Weekly Newsletter 9 October 2020

9 October, 2020 News from NLCS Jeju

North London Collegiate School Jeju

WELCOME TO OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER Dear Parents, Students, Staff and Friends of NLCS Jeju

Today in South Korea we commemorate Hangul Day - the day set aside to celebrate the Korean alphabet, known as Hangul (or “Hangeul”). At NLCS Jeju the Library is the centre of our commemoration as of course we celebrate the writings and literature and communication which this represents. At NLCS Jeju effective communication is central to what we do in all aspects of the school and is at the heart of learning.

This week as the newsletter shows students have come back refreshed from their Chuseok holiday and are already engaged fully in the life of the school both as day and boarding students. There is no doubt that the boarding experience provides additional opportunities for an enhanced experience and prepares students for life and especially the next stage when they will move on to universities around the world. As you will see it is also enormous fun and the enjoyment of our boarders is there for all to see. I encourage day students to take part in taster sessions over the next few weeks.

I have been pleased to read that currently the final two nominees for Director General of the World Trade Organisation are women: Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria and Yoo Myung-hee of the Republic of Korea. This result will create an historic precedent for the World Trade Organisation.

When we look at our current student body and our alumni we see among them both girls and boys who will be the leaders of the future in so many fields and as our students have been submitting their applications this week for the world’s elite universities we can indeed look forward to a brighter future!

Yours sincerely, Lynne Oldfield Principal

DRAMA

North London Collegiate School Jeju

There is so much going on around campus. On Friday as we left for Chuseok our IB Theatre students entertained us with their Andong Talchum traditional Korean theatre performance which has been part of their studies this term.

DRAMA

North London Collegiate School Jeju

HANGEUL DAY IN JUNIOR

North London Collegiate School Jeju

Our Junior School Korean teachers shared some wonderful celebrations of today’s holiday! Hangul, which is well-known as an easy and scientific language by many language scholars, is one of the most precious inventions of Korea. Hangul Day celebrates the proclamation of Hangul and Koreans hold an event to celebrate Hangul with King Sejong.

HANGEUL DAY IN JUNIOR

JS Korean teachers have held several events during the week to celebrate. First,Year 1 and Year 2 students made cooperative paintings about King Sejong and displayed them in the JS and FS building. And the Year 3 and Year 4 students expressed their love for Hangul by writing words that are only made of Hangul on their palm drawings. Lastly, the Year 5 and Year 6 expressed their love about Hangul in poems and other writing. Also JS did activities to decorate their own Korean name beautifully at the House Composition on Friday.

JS Korean teachers added that they hope King Sejong’s love for academics and the people will be delivered to Junior school students during JS Hangul Day events. They also said they hope that JS pupils will be leaders who love academics and care about the difficulties of many people like King Sejong.

BOARDING

North London Collegiate School Jeju

What’s Life Really Like In Boarding?

You’ve read the brochure, you’ve dreamed about it - but what’s the reality? Mr. Stuart Brown, Housemaster of Mulchat and two of his new boarding students - David Kim and Justin Won - explain how they have started this year as they mean to go on!

Mr Stuart Brown - Housemaster - Mulchat “The start of any academic year at any school is exciting. The start of this academic year, at this school in its tenth year, was extra special. It is my eighth year at NLCS Jeju and seventh as Housemaster of Mulchat and I find myself reflecting on how fortunate I am to work with such caring and committed colleagues who create a wonderful environment for our students. When I first met our new students I knew that with the guidance from Mr. Roden (AHM), Tom (Grad), Tresdan (GAP) and myself they would settle in just fine. It's a feeling, there's no science to it! Of course there's hard work but 'the more you put in, the more you will get out.' Our new students have 'put in' a great deal of effort and time and the result is a quick affinity with the house and its ethos. It was strange not allowing new parents to the house and showing them where their son would work, play and sleep but we were very happy to meet parents in our socially distanced station in the PAC on Induction Day. Parent communication is very important to us and we appreciate the relationship we create and build with our parents. This relationship begins before new students arrive and we try to prepare both students and parents for boarding life through welcome letters, our House handbook and video tours. I say this as Mulchat Boys Housemaster but it applies equally across all of the Houses.

