Dear Parents and Caregivers

I hope this message finds you well, with children that have securely settled into term 2.

We are continually aiming to improve our communication with families and I wanted to take this opportunity to remind you of our communication channels.

Please make sure that you connect with these various channels so that you can best support your child in their learning journey:

Facebook Page (click here) - a space where we celebrate all that is happening in the Nexus community.

Parent Zone (click here) - a one-stop source to find all the key information you need about life at Nexus. For example, you can view the school calendar and find out more about our CCA, Music and Sport programmes.

SeeSaw App - we offer a ‘window into the classroom’ via the SeeSaw App. This is the regular ongoing communication method we will use to share news and home learning from your child's class. If you need some help to set up the app, please email our IT team.

Every class in our Primary School has a WhatsApp Group. These groups will allow you to build friendships between families in each class. For further information on the WhatsApp Groups, please contact Learner Services.

We also have these fortnightly Newsletters. They are a crucial part of our communication with our whole community. It is where we include information about any upcoming events, our recent happenings and also any important notices. The different sections can be accessed from the menu across the top of the screen (on large screens such as laptops and iPads) or the 'triple bar' icon on the top left (on small screens, e.g. phones).

We will soon be wishing Ms Nimah in Kindergarten all the best (and many good nights of sleep), as she starts her maternity leave. Ms Siti Salmah is joining our KP class during Ms Nimah's absence, she will be working alongside the Kindergarten team to get to know the leaners over the next couple of weeks and we look forward to having her on board full time.

Wishing you all a relaxing weekend.

Best wishes

Fiona Lewis

Head of Primary

'Collaboration helps build a community.' Throughout this Unit of Inquiry, we've been focusing on nurturing qualities outlined in the IB early years Learner Profile Attributes communicator, caring and balanced. Our little learners have enthusiastically embraced the traditional tale, 'The Enormous Turnip.' We used our senses to explore a real turnip and the children eagerly offered their thoughts… 

“cut it”, “eat it”, “growing like beans”, “I eaten vegetables”, “it’s heavy, I saw a turnip in the supermarket, a small one”, “smells like sand”, “I don’t like it, I haven’t seen one before”, “it feels thick”

The learners immersed themselves in the story, discussing the characters and their collaborative efforts to pull the giant turnip from the ground. Using their creativity, they enjoyed retelling the story with puppets and engaging in imaginative role-play.

Beyond the story, the children have connected these concepts to their daily lives. They've actively engaged in our class community, demonstrating qualities of kindness and responsibility. From mopping the floor after water play to sharing toys and maintaining an organised learning space, their actions reflect the values we aim to instil.

Last week, the Nursery community joyfully joined with the school community to celebrate Deepavali, the festival of lights. Together, we participated in a vibrant array of activities, including bookmark printing and diya lamp painting. The rhythmic beats of dancing filled the air, creating an atmosphere of shared joy and cultural appreciation. Many of our learners were risk takers having Henna designs painted onto their hands for the first time.

We're eagerly anticipating more insights into their collaborative efforts as they share their 'helping hands' photographs on the big interactive screen, illustrating how they assist their families at home. 

Through our Unit of Inquiry, How we Organise Ourselves, we are looking at the central idea; ‘Signs and symbols are used locally and globally to help us communicate and organise ourselves.’ We continue to investigate where the mystery object came from. We suspect aliens from space landed in our sandpit. We looked closely at the signs/symbols found on the mystery object and shared what we saw. The children used their thinking skills to share their ideas;

“Lines, lines everywhere lines”
“This almost looks like an arrow, you need to put a line here and then it makes an arrow.”
“I see a triangle.”
“Lots of signs, it’s like a stop sign. That one is actually a circle with a line, so it means ‘no.’

The children continue to be very curious throughout the inquiry and have confidently communicated their wonderings, questions and findings. We have searched for signs and symbols in the school environment. We spotted signs that are familiar to us and give us meaning. This got us thinking about the ‘alien’ signs, maybe they are trying to communicate with us? This week, the children started writing messages back to aliens using their phonic knowledge. We are really excited to send the messages back to space, we hope the aliens reply. If you spot an alien, please let us know! Our exciting inquiry continues…

As we immerse ourselves in our current Unit of Inquiry, exploring 'How Choices Can Change Our Environment,' our learners are delving deep into the connections between human choices and their impact on the environment. Through discussions, interactive activities, and reflective exercises, our learners are developing an understanding of how seemingly small decisions can have profound consequences on the world around us. 

They are actively embodying the qualities of being reflective, balanced, and caring as they navigate the complexities of our big idea. These learner profile attributes of reflective, balanced, and caring are becoming evident through the actions our learners exhibit. In discussions about influencing not just their own behaviours but also inspiring change in others, they are suggesting practical ideas such as turning off lights, taking shorter showers, and up-cycling and repurposing old clothes. These insightful suggestions showcase the their growing awareness of the impactful actions they can take. 

A special commendation is in order for the enthusiastic learners of 1P and 1R. They took centre stage during assembly this week, sharing their learning with lower primary and parents. The depth of their understanding and the confidence with which they presented, were truly commendable. Well done to both classes! 

Looking ahead, we are excited to invite you to our spaces for the Y1 sustainable Christmas market on Thursday, December 7th. This event will serve as a culmination and showcase of our learners' work, providing us all with an opportunity to bask in festive cheer while celebrating their achievements. Save the date!

This week concluded our learning journey into the Where we are in place and time unit of inquiry. Whilst enriching their understanding of Singapore, learners demonstrated how they are inquirers and knowledgeable. 

