NLCS Jeju Newsletter 03 February 2023

PRINCIPAL’S LETTER

Dear Parents, Students, Staff and Friends of NLCS Jeju

Despite the cold weather during the Seollal and half term break we hope that all had a lovely time and were able to be with their families. Certainly following on from the mock examinations for IGCSE and the IB Diploma Programme students in the main have returned refreshed and ready for the challenges and vibrancy of life at NLCS Jeju.

Subject enrichment works have begun already with a stimulating and thoughtful week led by the History Department. It has provided opportunities for fun as well with the dressing up days in historical dress in both the Senior and Junior Schools.

This half term we will welcome many more of our parents into school for a variety of opportunities to learn more about their children’s education and how to work together with the School. Please sign up for the various events if you would like to be part of them. We are also delighted to have a number of visitors into school. Some will be working with students and for example providing lectures to enrich their studies. We continue our close relationship with the Provincial Office for Education in Jeju and next week we welcome some teachers into the school for training as well as a visit from the Superintendent. I would also like to draw your attention to three further groups visiting and events:

• The ICPA (The International Child Protection Agency) - Mr. Tim Gerrish from 13 February

• The COBIS (Council of British International Schools) Patron Award Accreditation Team (4 senior educationalists) from the 12 March

• The NLCS Jeju Board of Governors Meetings - following the Governors arrival from the 17 March and staying for Founders Day on the 23 March.

During these visits they will be immersed in the life of the school and will have meetings with students, staff and parents.

I am always delighted to congratulate the many achievements of our students and so please celebrate with us their many successes, some of which are highlighted in this edition of the Newsletter. It is also very pleasing that the School’s Safeguarding Team has received international recognition for their preventative and support programmes in Safeguarding.

Yours sincerely,

Lynne Oldfield Principal

Safeguarding - Our Commitment

NLCS Jeju is committed to safeguarding and recognises the underlying principle that if a child cannot feel safe they cannot learn to their full potential. Upholding this commitment is everyone’s responsibility in the School community. Accordingly, the School has prioritised Safeguarding in its strategic planning.

One of the specific strands of Safeguarding is the prevention of harm to children’s health or development. Suicide prevention is especially important in this regard. Training completed by key staff has led to the democratisation of suicide intervention. The acquisition of skills and confidence that flow from training has enabled us to enact the philosophy that ‘safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility’.

Young people with thoughts of suicide may provide opportunities or invitations for intervention to a range of people (both within the School and beyond). The wider we are able to spread basic intervention knowledge and skills among our School’s community, the more likely it will be that those invitations will be accepted and acted upon.

Talking about suicide reduces stigma. Reducing stigma makes it more likely that students with thoughts of suicide will seek help, this in turn saves lives.

International School Awards 2023

NLCS Jeju - Winner of the Safeguarding award

AWARD WINNERS

The work and commitment of the entire School staff, leadership and Safeguarding team has now culminated in the School winning the International Schools’ Award for Safeguarding. This is an honour of which our School community can be rightfully proud. By the same token, our Safeguarding responsibilities need to be upheld each and every day and as a community we can never rest on our laurels. External recognition is worth celebrating but our work goes on. Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility and we encourage partnership with parents and the wider community.

If you have concerns about the welfare of yourself or someone you know, then you can either speak directly with any trusted member of staff or use the email addresses on the Safeguarding page of the School’s website: https://www.nlcsjeju.co.kr/safeguarding

The Main Event

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

TOK ENRICHMENT WEEK 4’33

Thank you to the TOK team for arranging an interesting week of activities for the Enrichment Week.

Thank you to Mr. Harry Thorrington for conducting a performance of John Cage’s - 4’33. Cage, influenced by Zen Buddhism, believed that any auditory experience may constitute music. A number of you watched the performance - what did you think? Is Cage correct? Such discussions are common when studying TOK.