Our Mulchat House motto is 'Courage and Passion', our new students have this in abundance and this year is going to be great! “

BOARDING

North London Collegiate School Jeju

David (Taewan) Kim - Year 9 I’ve found boarding life so far just like being in a normal friendly house. The Housemasters are a substitute parent for the boarding students including me. It’s just like being in a household with your close friends and families. The food is kind of fusion, not too bad, but special. I was a bit worried about coming into a boarding House but it’s not hard to adapt as I thought or anything.

Everyday after school we have CCAs and Bryants at the weekends. There are a huge variety of opportunities including sports, literature, and lots of other things you can try out. Every Monday there are different House competitions that you can contribute to, representing your House.You can pretty much attempt to do anything here.

Lots of students here are kind and nice and it wasn’t really hard making new friends. The Personal Social Development class teaches how we can develop relationships between each other. Even though I’m new lots of people greeted me with no bias.

The rooms and common areas are nice and tidy, and there is no problem using them. There are Brew Rooms on each floor that we can use to quickly cook food or drinks. Lots of things to enjoy on the 1st floor as well, we have a PS4, karaoke room, ping pong table and lots more.You can always find something to do in the boarding house if you’re bored.

I’ve had no difficulties, to be honest The Housemasters and AHMs are helpful to new students including boarders - ensuring they have a comfortable adaptation to the new environment. You can talk to them if anything goes wrong or when you have a problem with anything.

Generally, the new life in the boarding house is a valuable experience for me. I can learn how to deal with any problems and live with other people.

BOARDING

North London Collegiate School Jeju

Justin Won - Year 9 I’ve been in NLCS Jeju for a few weeks and I really want to say that I'm enjoying school. I assure you that this is a great start based on our school`s quote, ‘start here, go anywhere.’ I was very nervous and worried about my new start - as everyone does. And these useless concerns washed away as I entered my House. It is truly certain that the facilities and services are one of the best! I felt the warm atmosphere through the greeting and welcome from Mulchat.

One of my favourite points during my boarding life so far is relationships. Friendship tightens through boarding. We are always together anywhere and there are always conversations or activities going on at the school. Speaking of facilities, the atrium is always relaxing and extremely comfortable with that brand new furniture and colourful decorations. The playroom is entertaining itself with video games, pool, table tennis, and even a karaoke room!

You can use the Music room, the Brew Room, or the Mulchat cafe to relax. Prep rooms are always open for your passion for academics! Thank you to Mr. Brown and other teachers for providing `high quality’ shared areas so everyone easily goes to sleep! Of course, our rooms are neatly organized and perfect for a homely environment.

One of my biggest worries was settling into boarding life because I actually had to live in the House!

Actually, there have been no obstacles at all. Tight friendship, sweet facilities, entertaining events, how can it be better!

Additionally, it could never have been so smooth without the support from My Housemaster, Mr. Brown, my AHM, my Mr. Roden and tutors, Tom and Tresden. They have been leading my boarding life every day which made me happy with this school routine. Their comprehensive support from laundry to academic advice has been so helpful in my daily life.

Lastly, our CCAs and Bryants double up the joy of NLCS.They provide us with the best environment to play sports, arts, music and more. Jeju greets us with such sweet weather everyday that makes a good start in NLCS Jeju and a good start to my life!

