Weekly Newsletter 7 May 2021 by North London Collegiate School Jeju

NEWSWEEK WELCOME TO OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

07 May 2021 BOARDING STORIES SERVICE STUDENTS HOUSE CROSS COUNTRY

A Letter From The Principal Dear Parents, Students, Staff and Friends of NLCS Jeju This week we have been very busy discussing with our parents and students from Years 3-12 about the changes that are happening in boarding for the next academic year 2021-2 as NLCS Jeju begins a new decade. We are very proud of our boarding provision which we know supports students on their journey to world class universities. It also ensures that once they arrive at universities - in the UK, the USA or elsewhere in the world, they are successful as they are equipped with both the skills for learning and the important social skills. As at all top schools we listen to our parents, students and staff and enact changes and developments where necessary without losing sight of our core values and ethos as NLCS Jeju. I urge you to follow the links below to find out about the many advantages of boarding at NLCS Jeju if you have not been able to attend or watch the presentations this week which are bespoke to different year groups in the School.

Existing Boarding Parents HERE Year 11 and 12 Parents HERE Year 9 and 10 Parents HERE Year 6, 7 and 8 Parents HERE Year 3, 4 and 5 Parents HERE This week I would like to refer back to my assembly address last week where I discussed happiness and what it means. I encouraged the students to develop 4 key habits which I reiterate now 1. Direct your focus - Smile 2. Practise Gratitude 3. Spread positivity 4. Challenge yourself I encourage all of you to take these on board! Yours sincerely, Lynne Oldfield Principal

BOARDING STORIES We’ve had a wonderful week talking about boarding and presenting our new structure and ideas for next academic year. There are lots of exciting changes and we’ll be sharing more information over the next few weeks. We hope you’ve had a chance to read our new boarding brochure (HERE). We would remind you that if you have any questions at all or would like to take a tour of our boarding or arrange a Taster session for your child then please contact our AVP - Houses and Spirit - Mr. Peter Scargill or VP - Pastoral - Mr. Toby Waterson (twaterson@nlcsjeju.kr).

Some pictures posed or taken at different times over the last year with changing guidelines

North NorthLondon London Collegiate CollegiateSchool School Jeju Jeju

Some pictures posed or taken at different times over the last year with changing guidelines

North London Collegiate School Jeju

Some pictures posed or taken at different times over the last year with changing guidelines

Boarding Weekend Thank you to Sarah HM, Mr Patrick Youell for sharing some lovely pictures of the trip to the beach last weekend for our Sarah and Darangswi boarders! “Last Sunday, Sarah House and a few members of Darangswi House enjoyed a trip to the ‘Secret Beach’ between Sanbangsan and Hwasun Harbour. The weather could not have been better. The sun was out, the air was cool and the sand was warm beneath our feet. We had the entirety of our secluded beach to ourselves and the boys and girls had great fun splashing in the water, throwing frisbees, playing volleyball and just lounging about on the sand. Sunday’s laughter and broad smiles puts into perspective the challenging year that we have had. Hopefully next year, we will be able to enjoy greater opportunities beyond the confines of the school campus. “ Our HMs and their teams really make sure that our boarders have fun to balance their busy weeks!

SERVICE NLCS Jeju Service Groups Our Service Ambassador, Angela Seo - Year 12 - has let us know about great news for some of our Service initiatives. To be selected as a 2021 Youth Self-directed Volunteer group held by the Jeju Youth Service Centre, there was an application open in March for any service individual or group. Those selected have operating fees paid up to 500,000 KRW. Four service groups from our School entered and every one was selected - some of them being newly starting service groups! Congratulations to Bridge, The Lighthouse, Supia, and Echo Sound Jeju.. Here we share an introduction to these groups written by our students.

Bridge Bridge, led by the members of the NLCS Jeju Architecture Society, seeks to promote smooth and effective cultural integration through architecture. Bridge tries to promote healthy cultural exchange through various means. The first project is targeted at achieving smooth cultural assimilation of Yemeni refugees. The group will first launch a website and use video media, to share the traditional culture of Yemen with the people of Jeju Island. In addition, through an architectural proposal that combines Yemeni traditional houses and basalt rocks in Jeju Island, we will try to establish a venue for connection between Jeju villagers. Lastly, we would like to prepare a conference or a dinner that celebrates Yemeni people as a part of our local community.These plans are subject to COVID Guidelines, of course.

