It has been so wonderful seeing even more students on campus this week as we complete our transition process, to ensure we are ready after the half term break to safely welcome students back to formal lessons. This will initially look different for students of different ages, due to their age and also some pragmatic factors, including the size of our learning spaces. It would be fair to say though, that the ‘giddy’ excitement of seeing students on campus and the anticipation of entering Phase 3 of our return back to campus, has been palpable all week.
We have been cautious in our movement towards Phase 3 and have worked very hard with staff, parents and students to ensure we provide the safest possible environment, to mitigate the risks of COVID that still remain. Please refer to our updated risk assessment and Whole School Phase 3 return to campus guidelines for more details, along with the specific Primary and Secondary guidance which has been communicated by Mr. Leahy and Ms. Gradden. The vast majority of parents feel comfortable with sending their children back to school based on our risk assessment and guidelines, but I would like to be explicit, that by doing so, all parents understand and accept the risks that still remain. We have strict protocols in place, should cases emerge in our community and I would, again, urge and insist that all families report to the School Nurse if any member of your household contracts or comes into close contact with someone that has COVID. The nurse will provide guidance, including when your child will be allowed back onto campus.
Have a lovely weekend and half term break, please stay safe and I look forward to seeing everybody as we move into Phase 3!
Brian Platts
Principal
Recent and future updates
Library Booking
Due to the staggered return of students after half term, the library will not be open for parent bookings for week 6.
January Primary Composers of the Month
Our January/February composer of the month was Modest Mussorgsy. We listened to his piece of music called Pictures at an Exhibition and wrote our own versions of The Promenade, The Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks and some in KS2 also had to choose one of the other pictures in the exhibition to compose a 2nd piece of music to. Click on the links below to hear their compositions.
Early Years –
KS1 –
LKS2 –
UKS2 –
ĢƵ World Book Day
As usual, ĢƵ will be celebrating World Book Day this year in the first week of March. Across the school, students will be invited to participate in a ‘Masked Caught Reading’ competition and students will celebrate all things literary in school during Week 7.
Young Women in Public Affairs Award 2021
The YPWA was established in 1990 to encourage more young women to participate in publicaffairs by recognizing their commitment to volunteering. Girls of age 16-19 who are actively committed to volunteerism, have experience in local or student government, have achievements in volunteering and leadership, and who support Zonta International’s mission of empowering women worldwide through service and advocacy are eligible to apply!
To apply you need to send an application form and letters of recommendation from your school or workplace to zontascholarshipnepal@gmail.com by the 1st of March. For more information please email the above address, or contact a member of the Z Club.
Thank you to those parents who have confirmed that this will be the last term for your child/children in ĢƵ. Early notice is a must and compulsory requirement as per the school’s policy as it does allow us to plan ahead for the new term and we can complete the clearance on time. Please let Ms. Bajracharya in the admissions office know should you require any school documents/references to provide in the new school. The last day of providing the formal notice either by email or in writing regarding the withdrawal of your child/children would be Friday, 26th February.Parents shall receive a clearance form to complete the withdrawal procedure nearer the end of this term. Failure to submit the form or returning the resources will partially affect the deposit.
Early Years News
Our youngest students are learning all about dinosaurs. Be aware that when you come to campus, you could encounter a dinosaur!
Key Stage 1 News
The Year 1 students have been showing great artistic skills this week. The finished paintings are displayed in our classroom which is slowly turning into an art gallery. The children also thoroughly enjoyed playing and working together at school!
The Year 2 students combined all their new skills and made a ‘People of the Past’ museum to take their Seesaw audience on a virtual tour. Here is a collage of pictures from Balark’s, Arya’s and Brihit’s virtual tour. Year 2 also had an amazing time welcoming students back to the classroom. They were quite literally jumping for joy!
Lower Key Stage 2 News
Years 3 and 4 have been very excited to visit ĢƵ this week for transition sessions and PE lessons. Learning new (socially-distanced!) playground games, getting used to their classrooms and chatting with both old and new friends have been highlights for all, with everyone now looking forward to spending time with each other after half term.
Upper Key Stage 2 News
With almost all of our Upper Key Stage 2 students being on campus over the course of this week, it has been absolutely wonderful to see the excitement and energy being exuded.
As we come to the end of another half term, Year 6 have been reflecting on everything they have learned during their ‘Champions for Change’ IPC unit – creating posters, presentations, drawings and putting together their own campaign ideas. We definitely have some future champions in our midsts.
