FRIDAY 7 MAY 2021 THE FRIDAY 7 MAY 2021 Weishan South Road, Weishan South Road, Shuanggang, Jinnan District Shuanggang, Jinnan District Tianjin 300350 P.R.China Tianjin 300350 P.R.China Tel: 86 22 28592001 Tel: 86 22 28592001 Fax: 86 22 28592007 Fax: 86 22 28592007 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] www.istianjin.org BLAZE www.istianjin.org W EEKLY Working Learning Acting TOGETHER IST community members will act with courage in the face of uncertainty: When faced with a challenge –and especially during times of crisis such as pandemic– IST community members approach uncertainty with courage and optimism; we are resourceful, determined and resilient in our independent and collective efforts to identify and implement meaningful solutions that seek to safeguard the wellbeing of both our community and our school. Dear Parents It was terrific to have so many parents in school this week (especially fathers) as a result of the longer May Day holiday, and in particular to see such a great turnout for Elementary Sports Day yesterday. Everyone had a wonderful time with a great range of both fun and athletically challenging activities ensuring enthusiastic participation and enjoyment for all. While our Elementary students have been enjoying the outdoor fun and games, our Grade 12 students are engaged in a very different type of activity, theirIB Diploma (DP) final examinations, which started last Thursday and run for three weeks through until 19 May. I believe pretty much every adult in our community will recall the stresses of senior high school and university examinations, and therefore has a great deal of empathy for the challenge currently facing our Seniors. If you see one of our Grade 12 students (or his or her parents) do be sure to lend them some words of encouragement … they are nearly there! As most of you aware the Chinese government is racing ahead at full steam to try to get 18-59 year old citizens vaccinated, and over the past several weeks the expatriate community has also begun to receive their vaccinations. I am pleased to report that our local staff are now fully vaccinated, having received their second shot yesterday, and that our expatriate staff received their first shot last week. All going well we should get our second shots before the start of the summer vacation! I am hopeful that as the country gets closer to its herd immunity vaccination target, we will begin to see some loosening of travel restrictions, allowing community members to leave the country secure in the knowledge that they will definitely be able to return, albeit following quarantine. And, hopefully, we will also start to see new families entering the country and beginning their adventures here in Tianjin and at IST! While on the topic of vaccinations, I wish to share the decision to allow IST grandparents who hold IST family ID cards and who can show proof of having been fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus to once again enter school buildings. I do appreciate that many of our current grandparents will already be over 60 years of age and are currently ineligible for vaccination, thus meaning that their age somewhat unfairly restricts their ability to enter IST school buildings. Unfortunately I cannot control this government mandate, although I am personally hopeful that the age restriction on vaccination age will soon be lifted allowing older citizens to also receive A N D Y vaccinations. My hope in making this announcement is not to discriminate against those B E D over 60, but instead to try to progressively re-open our campus to as many community I T E D R members as possible, while remaining cognizant of Education Bureau guidelines for C C A campus access. Those grandparents wishing to enter the school building will need to L O O show their vaccination certificate (a photograph on mobile phones is sufficient) and H C receive a building entry pass. S D L R I wish to advise parents that IST is hosting an ISCOT Teacher Families Picnic for the O W four ISCOT schools on the IST campus tomorrow from 11AM-3PM. Unfortunately this means that the campus will be closed to other community members wishing N to take advantage of the school grounds during this time. I apologise for any A S disruption that this may cause. I T S I THE FRIDAY 7 MAY 2021 Weishan South Road, Shuanggang, Jinnan District Tianjin 300350 P.R.China Tel: 86 22 28592001 Fax: 86 22 28592007 Email: [email protected] BLAZE www.istianjin.org BLAZE W EEKLY Working Learning Acting TOGETHER Finally, last week the IST Board of Governors approved a series of broader development goals for our school to focus on over the next several years. Detailed implementation plans for these goals have yet to be fully developed, with specific actions, responsibilities, budgets, and timelines to be planned over the coming months. The school and Board will of course continue to work on a range of other objectives, but these will provide an overarching framework as we move forward as a school and community. To view the statements, please visit the Board page on the IST website at the following link: https://www.istianjin.org/our-promise/governance/strategy-2025 I wish all families a most enjoyable weekend! Steve Moody Director Upcoming World Celebration Dates next week... Saturday~Sunday - May 8~9, 2021 Victory in Europe Day (VE Day/V-E Day) Victory in Europe Day, generally known as VE Day (Great Britain) or V-E Day (North America), is a day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Nazi Germany’s unconditional surrender of its armed forces on the 8 May 1945. Sunday - May 9, 2021 Mother’s Day Mother’s Day is a celebration honoring one’s own mother, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. The modern American holiday of Mother’s Day was first celebrated in 1908, when Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother in Grafton, West Virginia. Wednesday - May 12, 2021 Ramadan ends/ Eid-al-Fitr Eid al-Fitr also called Feast of Breaking the Fast, is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide that marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting. The religious Eid is a single day during which Muslims are not permitted to fast. The holiday celebrates the conclusion of the 29 or 30 days of dawn-to-sunset fasting during the entire month of Ramadan. The day of Eid, therefore, falls on the first day of the month of Shawwal. This is a day when Muslims around the world show a common goal of unity. FRIDAY 7 MAY 2021 THE FRIDAY 7 MAY 2021 BLAZE W EEKLY Working Learning Acting TOGETHER IST Library & Information Literacy Center Our Mission The IST Library is a friendly place where our community is inspired and challenged to think critically, read widely, act ethically, value creativity, and defend the right to access information. Birthday Book Happy Birthday, Li Jae! Thank you to Li Jae in grade 1 for her Birthday Book donation to the library. Li Jae’s birthday book is Amy Wu and the Patchwork Dragon by Kat Zhang. This is the sequel to Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao, which was a Panda Book nominee this year. We chose this book for Li Jae because she has wide reading interests, and she has enjoyed reading many of this year’s Panda Books. We hope you enjoy your birthday book, Li Jae! She was the first student to check out the book from the library. If you would like to celebrate your child’s birthday with the IST Library Birthday Book Club, please contact the librarians at [email protected] or [email protected] for more information. End of Year Approaching As we approach the end of the school, please locate and return materials checked out, so we can begin clearning accounts. If you or your child has lost or damaged a book, please speak with one of the librarians. Students will not receive reports until library accounts are cleared. Thank you for understanding! After accounts are cleared, students will be able to check out books for summer reading! All library books MUST be returned or accounted for by Friday, May 28th. Parent Book Club – Thursday, May 27th at 8:30am We are looking forward to our next novel, Uprooted; a fantasy novel by Naomi Novik. Currently the library has copies in Chinese, English, and Korean. A digital copy in English and Chinese has been shared on the WeChat group. This will be the last novel for the school year. Join us for book discussion, coffee, and treats; even if you haven’t had a chance to read the book. Book suggestions welcome! Library hours: Monday to Thursday 7:30 to 4:30 | Friday 7:30 to 3:30 Visit our website at https://istianjinlibrary.net Linnea, Lisa Fang, Shannon, and Lisa Li THE FRIDAY 7 MAY 2021 BLAZE BLAZE W EEKLY Working Learning Acting TOGETHER IST Student Scrapbook A Weekly Sample of Student Work From the Elementary School: Over the past 3 weeks, 5M have been writing fractured fairytales. A fractured fairytale takes a traditional story and, by changing characters, dilemmas or settings, becomes a new and entertaining tale. To publish these stories, 5M are currently using book creator and various drawing apps to illustrate them. Below is a sample of some of our stories and illustrations. We hope to have these complete by the end of the week and to share them with the Grade 1 students.