Dear Parents,
Good morning!
I hope that you enjoyed the Qing Ming and Easter week with your family. We are now well into April, and summer temperatures will be arriving very soon! In today’s email, I would like to highlight some upcoming events in April and gather information about student relationships for the next school year.
Upcoming Events
The final two and a half months of school are always very busy. There are many events that happen in addition to students working very hard to achieve their goals for the year. Please take note of these important dates in the next couple of weeks:
Friday, April 24 – U9 and U11 Blue Dragons’ Basketball at XLIS (after school game, please come and cheer!)
Wednesday, April 29 – PYP P6 Exhibition
Thursday, April 30 – Parent Workshop
Friday, May 1 – Monday, May 4 – Labor Day holiday, school resumes on Tuesday, May 5
Classes for the 2026-2027 year
The students’ social-emotional well-being is very important to us at XLIS. There are many factors that we consider when making the classes for the next academic year. We must ensure that the classes are well balanced in terms of boys/girls, English proficiency levels, nationalities, behaviours, etc. Now is the time for our teachers and me to start thinking about current classes and decide which students learn well together and which may be better in separate classes next year.
I am happy to receive feedback from parents about students your son or daughter gets along well with and would like to be in a class with. You may send this to me before May 22nd, as after this time, the classes will be sorted, and changes will not be possible. If you could let me know 2-3 students your child would like to be in a class with, I can ensure they will be with at least 1.
Please note that I will not be accepting any special requests for teachers. I am only asking for feedback on peer relationships. Thank you for your understanding.
PYP Exhibition – Wednesday, April 29th
In their final year of the Primary Years Programme (PYP), students engage in the PYP Exhibition, an important inquiry that allows students to apply the knowledge and skills they have developed throughout the PYP while exploring real-life issues of interest. They will present their research and actions to the school community through engaging exhibits, hands-on models, and written reports, showcasing their understanding of real-world challenges and innovative solutions.
Topics for this year’s exhibition include cultural awareness and belonging, human choices affecting animal welfare and the environment, technological innovations in waste management, balancing academic pressure and student well‑being, and communication and perspective‑taking to resolve disagreements in sports. We look forward to celebrating our students’ hard work and creativity at the P6 PYP Exhibition!
Parent Workshop – Thursday, April 30th
This workshop will be led by Mr. Johnny Fees (P3A Homeroom Teacher, Lower Primary Lead Teacher) .
Theme: Building Strong Partnerships: Enhancing Collaboration Between Parents and Teachers in the PYP
This workshop emphasizes the essential collaboration between parents and teachers in the PYP to support student growth. When parents engage positively and actively, it creates a strong environment that boosts their child’s development. This partnership empowers parents to play a key role in their child’s ongoing learning journey.
WIDA English Proficiency Assessments
Over the past several years, we have administered the WIDA Model English Proficiency assessment for our students whose home language is not English in both primary and secondary school. Once complete, students’ scores reflect phases of English proficiency between 1 and 6 in the areas of speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Phase 1 reflects students who are at an emergent level, and Phase 6 reflects close to a ‘native speaker’ level. This assessment serves two purposes at XLIS:
1. As an entrance-level assessment for students in P4 or above. An overall score of 2 is the requirement for P4 and P5, while a 2.5 is the requirement for P6. These benchmarks reflect the level of English proficiency we feel is necessary for students to be successful in the upper primary grades.
2. As a progress monitoring tool, to check our students’ English progress each year. We will be assessing the students from P3 to P6 who have been receiving EAL support this year. In addition, all P2 students are given the assessment to gather a baseline data point to assess if they will need EAL support in P3.
This assessment happens annually each spring. Students who are in Phases 1 and 2 (up to 2.9) will receive support from our EAL and Homeroom team to create learning goals for those students, based on the data from their assessment. Our goal is for students to increase by at least one phase each year. So, if they are in the 2 range this spring, by next spring, we hope they will have reached 3 or above.
Starting from last week, our EAL team has been working very hard to complete the assessments for our students. We will be happy to share the data with you when they are complete, around the end of May.
That is all for now! I hope that you enjoy the warmer weather and that we get to see you at school for one of the upcoming parent workshops or events.
Please always feel welcome to send me a message about how your child is doing at our school!
Sincerely,
Marly Song
Primary Principal
WeChat: principal_marly
