Friday 28 November 2014

15: Friday 28th November 2014

From the Director


It was nice to meet with many of you at the coffee morning last week and we appreciate the support and ideas that were shared to help us ensure the very best for our students. Since I started this post I have been delighted by the warmth and support which the parent body and the community shows for the school and for its well being. I think this is a real strength of our school community. 

I am sure you will agree with me that the safety and security of our students is paramount, whether they are in school or on a trip or when they are on line. We feel it is necessary to restrict access to most of our school blogs so that they are only viewable within our families and community and they are not accessible to the whole world. If you click on a class blog you will be informed how to access the blogs. You can share these with family so that grandparents and other interested family members have access.

We are still accepting details for car pooling and remember if you have three or more students in your car you can use the basketball court drop off in the morning. Can I also remind you to look at our ABC News and ROCS in Action blogs occasionally to keep up to date with school events. I want to end by congratulating the U18 boys basketball team for a fabulous victory during the week and I was disappointed not to have been there to witness it! Well done Bulldogs! You can see a report on the Team Sports blog.

Primary News

Dear Parents and Carers,

Was it only last Friday that we had our British Fete for Prepa and Grade 1? The Prepa teachers and their classes set up this amazing activity in our Lower Primary courtyard and the children all had a lovely time. Will this become a new tradition I wonder? The rest of the Primary school enjoyed their very British picnics and of course the culmination of the day was our Guy Fawkes event. I am sure you all had a great evening. Please check the blogs for photos and other items that have been shared.

Thank you to Raquel and the Kinder team for the fantastic phonic workshops last Wednesday and Thursday. I hope all the Kinder parents were able to attend.

This week the first of our grade camps took place. It is important for our students to experience some independence and have the responsibility of looking after themselves in a supported environment. I was a ‘Girl Guide’ and from the ages of 10 to 18 camped out for a week under canvas each year in the unpredictable English weather. I always had a wonderful time, but still had to ensure I helped prepare the food, did the washing up, stoked the fires that we used to heat the water, cleaned out tents etc. It is much more fun to take on these responsibilities in an outdoor and group environment than it is at home! I believe it is important for students to develop self-reliance too. Please encourage your children to participate fully in the successive camps and to show gratitude and respect to the support staff (our team in blue) who go along to help them out.

As we approach Christmas we have two projects in place to try and help others:

Upper Primary please remember to put together one or more shoe boxes for a child in need, decorate them beautifully and send them into school by the 10th of December. The letter was emailed out to Upper Primary parents last Monday. Don’t forget items need to be new for this activity!

Lower Primary are collecting new, and used toys in good condition, to be distributed to hospitals and orphanages. Please send items in as soon as possible.

We are all very privileged and should do our best to improve the lives of those less fortunate than ourselves. If they were our children, how would we like them to be treated? Please do your utmost to support these projects especially at this time of year.

Thank you for your continuing support and have a wonderful week.

Sharon Short

Dates for your diary

Lower Primary 
December
Friday 5th: Prepa Taylor assembly in the PAC 7:30am
Friday 12th: LP reports go home
Wednesday 17th: LP Christmas shows
Friday 19th: last day of school - no Sala Cuna

Upper Primary
December
Wednesday 3rd: UP choir in Palacio Tecleño Concert - 7:00 PM
From 3rd to 5th: 4th Grade camping. Entre Pinos
Wednesday 10th: UP choir Christmas Celebration at Orphanage Adalberto Guirola - 10:00 AM
Thursday 11th: UP choir Gran Via Christmas Concert - 6:00 PM
Friday 12th: UP reports go home
Wednesday 17th: Christmas Fair
Friday 19th: Last day of school

Secondary News

Arctic Days
We have had some cold windy weather recently and there are likely to be some days like this ahead. When the school announces that it is an ‘Arctic Day’ (an odd concept for an Englishman used to summer days that are colder than the current weather here in El Salvador!) students are permitted to wear plain dark black/blue jumpers to school. At all other times students must be in full ABC school uniform.

