Carla Hyland, our Deputy Head of Secondary is on her 11th year teaching at DCIS. Leading up to Dover Court’s 50th Anniversary, we meet current and former members of our community and talk about what makes Dover Court such a special place.

Dover Court News

Dover Diaries 2021-2022, Episode 2 - 50th Anniversary Interview with Carla Hyland

In the first episode of the 2021-2022 season, Lachlan from Year 8 interviews Mr Richard Dyer, the new DCIS Principal. They talk about Mr Dyer’s previous experiences, what he will bring to Dover Court and why juggling is great for your brain.

Dover Diaries 2021-2022, Episode 1 - Interview with Richard Dyer

Junhan in Year 12 is currently studying music for his IB diploma. In this podcast Junhan discusses his earliest memories of music, points of inspiration and what music really means to him.

Everything Music Podcast - Ep 2 Junhan's Journey

In episode 3, Zac and Ronav from Year 5 interview Mr Dodge. They found out all about how he stays active in his free time and who inspired him to take part in sports. Mr Dodge shares his top tips on how to stay active!

PE Podcast Ep 3 - Interview with Mr Chris Dodge by Ronav and Zac, Year 5

On this week’s episode, we had a special parent guest, Mr Stephen Bates who joined Zach, Albert and Griffin to talk all about his sporting experiences from when he was at school to now as an adult. Stephen shares his motto of ‘Healthy body, healthy mind’ with the boys and other great ways to stay active as a family.

PE Podcast Ep 2 - Interview with Mr Stephen Bates by Zach, Albert and Griffin, Year 6

Dover Court talks all things PE and sport. With different hosts each podcast, students discuss how to stay active, who has inspired them to get involved, alongside opportunities that are on offer at Dover Court.

PE Podcast Ep 1 - PE and Sport at DCIS with Clara, Lexi and Sophie, Year 5

To wrap up a great year in music we are delivering a unit on Podcasting with Key Stage 3. In preparation for this, Ms Mackintosh kindly offered 20mins of her time to talk about Everything Music in her life. The students will be listening to this as a model for their learning and as a source of inspiration.

Everything Music Podcast - Ep 1 A Highland Fling

A short workshop exploring the importance of sleep. It will cover the negative effects of a bad sleep routine for adults and children. Advice on how much sleep is necessary for you and your child as well as some simple changes that can improve the quality and length of sleep for you and your child leading to a healthier life style.

Parent Workshop - The Importance of Sleep by Mr Hugh Lindsay, Secondary School Psychologist Teacher

In this 4th episode of the Dover Diaries, Joseph from Year 8 interviews Mr Christopher Short about him leaving Dover Court International School.

Dover Diaries Episode 4 - Interview with Mr Christopher Short, DCIS Principal

Dear DCIS Parents, We had a delightful Year 13 Graduation ceremony on Tuesday in Cooper Hall. It was lovely to see the students back on the campus and to celebrate their hard work over the last two years. Some of the cohort have been at Dover Court for a number of years, 8 years being the longest. This group now go onto Higher Education in a number of countries around the world, National Service or a gap year. After their celebration assembly last week Year 11 came in small groups on Friday afternoon for a face to face celebration in the Red Dot restaurant. Most students are returning for the IB Diploma or BTEC but a few are moving on to other parts of the World for their pre-university studies. We look forward to receiving both sets of results in July (IBDP) and August (GCSE). Thank you to all parents for their patience and cooperation at the start and the end of the day. The changes in the car pick up have improved the time for this to happen by 10 minutes. The separate pick up for Nursery and Reception children is working well and we would encourage parents of these younger children to use this facility. I know parking around the area is difficult with the Polytechnic Car Park still out of use. We have had reports of residents getting annoyed with our families so please ensure you are parked legally. We’d be grateful if parents waiting for the pedestrian pick up remember the safe distancing rules. As you will have seen in the news, the last couple of weeks have seen disturbances across the world as a result of the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. We have a hugely diverse community at DCIS which I think gives us a head start in the important discussion on the strength of diversity in society but it is still an issue to acknowledge, educate and discuss. The issues raised are important ones and ones that can and must be discussed in age appropriate ways. I was in two Year 8 classes last week helping to judge their abolition of slavery presentations. The timing fitted perfectly as our young people put forward reasoned and powerful arguments aimed at a 19th century audience but perfectly relevant, sadly, today. I was moved by the story of Patrick Hutchinson who carried one of the injured counter protesters to safety over the weekend – I would honestly hope that this would be the reaction of any of us, peacefully but passionately make your point but rush to protect someone who doesn’t agree with you but is in physical danger. As the school year draws to an end I’d like to share some information on staff and other changes for the new academic year. As you can imagine it is a very strange time for all members of our community especially those leaving. Due to the current restrictions we won’t be able to say goodbye in person to all staff and students who are leaving us. The updates for the next academic year can be found in the Week Beginning email. Preliminary details of our Summer Camps are also atatched in today's email. Because of the Circuit Breaker we need approval from the CPE which we are still awaiting – we will update you once we have this. A few parents have been contacted by the MOH following the QOs in March/April. If you are concerned about the legitimacy of the caller please contact the MOH helpline on 1800 333 9999. There is a study on antibodies that we are aware of – my son participated in this study and we know they are still looking for volunteers.

