SIS HoS News - September 5, 2025

Dear SIS Community,

Here we are, already into September with our school routines now well established and programs well underway. One of the benefits of being the oldest international school in Shenzhen is that we have many strong traditions and established processes. This has allowed us to be at the forefront of sports and artistic programs and projects across the region, and to welcome students into courses and activities which are very well tested for success. I'm very thankful for the leadership of our Activities Director and Principals and to the commitment of our teachers in this matter.

亲爱的SIS社区成员：

时光飞逝，转眼间我们已步入九月，学校的日常运作已步入正轨，各项活动也正如火如荼地展开。作为深圳资历最深的国际学校，我们积累了众多优良传统和完备的流程体系。这让我们在区域内的体育和艺术项目及活动中始终占据领先位置，也能为学生们提供经过实践打磨、效果显著的课程与活动。在此，我由衷地感激活动总监、各位校长在这一方面的出色引领，以及老师们的辛勤奉献。

I also am thankful for the commitment of our parents in many ways to make sure that the years starts well for all our students. From being involved in open days and curriculum workshops, or our Parent Edu workshops to helping at home with homework and getting children to and from home I know that our parents make great efforts to support their children.

One of these ways is our Parent Advisory Council. The PAC is a group of parents who meet regularly to advise me on any matters which will help to improve the school. My sincere thanks to Ronel Hooton, Whashin Bollini, Holly Hou, and Juan Du for volunteering their time in this role. In this past meeting we touched on a number of topics, some of which will be of general interest.

Scholarships and Financial Support: The school offers a small number of scholarships each year to attract external students to join the school to boost some targeted programs. It is always a compettitive process and the numbers allocated differ each year depending on the quality of applicants. Separate to these we also offer existing SIS high school students the Robert Dunseth Scholarship. These are available each year through a competitive application. Finally, we work with families experiencing temporary financial hardship to help them through periods of difficulty. In all our scholarships and financial support, we are looking to strengthen our caring and inspiring community.

Parent EDU Sessions: Everyone will be aware of our very full schedule of workshops and presentations where a range of topics is covered. We are committed to looking at ways to maximize the value of these and so it was very helpful to discuss ways that livestreaming, scheduling, recording for later viewing, style and content of our program could be enhanced. We recognize that these sessions are a great way to find out how to work in partnership with the school and I am grateful for the suggestions from the PAC on continuous improvement.

Swimming Pool: Parents will also be aware that our swimming pool has been closed after it was found to have some fibres leaking from the wall of the pool structure. We have been working with the manufacturer and an expert industrial laboratory to identify how this could have happened and how to make the pool safe to use. We believe that we are close to finding an acceptable solution that brings the condition of the surfaces back to new standard. We continue to investigate why patches of the pool's walls had deteriorated so that fibres were exposed. We continue to work with the best expertise available to ensure that our pool will be suitable for use as soon as possible. In the meantime we have rescheduled swimming lessons and found an alternative venue for our swim team.

I sincerely thank you for choosing SIS for your children - and for joining in so willingly to partner with the school. I particularly wish to thank the PSA for their work to enrich the experience of all children at the school and for making the life of our parents more enjoyable.

与此同时，我由衷地感激家长们通过各式各样的方式给予的支持，正是这些支持让所有学生都能顺利迎来新学年的开端。不管是参加学校开放日、课程研讨会、家长专题讲座，还是在家耐心辅导孩子作业、每日不辞辛劳地接送孩子上下学，我都深深明白，家长们为了助力孩子成长，付出了诸多心血与努力。

家长咨询委员会（PAC）正是家长们支持学校发展的一个重要渠道。PAC由一群定期相聚交流的家长构成，他们会围绕如何改进学校向我提出建议。在此，我要向Ronel Hooton、Whashin Bollini、Holly Hou和Juan Du致以诚挚谢意，感谢他们抽出宝贵时间承担起这一职责。在上次会议中，我们探讨了多个话题，其中有几项议题是大家普遍关心的焦点

奖学金与经济援助：学校每年会提供少量奖学金，其目的在于吸引外部的优秀学生加入，以此推动特定项目的发展。奖学金的评选竞争十分激烈，每年会根据申请者的综合表现来确定最终录取人数。除此之外，我们还专门为在校高中生设立了Robert Dunseth奖学金，该奖学金每年通过竞争性申请的方式发放。最后，对于那些暂时面临经济困难的家庭，我们也会与他们携手合作，帮助他们顺利度过难关。我们期望通过所有的奖学金和经济援助项目，让我们这个充满关怀与激励的社区更加团结、更有力量。

家长讲座：想必大家都知道，我们安排了丰富多样的工作坊和讲座，涵盖多个主题。我们致力于提升这些活动的价值，所以非常高兴能有机会探讨如何改进直播效果、优化日程安排、完善录制回放功能，以及提升讲座风格和内容质量等方面。我们深知，这些讲座是大家了解如何与学校开展合作的重要途径。在此，我要感谢家长顾问委员会（PAC）提出的持续改进建议。

游泳池：想必各位家长已然知晓，我们的游泳池因为池壁结构出现纤维渗漏问题而暂时关闭。我们一直都在与制造商以及专家级工业实验室紧密合作，力求查明问题产生的原因，并确保游泳池能够安全使用。我们相信，很快就能找到一个可行的解决方案，让池壁表面恢复到全新的标准。目前，我们仍在深入调查池壁部分区域为何会恶化，进而导致纤维暴露。我们会继续与最顶尖的专家合作，确保游泳池能尽快恢复正常使用。在此期间，我们已经重新安排了游泳课程，并且为游泳队找到了合适的替代场地。

我由衷地感谢大家选择深圳市蛇口外籍人员子女学校（SIS）作为孩子的学校，也感谢大家如此积极地与学校合作。我特别要感谢家长委员会（PSA）为丰富学校所有孩子的体验所付出的努力，以及为让家长们的生活更加愉快所做的工作。