The Perse Post AY23/24 T1 W6

❖ Introduction from The Principal

❖ Walky Talky Tuesdays

❖ Key Stage news

❖ Subject Weekly Content

❖ Art and Design

❖ Physical Education

❖ Science

❖ Inspirational Insights

❖ Music

❖ Chinese

❖ Spotlight on people in our community

❖ Lantern Making competition

❖ Houses

❖ Pupil Voice

❖ Mid Autumn Festival

❖ Reminders

❖ Updates from Perse Parents Association

❖ Academic Year Book

❖ Parent guidance for online safety and social safeguarding

❖ Important contact information including Safeguarding update

Introduction from the Principal; NicholasBelcher

It has been a wonderful week of engagement, collaboration, partnership , communication.

Starting with an exciting first performance by our Year 2's during a space assembly (featured in this week's edition) to hosting Principals from India eager to learn and share. With the exciting Key stage 3 news our week did not stop and it continued with the induction of our Year 7 prefects and confirmation of a mental health certification coming to our Key stage 3 in November from leading practitioners Mind Your Health ltd . It would be easy to forget that we have also had a brilliant Roman experience and of course another British tea party which coincidentally was a precursor to an educative tea ceremony for Mid Autumn festival conducted for staff by our Chinese department this morning. The best way to celebrate a busy week is of course by conducting our second Fire Drill practice of the year with adaptations from the first a few weeks ago. My competitive nature was appeased that on average we are now down to just 0.65 seconds exit per student. I am always amazed how a school begins to take its shape in this part of the term with a second wind of energy, confidence and attention to opportunities and academic rigour as everyone settles into their groove. With so much going on in school, we are aware of howwe communicate this to parents and in our continued efforts are looking very closely into how best this is documented to you.

Wishing you all

中秋节快乐 Zhong Qiu Jie Kuai Le

Happy Mid Autumn Festival to you and your families.

Our School, Our Community , In action!

'Walky Talky Tuesday's' – starting next Tuesday26th September with Gillian Belcher & Arabella Lambe from 8.30am - 9.30am.

A chance for a chat amongst parents and a walk-up Bukit Timah Hill.

If it's raining, we will postpone to the following week.

We are hoping to keep this as a weekly event, so do join us! If you have any questions, please email Arabella: arabella.lambe@perse.edu.sg.

Key Stage One (Year 1-3)

Watch our video here!

Post-production,the performers stayedback to answer some insightful questions from the Year 1 and Year 3 students, ‘When will the sun turn blue?’, ‘How far away is the sun?’, and ‘What did Valentina [Tereshkova]do in space?’ A true celebration of the students intellectual curiosity, and their determinationto make the most of every opportunity! We look forward to welcoming parents into future assembly performances later as the year progresses.

Key Stage 2 (Year 4-5) News

In a digital age where technology is an integral part of daily life, it is more importantthan ever to equip our young learners with the knowledge and skills to navigatethe online world safely and responsibly. Our pupils have engaged actively in form time discussions that have led to thoughtful conversationsaboutinternet safety. They are in the process of designing posters that conveyessential internet safety messages. These posters would serve as reminders for our pupilsabout the importanceof staying safe in the digital world.

parents download ‘Youtube Kids’ for me to use at home.

We encourage parents and guardiansto continue these conversationsat home, reinforcing the importanceof safe and respectful online behaviour.

I’ve learned that I must not give away my personal information online.

My

Key Stage 3 (Year 6-8) news.

Absolutelyfantasticnews for Key Stage 3 this week as we confirm for the academic year 23/24, we will not only be continuingour provision for Year 6 but also up to Year 9 for our future years. This means that our students will be able to stay on their learning journey from Year 1 through to Year 9. I havespoken to lots of KS3 this week and they all share their joy and relief at this news. Let's hear from a few pupils about why they are happy with the news:

Tara – I love my school because when I arrive to all my teachers welcome me and it makes me feel at home.

Ava – I am very happy, I was scared about leaving because I have made great friends here and I did not want to lose these friends.

Oscar – I am happyat this school because the teachers are really nice to me and people in my class respect me. I always feel included here and did not want to leave.

Conor – It’s a small school, but it is the best school!

Subject Weekly Content

Please find below the Subject Weekly Content for Week 6.

Subject weekly content week 6.pdf

Art and Design

The year 4's are focusing on drawing trees. Our aims are to integrate structure, form, light source, value and texture. Many dirty hands made for an adventurous exploration in charcoal!

