New International School of Thailand

A warm welcome to Year 5 @ NIST

A new school year brings new challenges and exciting changes. The Year 5 Team would like to share some important information with you.

Ye a r 5 Newsletter 1
Tuesday 23rd August 2011

Communication continues to develop. The Class Bloga place where you can read information from the teacher about upcoming events, share what your child is working on currently in class and at times involve yourself in current homework assignments. Email a direct method of contact between parent and teacher. Veracrossan information system for home/school contact and medical information, schedule information and upcoming events. Newslettersto inform you of upcoming events and keep you informed about Year Group and School events. The Portala place for key information such as ECAs, school calendars etc Each of these methods serves a different purpose and we are confident that you should always find what you are looking for. There is a Back to School Night tonight from 6.00 to 6.50pm in the Theatre and 7.00 -7.50pm in the Year 5 classrooms. This is a great way to meet and greet your classroom teacher. During this time you will learn more about Year 5 expectations and the programs we teach. If you have any questions or concerns please email your childs classroom teacher. We do hope that we can all learn and work together to achieve the best for your child.

The Year 5 Team

Jane Cooper Year Coordinator jcooper@nist.ac.th Kate Kitsos kkitsos@nist.ac.th Mondira Mukherjee mmukherjee@nist.ac.th Moi (Moira)Litchfield mlitchfield@nist.ac.th Jeanette Cline jcline@nist.ac.th Trish Curtain Learning Support tcurtain@nist.ac.th Aixa Avila Mendoza ESL Teacher
aavilaMendoza@nist.ac.th

The Year 5 Team is looking forward to a wonderful year which will see the students:

become increasingly focused and independent learners become more aware of the importance of organization and good time management meet challenges in a positive and thoughtful manner be excited by the learning experiences they are involved in work together and be caring and considerate of their friends and classmates

Miss Nid Academic Assistant

Parent Handbook
The Elementary School Parent Handbook which contains lots of useful information is available on the Portal. We would like to highlight a few key areas:
Page 23 - Birthdays School Arrival and Departure Page 22 and Page 26

Please note that we are happy to celebrate birthdays through prior organization of a suitable time with individual class teachers. Something which is easy to share, such as cupcakes or brownies, are welcomed. Cakes which need to be cut are difficult for class teachers to organize.

We do appreciate that traffic in Bangkok is always busy . However, can you please try to ensure that your child is in school before the start of school bell rings. We do understand that occasionally there are situations which are beyond our control but regular lateness makes it difficult for your child, and the rest of their class. Homeroom time is a time which sets the scene for the day, homework may be marked, notices read out and activities may commence. If children regularly arrive late it affects their organizational routine and they may miss key information.

Similarly, it is important that children are collected promptly after school or ECAs.

PE and Swimming Queries Page 35

Communication and Homework

Page 24 - Communication

Please contact class teachers directly if you have any concerns. Please remember that between 7.25am and 2.30pm our priority is teaching our classes and we have limited time until after this period. Please be patient and may we assure you that we will respond to emails as soon as we possibly can. Similarly if you wish to speak directly to a teacher it is always appreciated if an appointment is arranged.

If you are not able to resolve matters please contact the Year Coordinator. Most initial communication between parents and teachers will be via a school diary, the Blog or email. The new Veracross system can be logged onto through the NIST Portal and parents are asked to ensure that their contact details are kept up-todate. Pages 30-31 - Homework Please could you monitor that your child completes all homework set carefully. Some tasks may specifi-

cally ask for your input but much of the work set should be done independently or with guidance if needed. In Year 5 we expect that students will:

read for 15-20 mins each day complete 20 minutes of homeroom assignments

complete 20 mins of World

Language assignments This is obviously only a guide as students will take differing lengths of time to complete tasks.

Uniform and Lost Property

Page 43 - Uniform Please could you assist your child in coming to school wearing the appropriate uniform each day. Footwear is an area which needs regular re-enforcement. Students should wear shoes or trainers which are predominantly black or white. Sandals and crocs are not permitted. School jumpers and jackets are now available in the uniform shop for the cooler months. Page 33 - Lost Property During the year there is an amazing amount of lost property collected, most of which does not have names and is never collected. Please can we ask that you check that all of your childs uniform and belongings are clearly named in permanent pen, laundry marker or appropriate name labels. If your child does lose any items it is important that they ask their class teacher and that they visit the lost property department in the basement of the secondary building.