Year 5 had their special guest speaker this week, talking to them about hydropower in Nepal. It was clearly a very engaging presentation, with students sharing what they found out about hydropower and it’s environmental impacts.
Key Stage 3 News
In our final week before half term, the school has been a hive of activity. A whole range of year groups from different key stages have been in this week seeing how the school is going to be running after half term. It has been amazing to see students back on campus and a bit of normality restored to school life. Due to last week’s strikes, the Y8 transition day was changed to Friday, giving them the chance to be in school for half the day. It is clear to see that all students are relishing the opportunity to see their friends and socialising as a group again. It is honestly a breath of fresh air to see the smiles returning to the faces of everyone involved in the ĢƵ community.
Although it is the school’s final week fully online and we move into the transition phase of returning back to campus, the work from key stage 3 has been absolutely outstanding. Across all subjects, the students have been working extremely hard to produce incredible pieces of work and really impress their teachers. This whole experience of being online has been a real learning curve for everyone and you can see that Key stage 3, and the rest of the school, have taken it in their stride. Well done to everyone for showing the resilience to carry on and keep going, despite the massive amounts of adversity thrown at you!
In Year 8 Drama, the students have been looking at interesting ways of using voice. This week we have explored the language and structure of Cockney and it’s rhyming slang. Here are a few students examples… Can you work out what they are saying?
Example 1: Kinzal’s listen
Example 2: Zara’s listen
Example 3: Urgyen listen
This past week we have seen the ‘Speak Out’ competition taking place for students across both the primary and secondary schools. In Key Stage 3 we had four students that made it to the ‘Speak out’ finals: Maya, Dia, Sivani, Shaivee and Tahmid. A huge congratulations to each of these students for the amazing performance they put on. Each one of them spoke so eloquently and with such confidence that they all really impressed. They did this while recording themselves online! Well done to you all!
To watch the finals, please go to this link:
In Y8 Geography, the students have been practising their presentation skills for the projects they have been doing. They were tasked with looking into Tourism in a range of different places and relaying that information back to the rest of the class. Prashida, Dia, Manav, Kinzal, Benji, Mahad, Carolyn, Tashi, Chaya, Sahara, Rheha, Saishree and Urgyen were clear and concise ambassadors in their vocal presentations.
In Music, Year 7 have been learning to use musical associations to reflect animals in music! Here is Vivaan’s great example. Can you tell which animal he is representing?
Listen
Year 8 have been working on their ‘Kathmandu Sunset’ songs. Some groups have chosen to multitrack their pieces while others are using an online collaboration music software called Bandlab. Here is Manav,Urgyen and Tashi’s work showing a great use of this collaboration. You can even see Manav adding in features while Ms Wynn was recording them!
To watch the recording please click
Serialism, a way of writing music using all the notes in western music in a strict pattern, has been the focus on Year 9’s Evolution of Music this week. They have been focused on the work of Arnold Schoenburg in the 1930s and created their own Serialist music using the 3 rules of Serialism. (remember: If it sounds a bit ‘weird’ you are doing it correctly!) Here are and great, but very different examples of Serialism.
In Year 9 Science, the students have been looking into Artificial Satellites and creating presentations around that. They looked into the design of different satellites and some of the famous ones that have entered into space.
Our student of the week goes to Namsa in Y7. Namsa had a difficult start to this year, but over the last two months he has made significant progress. It is amazing to see him attending all of his classes and producing some amazing work. In Music, he was tasked with looking into the three different kingdoms of Kathmandu and creating a musical piece on them. His creativity in this piece was spoken about by his teacher and he created a spectacular fan fare.
Key Stage 4 News
Happy Sonam Lhosar! If you are celebrating, I hope you have an enjoyable few days.
This week saw the return of Year 10 and 11s students for their Transition Days. It was lovely to see them all again, especially the Year 10s who had not been on campus since the first lockdown in March of last year; almost a whole year. So much has happened since then, and so much has been achieved.
A personal highlight for me was celebrating a Year 10 student’s musical success. Unfortunately, that student could not be with us in person, but that did not hinder us, a quick video call and that student was suddenly in the Hall with us! Important information was shared about the return to campus and the presentation can be viewed .
While at school, Year 10 students got the chance to collect their copies of The Namesake for English literature. Such an excellent novel for international students to study. Their teachers can’t wait to see what they think of it.
