NLCS Jeju Newsletter 13 January 2023

North London Collegiate School Jeju

Dear Parents, Students, Staff and Friends of NLCS Jeju

The new term has got off to a fast and furious start with students focused on their academics but also showing full commitment to the co-curricular provisions in CCAs, Bryant and the societies. We are very pleased with the attitudes displayed by years 11 and 13 as they have begun their mock examinations for IGCSE and the IB Diploma programme respectively. We are also delighted to welcome a number of students into boarding as well as in the school. We also welcome into the school our two new Junior School teachers: Ms. Laura Gough and Ms. Jaheeda Hussain. They have joined us from the UK where they held teaching careers previously. We are also delighted to welcome into the school some further support staff. As you will see from below our new Vice Principal Academic Ms. Natalie Wilson arrived in late December. She has been part of the Senior team remotely since the start of the school year and so we are delighted she is now here in person!

For year 13 students they are receiving offers from universities across the world and so over the next few weeks we will continue to update you so that you can share in their successes. We are delighted to see the breadth and range of selections made reflecting the diversity of passion and interests within the year group.

As we reflect on all the events towards the end of last term and all the achievements of so many this week we are also remembering Yujin Choi who was so sadly taken from our community and commemorating her. Our heartfelt sympathy and condolences goes out to her family and friends and as we approach Seollal we will remember her in our thoughts. Yours sincerely,

Lynne Oldfield Principal

YUJIN CHOI

Yujin Choi’s closest friends have written the below in memory of their friend.

“Yujin Choi, one of our proudest alumni with her exceptional talents and fabulous voice, sadly passed away on the 29 October, 2022, in Itaewon.

Yujin was following her passion to become a great musician. Music was her platform to communicate consoling words for others. All the ONLJs remember her as a gifted and talented musician. She participated in numerous music events and projects and was a branch leader of Sonitas. Not only did she have talent in singing and composing music pieces, but she was also an extraordinary violinist, leading the Philharmonic and Symphony Orchestra during her Sixth Form years.

Moving forward as a professional musician, she dedicated the past year composing and writing a total of 5 songs. Under her artist name ‘aki’, Yujin released her first song ‘Love Me Right’ in May 2022 composed and written by herself. Additionally, she featured in two songs: ‘썸 (By Your - SUM(U+I))’ by AYA and ‘To My Loved Ones’ by Day1.

Yujin’s family and friends grieve for what could have been. Of the 5 songs she wrote, excluding ‘Love Me Right’, two of them were ready to be released in the winter of 2022. Her family and friends who loved and still love her deeply are in constant effort to showcase her legacy. Thanks to their efforts, one of her songs, ‘Off Course’ was released on the 5th of December, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEMwia2BOAM&t=42s

The second single by aki, [Off Course] has two meanings intended in its title. While ‘off course’ has a definition of ‘not following the intended route’, it is a homophone for ‘of course’. The song tells a story of fate of a young adult in love, who abandoned her so-far life and is on a new adventure to find her own path.

Yujin was a beautiful person in so many aspects. It is her family’s and friends’ greatest hope that Yujin will be forever remembered in all our hearts through her beautiful voice. Let her legacy live on.”

The Main Event

Here are the biggest stories from around the School this week.

MEET YOUR NEW VICE PRINCIPAL (ACADEMIC)

We are pleased to introduce to you Ms. Natalie Wilson, Vice Principal (Academic). Ms. Wilson will join us this term following over 8 years leading high performing academics in top international schools in both China and South East Asia. Ms. Wilson graduated with honours in Modern History from Oxford University and is currently completing her Masters in Educational Leadership as well as the International Professional Certificate in School Leadership both with University College London (UCL).

“The clear vision for academic excellence and passion for subject knowledge shared by the staff and students at NLCS Jeju is inspiring and helping to shape this course is something I am incredibly excited by”

The Main Event

TOK ENRICHMENT WEEK

Next week we start our subject specific enrichment weeks again! We are looking forward to sharing information with you about the TOK Enrichment Week and enjoying the activities that the team arrange for us all.

CHRISTMAS BAZAAR

The Bazaar may seem like a distant and fond memory, but we wanted to say thank you to everyone involved at the end of last term to make this event as successful and magical as it was. The campus was alive with music, festivities and most importantly - joy! The total amount raised for charity was 19.7m KRW.

