Dear Parents,
Hello XLIS community! It has been a wonderful start to the new year, with many new faces and new friendships being made in the classes. This week (on Wednesday) is Teacher Appreciation Day in China! In addition to all of our teaching staff here at XLIS, I know that many of our parents are also educators, so I would like to take this opportunity to extend a heartfelt “THANK YOU” for your dedication to the growth and well-being of children. Also, as parents, you are your child’s first and most important teacher. Take a moment today to be proud of your achievements, because the students who come to XLIS are amazing, and we are very proud of them all! We would ask you to please refrain from getting gifts for teachers at XLIS, as a handwritten letter of appreciation is worth millions to a teacher.
In my letter today, I’d like to highlight upcoming events and activities that are happening this month.
September Assessments
This week, our P2–P6 students are taking the NWEA MAP (Measured Academic Progress) assessment. This external assessment measures students’ progress over time. The more times they take the assessment (for those who were at XLIS last year), the more easily parents, students, and teachers can see students’ progress and areas they may need to focus on in the future. We were so happy to see many parents attend the session delivered by MAP representatives last week to help you gain a better understanding of all it can tell us.
Our Early Years to P1 students will be completing the writing, mathematics, and Core Phonics (P1) assessments in their classes over the next 3 weeks. These assessments are also intended to give our teachers valuable information about each child’s level in these subject areas.
When all of the data from Early Years to P6 has been collected from these assessments, our teaching teams will sit together to analyze the results to inform the teaching and learning that follows. Information will also be shared with parents by the end of September.
International Day of World Peace – Act Now for a Peaceful World
Coming up on September 20th is an important day for XLIS as well as the global community, the International Day of World Peace. Please see the two links below to learn more about this special day and have conversations with your child at home about why this is an important day for reflection on the world today.
https://www.un.org/en/observances/international-day-peace
Over the next few weeks, our students will be learning more about peace in the world and why it is important. Each class has chosen a country or region to represent in a booth during the event. Parents have been asked to support their child’s homeroom with the activity as well. You may communicate directly with your child’s homeroom teacher if you are able to support. We hope you can join us for this school event that will have performances, speeches, and artwork prepared by our students.
Parent Open Days
This week, our P1 and P2 parents will have the opportunity to come to their child’s class for the morning to observe the class and to learn about their daily school life. Soon, our PR will send a link for our P3/P4 parents and P5/P6 parents to do the same. Unfortunately, we can only accept 5 parents per class, so if you are interested, please keep an eye out for the link that will be sent by our PR team. The P3/P4 event will be on September 18th and the P5/P6 event on September 25th.
Reading – It Takes a Community!
In my last letter, I emphasized how our teachers have taken steps to support our students in their development of reading skills. I shared some books that Early Years parents may read with their children at home to help them develop a love of reading.
Today, I will share some books for the P1 level students. These books can be found in our school library. They are chosen because they are fun to read and help children love stories. When parents take the time to read with their children, it supports developing healthy reading habits later in their school life. Here are some books you may consider:
Swimmy – Leo Lionni
Rainbow Fish – Marcus Pfister
Planting a Rainbow – Lois Ehlert
Stone Soup – Jon J Muth
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad, Day – Judith Viorst
The Adventures of Beekle: the Unimaginary Friend – Dan Santat
Grumpy Monkey – Suzanne Lang
Dragons Love Tacos – Adam Rubin
Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site – Sherri Duskey Rinker
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom – Bill Martin Jr.
Chicka Chicka 1, 2, 3 – Bill Martin Jr.
Where the Wild Things Are – Maurice Sendak
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie – Laura Numeroff
The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog! – Mo Willems
The Gruffalo – Julia Donaldson (one of my personal favourites!)
Giraffes Can’t Dance – Giles Andreae
Room on the Broom – Julia Donaldson
Leo the Late Bloomer – Robert Kraus (English and Chinese versions)
The Snowy Day – Ezra Jack Keats
Elmer – David McKee
Caps for Sale – Esphyr Slobodkina
Bear Snores On – Karma Wilson
Duck & Goose – Tad Hills
I hope that your child has enjoyed their first few weeks of school and that they feel safe and happy while they are with us. As always, I love to hear from you, so please contact me at any time with your thoughts or questions.
Email: marly.song@xalis.com
WeChat: principal_marly
Sincerely,
Marly Song