The ABC Book Week – w/c Monday 8th December
Research has shown that reading for pleasure at the age of 15 is the most important factor in determining the future success of the child (recent research includes that by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). Those who read for pleasure demonstrate an intrinsic desire to engage with stories, texts and learning. Reading for pleasure is also linked to the capacity for lifelong learning that explains increased social mobility. Getting our Secondary school students to read for pleasure is therefore a priority and this is the objective of our upcoming Book Week.

The problem is that young people have plenty of leisure activities to choose from as well as reading. Many youngsters were once avid readers, but now they hardly ever open a book, whilst others never liked reading in the first place. As adults we know that reading is important, although many of us due to our busy lives do not find the time to read as much as we would like.

As adults we want to make sure that the teenagers in our lives grow into adulthood with all the skills they need to succeed. To this end, the group Reading is Fundamental (RIF) have provided some very helpful guidance on how parents can help their teenagers decide for themselves that reading is important to them. Below is an extract from their website:

Try to avoid...
Before we list ways to encourage teen reading that work, here are a few tactics that don't:
  • Pressuring, nagging, or bribing. Encourage teens to read, but don't hound them.
  • Criticizing what teens read. Explain what troubles you about certain types of reading materials after reading them yourself. Forbid as little as possible. And whenever you can, accept differences of opinion as just that.
  • Lavishing too much praise. If you catch your teenagers reading, show interest, but don't make a big deal out of it. Teens need to know that they're reading for their own pleasure - not for your approval.
Ways to encourage teens to read...
  • Set an example. Let teens see you reading for pleasure.
  • Furnish your home with a variety of reading materials. Leave books, magazines, and newspapers around. Check to see what disappears for a clue to what interests your teenager.
  • Give teens an opportunity to choose their own books. When you and your teen are out together, browse in a bookstore or library. Go your separate ways and make your own selections. A bookstore gift certificate is a nice way of saying, "You choose."
  • Build on your teen's interests. Look for books and articles that feature their favourite sports teams, rock stars, hobbies, or television shows. Give a gift subscription to a special interest magazine.
  • View pleasure reading as a value in itself. Almost anything your youngsters read - including the Sunday comics - helps build reading skills.
  • Read some books written for teens. Young adult novels can give you valuable insights into the concerns and pressures felt by teenagers. You may find that these books provide a neutral ground on which to talk about sensitive subjects.
  • Make reading aloud a natural part of family life. Share an article you clipped from the paper, a poem, a letter, or a random page from an encyclopedia - without turning it into a lesson.
  • Acknowledge your teen's mature interests. Look for ways to acknowledge the emerging adult in your teens by suggesting some adult reading you think they can handle.
  • Keep the big picture in mind. For all sorts of reasons, some teenagers go through periods without showing much interest in reading. Don't panic! Time, and a few tips from this article, may help rekindle their interest.
Helping teens find books that interest them...
What they say is true: the more you read, the better you read. In other words, stepping up the reading you do for yourself will make other reading tasks less of a chore. Here are some ideas parents can share with their teens to find the kinds of books that will most interest them:
  • Decide what you're in the mood for. High adventure? Romance? Perhaps you enjoyed a recent movie or TV miniseries; chances are it was based on a book you'd enjoy also.
  • Ask around. Ask friends, a favorite teacher, or your coach to suggest books they enjoyed.
  • Check out the library. It won't cost you anything, and the choices are virtually unlimited. Don't be shy about asking a librarian a question like, "Do you have any books on rock music?"
  • Browse in a bookstore. Find the section that interests you - fantasy, cars, computers, or whatever. Treat yourself to an inexpensive paperback, or just have a look around.
  • Consult a list of books other teenagers have enjoyed. Ask for a book list at your school or public library.
  • Don't judge a book by its cover. What you see on the cover is not necessarily what you get. Read the short reviews printed inside a dust jacket, or skim the first chapter to find out what a book is really about.
  • Try a few pages. If the books not for you, put it aside and try another, until you find a winner.
  • Read at your own pace. Reading isn't a contest. So what if you read slowly or skip words here and there? If you're interested, you'll read to the end, and that's what counts. And you'll probably find yourself picking up speed along the way.
  • Let one good thing lead to another. When you read something that really speaks to you, you may be sorry to have it end. But the end is never really the end for a person who reads. You can always open another book, and another, and another.
Parent involvement is the number one predictor of early literacy success and future academic achievement. Parental influence on a child’s learning diminishes somewhat as children enter their teenage years and are bombarded by other influences and pressures, but parents still remain learning models. Regardless of a child’s age, the attitudes of parents to education can always inspire a child’s attitude to their own education. Please do what you can to encourage your child to read more.

