NLCS Jeju Newsletter 8 September 2023

PRINCIPAL’S LETTER

Dear Parents, Students, Staff and Friends of NLCS Jeju

It has been delightful to see students in School, clearly enjoying their lessons, and all the various co-curricular activities which have begun already, including the House Shout which was a noisy end to the first full week. Students have been engaged in sports trials and already rehearsals are underway for upcoming musical events as well as productions across the School. We even have a curriculum visit out of School in Japan already for the IBDP history students.

We congratulate all our graduates from 2023 on their world class IBDP results and wish them all the very best as they have been taking up their places at their universities of choice or beginning their military service, if this is their preference, before taking up places. Some have returned to School prior to embarking on the next leg of their careers. For the year 12 students we wish them every success as they embark on their IBDP courses following their excellent results at IGCSE level. We always enjoy celebrating their success with them as happened earlier today.

It has been delightful to see parents across the School visiting for parent information sessions which are continuing over the term as well. Although many such events are streamed, we do encourage, where possible, for parents to visit in person so that they can experience the School. We encourage parents to sign up in advance for events and to follow the visitor protocols especially in relation to safeguarding and ensuring we are kind and respectful to each other. We hope to also have some social events too for our parents’ community to get to know each other better.

Unfortunately in Korea and specifically here in Jeju there are still a number of COVID cases as well as seasonal viruses around which are causing some illness across the community. Please do follow the School’s guidelines which have recently been reissued so that we can minimise illness in our community. We hope that all our community will stay safe and healthy.

Yours sincerely,

Lynne Oldfield Principal

The Main Event

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

HENRY WIGGINS

We are pleased to introduce you to your new Vice Principal (Staff Relations and School Organisation).

Mr Wiggins has an MA (Hons) in Modern History and a PGCE from the University of Oxford. With over 20 years’ experience as a teacher, Mr. Wiggins joins us from his most recent post in the UK, where he was Deputy Head (Teaching and Education).

“I am thrilled to be moving to the beautiful island of Jeju and joining NLCS Jeju at such an exciting time in the School’s ongoing growth and development. The three pillars of an exceptional NLCS Jeju British education are incredibly important to me as an educator and I look forward to ensuring that all of our students succeed academically, enjoy their time at school and receive exceptional pastoral care and safeguarding, and thrive in the many incredible opportunities to them available beyond the curriculum.”Mr. Wiggins.

The Main Event

EXAM RESULTS

Congratulations to all the students who collected either IGCSE or IBDP results this summer. As always the results are expectational and place us firmly on the map as a School that can offer a world class education.

The Main Event

BRYANT IS BACK

We are all excited for the first Bryant of the 2023/24 academic year, starting tomorrow in both the Junior and Senior Schools. As always there are many different activities taking place on and off campus. The range of options open to our students is extensive, and for the Senior School tomorrow will include (to name only a few!) -

Active - Golf, Horse Riding, Judo, Cross Country, Fencing and Surfing & Paddle Boarding

Sport Squads - Volleyball, Basketball, Football, Badminton and Table Tennis

Academic - Cool Chemists (JS), Fascinating Physicists (JS), Computer Science and Historical Film Studies

Music - Specialist Music Bryants, Sonitas Enrichment and CATS Band

Drama and Dance - CATS Musical, LAMDA Performance and Jeju Testimonials

Art and Creativity - Comic Book Club, Wargames, Gardening, Fantasy Fashion & Garment

Making and Photography

Service - Olle Trail Clean up, JeNam Children’s Home, About Jeju, Beyond Shelter and (SAD) Save Abandoned Dogs

Outdoor Adventure - Fishing, Olle Trail, Climbing and Scuba Diving

We hope you all have a fantastic morning and we thank everyone in the Beyond the Curriculum Team for their hard work and effort to put together such an action packed schedule which allows everyone to select something they already love doing or try something new and find their yet-to-be-discovered passion. At NLCS Jeju we strongly believe in a balance between study and leisure time and this is evident on a Bryant Saturday!

Don’t miss our posts!

