HOPE CONNECT

a new and convenient way to connect the HOPE community

August 30, 2019

Important Dates

SEPTEMBER

9th ~ Extracurricular clubs start

16-20th ~ FLAG Week

21st ~  Final Deadline for November IGCSE (retakes)

23-27th ~ School Closed 

OCTOBER

2nd October ~ YAPP 4on4 Basketball @NISC  

3rd ~ Parent Teacher Interviews

4th ~ International Teacher Day @HOPE

11th ~ IGCSE Certificate Ceremony

15th ~ IGCSE Exams Begin

17th ~ School Photos 

23rd ~ No School - Paris Peace Agreement Day

29th ~ No School - King’s Coronation Day - Family Carnival

NOVEMBER

1st ~ IB November Exams Begin 

11-12th ~ School Closed - Water Festival 

14th ~ IGCSE Exams End

14th ~ TUESDAY Timetable

22nd ~ IB November Exams End

A message from our Deputy Principal

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him,“Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  There is no commandment greater than these.” - Mark 12:28-31 (NIV)

Most organizations, at least ones of any size or longevity, have mission statements. And if they don’t have one when they begin, they are often expected to find or create one before too long. Whether or not anyone knows or follows the mission statement is another question; but we generally find that healthy organizations have clear mission statements that are both understood and followed, at least to some extent.

For we who recognize the authority of Jesus, drafting new or unique mission statements can seem a bit presumptuous...or maybe even unwise. After all, how does one add to or improve upon the greatest commandment? Is it possible to do “better” or “more” than loving God with our whole selves, and loving our neighbor? Could we not simply see teaching and learning as a way to love God, and using our education, abilities and resources as a way to love our neighbor?  

At the same time, Jesus does not tell us how to follow this greatest commandment. It appears he leaves that for us to work out and work through, during our brief lives and in our small sphere of influence. And, along the way, a mission statement could be useful...as long as we never forget that love comes first. Loving the Lord, with everything we have, and loving our neighbor, at least as much as we love ourselves.

So when you pray, please pray that we not allow any other mission, creed, goals, or guidelines to have more authority than the words of Jesus, and that whatever we do and say in and toward our mission as a school is motivated from and carried with love.

Eric Wolthuis

Notices

Upcoming Basketball and Volleyball games

Please follow this link to view the games for this season. 

An email will be sent out this week to the parents of students wishing to play Volleyball or Basketball. Please read all information and complete the Google Form in the email to give your permission for your child to participate in games and tournaments this season.

New ISSAPP events for this year

Cross Country: Saturday 30th November at ISPP

This will be a team event (minimum 4 per team), we will enter teams from Primary (1.5km), Middle School (3km) and High School (4.5km). Please register your interest with Mrs Kime. 

Track & Field: Friday 17th January at ISPP

The event will include:

Sprints: 100m, 200m and 400m

Hurdles: 70m

Long jump

Shot put

Track & Field will be open for all Middle and High School students.

Thanks very much,

Bec Kime

Reminder to all Parents

This year we move from the previously used ISA tests to the GL testing platform for all our students. Our rationale for testing students is described below. 

Testing: Why, Who and When at HOPE 

Why? 

We need to have a grasp of both students’ current outcomes and their true potential and knowing them better will allow us to do this. In addition to internal assessment HOPE will also use externally generated data to support learning and teaching in the school. 

Education testing will allow us as a school to:

Additional Education test can be made available to parents on a user pays basis on request. (e.g. to assist in transition) 

HOPE intends to use the GL testing platform as its major source, with additional tests such as WIDA used as appropriate.  

Cheryl Flight 

Campus Principal

A Notice from the Academic Resource Centre (ARC) 

Dear HOPE families,

The learning support room (S5) is now called the Academic Resource Centre (ARC). If you have any psychology reports or important academic support documents about the needs and accommodations for your child(ren) - please email me directly or bring them directly to ARC. I am eager and honored to be coordinator of this department along with my amazing team of ELL teachers and volunteers. Contact Sumi Leonard for any questions or concerns.

Email: sumita.leonard@hope.edu.kh

Extracurricular- We need you!  

Do you have a skill or a talent or a passion that you would like to share with our HOPE students?  We are looking for parent volunteers to be involved in our extracurricular clubs.   Clubs can be as creative as you want it to be and our students will benefit from your contribution.

Previously we have clubs in areas such as: Art, Dance, Instrument Ensemble, Running and Taekwondo.  If you can't think of a club, we would love to hear from parents who are willing to work in a team or support others..

Please contact Elizabeth Shin at elizabeth.shin@hope.edu.kh for more information regarding extracurricular club parent volunteer.  

