Items:
- 2019/2020 Staffing Update;
- 2019/2020 CRANES Calendar;
- Tuition for 2019/2020;
- Secondary text lists;
- Read-A-Thon;
- Graduation dates;
- Coffee Afternoon with Grade 12;
- PTA News;
- CIS Parent Survey.
Principal’s Message
Dear HIS Community
Firstly, I would like to congratulate our Grade 12 students who have now finished their exams and will graduate tomorrow evening. I would like to wish our graduates the best of luck and would like to use a TED Talk today that explores an interesting perspective on this thing we call luck. After watching this TED Talk, I think it would be best to wish our graduates the best winds of luck.
As our Secondary Camp and Peace Ride approaches, we have been looking at our risk assessment and have given some thought to our Learner Profile attribute, ‘risk-taker’ which is about both the management of risk and our attitude toward it. The often misunderstood attribute, ‘risk taker’ is based on approaching uncertainty with forethought and courage. We think about the uncertainty carefully and we prepare well. In this way, we are open to more and more possibilities. Who knows where each step will lead? Who knows what luck each step may bring?
On a related topic, we had five members of our school community step into roles on the PTA committee, so I would like to thank Marina, Ming, Masae, Kumi and Matt for being such great role models. There is much uncertainty, of course, with any new role so a degree of courage is needed and our PTA committee has certainly demonstrated this, along with lots of planning and effort. The PTA has been such a powerful, positive influence on our school environment this year and your efforts are much appreciated by the entire school community. In the PTA news this week there is a call for new members for the 2019/ 2020 school year. Please consider this most important contribution to the HIS community.
Kind regards
Damian Rentoule (Principal)
Crane Video
Staffing update
As we move into 2019/2020, we will be welcoming Ms Sallie into the Secondary Language and Literature role as we farewell Mr Sheehy, who is returning to the UK for a new adventure closer to home. Ms Sallie will be moving from Grade 2/3 to the Secondary English classroom where she taught for a number of years before HIS. Ms Sylvestre will be taking on the Gr2/3 role in 2019/2020 so we are all very excited about our new school year. You can see the teacher profiles on our HIS website’s Faculty page.
Tuition for 2019/2020
On 20 May, the HIS Board of Trustees and the HIS Board of Directors met to confirm the 2019/2020 budget and one important, of course, is tuition. The Board of Directors presents a budget recommendation to the Board of Trustees who provide their opinions and advice and then, taking this into account, the Board of Directors makes a decision on the budget. I would like to announce that there will be no tuition increase in 2019/2020.
In October, when all accounts are finalized you will be able to see details of the 2018/2019 year’s financial performance in the HIS Annual Report. (2016/2017 & 2017/2018 are available on the HIS website’s Governance page – at the bottom of the page). We have experienced continuing strong enrolments this year and with current tuition rates and levels of expenditure, our financial position is very healthy, which is great news and we are looking forward to a long sustainable future.
2019/2020 CRANES Calendar
The 2019/2020 calendar has been on the website for some time, however here is the CRANES version, with the letter-days marked. The CRANES version is two pages long. The regular version is only one page.
CRANES Calendar 2019-2020_21_May_2019
You can find both versions on the HIS website calendar page.
Secondary Text Lists
As announced last year, Secondary students in the Middle Years Program (MYP) & Diploma Program (DP) will be purchasing their textbooks for the 2019/2020 school year. A list of required texts will be sent home next week in the Crane. The list will have an ISBN so they are easy to locate online. There are only a few texts that we use in the MYP and in the DP, students have their texts for the full two-year period.
Read-A-Thon from June 3-7
HIS students will be participating in a Read-A-Thon from June 3-7. This is a fun event to encourage students to read and build literacy skills while also raising funds for a good cause. Students raise money by reading, logging the minutes read and asking sponsors for donations. All proceeds will be donated to Friendship Association for Cambodian Child Hope to provide uniforms for students.
Click here for more information – HIS Read-A-Thon
Shoe Drive Update
The HIS shoe drive has been very successful! We have reached our goal of 75 pairs of shoes, but we aren’t finished yet. We are continuing to accept new or gently used shoes for students. We will send all donated shoes to the Friendship Association for Cambodian Child Hope. This school helps poor, homeless and orphaned rural children ages 7-18.
PTA News
Please click here for the PTA news, once again, kindly translated into Japanese: PTA News 31st May 2019
Graduation Dates (Reminder)
Just a reminder of these two very special events coming up:
- The Gr12 Graduation will happen on Saturday, 1 June (4:30 pm – 6:00 pm) at Mitsui Garden Hotel.
- The Gr5 Graduation will happen on Friday, 7 June (4:30 pm – 5:30 pm) at HIS.
Coffee-Afternoon with our Graduates (Reminder)
- Date: Friday, 7th June
- Time: From 2:00 pm at HIS
Council of International Schools (CIS) Parent Survey (Reminder)
If you have not done so, could I please ask you to complete our CIS survey to help with our HIS self-study next year. Thank you.
To access the parent survey, please click on this link: https://survey.cois.org/s3/Parent-2018-19-Hiroshima-International-School