KELLETT SCHOOL POK FU LAM
AUTUMN EDITION
Kellett Tell It THE SCHOOL LIFE EDITION
Did you know that Kellett has a bell tower? Darcy Goulston explores the PFL campus in detail to reveal a range of hidden secrets.
What was school like when your teacher was a student? Lorcan Mahtani goes back in time with Mr. Lovell.
Help from the Head By Geetika Gupta Have you ever wondered what Mr. Dixon thinks about this school? Or what he thinks learning should look like? Well you have come to the right page because in this article you will find out a lot more about Mr. Dixon! Mr. Dixon’s most important job is to make sure that the campus runs smoothly, that all the children and teachers know what to do and when and where to do it. Communicating with people is one of his main jobs. Another priority is to make sure that everyone in the campus is safe and that the classrooms, playground and all the other places in our school are safe and fun to learn in. Another one of his top goals is to ensure that the teachers make learning really educational and enjoyable. Learning needs to be an outstanding experience for everyone! It needs to be exciting for students as well as teachers.
• The school council • Meet Mr. Kidd • A day in the life of
the nurse
And much much more…
I asked Mr. Dixon what he enjoys most about being head and the first thing he said was: “People! I love being in a people environment.” When he talks to parents and teaching staff, he feels happy. Even if he faces problems, he says that there are many experts around him to help. 1
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He said that the very best thing that the students bring to the school is liveliness. It is usually very empty before and after school time. When the students enter, they fill the school with fun. “When there are no students, the school is a pretty dull place,” said Mr. Dixon.
This is a question you may all want to ask Mr. Dixon: Of all the schools that needed a head, why did he choose Kellett, all the way out in Hong Kong? His answer is a little unexpected. Mr. Dixon was previously working in the U.K., but he had already heard of Kellett before he moved to Hong Kong! So, when he heard that a spot had opened up at Kellett, he applied immediately.
Mr. Dixon wants everyone at Kellett to have an outstanding learning experience. “When you struggle with something but keep trying and eventually understand it after getting support from your teacher and friends, that is an outstanding learning experience,” he said. When Mr. Dixon goes into classes and sees great learning, his day is off to a great start!
Mr. Dixon also talked about what he wants next for Kellett. “It is really important that we maintain what we do in terms of all our sports days and musical events. We need to follow our school motto ‘A love for learning and confidence for life’ and keep our PFL Promise,” he said. It is very important to Mr. Dixon that a Kellett student leaves with transferrable skills and that the education that Kellett has given them will make them the best that they can be.
Mr. Dixon said that he is looking for us to use what we have learnt in the playground and in the classroom and to feel a buzz of excitement every time we learn something new. In the classroom, he likes to see beautiful displays and colours that will help us in our learning.
Thank you for reading my article, I hope you have found out a lot more about Mr. Dixon!
THANKS TO THE TEAM Ariana, Darcy, Jasmine, Kristina, Eesha, Alexander, Lara, Anya, Anvita, Arun, Charlotte, Geetika and Lorcan. Thank you to the learning tech team for their help and use of the Learning Tech Room. Thank you Mr. Bromwich for running the club and Nimmi and Jo for helping out with the editing . Kellett Tell It Autumn edition December 2016
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she responded, “This is always hard! I was thinking about it earlier, and I decided on being a video game designer, because sometimes I play them and I think, this is really boring… I could make it better! I think maybe I should get that job.” What a rarely seen aspect of Miss Fitton’s personality!
Miss Fitton, Our Smiling Savant By Lara Abuali Have you ever wondered about Miss Fitton and what she does when you aren’t in? Our school librarian, running a bookworm’s heaven? How does she prepare for lessons? What does she do in her spare time? What could her potential unlock? We are here to satisfy your curiosity! Here is A Day in the Life of Miss Fitton:
Miss Fitton is a proud advocate of reading as stress relief and academic help. She believes that reading is a foundation of education and pleasant personality, and that reading lowers stress and is very enjoyable. She orders books through catalogues and student request. “It helps you understand other people better,” she says. “I love helping people research, and find out new things. I have to think about,
Miss Fitton starts the day by checking what her students are learning about. “I talk to the teachers about what they’re learning in class, and I check what I’m reading them is fun and exciting,” she says. Miss Fitton loves to work with children and had already worked in the teaching field before she came to Kellett. “I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t like it!” she laughs. When asked if she could have any other job,
what do I want the kids to learn today?” When encountering a reluctant reader, Miss Fitton kindly finds the perfect book for them and encourages more on that topic. 3
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books each year, and refers to catalogues and recommendations from others, as well as requests from students.