There will be more on the ABC Book Week in next week’s ABC Weekly.

Parent Partnership and Parent Teacher Meetings
On Thursday 27th of November we had the Grades 10 and 12 Parent Partnership & Parent Teacher meeting. A big thank you to all those parents that attended.

Coming up in the next two weeks we have:
  • Thursday 4th December - Parent Partnership for Grades 6, 7 & 8 (there will be an article in next week’s ABC Weekly on the focus of this meeting); and,
  • Tuesday 9th December - Parent Partnership for Grades 9 & 11.
Cal 1 reports will be issued at these meetings. 

Stephen Spicer
Head of Secondary

Secondary dates for your diary
Saturday 29th November: Habitat for Humanity (Grade 12).
w/c Monday 1st December - ‘HIV/AIDS Awareness Week’.
Wednesday 3rd December: CAT4 Assessment for Grade 6
Thursday 4th December: ABC Mathscounts Competition. 
Thursday 4th December: Grade 6, 7 & 8 Parent Partnership Meeting with reports issued (5.30pm to 8.30pm).
Sunday 7th December:Ataco School Campaign 
w/c Monday 8th December - ‘Book Week’.
Tuesday 9th December: Grade 6 trip to Joyas del Pacifico at Costa del Sol.
Tuesday 9th December: Grade 9 & 11 Parent Partnership Meeting with reports issued (5.30pm to 8.30pm).
Wednesday 10th December: CAT4 Assessment for Grade 9
Friday 12th December: IGCA Jeans Day.
Friday 12th December to Saturday 13th December: IGCSE Mock Art Exam.
Tuesday 16th December: Grade 7 History Trip to San Andres & Casa Blanca.
Friday 19th December: End of term, 11.30am finish for students.

Friday 21 November 2014

14: Friday 21st November 2014

From the Director

Thank you to all of you who will be celebrating Guy Fawkes Night with us from 5.30 pm tonight. This is a very traditional British celebration which dates back over 400 years. We have made this celebration a part of our school calendar and I know it is enjoyed by our students. I also want to say a big thank you to the Secondary School Council for running the Spooky Cellar again with the profits going to the Hospital Bloom Burns Unit.

We received our PAES results for the Class of 2015 earlier this week and I would like to thank everyone involved in helping the students succeed in these exams. The results were very encouraging with 97% being in the superior category and a number of students getting the top 10.0 grade in some tests. Well done and a big thank you to Mr. Quijano, Mrs. Vasquez and the Spanish, Mathematics and Science departments for all their excellent preparatory work.


Primary News

Dear Parents and Carers,

It is our Guy Fawkes celebration tonight which is the culmination of our British Fortnight. We have many items for your entertainment and enjoyment. Please make sure you come along!

The Upper Primary children have been learning about firework safety and designed some safety posters. Please make sure all the adults around them keep to the firework safety code and provide good role models for them. Please bring gloves for the sparklers. We do not want any accidents!

As part of the evening we will be selling books to support your children at home with their enjoyment and love of reading. Please help your child to choose a book that you will enjoy reading together. If parents enjoy reading, children are much more likely to as well. The time spent sharing a book is also a special bonding time with your child, a time to be cherished. 

We are also very excited to announce that plans are afoot to develop a new Lower Primary library area. Keep reading the ABC weekly to find out about developments as they progress - more info soon.

There will be a variety of concerts and shows taking place over the Christmas period. The choirs will be taking part in public performances and the whole school concert in the Palacio Tecleño on Dec 3rd will be a major event. Even if your children are not performing please bring them along to enjoy the experience and to be inspired themselves, as well as to support good causes.

