DCIS Newsletter January 2017 | Page 2

Term 2 Opening Letter from the Principal

As we welcome back all families from the Christmas holidays , we are pleased to announce the Dover Court App , campus improvements and DCIS Sixth Form
Dear DCIS Parents and Guardians ,
We wish all our families a happy New Year and hope you had a great holiday if you managed to get away . The office was working over most of the break and we all agree that it is wonderful to welcome back our parents and students . A school building is a little too peaceful without them ! We had a very successful staff training day on Thursday and Orientation for our 120 new students today ( Friday ). As usual I am indebted to the DCA for the support they give us in welcoming and helping to settle our new families . The DCA Christmas Fayre was a brilliant success and we look forward to the Movie Night next month .
We are pleased to conduct a Parent Workshop Survey to gain some invaluable feedback about our current workshop format and content . We hope you can take just a few moments to fill out this survey and provide us with some additional input on the scope and framework of these wellattended sessions . Click here to participate in the survey .
We had an outstanding end to Term 1 . DCIS students were individually ambitious and submitted fabulous entries to the Global Campus Creative Writing Competition ; our entries are available to view here .
We are also very excited about our new collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ( MIT ) in Boston and have had a number of entries from children in Years 5 – 8 to visit MIT in May . The next phase will be judging their invention ideas so we can pick the final four to represent us in the USA .
School App
If you received a new smart phone or tablet for Christmas ( or if you already have one !) then you will be able to download our new Dover Court App . It is available on the Apple and Android App Store by searching for ‘ Dover Court International School ’. It provides links to all crucial information about school life including the calendar , contact details and e-learning links . The app also has a messaging system , so you can receive messages through the app as well as through our normal channels . We are very excited to launch this to our parent body as the app has all the key links and information in one location that is easy to access wherever you are . I was in remote West Papua for the holiday and I took great delight in checking the school term dates on the beach through the app ! We have been working hard over the last half term with our app publisher and we always welcome feedback if you have any comments on the app ( or any other aspect of school life ).
Campus Improvements
We completed the two shading projects over the holiday so the double court and swimming pool now have protection from the sun . There was a lot of other minor work including painting and new signs so the school is looking fresh and ready for the new term . Having had it in my line of sight out of my office window since August , I am personally pleased that we have now removed the broken barrier which ( in my opinion ) had become an eyesore . As you know we are undertaking a review of our security throughout this year and so we will replace this with an operational alternative . Our library upgrade continues and news of this will be shared later in the term . The Sensory Room will also open this term giving a valuable resource for our children . A full review of the extensive developments over the last three years at DCIS is available here in our DCIS Development Update .
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