“I think the only reason kids don’t like reading is they haven’t found the right book yet!”
“I do a lot of reading in the mornings, and thinking as well, to see if what I’m reading to the students matches what they’re learning about and the curriculum.”
“The Year 6 Only shelf is one of my favourite shelves. I can pick books with more secondary-school themes, or ones that I really like.” Miss Fitton loves to read, and decided to work at a school because education is a fascinating field to her and she loves to help people learn. The cheerful librarian supports research that reading improves personality, and often states the benefits of being a reader. “Analytics show that people who read are more likely to do volunteer work for charities,” she says. She orders many, many
Miss Fitton is indeed an avid scholar and devotes herself to books each day as she walks into her library. The dark curtain that has covered our mysterious librarian’s history has been lifted, and you have been supplemented with information about the world’s best bookworm. “Reading should always be enjoyable,” she says, mind constantly flickering to the endless booklist that she will finish one day. This is a Day in the Life of Miss Fitton, our smiling savant.
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Mr. Lovell’s School Days
By Lorcan Mahtani I decided it would be interesting to find out what a teacher's life at school was like, so I interviewed Mr. Lovell about his school days… Mr. Lovell went to school in Tollesbury which is a village in a county called Essex in England. He told me that his school was very small - there were only six classes, but his class was quite big, with 30 children in it.
The headmaster was a man called Mr. Brodie and he had a cane! “I never saw him use the cane but it was said that he still used it sometimes to hit children when they were naughty. That was a bit scary!” said Mr. Lovell.
Mr. Lovell was very happy at school and his favourite lesson was P.E. At his school, you could do games every single afternoon if the weather was nice. His class teacher was called Mr. Lindridge and funnily enough he bumped into him last summer when he went back to England.
Mr. Lovell said school dinners back then were absolutely disgusting but luckily he was allowed to bring a packed lunch from home. He said that he spent a lot of the time playing in the music room. “We didn’t have a music teacher, but there was a music room with instruments and we were allowed to go in and just bash around and make a massive racket. I loved playing the xylophone, although I really wasn’t very good at it,” said Mr. Lovell.
His best friend at school was a boy named Edward Coates.
“Edward’s house was right next to the school and every playtime, Edward would jump over the school fence and get his dog from his house and we would play with it together. But one time the dog got into the school, and the headmaster
Mr. Lovell’s best memory was being made captain of the school’s football team and beating the rival village school in a match!
was not very happy,” remembered Mr. Lovell.
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His worst memory was when a boy called Darren put a small goldfish in his lunchbox. “There was a fish tank outside the headmaster's office and one day my friend Darren decided to play a little joke on me and took one of the fish and put it in my lunchbox. It was really horrible to find a dead goldfish in there! I had to flushed it down the toilet,” said Mr. Lovell.
I also wanted to know if Mr. Lovell had always wanted to be a teacher. He told me that back then, he didn’t because some of the kids in his school treated the teachers so badly and made their lives a misery.
“When I was at school I wanted to play cricket for England - in fact, I still would like to do that,” said Mr. Lovell.
I asked Mr. Lovell how Kellett compares to his school and he told me that we have a lot more technology and access to computers at Kellett and that we have lots of opportunities that he did not have. He did get to run around on a huge field though as there was a lot more space in his school.
Luckily for us at Kellett, Mr. Lovell changed his mind and decided to become a teacher after all!
Go Kellett!!! By Charlotte Ducanois
the maths FOBISIA is that you don’t have to travel anywhere.
Competitions in school are very important. They provide opportunities for students to learn through teamwork, personal development, dedication and determination.
I interviewed Mr. Lovell, who plays an important role in the maths FOBISIA team.