Physical Education

This week our gymnastics lessons havetaken a focus on rhythmic gymnastics with years 3 and 4 introducinga ball and years 7 and 8 progressing to hoop work. In our final few weeks of the topic students will be buildingup to planningand performing their own routines with a piece of equipment of their choice.

At the end of the units of swimming lessons or field lessons students will be assessed on the topic they have covered. They will be assessed in three categories;

Head – their abilityto apply rules of that sport and understand tactics

Heart – their effort in the lessons

Hands – their practical abilityin that sport.

These assessments will get added together with the assessments of their next activity and form continual assessment throughout the year.

Year 7 and 8 will get assessed on both their onsite lesson, currently gymnastics, and swimming.

Mrs Belcher

PE Schedule for Term 1 : Years 1 to 4 at Turf City

PE Schedule for Term 1: Years 5 to 8 at Temasek Club

Week 6 Science by Dr

King

This week has been as busy as ever in the science department. Our top activities this week included using microscopes and our Wind Power challenge in Crest Club ECA! The beautiful photos you see here were taken by our year 7 class as they learned how to use the microscopes and looked at some sample slides. Next week, they will look at some different slides and the students can practice their scientific drawing skills!

Crest club started a 2-session project to create wind turbines from a selection of materials. We used a hairdryer to provide the wind and measured their electrical output using a motor and a multimeter tool. Mr Belcher made a turbine and laid down the challenge of 34 mA for the students to beat. So far, our best crest clubbers reached 25 mA, so the competition is on next week! So brilliantto see our young engineers rise to the occasion and all for the glory (and a few house points!)

"InspirationalInsights".

Thank you to those of you who have reached out to guest speakers on our behalf and even volunteered yourselves!

We are continuing to add to our schedule so if you missedthis last week or have had time to think about what you can offer to our life long learners programme, please do fill in

Inspirational Insights registration form

Music

With our "InvigoratingInstrumentals" happeningevery Tuesday and Thursdaymornings, the community has been enjoyinglive music from our young performers. This month our musicians were Paulina and Xavier from Year 8, Rishi and Liam from Year 7, Rahul and Aari from Year 5 and our youngest musician David from Year 3. We also got to enjoy live music from Mr Pang, our beloved school cleaner who mesmerized us with the harmonica, Xiao (Chinese bamboo flute) and Hulusi (Gourd Flute). Thank you and very well done to all performers! Ms. Sara

孔明灯 Kongming Lantern

In Shifen, Taiwan, people make their wishes onto a huge paper lantern and release them into the night sky. In Year 8 SCL class, the pupils made their own Kongming lanterns and wrote classic poems related to the moon or MidAutumn Festival onto the lantern.

CHINESE

Crafts & Creative Writing

In class, we’ve explored tales of Chang’E, the jade rabbit as well as the famous archer, Houyi and the ten suns. These interesting legends have captivated theyoung minds of our pupils and helped them to appreciatethe festival’s cultural roots. From designing and colouring their own placemat for Friday’s reunion lunch to creative writing of the Chang’E story, pupils have expressed their creativity and thoughts about the festival, making each piece of work unique.

In the spirit of Mid-Autumn Festival,we encourage you to spend today’sevening with your families, under the luminousmoon, with a heart of thanksgiving while appreciatingthe beauty of this festival.

Spotlight on people in our community

Hey there, I'm Rozlianno Rozli. As the Operation & Facilities Executive, I'm the go-to person for keeping our school campus in tip-top shape. I handle routine maintenanceand repair services, whether it's carpentry, electrical, mechanical,plumbing, or any other task that pops up.

But that's not all! I'm also in charge of maintainingthe overall campus, making sure it's always looking its best. I lead and coordinate our fantasticteam of cleaners, ensuring a clean and inviting environmentfor everyone. And guess what? I'm not just handy with tools; I'm also a National Coach for Special/Underprivileged Kidsin Sepak Takraw!Plus, I'm a certified coach for Mountain Biking(Downhill)

I'm here to make sure our school runs smoothly, inside and out. If you ever see me around,feel free to say hello!

Lantern Making Competition

Important notes:

1.Bring your lantern to the school from 25th September to 2nd October. Place them neatly on the tables at the foyer.

2. Make sure to label your lantern with your name and class.

3.Judging day 2nd October 2023.

Prizes:

1.One house point if you bring your own lantern.

2.Rainbow house point if you win the competition!

Congratulations to Corinthians who are this weeks leading champions.

