Friday 18 October 2013

9: Friday 18th October 2013

Primary News

Mobile phones
We would really prefer it if upper primary children did not bring mobile phones to school. There are landline phones in all secretaries offices if the children need to contact you in an emergency. If your child must, for some reason, have a phone in school please supply them with a really basic Nokia or similar, there is no reason for primary aged children to need a smart phone as they hand their phones in to the office before school and collect them again at 1.30pm. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.

Half term
It has been a busy few weeks and children and staff alike are ready for their half term holiday. We would like to thank all of those parents who attended our Back to School and Curriculum Nights in the past few weeks; the attendance at these functions has been most impressive.

After the half term break we will be busy with parents workshops,camping trips, special days and, of course, getting ready for Christmas and we look forward to welcoming parents into school for these events too. Please check the calendar regularly to make sure you are up to date with events, it’s a busy school.

Please encourage your children to read in both English and Spanish over the short holiday and also ensure that they have plenty of time to play - both indoors and outside. Enjoy your time with them.

We look forward to welcoming the children back in school on Monday 28th October.

Dates for your diary

Lower Primary
Monday 21st - Friday 25th October: Half term break
Friday 1st November: Prepa Burrows Assembly 7:20am in the PAC
Friday 8th November: 1st Aguirre Assembly 7:20am in the PAC

Upper Primary
Monday 21st – Friday 25th: Half Term Break
Wednesday 30th October: UP “Dia de la raza” Assembly 

Secondary News

Honesty
In the past week we have had a couple of incidents where students have not been honest, either in telling lies, copying work from other students or copying work from the internet. We place a big importance on honesty at the ABC within our trait of being ethical as well as being responsible. As a school we react strongly when we encounter dishonesty and we work hard to encourage honesty in all aspects of our students’ lives.

UN Week
We have been celebrating UN Week this week and have been focusing on the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and how we as a community can make a contribution. On Friday we asked all students to nominate their top MDG and we will be making contributions from their T shirt day to community projects working on those MDGs in El Salvador. We want to play our part in helping El Salvador meet these important targets by 2015.

Careers Day
We want to say a big thank you to all Exabrits, university representatives and parents who contributed to Class 2015 Careers Day last week.

Ask.fm
We have been concerned that some of our students have been downloading a social media app called ask.fm whereby they can be asked any question anonymously by other people. It seems to us this is potentially very dangerous and could lead to exploitation. The site has been linked with teenage depression and certainly offers strangers an opportunity to stalk our students. Please have a look and check if your son or daughter has downloaded it. You may find the link below interesting:

Secondary dates for your diary
Friday 18th October: End of first half term
Monday 28th October: Back to school
Friday 1st November: International Award (Silver) Expedition

Friday 11 October 2013

8: Friday 11th October 2013


Primary News


Curriculum Nights
This week saw parents from Kinder and Prepa attend their respective Curriculum Nights. We’d like to thank everyone who made the effort to be here at school with us despite the heavy traffic and road restrictions.
Next Wednesday 16th will be the turn of First Grade. We look forward to seeing everyone at 7pm in the PAC.

No Pens Wednesday
On Wednesday Upper Primary children participated in, ‘No Pens Wednesday’. Together with pupils from over 2,000 schools across the UK we put down our pens for this international speaking and listening event. No Pens Day Wednesday encourages schools to focus on language by spending one day focused on learning through speaking and listening instead of writing. Spend some time speaking and listening at home- ask your child what they learned on Wednesday!

Parent/teacher meetings
Thank you to all parents who made the time to attend a Parents Meeting with your child’s teacher this week and last.

Next week
We look forward to welcoming back the parents of 2nd Guzmán and 4th Quintanilla for next weeks assemblies.

On Friday we will celebrate UN Day with our Food Fair.

Dates for your diary

Lower Primary
Wednesday 16th October: 1st Grade Curriculum Night 7:00pm in the PAC
Friday 18th October: Prepa Burrows Assembly 7:20am in the PAC
Friday 18th October: Pre-Kinder UN Day Parade 8:30am in the PAC
Friday 18th October: Kinder UN Day Parade 9:30am in the PAC
Monday 21st - Friday 25th October: Half term break
Friday 8th November: 1st Aguirre Assembly 7:20am in the PAC

Upper Primary
Wednesday 16th October: 2nd Guzman Assembly, 9:10am in the PAC
Wednesday 16th October: 4th Quintanilla Assembly, 11:55am in the PAC
Friday 18th October: UP United Nations Food Fair
Monday 21st – Friday 25th: Half Term Break
Wednesday 30th October: UP “Dia de la raza” Assembly

Secondary News

Know Your School Sessions
We completed our Know Your School meetings this week and it was a pleasure to see so many parents attending. We want to repeat our simple message of the importance of us all working together in partnership and ensuring our lines of communication remain open

Internet Safety
As we mentioned at the various Know Your School meetings we are interested in ensuring our students behave within our ABC expectations when they are on line. We hope you will support these initiatives and help your son or daughter make smart choices. As part of this we would ask that you be vigilant with your son or daughter and their use of their mobile phones. We ask that you keep yourself informed of the apps and social networks they are using and sharing. You will find the links on our Class blogs useful. Here is the one from Class 2018 http://abcict3.wikispaces.com/Parents+Internet+Safety+Night

UN Week
We will continue working on the United Nations and our contributions to the Millennium Development Goals next week. It is an opportunity to reflect on global issues and their relevance to our communities.

