From the Director
In the recent survey sent to all parents there was a very pleasing response which showed that we see our ABC Community as strong and effective. I believe our community is a fine example of how people can work together with a common goal and I have always felt very positive about this community. There are of course moments of disagreement between individuals but ultimately we all work together with a shared determination to provide a community for young people to grow up safely into responsible outstanding citizens. In this spirit I am asking for your help as a community to something which we see as a real threat to our community - the open access to the internet as children are growing up and the way it can disturb them. We have talked about this previously at various parent partnership meetings but following recent news from other parts of the world and from advice received from professionals here we feel we need a huge community response to protect our children. By a community response I mean the whole community and that includes ALL parents. We recently had a Class 2022 parent partnership meeting and less than thirty parents were present. I am using this as an example and I do understand that people have busy lives but if we are going to act as a community to protect our children we need to have 100% attendance. The idea is to meet in double year groups from Grade 2 to Grade 9 in the schedule outlined below to (i) understand the issue (ii) discuss your concerns and (iii) work out an action plan for protection and further meetings. These sessions will need your input as well as your attendance and on behalf of the whole community we are asking ALL parents to make themselves available for these sessions which will last only one hour. We plan to start with children as young as we think necessary to help prevent problems emerging as these children grow older. We feel that beyond Grade 10 we can work with the children through school and our regular meetings but we would be happy to arrange sessions for these year groups as well if parents would like that support. The sessions we currently have planned are:
Class 2025 and 2026 (2nd / 3rd grades) - Wednesday 11 May at 6.30 pm
Class 2023 and 2024 (4th / 5th grades) - Thursday 12 May at 6.30 pm
Class 2021 and 2022 (6th / 7th grades) - Tuesday 24 May at 6.30 pm
Class 2019 and 2020 (8th / 9th grades) - Thursday 26 May at 6.30 pm
On Saturday 23rd April we have a young authors book launch in school in the PAC. It follows the Lower Primary sports event and we hope many of you will come along. There will be dancing and entertainment as well as an opportunity to find out more about the book.
As I recently mentioned we are supporting a campaign to raise awareness about organ donation and helping a member of our community, Fernando Mejia raise funds for a kidney transplant. The main focus of our campaign is to encourage people to donate blood or organs as well as to encourage children to look after their kidneys. We will be having a Somos Fernando T shirt day on Friday 6 May to help raise awareness and funds. It is an important issue for us to raise awareness about.
Can I please take this opportunity to remind you that you can see our car park screens at your leisure via the school website and there are items of interest from last week on the newsblog including our celebration of World Art Day today.
We have been informed this week that it is very likely there will be a national holiday on Tuesday 10 May to celebrate Mother's Day and therefore school will be closed.
Primary News
Dear Parents and Carers,
I have enjoyed the chance to see the Prepa students swimming this week. It is amazing that they can all swim so well at such a young age. Normally half classes attend the lessons but for demonstration purposes the whole classes have been together and we can easily see they are ready for the big pool both in their skill level and the space required to fit them all in! The FS swimming lessons are coming up very soon and I look forward to seeing how the younger children are getting on.
Today we celebrated World Art Day in school with many special activities. Ms Roxana Flores our art teacher also arranged a special set of activities for classes to be involved in throughout the day. Art is very important. It enriches our lives, allows us to express ourselves in a positive manner, is therapeutic and creates a very special ambience in any room. Today was a great opportunity to celebrate its value.
IPC entry points and activities. Please ask your children if they did anything special this week? We have had ice sculptures, fractions with pizzas, popcorn making and many other activities throughout the school, not to mention some wonderful assemblies!
The Upper Primary Sports Morning and Family Day will take place on the 16th April (tomorrow). All Upper primary students are expected to attend and of course we hope you will come along and support them. There will be food vendors and other activities for the students to take part in, either before or after the sporting events. Thank you to the Sports team for organising the PE aspect and the Madres Enlace for organising the food and other activities. We hope you will all have a special time together. Lower Primary it will be your turn next week!
On Thursday 21st April next week we have an early closing day for Upper Primary school staff to work together across grades and ensure progression and development in our planning and expectations. There were some issues with the traffic when secondary students left school first so this time the Upper Primary students will be leaving at 11.10 am before the secondary students. If there are younger siblings in Lower Primary they can be taken at the same time but Lower Primary are not part of the early closure on this occasion.