STUDENTS SS Mufti Day

North London Collegiate School Jeju

Clara Kim, the Mufti coordinator of TowerAid, shares the final figures for Mufti Day. She says “Thank you to all students and teachers for participating in the very first Mufti day of this academic year. We raised 1,827,370 KRW in total. Special thanks to Noro for raising 322,450 KRW! We supported 2 very worthy causes with this Mufti money. [1] To produce transparent masks for the hearing impaired by AEIOU to support the production of lip-view transparent COVID masks and [2] The Korea Foundation of Persons with Disabilities by Dahlia Society to provide financial aid for disabled people who are suffering due to COVID. “

JS Mufti Day Well done to all our Junior School students who made the first Junior School Mufti Day on Weds 23 September a great success. Everyone enjoyed coming to school in their own clothes - and all paid a small fee of 2000 KRW. The Service Ambassadors Y6, Lena Ko and Jianna Lee and their team have counted the money and we collected 1,248,300 KRW.The money will be donated to Hope Bridge in Korea and World Vision to support children who are suffering the economic crisis due to COVID-19. Thank you also to all our parents and teachers for supporting this initiative.

STUDENTS Meet Our New Senior School Prefects

North London Collegiate School Jeju

We are delighted to welcome a new set of Senior School Prefects chosen by a committee led by Mr. Jason Sannegadu and Mr Tom Pettifor. Mr Sannegadu says “ I am delighted to announce that just before Chuseok we appointed 37 new Prefects for 20202021. A large number of students applied to be Prefects and I was impressed by the quality of the applications and how professional our students were during the interview process. It was an incredibly competitive process and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the applicants for applying and attending the interviews.

A significant number of staff, including members of the Senior Leadership Team and key support staff, such as the Events Coordinator, were involved in what was a very thorough selection process and all the staff involved commented upon the exceptionally high standard of the prefect applicants

PREFE

STUDENTS

North London Collegiate School Jeju

We have made a number of changes to the Prefect system and will, for the first time, have Prefects contributing to specific school projects such as the Arts and Rewards and Achievement. “ Well Done to Stella Yeom, Angelina Lee, Eunice Lee, Ben Ko, Sean Yoon, Nick Oh, Jisoo Shin, James Bang, Erin Lee Moojo Joe Kim, Chris Park, Steve Kang, Sekyoung Hwang, Lyndsey Cho, Elysia Bae, Clara Kim Bonnie Hyun, Juyeon Ma, Yea Na Kang, Lawrence Bae, Daniel Ha, Rosie Beak, Seyfried Sung Hyeyeon (Angela) Seo, Jason Jongsuh Park, Junho Lee, Alex Kim, Sang Yoon Lee, Kate Roh Cindy Ku, Minseo Cha, Wonjin Sunny Choi, Janis Park, Seungju (Alice) Oh, Hyunseung (Max) Ro Hyeyun (Alison) Song, Ki Myoung (Andrew) Cheon.

ECTS

JUNIOR SCHOOL STUDENTS YEAR 4 SCIENCE

North London Collegiate School Jeju

Year 4 have been having lots of fun invertebrate hunting for their ‘Habitats’ unit in science. Teachers, Mr. Mark Eyton Jones, Ms. Gill Hawkins and Ms. Jane Rouson took these great pictures of the students taking advantage of some lovely Autumn weather.

YEAR 5 HUMANITIES

North London Collegiate School Jeju

Mr. James Tipney has shared the excitement of his Year 5 Humanities students who are “erupting with enthusiasm.” Year 5 students are exploring ‘How volcanoes work?’

They have been incredibly interested and have pondered a plethora of fantastically big questions - Where does lava come from? When will eruptions occur? Students have also considered how volcanoes could have been a driving force in history - from the French Revolution to the origin of myths like Plato’s account of Atlantis. Well done Year 5 - great to see such engagement.

YEAR 7 ENGLISH

Ms. Sarah Thornley wanted to congratulate her Year 7 Girls’ English class. They have been learning all about the past tenses in English - and created posters to present to their classmates. Understanding was complete at the end of the session and all the girls gave effective examples in their written and spoken work. Well done - we love to see examples of daily classes and ongoing achievement!