The Lighthouse The Lighthouse for the Visually Impaired Bryant is dedicated to educating and empowering the visually impaired. Mainly, we do this by making literature more accessible to them as literature provides knowledge, joy, and insight into the world. While books play an important role in one’s life, there is very limited access to literature for the blind and the visually impaired. Our Bryant produces transcribed versions of books in typed and audio form. These are then sent to a Korean welfare centre for the visually impaired, where the typed versions are converted into Braille and audio versions are shared on various platforms for the visually impaired. We are also planning to organise activities such as creating and displaying artwork to raise awareness about the visually impaired within NLCS Jeju and the local community. We believe that providing equal opportunities and raising awareness about minorities like the visually impaired will help to establish a healthier society.

SUPIA ‘Supia’ is a service Bryant group that supports the assuagement of global environmental pollution. Derived from Greek mythology, ‘Supia’ embodies the meaning of a fairy in the forest. Our group’s ultimate goal is to improve the environmental condition of GEC areas and to instill environmental consciousness. The main activities include planting air purification trees, plocking activities, and creating weekly articles and infographics on the topic of environmental conservation. Our Supia members choose the air-purifying plants and deliver them to students/children in Jeju. Living in the world of COVID-19 where the outdoor activities are restricted, we wanted to provide students with eco-friendly behaviours and hobbies — raising air-purifying trees. Air purifying plants take responsibility for children’s health by purifying the air in the room, raise awareness in environmental protection, and offer eco-friendly hobbies by interacting with nature where modern people are not able to go out due to COVID-19. Plocking, the compound word of ‘Plocka Upp’ (meaning pick-up in Swedish) and walking, is an activity that encourages people to walk and pick up trash together to protect the environment. During such Bryant sessions, our group walks around the GEC and picks up trash on the way. By having various activities that aim to foster the environment, especially in Jeju, Supia encourages students and teachers to have more interest in conserving the natural environment and ingraining the concept of “nature” to future generations.

Some pictures posed or taken at different times over the last year with changing guidelines

We are thankful that Supia was selected as a 2021 Youth Self-directed Volunteer group held by the Jeju Youth Service Center. During Blocks 1 and 2, interaction with outside organizations in Jeju has been limited due to COVID-19, therefore, we continued our activities by delivering plants to junior students and teachers/staff in our NLCS Jeju. However, in block 3, we will use the 500,000 won we received in order to deliver airpurifying plants to the wider community in Jeju. Although it will still be difficult to meet and deliver plants directly with children due to restrictions, Supia members will collect and organize the information needed to grow plants and will continue with contact-free delivery. In addition, we will make Scandiamoss frames that have air purification function and natural humidification effect to provide children a more pleasant environment and to have an interest in the preservation of nature and the environment.

When Colo(u)rs Speak We have a wonderful treat coming up for fans of great drama. Our student led production When Colo(u)rs Speak is coming our way on May 12 - 14. The performance will run across three nights - Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 7.00 in the PAC. This performance has been entirely created by students. They are responsible for the music, script, direction, production - all elements of this show which is best described as historical fiction/fantasy!

Student Team Producer - Eunice Lee, Leo Joh Playwright/Lyricist - Eunice Lee Music Composition - Eunice Lee Lead Technician - Leo Joh Arts Director - Jennie Lee Collaboratively directed by multiple cast members! Poster by Evelyn Yoon Promotional Video by Erin Lee & Jihoon Kim Writer, Director and Producer - Eunice Lee (Year 12) tells us more “ What’s special is that it is 100% student-led! From its initial proposal to scheduling, recruiting members, planning rehearsals, directing, designing, and more, the entire process was carried out by students ranging from Year 7 to Year 13. Our musical production was created by the students from scratch - and this is the first time that NLCS Jeju has tried this instead of using or modifying a pre-existing musical. We composed music, wrote the script/lyrics, designed light and sound tech, built 5 metre tall stage sets (painting, sawing wood, and drilling down nails!!) This project has been in preparation since August 2020 with approximately 50 Senior School students.” Students are also selling customized musical merchandise during lunch time and performance time on May 12, 13, 14. Laptop stickers, post-its, and phone straps with cute and unique designs will be sold, showing thematic symbols or lyrics of our production. If you want to know more then contact the team. Students and teachers - we urge you to sign up to attend HERE and if you can’t attend then please watch via livestream HERE

