were finally able to rescue Red Ted! All the students have passed the superhero training and received a certificate and super power snack.

The theme for this term for year 1 is superheroes and is based around the famous book called Supertato. The interest of the children was sparked by a video message that was received from an evil villain who told them that he had taken Red Ted forever and put him at the top of the tower. Such an activity allows our students to learn about teamwork, problem solving, healthy eating and lifestyle and communication skills in a fun way. More photos.

Other News

CHILDREN’S DAY - 5 MAY

We celebrate our students every day, but Sunday 5 May is a special day for our children and those around the world.

Thank you to our Senior School PRG for arranging ice creams to be served last Friday and to our Junior School PRG for providing gifts to all our students.

Other News

TEACHERS VS STUDENTS FOR CHILDREN’S DAY

Thanks also to ourJunior School Student Council Chairs for arranging the teachers vs students competitions on Monday.

PARENTS’ DAY - 8 MAY

NLCS Jeju is an incredibly lucky School. All of our parents are invested in their child’s education and very supportive of the School. On 8 May we gave thanks to all the parents at NLCS Jeju. We have a committed PRG who share ideas and support the School, as well as their acts of kindness such as ice creams for students - thank you, and we have a great group of parents actively involved in the Friends of NLCS Jeju - thank you! We hope you enjoyed your special day.

Today our parents were invited to a special event on the Community Astro, after the Junior School Sports Day, to celebrate them and give thanks! We hope you enjoy your afternoon.

TEACHERS’ DAY -15 MAY

NEW PSYCHOLOGY IGCSE

NLCS Jeju teachers are exceptional. We are lucky to have such experienced, passionate and knowledgeable teachers who have the best interest of our students at the heart of everything they do.

On 15 May we celebrate them and give thanks to them all! Our PRG has arranged a special treat for them all…we will share photos on the day!

NLCS Jeju is now offering IGCSE Psychology. IGCSE Psychology is an engaging qualification that introduces students to the fundamentals of psychology, developing critical analysis, independent thinking and research skills. The course is an Oxford AQA course that offers excellent preparation for IBDP Psychology.

IGCSE Psychology helps with studying other subjects as well such as natural sciences.

Other News

NEW PSYCHOLOGY IGCSE

Students will be studying highly engaging and interesting topics such as how our memory works, why we are tricked by visual illusions, how our brain determines our behaviour, the study of mental disorders such as OCD and PTSD, how animal and human communication is different and whether language determines thought or thought determines language.

AT NLCS Jeju, we offer a wide range of extra curricular activities in the Psychology department to help students extend their learning beyond the curriculum. For example, CCAs , and visiting speakers.

Why should students choose IGCSE Psychology?

The qualification would suit students who are scientific in their approach to learning, and do not see themselves on a path to extended writing subjects such as History, Global Politics and Philosophy in the IBDP.

Psychology is a science, but a special kind of science which is a social science. It is a subject that would suit a student who wishes to study a science-based Humanities subject.

PUPPIES WITH PURPOSE

There was cuteness overload on Monday During our Year 6 ‘Puppies with Purpose’ exhibition. Staff and students were invited to enjoy the exhibition and donate their spare change to raise money for the Hondi Dorang Animal Shelter. If you missed the exhibition and would like to donate, please email Ms. Walker today! (mwalker@nlcsjeju.kr). Well done to all our artists.

COMPUTER SCIENCE LEARNING ZONE

Our very own Computer Science teacher, Mr. Towner has a YouTube Channel where he shares in depth tutorials on all things computing! Take a look at some of his recent informative videos. These videos are great for reinforcing what has been taught in lessons and are interesting for anyone who wants to learn more!

BOARDING NEWS

A boarding information session was held on campus today for all those students and parents who are considering transferring to boarding from August.

There is still time to make a request to change - either speak to Mr. Peter Scargill or Mr. Crispian Waterman, or complete the ‘Day to Boarding Transfer Request’ form on the Parent Portal.

The ARTS

BOARDING INFORMATION SESSION ART FESTIVAL

The Arts Festival is back and bigger than ever (if that is even possible!). As this is Mr. Tamlyns last Festival we know it will be extra special. With a range of performances taking place throughout the week, including the return of some of our talented alumni, we will not be disappointed. This year’s theme is ‘Vital Connections’.

We will look forward to sharing photos and videos during and after the event. Take a look at last year’s video to get in the mood!

Well done to Yunseo (Louisa) Kim who has designed this year’s poster - the second year in a row she has created the winning design.

THE ARTS

THE ARTS

WHOLE SCHOOL CHORAL CONCERT

Students, staff, parents and grandparents joined together to perform for us all last week - what a wonderful community event. Thank you Ms. Ruth Baker (Head of Junior School Music) for arranging.

If you missed it, watch it here.

THE ARTS

LUXBIT ART COMPANY

Thank you to Luxbit Art Company for visiting NLCS Jeju last week and performing so beautifully for our students.

The dancers, who have a visual impairment, were an inspiration to us all and we thoroughly enjoyed their performance. What a wonderful treat for our students.