YEAR 4 ART Junior School Head of Art, Ms. Krista Merrill has shared some wonderful work in progress from our Year 4 students. She has helped them look at the work of Carmen Hui, an Australian artist. Students have chosen the container to draw from life and are creating an imagined collection of flowers in the bottle/ box using references of Jeju wildflowers. These are all beautiful and reflect the beauty of this lovely island we live on!

Latin virtual summer camp

North London Collegiate School Jeju

Kae Kaneko, a Year 13 student, followed her passion for Classics by attending a virtual Latin Summer Camp this Summer. She shares her experiences here “This Summer, I attended virtually a Joint Association of Classics Teachers Latin Camp. Although the experience was rigorous, it was invaluable because I got a vast amount of time to practise translating various authors not on the IB syllabus, including the historian Livy and some Latin poetry by Horace. It gave me a better understanding of Latin grammar, commonly used phrases and writing styles. Besides this, I felt that the daily grammar clinics were particularly useful outside the class and the lectures hosted by special speakers about topics such as the sound of Latin. This was my first year to attend the Latin summer camp and I feel that I was fortunate enough to be able to join the camp virtually without having to travel. Though I had a lot of assignments to prepare and had to attempt translating texts that were tough, I am glad that I pushed myself out of my comfort zone as I now feel that I have become a better Latin student by feeling comfortable when translating difficult passages and I have better a understanding of Latin grammar in general.� https://latincamp.co.uk/

North London Collegiate School Jeju

STUDENT SUMMERS Mr. Raymond Maher, Head of the PPE Department in the Senior School shared this great reflection by Ki Myoung (Andrew) Cheon. He describes how a team of Sixth Form students got a taste for business over the summer! “Wharton Korea, an official business organization, composed of Korean students in Wharton School of Business from the University of Pennsylvania, offers diverse projects and events to the future entrepreneurs all around South Korea.

This summer, students from NLCS Jeju - Hyeonmin James Bang, Mingyu Lawrence Bae, Eunsoo Lee, Solbee Kang (previous NLCS student), and myself - and students from around the globe, as one team, participated in this competition. With an astonishing result of 2nd place, we were able to gain valuable experience as business leaders.

Business Black Box (BBB) primarily provides management-related education and practical experience to High School students here in Korea. By assigning one student from Wharton Korea to all the teams (9 people), BBB helps develop and explore the participants' intellectual curiosities. The opportunity to analyze the management strategies and real life case histories really helps prepare future leaders and entrepreneurs.�

MODERN LANGUAGES On Monday 12th October we will be celebrating Hispanic Day in the school. Last year we had a Fiesta in School but due to COVID-19 precautions we are doing things differently this year. We have agreed with Quadra to serve Spanish/Hispanic food on Monday lunchtime instead of the Korean/Asian and Western options. Please join us in enjoying a taste of Spain! Talk to Mr. Karamalla or Ms Choi if you have any questions or want to know more about this initiative!

STUDENT PUBLICATIONS

North London Collegiate School Jeju

We are very happy to share two excellent new student publications with you. Equilibrium Issue 4 is now available with pieces on people from around the world - from 1930s Germany to 21st century USA. Sustainability is the product of our very active Environmental Studies Society.

We hope you enjoy these. Tell us what you think! https://issuu.com/nlcsjeju/docs/issue-4_final__1_?fr=sYjliODE4ODg0NzY https://issuu.com/nlcsjeju/docs/sustainability_issue_3?fr=sOGU0MzE4ODg0NzY

ALUMNI

North London Collegiate School Jeju

A Visit From an Alumnus - SeungHoon Lee - Big Eight 2020 Seunghoon Lee was Head Boy in the Big Eight of our Class of 2020. He’s now an alumnus of our School and a few weeks ago he dropped in to visit his teachers and mentors and shared his thoughts on the transition from student to the world at large.

