From the Director
I would like to begin this week by thanking everybody involved in making the Upper Primary Sports Day such a fun event last weekend. Thank you to everyone who made it possible and I know the children had a great time. I was also reminded this week of the tireless work done by the Madres Enlace who do so much work to help ensure we work together as a community. I think we have a great school with a great community spirit but I do think there are times when we can work even more closely together. There are times when we need to communicate better with each other and make sure we all work together to achieve the best results and safest environments for our children. I think all of us need to reflect on how we can achieve this especially when our children are attending events organised by other ABC parents. The school is more than willing to be involved helping with suggestions and ideas to ensure these events are safe. We do have some advice on the Parent page of our website. We are also open to ideas and suggestions if you would like us to provide a forum for other information you would like to help make our community even stronger. Please share ideas with your Madres Enlace.
We are celebrating the Bicultural Arts Festival this week with seven other schools in the city. We hope you will be able to attend the performances at the Teatro Presidente on Thursday 16th and Friday 17th at 6 pm even if your children are not participating. Thursday is Drama and Dance which is always excellent and Friday is Music and Choir which is always amazing. You can also view the Art Exhibition in the entrance area of the Teatro Presidente before or after each performance.
We had some excellent news regarding an Exabrit Ariela Suster who recently was awarded the Economic Empowerment Award as part of the Global Leadership awards from Vital Voices Global Partnership in the United States . We are delighted to hear of her success.
On Monday 20th March we have our Annual Parent Meeting to discuss various issues relating to next year. You have all been invited and I hope many of you will be able to come.
Primary News
Dear Parents and Carers,
Well it was a short week last week but my diary was very full trying to fit five days work into three! This week we have been back into the normal swing of things, most of the time.
The Upper Primary sports and family morning was a great event where many of our students had a chance to shine at something non-academic, and shine they did. We had some great competitions between the tribes, but every students did their best and had healthy fun too. You can see some of the photos on the Sports blog. http://pe-sw-abc.blogspot.com/
There were a couple of small issues when team members who had been present for the practice did not turn up on the day and left it to their tribal compatriots to carry the flag on their own. If your child was one of those who let their team down, please make every effort for them to attend next year. It is mandatory and expected.
Thank you to the parents who took part in the parent events with the students and turned up on the day. Your participation is greatly appreciated by the school team and your children. They love it even when it goes horribly wrong! Thank you once again to all our school staff who give up their personal time to supervise these events and especially to the PE team and their assistants the team Sports coaches for organising and managing the event, as well as our Madres Enlace who work to organise the extras for the morning.
Today has been STEAM Fest in school, and as I am sure you are aware, STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Maths. The idea is that all of our students become inventors, scientists, engineers, artists and mathematicians in a very creative and cohesive way. Possibly leading to entrepreneurship! Here are some videos that tell you more about STEAM. The first one made me smile. Make sure you watch it all the way through. The second is more factual information and the third shows some projects in real life that relate to STEAM.
Today we saw the result of the whole school making, creating and inventing, brought together on one day. In Primary the students have been working all week to bring their ideas to fruition. They have all been very excited and engaged in school. We are very proud of the students spirit, perseverance and creativity. It has been a hectic and exciting day. Please see the ABC news blog for more information.
I do a car park duty every Monday and Thursday morning, behind the PAC near the white benches. Sometimes people say to me why is there such a queue and then when we get here there are no cars. There are a few reasons but one of them is that people are so busy looking at their phones they do not notice when the queue ahead has gone. The use of phones in cars is an issue all over the world. It is illegal here in El Salvador. It is important to be reflective regarding the possible consequences of talking or looking at your phone whilst driving, as these consequences can be devastating. We hope that you never use your phone while driving, especially when your children are in the car with you. Have a look at this video and please rethink. It could be your family!
It has been Music Week all week as well and we have had a variety of performances in the primary area as well as a Music Wall made by Grade 2 students on the central pagoda. There are a range of homemade musical instruments dangling from the ceiling and attached to the walls. I can hear them using it vigorously and with great enjoyment now.
The music wall was part of their STEAMfest project.
We are looking forward to the Primary Spring Fair on Saturday 18th March which we hope you have made a note of on your calendars.