Having been at school for their mock examinations in January, I’m sure the Year 11 students were happy this time to be back with not an exam desk or exam paper in sight! On that note, Year 11 students have been shared a form to complete for the online parent’s evening the first Tuesday after half-term, 23rd February. Please ensure your son or daughter has scheduled meetings with all of their teachers. Teachers will be sharing Zoom links with all of their students for the parents’ evening, which will run from 3.45pm to 6pm. The Year 11 return to campus presentation can be viewed .
In their time in the Hall, the students were asked how they feel about coming back to school. Below are their thoughts. There is definitely a mixture of thoughts and emotions, but it is pleasing to see that many are excited and feeling good about a return to campus.
Year 10 thoughts:
Year 11 thoughts:
It has also been lovely to see our Year 10 Art students back on campus for some extended art lessons. I look forward to sharing some of their work with you in the coming weeks.
It’s been a busy week in Drama! Here is what our KS4 Drama students have been getting up to this week:
Year 10 students have begun looking at an extract from an alternative version of “The Government inspector” by Nikolai Gogol. Students were asked to consider how to explore characterisation, pace, interaction and act on given feedback when approaching a scripted text all in 35 minutes. Sanstha acted as the director for the improved version, and managed in 15 minutes to effectively use her knowledge of performance to encourage the class to develop their roles further with entrances, exits and props. Well done Year 10 for a speed interpretation of a script, and managing to develop the beginnings of a performance.
While Year 11 Drama, students have begun exploring their script for the Summer IGCSE Exam. They began with thinking about dating and marriage, and how this can vary through time period and cultures.
They then began reading their set text and it is a play set in the Regency era. Therefore, students have been exploring costumes for the protagonist Emma and her sister Elizabeth as they go about their daily lives and also prepare for a ball. Before they start designing their chosen costume, students have created a collage of designs to give them ideas.
This week’s KS4 student of the week is Aditya in year 11. Many of Aditya’s teachers have been impressed by the amount of extra work he did to revise for his mock examinations. Well done, Aditya! Keep up the good work.
Here is what Aditya has to say: “The thing that I am enjoying the most is that we are getting a chance to learn in a different way. Although online classes can be challenging, if someone thinks about the positive sides of it, they will start finding it interesting and enjoyable. As my hobbies are to play sports all the time, my favourite thing I have been doing in this lockdown is that I have been getting the chance to play my favourite sports, which is tennis and basketball. My advice to other KS4 students would be don’t think about the unnecessary past, think about the present and future. Now that we are getting back to school, let us leave lockdown behind as a learning memory and move ahead with new lessons.”
I hope you all have a peaceful and restful half-term break.
Key Stage 5 News
It was really lovely to see some students in school this week and getting used to the new expectations with return to campus.
University news
Greetings from British Council Nepal!
We are delighted to share information on the ‘BIGGER and BETTER’ British Council STUDY UK Virtual Fair 2021: an opportunity for your students to meet top UK universities from the comfort of home! We request you to circulate the information to your students and all other relevant networks. If any assistance is needed, feel free to get in touch.
Date: Saturday, 20 February 2021
Timings: 02:45 pm till 06:45 pm (Nepal Standard Time)
Online Platform: ZOOM
British Council Study UK Virtual Fair is the opportunity to virtually meet representatives from more than 30 leading universities in the UK and gain first-hand information regarding higher education in the UK, any procedural changes in light of Covid 19, new Graduate Immigration Route and much more. British Council invites all students, parents, career advisers, counsellors, faculty and educational managers to join us ‘online’ on 20 February.
HURRY! Register to attend the BIGGEST Virtual Fair in Nepal:
Highlights
Mr. Montague wanted to congratulate Zoya and Paridhi on their fantastic mock results, they have shown great progress in their A2 Sociology studies.
Many students in Year 12 Psychology scored above 90 per cent in their mock exams and many students in Year 13 have achieved A grades. Mr Piaf would like to thank his students for their continued enthusiasm, hard work, commitment and resilience. You’ve all consistently inspired and impressed him!
Ms. Hemelik would like to thank Anna in Year 12 for always taking an active part in her Biology lessons and answering (and asking) complex Biological questions. (Also, a massive well done for a fabulous mock result).
Congratulations to Seoyun for spectacular effort and achievement in all her mock examinations.
Student of the Week
Adwita in Year 13 has been nominated for student of the week for her mature approach to her studies and her active response to feedback. This has really helped Adwita to make fantastic progress in her A level subjects.
