8th August 2011 Dear Parents, First of all welcome to Year 1!

My name is Vivienne Wallace and together, Khun Nui Sirirat and I, make up the Year 1VW Team. Starting Year 1 can be a very exciting and also nervous time for many children. Consequently, our focus over the next few weeks is to make your son or daughter feel settled within our classroom community. Many children were here in EY2, although we have also have many children either newly arrived in Thailand or who have been living here in Bangkok and are new to NIST. Our top priority is helping your child adapt to Year 1; to feel comfortable within the classroom, with his or her teachers and peers, and to make friends. As a result, the emphasis over the next two weeks is on introductory experiences to Year 1. This includes getting to know you activities and familiarizing the children with classroom routines new to this age level. There will be many new specialist lessons for those children coming from EY2, including Art, Music, PE and IT with specialist teachers. One of the first questions we are asked is about start and finish times. We start each morning at 8:20 am with the children coming up from the playground, which is fully supervised from 8:10 am. Children in Year 1 are collected from the shared space outside our classrooms each afternoon at 2:30 pm, unless they are catching the bus they also leave the classroom at the same time. In terms of providing morning tea and lunches, some parents choose to send their own packed lunches whilst others organize the canteen lunch through the services provided at the cafeteria. We ask that each day, the children bring a water bottle to school which they can refill easily should needs be. The children also need a hat which they can keep at school to wear outside in the playground. The next questions were generally asked are our about our timetable or schedule. For those new to NIST, we run on a 10 day timetable, rather than a 5 day or weekly schedule which can become a little confusing. Well make the childrens specialist schedule available online in the next few days, and its a great idea to print it and put it on the fridge at home so you know library and swimming days. A very important tool for you is our 1VW blog. This can be accessed via the NIST home page and the Elementary Blog. http://blogs.nist.ac.th/1vw/ The blog is the primary source for all communication between home and school in the form of notices, curriculum information and photos. Over the next few days, well begin to post information on our 1VW blog for you to view, including the specialist schedule.

There will be an upcoming parent information night and Ill let you know the date once confirmed. This will be a great opportunity for you to find out everything there is to know about Year 1 and to ask questions. We value your input and would appreciate if you could take the time to complete the forms sent home to you today: Personal Information Survey and Year One Parent Questionnaire. Return to us at your convenience in the communications folder (clear plastic folder). In addition to the blog, you can email me at: vwallace@nist.ac.th I will do my best to get back to any questions or concerns you may have. Please be aware that during the day, my top priority is the children and I usually do not answer emails. Any important messages can be passed to the Elementary Secretaries to ensure I receive your notice. On a final note, you might be interested in my background. I am from New Zealand and this is my first year at NIST and in the Year 1 Team. I have come here from Cambodia where I lived for 4 years and prior to that I taught in Bangladesh. This will be my 20th year teaching and I have also spent 15 years working in publishing! I am excited about the upcoming year and look forward to getting to know your son or daughter. Yours in education, Viv Wallace A checklist to help with the start of the school year Dont forget to label everything! School shoes the children should be wearing shoes and socks to school each day as outlined in the Parent Handbook on page 42 PE shoes this is a second pair of clean trainers (they do not have to be new). These stay at school in the gym ready for their PE lessons. Please label shoes and bag. Hat NIST has a Hat, Play, Fun Today policy so please ensure your child brings a hat to school. It may stay at school in their blue tray so they do not have to take it home and back every day. Please label. Water bottle Please send a water bottle to school each day with your child. We keep these in the classroom so the children can drink water all through the day. Please label. Library Our library days are Day E and Day I. Your child needs to bring their NIST library bag to school on these days so they can borrow and return books from the library. You can change the books with your child any day of the week before or after school but we go as a class to the library two times in each ten day cycle. Please label with your childs name and admissions number. Swimming Day D and Day J. Please label all items towel, swimsuit, goggles, bag.

 Umbrella We highly recommend your child bring an umbrella to school for wet days. It stays at school unless it is raining at home time. We use them to go to the library, PE, the canteen and IT if it is raining. Spare clothes We also recommend you send a set of spare clothes to school. Again they will remain at school in a basket just in case your child has an accident and needs to change their clothes. They do not have to be a school uniform any old clothes from home will do. Please label clothes and bag. Lunch and Snack The children spend an important part of the day at school. If you are sending food from home please ensure your child has a healthy and balanced snack. Also, please make sure your child can independently manage the things you are sending in. They can even practise undoing and doing up lids and putting the containers into and out of their lunch bag. It is actually a very good exercise for muscle strength in their hands and visual perception both skills needed for reading and writing. Please label all containers, cutlery and bags.