Friday 25 November 2016

12: Friday 25th November 2016

From the Director 


As Christmas comes nearer we are all gearing up for our annual celebrations and festivities. I know that especially for our children Christmas is a wonderful time of year. A time of hope and optimism, when all of us but especially children look forward to family time and to everyone being happy together. I have to admit I am looking forward to seeing my children return to El Salvador for Christmas. As adults I think we sometimes forget how important quality family time is for children. 

I also would like us to use Christmas as an opportunity to help other families create a happy Christmas for their families and to provide for children who do not have their own family. We are hoping all our children will be able to provide a shoebox of gifts for a child like them who otherwise would not be enjoying a Christmas gift. Wethink this helps our children understand how they can share the spirit of Christmas with others who are perhaps less fortunate than them. Class teachers and Heads of Year will be contacting you about details for providing these shoeboxes.

Primary News

Dear Parents and carers,

Guy Fawkes night was another great success. It is probably my favourite event of the year. We asked the UP students who had gone along in assembly on Monday morning and they all put their hands up. We asked who had a great time and they all put their hands up again - so it seems I am not the only one! I was very proud of the choirs who sang, the batucada group and the primary dance squad. We have a lot of talent and enthusiasm here in Primary right now which is great. Thank you to all the teachers who worked with the students to help them reach a good standard. Thank you too to parents who supported as well. We have also asked the students for their ideas about anything they think was missing from the event. We have had a request for milkshakes. If you think that there was a little something that would have made the event even better for you if it had been included please do let me know via email. I also made some lovely purchases at the Fair in the auditorium. You may know someone who would be interested to sell their wares next year. Keep them in mind.

I currently do two early morning car park duties in school each week. Although many of our drivers are really expert at handling the situation, we still have a few drivers who have a complete lack of awareness and block up the drop off points by not pulling all the way forward or taking forever to get the children out of the car. Please have your last minute conversations as you come along the road, gather the bags together as you come through the school gate and hand over any money before you leave the house. Some students take ages sorting out these things.

On Tuesday we had the Prepa Curriculum Night. There were six short presentations about various areas of the curriculum including maths games, writing through play, storytelling using props, Spanish reading, music and games you can play in your car. However, the main focus of the evening was food in lunchboxes which include excessive amounts of sugar. We were astounded by our research findings and the impact such a poor diet has on learning and the ability to focus on learning. So, our request was for parents to look at labels, to think carefully when shopping, and to encourage children to eat healthier food. Remember the guidelines say that 19 grams of sugar per day is the recommended allowance for a 5-6 year old child. Additional to this, your child needs on average, 11 hours of sleep per night. Quality sleep occurs when a child goes to bed in a quiet, dark space. No TVs, no iPads or tablet devices, no phones, no computers. They should not have had access to any form of technology during the hour before they go to sleep. We hope these reminders will have a positive impact on your family and that you will see the benefits in the future. Thank you, as always, for your support!

Have a great weekend.

Sharon Short
Head of Primary

Dates for your diary
Lower Primary
December
Thursday 1st: Pre-Kinder and Kinder Extracurricular activities, sessión 3, sign up
Friday 2nd: Prepa and 1st grade  Extracurricular activities, sessión 3, sign up
Friday 2nd: Prepa Taylor assembly 7:30am PAC
Friday 2nd: End of 2nd Extracurricular session
Friday 9th: Lower Primary reports go home
Wednesday 14th: Christmas Shows 3:30 - 6:30pm PAC
Friday 16th: Last day of term 1 - all LP (with UP siblings) children leave at 11:00am

Upper Primary
November
Friday 25th/Saturday 26th: 2nd Grade Camping
Wednesday 30th: 4th Guzmán Assembly 9:20-10:05 PAC & 12:15-1:15 PAC
December
Friday 2nd: End of 2nd Extracurricular Term - PRIMARY
Wednesday 7th: 5th Truscott Assembly 9:20-10:05 PAC & 12:15-1:15 PAC
Thursday 8th: UP Christmas Concert
Friday 9th: Primary Reports go home
Wednesday 14th: Christmas Fair 3:30pm - 7:00pm
Friday 16th: Last day of term 1 - all LP & UP siblings children leave at 11:00am

Secondary News


Secondary Sports Day
On Thursday afternoon the whole school was outside for the finals of the inter-Tribal Sports Day competitions. It went very well and congratulations to all those who took part, not only in the finals but all the games that took place in the run up to the day. The Tribal Chiefs did a great job in helping to organise the day and in leading their Tribes out to the pitches. Next year we hope to be even more ambitious. The overall placings for the day were:

1st place Pipiles
2nd place Incas
3rd place Aztecs
4th place Mayas

Drama Group Performance of Subtext
This was an excellent production, enjoyed by all who saw it. The quality and maturity of the performances was impressive and did justice to the humour of the script. The comic timing showed by these young actors had the audience laughing throughout the piece. I am now looking forward to another opportunity to see them in action and can heartily recommend them to you in the future.