Well done and thank you to the Beyond the Curriculum Team - in particular Mr. Doug Machin and Mr. Gwangho Im as well as Mr. David Lock (Events), Ms. DongEun Lee (Junior School Parent Liaison), Ms. Mina Chang (Senior School Parent Liaison), Ms. Wei Gong (Chinese Parent Liaison), Ms. Yuri Shin (Alumni and Development Manager), Mr. Christopher Chang (PAC Tech) and not forgetting the Junior, Senior and Chinese Parent Representatives and students who created and ran stands throughout the day.

Thank you to all those who donated:

• All the student groups combined donated 8 million Won

• The JS Parent Representative Group (PRG) donated 5 million Won

• The SS PRG donated 1 million Won and 1.2 million Won of products were donated

• The Chinese Parent Committee (CPC) donated 2.1 million Won

• The Alumni Parent Association (APA) donated 1 million Won

• Quadra donated 1 million Won

• The external providers donated 0.5 million Won

The Main Event

The 19.7 million Won proceeds from the Bazaar will be donated as follows:

Main Christmas charity The Christmas Seal Donation Project from:

- JS PRG (2.5 million Won)

- SS PRG (1 million Won)

- Quadra (1 million Won)

- APA (1 million Won)

- Student groups (0.8 million Won)

- External vendors (0.5 million Won)

- CPC (0.2 million Won)

Wide variety of charities decided by the respective student groups

Donation to the Junior School by the JS PRG

Donation by CPC parent group for NLCS Jeju future activities

Donation of products to NLCS campus staff (cleaning / security)

6.9 million Won

7.2 million Won 2.5 million Won 1.9 million Won 1.2 million Won

The Main Event

BLOOD DONATION

27 NLCS Jeju students and staff donated blood in December at the mobile blood donation van on campus. A huge thank you to Stella Han (Y12) who took her wonderful idea and made it a reality. You are an inspiration to us all. We know how much hard work and time you dedicated! Thank you also to Ms. Prichard and Mr. Coll who helped Stella with her project. A real team effort. To all of you who donated or supported in any way…we think you are brilliant! More pictures > https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAiLMK

NLCS Jeju Awards and Achievements

Congratulations to all our recent award winners!

Click here (https://bit.ly/nlcsstudentachievements )

MINI TEMPLE FAIR

On 17 January a mini temple fair will be arranged on campus. All of our Chinese students will be invited to join in the celebration. Photos to follow soon!

YEAR 3 AND 4 - 31 JANUARY

We are looking forward to welcoming our new Junior School students to NLCS Jeju on 31 January, following the creation of two new classes. The classes will each have an exceptional new teacher to join them. Ms. Laura Gough (Year 3) has a BEd Primary Education from the University of Gloucestershire and the majority of her teaching experience has been the UK although also some teaching experience in Busan. Ms. Jaheeda Hussain (Year 4) has a BEd Primary Education from the University of Hertfordshire and the majority of her teaching experience has been the UK with some teaching experience in Seoul.

Discover more about Ms. Gough and Ms. Hussain (and all our other teachers) by visiting the School directory online, here.

YEAR 13 MOCKS

Our Year 13 mock exams started on Monday 9 January and will finish on Friday 20 January. We wish all our students the best of luck with their exams and thank our other students for ensuring they remain quiet when near exam locations.

CHEMISTRY OLYMPIAD

The third Virtual Chemistry Olympiad took place in December. Nine Year 11-13 NLCS Jeju students competed with students from KIS. Students were tested on concepts such as Atomic structure, Organic Chemistry, Periodicity, Bonding, Equilibrium and Redox processes. They were able to prove their mettle by not only answering most of the questions correctly but also within the fastest amount of time against the competing school. Congratulations to all the participants and special gratitude to the lead teacher Dr. Henry Liu, the supervising support teacher Mr. Mahesh Warrier from the Chemistry department and Mr. Derek Patenaude-Head of Chemistry

STUDENT COUNCIL MEETING

The Student Council had a very productive meeting with the Principal before the end of last term. Here is a letter from the Student Council following this meeting.

Dear NLCS Jeju Community,

On the 1st of December, the Student Council had the opportunity to sit down with the Principal, Mrs Oldfield, to discuss the current issues surrounding the school with many questions regarding making adjustments to school facilities being discussed.