Prepa put on a British fête today with a coconut shy, maypole and many other stalls and activities. All of the students in Primary were dressed in UK colours and the picnic was a great success. Have a look at our various blogs to see the photos and commentaries on all of the events.

Have a wonderful week.

Sharon Short

Dates for your diary

Lower Primary 
November
Friday 21st: Guy Fawkes Night 5:30pm onwards
Thursday 27th: Trip to the National Zoo - Pre Kinder
Friday 28th: Prepa Gray assembly in the PAC 7:30am
December
Friday 5th: Prepa Taylor assembly in the PAC 7:30am
Friday 12th: LP reports go home
Wednesday 17th: LP Christmas show
Friday 19th: last day of school

Upper Primary
November
Friday 21st: Guy Fawkes Night
Thursday 27th and Friday 28th: 3rd grade camping. Corinto
December
From 3rd to 5th: 4th Grade camping. Entre Pinos
Friday 12th: UP reports go home
Wednesday 17th: Christmas Fair
Friday 19th: Last day of school

Secondary News

British Fortnight
The Secondary School’s celebration of the ‘British Fortnight’ continued this week with a variety of British food being served. The food was well received this week, as it was last week, and it was great to see classic dishes like shepherd's pie and steak & kidney pudding (pie) making an appearance.

We finished our fortnight of celebrations today with a further selection of popular British music that was performed at a lunchtime concert in the Cafeteria. Students and staff enjoyed performances of ‘All you need is Love’, ‘Fix You’, ‘Dynamite’ and ‘Fire’. 

Thank you to all the performers for their excellent renditions and a special thank you to Dee Leong, Head of Performing Arts at the ABC, for all her hard work over the past two weeks.

Healthy food
Today Grade 6 students enjoyed a healthy food lunch...more information on the Blog of Grade 6.

Recycling Week
Starting on Monday 24th of November the Secondary School has a number of initiatives as part of our Recycling Week. The initiatives are designed to encourage our community to recycle, reuse and reduce.
  • The CAS community is trying to help a kindergarten in Ataco with few resources by collecting donations of clothes, toys, shoes and household items. Miss Valiente has kindly agreed to collect in any donations.
  • The IGCA team will be selling Recycling Week T-shirts for $6 (to be worn on Friday 5th of December). The proceeds from the sales will go to their second turtle release on Saturday 6th of December.

Orders can be placed with IGCA leaders: Evelyn Sosa, Mariella Rodríguez, Gabriel Vásquez, Joselyn Hernández, Camila Fernández or Mr Arévalo in room 58A.

AND, COMING SOON:
  • The IGCA team have invited students to take part in the Bottle Caps Project. The team will introduce containers in each tutor room into which students can deposit their plastic bottle caps. The collection will run up to Friday 1st December. 
  • These caps will then be used by each tutor group to create pieces of art. and there will be a prize for the most creative piece. 
Thank you to the students and teachers that are trying to have a positive impact on the world in which we live

Stephen Spicer
Head of Secondary

Secondary dates for your diary
Saturday 22nd November: International Award ‘Bronze’ practice expedition - National Park Cerro Verde.
w/c Monday 24th November - ‘Recycling Week’.
Wednesday 26th November: Grade 12 Biology Trip to Medical School (Universidad Matias Delgado).
Wednesday 26th & Thursday 27th November: Grade 8 visits to the La Prensa Grafica.
Thursday 27th November: Grade 10 and 12 Parent/Teacher Meetings with reports issued (5.30pm to 8.30pm).
Friday 28th November: Grade 11 Empowerment Fieldtrip - Quinta El Carmen, Ataco (7:30am to 4.00pm). PENDING ON CONFIRMATION
Saturday 29th November: Habitat for Humanity (Grade 12).
w/c Monday 1st December - ‘HIV/AIDS Awareness Week’.
Thursday 4th December: ABC Mathscounts Competition. 
Thursday 4th December: Grade 6, 7 & 8 Parent/Teacher Meetings with reports issued (5.30pm to 8.30pm).
w/c Monday 8th December - ‘Book Week’.
Tuesday 9th December: Grade 6 trip to Joyas del Pacifico at Costa del Sol.
Tuesday 9th December: Grade 9 & 11 Parent/Teacher Meetings with reports issued (5.30pm to 8.30pm).

