From the Director
Thank you to so many of you who joined the Latin Music night last night in the PAC. It was lovely to see so many parents and children supporting the event.
As many of you will know we are currently raising awareness of our concerns about internet addiction and the effects it can have on families and especially tweens (10-12 year olds) and teens. In response to requests from parents we are arranging a Community Protection meeting on Tuesday 7th June at 6.30 pm where we will explain how the school protects students from inappropriate internet content and how you can also do so in your own homes. You will be able to bring your laptops or phones to school that evening and get practical advice on how to install internet protection and some of the options open to you. We will be providing more details of the event next week but please make a note of the date in your diaries, if you are interested.
We start our graduation celebrations officially next week with the Accion de Gracias on Tuesday evening and then the Headmaster’s reception next Friday. All Exabrits are invited to the Headmaster’s Reception but we are making a special invitation to all Exabrits from the classes of 2011, 2006 and so on for every five years. Please do try and join us if you are from these graduating classes. The purpose of the reception is to meet up with old friends but also to welcome the new graduates into the Exabrit community.
In our final week of term we are celebrating the achievements of our students with our annual lap of honour and then the Board of Governors Logros event for students or teams with significant national or regional championship success . We do want to make sure we do not miss anyone so if you do know of a student or group of students who has achieved something outside school please do make sure you let us know! I would expect us to already know but I would not want us to miss someone!
Next Tuesday is World No Tobacco Day, Please support this event by not smoking for the day and giving all young people the simple message that they are better off never smoking. In our experience almost everyone who ends up smoking, wishes they had never started so please help our children avoid making this mistake. On the other hand you could also use Tuesday as a day to start giving up smoking. Go for it!
I hope you all have an enjoyable weekend with your children and look forward to seeing you back next Monday.
Primary News
Dear Parents and Carers,
The end of year activities are beginning to come thick and fast and you can see all of them on the school calendar.
Yesterday we had our Latin Music Night. Thank you to everyone who attended and to the students who performed, especially our Batucada group who are a talented new development in school. We would also like to mention Mr Diaz and his team who put in the hard work organising such an exciting event. I was delighted with the energy of the evening and of course I always enjoy the opportunity to have a little dance. I am sure you all enjoyed it too.
The recording of ‘Voices around the World’ has now been completed and our offering will soon be on its way to join with thousands of other voices internationally. It will be interesting to see if our videos are used in the final product for the Olympics.
Talent show auditions are scheduled for next week and we have sent out the information to the relevant sections over the last few days. Please note the students do not have to wear costumes for the auditions but of course they can if they want to.
Tonight our 4th Grade camp begins and all of the 4th Grade students will be very excited at the opportunity to sleep under canvas with their friends. Please make sure your children have their waterproofs as we have no guarantees for the weather.
Today was also another T-shirt day for Somos Fernando. I saw many of our 4th and 5th Grade students wearing the shirt and supporting this very worthwhile cause.
Next week a published author from England, Tadgh Bentley is coming to visit our school to share and talk about his books and to give our students tips on characterisation and other aspects of story writing and illustrating. We are looking forward to welcoming him and are sure our students will learn a lot and enjoy the experience of meeting him.
Next week we will also have our moving up days when our students get the chance to visit their new classrooms and meet or find out about their teachers. The Grade 5s will visit the secondary school for two days on the 2nd and 3rd of June. The rest of the classes will be visiting for an hour and a half first thing Friday morning. Please make sure students are in on time so that they can move with the rest of their class.
On the 2nd June there is also a meeting for parents regarding 5th Grade transition to secondary. This will be a follow up to the last one and will let you know how the students got on for their first day and help you to know what to expect.
As mentioned last week we will be having ‘Effort Leads to Success’ end of year assemblies and all parents are invited. Please be aware that there are only two family spaces per student and we will be issuing tickets that will need to be presented on entry.
At the end of the year we will also be having our Lap of Honour when students who have contributed to team success and participated in sporting events are recognised by the whole school. If your child is a competitor in international events please make sure their teachers know about it too.
There are a variety of trips out and about, please see the dates below.
Best wishes for a great weekend.
Sharon Short
Head of Primary
Dates for your diary
Lower Primary
June
Thursday 2nd: First grade trip to Polideportivo 8:00 am - 12:15 pm
Friday 3rd: Moving up day
Friday 10th: Lower Primary reports go home
Thursday 16th: First grade trip to Maya Club 9:30 am - 1:00 pm
Upper Primary
June
Thursday 2nd,3rd: 5th Grade to 6th Grade Induction Days
Thursday 2nd: Grade 5 Parent Partnership Meeting: Secondary Induction
Wednesday 8th: Whole Primary School Exit Point The Olympics
Thursday 9th: 4th Grade Trip to Atlantis
Friday 10th: Primary extra-curricular classes - End of 5th session
Friday 10: Upper Primary reports go home
Monday 13th: 2nd Grade Effort Leads to Success Assembly 7:30 a. m. thru 9:30 a. m.
Tuesday 13th: 3rd Grade Effort Leads to Success Assembly 10:30 a. m. thru 12:00 a. m.
Tuesday 14th:4th Grade Effort Leads to Success Assembly 7:30 a. m. thru 9:00 a. m.
Tuesday 14th: 5th Grade Field Trip to Atlantis 8:00 a. m. thru 2:30 p. m.
Wednesday 15th: 5th Grade Moving on Assembly 7:30 a. m thru 9:00 a. M.