We hope you will be able to support the campaigns that the Secondary students are running in these final weeks of term, in particular the Recycling Competition and the Christmas Shoe Box Campaign.

Important date for your diary, come and enjoy a mixture of performance and opportunities to join in and singalong to some Christmas favourites such as Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer and Feliz Navidad

ABC Christmas Celebration 2016 - POP CHRISTMAS!

Performing Arts Centre 
Thursday, 15 December 
6:00 - 7:30 pm

For the entire ABC community


Entrance: $1 tickets (for charity)
Refreshments: Refreshments sold before and after the concert

Victor Saade is part of the class of 2003 at the ABC. After his graduation that year, he started studying Business and Management and after that he went to a variety of European countries like Switzerland, Italy, France...and so on to learn about cuisine and flavours. His basic idea was always to set up his own business as either a cafe or a restaurant...so with this idea in mind he started with this "Sucree" place in 2011. After facing and overcoming a variety of obstacles (briefly explained in the talk yesterday) the business improved a lot in such a way that his father increased the support including the acquisition of the facilities where the business is nowadays.

What I particularly enjoyed the most was that he supported my idea of success to be explained to my students...meaning that in the school motto "effort leads to success", the word effort has a very high weighting.....as shown in the attachment.
Carlos Cabeza


Friday 18 November 2016

11: Friday 18th November 2016

From the Director 

As I write this letter we are all looking forward to the traditional Guy Fawkes party tonight. This is a community event in the sense that it is produced by the community for the community. It has been amazing to see all the hard work that has gone into the shows and providing a fun, safe environment for our students to have fun. I hope you enjoy the event and that you go away feeling proud of our community and especially our students who contributed to the whole event.

I am delighted to report that we have just received the PAES results and they were better than last year with 97% of our students achieving the Highest category. We are so proud of the way they juggled their PAES examinations alongside the demands of their IB diploma. Well done Class of 2017.

Next week we are focusing on one of our core values which is ethical. Many of our students have been working producing ways of reminding us how to be ethical. In particular the IGCA team have been looking at REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE as part of our ethical response to the needs of our planet and sustainability. I hope we are all able to listen to this message and that at home you can help our students by reinforcing these important principles.

I hope you all have a pleasant weekend with your children.

Primary News

Dear Parents and Carers,


This week we had a very exciting entry point for our Grade 1 students on Tuesday when they went to the circus. Some of our enthusiastic and talented parents got together and practiced some very entertaining routines for the children to watch. Including sawing a lady in half! The costumes were fabulous, the children were enthralled and really enjoyed the whole experience, from the ticket booth and finding their seat, to the popcorn and being volunteers for the acts. These parents were great role models for the students and great team players. Thank you and congratulations to everyone who participated.

Thank you as well to those parents who came into school for the maths workshops. The students love to show you what they are learning and it helps to keep you up to date with current maths teaching strategies. It is very important that you show your appreciation of your child’s efforts in these events and model being interested and engaged by watching closely and asking questions. Students learn so much from you their parents and being in school is a great opportunity for you to send a positive message about school.

It has been British Week this week and we have all given a thought to the ‘old country’. Some classes have been looking at British food or British songs and of course it was Remembrance Day, last week. It will culminate tonight with the Guy Fawkes night event starting from 5.30. I do hope to see you all there.

International mindedness and our value Global are a vital part of the education process. We need our students to be aware of the world around them and to be able to cope with it. Our charity programmes work well with our motto of ‘think globally act locally.’ Today was our non-uniform day in support of the CAS students project to collect workbooks for students in school. Education resources are a worldwide problem for many, but we can make a difference here in El Salvador. There are several charity donation letters coming out at the moment. The Lower Primary decorated and filled jars for Santa’s Festival on December 14th, the UP Shoebox campaign will be starting soon as well as the LP toy collection, another CAS student non-uniform day to collect reading books with English text and one for the tombola prizes for Santa’s Festival. All money raised goes to a good cause and at this time of year we particularly like to support those around us. Please contribute as much as you can and enjoy the process with your children.

Best wishes for a great week.