As you know, there are a lot of amazing teams at Kellett. But have you ever wondered about how hard they have to work to get there? These students train for weeks and weeks to get to the competition. They know that natural talent can only get you so far. To be in a Kellett team, you don’t have to be too good at whatever you are doing. You just have to be dedicated. For the sports teams, the students train for weeks to prepare for the competition. They train in t-ball, football, running and swimming. There are many different teams at Kellett. As well as the sports teams, there are coding, maths and literacy teams. The convenience of 6
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“In the maths team, there is not much that the students can do to prepare because they don’t know the questions that they are going to be asked in the actual competition. So, as you can imagine, it is very stressful to be in a situation like that. Do not take that the wrong way though. Once you get going it’s really quite good fun!” said Mr. Lovell.
I asked Mr. Lovell a question that he found really difficult to answer. The question was: If you could make another Kellett team, what would it be and why? It took him about two minutes to answer. When he finally answered, Mr. Lovell said that he wanted to make a cricket team and compete against other FOBISIA schools - local, Hong Kong ones and other schools abroad.
The good thing about being in an organisation like FOBISIA is that you get to meet nice people who you wouldn’t have had the chance to meet otherwise. You also get the chance to visit new and exciting country! Last year, Mr. Lovell was lucky enough to go to Potimen and Vietnam. And some other places...
So, now you know a little more about the Kellett teams, go and cheer them on in the competitions and maybe even try out for one yourself!
I also interviewed Mrs. Pratt and she said that the students qualify for the sports teams based on their times in the trials. In maths however, it is done a little bit differently. The qualifications are based on your test scores over the last few years. On the day of the competition, as you may have guessed, the students are very nervous. Even some parents are nervous! The teachers however, always try to stay calm, which helps everyone. “Although all the children are usually a bit nervous, they are also very happy and excited to be in the competition,” said Mrs. Pratt.
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Inside look at the PFL School Council
students are chosen to be the Treasurer and the Secretary.
By Anya Buffonge
The Chairperson organizes and leads the meetings and the Vice Chairperson is a substitute who fills in for the Chairperson if he or she cannot attend a meeting. The Secretary takes notes (which are called the minutes) from the meeting and the Treasurer counts the money that has been earned from the various events that are held for example from the Kellett’s Got Talent competition. The money usually goes to Kellett Cares. Miss Hulbert supervises this.
Have you ever wondered what School Council does at its meetings? What do the representatives of School Council discuss? What ideas do they have? I interviewed Miss Hulbert to find out what goes on behind the scenes… Every year each child at Kellett is given the chance to run for School Council. There is a fierce competition. Each child has to present a persuasive speech to their class. The child with the most votes becomes the class representative (rep).
“I set up School Council over ten years ago and it has grown and is now a very important part of the school,” she says.
Year Six children have two representatives for each class. They choose two people for the two main roles, which are Chairperson and Vice Chairperson. Another two
Once a month the representatives have a meeting. Before the meeting, the student reps ask all of the
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students in their class for their opinions and suggestions for the meeting so that everyone can be involved in what the School Council discusses. The reps then have to present their ideas at the meetings. The School Council listens to the ideas and votes for the best ones. I asked Miss Hulbert about the best idea that she had have ever heard at School Council.
“Someone said that many of the school walls looked a bit bare, so now we have put up photos and art everywhere. This makes the school look decorative and
At School Council, students discuss issues as varied as playground equipment and having separate bins to recycle paper cups. This all helps improve the school environment. They are currently working on anti-bullying as everyone in the school has the right to feel safe and happy.
the students love looking at all the pictures. It is also great for visitors to see pictures of events and activities that happen at our school. That same year they painted the dragons that you can see around the school. Everyone got to
The School Council has arranged amazing events such as crazy hair day and Kellett’s Got Talent. These events allow all the children to take part in fun activities while raising money for the school at the same time.
participate by doing a fingerprint or handprint.”
To continue to have more fun events, students can communicate their ideas to their class representatives. Being on School Council not only means that you get to arrange activities for all to enjoy but it also means that you have the chance to really help improve and change the school. So why don’t you have a go and put your name down next year?
