Dear Parents, Students and Families,

Next week, we begin our final week of November, with only three weeks left in Trimester 1! Can you believe it? I find it incredible that we are already there. SO much is happening on campus that is exciting, inspiring, and truly engaging. Read on to learn more about what’s happening at AIS.

PTA

Congratulations to the PTA Executive Committee on a highly successful first meeting this year. We were delighted to be able to welcome a limited number of parents on campus as well as unlimited online Zoom spaces. Our Co-Presidents welcomed approximately 10 parents on site with over 35 online on Wednesday, 20 October at 3:15. All together, approximately 60 people were in attendance.

During the meeting, participants reviewed PTA’s plans for the year and approved the 2021-2022 budget. For those who were unable to join us yesterday, details of the individual items that have been approved for support will be provided by our PTA Teacher Representative, Ms. Sarah Allen.

Pumpkins and Sweet Treats

Thanks to the PTA’s generosity, we are giving every student a small pumpkin and candy this year! The pumpkins will arrive on Monday, 25 October, and will be sent home with students shortly after that. These pumpkins and sweet treats are just one way that the AIS PTA funds are spent. Your donations help us offer these special gifts and activities that enhance learning – and FUN – for our wonderful students.

We are all looking forward to an exciting and joyful year ahead with our extremely loving PTA.

Winter Fair

I am truly delighted to share that the PTA has approved a plan to move forward this year with a modified Winter Fair! Details about the plan will be shared shortly, but I encourage you to mark the date now. On Friday, 10 December, from 6:30 – 8:00 PM, we will be virtually celebrating student learning in music with everyone in the AIS community. Since we can’t bring you to the event, we’ll bring the event to you! That evening, we will livestream pre-recorded music performances from EC1 – Grade 12 to all AIS homes and families as part of a LIVESTREAM EVENT. The live activities will be hosted by the PTA Executive and AIS Leadership Team who will be on campus. That same evening, we will also be sharing the contents of our AIS time capsule! More about that to come soon!!

In between our pre-recorded musical numbers, we will be drawing raffle tickets for a range of wonderful prizes. Raffle tickets will go on sale in the month of November and, as we have done for all previous Winter Fairs, we will be asking AIS families for prize donations for the event. In the past, our parents have been extremely generous with their prize donations and have gifted the school with iPads, iPhones, Nintendo Games, gift certificates, family dinners, and much much more. Since we were unable to raise funds last year due to the global pandemic, your generosity is greatly appreciated and much needed, now more than ever.

To donate a prize for this year’s Winter Fair, kindly bring your gift to the AIS Office and ask for our Director of Admissions and Advancement, Ms. Vicky Lam, or for our Admissions Officer, Ms. Candice Ng. If you have any questions, feel free to email Vicky at vlam@ais.edu.hk. She will be happy to help. If you are planning on donating a prize, I encourage you to do it early, as interruptions to global supply chains and other production and shipping disruptions could interfere with everyone’s ability to purchase popular items this holiday season. More details will follow, but in the meantime, please consider donating!

Winter Uniform

The weather is changing and so are our school uniforms! On Monday, 1 November, students are welcome to wear their AIS Winter Uniform. At the start of Trimester 2, Monday 15 November, we ask that all students wear it every day. I will be sending a separate message with all the details you’ll need about the AIS Winter Uniform on Monday, 1 November.

Charitable Free Dress Day – Redress

On Friday, 29 October, AIS will celebrate Halloween and all students are welcome to dress in Halloween costumes that day. Divisional Principals will provide greater detail about what costumes work well and about those things that are to be avoided. Students who choose to dress in costume or who choose instead to dress down that day are to bring $HK20.00 to contribute to our charity of choice for October – Redress. According to their website, “Through their year-round Takeback Programme, Redress partners with some of the world’s leading fashion brands to place collection boxes in their retail stores where consumers can give back any brand of clothes for re-use, resale and recycling/downcycling by Redress, making it easier for the public to play their part in the circular fashion economy.”

You may also find this contest a fun way to explore your oldest piece of clothing, as Redress embarks on identifying the oldest article of clothing in Hong Kong!

Cafeteria

Cafe Concepts has asked us to let our students know that if they are still hungry after eating their pre-ordered lunches, they are welcome to come back for ‘seconds’. Please be sure to let your child know. Some days, children are hungrier than others, and we always want to ensure that children are well nourished so that they can learn better.

Finally, I want to acknowledge the amazing teaching and learning that’s going on day in and day out across our campus. I’ve been so fortunate to witness so much good learning happening since we’ve been back. This week, I spoke with students who were outside photographing angles during High School math class, Middle School students who were learning about photosynthesis in science, and today I accompanied Gr1Jr students who went on a field trip to post mail in the post box at the Kowloon Tong MTR station.

Our faculty are simply outstanding, and they make learning enjoyable, engaging, and fun!

Have a wonderful weekend ahead.

My best,

Anita Simpson
Head of School