When Colo(u)rs Speak

Some pictures posed or taken at different times over the last year with changing guidelines

North London Collegiate School Jeju

Some pictures posed or taken at different times over the last year with changing guidelines

D of E Thank you to Mr Nicholas Chaddock who has shared details of a recent expedition undertaken by the School supported and organised Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme students for their Bronze Assessment. This sounds like an incredible trip! The Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award Expedition 2021 A short time after the passing of the Duke of Edinburgh, his legacy was very much evident in the mountains of Jeollanamdo last week, as a group of 20 NLCS Jeju students successfully completed their Bronze expedition to Baegansan. The trip was hugely enjoyable as the weather was perfect for hiking, camping and cooking out in the wilderness. We landed in Gwangju and took the opportunity to go to the National Cemetery to pay our respects to those that lost their lives during the Gwangju uprising and the fight for democracy. Our students visited the beautiful cemetery and the informative museum which tells the sad story of some of South Korea’s darkest days. For lunch the students were treated to a whole spit-roast pig with lots of delicious traditional Korean side dishes! Once the assessment started our students split into two groups and started out on different parts of the mountain ridge. They carefully navigated using maps and a compass to find their way to the campsite – one group arriving from the north and the other group walking up from the south.Tents were pitched for the night and dinner was cooked. students spent the evening singing and playing games as the sunset behind the mountains. The next day both groups finished their hikes - tired but proud of their achievement.

Experiences like this help arm our students with the life skills to cope with human interaction and relationships, time management and health and well-being. The Award reconnects our students with the outstanding beauty of mainland South Korea. Our business leaders want people with critical thinking skills, creativity, emotional intelligence, resilience, adaptability, good judgement and decision-making, a service orientation mindset, the ability to work in a team and excellent communication and negotiation skills. All of our Bronze students have progressed with these skills over the past year. Are you in Year 9? Would you like to be part of the Duke of Edinburgh International Award next year? Information on the application process will be out soon, so please check the student bulletin over the next few weeks.

STUDENT PUBLICATIONS Sustainability The new issue of Sustainability is out now.This is written and published by our Environmental Studies Society. Take a look for some great stories on subjects all about the safety and future of our planet. HERE

LANGUAGES Year 7 Language Taster Sessions Currently our Year 7 students are learning either Latin or Mandarin. Next year in Year 8 they will have the opportunity to either continue the language they have been studying in Year 7 or start French or Spanish. Our students had an amazing time during their French and Spanish taster lessons this week. Thank you to Mr Nicholas Herlihy, Mr Tom Perry, Mr Maxton Karamalla and Ms Laetitia Choi for great classes. Students will now be able to choose one language that they will study in Year 8.

BIOLOGY The Biology department will be hosting two exciting competitions later this term. The Biology Challenge is for students in Years 8, 9 and 10 and will be held on Friday 21 May (deadline for confirming attendance is Friday 14 May. The Intermediate Biology Olympiad (IBO) is for students in Year 10, 11 and 12 and will be held on Friday 11 June (deadline for confirming attendance is Friday 4 June). Year 10 students are invited to attend either or both events. Please see this website for more information. Students will receive an email with a signup sheet attached. We look forward to another fantastic turnout from our students. By a quirk of fate, the very last IGCSE exam (Biology Paper 2!) falls on the same date of the IBO so we expect to see the most committed and enthusiastic Year 11 biologists join us for this.

HOUSE CROSS COUNTRY Monday saw one of the highlights of the House calendar as every Senior School student ran the challenging Cross Country course. This event is loved by some and loved not so much by others - but all the students looked like they were having a great time - encouraged all the way by their House teams. It was wonderful to see a stream of colour as the students flew down the Pathway of Learning. Mr. Dan Coll gave a wonderful assembly that morning, stressing the importance of perseverance, determination and a positive attitude in Sport. Congratulations to the winners… Geomun! They narrowly beat Noro into second place.