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

• Sunday Brunch

• Book Donation

• Quadra Renovation

• Year 12 - House Celebration Breakfast

• Senior School Heads of House

• APA Golf Tournament

FLICKR

Did you know we add all our photos to Flickr? With no restrictions on the number of photos we can share, you will be able to see every photo from all the events around School. Why not have a look now?

NLCS Jeju Awards and Achievements

AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

Though we are proud of each and every student who receives an award or recognition for an achievement and you have our heartfelt congratulations, the only achievements that will be listed need to meet the following criteria:

1. The competition was arranged by NLCS Jeju - for example the GEC Coding Challenge

2. The competition is a national or international competition and NLCS Jeju has entered a team - such as the FOBISIA Maths Competition or PERSE Coding Competition

3. The competition is an external competition but it is hosted at NLCS Jeju - such as the World Maths Championships

4. If a student enters a competition independently only those that are at a national level will be included, for example, representing Korea.

BRITISH EMBASSY - AMBASSADOR FOR A DAY

Congratulations to Hwayoung Lee (Y12) who entered the Embassy Competition and was one of four students selected to spend the day at the Embassy. The focus of the essay and the day was women’s rights. During her time at the Embassy, Hwayoung was interviewed by JoongAng Daily (co-organisers of the competition), met the Principal and Students of Soongsil University, had a meeting with the Ministry of Gender Equality & Family Minister and took part in a debate on women’s rights with a number of other embassies, including Germany, Türkiye and Canada. Well done Hwayoung, we hope other students will enter future competitions to gain such a valuable experience.

NLCS Jeju Awards and Achievements

YTN-HUFS Middle School Debating Championship

Congratulations to the NLCS Jeju debaters who took part in one of Korea’s most prominent debating competitions in August, special mention goes to Alvin Song - 1st Overall and awarded ‘Best Speaker and Champion’, Ziu Choi - 3rd overall and Yunchae Park - 10th overall. The team are part of Mr. Munday’s CCA and he encouraged them to enter a team for NLCS Jeju.

Well done to the students who qualified: Derrick Kim, Shayla Hwang, Bella Kim, Jason Jung, Tyga Lee, Lily Kim, Yunseong Kim, and Lucy Kim.

We hope that these brilliant debaters are all part of our debating CCA this year and can achieve similar success in future tournaments.

The Intelligent Ironman Creativity Contest

Six NLCS Jeju students participated in the International Ironman Creativity Contest, organised by Taiwan Ministry of Education, over the summer holidays as South Korea Representatives.

Yeonsoo Catherine Kim (Y13), Yeonjae Peter Kim, Minjae Kate Kim, Lily Hyunseo Kim (Y12), Seohee Grace Han and Jimin Son (Y11) teamed up as ‘Smoke Sprite’ and competed against the top 2% of Taiwanese students from preliminary rounds, and other national representatives from 10 different countries. After a 72 hour non-stop challenge in Taiwan, they won ‘the maker award’, a prize awarded to a team with the highest score in one of the four judging criteria, for the first time as a South Korean representative, and placed 4th overall - Well done all!

NLCS Jeju Awards and Achievements

Appreciation Award from Korean War Veterans Association

Mr. Gwangho Im attended the 70th Anniversary of the Korean War’s armistice commemoration event in July and received a plaque of appreciation on behalf of NLCS Jeju.

“November 11th is observed annually as it marks the end of World War I. Every November casual clothes day, NLCS Jeju has donated half of the money raised to The Royal British Legion, an organisation established for British veterans, and the other half to the Jeju branch of the Korean War Veterans Association established in 2018.

July 23rd was the 70th anniversary of the Korean War’s armistice, and the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs organised a commemorative event for veterans. At this event, NLCS Jeju was awarded a plaque of appreciation for making continuous donations for veterans. As a Service and Community Coordinator, receiving it on behalf of the School, I was reminded once again of my gratitude to the veterans who protected Korea and democracy.

I would like to express my gratitude to Britain for sending many soldiers to the Korean War. Britain sent a total of 56,000 soldiers to the Korean War, the second largest after the United States, of which 1,078 were killed, 2,674 injured and 179 are still asleep somewhere below South Korean soil.

In the future, NLCS Jeju will continue to have time to express its gratitude for veterans who sacrificed to protect the country in November.”