THE ARTS

LAMDA

“LAMDA is one of the world’s oldest and most respected drama schools and awarding organisations. The exams inspire and empower learners across the globe to be confident communicators. The qualifications are widely recognised and count towards Duke of Edinburgh and even UCAS points for entrance to UK universities. NLCS introduced LAMDA exams this academic year and we have just finished the second round of exams for LAMDA. Our results from the first set of exams were exceptional with 100% of learners achieving merit or above and over 80% receiving distinctions and we look forward to this set of learners achieving a wonderful set of results again soon. Students have the option of participating in a LAMDA CCA or Bryant to participate in the exams.” - Ms. Fiona McDonnell (Drama Teacher).

SPORT

FIRST SCHOOL SPORTS DAY

Yesterday’s First School Sports Day was jungle themed! Well done to everyone who participated, you all showed wonderful sportsmanship and teamwork, as well as following the Learning Habits perfectly.

SPORT

JUNIOR SCHOOL SPORTS DAY

As we complete today’s newsletter, the Junior School Sports Day is underway. We will share photos soon! “This year we are trying a new sports-focused approach to promote teamwork, strategy, and house discussions, with points accumulated in five sports. This format not only promotes collaboration but also encourages recognition of each house member’s unique strengths.” Ms. Sophie Perry (Head of PE).

A great weekend for our swimmers, here are a list of those who qualified in the top 3 places of each event.

Barry Choi (Y13)

50 Freestyle: 1st

50 Breaststroke: 1st

Daniel Kim (Y9)

50 Freestyle: 3rd

50 Breaststroke: 2nd

Kyran Coughlan (Y12)

100 Freestyle: 2nd

GEC SWIM MEET

Simon Lee (Y8) 50 Butterfly: 3rd

Sieon Sung, Daniel Kim, Barry Choi, Kyran Coughlan 4x50m Freestyle Relay: 1st

William Cho, Aiden Lee, Andy Park, Daniel Kim 4x50m Medley Relay: 3rd

SPORT

TABLE

TENNIS

Well done to all our table tennis students who competed last weekend. Thank you to Ms. Laetitia Choi for accompanying them. Special thanks to Dylan Seo (HS Captain) who stayed behind to coach our younger students for their finals, it was much appreciated.

Lower ES:

Team event: Silver (Henry Yoonseop Kim, Daniel Yoonki Chung)

Double event: Silver (Henry Yoonseop Kim, Daniel Yoonki Chung)

Higher ES:

Team event: Gold (Yoon Sung, Jeffrey Lee, Ha Yool Ko)

Single event: 1 Silver and 2 Bronze

Jeffrey Lee: Silver

Ha Yool Ko: Bronze

Ethan Kim: Bronze

HS:

Team event: Bronze (Dylan Seo, Derrick Kim, Felix Lee, Kevin Shin)

Double event: Bronze (Dylan Seo, Derrick Kim)

KISAC GOLF

Congratulations to Jun Woo Lee (Y6) and Jaebaek Lee (Y9) who won 1st and 2nd place respectively at the recent KISAC Golf tournament that took place at Elysian Jeju CC. We are also pleased to announce that the team also won the Team Trophy! Well done all.

OUTDOOR EDUCATION

DOFE

The first DofE trip of Term 3 took place recently with a group of Year 10 Bronze International Award students travelling to Gwangju. All three groups successfully completed their courses through the Baegasan mountain range, and also took time to visit the National Cemetery to pay their respects. Well done to all of you, particularly when the weather became very wet! Thank you to the teachers who accompanied them.

Our second DofE trip will take place from tomorrow, when more Year 10 students head off to Gwanju. Keep checking our social media pages for updates on their journey. Good luck everyone.

OUTDOOR EDUCATION

YEAR 8 RESIDENTIAL TRIP

Last week our Year 8 students enjoyed an outdoor activity and adventure trip to Pyeonchang. They took part in a number of exciting activities which pushed them out of their comfort zone, built resilience and ensured they had lots of fun. Activities included rafting, hiking, climbing and caving. Here are just some of the photos. Thank you to the Beyond the Curriculum team for their arrangements and for accompanying our students.

FOCUS ON SIXTH FORM

“My tutor group is a delightful blend of aspiring mathematicians, historians, stage technicians, sports enthusiasts, and creative artists. Over the past six years, being able to witness the students growing up closely and spending many moments together has been the greatest joy as a tutor. I vividly remember the moments of great achievement during Sports Days, the times we gathered in the classroom to eat tteokbokki and sing karaoke, and the sunny days we used to take walks around the school together. As time passed, I could see the students’ potential blossoming, and their talents and interests gradually becoming clearer. I feel privileged to have played a part in their journey.

MEET THE TUTOR: MS DAJUNG KIM Y12DKI

FOCUS ON SIXTH FORM

As an example,I have had the pleasure of having Taehyun in my tutor group since he was a Year 7 student. He is an intelligent and confident student, passionate about various areas of study. With dreams of becoming an economist, Taehyun’s logical thinking and impressive analysis skills are sure to pave the way for him to achieve his aspirations in the future.”- Ms. Dajung Kim.