Sharon Short
Head of Primary

Dates for your diary

Lower Primary
November
Friday 18th: Guy Fawkes Evening 5:30pm onwards
Friday 18th: Prepa Macdonald assembly 7:30am PAC
Tuesday 22nd: Prepa Curriculum Night 6:00pm PAC
Friday 25th: Prepa Butler assembly 7:30am PAC
December
Friday 2nd: Prepa Taylor assembly 7:30am PAC
Wednesday 14th: Christmas Shows 3:30 - 6:30pm PAC
Friday 16th: Last day of term 1 - all LP & UP siblings children leave at 11:00am

Upper Primary
November
Wednesday 23rd: 4th Spanish Assembly 9:20-10:05 PAC & 12:15-1:15 PAC
Friday 25th/Saturday 26th: 2nd Grade Camping
Wednesday 30th: 4th Guzmán Assembly 9:20-10:05 PAC & 12:15-1:15 PAC
December
Friday 2nd: End of 2nd Extracurricular Term - PRIMARY
Wednesday 7th: 5th Truscott Assembly 9:20-10:05 PAC & 12:15-1:15 PAC
Thursday 8th: UP Christmas Concert
Friday 9th: Primary Reports go home
Wednesday 14th: Christmas Fair 3:30pm - 7:00pm
Friday 16th: Last day of term 1 - all LP & UP siblings children leave at 11:00am

Secondary News


DON’T MISS ALL THE FUN AT THE GUY FAWKES & CHRISTMAS FAIR

Drama Production
On Wednesday the Drama Club will be giving two performances of a play on the very relevant theme of social media. They have been working very hard in rehearsals and are looking forward to the performances. Please come and support our thespians, a good audience is the best reward!


Environment Week
Next week sees the start of a focus on the environment. I am sure we would all like to live in a world without the blot of litter on the landscape as well as the more serious consequences of an accumulation of waste products such as non-biodegradable.
 plastics.

The IGCA team are launching this focus with a Tribal Recycling Competition so please start collecting these items.

Christmas Shoe Box Campaign
Next week we will be joining the Primary Section in launching this year’s annual campaign to provide Christmas presents for children who may not otherwise receive any. We are asking ABC students and their families to fill ordinary shoe boxes again this year.

Please include at least one each of the following: (All items 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
As well as any other article you wish to include such as colouring pencils, stickers, scissors or special things that a child may enjoy at Christmas.

Further information will be included in a letter to all parents.

Guy Fawkes & Christmas Fair
Finally, we are looking forward to seeing you all this evening to enjoy musical performances, Spooky Cellar, Christmas shopping, and of course, the fireworks! There will be three musical shows at 6, 7 & 8 p.m. with two firework displays during the intervals.

Secondary dates for your diary
November
Friday 18th: Guy Fawkes Night & Christmas Fair, 5.30 - 8.30 p.m.
Wednesday 23rd: Drama production, Subtext. Performances at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.
Thursday 24th: Sports Day
Friday 25th: Jeans Day for Grade 7 & 8 only to support Corazones Solidarios

Friday 11 November 2016

10: Friday 11th November 2016

From the Director 


It has been excellent for me to be back in school today as I have been out of the country this week visiting another British international school in Chicago. I was there as part of a Council of International School (CIS) accreditation team. As I hope you are aware the ABC is a member of CIS which means we are recognised as a school which meets their international standards and that we teach our students in a safe supportive environment in preparation for an internationally minded future. The visit helped me realise that we have so much to be proud of in our school but also of the importance of all of us working together to achieve the educational experience we want for our children.

We are hoping to see a huge community turn out for Guy Fawkes night next Friday. Please do come along and support this very British event,have some fun with your children and do some Christmas shopping. Many of our students will be running activities in support of their community projects. We would like to say a big thank you to all the students and families that supported the Colour Run last Friday. We raised over $3,000 for various Save the Children projects which will improve young people's lives here in our country.

We have been marking Remembrance Day in school this week with poppies which in Britain are a reminder of the end of the First World War which ended exactly 98 years ago today. We have used this celebration to remind us of the joy of peace and to help launch British Week next week. You can see some information on our Remembrance Day assembly on our news blog. Our Guy Fawkes party will mark the end of British Week which must not be missed!

I hope you have a great we
ekend.



Primary News

Dear Parents and carers,

I hope you all had an enjoyable week with your children and that everyone in the family is rested and ready for the run up to Christmas. 

