Dr. Daniel Mullen | Head of School
August 29, 2025: Gratitude, Spirit Week, and a Look Ahead at UISG
Dear UISG Community,
A heartfelt thank you to everyone who participated in the various parent events and meetings this past week. Your energy, insights, and partnership are what make our community so special. We are continually looking for ways to engage with you, and your involvement is crucial as we work together to make this a fantastic year for our students.
Looking ahead to the week(s) ahead, there is a buzz of excitement across the school! Spirit Week is just around the corner, and we look forward to seeing our students show their school pride and creativity. Additionally, our Secondary Student Council elections are in full swing, with candidates campaigning and sharing their ideas for the year. It is inspiring to see our students stepping into these leadership roles.
It’s a busy and exciting time at UISG. Thank you for being such a vital part of our community.
Yours in Education,
Dr. Daniel Mullen
Head of School
Utahloy International School Guangzhou
Secondary StuCo Elections – August 2025
Chantelle Parsons | Head of Primary
Friday August 29th
Dear UNC, EY and Primary Families,
What another fabulous week at school. I asked teachers this week what they felt has been successful so far and they shared the following:
- Students settling in really well to the first few weeks of school
- Our new PYPC, Amy and all her organisation and awesome ideas!
- Collaboration among our teachers
- More and more parent volunteers joining us
What do YOU think has been successful so far?
PYP Goals 2526
I’d like to share the PYP goals for this year. These goals are not just for teachers but for the whole community to pull together and make a difference to our students. We are excited about these goals and can already see positive changes in school.
Dot Day
This year we will celebrate Dot Day on Thursday 11th September. Please see the attached poster. We invite all Primary and EY students to Dress up in Dots on this day.
Please note that due to secondary MAP tests and scheduling, Secondary Dot Day will take place on a different day being Friday 12th September.
Subscriptions
We’ve had lots of parents asking about some of our subscriptions, such as Raz-Kids and Epic. We are very sorry for the delay in these, we’ve experienced some technical issues with the student rollover into new classes and will have the log-in information to you as soon as possible.
MAP Testing
Next week, we will have our first MAP Growth assessment of the year for Grades 1 – 5. Results will be shared with parents in the coming weeks.
Just a reminder that MAP Growth is an assessment of a moment in time. While children all work very hard on their MAP test, the results may not always be reflective of their learning in the classroom. If you have any questions or concerns about the results, please reach out to your child’s homeroom teacher.
If you are interested in knowing more about the MAP Growth Assessment, please see the links below:
1) https://www.nwea.org/resource-center/resource/what-is-map-growth/
2)
Events Coming Up
- September 1 – 4: G1 – 5 MAP Testing
- September 1: ECAs Begin
- September 11: International Dot Day Celebration (Primary)
- September 12: International Dot Day Celebration (Secondary)
- September 15 – 19: Spirit Week (more info to follow)
- September 19: U9 – U19 Swim Invitation @ UISG
- September 19: Parent Power-Up
- September 26: G1-5 Swim Gala
- September 26: Parent Power-Up
- September 27 – Oct 12: Holiday
1) https://www.nwea.org/resource-center/resource/what-is-map-growth/
2)
Chantelle Parsons
Primary Principal
Martin Grist | Head of Secondary
September 1 – 5 (Week 4B)
Athletics and Extra-Curricular Activities (ECAs)
It is still very much the hot season, but the Cross-Country runners and Middle School Footballers have been out in the sun, training hard twice a week. A little less hot, but still hard at it, are the High School volleyballers in the MFH, and the swimmers in the pool. Also in ‘training’ is the school orchestra and legacy music groups. And from Monday, even more activities will take place with the start of the ECA season 1.
The participation numbers for Secondary students in the Athletics squads are really encouraging:
And when that is combined with the Secondary students in ECAs , it is even more impressive:
This level of participation fits perfectly with the message from the opening Secondary assembly, encouraging students to get involved and remembering that “There IS an “I” in team”, and that everyone has their part to play.
Secondary Camps
Information was shared with parents at the Parent Session on Monday August 25th, as well as through Managebac. Camps for Grades 6 – 11 take place September 22 – 26, and parents are reminded that the travel document and other information is due by the end of today, Friday August 29th.
Parent power-ups / information sessions
We have a number of parent information sessions coming up in September. Although there is a particular Grade level focus for each of these, all parents are welcome to join to find out more about life in the DP, or MYP eAssessments.
Events Coming Up
- August 29 – 31 – PACMUN (UISG’s own MUN conference)
- September 1 – ECA Season 1 begin
- September 8-10 MAP testing
- September 11 – Understanding the DP (G11 focus) – parent session
- September 15-19 Spirit Week
- September 16 – eAssessment + PP (G10 focus) parent session
- September 22-26 Secondary Camps (Grades 6-11)
- September 23 – Thriving in the DP (G12 focus) – parent session
Best regards,
Martin Grist
Martin Grist
Secondary Principal
English 
Chinese 
Korean 
Japanese