Seunghoon has decided to go into the military for the next 18 months and then go on to UPenn where he will graduate in 2026.This “Gap Two Years” will allow him to have the best chance to serve his country while awaiting the full university experience (in a time when COVID-19 restrictions will have eased.) He will major in International Relations in the hope of moving into a career in Law or Business Management.

He has this advice for current students “Try everything the School has to offer. Engage and try what you can - don’t waste this valuable time.

CCAs, Bryants, Clubs, Enterprises - try them all! The reason my Ivy League application was successful was because I could demonstrate I had tried things before arriving at a choice. These US universities don’t just want clever kids - everyone who applies has that - they want leaders, entrepreneurs, sportsmen not academic robots! Being the Head Boy was the flower of my School years.

In Year 9 I think my confidence was low, I didn’t feel my English was good enough. But I really tried everything I could and four years later I feel I am a very different person. Have the courage of your convictions. Be strong and courageous and stand up for your fellow students. I thank all my teachers and single out Mr. Baker who was a flexible and helpful HM. He was open to debate and helped all us students become more independent. “ Seunghoon carries a great affection in his heart for NLCS Jeju - and we do for him. We can’t wait to hear what he does next!

SERVICE Staff Garage Sale

North London Collegiate School Jeju

Each June, the NLCS Jeju community says goodbye to staff who leave for new adventures. Ms. Vivienne Brooks explains how a wonderful service initiative has arisen from the sadness of saying goodbye to our friends.

“Whilst exciting times await those who leave, this does mean a lot of unwanted possessions are destined for the rubbish bins - including many reusable and good condition items. Over the past 6 years, NLCS Jeju has facilitated a ‘garage sale’ whereby the leaving staff can donate their unwanted possessions and incoming staff can find some useful items to help them settle into their new homes. In return, an optional monetary donation is asked for.

In 2019, 385,730KRW was raised, however this year a staggering 886,950KRW was kindly donated.The NLCS Jeju Junior School Eco Committee has chosen to donate the raised funds to the Jeju Pediatric Cancer Foundation. All leftover items were also donated to a charity shop in Seogwipo that raises money for ‘Korea Food For The Hungry International’ (KFHI).”

Thank you to everyone who donated items, to everyone who rehomed the items, and especially to those who gave so generously. Let’s make next year even more worthwhile!

CATERING The Cafe and Bakery Our new whole School caterers, Quadra invite you to try out the delicacies at the Cafe and Bakery.

This is open to all staff and to our Sixth Form students right now. We really look forward to a time when parents can come back in and sample cakes, breads, pastries and extremely good coffee!

MEDIA NLCS Jeju - In The News!

North London Collegiate School Jeju

It’s important to us that our high performing students get the credit that they deserve - both within our community and in the wider worlds - Jeju, Seoul, Korea and the world. We work hard to ensure that this happens. We are excited to share with you some recent features in The Korea Herald and in Groove Magazine. If you have any ideas about where we can share our stories then please let us know.

Help us tell the world about NLCS Jeju!

Groove Korea - Living Together, Learning Togther https://www.groovekorea.com/international-school-guide-2020/north-london-collegiate-school-jeju-living-togetherlearning-together Korea Herald - NLCS Jeju Class of 2020 demonstrates excellence http://news.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20200910000561&md=20200913003129_BL

North London Collegiate School Jeju

ENGLISH IS FUN We bet you can’t resist immediately trying to find the rhymes!

Join

ou

rS

ixt

hF

orm

North London Collegiate School Jeju

Join our Sixth Form and challenge yourself in more ways than you dreamed possible.

Study for the IBDP and enjoy the extensive co-curricular programme and exclusive boarding houses.

Our students are accepted by highly selective universities around the world including the US, UK and Korea. This year we had 10 Oxbridge acceptances and 12 Ivy League.

Start here. Go anwhere.

North London Collegiate School Jeju

PICTURE OF THE WEEK

Picture by Tim Draper (Senior School Art Technician and Photographer)

Follow Us! Don’t forget that you can follow us on social media and see more stories daily. Just click on the links below.