Extracurricular clubs will run from September 9th to November 28th, once a week from 2:45 to 3:45pm.      

Health information update from the Medical Attache at the US embassy

We have assessed multiple patients complaining of runny nose, sore throat, ear pain, and fever. All assessments were identical to the attached PCR profile. No antibiotics needed. 

Human Rhinovirus 

There over 62 million annual occurrences of the common cold along with 20 million school days lost annually in the United States according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Rhinoviruses are estimated to be the culprit for about 35% of these cases. Rhinoviruses belong to a family of viruses known as picornaviridae, which means small RNA viruses. This virus has an icosahedral structure and is about 30 nanometers in diameter, placing rhinoviruses among the smaller viruses. There are over 100 different types of rhinoviruses, which makes developing a vaccine against rhinoviruses difficult.

Transmission 

The rhinovirus receives its name because “rhino” means nose, the location where the virus typically infects.

The optimal temperature for rhinovirus replication is between 33-35oC, which is about the same

temperature found inside of the nose. The virus is spread by direct contact with aerosols produced when

someone coughs or sneezes. Rhinoviruses are quite stable and can survive a few hours on an inanimate 

object, which can lead to infection if transferred to the nose, eyes or mouth. Since the virus is sensitive to pH

and temperature, it replicates best below core body temperature and does not survive the acids found in

the stomach, which means the virus does not infect the lower respiratory or gastrointestinal tract.

Symptoms 

The symptoms of the common cold caused by the rhinovirus can last up to two weeks and include the following: sneezing, stuffy or runny nose, sore throat, coughing, water eyes, mild headache and mild body aches.

Prevention 

The best way to prevent rhinovirus infection is to practice good hygiene by washing your hands frequently and avoiding touching your nose, eyes and mouth. Also, when possible, avoid close contact with people who have colds or other upper respiratory infections.

Treatment

Children and adults usually recover from a cold within two weeks. You should always keep your healthcare provider informed if the illness gets worse or lasts longer than expected. Over the counter medicines may help relieve some symptoms but the best way to combat the common cold is to get plenty of rest and drink plenty of fluids.

Welcome to HOPE

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Mr Damien Gainsford as the Primary Principal for Phnom Penh. He will commence in January 2020. He and his wife Leisa will be visiting HOPE from Sept 30-Oct 2 where we will have an opportunity to meet them both.

HAGAR MENU

Greetings from the Graduating Class of 2021 … Year 11s!

It is still the beginning of the year so we want to share some of our thoughts about starting the IB.

Comments

"Once excited to begin the course, now excited to just finish it." :) - Jack Park

“It has started to feel like real - that I have to leave HOPE soon” :) - Sieun Han 

“The journey leading up to IB” - an essay by Seung Won 

It was finally my turn to face Mrs. Flight, who was as terrifying of a person as you could get for the half of us who had to meet her that day. As I stood outside the room, still recovering the multiple anxiety attacks from contemplating whether or not to click the dreaded login button in the Cambridge website, a long forgotten memory came back. 

I wiped off the beads of sweat that ran down the side of my forehead, nervously gripping my prized possession, like a decaying bamboo stick, my passion for study. Both me and my opponent, my next door neighbour, knew that we were about to engage in mortal combat: studying IGCSE. We charged onwards.

The time during the past two years studying the IGCSE curriculum decided to play a silly trick on me and my peers by ceasing to exist for a majority of course but conveniently coming back during a doomed exam, only to bask in the desperate pleadings of mercy from sad students who just wanted to get the exam over with. Those two years of accelerated time was where I tried to do everything I could to get back on track but only ended up with nights where my phone would brutally inform me that my  "alarm is set for 2 hours and 17 minutes from now." all the way until the end of year 10.

(By the way, If this sounds familiar to any of my fellow subordinates I would like to tell you that tomorrow (not literally Saturday) is always the busiest day of the week and it is not healthy. Do something about it. Here I will even share something that will help get your time management back together https://getrevising.co.uk/)

I realise now, with the benefit of hindsight, that during all this time I had lost what I held dearest to me when I was younger. My bamboo stick. Holding the cold door handle to the room where Mrs. Flight was made me realise how much I missed holding on to the burning passion I once had. I would have been blatantly lying if I said that I was not afraid. I almost cried while holding the door handle man. I was also excited however, as this was an opportunity to find a brand new bamboo stick. With this in mind, I wiped the beads of sweat that ran down the side of my forehead, nervously gripping the door handle, and charged onwards into my new IB life.

Life is an adventure that is best lived together!