Friday 14 November 2014

13: Friday 14th November 2014

From the Director

We are continuing to be very careful about chikungunya and dengue and are fumigating on a regular basis and we are confident there are far fewer mosquitoes. We do also check the school pond regularly but we are assured it contains fish which eat mosquito larvae and so it is not a source of mosquitoes!

We continue to celebrate British fortnight next week with British food as well as various British events. On Friday is the highlight with Guy Fawkes night. we will be sending out invitations next Monday and more invitations are available through school. You will need one invitation per vehicle to get into school on the evening. We start at 5.30 pm and there will be a Christmas Fair, food, entertainment and a bonfire as well as fireworks. We would also ask you to support our Poppies for Peace campaign. Please see the post on our News blog

We are gradually closing some of our blogs to people outside the ABC community and so you may find you are asked to log in. We are informing parents of classes as they are affected. We are doing this to maintain privacy within our community. 

We are continuing to try to improve the health of the food and drinks we offer at the Cafeteria. Please check the menu. To promote our new menus we are inviting all grade 6 students to a free cooked lunch at the canteen next Friday so they can taste the quality of the lovely hot meals we are offering each day. The menu will be baked chicken with vegetables, potatoes and tortilla or fried fish with mashed potatoes, vegetables and or beef with rice, salad and tortilla. Each meal comes with a soft drink and dessert. This is an example of the high quality hot food the cafeteria is producing.

Thank you to all parents who have stopped arriving at school too early and blocking the traffic outside school. Please do not arrive more than 15 minutes before your due time for collection as it causes difficulties outside the campus and is a hazard to other road users. Many thanks to so many of you who are now arriving a little later and helping keep our access roads safer. I would also like to remind you that we do have a carpooling link where you can submit your details and we will put you in contact with someone else who lives nearby so you can consider carpooling. If you have three or more children in your car you can use the first gate on 17th avenue. All of these methods do help and we all gain when the situation improves. Thank you for your cooperation.

Primary News

Dear Parents and Carers,

We have had some lovely class assemblies recently relating to healthy eating, being healthy and taking care of yourself. As the school is now making every effort to provide healthy meals from the Cafeteria I felt it was time for a word on Healthy Lunch-boxes. 

There is a saying ‘you are what you eat’ and it is very important for children to have a balanced, healthy diet in order to optimise their growth and physical development as well as the brains ability to function well. Yes, what you eat and drink affects your cleverness! Here are some suggestions for a healthy lunchbox.

Raw fruit and vegetables - anything that has been processed loses many of its vitamins and minerals. Carrot, cucumber, courgette, broccoli sticks or chunks are great for children to eat and of course fruit, melon, papaya, apple and orange prepared and ready to eat are a favourite. Banana is a good source of energy and potassium.

Whole-grain carbohydrates - wholemeal bread, wholemeal crackers, brown rice and oats. Whole grain foods release their energy slowly and therefore sustain us for longer. They also contain more roughage to improve digestion. Look out for whole-grain cereal bars.

Protein - cheese chunks, an occasional hard boiled egg, a small piece of chicken and certain yoghurts. Proteins are important for muscle development and calcium for bone development. Some yoghurts are probiotic and contain beneficial bacteria that support the gut.

One small treat - no-one needs sugar and for many children it creates a very active high followed by a very sluggish low. We tend to give our children way too much sugar and then claim they are hyperactive or have an attention deficit!

Water - the brain needs to be hydrated to function properly. Many drinks have added sugar and in a recent survey of fruit juices locally we couldn’t find any that were pure juice and didn’t have additives. Diet drinks are riddled with chemicals that can be more detrimental than the sugar. Pure water is far more beneficial and is absorbed more quickly by the body.

