From the Director
I would like to start by saying how much I enjoyed the Upper Primary Christmas celebration last night. It was such an optimistic event. Our children are looking forward to Christmas with their families and it is wonderful to provide an opportunity to show that we as families together are also looking forward to it. I do think we underestimate the importance of family time for our children and they need to see us sharing their hopes and joys. It certainly happened last night. We still have six days of school until the end of term and I want to remind everyone that these days are important and we expect full attendance at school through to the end of term. Please take careful note of the pick up arrangements for each part of the school for next Friday.
At this holiday time I do not want to dampen the spirits but I have a responsibility to remind us of past holiday seasons which have not been so joyful. We must make sure we learn from the past. On a number of occasions we as a community have had to deal with accidents caused by people drinking and driving after holiday celebrations or parties. This might be adults, parents driving alone or with their families or even older students. Please can we all give the same message. It is never safe to drink alcohol and drive a car and we as adults must set that example for young people to follow. If your son or daughter goes to a party at this time of year please do not allow them to drive home but take time to go and collect them. We are clear to our students that they should not be drinking alcohol at their age but we are aware that outside school and at parties it may occasionally occur. Please be a vigilant parent who knows what your son or daughter is doing and take time to ensure their wellbeing so that if they make a mistake it does not have terrible consequences. We as a community must work together to ensure their safety as well as educating them. I am writing this message to all parents because even if your child is young you are still part of our community and are responsible for helping and protecting all members of our community.
Finally, please take a look at our news blog and our Facebook page, where we will be posting the story of Katherine Valladares, the daughter of one of our IT technicians. Katherine was the recipient of one of the many scholarships we award, using the funds collected during the Christmas and Spring Fairs. This past weekend, she graduated from Secondary school and we are extremely proud of the way our community comes together to help those who need it. We truly hope stories like Katherine’s encourage you to attend events that benefit our scholarship fund, as they are a great way to show our children there are many ways we can help others year round, and not just during the holiday season.
I am looking forward to seeing many of you at the events coming up next week. In the meantime I hope you have a great weekend.
Primary News
Dear Parents and Carers,
Thank you to all the students and their families who came to the Upper Primary Christmas Concert last night. It is an event that has a tremendous atmosphere with the students giving their all and singing their hearts out for our enjoyment. They had been working for weeks in their music lessons, the grade singing lessons and more recently in the classrooms to learn the words and perfect the melodies and parts. It demonstrates their and your commitment to the school when we all dedicate our time to attend. The songs were in English and Spanish so it was also a bilingual evening. Of course none of it would happen without the hard work of our school staff. Mr Christopher Hall having an overview and keeping us all on schedule and in order, Mr Luis Diaz with his musical expertise bringing the best out of the students, Mr Paul Valladares working on the technical support with the microphones, backing music and all the sound and lights in general, Ms Vilma Rodriguez was videoing, Ms Roxana Flores and Ms Sandra Rivera from the Primary art department supervising the decoration of the stage, not to mention the work of the classroom teachers and assistants that you know so well. This year we added in a teacher’s song which was well received and we rounded off the evening with, what is now becoming traditional at this event, ‘We Wish you a Merry Christmas’ and ‘Feliz Navidad’ which was sung by everyone with great gusto. The evening was also enhanced by the Food Fair that was provided by the Upper Primary Madres Enlace. A big thank you to them all for the wonderful selection of delicious foods for everyone to taste and enjoy. I heard many compliments about what was available and one or two positive comments about the orderly queue as parents waited their turn. Well done parents, that was good modelling for the students to follow. We all feel that it was a great way to ‘kick off’ the Christmas seasonal events.
Talking of which, we have Santa’s Festival and the Lower Primary shows next Wednesday the 14th of December. We have been delighted with the jars that have been brought in, with their beautiful decorations and enticing contents. The tombola will be very popular as usual I am sure. All proceeds go to the school support staff scholarship fund. I have overheard some of the classes rehearsing for the shows and I can see that everyone is putting in a lot of effort again to create an enjoyable event for students and parents alike. The stalls at the fair will generally be run by school staff and there will be plenty of food vendors to keep everyone topped up for the evening.
The Whole school musical evening on Thursday will be the final event open to parents and it combines our Lower Primary Choir, the Upper Primary choir, the Secondary choir, the teachers and all the musicians in what will this year be a very contemporary Christmas event. It is called POP Christmas and should hit many of our favourites.
