13 October 2017
Dear Parents,
After a pleasant vacation, the secondary school got straight back to work. Monday saw the Grade 6 attending the Tennis at the Shanghai Rolex Masters (see review from Cassie Wang (G6AC) below who had the honour as working as a ball girl), the prestigious Maths ASMA competition took place and yesterday was celebrated World Hispanic Day for the first time. Reports on all these events will be featured in next week’s edition.
This edition will focus on our Sports Day – it happened and after rescheduling three times last year, the weather was on our side! The sun was shining and our Cross Stream Sports Day was a roaring success.
The Olympic motto of faster, higher, stronger was in full force on the day. It was pleasing to see both the competitive element and and supportive teamwork from students throughout the day. The values of sport were truly displayed.
The day included a full range of events including:
– running
– javelin
– standing long jump
– standing triple jump
– shot put
– houserelays
There were also additional house participation events such as big ball penalty-shots and table-tennis target practice and this is where the team spirit of taking part really paid off in house points.
The highlight of the day was of course the interhouse tug of war contest.
When all the results were tallied, we were left with one House as winners: Green House. They were duly applauded!
Being a Ball Girl at the Rolex Masters
Cassie Wang (G6AC) writes of her unique experience: “Being a Ball girl is a tough job, and it’s not easy to do it perfectly. It requires a quick reaction to what the players need. It also trains your willpower and makes you more confident. I really enjoyed the experience!”
We Chat
Unfortunately, this week a section of our student body have let themselves down through the incorrect use of wechat. We feel that it is important to highlight our policy and advice to you as parents.
Please do read this carefully and discuss with your son and daughter. We chat is a fantastic tool however when used inappropriately it can have devsating effects. We must all be vigilant and manage ourselves in public and in private.
Children who are old enough to swipe a screen can have access to the world. But that access can also pose hazards. The Internet can be a wonderful resource for students. They often use it at the request of teachers to research for school work or their own projects；play interactive games , for reading, watching videos and perhaps most frequently, for communicating with their peers.
Recently we have noted a raise in negative internet use: specifically the students’ use of social media.
These kinds of sites are public and students should not post anything they wouldn’t want the world to know, anything that could embarrass them in the future or anything that could cause hurt to others.
We cannot as a school monitor your son or daughter’s use of sites such as ‘wechat’ and nor would we wish to. We can try to educate the students in school through assemblies and during tutor time PSHE, but we also need your help to educate the students about its misuse.
Please do monitor what your son or daughter posts online by looking at their personal pages or mobile phone group chats together with them regularly. It’s wise to talk with your children about any concerns, to take advantage of resources to protect them, and keep a close eye on their activities. Please see http://m.kidshealth.org/en/parents/net-safety.html?WT.ac= for some helpful tips for you and your son or daughter.
We have warned the students that any use of social media which causes harm or hurt to their peers and therefore disruption to learning will not be tolerated. We will alert the parents of all of the students involved. As a school we need to be able to focus on learning. Please be aware that you are responsible for your child’s use of social media, and any incidence that we hear about will be referred directly to you.
If an incident is very serious this could have implications on your son or daughter’s future here at SUIS. All the students in our school must feel safe and comfortable in order to be able to achieve their best.
We have included the relevant section from our Internet Saftey Policy for your reference:
Mobile Phones:
We appreciate that many students carry mobile phones and that parents feel reassured if their children are able to contact them in case of an emergency. We would like to remind parents and students that, as per the school’s Technology Policy:
- Students should not utilize any technology on the school compound without the guidance and presence of a teacher.
- Failure to follow school technology policy will result in the confiscation of the device for 24
hours, or up to one week, upon the discretion of the teacher. Parents or guardians may be requested to pick up the devices after they have been confiscated.
We appreciate your support in ensuring that our school is a safe and secure learning environment for all our students.
Student Use of Social Media:
These days of affordable technology it is common for many students to have access to social media and messaging services. Here at school we remind students of the importance of respectful and appropriate communication and how we are all responsible for our actions and how those actions impact upon others. We appreciate when parents reinforce this message at home and instruct their students in correct use of technology, wherever they may be.
Guidance for Wechat and QQ Group/similar:
- Wechat and QQ Group’s usage is only for positive communication. Practice the rule of communication, which is friendliness, respectfulness and sincereness. Forbid bad words and personalities in online public occasion. If regarding the individual issue, please communicate the relative party personally instead of using Wechat or QQ Group.
- Control the time of using wechat and QQ. You may allow your child use it during weekend for maximum 30 minutes.
- Only talk with the person who you trust for. Do not talk with strangers and involved in the group with strangers.
With Best Wishes,