Throughout their investigations, learners used digital tools like Google Earth and Padlet, as they virtually traversed Singapore, identifying distinctive features and shapes. This exploration directly correlated with our lines of inquiry, where learners connected the historical influences of traders from Malaysia, China, and India to Singapore, deepening their awareness of cultural influences. Through activities such as cultural rotations and the ‘Peel the Fruit’ visible thinking routine, learners categorised information and developed a more comprehensive understanding of the term “culture.”

Year 2 wholeheartedly embraced the notion that change is an inevitable part of our lives. They explored how Singapore has been shaped by external influences, inquiring into the history of iconic landmarks and symbols, such as the Merlion, and historical figures such as Sir Stamford Raffles.

Our field trips to the Children’s Museum and Sims Vista Market and Food Centre served as catalysts, solidifying the learners’ growing knowledge, understanding, and skills. We encourage families to extend these educational experiences and explore your neighborhood, discussing the purposes of various objects at home, and observe environmental changes together.

We express our gratitude for your unwavering support in nurturing a passion for learning and exploration in our Year 2 learners. As we move forward, next week marks the start of a new unit of inquiry under the "How we express ourselves" transdisciplinary theme. This narrative-based unit will empower learners to explore diverse storytelling techniques while crafting their own compelling stories. 

Year 3 has been very busy! This week, we spent time practising for our Cultural Celebration in the auditorium. We then performed on Thursday afternoon. These types of performances involve a lot of movement and waiting. For many learners, this is their first experience of preparing for a performance. Our learners were incredible and were able to self-manage and stay focused as other classes practised on stage.

On Thursday, we performed in front of family and friends, showcasing some of the learning the children experienced as part of our UOI (Unit of Inquiry) 'How we express ourselves'. The central idea was that ‘Culture is reflected through the Arts’. On stage, we covered musical instruments, traditional dance, Rangoli art, Mandarin and French, and ended the performance with a whole Year 3 song.

In the past fortnight, there have been many opportunities to practise the Learner Profile Attributes. Performing on stage required risk-taking and open-mindedness. For many, it was their first time on stage in front of an audience. It also involved communication; many children had speaking opportunities on stage, as well as in class when they presented their inquiries to the class. The UOI required learners to be inquirers. They had to explore other cultures but also reflect on their own culture and what that meant to them. It was a very Learner Profile-rich unit.

The teachers were so proud of the learners being on stage, and this experience will hopefully springboard them to enjoy similar performances in the future.

As we near the end of our Unit of Inquiry about migration, learners are researching their own chosen history or current migration journeys. Learners are exploring a wide range of topics such as the American Gold Rush of 1849, the European migrations to Australia, the movement of families from Syria to safer regions and the plight of Vietnamese families in the 1970s and '80s to name but a few. Learners have been investigating the causation and the changes brought about by their chosen migration study and trying to look at the changes from different perspectives. While developing research skills is a life-long challenge, learners have made a great start with the resilience required to find out information.  This unit of inquiry has given learners a great opportunity to develop many attributes of their Learner Profile. Here are a few quotes from our learners.

'I am being balanced because I am looking at the migration from Italy to the USA from different people's perspectives.'

'I am being open-minded. I chose to find out about the migration caused by the Irish potato famine because I didn't know anything about it before, and I like learning new things.'

'I am reflecting on the information I find to see if it is important to what I am researching.'

'I am researching my own information, so I'm an inquirer. I am also a thinker because I have to organise my information and think about how I will share what I have found out with others. I think I will write a news report to let people about my migration.'

'I think I am more knowledgeable about how migration has affected the food, the building and the festivals in Singapore.'

We are nearing the final week of our 'How we Organise Ourselves' unit of inquiry. Learners are excited about the opportunity to create their own country, with a type of government that they prefer. During this engagement learners are actively involved in a range of decision making. This includes: the country's name, flag, national symbol, capital city, languages, system of government, currency and budget spending.

Learners have been inquiring into the rights and responsibilities of children and will use this knowledge to decide on which conventions they might like to include as their ten rights of a citizen, living in their country. They will then design a government and create laws that reflect their values as a group. Once these decisions have all been made, they will then be provided with a budget to spend on systems and infrastructure to support the citizens and their country. This will provide an opportunity for rich discussion and a great deal of negotiating and compromising within the groups. 

With all of this thinking and planning completed, their ideas will become a reality using COSpaces. This application will allow them to virtually bring their country to life. Learners will then be able to explain and share their completed spaces with families. 

We also had a visit from the Singapore Police to share information about how we can keep safe as pedestrians and cyclists in Singapore. The visual presentation helped the different rules that we should follow. 5P and 5R also had a visit from a parent, who shared information connected to Deepavali. We welcome and encourage parents to contact your homeroom teacher if you have any expertise or knowledge that our learners would benefit from. Our next unit of inquiry is connected to How the World Works, with a focus on Science. We look forward to tuning in very soon. 

This week, our students are beginning to think about their personal inquiries in our 'How We Express Ourselves' unit. They will have the opportunity to explore a form of expression of their choice, learn how to analyse and appreciate others' work, as well as develop techniques to impact their audience. As they embark on this journey, they will use all of the PYP learner profiles. They're inquirers, seeking knowledge with curiosity, exploring various interests, and taking risks to discover new paths of learning.

Supporting this, we are excited to invite you to our Expression Session Exhibition. We plan to hold the event on Wednesday 6th however we are still confirming the time. It will either be in the morning or just before the end of the school day (TBC). This event will showcase the  inquiries and new understandings our learners have pursued. It's a chance for you to have conversations about the inquiry process, and share in their learning journey.  Further information will be provided closer to the date.

We are sure the following weeks will fly by and we will see you all very soon.

The Year 6 team.