Friday 31 August 2012

2: Friday 31st August 2012

Next week in Primary



Back to School Nights

We look forward to welcoming all our parents to our Back to School nights this week and next. Please check the calendar below to see which dates are relevant to you.


IPC
Children in Prepa, Grade 1 and Upper Primary will be beginning their new IPC units this week. Do talk to them about this and find out about what they have been learning. We have deliberately chosen units for the first part of the year which will allow us to include the history and geography of El Salvador, as this is Civic month.

Team Sports
The team sports programme begins on Monday 3rd September.

Extra curricula activities
You will be receiving a letter explaining how our new extra curricula programme will be working and introducing Patricia Zelaya who has been employed to work as our Extending Interests and Talents Coordinator. By offering more, but shorter sessions we are hoping to allow the children throughout the year to discover what really catches their interest. Most of the activities offered are those which have been suggested by the children themselves. Extra curricula activities will begin on Monday 10th September.

Dates for your diary

Lower Primary
Monday 3rd September: Pre-Kinder & Kinder Back to School Night 18:00 at the PAC.
Wednesday 5th September: Prepa and First Grade Back to School Night 18:00 at the PAC.
Friday 7th September: LP Spanish Assembly 7:20am in the PAC
Friday 14th September: LP Spanish Assembly 7:20am in the PAC
Tuesday 18th September: Parent Workshop for Prepa
Friday 21st September: McLay Fun Run
Friday 21st September: LP Spanish Assembly
Friday 28th September: LP Spanish Assembly

Upper Primary
Monday 3rd - Friday 7th September: Week 1 Team Sports
Thursday 6th: 2nd & 3rd Back to School Night 18:00 in the PAC.
Monday 10th - Friday 14th September: Week 2 Team Sports
Monday 10th: 4th & 5th Back to School Night 18:00 iin the PAC.
Monday 27th - Friday 21st September: Week 3 Team Sports
Friday 21st: McLay Fun Run
Monday 24th - Friday 28th September: Week 4 Team Sports
Monday 24th - Friday 28th: Parent Workshops
Wednesday 26th: Spanish Assembly “Independence”

Next week in Secondary



All parents should have received an emailed guide to the new school year from the Head of Year. If you have not please contact us!



Congratulations to the Class of 2014 for their IGCSE success. Our top students achieved superb results and we are especially proud of Raul Zaldaña, Ting Yi Lin and Young Ik Kim. Our top IB students from the Class 2012 were Ting Che Lin and Maria Fernanda Arango. The overall IB Diploma pass rate was very pleasing. Well done to all members of our community who played their part in helping these students achieve their success.


We have had a very focused start to the new school year and we have been very pleased with the way our students have started. Next week Team Sports start and the music department is offering a variety of music options from individual instruments to orchestra and rock band. Please make sure your son or daughter sees Ms. Leong or Mrs. Sanchez if they are interested. We will be sending more information about extra curricular classes next week.

I do not want to start this year on a negative note but I do want to remind you of the importance of punctuality and attendance. We are not willing to accept poor punctuality as an ABC trait and as you will have read in your guide to the new year students getting five lates in a month will receive an immediate Saturday detention. We are also concerned that students do not miss school unnecessarily as there is an obvious correlation between attendance and success in school. 

On a final note can we please ask for your support in ensuring your son or daughter meets our uniform requirements and especially with respect to girls and socks and PE shoes. All information is in the guides sent home earlier this week.

Secondary Dates for your diary
Monday 3rd september: Team Sports, Music lessons and Mathcounts start
Monday 10th September: Extra curricular activities start
Friday 14th September: Independence Day Assembly and celebrations
Thursday 20th September: for Grade 6-12 Parents, Parent’s Partnership Meeting-Asociacion Estima on Nutrition and Developing Healthy Habits and Relationship with Food 
Friday 21st September: Peace One Day
Saturday 29th September: ABC Olympic Event
Tuesday 2nd October: Grade 6 Know Your School and Parent Teacher meetings
Thursday 4th October: Grade 7 and 8 Know Your School and Parent Teacher meetings
Friday 5th October: School closed for staff INSET
Monday 8th October: Grade 11 and 12 Know Your School and Parent Teacher meetings
Thursday 11th October: Grade 9 and 10 Know Your School and Parent Teacher meetings
Saturday 13th October: Grade 11 Empowerment Day

Friday 24 August 2012

SY12-13 1: Friday 24th August 2012


From the Headmaster

Welcome Back!

It was a delight to welcome students back to school! We have had a smooth start to the school year and I thank all staff for their careful planning and preparation. 
Look out for these ABC Weekly editions which will keep you informed about what is happening at the ABC. Every few weeks we shall have a “bumper edition” with links and many photos - normal editions just contain text information to make this easier to read on smartphones.


Independence

Being independent is one of our 14 values or traits which we introduce right from Prekinder, age 3. Please help us develop this in your child by dropping him or her off at the drop off point and NOT walking into school with him/her.