Our Year 9 students had their first taste of TOK during their morning assembly - in the form of a game show as part of the house competition. There were a number of rounds, such as ‘Particle Game’, ‘TOK TIK-TOK Channel’, ‘Map Game’ and ‘Pin the T on the OK’. Students gave their answers which were judged by a panel of esteemed judges - Mr. Scargill, Mr. Waterman, Ms. Wilson and Mr. Coll.

To win, contestants had to demonstrate creative and critical thinking.

Find out more about TOK here and discover why this is an important part of our IBDP.

The Main Event

HISTORY ENRICHMENT WEEK

It’s History Enrichment Week! Thank you to the History department and students for arranging such an exciting week, including lectures, a quiz, debate, information stands, computer games, photographic exhibitions and a photobooth

All topped off with a 1920s Costume Competition!

The Main Event

2023 HISTORY AND POLITICS COMPETITIONS

If you have been inspired by what you have seen and learnt this week, why not enter one of the North London Collegiate School essay competitions and pit your skills against students from other NLCS schools, fnd out more here or contact Mr. Löser for more information.

JUNIOR SCHOOL HISTORICAL FIGURE PARADE

Here are some great photos of our Junior School students parading through the School!

The Main Event

Don’t miss our posts!

Follow us on our social media pages to never miss out! Our recent posts include:

• Year 3 Roman Day

• Student Council re-election

• Academic Enhancement in Boarding

• Snow on Campus

• Sukho Yoon wins Grand Prize at Sungbuk Film Festival

NLCS Jeju Awards and Achievements

23RD KOREAN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA COMPETITION 2022

Congratulations to Jejun Son (Y4) who was awarded first prize at this prestigious competition. Not only did he win the prize he is also the youngest and first student from NLCS Jeju to perform at the Seoul Arts Centre. Jejun’s NLCS Jeju cello teacher - Sojung Lee and Mr. Neil Tamlyn praised Jejun for this incredible achievement. We are all very proud of you.

Chinese Lunar New Year

As Korea celebrated Seollal, our Chinese students and their families celebrated Chinese Lunar New Year. Throughout Korea and the School there were many Seollal celebrations and activities but for our Chinese students, who were many miles away from home for this special occasion, Ms. Maggie Dai made sure they had a taste of home!

We hope all our community celebrated well with family and have a prosperous year, but here is a special section dedicated to our Chinese students and their families.

HAPPY CHINESE LUNAR NEW YEAR VIDEO

A New Year message from our staff and students.

CHINESE NEW YEAR ACTIVITIES

Thank you to Ms. Maggie Dai for arranging two exciting New Year activities for our Junior School students.

Ms. Dai explains what Chinese Lunar New Year is - “The Chinese Lunar New Year Festival, namely Chūn Jié (春节) is a 15-day long festival held in China to celebrate the Lunar New Year. During the festival, many fantastic performances are held, such as colourful fireworks, and Lion Dances. Many people wear, from head to toe, a red-themed costume, as they believe that the colour red provides luck. Moreover, they put money in a red envelope, called Hóng Bāo (红包), and give it to others to wish luck.”

Chinese Lunar New Year

FAMILY HOME VISITS

On 12 January our Year 6 students were invited to the homes of some of our Chinese students to experience Chinese Lunar New Year with their families. This wonderful experience was only possible through the generosity of our Chinese families.

Thanks to our host families: Ms. (Sally) Man Sha (Y4 parent), Ms. Honglei Ni (Y3 parent) and Ms. Zhaoxin Peng (Y1 parent),

Whilst at the homes our students took part in a number of activities and enjoyed delicious, traditional food.

Activities

• making red envelopes, Hóng Bāo (红包)

• making traditional dumplings, Jiǎo Zi (饺子)

• singing with the karaoke machine - songs included “Hey Jude” by the Beatles and “New Thing” by Zico (feat. Homies)

• receiving pocket money from their host families to place in their envelopes

Ms. Dai said “these traditional Chinese activities were very inspiring to everyone. We believe that it was a very good and meaningful experience to visit the traditional Chinese family in terms of diversity and understanding the different cultures.”