Mr. Gwangho Im.

Other News

WEAR YOUR LANYARD

We remind all our students and all adults on campus to wear their lanyards at all times, here is a handy poster to help you identify everyone!

HANULTARI COMMUNITY FLEA MARKET

Jeju Hanultari, a group GEC volunteer students and parents, is hosting the 6th community market on September 16. The original time has changed to the afternoon to allow more NLCS Jeju students to participate after Bryant! They are looking for 5 volunteers who will work with the Jeju Hanultari Press booth as well. If you are in Year 7 or above you may want to consider volunteering!

Other

BLOOD DONATION

We are delighted to confirm that the blood donation bus will be back on campus on 16 September! The blood drive is being arranged by Stella Han (Y13), Elizabeth Han (Y12) and Olivia Kim (Y12). To ensure longevity of this fantastic project the group has created a formal organisation.

“The group ‘ABO Friends’ was established to explore ways to proliferate blood donation practices and raise awareness for blood donation. Carrying forward from our inaugural Blood Donation Drive initiated by one of our students, our team has been selected as the 9th Red Campaigner by the Korean Red Cross since April 2023. As one of the high school representatives to advocate for blood donation culture, we have been funded by the Red Cross to carry out our activities, and we look forward to hosting further enriching events to extend accessibility and share our interests.”

ABO stands for the 4 different blood types - A, B, AB and O

We hope lots of you can sign up and donate.

Parent sign-up form

Student/Staff sign-up form

Other News

TEACHER TUESDAYS

NLCS International are running an exciting campaign where they feature a teacher from one of the NLCS Jeju family of schools on their social media. Here are some NLCS Jeju teachers who have had their profiles shared. Any teacher who would like to take part should email marketing@nlcsjeju.kr.

Many NLCS Jeju Junior School students are part of a football team outside of School. Last weekend they had the wonderful opportunity to play at the Jeju United grounds and meet the Jeju United team before watching the game against Jeonbuk. Here are some photoswhat great memories they all made!

Well done Jun Kim and Abe Yun (Y2), Ian Yang, lvan Cho, Peter Lee, Yuno Cho, Max Yoon, JJ Ku, Henry Kim, Suhyeon Song, Evan Park (Y3), Jian Kim, Eugene Choe, Eliot Yun, Leo Kim, Gideon Sahr (Y4), Ryan kim, Jason Park, Haesung Park, Liam Kwon and Michelle Bright Kwon (Y5).

SO HAPPY - EPISODE 4

Another great video created by Seoha Han. The video encourages us, as humans, to think about the impact of things on both the earth and ocean and not just about the impact to us. ‘One Earth, One Ocean. Let’s flourish as one’. Thank you, Seoha, we always look forward to the next edition.

The Arts

ARTS FESTIVAL - YOUTUBE

Mr. Chang (PAC Tech) was busy this summer editing some fantastic videos from our Arts Festival. Head on over to our YouTube channel and take a look at them now!

OUTDOOR

Take a look at this wonderful video produced by the DofE team. So many great memories from their expedition to Japan. Taking part in DofE is very rewarding in so many ways. If you want to find out more, please get in touch with Mr. Chaddock.

DOFE GOLD AWARD

FOCUS ON SIXTH FORM

“Welcome to our new Y12 Students, and our returning Y13 students.

I am very excited about this academic year, and I look forward to assisting all our students in the Sixth Form to truly achieve their full potential.

This year we had a slight reshuffle in the Sixth Form, the pastoral team consisting of myself as Head of Sixth Form Pastoral, along with Ms. Minic in the role of Assisting Head of Sixth Form Pastoral, and the academic team consisting of Ms. Oliver, and Mr. Matthews. We believe that this separation in pastoral and academic branches will enable us to focus even more on the progression of our students, and provide them with unparalleled care. Having said that, we remain connected to ensure that we have a holistic picture of every student in our care.

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome Ms. Minic to the team, and highlight how excited we are to work with her.

The Year 12 Induction Day along with the House Breakfast events have allowed the Sixth Form team to really get to know our new students, and build on previous bonds. The Year 13 students have hit the ground running, they had to submit their Extended Essays, which they have been working on over the summer. We are all very proud of them for this achievement.