When shopping for children’s lunch boxes please read the labels carefully and do not buy anything that has more than 10% sugar in it. Some items are advertised or targeted at children but when you read the label you realise they are not what they purport to be. Please also try to have minimal disposable packaging. Plastic containers that can be brought home, washed and reused are better for the environment and more economical.

We are hoping that every grade will get the opportunity to try the school lunches. If you do not have time to search for good things for your child I can vouch that the Cafeteria offers tasty, healthy choices for students which are also good value. (I get my lunch there nearly every day!) I hope you have some fun experimenting with your healthy lunchboxes.

Friday is Guy Fawkes night. We have talked to the children about being safe with fireworks. Please make sure you are sensible and safe with them too.

There will soon be emails coming out about our Christmas Charity collections. Please keep an eye open for them. DOn’t forget the class assemblies that are coming up.

Have a wonderful week.

Best wishes,

Sharon Short

Head lice
We have detected an increase in cases of children with head lice in our Lower and Upper Primary sections in recent days. To be able to eradicate this problem we need parents to check their child’s hair daily. Remember that children who have lice must remain at home for at least 3 days to receive proper treatment, which must include a medicated shampoo and manual cleaning.

We also want to remind you that if your child has a fever, it is better he stays home until he is fully recovered.

Dr Jennifer Harrison
School Doctor

Dates for your diary

Lower Primary 
November:
Monday 17th - LP Extracurricular classes begin
Wednesday 19th - Trip to FURESA - Kinder Suárez and Kinder Rampone
Thursday 20th - Trip to FURESA - Kinder Quintanilla and Kinder Francés
Friday 21st - Prepa Ware assembly
Friday 21st - Guy Fawkes Night
Friday 28th - Prepa Gray assembly
December:
Friday 5th - Prepa Taylor assembly
Friday 12th - LP reports go home
Wednesday 17th - LP Christmas show
Friday 19th - last day of school

Upper Primary
Wednesday 19th November: 2nd Lourdes Hernández Assembly 9.20
Wednesday 19th November: 5th Hayward Assembly 12.15
Friday 21st November - Guy Fawkes Night
Thursday 27th and Friday 28th November: 3rd grade camping

Secondary News


British fortnight
The first week of the ABC’s British Fortnight came to an end today with staff and students dressing up in a ‘British Way’. The school was awash with red, white and blue!

Thanks to the sterling efforts of Michelle Beneke and the Cafeteria staff, all this week we have had a selection of British food on offer. The ‘Taste of Britain’ has been very popular with everyone and next week there will be more British food available each day.

On Wednesday we were entertained at lunch by students, and a brave teacher, performing some British musical hits. There will be a further celebration of British music next week when we end the British Fortnight with a lunchtime concert in the Auditorium.

Security and personal items in school
Unfortunately, not all members of the school community achieve the standards of honesty to which the ABC aspires. 

Students should avoid bringing items such as jewellery, audio equipment and accessories, large sums of money etc. to school because of the risk of damage or loss. Only Grade 9 to 12 students should be bringing in laptops on a routine basis. 

Students need to be responsible for their own belongings. Please encourage your child to be security minded and please reinforce our message that students should not leave personal property where it could be easily stolen or tampered with. Students need to make sure that items of value are not left unattended and they should be utilising their lockers to keep such items safe.

As a precaution, we will shortly be compiling a register of all student laptops that are brought to school. More information on this to follow shortly.

Stephen Spicer
Head of Secondary

Project Ripple
Project Ripple is a CAS project with the purpose to create awareness about the availability of clean and safe-to-drink water, most of us do not realise that water isn't widely available - and if it is, it often comes from unsanitary places. As a team of students and teachers we are developing methods to purify water and conserve it in the greenest and most efficient of ways. Apart from raising awareness, we will also be raising funds to help low-resource communities obtain clean and purified water. As a team we hope we can expand and keep this as an ongoing project in our school community. 