Chinese Lunar New Year

• delicious fruit displayed on beautiful dishes

• dumplings (Jiǎo Zi (饺子)) (prepared by the families as well as ones the students made) -over 300 were prepared!

• a traditional dessert called ‘Sweet Rice Balls’ (Tāng Yuán (汤圆)) -made out of sticky rice and filled with sweet black sesame fillings

Ms. Dai said - It was such a privilege to be in the house and be a member of the feast.We want to finish this short article with a very good Chinese proverb about happiness: ‘Happiness is something to do, something to love, something to hope for.’”

Chinese Lunar New Year

Chinese Lunar New Year

Here is some feedback from the lucky students:

Gio Lee 6CD

“This day was my best day of school ever! Children enjoyed all of the activities and they played as hard as they could. There was an adorable dog and kids welcoming us to their amazing, delightful and charming house. Dumpling dancing inside my mouth made me put a gigantic smile on my face. Their activities were an amazing set of experiences to have and gave us crazy happiness. I would never have a better day than this Chinese Lunar new year festival trip.”

Jiho Lee 6CD

“This exceptional trip to Chinese host families was a great opportunity for me to experience the cultures of the Chinese Lunar New Year Festival. With the hard preparation of the teachers and the host families, I was able to have a wonderful day, with not even a minute to get bored of. The activities were very exciting and thrilling, moreover the taste of the fabulous dishes never left my mind. Again, I want to show the greatest gratitude I possibly can to all the teachers and the host families for putting this remarkable trip that I would never be able to forget together.”

Sean Yun 6CD

“Personally, it was my best Thursday ever. From the start of our journey, I found a remarkable and adorable Y1 child called Robin. For the whole day, Robin and I had a wonderful time. We had an amazing time and the dumpling making activity was very interesting. I was shocked at my classmates’ creativity at making dumplings. Gio made the infamous “Nothing Dumpling” and Sophia made the cat-shaped dumplings, which made everybody there laugh at her remarkable skills. Even though there were some children using their time at making the dumplings, I was the one that ate all the dumplings. I also very much enjoyed playing with the dog of the host’s house, “Rocky”. It was very impressive that the dog reacted to its own name, but didn’t to another name. But mostly, I loved the people. The Chinese people were so kind and generous, which I think was the main reason that I absolutely loved the trip. It was delicious, it was enjoyable, and finally, it was loving.”

Chinese Lunar New Year

MINI TEMPLE FAIR

The Mini Temple Fair took place on 17 January and was enjoyed by all. The Junior School Auditorium was alive with music and laughter. The guests were also treated to a traditional Chinese Dragon Dance performed by staff members and students.

Activities included:

•Chinese paper cutting

• Hanfu papercraf

•Fan painting

•Chinese traditional games

•Cotton candy

•Dragon Dance

•Making Lanterns

•Sticky Rice Dumplings workshop

•Wishing Tree (New Year Wishes)

Special thanks to the event organisers: Ms. Qian Li - CPC Junior School (Y2 parent) and Mr. Yuan Xi - CPC Chair (Y7 parent), and to our Temple fair MC: Jiangtao (Daniel) Zhang (Y5). More Pictures.

SAMUL NORI

Enjoy this wonderful video of our Junior Students performing Samul nori and a Chinese Dragon Dance in assembly in January. https://youtu.be/CFVMGsiT09E

LIBRARY NEWS

SENIOR SCHOOL LIBRARY REFURBISHMENT

The ‘Conceptual Design’ was recently shared with staff and students - thank you to all those who provided such excellent, thoughtful and detailed feedback, all of which will be shared with our architect. The NLCS Jeju Library is at the heart of our community - a safe environment for you to create, enrich, and grow. We are very excited about the plans and will update you along the way.

For now, here are the first concept plans which will be revised following feedback. There will be further opportunities for feedback in the future.

MEET THE LIBRARY TEAM

The three on campus libraries and the virtual library system are looked after by a team of experienced and qualified staff. The team ensures that students have access to all the required resources for study, a plentiful stock of books for leisure reading and they provide a welcoming space for our students, with a number of fun activities arranged throughout the year.