This year’s goals are: Contribute, Collaborate, Celebrate!

I look forward to sharing more insight on our motto for this year in future editions of the newsletter.

A warm welcome back from me!”

Dr. Karamalla, Head of Sixth Form Pastoral Teacher of Spanish and French

FOCUS ON SIXTH FORM

“I am starting a new chapter at NLCS Jeju this year, in the new role of the Assistant Head of Sixth Form Pastoral. It is an absolute pleasure to join the Sixth Form Pastoral day team and work alongside Dr. Karamalla as we work towards putting our Sixth Form mission of Contribute, Collaborate and Celebrate into practice alongside our students. As I leave my position as the Assistant Boarding Mistress in Halla East behind, I am excited to continue being a part of our students’ journey and to keep offering support wherever they may need it. I look forward to the many, many exciting and also challenging moments in this academic year.

Welcome back everyone and here is to a successful year!”

Y12 Induction Day

“I really enjoyed Y12 Induction Day, especially the sessions with the EGC, and finding out about the counsellors available to us; also, finding out more about the EE was enjoyable. I can see how yoga can be beneficial in the long run, the K-pop session was not my favourite though!!”- Kyran Coughlan (Y12TDO)

Y12 House Breakfast

“The House Breakfast was nice reminiscing, since we had a two month period of no interaction with the House over the summer. I heard from the Sixth Formers that we don’t have much interaction with our House, but I really enjoyed being reminded that we are still part of the House! Maybe we could have had a House-orientated activity at the end!”

Stella Kim (Y12MCH)

Ms. Minic, Assistant Head of Sixth Form Pastoral Teacher of Psychology

Stella Kim (Y12MCH)

FOCUS ON SIXTH FORM

‘The EE was fun (he says sarcastically!). It was academically very helpful though because I choose ‘The Oxidation of

Aldehydes’ as my topic for Chemistry. There were limitations because we did not have access to highly toxic chemicals, but we managed to find an appropriate approach. For the Y12 students, I’d say finish your EE as soon as possible, and if you choose a science subject I recommend doing a modern topic because there is a lot of evidence available!’

- Jungwoo Won (Y13PRA)

‘The EE is an amazing opportunity to experience what it is like to be a university student who explores their interests beyond the constraints of subject curriculum.’ - Raine Lee (Y13JRU).

UNIVERSITY APPLICATION DEADLINES

• Monday 9 October

UCAS Oxbridge and Medicine final sending day

• Wednesday 18 October

Cambridge assessment tests at NLCS Jeju:

BMAT, TMUA, ENGAA, NSAA, TSA S1, TSA

• Thursday 19 October

Oxford University admission tests at NLCS Jeju (to be confirmed)

CAT, Oxford ELAT, GAT, MAT and AMELAT

• Friday 20 October

Oxford University admission tests at NLCS Jeju (to be confirmed)

HAT, MLAT, PAT and Philosophy test

• Wednesday 25 October

USA ED/EA Final sending day

• Wednesday 1 November

University of Toronto early application -(student responsible for sending on time) final sending day

• Friday 24 November

UCAS regular applications final sending day

• Thursday 30 November

Universities of California - (student responsible for sending on time) final sending day.

• Friday 22 December

USA Regular Decision and ED2 final sending day

UGC PARENT SEMINARS

We are delighted to invite our Year 10 to Year 13 parents to our UGC Parent Seminars in September in both Jeju and Seoul. Seminar invitation and registration form.

UGC SUPPORT - CLASS OF 2024

“The University Guidance department have started the application season for the class of 2024. We are busy meeting our students during breaks, lunchtimes, free periods and after school, as well as during Saturday Bryant time. The UGC are also available for Year 13 students in Halla East and Halla North on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Our Cambridge, Oxford and medical school applicants to the UK are the first to send applications, so they are particularly busy writing applications, researching and registering for Cambridge and Oxford university pre-admissions tests. We have also had the opportunity to briefly meet Year 12 and Year 11 students before we turn our focus entirely towards Year 13.” Ms. Sloczynska (Director of University Guidance).