Today is Armistice day in the UK. Armistice Day is commemorated every year on November 11 to mark the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, France, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I, which took effect at eleven o'clock in the morning—the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" of 1918. The date was declared a national holiday in many allied nations, and coincides with Remembrance Day and Veterans Day. We wear poppies to remember those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom in the two great wars.

We have had 3rd grade out on a trip to the Palacio National this week and 4th Grade camped out overnight last night. The students really benefit from these experiences outside of school and we thank you for your support for the things we arrange.

Next week we have the Pre-Kinder curriculum night. A chance for Pre-Kinder parents to learn more about what their children are learning in school and how to support them in their development at home. The recent Grade 1 and Kinder evenings have been a delight and I am very proud of the achievements of our staff and very appreciative of the time and effort they put into these events.

We will be taking school photographs next week of the class and individual ones. Class teachers will let you know when their class is scheduled so you can make sure your child is wearing their best uniform on the day. The same rules as always apply, hair tied back if long, no jewellery and sensible plain dark shoes with a fastener.

On the 18th of November (next Friday) it is the first of a series of non-uniform days for good causes. For this particular one we are asking students to bring in a new school notebook in exchange for wearing their own clothes to school. This event has been organised by a group of our grade 12 CAS students and the notebooks will be donated to a local school. There will be a bake sale on during the day as well and this is all on the same day as the Guy Fawkes night event that Mr Keslake mentions above. It means that there will be no need for the students to get changed when they get home and we hope you will all be coming straight back for an enjoyable and exciting evening.

 

The second non-uniform day has a bit of a twist and we will be calling it ‘Mix and Match day’. We will be asking the students to come in patterned clothes, the more clashes the better. Stripes with floral, dots with checks, whatever combination they can come up with. This is also a CAS day and the students have prepared a letter to explain everything which will be with you shortly. 

Finally Lower Primary students only will be having a non-uniform day in preparation for Santa’s Festival. Once again we will be having a tombola stall and we will be asking students to bring in a clean decorated jar refilled with new items that any other child would be glad to receive such as small toys, lego, goodies to eat, jewellery, colouring or art equipment, hair decorations; just think about what your child would like to find and pop it in there, including Christmassy items. The letter explaining will also be out this coming week. Please keep an eye open for the detailed information. 

We have another busy week ahead. Please check the school calendar and the dates below and have a good weekend.

Sharon Short
Head of Primary

Dates for your diary

Lower Primary
November
Monday 14th - Thursday 17th: School photos
Thursday 17th: Pre-Kinder Curriculum Night 6:00pm PAC
Friday 18th: Non-uniform day bring in an exercise book.
Friday 18th: Guy Fawkes Evening 5:30pm onwards
Friday 18th: Prepa Macdonald assembly 7:30am PAC
Tuesday 22nd: Prepa Curriculum Night 6:00pm PAC
Friday 25th: Prepa Butler assembly 7:30am PAC
December
Friday 2nd: Prepa Taylor assembly 7:30am PAC
Wednesday 14th: Christmas Shows 3:30 - 6:30pm PAC
Friday 16th: Last day of term 1 - all LP & UP siblings children leave at 11:00am

Upper Primary
November
Monday 14th - Thursday 17th: School photos
Wednesday 16th: 2nd Avilés Assembly 9:20-10:05 PAC & 12:15-1:15 PAC
Friday 18th: Non uniform day - bring in an exercise book.
Friday 18th: Guy Fawkes Evening 5:30pm onwards
Friday 18th: 3rd Grade British Bake Sale
Wednesday 23rd: 4th Spanish Assembly 9:20-10:05 PAC & 12:15-1:15 PAC
Friday 25th/Saturday 26th: 2nd Grade Camping
Wednesday 30th: 4th Guzmán Assembly 9:20-10:05 PAC & 12:15-1:15 PAC
December
Friday 2nd: End of 2nd Extracurricular Term - PRIMARY
Wednesday 7th: 5th Truscott Assembly 9:20-10:05 PAC & 12:15-1:15 PAC
Thursday 8th: UP Christmas Concert
Friday 9th: Primary Reports go home
Wednesday 14th: Christmas Fair 3:30pm - 7:00pm
Friday 16th: Last day of term 1 - all LP & UP siblings children leave at 11:00am

Secondary News

Colour Run fundraising
Well done to the Prefect Team who did a fantastic job organising the Colour Run on the last day of term. They all worked hard to prepare for the day and special thanks to the Head Girl and Boy, María Fernanda Arteaga and Eduardo Portillo, and also Mr Merry and Ms Cáceres, for their tireless efforts to make the day such a success. Students from Primary and Secondary sections had great fun running the gauntlet of coloured flour and water as they struggled to complete the challenge. Altogether the impressive sum of $3.045.68 was raised for this very good cause. To finish off the event all those who completed the most laps were entered into a raffle for the prizes. The lucky winners were:

1st Place - Kiefer Coolidge Johnson G10
2nd Place- Kyle Farrel Depooter G9
3rd Place- Emilio Moreno G12

United Nations Week
The run was preceded by a special assembly to celebrate United Nations week which included an interesting reading of Little Red Riding Hood by students and teachers from Primary and Secondary in 21 languages. We also welcomed Mr Franklin Perdomo, Programme Development Manager for Save the Children in El Salvador, to the assembly to give a presentation on the work of Save the Children in El Salvador.

British Week
This week Mr Hall has been delivering assemblies on the significance of today, Remembrance Day. Poppies have been available in school for students and teachers to wear in remembrance of the casualties of the Great War and subsequent conflicts.

On a lighter note the cafeteria is also serving its special British Week menu offering dishes such as Shepherd’s Pie and Chicken Tikka Masala. We look forward to celebrating the end of next week with you all at the combined Guy Fawkes and Christmas Fair on Friday. 

Once again the Student Council will be offering a ‘Spooky Cellar’ to provide scary fun for all.

Thank You to Exabrits
This week we were grateful to Paola Amaya and Gabriela Rivera who came into school to help with an EC Business Marketing Project and an in-class Business Marketing Project, both being run by the Business Department. We are lucky to have such a talented pool of ex ABC students who are willing to contribute to the education of their successors. If any other Exabrits would be interested in sharing their expertise in any way we would be happy to hear from you.

Maths Relay
On Wednesday Grade 6 students took part in a competitive Maths Relay as a revision exercise and to prove that Maths Is Fun! The students competed over a course of different Maths skills in the Tribal Teams.

Congratulations to Pipils who were overall winners.




Sport
We would like to thank you all for all the support provided for students taking part in the Juegos Estudiantiles. Academia Britanica Cuscatleca was awarded by INDES, Instituto Nacional de Los Deportes 1st place ​for most participation in the 55 Juegos Estudiantles por el Departamento de La Libertad. Well done to all the students involved and thank you to the coaches for all their hard work and support.

Arts at the ABC
Music
During Thursday morning’s assembly on Remembrance, students and teachers were treated to a performance of Dido’s Lament from Purcell’s opera, Dido and Aenaeus. This was sung by Ms Dee Leong, Head of Music and Performing Arts accompanied by a string quartet. Thank you to the performers in the string quartet, Sofia Castro on Violin 1, Gabriela Quiusky on Violin 2, Savannah Leavitt on Viola and Mr Jorge Medina on Cello who provided an inspiring start to our day.

Drama
Please make time to support drama students who will be offering two performances of the play Subtext on Wednesday 23rd November in the PAC.

In Tyler Dwiggins’ play Subtext, we ‘roll the dice’ through social media: Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp etc using mediums like mobile phones, tablets and laptops to unravel the stories of teenagers and how perhaps, being hooked to this trendy culture might have dire consequences. In the end, the questions our audiences must ask themselves are, what would the world be like without social media? Is posting a perfect selfie or making a relationship ‘Facebook official’ a chance worth taking?

The cast and crew are eager to thrill you on the 23rd November at the PAC with two shows. One at 3:00pm and the other at 6:00pm. 

Students, parents, teachers, friends and the El Salvador community are all welcome. The shows will be free, however, there will be a charity box to donate an amount towards one of the school’s charities. 

Art
Ms Lucila González, Head of Art and Muralist, has been invited to take part in a national event celebrating art in Central America. She has been working on her piece during the half-term break and is working during the evenings of this week to complete the work. The finished work will be launched on the 15th November at the Exposicion y del II Encuentro de Muralismo y Arte Publico Latinamericano. El Ministerio de Educacion y La Universidad de El Salvador UES.


School Photos
School photos will be taken throughout next week. The schedule for the week has been shared with students who should ensure they are prepared for the time slot allocated to their form.

Secondary dates for your diary
November
Saturday 12th: Geography IB Fieldwork Trip
Monday 14th: School photos will be taken during this week
Tuesday 15th: Grade 10 & 12 Parent/Teacher Meeting, 4.30-7 p.m.
Friday 18th: Guy Fawkes Night & Christmas Fair
Wednesday 23rd: Drama production, Subtext. Performances at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.
Thursday 24th: Sports Day
Friday 25th: Jeans Day for Grade 7 & 8 only to support Corazones Solidarios