Name Occupation Experience

Kym Prichard Head of Libraries and Scholarship, and, Head of Biology

This is my first year as Head of Libraries and Scholarship at NLCS Jeju, previous to this I held an additional responsibility as Lead Practitioner focussing on scholarship and the practice of which in NLCS Jeju. My MA explored the practice of scholarship within secondary education and I am still very much interested in what is “scholarly” in universities compared to that practised in schools such as ours.

Favourite part of your job

Exploring ways to support our NLCS Jeju bibliophiles through our collection, space and services as we have so many of them! This is truly fun. I am also fascinated in ways to best present information in its various forms and shapes. But it needs to be in such a way young people reconsider how to communicate their passion for their favourite subject, idea or context.

Favourite book

It is really very difficult for me to list only one book. Books are everything to me. At a push, I continue to enjoy the skill of John Le Carre, in particular in ‘Smiley’s People’.

Then there is the clarity of the opening few pages of ‘Cider with Rosie’ which I will always cherish.

And, then recalling the prose within this recent book, ‘Entangled Life’ by Merlin Sheldrake is now up there with Le Carre as one my favourite favourite books.

There are a few books I am currently reading, as it depends on whether I read to slow down and relax or whether to be energised to learn and absorb ideas.

For slowing down and relaxing it is currently any short story written by Phillip K Dick, or any story in the Sherlock Holmes collection by Arthur Conan Doyle.

In contrast, I am rereading this book as I am learning so much from Mr Sheldrake!

LIBRARY NEWS

MEET THE LIBRARY TEAM

Name

Occupation

Experience

Favourite part of your job

Favourite book /author/genre

Jay Byrom Senior School Librarian

I have an MSc in Library Science, and worked in both secondary and primary school libraries before coming to NLCS Jeju in 2022.

The best part of the job is when I am able to help students find new books that they love, but would never have thought to try otherwise.

My favourite book is ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd’ by Agatha Christie - a classic murder mystery with an ending that I won’t spoil.

My favourite author is Stephen King - for his nonfiction books. Covering the horror genre and writing as a craft, they are both engaging and insightful.

My favourite genre is science fiction. It can cover any number of subjects and address any number of questions that we can come up with. As a genre it ranges from comedy, to absurdity, to dystopia, and much in between, often engaging with contemporary issues as it goes.

I am currently reading ‘Dark Tales’ by Shirley Jackson. Currently reading

Name

Occupation

Experience

Guk-Hyun Nam Junior School Librarian

I worked as a library software manager for five years before I came to NLCS Jeju in 2016. After coming to NLCS Jeju I was in the senior school library for three years and I moved to the junior school library.

Favourite part

Favourite book /author/genre

I am happiest when I have conversations with students who come to the library and when I see students happy for reading and finding books and information from the library.

My favourite book is ‘연어 by 안도현’ - ‘The Salmon Who Dared to Leap Higher by Do-Hyun Ahn’ which tells the story of a salmon’s journey back to the river to lay eggs and die.

My favourite author is also ‘안도현’ - ‘Do-Hyun Ahn’. He is not only a fiction author but also poetry and his poems are written as everyday things, but they are quite creative.

My favourite genre is the poem. Poetry is short, but it implies a lot of thought and imagination. Also, poetry can be interpreted differently and variously every time it is read. It fosters our imagination and sensitivity. I do think a good short poetry is better than a thick fiction book.

I am currently reading ‘Dark Tales’ by Shirley Jackson. I am reading ‘ 아몬드 by 손원평’ - Almond by Won-Pyung Sohn

LIBRARY NEWS

Name

Occupation

Experience

Simon Bul Library Assistant

I worked as a Director of a retirement benefit solutions company for 9 years in Gibraltar prior to moving to Jeju. I continue to be a Director of a Literary management company in the Isle of Man which has given me another perspective on books and how difficult it can be to get them published.