UNIVERSITY VISITS

“We have already welcomed university visitors from four US universities; The University of California Irvine, Grinnell College, Holyoke College and Colorado College. We have many more visits arranged throughout this term which will provide an opportunity for our students to ask questions from the individuals who actually make admissions decisions in the US. There is also a large British university fair coming to our School in October, and we are in the process of arranging an evening information session for parents on study in the UK whilst they are with us at NLCS Jeju. The UGC will share more details about this exciting event once we have the full information from the participating UK universities.”UGC Team

SPORT

UPCOMING EVENTS

Come along and show your support to these two great events.

Cross Country

Saturday 9 September

• Junior School race 9.30am

• Middle School race 10.30am

• High School race 11.30am

Take a look at this video from a past event!

GEC Soccer Super Saturday

Saturday 16 September - 9am to 12pm on the Community Astro.

HOUSE NEWS

HOUSE HYPE

Last year each of our houses took part in a House Hype competition. All the videos are now live on our YouTube Channel. Take a look now!

Sarah - Noro - Geomun - Mulchat - Jeoji!

HOUSE SHOUT

House Competitions got off to a great start with the House Shout last week. A great way to display house spirit. Drums, chanting, mascots, flags, balloons and lots of noise!!

NEW SENIOR SCHOOL CRESTS

Take a look at this fantastic crest updates for each house, created in collaboration with house members and Mr. Kim from Marketing.

CULTURAL AWARENESS COMMITTEE

Welcome to the new Academic year from the Cultural Awareness Committee!

“The Cultural Awareness Committee (CAC) works to improve diversity and inclusion throughout our school. We aim to increase awareness, understanding and appreciation for the huge variety of cultures, beliefs and values held by all members of our community. We believe everybody deserves to feel that they belong in our school.

The CAC organises fundraising for global causes, celebrates international events and organises Diversity Week every November. During Diversity week we celebrate cultural dress, invite wonderful guest speakers, and organise activities and competitions during break and lunchtime.

Keep an eye on this space to learn more about upcoming global celebrations & our events this year.

We would love to hear suggestions and ideas from all members of our communityWhat cultural events are most important to you? Complete the Google form below to let us know about events that you would like us to celebrate this academic year.”

English & Korean

English & Mandarin

CULTURAL AWARENESS COMMITTEE

Members:

Y8: Simon Lee, Riwon Hong

Y9: Lily Kim

Y10: Luna Hu, Seoha Han, James Park

Y11: Roy Song, Elliott Lee, Freya Paliwal Nigam, Stella Kang, Chanhee Amy Kim

Y12: Andy Zhang, Stella Kim, Liz Chung, Geonwoo (Geoff) Kim

Y13: Steven Yang, Hera Olweny

Lead teacher: Ms Alex Gellersen

ONLJ

We are extremely proud of all our students and we love to keep in touch and find out what they are up to after graduating from NLCS Jeju.

Our ONLJ (Old North Londoners of Jeju) is an active and supportive community, guided by our Alumni and Development Manager, Ms. Shin.

Thank you to Jaehoon who shared their stories this week.

If you studied at NLCS Jeju and you want to share your news with us, please email Ms. Shin

ONLJ Profile

Jaehoon (Victor) Kim Class of 2019 University of Michigan

BS in Sound Engineering

Why did you choose the major?

I always had a drive for music production and performance. Being a student at NLCS Jeju taught me a lot about performing arts, technology in particular. The science and operational aspects behind the fancy stages and catchy tunes seemed fun to investigate, and that interest led me to this field of study.

How is College life so far?

Ann Arbor to me is surprisingly similar to the GEC; just more American. For a person who lived in Jeju for almost 6 years, minimal adaptation was needed. Some might think of Michigan as dull and boring, but for me that means peaceful, and I love staying there. A place filled with kindness and bright inspiration. Also, a lot of diverse, talented individuals are always around for collaboration. One day you would meet a game developer, the next day you’re in a recording session with contemporary string players.

What are you doing now?

I have a couple things going on. Working remotely as a music journalist, taking on and o line summer courses from di erent institutions, and preparing my masters application. I’m still filled with eagerness to try playing di erent roles in the field of music, so I’m trying my best to get my hands on diverse settings. I’ll also be instructing lab sessions in the recording studio in U of M.