On Wednesday 5th Truscott performed a very mature look at the book ‘The War Horse’ by Michael Morpurgo for their assembly. They considered the impact of World War 1, how it started, the conditions and looked at the statistics regarding the tragedies that occurred. They produced their own video clips to include and all spoke very clearly. Well Done 5th Truscott.
This week I have received all of the students posters for the Learning Definition poster competition. I will be judging them over the weekend and announcing the winners in the UP assembly on Monday and to the LP classes individually. The school council has also arranged a vote for our symbols for Knowledge, Skills and Understanding.
This is the last week for the charity collections. Thank you all for your contributions. The Upper Primary shoe boxes should be in by Tuesday and the Lower Primary Toy collection also finishes soon so that there is time to wrap the toys as presents. Our staff personally deliver them so we know they get to those in need. Any child who attends this school is so much better off than many of those in our local community. I feel very proud of the generosity of spirit that pervades the school at this time of year.
Please make sure you look at the whole school calendar on the website in order to be aware of upcoming events. The dates are provisionally set at the beginning of the year so you can look ahead to get an overview of what is coming up.
The leaving times for next Friday have been well publicised and we have asked Madres Enlace to let you know as well. There will be no excuses for children left in school. Please make sure you have arrangements in place now for your children.
Wishing you a busy but enjoyable week ahead.
Sharon Short
Head of Primary
Dates for your diary
Lower Primary
December
Friday 9th: Lower Primary reports go home
Wednesday 14th: Christmas Shows 3:10 - 6:50 pm PAC
Wednesday 14th: Early departure PK 11:00 Kinder 11:30 Prepa 12:30 1st 1:00
Thursday 15th: Last day of Team Sports - continue in January 9th, 2017
Friday 16th: Last day of term 1 - all LP (with UP siblings) children leave at 11:00 am
Upper Primary
December
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
The rest of UP at 11.30am
Secondary News
Dear Parents and Carers,
I would like to thank the ABC community for the warm welcome it has shown me during my first term as Head of Secondary. It has been an intense time for me as I have had much to learn but the support I have received has made that a very enjoyable experience as well. I am especially grateful to all the Secondary students who make coming to school every day a real pleasure. We have the occasional difficulty to sort out but it has always been with a genuine desire to improve and reflect ABC values.
I am looking forward to seeing many parents next week at the Family Christmas lunches and I hope you will also be able to join us for the Christmas Concert on Thursday which should be a very enjoyable event with lots of opportunity to join in the singing.
Please note that the Secondary students must be collected at 12.pm on Friday when school closes.
So thank you all and I hope you enjoy your Christmas and New Year celebrations and have a good holiday.
Virginia Catlin
Head of Secondary
ROC Merits
Congratulations to all the students who enjoyed a cupcake today to recognise their award of a ROC Merit. They looked delicious!
GEOGRAPHY
Parents are invited to attend the Sustainable Business Fair (formerly known as the "Coffee Fair") outside the LRC during lunchtime (12.20-12.40) on Tuesday. Please all do come along and see the businesses the students have put together and taste some samples of the food and drink products. You and the whole school will have the opportunity to vote for the best product/business of the day. We will also be taking donations for the Grade 8 charity and your help and support would be much appreciated
And the winners of the Dragon’s Den competition were:
SPANISH
Our Spanish department has welcomed Laura Patricia Quinteros who is undertaking a Masters in teaching Spanish Language B. For her final project she needs to observe master classes in Language B and therefore requested our collaboration. The Spanish Department is honoured by this recognition of the level of our Language B programme.
SPORT
Congratulations to Ivana Salome representing El Salvador at the Central American Athletics meet where she was placed second as a member of the 4 x 100 relay team. Well done.
CAS PROJECTS
A team of grade 11 students are promoting this movie premiere and selling tickets to our community to collect funds for HOPAC (Cerebral Palsy Home). They will be grateful for your support.
Secondary dates for your diary
Monday 12th December12.30pm - Grade 6 Family Christmas
Tuesday 13th December 12.30pm - Grade 8 Business Fair followed by Family Christmas Wednesday 14th December - Grade 10 IGCSE Geography fieldtrip to Santa Ana volcano
Thursday 15th December - 12.30pm - Grade 7 Family Christmas & ABC Pop Christmas Concert - 6pm PAC - $1 for charity
Friday 16th December - Last day of term, Christmas holidays
Monday 9th January - First day back to school
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