Wednesday 15th: 3rd Grade Trip to Atlantis
Thursday 16th: Last day of School - School closes at normal times.
Secondary News
Dear Parents / Guardians,
Today was our second t-shirt day for Somos Fernando. Thank you to everyone that has been supportive.
Librarian of the Year
The LRC received wonderful news this week. Our librarian of seven years, Hilda Gomez was recognised as Salvadoran Librarian of the Year, by ABES, the Salvadoran Library Association. Hilda was chosen for this award by a panel of her peers, for her outstanding contributions to the communities she works with, within the ABC, around the country and abroad.
Congratulations to Hilda for this well deserved award.
Student Council (StuCo) President and Vice President Elections - Tuesday 31st of May
At lunchtime on Tuesday 31st of May ABC Secondary School students will be voting for the next StuCo President and Vice President. These two roles are important at the ABC as they will provide leadership to the other Student Council Representatives.
Good luck to the candidates - Daniela Villalobos, José Eduardo Monterrosa and Alfredo Medina.
At this point it is also important to thank Andrea Atanacio (outgoing Vice President) and Andres Butter (outgoing President) for their efforts.
Grade 9 Business Studies Trip - Thursday 2nd June
As the students develop their knowledge on the Operations Management unit in the classroom, we have a wonderful opportunity to leave our desks and chairs behind and see the theory in action. The Grade 9 Business Studies students will be hopping on a bus, fastening their seatbelts and heading off to the Coca Cola plant, operated by Industrias La Constancia, in Apopa. There we will be greeted by a company expert who will see us through a guided tour of the plant. We will be looking out for signs of stock control, automation, quality control, capital investment and any strategies, big or small, that we see that are setup to improve efficiency. If we are lucky we might even get a chance to play the role of quality inspector ourselves as we sample their product in the staff cafeteria after the tour.
Andrew Murgatroyd
Head of Business Studies & Economics
5th Grade to 6th Grade Induction Days - Thursday 2nd of June and Friday 3rd of June
Next week the Grade 5 students will be visiting the Secondary School for two days. The objective is to give them a brief exposure to the Secondary School and to hopefully quash any anxiety that there might be about the upcoming move to Grade 6, and Secondary School, in August.
As well as special assemblies and activities, the students will for most of the two days have taster lessons with teachers from across the Secondary School.
Grade 9 MUN Day - Friday 3rd of June
On Friday the 3rd of June the whole of Grade 9 will be participating in the annual Model United Nations Day. This is an event, planned and run by the students of the school’s MUN Debate Team, that will give the students of Grade 9 a chance to participate in several debates and problem solving situations based in the hypothetical setting of the United Nations. All will be in formal attire and the day will start with an opening ceremony, before moving on to debates where each student will have a nominated country and agenda. Areas that will be discussed are: The North Korea Nuclear Crisis, The Spread and Dangers of the Zika Virus, Alternative Sources of Energy Production, Middle Eastern Conflicts and The Phenomenon of Political Polarisation. At the end of the day there will be an awards ceremony to recognise those who have represented their countries to the best of their ability or stood out in some way.
James Merry, Head of History,
International Award Coordinator and MUN Coordinator
Class of 2017 (students and parents of students) - University Workshops
On Monday June 6th at 6:00 p.m. we will be holding Part 1 of the information session entitled "University Search and Application Process". Parents and students of Class of 2017 are strongly encouraged to attend both of these sessions as we are certain it will provide information that will prove helpful throughout the year. Part 2 of the session will be held on Tuesday June 14th at 6:00 p.m. where we will take a closer look at the process of application. You (Class of 2017 - students and parents of students) should have received this an invitation via email, and as always, feel free to contact me with any questions.
María Eugenia Díaz-Nuila de Vides
University Guidance Counsellor
Awards Assemblies (& Grade 6 and Grade 7 Family Day Picnics)
The end of term is rapidly approaching and I want to make sure that parents record the awards assemblies (in the final week of term) in their diaries (see details below).
We invite parents of all students in a grade to attend these events as we at the ABC feel that it is important to collectively celebrate the achievements of students. We will, however, be notifying parents in advance if their child is going to be the recipient of an award(s).
Monday 13th June:
11.25am to 12.20pm - Grade 6 Awards Assembly (followed by, 12.30pm to 1.30pm, Grade 6 Family Day Picnic).
12.55pm to 1.50pm - Grade 7 Awards Assembly (followed by, 2.00pm to 3.00pm, Grade 7 Family Day Picnic).
Wednesday 15th June:
11.25am to 12.20pm - Grade 9 Awards Assembly.
1.05pm to 2.00pm - Grade 8 Awards Assembly.
Thursday 16th June:
8.15am to 9.10am - Grade 10 Awards Assembly.
9.10am to 10.00am - Grade 11 Awards Assembly.
I look forward to seeing you at these celebrations.
Kind regards,
Stephen Spicer
Head of Secondary
Secondary dates for your diary
Friday 27th May: Somos Fernando T Shirt day
Monday 30th 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
Tuesday 7th June: University Search and Applications Grade 11 (Invitation open to parents and students in Grade 11), 6.00pm to 7.30pm
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
Tuesday 14th June: University Search and Application Practicum (Invitation open to parents and students in Grade 11), 6.00pm to 7.30pm
Wednesday 15th June: Grade 8 and Grade 9 Award Assembly
Thursday 16th June: Grade 10 and Grade 11 Award Assembly and CAL Reports issued for Grades 6-10 and 11
Thursday 16th June: Last day of School Year
No comments:
Post a Comment