The school production of Aladdin will start at the end of the month and at the Thursday 28th April afternoon performance (3.00pm) Primary students will have priority. Generally for the other performances, tickets bought in advance will be $8 per person and tickets bought at the door will be $10. There is a special group deal, 4 tickets bought in advance for $25, but on this particular Thursday primary students can see the 3.00pm performance for $5. Students must be supervised by an adult and some class teachers are making arrangements with their class to be that supervising adult. Please check with your child about their class arrangements.
On Tuesday 26th April and Wednesday 27th April before the productions, there will be an exciting Agrabah Marketplace set up. There will be items on sale from 50cents to $2. Face and hand painting for $1 and a special menu that can be preordered. Please keep an eye open for more information coming out together with the order forms.
Please make sure your children are wearing the correct shoes (not trainers)for school. All shoes both girls and boys should have a fastening; buckle, velcro or laces - if they can tie them themselves. Slip-on shoes are dangerous, allowing the foot to slide forward and cramp the toes or slopping on and off as the children walk causing tripping accidents. Our students are very active in school and slip-on shoes are not suitable for running and playing. Please make sure they are the correct colour too!
Have a great weekend
Sharon Short
Head of Primary
Dates for your diary
Lower Primary
April
Monday 18th: Kinder Suárez Swimming lessons - LP pool - 9:15-10:00 am
Tuesday 19th: Kinder González Swimming lessons - LP pool - 9:45-10:30 am
Wednesday 20th: Kinder Carbajal Swimming lessons - LP pool - 9:45-10:30 am
Friday 22nd: Pre-Kinder Francés assembly
Saturday 23rd: PK & Kinder Sports morning and Family Day 08:00 - 09:30 am
Saturday 23rd: Prepa & 1st Sports morning and Family Day 10:00 - 11:30 am
Monday 25th: Pre-Kinder Siri Swimming lessons - LP pool - 11:15am-12:00pm
Tuesday 26th: Pre-Kinder Rampone - LP pool - 11:15am-12:00 pm
Tuesday 26th: Pre-Kinder Siri and Pre-Cáceres trip to Pizza Hut Las Cascadas
Wednesday 27th: Pre-Kinder Cáceres Swimming lessons - LP pool - 10:30-11:15am
Thursday 28th: Pre-Kinder Francés Swimming lessons - LP pool - 10:30-11:15am
Friday 29th: Extra-curricular activities - 4th session finish
May
Wednesday 4th: Pre-Kinder Rampone and Pre-Kinder Francés trip to Pizza Hut Las Cascadas
Upper Primary
April
Saturday 16th: UP Sports Morning & Family Day
2nd Grade and 3rd Grade from 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.
4th Grade and 5th Grade from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Monday 18th: 3rd Quijano Assembly from 9:20 to 10:05 a.m. and from 12:15 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Tuesday 19th: Sign up for extracurricular term 5
Tuesday 26th: Last day for sign up extracurricular term 5
Wednesday 20th: 2nd Elisa Hernández Assembly from 9:20 to 10:05 a.m. and from 12:15 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Friday 29th: Primary extra-curricular classes - 4th session finish
Secondary News
Dear Parents / Guardians,
‘Keeping our Children Safe’ Grade 6 Parent Partnership - Tuesday 12th of April
On Tuesday we had the ‘Keeping our Children Safe’ Grade 6 Parent Partnership. Disappointingly the event was poorly attended, but those that did attend were very positive about the information shared.
Whilst transforming the way we interact, and providing access to in-depth knowledge and enabling us to express our creativity, the internet and mobile communication technology also poses new risks. Misuse of the internet and mobile communication technology are challenges facing all schools and society in general. Rather than alarming parents, we sought to point out the possible dangers and to give parents the tools to work with us to help our youngsters avoid putting themselves at risk to start with.
We encourage all parents: to be aware of how their children are interacting through, and using generally, the internet and mobile communication technology; to have very open conversations at home regarding the use of the internet and mobile communication technology (along with establishing their usage and behaviour expectations); and, to encourage their children to let them know, and if necessary inform the school as well, if they have concerns.