PUBLIC SPEAKING

North London Collegiate School Jeju

Angelina Lee Succeeds at WIPDSC Following her success in the Korean Public Speaking Championship in November, making First Place Original Oratory, Angelina Lee qualified for the World Individual Public Speaking Competition 2021.The WIPDSC took place in late April and Angelina competed in a wide range of events alongside students from across the globe. Angelina was a finalist in the persuasive speaking category and narrowly missed out on the grand final. She was also selected as one of the Top Ten of Speakers of English as a Second Language. Well done Angelina! Ms Louise Symonds tells us what a prestigious competition this is - “ The WIPDSC took place in late April. It was a large and very busy competition, which started on Friday and finished late Sunday. I had the pleasure of judging on Friday and can say our competitor, Angelina Lee, was up against some world-class competitors. The competition was global with entrants from Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. “

Some pictures posed or taken at different times over the last year with changing guidelines

YRE INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION Eunseo Jenny Lee Environmental issues become more important than ever, and we are proud to share that Year 11 Jenny won the Excellence Award at the 2021 Young Reporters for the Environment (YRE) International Competition. Her video clearly shows how COVID-19 has affected the environment and which actions need to be taken. She said,“YRE is an award-winning programme coordinated by Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) which has its head office in Denmark. The programme empowers young people to take an educated stand on environmental issues they feel strongly about and gives them a platform to articulate these issues through the media of writing, photography or video. The world changed a lot after the covid pandemic and many environmental issues were raised. Thus, I wanted to introduce waste problems caused by covid-19 and emphasize the importance of waste management throughout my video.” You can check her video - POST COVID-19: MAKE EARTH A HEALTHIER PLANET

A MESSAGE FROM THE LITTLE 8 Eleanor (Ellie) Fowler As a member of the Little 8, I have had the joy of helping improve life at school for many students. My main focus this year was to build personal relationships and help all members of the Junior School get along. We have encouraged this by motivating children to all speak English, therefore including individuals regardless of the language they speak. I have worked alongside teachers to educate students on how to maintain well-being during online learning and classroom learning. The Little 8 have encouraged others to stay fit and healthy and maintain academic excellence. This year I have enjoyed watching the various events where students have executed performances flawlessly, such as during the Spring Concert, and I think you will agree we have made this Founder’s Day the best one yet. I hope this year’s Little 8 contribution to the Junior School is valued and that all students try their best long after we have graduated from NLCS Jeju Junior School.

Eleanor (Ellie) Fowler, Little Eight

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NLCS STOCKS ENTERPRISE Congratulations to our budding entrepreneurs who have been working with our Economics teacher, Ms Arunima Paliwal and have recently entered the Stocks Competition hosted by KIS. Leo Pei in Year 11 explains “Last month, everyone in our NLCS Jeju Stocks Enterprise split into groups of 3 and all participated in a Stocks Competition hosted by KIS. Each team was given 1,000,000 USD in a virtual platform that is only a few minutes behind multiple markets including NASDAQ and crypto currency. The team to generate the most portfolio growth was the winner. At first, our team invested in companies everyone talked about: Tesla, Apple and Walmart. Although they did increase in value, the fluctuation was limited to only 3 to 4 percent. After realizing that a new strategy was needed, we took a massive risk by shorting ‘top gainers’ in the Finviz stock screener. Luckily, we managed to boost our portfolio by 30 percent by the end. We were inspired hugely by this challenge and plan to host our very own Stocks Competition that includes even more engaging rules! Please look out for more news!”

GUIDELINES FOR FOOD AND DRINK INTHE LIBRARY/ACCESS TO FIRE STAIRS Please check out new posters in the Senior School.They are there to warn you of important guidelines to keep us all healthy, safe and secure.

