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Monday, 7 January 2013 - Issue 1
All Staff News
Changes to Internal Communication at CIS
“I feel overwhelmed by email” has been a common complaint that has been repeated over the past 18 months. “It’s hard to find out what is going on”, and “I don’t know where to go to find things” are other comments that have also been heard on campus at both Lakeside and TK for a while now.
With the school’s growth over the past 2 years, communication has certainly intensified. Everyone’s message is important, but they seem to be getting lost in the email quagmire. The volume of email that the average staff member is receiving seems to have grown at what might be said a break neck speed.
A new communication model
We have been listening and working on some solutions … Today marks the changes to the way we communicate internally at CIS. Are we going to send you an email with full details? No … we are not, however, we will share the basics of our new communication protocols here.
Before the break, over 200 staff watched 2 “Gangnam” teaser videos that saw staff wanting to do the Gangnam - the common question was what is this all about? This week, you will receive the answers. For the next 5 days, a video relating to communication and new protocols will be released in the staff portal. You are asked to login each morning to view the new video - and by the way, this logging in to the portal each morning is now a requirement for all staff. To find out more about these new protocols, please login to the portal and view the daily video to learn more. If you missed today's video, you can view it under the media tab in the staff portal.
Please note that you will need to switch off your popup blocker if you do not see the video as soon as you login to the portal.
There is one very important thing that you might not work out from watching these videos - email groupings such as allstaff@cis.edu.sg have been switched off! These email groupings are no longer active.
These emails will however, still show up in your gmail contacts. A document which walks you through the process of deleting contacts can be viewed here.
Weekly Internal Newsletter - Connections
Connections, our new internal newsletter, along with the staff portal’s activity stream announcements and principal’s weekly portal updates, will be one of the primary modes of communication for staff at CIS. From next week, it will be published every Monday evening to the staff portal. Please ensure that you read this newsletter to know what is happening at CIS.
A document regarding Connections and guidelines can be viewed here. Please note requirements for approval of announcements and submission times.
LKS Display Guidelines
New display guidelines for the public areas of the Lakeside Campus were released last year. If you missed the release of the guidelines, please view them here.
As part of these guidelines, there are 10 display boards that are available for hire. A link to the calendar showing dates that boards are booked can be found within the document. Please contact displays@cis.edu.sg if you would like to book these boards.
Appointment of LKS Elementary Logistics Coordinator
Congratulations to Ms. Victoria Colling on her recent appointment as LKS ES Logistics Coordinator. Victoria will report to Wendy Nussey, and will commence duties on Monday, 7 January. Please take the time to welcome Victoria to CIS if you are in the office.
Appointment of LKS Elementary and Middle School ECA Manager
Congratulations to Wendy Nussey on her recent appointment as Elementary and Middle School ECA Manager. Wendy will also continue to supervise the logistics department in Elementary School as the Logistics Manager. Her new title is ECA/Logistics Manager.
We would like to thank Todd Bowler for his services as the Middle School ECA and Sports Coordinator this year. After 8 years, Todd has decided to leave CIS. His last day will be 25 January. We wish him all the best in his future endeavours.
From the Head of School - Leadership Staffing Update (LKS)
Further to the advertisement and call for applications we sent in December regarding two Lakeside leadership positions, I am pleased to announce that we have appointed Mr. Jeff Martin as our new Head of Lakeside Athletics and Activities. Jeff began his teaching career in Edmonton, Alberta as a PE teacher. After heading overseas in 2000, Jeff has been involved in leadership in Athletics in several schools in the Asia Pacific region. For the past 4 years Jeff has served as the Administrative Athletics and Activities Director at the Shanghai Community International School in Shanghai, China. We are excited about the depth of experience Jeff is bringing to this new position we have created. We are also very pleased to welcome his wife, Hernie, who will step into the elementary art position at Lakeside. She too brings years of experience in her field, and we look forward to them joining us in August.
As anticipated, we continue the search for the Lakeside MS Vice Principal position. Once we have completed that search we will post another update.