Memorable moments at NLCS Jeju

A lot of cherished moments and memories in NLCS Jeju. Starting from 2013, I’ve had so much positivity in my personal growth. From great friends and teachers, I was lucky enough to find a thing I would want to invest my life into. Mr Thorrington and Ms Morrell’s guidance still helps me through hard days and reminds me of resilience not only as a musician, but also as a person. The boarding house experience was also one huge part of my life. I still remember Mr Cox and Mr Brown being concerned about me prioritising guitar and band practice over prep time. Fooling around in the band room in the music department with Moonsuk, Jed, Bryan, Ian, Justin, Hanjun and many others was arguably the best part of life in Jeju.

MEMORIAL GARDEN

In memory of Yujin Choi, a garden was created this summer. The garden, near the pond, is for all students and staff to use. A quiet place for us all to sit and take time out of our busy days. The newly planted trees will grow over time and we hope all the community will enjoy this beautiful space.

ADMISSIONS NEWS

AVAILABLE PLACES

There are a small number of places available to join us this academic year, we have intakes in November, January and April. We are also now accepting applications for Year 3 and above for August 2024. Should you have any friends or family with school age children we would be delighted to hear from them. Contact admissions@nlcsjeju.kr for more information.

WELCOME TO THE FAMILY

The summer holidays saw the NLCS Jeju family grow! Meet our new additions. Congratulations to Ms. Mi RI Heo (Korean Language and Korean History Teacher) and Mr. Yongkoo (Fred) Kim (previous NLCS Jeju support staff member) who welcomed E Jae on 14 July, weighing 2.76kg. E Jae’s bellyname was ‘Alfred’ meaning Junior of Fred - her parents say she only cries when hungry and is a lovely, happy baby.

Meet Jiho

On 5 August, Seung Ho Kang (Operations Officer) and his wife, welcomed their son, Jiho, who weighed 3.4kg. His belly name was ‘Soonmoo’, which was from his sister’s belly name ‘Yeolmoo’. Seung Ho said ‘I hope the School community wishes my baby health and luck’

Meet E Jae

Meet Ayana

“Ayana Cronin was born on 28th June, weighing 2.7kg. She’s sleeping better now and has started smiling and giggling. Ayla is also very pleased to have a little sister to play with”. Congratulations to Mr. Andrew Cronin and his family.

CHARITY RUN

Well done to five of our support staff members who took part in a charity run on Korean Liberation Day.

Mr. Nam explains more: “Five members of the social club ‘휘둘러(Hwee-Dool-Ler)’ literally swung their legs (휘둘러 means ‘Swing’ in Korean) on Korean Liberation Day (15 August) to reiterate the significance of the liberation of Korea back in 1945. They joined the online campaign ‘2023 815 Run’ hosted by Habitat for Humanity Korea where the money raised is to be used for housing improvement projects for the descendants of independence patriots. Following the previous year within the GEC course, this year they (Mr. Daniel Kim (ICT), Ms. Eunjin Kim (Senior School Office), Mr. Nam (Junior School Library), Ms. Jihye Pak (Translation) and Mr. Taehak Kim (MIS)) ran 8.15km along the beautiful coastal road in West of Jeju, (with the dolphins!). Its slogan “It’s going to be great, Korea!(잘 될 거야, 대한민국!)“ echoed throughout the island!

... AND FINALLY

CANTEEN NOTICE

Korean food safety and hygiene regulations related to catering in schools are stricter than in other establishments, such as restaurants.

We therefore ask all staff, students and guests to adhere to the following:

• Korean law requires all food served in a mass catering environment to be consumed straight away and within the catering area

• Senior School Canteen food must be eaten in the Senior School Canteen

• Junior School Canteen food must be eaten in the Junior School Canteen (the Junior School staff room does not constitute part of the canteen)

• Quadra will no longer provide takeaway cartons

• You are not permitted to take food away on plates, or own tupperware etc.

• The person liable for such actions by consumers is the Nutritionist, who could lose their licence.

• All staff and students must abide by this requirement

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Pictures by Eunjin Kim