Thank you! 
On behalf of the "Project Ripple" team

Secondary dates for your diary
Saturday 15th November: Class 2016 - Prevention Programme (8.00am to 12.00pm in the PAC)
Saturday 15th November: Comité Católico, Grades 6 to 11 (8.30am to 4.30pm)
Friday 21st November: Grade 9 Empowerment Fieldtrip - Quinta El Carmen, Ataco (7:30am to 4.00pm) 
Friday 21st November: Guy Fawkes and Christmas Fair 
Saturday 22nd November: International Award ‘Bronze’ practice expedition - National Park Cerro Verde.
Wednesday 26th & Thursday 27th November - Grade 8 visits to the La Prensa Grafica
Thursday 27th November: Grade 10 and 12 Parent/Teacher Meetings with reports issued (5.30pm to 8.30pm)
Friday 28th November: Grade 11 Empowerment Fieldtrip - Quinta El Carmen, Ataco (7:30am to 4.00pm) 
Saturday 29th November: Habitat for Humanity (Grade 12)

Friday 7 November 2014

12: Friday 7th November 2014

From the Director

Next week we start British Fortnight which culminates in two weeks time with our annual Guy Fawkes celebration. We hope to see many of you at this event when we will also have our Christmas fayre, entertainment from a variety of ABC Community musicians and food to share. The evening will end with a firework display and it should be fun for all ages! Please note this will be an alcohol free event as our children will be present.

We are working hard to promote healthy eating and drinking in school and as part of this campaign we are reconsidering the drinks and food we sell. We plan to do this in stages but one of our goals is to remove sugary drinks and help our children develop healthier tastes. In our first stage we are removing certain sugar based canned and boxed drinks and juices as well as the sugary ice drinks and replacing them with lower sugar alternatives. It is also our intention to encourage more students to take advantage of the healthier option foods we sell at school rather than rely on fast foods or unhealthy snacks. Our Cafe Con Gusto Menu can be seen through the link on the Parents Page of our website and it is offering some special British foods next week! As you will see there are some great meals available at a reasonable cost. It is not our intention to campaign against sugary and fast foods but we are concerned that parents should be making decisions about their children eating and drinking these products and you can make those choices at weekends or evenings, knowing that your children have not already consumed them at school. We see this as part of our ABC mission to promote a healthy lifestyle.

We will be fumigating school again this weekend as we continue to try to ensure our campus is not a place where mosquitoes breed and spread dengue or Chikungunya. We would like to pass on the request from MINED to all schools to ask parents to keep at home any children who have cold or flu like symptoms in case they have either of these diseases as we do not want to put other children at risk. It is important we do all we can to stem their spread. Thankfully in school we have had very few cases but we are still being very careful.

I would like to add my thanks to all who participated in making the recent IB trip to Berlin and Krakow so successful and thank you to the parents for supporting it. We were very proud of the way our students behaved and the image they gave of our school and our country!

On a final note you may have noted that we are starting to restrict access to some of our blogs to ensure they remain viewable only within our community. We have taken this decision reluctantly but we think this is important in terms of allowing us to celebrate our activities more openly while maintaining the safety of our students on line.

Primary News

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome back. I hope you had a good week with your children. We are about to start British Fortnight (two weeks) which celebrates the heritage of the founders of the school and recognises some British traditions. The fortnight will culminate in a Guy Fawkes evening on the 21st of November starting at 5.30. This should be great fun and enjoyable for everybody so please make sure it is in your diary.

At the moment the value that we are focusing on in Primary is ‘independence’. We know that what you do at home really makes a difference and we think it would be great if you could focus on independence at home as well. Please encourage your children to prepare some food or drink for themselves, wash and dress themselves and of course tidy-up after themselves. We need parents to be great role models too, showing that you can be independent and self-reliant in a whole range of situations and demonstrating that you value this quality. See what you can do to promote independence this week. 

The few occasions that I have been out to the car-park this week I have been pleased to see far fewer children loose in cars. Thank you for your support with this issue.

Please remember that we are trying to be more ecologically friendly by sending emails rather than paper copies of letters and make sure you read the school emails that you receive. Information regarding Upper Primary reports will be e-mailed soon.

Please note the class assemblies listed below and keep an eye out for the publicised events that will take place this term.

Best wishes for a wonderful week.