Week Beginning 15 June 2020 - Christopher Short, DCIS Principal

Dear DCIS Parents, By the end of the week all of our students will have had the chance to be back on the campus. Both last Tuesday and today we noticed a quietness from students as they got used to be back in school and wearing a face mask or face shield. The good news is that the chatter and confidence increased through last week and I’m sure this week will be the same. We had a delightful Year 11 celebration assembly on Friday led by Mr Tuckley. It was a lovely way to celebrate a milestone in their education as they finish GCSEs and prepare for the next step on their educational journey. We look forward to welcoming the majority back to the IB Diploma Programme or BTEC at DCIS, come August. Because of the regulations this had to be done virtually but that didn’t dampen the celebratory nature of the event. Tomorrow is our Year 13 Graduation. With the smaller number of students in the cohort, we are able to hold this in school but without the families present so we will livestream the event for them. It was meant to be one of the first events to be held in the newly renovated Eden Hall, the British High Commissioner’s residence. Apart from the word Hall there is not much in common between Cooper Hall and Eden Hall but we will ensure our graduating class have a great event to remember the extremely odd end to their time at school. We will have information out on our summer camp activities this week. These are dependent upon Singapore moving to phase 2 of the Circuit Breaker easing. I am delighted to tell you about an initiative that Nord Anglia Education is undertaking globally, to make sure that we learn from what has happened during the COVID-19 pandemic; that we listen carefully to the views of parents as we develop our NAE education strategy going forward; and that we make sure that, as we aim to integrate new skills and methods into our teaching, these align with the attitudes and aspirations of parents and students. We have therefore collaborated with the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution to learn about parents' beliefs about their children's education globally. The first stage of this is a global survey, which we would like to be completed by as many parents as possible. May I reassure you that your answers are anonymous and do not identify your individual school but will of course be collated to compare the results from Nord Anglia Education as a whole with the global study. Please follow this link to complete this survey by June 19th, which takes approximately 15 minutes to complete and consists of 31 questions: https://surveyhero.com/c/CUEBrookingsNAE Your study participation will help us better understand what parents believe makes for a good quality education for their children.

Week Beginning 8 June 2020 - Christopher Short, DCIS Principal

Dear DCIS Parents, We have had a very successful four days back on the campus with a small number of our Year 10, Year 12 and Pathway 4 children. It is delightful to see the campus back to its intended use and I am grateful to our cleaning contractors and our facility staff for working so hard to make the campus ready for our main return tomorrow. Thank you to all Secondary students who participated in the Endurance House Challenge, the form to register your distance is open until tomorrow noon. Year 6 enjoyed their third Year 7 transition day which, while a very different format, gave the Year 6 children an authentic introduction of their life in Secondary School. We held our second online Parents Evening last week as well. Some elements of the arrangements we have had to make over the last 2 months may turn out to be improvements and Parents’ Evenings may be one of these. We have had some inspirational creativity over the last few weeks and much of it is shared on our Facebook and Instagram page. The online On the Dot and At the Splat music recitals (except possibly one guitar concert by me!) have been fantastic. The big choir performance, with over 90 of our Key Stage 2 students signing as a choir is really worth looking at. The Secondary Drama Department held their first ever Virtual Drama Festival. A lot has changed since we last had students and staff on the campus. When we started temperature checking back in February we had a long conversation about how our youngest students would feel about this. Within a week we had children lifted their fringe to speed up the process. Mask wearing has gone from an activity that was not encouraged by the Government to one that is now mandatory. Again this seemed very strange at first but now, a few short weeks in seems second nature. Safe Distancing outside of schools was just being introduced as we stopped being in school and now it is the norm and the new phrase on everyone’s lips. The only parallel I can think of is the way we now wouldn’t ever think of setting off in a car without our seat belt on whereas only a few years ago seat belt wearing was still patchy and not ingrained in our way of thinking. The DCIS community has been through the challenges of QO or self-isolation then straight into a holiday as the Circuit Breaker started and on into the challenges of learning and working at home. We’re not quite back to normal but it is a good step in the right direction and I know staff can’t wait to see their classes either tomorrow or next Monday. The Senior Leadership Team of the school filmed their version of Rudyard Kipling’s poem If. Elements of the poem are now quite dated but the message is as true now as it was when Kipling wrote the poem over 120 years ago. There are some significant differences to the way we are obliged to manage the campus over the next four weeks so I would be grateful for the support of all parents. One key difference is that we are not allowed any parents on site at all. Parents will need to drop their children off and pick them up as indicated in the guides sent our last week. Parents dropping their children or picking them up by car must not leave their car. Please do not be offended if one of our staff reminds of this! We look forward to welcoming more students onto the campus tomorrow.

Week Beginning 1 June 2020 - Christopher Short, DCIS Principal

In this third podcast of our Dover Diaries series, Ayush from Year 7 interviews Mr Simon Mann, DCIS incoming Principal.

Dover Diaries Episode 3 - Interview with Simon Mann, incoming DCIS Principal

This webinar explores the particular needs of adolescents and how families can work together to help everyone get through these challenging times. This webinar was recorded on Wednesday 27th May 2020 at  8.00pm.

Family Wellbeing Series Webinar - Adolescents are Special by Ms Wigford

This webinar will explore the emotional experiences that have been brought about by the circuit breaker restrictions, the expectations of DOT and the general uncertainty that is prevalent right now. It will discuss approaches to helping oneself and helping each other through identifying, understanding and learning about controlling emotional responses.

Family Wellbeing Webinar Series - The Emotional Rollercoaster by Angie Wigford

Welcome to Dover Court News, where we share the latest updates from the Senior Leadership team to events happening in Dover Court International School.

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Dover Court News

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