Favourite part

Favourite book /author/genre

Seeing the enthusiasm of the younger kids who come from junior school to use the library.

Niv - The authorised Biography of David Niven

Currently reading

Guy Martin: Dead Men Don’t Tell Tales

HAIR DONATION

You may notice that our Junior School Librarian, Mr. Guk-Hyun Nam looks a little different recently! Mr. Nam cut his hair in January and donated it to a charity that provides free wigs to young people who experience hair loss through cancer treatment. Read more about the charity here. What a great thing to do! Well done Mr. Nam.

MASKS ON CAMPUS

Following the recent change to the mask mandate, please read the letter from the Principal, a copy was sent to all parents via isams.

LANYARD WEARING

Thank you to everyone for their efforts this week to always wear their lanyard on campus. As Mr. Waterman’s email stated, Senior School students will not be allowed on campus without their lanyard - so, don’t forget!

NEW COUNCIL MEMBERS

A message from your Student Council - “Before the Christmas Break, the Student Council successfully re-elected Year Group Representatives for the next academic year. We feel that it is very important to help new students settle into the school and this year we have appointed four additional representatives to develop a New Student Induction Programme. Below is the complete list of the Council:

Year 7: Bryan Suh and Ariel Hong

Year 8: Layla Jeon and Jinny Baek

Year 9: Keira Walker and Chloe Kim

Year 10: Alyssa Seo and Elliot Lee

Year 11: Chandler Ahn and Emma Chung

Year 12: Ellie Kim and Brian Yoon

New Student Induction Reps: Chloe Lee(Yr8) , Yeongjin Yoo(Yr9), Kevin Kim(Yr10) and Stella Kim(Yr11)

This term, all members of the Council will be working on specific agendas in their separate committees. Please keep up to date with our progress through regularly checking the Student Bulletin, Weekly Newsletters, and our official instagram page - NLCStuco.”

Other news

NLCS HUB PODCAST SPATIUM

Listen to episodes 8 and 9 of the most recent student led podcasts. One is an interview with a Dentistry student at New York University College of Dentistry, the other interviews a inance major living in New York and working as an associate at private equity irm.

Shona Park (Y12) said “These two episodes conclude the job interview episodes which aim to help and inspire students in deciding their career path, we interview professionals in each academic ield to hear the true reality behind their experience and their journey so far to reach their goals.”

INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION AND CAREER FAIR - 2023

NLCS Jeju will be attending this year’s event at COEX in Seoul. Prospective families can register to attend here. If you have friends with children, who are considering studying at NLCS Jeju or are looking at overseas options for their children, please encourage them to attend the event and meet us.

YEAR 4 PARENTS AS PARTNERS

Thank you to all our parents who joined us recently for another successful Parents as Partners event in our Junior School. Working together with our parents is very important to us and we hope our parents can join us at future events. More pictures.

Other news

PIONEERS BUSINESS COMPETITION

Over the past two months four students from Year 10 participated in the Pioneers Business Competition against eight teams from BHA, KIS and SJA. Having the help of a professional mentor who was an investor in drama productions and a student mentor was invaluable in helping them prepare their Business Plan for a Bicycle Lending scheme for the GEC area to improve the quality of life for students in the international schools. The team of Rex Gwon, Andrew An, Eu Park and Darby Lee found that their school experiences paid dividends in preparing their presentation for the judges. They called themselves INNO and presented their idea with passion in the finals on Saturday 14th January and came away with a certificate for the most creative and unique idea for improving the lives of students. Congratulations to the team.

SENIOR SCHOOL DROP OFF

To speed up the Senior School drop off in the morning, we ask that all parents continue to follow the process which has been recently implemented and is so far proving a success!

Pictured left to right with their certificate are: Darby, Rex, Eu and Andrew.ndrew.

We are delighted to announce a number of early decisions for our students who have applied to the US and UK. What a fantastic achievement - well done all!

