From Sharon, Stephen and Graeme
All three of us on the school leadership team would like to mark this final newsletter of 2015 with our very best wishes for the last week of term leading into a wonderful family Christmas and a prosperous 2016 for our community and our country. We know how much our community cares - we see it in school on a daily basis. At this time of year we really do want to show that we care for those less fortunate than us. The Student Council recently raised over $800 from their Spooky Hotel event at Guy Fawkes which will be used to help support children at the Hospital Bloom burns unit. We are still collecting funds for the Save the Children project we are supporting to improve the survival rates of newborn babies. These projects have been supported wholeheartedly by so many of our students and families. Thank you! We have one final request for this year which so many of you have already responded to. We are collecting Christmas shoeboxes to make Christmas special for many children in our local area. These boxes will be donated so children have a present to open on Christmas Day. We hope each child will organise a shoe box indicating the age and gender of the recipient with the following items which should be new.
- An item of new clothing to fit the age range you have chosen
- A new pair of socks
- Tooth paste and a tooth brush
- Candles
- Cookies
- A toy
You may also put in any other articles you wish to include such as colouring pencils, stickers, scissors or special things that a child may enjoy at Christmas.
Last night it felt like we really started our Christmas celebrations with a packed Auditorium for the Upper Primary Concert and Food Fair which was a resounding success with our students the stars of the show. We can all learn something from their energy and enthusiasm and it is wonderful to see their joy as they look forward to Christmas with their friends and families. We would like especially to thank our music teacher Mr Diaz, the class teachers for their hard work in preparing the children and of course, the Madres Enlace for organising the food and all the parents who contributed to the international food festival. There were many delicious Christmas tastes to share together but Mr Keslake would especially like to mention the mince pies!
All students should now have receive their Cal 1 reports. Students in Secondary can access their reports through their iSAMS log in. This is a new system for us and we have had some slight problems with rounding errors. These have been resolved by iSAMS in the UK but if there are any apparent issues in the report please contact us on Monday morning. We apologise for any delays.
We would like to send our congratulations to Estela Mena who had a baby daughter last week. We have some staff leaving us at the end of this term. Ms. Silvana Winter has been at the school for sixteen years and we want to thank her for all she has done in the sports department. She is returning to Argentina and we will always remember her contribution to the school and wish her the very best of luck in her future. Due to family circumstances we are also sorry to see the departure of Mr. Ben Brooke and his family who are returning to Spain as well as Mrs Andrea Rivera from 1st Grade who is moving to the US. We are also sorry to see them go but wish them all the best in their new locations.
All students should now have receive their Cal 1 reports. Students in Secondary can access their reports through their iSAMS log in. This is a new system for us and we have had some slight problems with rounding errors. These have been resolved by iSAMS in the UK but if there are any apparent issues in the report please contact us on Monday morning. We apologise for any delays.
We would like to send our congratulations to Estela Mena who had a baby daughter last week. We have some staff leaving us at the end of this term. Ms. Silvana Winter has been at the school for sixteen years and we want to thank her for all she has done in the sports department. She is returning to Argentina and we will always remember her contribution to the school and wish her the very best of luck in her future. Due to family circumstances we are also sorry to see the departure of Mr. Ben Brooke and his family who are returning to Spain as well as Mrs Andrea Rivera from 1st Grade who is moving to the US. We are also sorry to see them go but wish them all the best in their new locations.
Next week we have a number of Christmas events which we hope to see many of you supporting with your sons or daughters:
Monday: Board of Governors Prefect Reception which all Prefects from the Class of 2016 are invited to.
Tuesday: Grade 11 (IGCSE) Certificate Awards Evening from 6pm to 7.30pm. All Grade 11 students are expected to attend and their parents are also invited. We will be awarding Cambridge iGCSE certificates as well as Roll of Honour awards and Millennium scholarships.
Wednesday: Lower Primary Christmas Shows 3:15 - 6:30 pm in the PAC and Primary School Santa’s Festival. This a lovely time for the students to anticipate Christmas and as usual all money raised will go to the support staff scholarship fund which has been running so successfully for many years. All primary children are welcome to drop by from 3.30pm to support Santa’s Festival and buy food, books and play the games.
Thursday: Christmas Celebration for the ABC Community 6.15pm - 7.30pm. This event will include carols and readings as well as performances by student and staff choirs. There is a $3 charge which covers refreshments and tickets are available in school from the Secondary or Primary Offices
Friday: On the last day of term we have normal classes in Secondary school before the traditional tug of war. There will be a whole school assembly with all ABC students in the Auditorium so they can see what a large, diverse community they are part of. Students will leave at the following times
11:00 am - All Lower Primary with any Upper Primary siblings
No Play Room (Sala Cuna)
11:30 am - All Upper Primary and Secondary students.
Please collect your children on schedule and we aim for the campus to be ready to be shut down by 12:15 pm.
It remains for all of three us on behalf of our Teaching, Support and Administration staff to thank you for your support this term and wish you all a great final week of term leading up to a very Happy Christmas.
Students return to school January 11th 2016