TAEHYUN (TERRY) KIM-12DJK

“Economics has been my favourite area of study since I was young; although, I must confess, it was initially about buying all the snacks from the school shop and reselling them at higher prices! The uniqueness of economics lies in its versatility. From mathematics to philosophy, economics can be a great weapon to ‘level up’ one’s game.

To do well in IB Economics, in my opinion, is to understand the mathematical relationships between concepts. Many students often end up memorising the shapes of different curves, and strengths of different policies. Nonetheless, once you understand the mathematical relationships between different curves and the everyday implications of policies around us, you can speak economics.

All in all, consider economics a language to be understood, rather than a textbook to be memorised.” - Taehyun.

JINWOO (BEN) PARK-12DMO

“Ben is calm and reserved but he deals with challenges bravely like he did with his fractured clavicle! His love of sport is boundless, and he has very kindly allowed me to beat him a couple at chess!”- Mr. Anthony Moore.

“This academic year has been splendid in terms of surmounting challenges that came from the IB curriculum. I’ve always been passionate about learning and playing sports ever since childhood and given my strengths and interests, I plan

FOCUS ON SIXTH FORM

to major in Sports Management and establish a career within the realm of sports enterprise in the future. In pursuit of majoring in sports management, I have actively engaged in the football squad, basketball squad, and leadership roles in our school. I am looking forward to ending this year with fun-loving events like Arts Week and engaging in convivial activities.” - Jinwoo.

YOUNG-JUN (JULIUS) CHO-12KMM

“Julius is an exceptionally determined individual, steadfastly committed to his vision. As his tutor, I thoroughly enjoy his confident presence, which brings a unique and energising dynamic to our tutor group and school.” - Mr. Kyungmin Maeng.

“For the past six years, I’ve been a part of NLCS Jeju. Transitioning into my senior year, now a Sixth Former, which has brought with it a heightened sense of responsibility. With the change in my school attire, I felt a deeper obligation to guide younger students while also realising I’m edging closer to adulthood.

Year 12 is the most important year as it’s the final year of preparing for university applications. The external and internal pressures looming over me have been daunting. Yet, navigating through the deadlines and exams, I’ve come to realise that the true reward lies in the sense of accomplishment derived from these experiences—a lesson I’ll carry forward. Participating in various national and global competitions has yielded considerable outcomes and allowed me to establish new connections, particularly in our newly integrated mixed-gender classes. This shift in our learning environment has been refreshing, allowing me to witness new friends starting relationships.

The slight relaxation in our dress code has been refreshing also. Buying proper business attire meant a step into the adult world, a moment of pride shared with my parents. It also signalled a respect from the school towards our maturity.

Amongst all the experiences, the annual exams stand out as both most exciting and frightening. They serve as the deciding factor for our predicted grades sent to universities, further heightening the pressure. Studying late into the night became routine. Yet, overcoming these challenges fill me with pride. I also anticipate to overcome any obstacles awaiting me at university.” Julius.

CULTURAL AWARENESS COMMITTEE

DEAF AWARENESS WEEK - 6-12 MAY

Each year, the week brings awareness to the isolation that deaf people can experience, whilst promoting social inclusion of those with hearing loss.

GLOBAL ACCESSIBILITY AWARENESS DAY - 16 MAY

An annual event aimed at fostering understanding and driving conversation about digital accessibility and inclusion for people with disabilities.

CULTURAL AWARENESS COMMITTEE

INTERNATIONAL DAY AGAINST HOMOPHOBIA, TRANSFOBIA, AND BIPHOBIA - 17 MAY

The day aims to coordinate international events that raise awareness of LGBT rights violations and stimulate interest in LGBT rights work worldwide. By 2016 the commemorations had taken place in over 130 countries.

ADMISSIONS NEWS

Private Family Tours

We offer tours every week to families who may want to join NLCS Jeju. Email or call admissions today to book your appointment.

RECEPTION OPEN

We are pleased to announce that we have a few places remaining in Reception for August 2024, if you know anyone with a Reception aged child who missed the deadline to apply please encourage them to contact the Admissions Team today and arrange their child’s assessment!

AND FINALLY

SECONDHAND UNIFORM SALE

Our fabulous Parent Representative Group, with the support of our Parent Liaison Managers and our Beyond the Curriculum Team are arranging another Secondhand Uniform Sale.

In our two previous sales we have raised a staggering 1.6m and 2.4m won for charity!!!

Date: 3 June

Time: 1pm to 4pm

Location: Parent’s Hub (PAC)

Donate your child’s used uniform - if you have any items that your child no longer needs, that are in excellent condition and washed - please donate.

See the email sent via isams or contact the PRG or your Parent Liaison Manager for more information.

AND FINALLY

Our Junior School Samulnori group will be performing at the Jeju Olle Festival tomorrow. We encourage all our community members to attend and show their support!

Date: 11 May

Time: 5.20pm

Location: Jaguri Park, 120-8 Chilsimni-ro, Seogwipo (Korean address is 서귀포시 칠십리로 120-8)

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