Boarding News

PARENTS AS PARTNERS MEET

Parents of students in Year 5 and above are invited to join us for a Parents as Partners event on 8 February with a focus on the Benefits of Boarding. At NLCS Jeju boarding is a very important feature of our school and we encourage all our students to consider boarding with us. There are so many wonderful reasons and they will all be explained at the event, which will also include a tour of our boarding homes. Click the link in Mr. Waterman’s email to register to attend the event.

Parents of students in boarding will soon receive information about the opportunity to visit their child’s boarding home for afternoon tea and/or meet the boarding team for coffee in Seoul. We are very excited to be able to arrange such events! More information soon!

Seollal

Cultural Awareness Committee news

Here are some key dates from our CAC.

새해 복 많이 받으세요 (sae-hae bok mani-badeuseyo), meaning ‘I wish you the best of luck this New Year’, is the most oft-repeated greeting in Korea at this time of year. Seollal is the Korean word for Lunar New Year, which takes place at the end of Gregorian January. Click here to read more about Seollal.

Black History Month

BlackHistoryMonth,alsoknownintheStatesasAfrican-AmericanHistoryMonth,beganas awayofrememberingimportantpeopleandeventsinthehistoryoftheAfricandiaspora.It is celebrated in February in the United States and Canada, while in Ireland and the United Kingdom it is observed in October.

The 2023 theme of Black History Month is ‘Black Resistance’. Read more about the annual theme here.

Imbolc

Imbolc or Imbolg, also called Saint Brigid’s Day, is a Gaelic traditional festival. It marks the beginning of spring, and for Christians it is the feast day of Saint Brigid, one of Ireland’s three national saints along with Patrick and Columba. Read more about Imbolc here.

AlthoughFebruarymaybethreedaysshorter,it’sbynomeanslackinginculturalfestivities. The Cultural Awareness Committee wishes all who celebrate a wonderful month ahead filled with interesting holidays!

REUNION NEWS

REUNION NEWS

The December reunion, which took place at the Embassy in Seoul, was a great success. Thank you to Ms. Shin for helping the alumni to arrange the event. Take a look at the photos and see how many faces you recognise!

Plans are underway for a Summer Reunion, please email alumnioffice@nlcsjeju.kr for more information or to discuss how you can be involved with ONLJ. More pictures.

OLLE SUCCESS

There are 27 Olle Trail routes on Jeju, covering 437 km. Congratulations to Ms. Sandra Coll (Latin Teacher), who completed her final Olle Trail on 15 January. Ms. Coll was joined by a group of NLCS Jeju staff. The cold and windy weather did not stop the group enjoying the walk along the Jeju coast. Well done!!

STAFF QUIZ

Thank you to Mr. Craig Wehrle, Mr. Stephen Mckeogh and Mr. Stephen Walker who arranged a staff quiz before Lunar New Year. This inaugural quiz was such a success that it will become a regular occurance, and in future, Mr. Wehrle plans to raise money for charity at the events too! Congratulations to the winning team - Mr. Gary Barker , his wife Jane, Mr. Jearson Narvaez and Mr. Harry Dean!

CHARITY RUN

Mr. Mark Eyton-Jones will be running the perimeter of Jeju island over the Easter break! A total of 265 kms, with the aim to complete it within 4 days. He will be raising money for The Green Umbrella Children Foundation. The charity supports underprivileged children in Jeju.

This is an incredible challenge and if you would like to support him, please donate via his Just Giving page or contact him directly for bank details or other ways to support.

VISIT US

Prospective families are invited to join us at one of our upcoming Information Fairs on campus. Register today!

….and finally

SECOND HAND UNIFORM SALE

FRIDAY 17 FEBRUARY - 8AM TO 4.30PM

After last year’s phenomenal success, we are hosting another second hand uniform sale on campus. Full details available in the letter from Mr. Doug Machin.

A huge thank you to our PRG, Parent Liaison Team and the Beyond the Curriculum team in advance as we know how much planning and preparation is required to set the sale up!

All money raised will be donated to charity - we will update you in a future newsletter.