Particular shoutout to Fratzeska in (5.2) who scored 49 house points for Corinthians in one week, without those points Nomads may have taken the lead! Welldone!

Pupil Voice

Meet our new Year 7 Prefects!

From this week they will be starting their responsibilities around school including helping in younger year form classes and being role models in the corridors.

Let us hear from a few Prefects about how they feel starting their new role:

Shuya – "I am excited to be a prefect and to feel like I am making a difference in the school."

Kitty –

"I think it is a great opportunity to be a role model for our younger years!"

"I am excited and proud to wear my prefect badge."

Rishi –

Upcoming events

Dear Parents,

We are truly overwhelmed with gratitude for your enthusiastic sign-ups and support for our upcoming MidAutumn Festival evening. It fills our hearts with joy to see so many of you eager to join us!

We look forward to seeing each and everyone of you at our Mid-Autumn Festival evening. Remember to bring a lantern along!

Reminders

Students are able to come into school from 8.00am to see friends before going to registration.

On a Tuesday and Thursdaystudents and parents are welcome to support our Live Music in the Atrium

Attendance: Please ensure that students are attendingschool daily from 8.30 registration to 3.30, if your child needs to be absent please inform the class teacher and student services.

Hats: Please can you remind your child to bring hats into school for play. Due to the recent notice on suspected headlice,we cannot providespare hats.

Snack and Lunch: Please remind children to not bring sweets or Nut based products into school.

Updates from The Perse Parent's Association

Sumbal, Laura, Ms Lambe and Mr Belcher met this week to discuss the PPA and its revised mission statement for this year. Having discussed the context of an effective Parents Association and the importance of supportive collaboration and partnership the following Mission Statement was cultivated.

• To build on children's learning experiences

• To welcome new families

• To ensure a positive family experience

• To enable Internationalism

• To reinforce partnership and relationshipswithin the local community.

Watch this space next week for updates on exciting new events going on from our PPA!

We are lucky to have a wonderful team of PPA members (Perse Parent Association).

If you would like to become a member please contact our Head of PPA Sumbal Waqas, she and our other members would love to grow our team.

Sumbal's email is: sumbal.waqas237@.com

Academic Year 22/23

Yearbook

We are very excited to announce that our 2022/23 Yearbook is finallyhere and availableto purchase as a hard copy or free of charge here as a soft copy.

If you would like to purchase a hard copy as memorabilia,please email our Student Services team: student.services@perse.edu.sg. The cost is $25 per book. Please click on the link below to take a look: https://bit.ly/theperseschoolsg_yearbook_ay22-23

A hot topic in parenting has been the use of Air Tags for children. Whilst it is appreciated that parents are safeguarding their child on the journey to and from school, it should of course be reiterated that school is a safe place for children and rather than 'tagging' the child an air tag placed in is more appropriatefor journeys home. I include a link to an article discussing the pro's and con's of using Air tags (which Apple incidentallydoes not support) to track your child's movements. One consideration of course is the emotional impact caused by Air Tagging. The impact on the wearer in addition to the equal impact on the parent or guardian if the tag were to malfunction,become lost or inhibited by its anti stalking feature in addition to its pastoral effects on independenceand decision making.

Should You Use AirTags on Your Children?(makeuseof.com)

As a school we eagerly await the phone and wearables pouches for classrooms; students will be required to 'park' any phones or wearables in these dockets on entry to the classroom to ensure no temptation or distraction and a complete focus on the learning.

Important information

There are two days set for parental communication of whole school information. These days are set to Tuesdayand Friday at 16.00. The purpose of this is to ensure efficiency of key information and clarity for your parent inboxes!

. . .

For classroom information, 'lost lunch boxes' and key updates/events which will help teachers and your child please contact the classroom teacher directly via email.

For an appointmentwith the Principal, please use admin2theprincipal@perse.edu.sg so that a convenienttime can be allocated to ensure we can give you the full attention which it deserves.

Please may I ask that student issues are firstly communicated with the form tutor and key stage tutor to ensure full pastoral care before 'escalating' to the Principal , Deputy Principal or Assistant Headteacher. As educatorswe have regular communication channelsto share appropriateinformation. . . .

Please find our parent handbook by clicking on the link Parent Handbook

Contact Information

Phone No.: +65 6971 8210

Admissions: student.services@perse.edu.sg

General Queries: questions@perse.edu.sg

Safeguarding: safeguarding@perse.edu.sg