Parent Teacher Interviews - New Registration System (LKS and TK)
Parent Teacher interviews are coming up on January 24 and January 25. A new booking system has been secured for this round of interviews. Some key changes to the system this time around are:
IT will set up appointment schedules and the initial system
Divisional ladies will manage the system both before and during registration
Communications will communicate all points regarding the system to parents and staff via the WAG and Connections. They will also offer support for the first round to IT and Divisions.
Teachers Personal Appointments for Children
Teachers who need appointments for their own children are asked to enter their requests in this document. Please use the tab at the bottom of the sheet to find your division. Divisional/campus administrative support staff will block your times off in the system once ready. Please complete this form by January 11 at the latest.
Teachers Appointment Schedules - Real time Access
Teachers appointment schedules will be viewable at all times throughout the registration period via the Staff Portal. A video that walks you through the registration system will be published to the portal on January 15. On January 17, an icon that will have previously been published to the staff portal dashboard will be activated. This icon will the live link to the registration system so that you can view and print your schedules.
Parents and Registration
Parents will be updated of the new system in this week’s WAG. Registration will open to parents at 7am on 17 January and close at midnight on 22 January. Parents will access the registration system directly from the parent portal - no additional login is required.
Corporate Phone Directory - Lakeside
Have you been wondering how to use the directory function of the phone on your desk/in your classroom? Wonder no more. IT Support have provided us with instructions on how to use the system. You can access these instructions at any time in the staff portal under the Resources/Contacts tab (Lakeside Directory).
Press the contacts/directory button
Scroll down to the Directories option and press the Select soft key.
Scroll down to the Directory Services option and press the Select soft key.
Press the Select soft key to display the directory search options.
Use the scroll key (the up and down arrow button) to select the search option: First Name, Last Name or Number
Use the keypad (as you do when texting on your mobile phone) to enter a letter or number to start your search - you can enter the first few letters of a name to conduct a search
Press the Search soft key to display all searches which begin with the letters you choose
Scroll down to select your search (for more than one search)
Press the Dial soft key to speed-dial your search
Fire Drills – Protocols
In December, we experienced a false alarm fire drill at the end of a school day, just as classes were being dismissed. This false alarm provided us with an excellent opportunity to examine our safety protocols to ensure that student safety was optimized. We have made some minor operational revisions to our protocols and would like to share them. Please view full details in this document.
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EdTech News
Please view the EdTech tab in the Staff Portal for regular updates and important information related to Educational Technology at CIS.
Also follow me on Twitter @cisedtech or contribute valuable EdTech info to the CIS hashtag #cisedtech.
Mike Pelletier - Head of Educational Technology
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Community Outreach News
LKS - Terry Fox Run Almost Here - Thursday 31 January (rain or shine)
Action Items for This Week
Please note that money is not to be collected yet, but you should make sure all students’ sponsor sheets have been returned. Please photocopy the sponsor sheet so that you have a copy available.
On the Day
Classes will have an assigned time to run on the day - the schedule will be sent to you the week prior to the run. All you need to do on the day is bring your class to the track.
Student Council reps will be on hand to set your class up on the track, watch the time, and help get your class back to you (off the track when the time is up). As students complete a lap, they will be marked with face paint to record the number of laps - there will be one stripe per lap.
After the run, you will need to:
Record how many laps each child ran on a slip of paper (will be provided)
Attach the slip to the original sponsor form
Send slip and sponsor form home with students for money collection
Donations should be:
Returned in an envelope - with name, amount collected and grade/teacher’s name
Sent to the office where there is a big box awaiting all returned forms/ money
Teachers do not have to check the money or mark off who has returned them - I will monitor this.
Thank you very much for your support and help in this inaugural schoolwide event. We are hoping to raise an impressive amount of money for the Singapore Cancer Society.
Any questions: donna.jackson@cis.edu.sg
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Social Committee News
No news this week - stay tuned.
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CIS Celebrations
Sports Update - U14 Boys' Soccer CIS defeat UWC Dover
An exciting game on home turf saw our U14 Boys' Soccer team defeat UWC Dover this week 5:4. For the full update, please view the sports news section in the Parent Portal. Alternatively, you can read the full story here.
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