Sharon Short 

Dates for your diary

Lower Primary 
November:
Friday 7th - 1st Cáceres assembly 7:30am PAC
Friday 14th - LP Spanish assembly 
Monday 17th - LP Extracurricular classes begin
Friday 21st - Prepa Ware assembly
Friday 21st - Guy Fawkes Night
Friday 28th - Prepa Gray assembly
December:
Friday 5th - Prepa Taylor assembly
Friday 12th - LP reports go home
Wednesday 17th - LP Christmas show
Friday 19th - last day of school

Upper Primary
Wednesday 12th November 2nd Elisa Hernández assembly 9.20
Wednesday 12th November 4th Avilés assembly 12.15
Wednesday 19th November: 2nd Lourdes Hernández Assembly 9.20
Wednesday 19th November: 5th Hayward Assembly 12.15
Friday 21st November - Guy Fawkes Night
Thursday 27th and Friday 28th November: 3rd grade camping

Secondary News

Pride Day
Friday 7th of November was ABC Pride Day. The day was designed to give staff and students the opportunity to celebrate being part of the ABC family. Staff and students wore non-uniform and many wore the official ABC Pride Day T-shirts which were designed and produced by the student body. 

The day ended with a staff-student football match.


British Fortnight
Monday 10th of November sees the start of the British Fortnight. Below is a summary of what will be happening:
  • “A taste of Britain” - different British food will be available each day. The menu for the first week is:
    • Monday - Sausage rolls.
    • Tuesday - Fish, chips & mushy peas.
    • Wednesday - Toad in the hole.
    • Thursday - Scotch eggs.
    • Friday - Pork pie.
  • Musical performances with a British theme at various times during the fortnight.
  • On Friday 14th of November there will be a themed dress in a “British way’’ (in red, white and blue; famous Brits; British fashion) non-uniform day (and hopefully a fashion parade at lunch). In the evening there is a pub quiz for the ABC staff.
  • Mini-performances of classic British plays.
  • On Friday 21st of November there will be the British music concert at lunchtime, with students and staff performing music of a British origin or theme. In the evening the fortnight culminates with the Guy Fawkes/Christmas Fair.
The fortnight looks set to be lots of fun and thank you in advance to the students and staff that are going to contribute.

I shall give you an update on the British Fortnight in the next ABC Weekly.

Movember
Movember is the month formerly known as November, where men and women across the globe join together to raise awareness and funds for men’s health issues, including prostate cancer research. For 30 days, men grow and women support the Mo (moustache). Staff and Grade 11 & 12 boys at the ABC have been invited to support Movember by growing a moustache and raising money for, and awareness of, this important cause. Please support any person you see sprouting a moustache and help raise funds to save and improve the lives of men affected by prostate cancer and other men’s health issues. 

To date, the global Movember community has raised over $550 million through 4 million registrants in 21 countries. 

For more information, the official Movember website is http://uk.movember.com/

IB History Trip to Berlin and Krakow
During the half term 26 IB History students visited Berlin and Krakow to complement their studies of the Nazi Regime, the Holocaust, the Cold War and the German & Polish experiences during the Second World War.

Many thanks to Mr Rombout, Mr Merry and Mrs Chavez for making this wonderful experience possible. A special thank you also to the tour guide Trevor Booker.

For more information and pictures please visit the ABC trips blog and the following dropboxes:



Stephen Spicer
Head of Secondary

Secondary dates for your diary
Monday 10th November: Start of the British Fortnight 
Friday 14th November: Grade 7 Empowerment Fieldtrip - Quinta El Carmen, Ataco (7:30am to 4.00pm) 
Saturday 15th November: Class 2016 - Prevention Programme (8.00am to 12.00pm in the PAC)
Saturday 15th November: Comité Católico, Grades 6 to 11 (8.30am to 4.30pm)
Friday 21st November: Grade 9 Empowerment Fieldtrip - Quinta El Carmen, Ataco (7:30am to 4.00pm) 
Friday 21st November: Guy Fawkes and Christmas Fair 
Saturday 22nd November: International Award ‘Bronze’ practice expedition - Perquin.