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Who’s New? Staff joiners By Anvita Verma Although, August seems like a long time ago, the Autumn term is only just finishing. Back in August many new members of the staff arrived and we had to learn lots of new names. Obviously we didn’t know a lot about the new staff so I conducted some interviews with Miss Gray and Mrs Heslop to find out some interesting facts about them to help you get to know them a little better.
MISS GRAY
MRS HESLOP
Job: Teacher
Job: Art teacher
Comes from - Edinburgh, Scotland
Comes from - California, USA
Previous school: Loughborough primary school, London
Previous school: St. Christopher's International School, Bahrain
Favourite subject to teach: Literacy because it shows off kids’ imagination
Favourite subject to teach: Painting, because everyone loves the results
Best experience of Kellett so far: class dress rehearsal for assembly
Best experience of Kellett so far: Getting to know the students
Likes - singing, yoga and playing the guitar
Likes - Hiking, reading and art (of course!)
Studies: St Andrews University where she studied Philosophy before moving to Edinburgh University to train in teaching
Studies: California state University to study art and teaching
Favourite food- All Thai food!
Favourite food- Cheesecake. Just good old New York style cheesecake.
Interesting fact - when she was younger she wanted to be a nurse or a hairdresser!
Interesting fact - when she was younger she wanted to be a farmer!!
Looking forward to in the year- Y5 Beijing trip. I can’t wait to see the Great Wall!
Looking forward to in the year- The school musical in February.
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All About Kellett! By Darcy Goulston
DID YOU KNOW? Did you know that Kellett has a hidden lift? It is located on the second floor near the year two classrooms. Did you know that Kellett has a bell tower? You can best see it from Wah Fu road. It has never been used before but maybe one day we will have a use for it. Did you know that Kellett used to have rabbits and guinea pigs? The reception students were encouraged to take the guinea pigs out to play and they took turns taking the rabbit's home to look after them for a week. Did you know that a boy once glued his shoe to the floor? He was using a glue gun and got glue on his foot. Back then the classrooms had tiled floors like a bathroom. And when the boy lifted his shoe up the tile came up as well, it was stuck to his shoe!
The Great Kellett Race!
HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT KELLETT? THIS SENSATIONAL QUIZ WILL TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND HAVE YOU HUFFING AND PUFFING IN NO TIME!
HOW MANY STAIRS ARE THERE FROM THE AUDITORIUM TO THE YEAR SIX CLASSROOMS (7TH FLOOR)? HOW MANY SHELVES ARE THERE IN THE LIBRARY? HOW MANY MUSHROOM STOOLS ARE THERE IN THE ICT ROOM? HOW MANY DESKTOP COMPUTERS ARE THERE IN THE ICT ROOM? HOW MANY STAIRS ARE THERE FROM THE YEAR 5 CLASSROOMS (6TH FLOOR) TO THE LOWER PLAYGROUND? WHAT IS THE HIGHEST FLOOR IN KELLETT? WHAT IS THE NUMBER ON MR KENDALL'S DOOR? WHAT IS THE NUMBER ON MR LOVELL'S DOOR? WHAT WAS THE FIRST MUSICAL KELLETT EVER DID? WHAT WAS THE MUSICAL IN 2009? WHICH COLOUR STICKER IS USED IN THE BOOKSHOP FOR JUNIOR FICTION? 11
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Behind the scenes of the PFL office - Meet Twiggy Wu By Jasmine Moskey Mrs Twiggy Wu is the Office manager at Kellett School Pokfulam campus. She is also Mr Ben Dixon’s secretary. She’s been with us for almost four years and I got a chance to get to know her a little better with an inspiring interview. I’ve always wondered what the Kellett office staff do while we are studying in our classrooms. So I got behind the scenes to chat with Mrs. Wu about what she does for the office and our school.
messages. Mrs Wu says that if all students knew the office staff’s duties it would be extremely helpful and beneficial for not only office staff but the students as well. She describes herself as the school’s middle man, if there are any messages needed to be passed on to the students during their lessons the first person anyone would contact would be Mrs Wu. For her, the biggest and the most challenging task of the year is arranging the Year 5 Beijing trip.