Empowerment Day Class 2015 is tomorrow and will be led by the School Prefect Team. Students should be at school at 8 am.

Class 2015 Careers Day is on Thursday and will be followed by a University Fair in the Auditorium

Secondary dates for your diary
Saturday 12th October: Class 2015 Empowerment Day
Monday 14th October: Start of UN Week
Thursday 17th October: Grade 11 Careers Day and University Fair
Friday 18th October: End of first half term
Monday 28th October: Back to school
Friday 1st November: International Award (Silver) Expedition

Friday 4 October 2013

7: Friday 4th October 2013

From the Headmaster



Coffee with the Headmaster and Board Chair (PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF DATE - APOLOGIES FOR THIS)
Parents are cordially invited on Wednesday 9th of October THURSDAY 7th NOVEMBER at 7:10 to 8am. In order to plan properly for parking, space and catering reasons, please let us know by Tuesday 5th of November that you are coming, using this simple form.

Primary News

Kinder and Prepa Curriculum nights
Next week we have our Kinder and Prepa curriculum nights and look forward to welcoming parents from these grades to attend and discover more about the curriculum that the school offers their children and the learning that is taking place.

The Kinder Curriculum night will take place at 7pm on Tuesday 8th October.

The Prepa Curriculum night will take place at 7pm on Thursday 10th October.

Parent/teacher meetings
Teachers in both lower and upper primary will be continuing to make appointments to meet with parents next week.

Dates for your diary

Lower Primary
Tuesday 8th October: Kinder Curriculum Night 7:00pm in the PAC
Thursday 10th October: Prepa Curriculum Night 7:00pm in the PAC
Friday 11th October: 1st Vásquez Assembly 7:20am in the PAC
Wednesday 16th October: 1st Grade Curriculum Night 7:00pm in the PAC
Friday 18th October: Prepa Burrows Assembly 7:20am in the PAC
Friday 18th October: UN Day
Monday 21st - Friday 25th October: Half term break
Friday 8th November: 1st Aguirre Assembly 7:20am in the PAC

Upper Primary
Tuesday 1st October: UP crazy hair day
Wednesday 2nd October: UP School for parents, at the PAC, from 7:00 to 8:30am
Wednesday 2nd October: 3rd Garcia Prieto Assembly, 9:10am in the PAC
Wednesday 2nd October: 5th Molina Assembly, 11:55am in the PAC
Wednesday 16th October: 2nd Guzman Assembly, 9:10am in the PAC
Wednesday 16th October: 4th Quintanilla Assembly, 11:55am in the PAC
Friday 18th October: UP United Nations Food Fair
Monday 21st – Friday 25th: Half Term Break
Wednesday 30th October: UP “Dia de la raza” Assembly 

Secondary News

The Class 2014 have their PAES Exam on Wednesday at
Colegio Fátima
4a Calle Oriente, # 4 - 4, Santa Tecla
(Between PNC and Del Sur, next to San Antonio church

Students must be there by 7 am to register, and the test will start 7:30 - 8 am until 12 noon. (note: Parents must take your son/daughter directly to Colegio Fatima, and pick them up from there at 12 noon.)

They must dress in the daily uniform and bring: Scientific calculator non-graphic, pens, pencils, ruler, eraser, sharpener, bottle of water, and photo identification. 

We will give your son/daughter the student NIE (número de identificación estudiantil) next week, and they must bring it to the test.

Please remember that students are not allowed to use cell phones in school except from the School Office either at break or lunch time or in an emergency at other times. Please do not text or phone them at school during school hours. If you need to send a message it can be done easily through Roxana or Marielos.

Thank you to all of you who have attended the Know Your School and Parent Teacher meetings this week. The attendance which we are recording was excellent. These meetings have been important in establishing the spirit of Parent Partnership at school. We have further meetings next week for Grade 9/10 and Grade 11/12. Please make sure you sign in when you arrive and please note these meetings are starting at 6.30 pm due to the traffic problems caused by the road closures. More news on the Class blogs.

In preparation for UN Week which starts the week after next we are asking for short personal contributions from people who have lived in other countries around the world to write up a short piece about that country. If you are interested in sharing information about a country you have lived in, please contact Roxana Hall and we will ask you to fill in a short Google form which will ask for three special or interesting pieces of information about the country, and an interesting experience you had while living in that country. Please get involved!

In our assembly with Grade 9-12 this week we talked about enthusiasm and motivation. We know how important it is for our students to be well motivated and we need to do all we can to ensure they continue to be enthusiastic and hard working at school. In many respects the most important thing we want to do at school is to encourage our students to always try their best and to believe they can be successful and we would like you to support his message at home. 

University visits next week: Texas Christian and Oglethorpe University from Atlanta will be visiting the ABC next Tuesday. Please check the school calendar for details.

Secondary dates for your diary
Monday 7th October: Grade 11/12 Know Your School & Parent Teacher Meeting 6.30 pm PAC
Wednesday 9th October: Grade 9/10 Know Your School & Parent Teacher Meeting 6.30 pm PAC. Class 2014 PAES Exam
Friday 12th October: Class 2015 Empowerment Day
Monday 14th October: Start of UN Week
Thursday 17th October: Grade 11 Careers Day
Friday 18th October: End of first half term
Friday 1st November: International Award (Silver) Expedition