Best wishes,
Sharon Short
Head of Primary and Primary Safeguarding Officer
Dates for your diary
Lower Primary
March
Wednesday 15th: Kinder Rampone trip to La Granjita - 8:00 am
Thursday 16th: Bicultural Arts Festival Final Presentation (Drama, Dance, Art and Photography)
Friday 17th: Bicultural Arts Festival Final Presentation (Band, Choirs, Orchestra, Photography, Arts)
Friday 17th: Pre-Kinder Carbajal assembly - 7:45 am - PAC
Saturday 18th: Primary Spring Fair - 8.30 am
Friday 24th: Pre-Kinder González assembly - 7:45 am - PAC
Friday 31st: Pre-Kinder Siri assembly - 7:45 am - PAC
Upper Primary
March
Monday 20th - Friday 31st: UP Parent Conferences
Saturday 18th: Primary Fair
Wednesday 22nd: 3rd Sullivan Assembly 9:20 - 10:05 PAC and 12:15 - 1:15 PAC
Wednesday 29th: 2nd Spanish Assembly 9:20 - 10:05 PAC and 12:15 - 1:15 PAC
April
Tuesday 4th:2nd Swimming Gala
Wednesday 5th:3rd Swimming Gala
Thursday 6th:4th Swimming Gala
Friday 7th: 5th Swimming Gala
Secondary News
Dear parents and carers,
This week has certainly been filled with an incredible display of our students’ talents! A huge thank you to the PAD department, in particular Ms Dee Leong, for organising the wonderful concerts and musical performances to mark the celebration of Music Week this week. Please go on to our Performing Arts Department Facebook page to see the variety of concerts, from our Director dancing to La Macarena, to Mr Van Die on his bagpipe to the solos and ensemble pieces performed by our wonderfully talented students. Congratulations to all!
We would also like to remind you that we have been working on streamlining our communication system regarding absences in the Secondary school. If your child is going to be absent one day, please can we ask that you contact us through one of these emails before 7.00 am to report it. It is important we know where your son or daughter is if they are not at school to help ensure their safety and wellbeing. We have made these email addresses shorter and you can use either the Spanish or English version as both go to the same account. Can we also ask that you do all you can to ensure your son or daughter does not miss school unnecessarily with good punctuality.
Due to the General Convocatoria on the 20th, we have changed the date of our KS3 Internet Safety Parent Partnership evening to Tuesday 28th of March at 6.00 pm in the PAC. Please make a note in your calendar and do not miss this important session.
From Mr Godiah
The Bicultural Arts Festival Drama workshops started on Saturday 4th March at Escuela Americana with about 22 students presents from six bilingual schools namely; Academia Britanica, Escuela Americana, Mayan School, International School and French School. This year, students will be creating an original play based off the theme Believing.
The workshops involve activities to build confidence, ensemble group skills as well as polishing their communication skills. Other workshops will take place on the 11th March, 13th to 16th March at the same venue.
In the end, what we hope to create, will celebrate most of the languages spoken by the participating schools, and will engage the audience through movement, spoken word, music and visualization of ideas that asks us to believe in ourselves and others.
The final play will be staged at Teatro Presidente on the 16th March at 6pm. The entrance will be free.
Hacia Democracy
From James Merry
Students from Grades 9-12 are taking part in the annual Hacia Democracy in Panama City this weekend. They will be taking part in mock committees of the Organization of American States (OAS). Competing against students from Latin America in a conference run by Harvard University undergraduates. It is an amazing experience for students where they will be challenged but also make new friends.
Here is the blog and instagram account that will show our adventures at Hacia if you would like to follow us.
- Instagram Account - abchacia
University Guidance- Grade 11 parents
En el departamento de Consejería Universitaria nos esforzamos para ofrecer atención personalizada y es por esto que ya estamos haciendo las citas con los padres de familia de 11o grado para sostener una plática inicial acerca de los planes universitarios de sus hijos. Para facilitar el proceso, les pedimos que por favor contacten a Lissett Castro al 2201-6236 para hacer la cita. Los esperamos!
A huge thank you to Ms García, Ms Serrano and Mr Alfaro for all their work putting together today’s STEAM FEST. You will be able to see a full report about it in next week’s weekly.
Finally, I would like to announce that next week the Student Council has organised the ABC’s first ever SPIRIT WEEK! During next week, our students and staff will be celebrating their school pride by participating in activities and competing in special spirit week contests such as a Scavenger hunt and costume competitions. We kick off on Monday by marking the start of our Book Fortnight and students will be dressing up as a character from a book, then Wednesday we will host a Twin day and we will culminate on Friday with PRIDE DAY celebration! Students and staff will also participate in friendly matches at the end of the day. We look forward to a very festive week ahead!
Have a wonderful and restful weekend,
Natalia Cáceres Escalón
Secondary dates for your diary
March
Saturday 11th - SAT test, 8 am
Monday 13th to Friday 17th - Bicultural Arts Festival Week
Tuesday 14th - Grade 12 IB Art inauguration day
Tuesday 28th - KS3 Parent Partnership Meeting on Internet Safety
Wednesday 22nd - Grade 9 and 11 exams start
Friday 24th - 1er festival Gastronomique-culturel Francophone
Friday 31st - Grade 8 Art Trip to Bicentenario (San Salvador) and end of Grade 9 and 11 exams
April
Saturday 1st to Saturday 18th April - Business Department Trip to UK and France
Sunday 2nd - Bicultural Music Festival
Friday 7th - Last day of Term two
Monday 10th to Friday 21st - Easter holidays, school closed
Monday 24th - Back to school to first day to Term three
Wednesday 26th - Last day for Grade 12 students in classes (proper working day)
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