Mrs. Wu is responsible for the smooth running of the office. She emails the parents about any upcoming events and updates the ebulletin regularly. The office staff need a quiet environment in order to function well and concentrate on their work. She is happy to work with other staff members because they are a team and need to cooperate. The whole office participates in helping to promote the school. Each of them do a little bit of work to create the final piece.
The whole office participates in creating an incredible, life changing experience for the students. They book the hotel rooms, organise the bus routes and all the logistics, print out the bag tags as well as book flights. They do all of this for 100 plus students every year and 10 staff members! It truly is an amazing project especially for the office staff.
Mrs Wu tells me that it would mean a lot to her if the students knew her name and ask the right office staff member to help them if necessary. She also mentions the names of various members of the office staff and their roles such as Mrs Chan who organises and runs the buses and jobs including your ride to school and back. She works closely with Ms. Sue Lee who is our receptionist and organises programmes, informs the teachers and parents about any upcoming events or
I realise now after writing this article just how important the office staff and their jobs are. Every single one of them helps in a completely different way and without all of these jobs the school couldn’t possibly function as well as it does today. I think, as a student, that everyone in our school owes a lot to our office staff members because when it comes down to the very last straw the office staff will be the final people standing.
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Who’s New? Student joiners By Alexander Vlasov Each year a number of new class mates join Kellett. I was interested in finding out a little more. Although I wasn’t able to interview all the new students, I did spend some time getting to know Elyse, Waka, Constanza and Charlie- Welcome to Kellett!
ELYSE Y5 WAKA Y5
Name: Elyse Keefe Name: Waka Horie
Year group and class: 5-NM
Year group and class: 5-NM
Age: 9
Age: 9
Previous school: ASSJ America’s Japan school
Previous school: Nord Anglia School Hong Kong
Favourite subject: PE
Favourite subject: Science
Best experience of Kellett so far: The Kellett Fair
Best experience of Kellett so far: The Kellett fair
Likes: Pandas and bunnies
Likes: horse riding, skiing and football
Dislikes: seafood
Dislikes: Maths
Interesting fact :Elyse is obsessed with Pandas
Interesting fact: Waka is a twin with Hana!
CONSTANZA Y5
CHARLIE Y4
Name: Costanza Pocci
Name: Charlie Smart
Year group and class: 6-MH
Year group and class 4-TF
Age: 10
Age: 8
Previous school: Peak School in Hong Kong
Previous school: Australian International School
Favourite subject: Art
Favourite subject: writing
Best experience of Kellett so far: Making friends Likes: amazing Friends, gymnastics and grammar club
Best experience of Kellett so far: collaborating with friends in class
Dislikes: maths
Likes: Maths,writing and science
Interesting fact: I’m Italian!
Dislikes: gymnastics Interesting fact: All the teachers that I have explain subjects very well!
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Life of a Governor By Eesha Malhotra
“to support the Principal by giving her advice and assistance. She runs the school with the help of her management team and the Board’s job is to support her and provide he with advice and assistance so that she has the ability to do her job as the Principal”.
In 1998, Mr. Kidd’s oldest daughter started at Kellett School. Little did he know then, that all three of his wonderful daughters would graduate from Kellett and that he would serve as a Governor / Chairman for the next 14 years. David Kidd is a lawyer from New Zealand and has three daughters. He joined the board of Kellett at the invitation of John Gribbin, the Chairperson at the time. When Mr. Gribbin’s youngest left school he asked Mr.Kidd if he would like to join the board. He jumped at the opportunity at which he said “I must say I have never regretted”.
Secondly, he said, to set the budget and to do this the governor set the school budget and other financial issues. This involves setting the fees, salaries, other payments and costs. The board meets six times a year to convene on management issues and they meet parents once a year, on 1 Dec in a general meeting.