One prominent concern was regarding the congestion outside the Dining Hall. Mrs Oldfield stated that along with simple methods such as adding more lines, wide-scale changes were necessary, such as looking into opening up more areas around the school for snacks. Furthermore, complaints about the inability to use the heater and the A/C simultaneously were mentioned. According to the Principal, the current system makes it impossible to switch in-between, but other alternatives are being considered. The Council also brought up the widespread complaint relating to a lack of study spaces around the school. According to Mrs Oldfield, though there have been discussions of possibly remodelling the library to include more seats for laptop use, it is important that students recognise that homework should be done at home and that the school would like to encourage more students to spend time with their friends socialising or participating in a large number of societies and enterprises.

The Student Council also raised the issue of student welfare. Mrs Oldfield commented that the practice of giving out additional tests needs to cease, as tests in general create a lot of stress for students. Ms Oldfield mentioned that a ‘shift in the school’s academic culture’, one that ensures lower levels of stress, was necessary and being worked on.

The Student Council is extremely grateful to Ms Oldfield for attending the meeting and we will continue to be proficient representatives of the student voice at NLCS Jeju.

Sincerely,

The Student Council

Other news

STUDENT COUNCIL INSTAGRAM PAGE

Our Senior School Student Council has launched a new instagram account. Follow them today to keep up to date with all the work they are doing. https://www.instagram.com/nlcstuco/

PLEDGE POSTER

What was created as an IB student pledge impressed the Principal and has become a whole school pledge! You’ll soon see this poster around the school.

Other news

BOTANICAL ART WORKSHOP

On Sunday 11 December, Mrs. Sunho Lee, a Korean-born contemporary botanical artist and a lover of Australian flora (a Member of Botanical Art Society of Australia & a Fellow Member of Society of Botanical Artists) facilitated a workshop for a small group of NLCS Jeju students. The artist introduced this unique genre of art, and guided the participants to experience some foundation techniques of botanical art.

Botanical Art

JS CLIMATE CHANGE PROTEST

Here are some of the photos from the December protest which saw our Junior School students marching through our Senior School to demand we all help to ‘save the earth’!

Other news

DANCE SHOW

If you missed the incredible Dance Show in December, take a look at the photos here! Well done to everyone who took part and to our Dance Department - just wonderful!

JUNIOR SCHOOL TRIP - SEOUL PALACE

Thank you to Ms Jeong and Ms Lee who took a group of Year 5 and 6 students to Seoul in December. They said - “The trip allowed students to build upon their knowledge of Korean history as part of their Korean social studies. Despite the cold weather, the students burned their curiosity and passion for history, and it was a meaningful time to know the history and hidden stories of the palace that they were curious about and did not know well.”

JUNIOR SCHOOL ART SHOW

Here are some wonderful pictures from the Junior School Art show which took place in December. Well done to all our talented artists and thank you to Ms. Walker and Mr. Kennington for all their hard work arranging. More pictures.

IBDP VISUAL ARTS

Take a look at this brilliant video created by our Art Department.

ASSEMBLY MUSIC

Don’t forget, we often share music from our School assembly online, via our YouTube channel. Why not sit back and enjoy some recent performances: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0QDynmGRTQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qV-ZCgQZhe0

AUTUMN CHORUS

Mr. Evans, Head of First School, was once in a band called ‘Autumn Chorus’ and to mark the tenth anniversary of the release of their album ‘The Village of the Vale’ - the album has been digitally remastered and is available to buy online. Mr. Evans’ bandmate, Robbie Wilson, sadly passed away 6 years ago and the release of the album will be in his memory with all proceeds being donated to Kidscan Children’s Cancer Research. If you’d like to support Mr. Evans and this wonderful charity, why not download the album for yourself or digitally gift it to a friend.

https://autumnchorus.bandcamp.com/album/the-village-to-the-vale-10th-anniversaryedition

THE ISLANDER - ISSUE 30

There are a number of brilliant student publications created regularly - don’t miss the latest issue of the Islander here.

STUDENT PUBLICATION - ARTLESS

Artless Enterprise is a publication started by Regis Yang (y12) in 2021 to showcase NLCS Jeju students’ unique perspectives on global matters and current affairs. Starting with the first issue, we hope to intrigue and educate our audience and continuously learn from our experience. A special thanks to Mr Drew Thomas and Mr Adam Lim for their guidance. Please check their first issue HERE

WALLACEA TRIP

Parents should have received a letter recently from Ms. Prichard (Head of Biology, and Head of Libraries and Scholarship) regarding a very exciting trip to Madagascar. The trip is primarily aimed at students in Year 11 or Year 12 who are studying Biology or Geography and will be in partnership with Operation Wallacea.

