Recent Events

Nexus Earth Week 2019

Last week Nexus celebrated the world in which we live. Earth Week is a global network that works all year round to solve climate change, to end plastic pollution, to protect endangered species, and to broaden, educate, and activate the environmental movement across the world.

The focus of Earth Week this year was Endangered Species. The week began with Earth Day celebrations on April 22nd with a talk from Singapore’s bee expert, Carl Baptita. Carl engaged learners in Years 5-9 with information about how important bees are to our food supply and why they are a threatened species. This was followed by the Year 9 Green Technology exhibition in the Science Pod. Year 9 demonstrated both their knowledge and amazing creativity with projects on sources of energy which, unlike fossil fuels, would not destroy the Earth. Other activities in Earth Week included exhibitions, talks by the ACRES Wildlife Rescue Centre and our school’s Green Guardians. Dress up day and an art exhibition by Year 8 took place on April 26th. Year 8 also presented their Science Environment projects and experiments on 'Green Chemistry' to primary classes.

Huge thanks to our Primary School Green Guardians for organising many of the events.

Year 4 Dragons' Den

A big thanks to all our investors (ie: parents!) for visiting the Year 4 Dragons' Den last Friday! The children were very excited after your visit and were busy all Friday talking with their group members about ways they can improve their products and services. As Market Day takes place in a few weeks, you will be able to see the progress each of the groups will have made with your advice.

If you haven't already, do send in the $5 with your child to school. This will be added to a pool of money the children will have access to for purchasing supplies for their business. The money made through Market Day will go a charity of the children's choice, so thank again for your contributions and assistance.

Year 5 Advertising Fair

This week Year 5 held their Advertising Fair. As graphic designers, they had the opportunity to design, develop and create advertisements for our school. Our Central Idea was 'Persuasion influences our awareness and choices'.

Mr Jeremy Lewis and Ms Monique Retief from our Marketing Department set the challenge for Year 5 to create innovative, persuasive advertisements that they could use for their own advertising ideas. Collaboratively learners expressed themselves through a range of advertisements including radio, pre roll and posters. Their designs could be communicated and displayed on: buses, taxis, MRT stations, bus stops, banners, magazines, Facebook or Instagram.

Thank you to all our families who were able to visit. It is always fantastic to see our community interacting with all of our learners and engaging in their learning celebration. Our learners stand that little bit taller as they feel proud to share their successes. Congratulations to all the Year 5 learners on your creative and thoughtful advertisements. It has been fantastic to learn more about your passions and why you think Nexus is a great place to be.

Year 1 Trip to the Singapore Repertory Theatre

Last week the learners visited the SRT to watch 'Gretel and Hansel' which told a different tale to the version the learners were familiar with. The show explored sibling rivalry as well as the importance of family relationships, and reminded us of the values we bring to difficult situations. After explaining how her little brother annoyed her, Gretel soon realised the importance of helping Hansel and saving him from the witch. All the learners remembered what it means to be a good audience and demonstrated maturity throughout the morning. We hope they shared the story with you!

Year 2 Trips to Sungei Buloh and Singapore Zoo

This week Year 2 learners visited Sungei Buloh and the Singapore Zoo to support their current UOI ‘Habitats provide homes’. These trips allowed the learners to explore different habitats and to consider their features and the animals which live within them. The learners were able to use their knowledge of directions to navigate themselves around the zoo, ensuring they visited the enclosures of the animals they were particularly interested in. At Sungei Buloh, eagle eyes spotted monitor lizards, fish, a variety of birds and even a crocodile! Comparisons made between man-made habitats and the natural wetland environment certainly gave the learners food for thought when contemplating the impact of zoos on conservation and we look forward to the interesting discussions we are going to have in the coming weeks.

Year 3 Drama Workshops

Last week we welcomed to school Debra Kidd from the International Schools Theatre Association who ran two days of fatastic drama workshops with our Year 3 learners. Learners drew on their scientific knowledge and used their imaginations to create a village within a mountain range. Near the village was a volcano and the threat of an eruption kept rising. The learners developed the scenario by creating rescue teams, supply teams and medical teams that needed to work together manage a successful vacuation. What if an elderly resident refused to relocate? How would children feel if they had to leave their homes? How fast does lava flow? How long does the village have? The level of thinking that these workshop stimulated was fantastic!

'Mineral Mania' in Year 3!

Year 3 have been learning about the rock-cycle, tectonic plates and the other processes that change our landscape. To support our inquiries the 'Mad Science Company' worked with Year 3 to extend their knowledge and understanding of Rocks and Minerals. We spent a fun-filled hour describing the features of different rocks, learning how to classify rocks, discovering how coal was formed and finding our own rocks and minerals through panning.

ISTA Lower Primary Festival

Last weekend we were the hosts for 'The Enchanted Forest' - the annual Singapore drama festival for children aged 6 - 9 years . We welcomed children from numerous schools into our beautifully decorated auditorium. They experienced such a wide range of drama games, songs, dances and playful experiences. The joy on their faces as they shared these experiences with their parents on Sunday was great to see and we are sure the learners who participated will take away lovely memories of this event.

Our huge thanks to Ms Mweti, Ms Monica, Ms Susan and Ms Jefferson and all the supporting staff for making this event such a success!

Tanah House make the biggest splash at the Primary Inter-house Swim Galas!

Once again, thanks for your energy, enthusiasm and support at all 4 Primary School Inter-house Swim Galas. The original newsletter article can be found using this link - Primary Newsletter - 18 April, 2019

However, after all was said and done at the swim events, the Primary event leaderboard showed that it was Tanah (Green) House who lead the way ahead of Angin (Yellow), Ayer (Blue), and Api (Red) Houses respectively.

1st Place - Tanah (Green) House - 1793 points

2nd Place - Angin (Yellow) House - 1563 points

3rd Place - Ayer (Blue) House - 1501 points

4th Place - Api (Red) House 1473 points

Congratulations to Tanah House and all learners who were involved in another great house event. This means that across the whole school Tanah (Green) House lead the way in the House Cup competition with Ayer House hot on their heels! With just two events left, it’s going to be an exciting finish to this year's competition! See you at the Year 6 & 7 Team building event on Monday, 3 June.

Mr. Graeme Massey

Learning Area Leader, Health and Physical Education

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