When talking about his role, he specified that the role of a Governor has two main parts to it. Firstly,
Mr Kidd had a hard time picking his favourite memories from his years at Kellett. After a little thinking, he narrowed it down to three. He was around at the time of SARS which was the 14
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suspicion but I had no idea of the scale and the personal nature of it... it was hugely enjoyable and a very emotional and humbling moment”. Being the Chairman of the Board wasn’t a full time job for Mr Kidd but it is a role he has enjoyed very much. He promised to stay in touch with the community: biggest disease breakouts ever in Hong Kong and Kellett was the first international school to reopen. It took a lot of confidence,courage and leadership and once the school did this the other schools started to reopen as well. This is one of his proudest moments. The second one, was of course,when he got to be a part of the building and opening of Kowloon Bay and lastly without a doubt was the special assembly. Last month, the school surprised him with a special assembly. I asked him if he knew about it and he said “I had some
“Eliza will still be a student at Kellett till summer. After that I hope that I will retain a close link with Kellett. I would like to observe the school go from strength to strength.”
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What do Teachers do When We Leave?
MARKING No not marking the days until the school holiday! Correcting our books. Have you ever noticed that when we write in our books the next day they come back marked. It’s not magic!!! After we leave school, the teachers take our books and correct them. They love to look through the books and see what you have learnt in the lessons - That’s when you get lots of Kellett Points! Obviously marking takes time and can be repetitive. In fact the teachers reported that it was not their favourite job. So be nice, work hard and NO rude comments.
By Arun Buffonge Have you ever wondered what teachers do when we leave at the end of the school day? They might even do something unimaginable! Do you want to find out the secret behind this? If the answer if yes then keep on reading. Now I have to tell you straight away and don’t be disappointed but they don’t have secret parties on the mystical 8th Floor.
MEETINGS These are not fun coffee, cake and chat sessions but serious work! Although a lot of coffee is drunk in the meetings! Teachers occasionally have meetings with parents, Mr Dixon, Mr Bromwich or staff. They are usually meetings about the running of the school. Some meetings are about specific people or problems that need addressing. These problems have to be solved to make the school better. All those amazing trips we go on with our class are all organised by staff after we leave school. Even the sports day, special celebration assemblies and concerts require time and attention.
I interviewed Mr Miller and Mr Kendall to get some inside information… I wanted to unveil the secrets that teachers have in order to take off their confidential masks! Firstly I found out that on average the teachers return home at about 6:00pm. Therefore they stay at school for several hours after we leave before they
PLANNING Don’t worry the teachers are not planning to go on holiday and leave you at school with a supply teacher. They are planning and preparing for the next day’s lessons. All the teachers love planning exciting topics. They love (HEART) planning so much that sometimes they want to finish their work at school than take it home in order to finish it all and make sure our lessons are really exciting.
return home. But what do they do in this time? Here are some of my findings: As you may know parent evenings, concerts, shows and performances are all attended by teachers after school. Time when they could be at home having a rest!!
Each day the teachers all get together and talk about what they have achieved on that day - they call this evaluating. Then they talk about what they want to do the next day based on what their class has achieved. They cannot progress to a new subject if the children have not understood the basic principles. Planning and recording progress is necessary to make sure that they can evaluate their lessons.
We are very lucky to have lovely teachers who care and dedicate so much time to the school and students. So if you ever see a teacher heading towards the 8th floor, now you might have a better idea about what they might be getting up to. 16
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A day in the life of Nurse Dani
She has now been to ten Beijing trips!
By Ariana Chan
Nurse Dani’s favourite aspect of the job is the students.
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a school nurse? Nurse Dani works as Kellett School’s nurse, together with Nurse Cathy, and in my opinion they are both excellent nurses! Nurse Dani has a lot of medical experience, but we’ll come to that later. When I interviewed Nurse Dani I learnt that being a nurse involves a lot more than I thought.
“They make me feel good; they make me laugh, they interest me, and also I get to learn a lot about you, and I get to watch you grow,” she remarked. I asked her what she would like to be if she was not a nurse/doctor and she said “I would love to be a paramedic and go up in helicopters to save people”. I then asked her what she would be if her job didn’t have anything to do with medicine. “I would be an actress or a singer,” she concluded, “I can’t sing to save my life, but you did say “If I could be anything!”
The daily routine of our school nurse is diverse and quite interesting. Nurse Dani starts off the day by writing the date in her ‘big black book’ and then checks the weather forecast, in particular to see if pollution levels are high, in which case the children are not allowed to go outside. She will keep checking throughout the day. This is important as there are a lot of children that suffer from asthma and would probably be in need of an inhaler if they were outside on a high-pollution day. She will then see several children each day, including some regular visitors to the clinic. As Nurse Dani says, “A day is not a day without seeing one of our frequent flyers”. Surprisingly though, the school only has about three or four (this may mean you!)
