Important Notices

Term 4 dates:

• Monday, 10 April - Friday, 16 June 2023

Important dates for Term 4 are:

• Staff Professional Learning Day - Friday, 21 April 2023 (school closed to learners)

• School Closed - Public Holiday - Hari Raya - Monday, 24 April 2023

• School Closed - Public Holiday - Labour Day - Monday, 1 May 2023

• School Closed - Public Holiday - Vesak Day - Friday, 2 June 2023 

• CCA Season 3 ends Friday, 9 June 2023 (week 9)

• ACSIS Sport training for Season 3 ends Friday, 12 May 2023 (week 5)

As mentioned in last term's newsletters - we have started to notice that some learners aren't wearing the correct uniform.

Unfortunately crocs or flip flops/slippers are not suitable footwear for our active school life. The only time we use them are for our Nursery and Kindergarten learners for water play.

We also request you ensure your child is wearing appropriate sneakers or trainers for their PHE lesson.

If your child gets cold during the school day they need to wear a school hoodie. We appreciate in the past there have been supply issues but are delighted to let you know that currently uniform is being delivered 3-5 days from ordering.  

Jewellery can unfortunately be a hazard for our younger learners. We respectfully request that all jewellery be saved for out of school. Exceptions are small stud earrings, medical bracelets and items of cultural or religious significance. We request that these items be kept as discrete as possible.

Please don't be surprised of you receive an email if your child is wearing incorrect uniform, we have asked that all learners are in the correct uniform from the start of Term 4. Monday, 10 April 2023

Thank you for your understanding.

A gentle reminder that swimming is a compulsory lesson here at Nexus. Below is the section from the Parent Handbook regarding Swimming and PHE.

Physical and Health Education

All learners in the Primary School are offered a fully inclusive, active and stimulating PHE curriculum. The PHE curriculum has foci such as Invasion games, Outdoor adventurous activities, Gymnastics, Athletics, Swimming, Dance and Health and Fitness. Learners work individually and within teams during these sessions. All learners learn the core skills of balance, coordination and physical conditioning. Nexus learners also engage in learning the value of teamwork and sportsmanship during their PHE lessons. All learners in the Primary School have a weekly swimming lesson.

Please note that PHE and Swimming lessons are compulsory. Learners who are unable to participate must have a medical certificate and will be expected to take a different role in the lesson (eg: timer, evaluator, team manager).

Next week the majority of our Year 4, 5 and 6 learners will participate in the ACER ISA assessments. The International Schools’ Assessment (ISA) is a high-quality assessment used by international schools and schools with an international focus to monitor learner performance over time and to confirm that the school's internal assessments are aligned with international expectations of performance.

The ISA supports Nexus to compare attainment in our Primary School against other schools worldwide as part of our quality assurance processes. ACER has gained invaluable experience in developing assessments that are culturally and educationally appropriate for learners from many language and educational backgrounds. The ISA is based on the internationally endorsed frameworks for the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).

The ISA provides: 

• an external evaluation of core skills in mathematical literacy and reading that allows us to evaluate the reliability of our internal assessments.

• a reliable external tool that helps us reflect and refine the quality of our Nexus curriculum.

• a detailed set of reports summarising our school’s results and comparative data that allow us to easily identify areas of strength or weakness and trends over time.

• comparisons of learner cohorts with other participating learner cohorts in the same year group. This provides a means for us to monitor cohort performance against international expectations.

If you would like to find out more about the ISA assessments, please contact Fiona Lewis. The ACER ISA Privacy Statement is available here.

We will share the main findings in August 2023 when the data is fully analysed against all the other schools taking part.

Nexus International School (Singapore) aims to be a healthy eating school and we ask that parents help us to achieve this.

During morning snack time and prior to registration we allow fruit and cut vegetables, yoghurts or cereal bars with water or fruit juice for a healthy and nutritious snack. This snack should be brought in from home. Alternatively, children in Years 3 to 6 can purchase healthy snacks from the Level 5 Cafeteria. Please ensure that snacks are kept in a different container to the packed lunch boxes.

Children are required to have a water bottle in school at all times. Water is available all the time and learners can fill up their water bottles from our filtered fountains. Children have easy access to the water fountains in all our learning hubs.

Learners are monitored in the cafeterias and are expected to sit whilst they are eating and remember their table manners. They are also expected to tidy up after themselves. Parents will be advised if their child is not eating well at snack or lunchtime. Please speak directly to your child’s class teacher if you have any concerns around their eating.

A number of children and staff have severe nut allergies. For this reason, our cafeterias do not sell any products containing nuts. We would also like to request families not to provide their children with nuts or products containing nuts in their snack or lunch boxes. This is particularly true for our younger learners who are always interested in what other children are eating.

To encourage children to become more independent in their eating habits we have in place the following developmental approach:

• Nursery, Kindergarten, Years 1 and 2 learners use their own dedicated cafeteria on Level 1. All children are asked to bring their own morning snacks and for lunch children will either have a packed lunch or a pre-paid school meal.

• Children in Years 3 to 6 have the option of bringing their own morning snacks and packed lunch. Alternatively, they can have a pre-paid school meal or purchase snacks and lunches from the cafeteria on Level 5. We will help them make healthy choices.

Friday morning break time is ‘treat time’ and children in Years 3 to 6 may purchase snacks from the full range available in our cafeteria (at morning break only). This includes pastries, crisps, doughnuts and cookies.  Children are not allowed to bring chewing gum, sweets, candy, chocolates, bubble gum and fizzy drinks to school. 

The cafeteria operator has a dedicated email (nexus.ordering@victuscatering.asia) to order the pre-paid meals and answer any queries you have. The pre-paid meal is available on a monthly basis and must be ordered before the start of each month. The cafeteria menus are all available on our website. 

Primary learners are not encouraged to bring mobile phones, smart watches or electronic devices to school. 

Some children bring these devices in order to communicate with parents on their journeys to and from school. 

All devices must be given to homeroom teachers at the start of the day. They will be kept in a locked cupboard and returned at the end of the day. If a child needs to contact a parent/guardian during the school day they will be asked to go to Learner Services, where a member of staff will make the call on their behalf.

We need your feedback! - Please share your thoughts in our review of Residential Trips 

As we plan for next year, we are conducting a thorough review of the Residential Trips and Camps that have taken place this academic year. If you are a parent or guardian of a learner in Years 3-6 and have not yet had chance to do so, please spend 10 minutes to complete this short survey by Tuesday, 25th April.

We are now at the stage where we are planning trips and camps for the next academic year and hope to share details with you by the end of this semester. Your feedback will be invaluable and will help shape our plans for the next academic year. 

Andy Jefferson

Education Outside the Classroom coordinator.