BOOK WEEK SALE Year 6 student, Jane Kim, was one of the students who helped organise a very successful Secondhand Book sale in the Junior School. All the Service Ambassadors and Library Ambassadors lent a hand. Jane tells us how it was done. We hope you enjoy this lovely piece of writing as much as we did! “ I love Book Week.As an avid reader of fantasy and mysteries, I have always loved celebrating Book Week. This year, I became an Library Ambassador - and was able to participate in selling the donated books to the Junior School students and teachers as part of the Book Sale(the last event of Book Week). It was AMAZING. Since the Covid-19 virus, masks, and social restrictions have imposed upon our lives and not retreated, I had been worried about how the Book Sale would turn out. There were so many things happening around us, and I wasn’t sure what the outcome to this week would be. It was FANTASTIC. The books donated by the whole school made it possible for this entire event to happen. I felt a rush of excitement when I realized how the majority of the students had donated books to support this event. I felt a wave of delight when I realized that we had raised about 3,000000 KRW from this single event. I felt happiness shoot up when I thought of all the money that could be donated to the local orphanage. This was all thanks to the students, the Service Ambassadors, and the Library Ambassadors, and the teachers. The students donated the books and bought them. The Service and Library Ambassadors sold them, with the help of teachers. Ms Whitney(Teacher in Charge of Library Ambassadors), Mr Im(Teacher in Charge of Service Ambassadors) were the ones who helped and organized the Book sale. So…Thank you to Ms Whitney and Mr Im.Thank you to Ms Peters, Ms Hardy, Mr Washington, Mr Nam, Mr Freeman, and all the teachers who helped make this week happen. This was all thanks to you. I hope that next year’s book week is as amazing as this one. Book Week is the BEST! “

MANDARIN CLASS BOOKMARKS Thank you to Ms Lailai Luofor sharing some beautiful bookmarks created by her Mandarin class as part of our recent Book Week. What a wonderful job they all did! Thank you for sharing - and enjoy using these.

CCA AND BRYANTS Sports Council If you love Sports and want to write, promote, support and mentor sports here at NLCS Jeju then Sports Council is for you. This Wednesday CCA is student led with Alex Chung and Nick Oh at the helm, supported by Sunny Choi (all Year 12) who is driving a Women In Sport initiative. We are very pleased that lots of Year 7 girls have joined this term so we have a wide range of different talents and skills. The team produces a bi-weekly newsletter and runs various social media accounts. During tournaments like KISAC they are there with their media teams photographing the action and cheering on the teams. Thank you, Sports Council! To find out more - contact Alex, Sunny or Nick.

CHILDREN’S DAY It was Children’s Day on May 5 - a special day for all children, parents and teachers around Korea. Mr GwangHo Im has shared a lovely story of celebrations here at NLCS Jeju. “In celebration of Children’s Day, #ABOUT_KOREA Enterprise organized a small but meaningful event to deliver happiness to all Junior School students and to convey the historical and cultural significance of Children’s Day. #ABOUT_KOREA Enterprise was created to promote Korea’s history and culture. We have carried out various exciting and unique activities throughout the school in the past year. The Sailboat Shop on Wednesday put a huge smile on every Junior School student’s face.

The Sailboat Shop was an idea that came from the scenery of 1980s’ Korean students picking a raffle ticket and winning a prize for it. We prepared popular snacks from the 1980s, such as dalgona, popo, and nemo. Students entered through a handmade red door and enjoyed choosing raffle tickets We’ve been preparing since April with the support of Ms Jae Shin Kim and Mr Gwang Ho Im. After our event, our members were quite tired from the overflowing energy of the children, but on the other hand, we were rewarded by their charming smiles. Our members truly understood the significance of Children’s Day, which was founded by Jung-hwan Bang in 1961 to represent the dignity and importance of children. Thank you to everyone who helped us, giving us the opportunity to feel proud about our nation and try out new experiences.

CHILDREN’S DAY

North London Collegiate School Jeju

SCHOOL PHOTOGRAPHY As we move towards the end of the academic year, we wanted to remind you that the school photographs taken of your child last August remain on sale as prints and files at www.pret-a-portrait.net. Pret-a-Portrait have reintroduced a 25% discount for orders placed by the end of term (18 June). Orders for printed items placed by 25 May will be delivered free of charge to school by the end of term. Orders for files can be placed any time and will be delivered online. To see pictures of your child please visit www.pret-aportrait.net and enter the sitting ID number you were allocated. For help in Korean or English please contact our Parent Relations teams or Pret-a-Portrait at koreasupport@ pret-a-portrait.net or phone +82 10 8263 8670. We will be welcoming Pret a Portrait back just after the start of term - w/c 23 August and we will have lots of great opportunities for individual and group shots. Your ID number will be sent to you then.

MUSIC CORNER INSTRUMENTAL LESSONS - SUMMER TERM 2021 Please find the link for the Instrumental Lessons timetable for the summer term - these started on April 12. SUMMER TERM TIMETABLE ABRSM EXAMINATIONS Please find the latest information including dates for the online ABRSM Examinations ABRSM EXAMINATIONS

North London Collegiate School Jeju

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