I realise now that Nurse Dani and Nurse Cathy make a crucial contribution to Kellett School, and that we really couldn’t manage without them! I have first hand experience - when I fractured my wrist - and really felt their kindness. Without them, we certainly wouldn’t feel as safe in our school. We are very privileged to have them!
Before Kellett, Nurse Dani worked in a hospital for a couple of years and really enjoyed it. She worked in many different departments such as orthopedics (broken bones) and palliative care (working with people that are terminally ill). She also worked in a doctor’s clinic in Hong Kong’s Central district. She was interested to try out being a school nurse, so she joined HKIS as a substitute nurse. That is where she went to her first Beijing camp.
“I saw that Kellett was advertising, and I jumped at the chance!”, she said. She applied, and got the job! “I love it here”, she added. 17
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Behind the scenes of Fiddler on the Roof
together, then Miss McLellan and Mr O’Donnell will split the children into four groups by scene. One group will learn the dance from Miss Charlotte, the dance teacher. Two groups will learn the actions from Mr Lovell and Miss Ferguson and the final group will be taught the music by Miss McLellan and Mr O’Donnell. Then they rotate and at the end of the rehearsal everyone gets together and they practise the scenes they have accomplished from start to finish.
By Kristina N. Akova Have you ever wondered about the annual Kellett Pok Fu Lam musical? Why did Miss McLellan chose Fiddler on the Roof? Where do the Music Department get their props and costumes? And what happens at rehearsals to turn a simple script into a magnificent musical? Find out all the answers and extra in this revealing article about Fiddler on the Roof... So, why did Ms McLellan pick Fiddler on the Roof? She chose this classical piece because the music is “absolutely fantastic”. It was written in the 1960’s and the style of music is different to what the children at Kellett school are listening to these days. Another reason to why Miss McLellan chose Fiddler on the Roof is because at the end of the musical the family become refugees. Despite the efforts of many organisations, the refugee subject is still relevant today. Therefore, Ms McLellan will focus on this matter while rehearsing and watching the show in the hope that the students will become more aware of the problem. She also selected this show because when she was in Year 6, she watched an amateur production of Fiddler on the Roof and it left a big impression on her. In fact, she still remembers the actions, costumes and especially the songs quite vividly.
The Music Department mainly make their extravagant costumes and props together. Miss Charlotte along with a team of capable mothers make most of the costumes. However, in the past the Music Department have ordered certain costumes from China and every now and again special props from are made in the Scenery Club.
Miss McLellan and all the bright and enthusiastic children who are starring in Fiddler on the Roof look forward to every Friday after school. Why? It’s rehearsal time! Each child who got into the musical is expected to show up at every practice. This means children should commit their time every Friday for two hours and three Saturdays for the whole day! Naturally, those with many lines are required to learn them at home. A typical rehearsal looks like this: first off, everyone does a read-through of the play
Did you know...? Yente the Matchmaker is Miss McLellan’s favourite character in the entire Fiddler on the Roof because Yente is a comical character and she is extremely funny. Yente’s role in the story is to match young adults eligible for marriage. 18
Kellett Tell It Autumn 2016
For the child who would play the role of Yente, Miss McLellan and Mr O’Donnell were looking for someone who had a sense of humour and performed well at the audition.
Miss McLellan has directed four Kellett musicals including Fiddler on the Roof, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and The Little Mermaid. Outside of Kellett School, she has also been involved with The Sound of Music and The Chronicles of Narnia. Miss McLellan has also worked with children in other shows around Hong Kong. In her childhood, Miss McLellan didn’t get into any musicals. Instead she was part of the school orchestra. During her school days, the school orchestra would play the music for the school show just below the stage in an area known as the “pit”. The Music Department supported by other teachers, parents and all the cast are working incredibly hard to pull together this fantastic musical. We look forward to a memorable performance!
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Kellett Tell It Autumn 2016
Pok Fu Lam Termly photo montage
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Kellett Tell It Autumn 2016