This is an incredible opportunity and we are very pleased this is something we can offer our students. Please do get in touch with Ms. Prichard if you would like further information (kprichard@nlcsjeju.kr).

IB HISTORY - LONG MARCH

Mr. Matthews shared recent class activities about the Chinese Communist Party’s Long March.

“Year 13 History students recently acted out the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Long March in China from 1934-35. Students worked collaboratively to produce a short video explaining the history and significance of the Long March. Tasks such as these are designed to be a fun way whereby students can learn and remember historical events outside of their normal classroom experience.

Before the Chinese Communist Party came to power in China in 1949, China was ruled by the Nationalist Party (the GMD) under the leadership of Jiang Jieshi. In the 1930s the GMD attacked the communists in their base in Jiangxi. In 1934 facing the prospect of annihilation, Mao Zedong led the CCP on the Long March, and he established a new base in Yanan. The CCP overcame many obstacles on their historic 10,000km march, and many of their members did not survive the arduous journey which lasted a year. The Long March was a significant event in Mao’s rise within the CCP, and had the CCP been annihilated they would not have been able to rise to power in China.”

SPORT

BelowarepicturesfromtheKISACbadmintoncompetitionsthatourstudentsparticipated in before the break.

MS Boys:

Single: A & B Division : 4th place Boys Double: 2nd place

MS Girls:

Single Girls: A Division 2nd place, B Division: 2nd and 4th place.

Here are some key dates from our CAC. New

Year, Traditional Celebrations!

If there’s one holiday that all cultures around the world celebrate, it would be the end of a bygone year and the beginning of a new one. Here are some cultural traditions linked to new years’ celebrations to give you some ideas on how best to start 2023.

Lunar New Year (1 January of lunar calendar)

Many Asian countries traditionally used the lunisolar calendar to track the progress of time, calibrated by combining the position of the sun and the waning and waxing of—you guessed it—the moon. Marking the end of winter and the beginning of the spring season, Lunar New Year begins on the new moon that appears between 21 January and 20 February of the Gregorian year. Although it is commonly known to western cultures as Chinese New Year, Lunar New Year is a holiday celebrated in unique ways by many different cultures, including Korea, Taiwan, Cambodia, and Myanmar. We’ll be covering Korea’s new year, called Seollal, in deeper depth as the holiday approaches.

Cultural Awareness Committee

United States

Home to one of Hollywood’s favourite new years’ traditions, Times Square becomes packed with New Yorkers and tourists at midnight of December 31st every year as people—quite literally—wait for the ball to drop. Read more about this real-life idiom here.

Spain

The Spanish start off their new year by eating 12 lucky grapes, one for each strike of the clock for 12 a.m. of January 1st. However, there’s a catch: the grapes are lucky only if you manage to eat them all in a matter of seconds, gone by the time the clock finishes striking midnight. Read more about las doce uvas de la suerte here.

Haiti

Whatever form your celebrations may take, we hope they have heralded the beginning of a new year filled with success and happiness for all members of the NLCS community. The CAC wishes you an amazing start to the Year of the Lucky Black Rabbit!

January 1st is Haitian Independence Day, commemorating Haiti’s liberation from French colonial rule. Haitians celebrate by eating pumpkin soup, called soup joumou, a delicacy that enslaved Black people were not allowed to have. Read more about Haiti’s history here.

Soup Joumou - LINK

ADMISSIONS OPEN

We are pleased to confirm that we are now accepting applications for Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 starting in August 2023. The deadline to apply is 28 February. The assessment day for Reception is 11 March and for Year 1 and 2 it is 15 April (with online rounds first). For further information, please contact the Admissions Team today admissions@nlcsjeju.kr.

ADMISSIONS EVENTS

We are delighted to invite prospective families to join us at our NLCS Jeju Information Sessions that are taking place on campus in February. Visit our website for more information and to register your attendance.

MBC TV

Watch Mr. Doug Machin on MBC TV discussing outdoor education (he features between 2hr 32 to 3hrs. This show was recorded together with our Cheongju government partners and further strengthens the link NLCS Jeju has with Cheongju.

NLCS Jeju is very proud to be working together with Cheongju and we are again really looking forward to the Year 6 camp in May, which utilises the government managed Outdoor Education facilities in Cheongju.

We are the only international school in South Korea to have developed this kind of partnership.

Well done Mr. Machin, we hope you’re not tempted by a new career in television! https://youtu.be/IKxBIzrd9sw

Mobile screen calendar

Please download if you need it. Here.

designed by Mr. Dominic Ng (Graduate Assistant).