Sending your children to the ABC should mean that you trust us to deal with issues. Any concerns / issues relating to internet and mobile communication technology misuse, or otherwise, need to communicated to us in a timely manner. Tell us your concerns immediately and encourage your child to speak to us straight away if there are issues. We also need parents to have confidence that we do take action.
Finally on this topic, I would like to share with you one slide from Ms Chavez’s section of the presentation on age restrictions for social media platforms:
These age restrictions are given for good reason - to protect our youngsters until they have the maturity to consistently make appropriate use of such mediums.
World Art Day - 15th of April
As part of the celebration of International Art Day, we invited a special guest, artist Rafael Flores, who will offer a live demonstration of painting with aerosols for our students.
Rafael Flores is a Salvadoran artist renowned internationally for his multiple art exhibitions in different countries around the world. Considered as the first Salvadoran artist to create works of art using aerography based on cosmic and magical realism.
Important Fact: The celebration of World Art Day on April 15th commemorates the birth of Leonardo da Vinci, painter, anatomist, architect, paleontologist, artist, botanist, scientific, writer, sculptor, philosopher, engineer, inventor, musician, poet, and town planner.
Mrs Gonzalez
Head of Art
Early Closure and Grade 7 Empowerment Afternoon - Thursday 21st of April
Please be reminded that on Thursday 21st of April the school is closing early for staff to plan the curriculum. At 11.30am Grade 6 and Grades 8 to 12 will depart and the Grade 7s will remain in school, along with the Grade 11 students that have kindly volunteered to help. The Grade 7 students will have lunch between 11.30am and 12.00pm and then the activities will run from 12.00pm to 5.00pm (with a break towards the end of the afternoon). Thank you in advance to the Madres en Lace for their support.
Grade 7 parents please make the necessary arrangements for your child to be collected at 5.00pm on this day.
As mentioned in previous ABC Weeklies, on the empowerment afternoons students should come to school wearing their PE uniform, with proper sports shoes. They should also bring with them a towel and a change of clothes.
And finally...next week the Grade 11 internal examinations start (from Tuesday 19th of April to Friday 29th of April). Grade 11 students have been sent an examination timetable and have been told that they are not required in school during this examination period unless they have an examination.
Kind regards,
Stephen Spicer
Head of Secondary
Secondary dates for your diary
Friday 15th April: World Art Day
w/c Monday 18th April: Earth Week
Tuesday 19th - Friday 29th April: Grade 11 exams
Thursday 21st April: Secondary School closes at 11:30am - Grade 7 'Assertiveness and independence' empowerment afternoon (11:30am-5.00pm).
Tuesday 26th April: IGCSE exams start for Grade 10 students
Thursday 28th to Saturday 30th - ABC Secondary Musical 'Aladdin'
Thursday 28th April: Last day for Grade 10 (normal classes)
Friday 29th April: Last day for Grade 12 (early finish)
Monday 2nd May: IB exams start for Grade 12 students
Monday 16th May: Cultural Diversity week
Wednesday 18th May: Grade 9 exams start
Thursday 19th May: ABC Digital Video Awards (DVA) event
Friday 20th May: End of IB exams for Grade 12 students
Friday 20th May: Secondary School closes at 11:30am - Grade 8 'Ethical and moral choices' empowerment afternoon (11:30am-5.00pm).
Friday 27th May: End of Grade 9 exams
Monday 30th May: Health Awareness Week
Tuesday 31st May: Thanksgiving ceremony for Class 2016
Thursday 2nd June: Moving up day- 5th Grade to 6th Grade and Parent Partnership meeting “Secondary Induction” 6.00pm PAC
Friday 3rd June: Moving up day - 5th Grade to 6th Grade
Friday 3rd June; Class 2016 Headmaster's Reception
Thursday 9th June: Class 2016 Graduation Day and Graduation Ceremony at 5.00pm Auditorium
Friday 10th June: End of IGCSE exams for Grade 10 students
Monday 13th June: Grade 6 and Grade 7 Award Assembly; Lap of Honour at 7.00am; Logros Event at 6.00pm PAC
Tuesday 14th June: Group 4 Science project
Wednesday 15th June: Grade 8 and Grade 9 Award Assembly
Thursday 16th June: Grade 10 and Grade 11 Award Assembly and CAL Report issued for Grades 6-9 and 11
Friday 17th June: Last day of School Year
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