Primary News

Welcome back!
It was lovely to welcome the children back into school on Thursday especially as  they all seemed so pleased to be here. Great too, to see them all looking so tidy and smart with the correct uniform, new shoes and boys with short hair. Well done Mums and Dads! A special welcome to our youngest pupils in Pre-Kinder who took the first day of school in their stride and have made a great start to their ABC school lives.

End of School Arrangements until 31st August 2012
For the first two days of school (23rd and 24th August) all ABC students will end classes at their normal times but from Monday 27th August until Friday 31st August we will have staggered leaving times with some grades having an extended day to help prevent problems with traffic flow. These measures will only last for this week until the Team Sports programmes start from Monday 3rd September.


Primary arrangements for the end of the school day for Monday 27th August to Friday 31st August.
Lower primary will leave at their normal times:
Pre Kinder at 12.00 noon
Kinder at 12.30pm
Prepa at 1.00pm
Grade 1 at 1.30pm
Upper primary arrangements are as follows:
Grade 2 at 1.30pm
Grade 3 at 1.30pm
Grade 4 at 2.15pm
Grade 5 at 2.15pm

Children in Grades 4 and 5 who have siblings in the Secondary school who are on an extended day may stay in the Pass Club until their older siblings have completed their afternoon activities.

Children in Grades 4 and 5 who have siblings further down the school who will be leaving at 1.30pm may leave with them at this time.

Extracurricular activities
The Primary extracurricular programme will begin on Monday 10th September and we will be in touch with you shortly about changes to this. Team Sports activities begin on Monday 3rd September.


Dates for your diary

Lower Primary
Monday 3rd Sept: Pre-Kinder & Kinder Back to School Night 18:30 at the PAC.
Wednesday 5th Sept: Prepa and First Grade Back to School Night 18:30 at the PAC.
Friday 7th Sept: LP Spanish Assembly 7:20am in the PAC
Friday 14th Sept: LP Spanish Assembly 7:20am in the PAC
Tuesday 18th Sept: Parent Workshop for Prepa
Friday 21st Sept: McLay Fun Run
Friday 21st Sept: LP Spanish Assembly
Monday 24th - Friday 28th Sept: Parent/Teacher Interview
Friday 28th Sept: LP Spanish Assembly

Upper Primary
Monday 3rd - Friday 7th September: Week 1 Team Sports
Thursday 6th: 2nd & 3rd Back to School Night 18:00 in the PAC.
Monday 10th - Friday 14th September: Week 2 Team Sports
Monday 10th: 4th & 5th Back to School Night in the PAC.
Monday 27th - Friday 21st September: Week 3 Team Sports
Friday 21st: McLay Fun Run
Monday 24th - Friday 28th September: Week 4 Team Sports
Monday 24th - Friday 28th: Parent Workshops
Wednesday 26th: Spanish Assembly “Independence”

Secondary News

The Secondary school started smoothly on Thursday and we welcomed some new students and staff to the school. We have welcomed Ms. Dee Leong (Music), Mr. Brian Avery and Mr. Craig Kilkie (Mathematics), Ms. Carla James and Mr. James Rombout (Humanities), Mr. Josh Hernandez, Ms. Manjit Virdi and Ms. Jessica Henry (English, Drama and some Humanities). I hope their stay at the school will be successful. I would like to add a warm welcome to the parents of the new students who we will be inviting to a meeting in due course. We are also sending out information on the new year to parents via email and the grade blog. Please make sure you are following the blog for the grades your son or daughter is in. I would also like to remind you of the Year heads for each year.
Grade 6: Mrs. Jennifer Horan
Grade 7: Ms. Karen Bradburn
Grade 8: Ms. Carmen Chavez
Grade 9: Mrs. Sally Forsyth
Grade 10: Mr. Giles Whittaker
Grade 11: Mr. Ed Dafnis
Grade 12: Mr. Marc Starr.

Please note that next week some students will not be finishing school until 2.45 according to the following timetable. Students will be either doing an extended PE class or have a supervised Homework preparation session.

Monday - Grade 7 and 9
Tuesday - Grade 6 and 10
Wednesday - Grade 7 and 8
Thursday - Grade 6 and 9
Friday - Grade 8 and 10.

On a final note can I please ask you to encourage your son or daughter to think about participating in the coming ABC Olympic event on Saturday 29th September.

Secondary Dates for your diary
Friday 14th September: Independence Day Assembly and celebrations
Friday 21st September: Peace One Day
Saturday 29th September: ABC Olympic Event
Tuesday 2nd October: Grade 6 Know Your School and Parent Teacher meetings
Thursday 4th October: Grade 7 and 8 Know Your School and Parent Teacher meetings
Friday 5th October: School closed for staff INSET
Monday 8th October: Grade 11 and 12 Know Your School and Parent Teacher meetings
Thursday 11th October: Grade 9 and 10 Know Your School and Parent Teacher meetings
Saturday 13th October: Grade 11 Empowerment Day