From the Director
I would like to begin this week by congratulating everybody involved in the Sound of Music and encouraging you to see the final show tomorrow if you have the opportunity. As an educator it is brilliant to see children working together on a project with so much engagement and determination to succeed. Thank you to everyone who made it possible.
We have just started our international examinations for the Classes of 2017 and 2019. These exams are important in terms of helping us measure the performance of our children against the highest achieving students around the world. They are also important for our students in terms of university placements and credits.
This week we have been celebrating Earth Week and in school we want to help our students understand the principles behind recycling so they become more responsible in this respect in their future lives. It is an area we need to continue to develop both in school and at home.
We start our pre enrollment processes next week (Tuesday May 2nd) for the coming school year. As part of the enrollment process we will be asking you to confirm your willingness to participate as an active part of our parent community in line with the Parent Charter on our school website. Increasingly we realize that as parents we need to work together to ensure the wellbeing and healthy development of all our young people.
Please take note that although all parents will receive an email being asked to complete the pre enrollment process, only those who are up to date with their fees for the 16-17 school year and who have turned in their Identification Form will be able to go through with the process.
If you have any questions regarding your tuition payments and/or the Identification Form, you can call our Accounting department at 2201-6226.
I hope you have a great weekend which includes a national holiday on Monday. Please note that some Class 2017 IB exams will still take place on Monday. Students in the Class of 2017 have been advised if they are affected.
Primary News
Dear Parents and Carers,
It was great to have all the student’s back in school this week. It seems to have been very productive. I have seen students busily engaged in all sorts of active learning activities from Pre-K to Grade 5.
This week Grade 5 finished off their ‘Full Power’ IPC unit and we would like to thank all those parents who participated enthusiastically and gave the students chance to share and show off the things that they had learned.
I have been to see some of the Prepa classes swimming lessons this week. Every year I am amazed at the prowess of these very young children. They can do crawl and backstroke and are very confident in the water, a credit to their teachers indeed. Next week I hope to see a few more of the Lower Primary swimming lessons. Please check the schedule below and make sure you get there too.
Last night I saw the first performance of the Sound of Music. I thoroughly enjoyed the students performances and was impressed by the set and costumes. If you haven’t got your tickets yet please rush and buy them. It is well worth the effort to see this production of a classic show.
Monday, the school is closed for a national holiday, but Tuesday we are back to normal. Wednesday the 10th May the school is also closed for Mother’s day, but the rest of the week school is as normal.
Enjoy your weekend.
Kind regards,
Sharon Short
Head of Primary and Primary Safeguarding Officer
Lower Primary
May
Monday 1st: May Day Holiday
Wednesday 3rd: Kinder Rampone Swimming lesson Group 1 - LP pool - 9:45 - 10:30 am
Thursday 4th: Kinder Quintanilla Swimming lesson Group 1 - LP pool - 9:45 - 10:30 am
Thursday 4th: Pre-Kinder González Swimming lesson Group 2 - LP pool - 11:15 - 12:00 pm
Thursday 4th: Pre-Kinder González Swimming lesson Group 2 - LP pool - 11:15 - 12:00 pm
Friday 5th: Kinder Suárez Swimming lesson Group 1 - LP pool - 10:30 - 11:15 am
Friday 5th: Kinder Quintanilla Swimming lesson Group 2 - LP pool - 9:00 - 9:45 am
Friday 5th: Kinder Quintanilla Swimming lesson Group 2 - LP pool - 9:00 - 9:45 am
Upper Primary
April
Thursday 27th, Friday 28th and Saturday 29th - School musical production ‘The Sound of Music’ (7:00 pm on the 27th and the 29th, 2 shows on the 28th: 4:00 pm and 7:00 pm)
May
Monday 1st: National Holiday - School closed
Thursday 4th: 2nd Grade educational trip to Jardín Botánico
Friday 5th: End of 4th Extracurricular Term - PRIMARY
Monday 8th: Start of last Extracurricular Term
Monday 29th: Parent Partnership Evening Grade 5 Transition
June
Friday 9th: End of Extracurricular Term
Thursday 15th: Primary reports go home
Wednesday 21st: 5th Grade Moving on Assembly PAC
Wednesday 21st: 5th Grade Class Party 6:00 -7:00 pm PAC
Secondary News
Dear parents and carers,
This week has been filled with a mixture of different emotions. Excitement of the new term ahead, anxiety for the IB and IGCSE exam sessions start, nostalgic even as our Grade 12s had their final full day of lessons at the ABC, as well as pride to see all the various student led activities taking place, from Student Elections, to Musical productions, sports competitions and awareness campaigns!
I am happy to start this message by announcing the results of the Student Council Presidential elections which took place this week. Thank you to all the students who took part in this election and especially to the Student Council President and Vice President José Eduardo Monterrosa and Daniela Villalobos for their fantastic work this year. It was a close race and I am pleased to announce this year's results and congratulate on behalf of the school body:
Andrés Figueroa for being elected President
Diego Behrens for being elected Vice President
Diego Arévalo for being elected as part of the Student Council Executive team
I look forward to working closely with you to make the school an even better place for all the students.
Following on from my message last week regarding the TV series which has all our students and parents talking about issues to do with pressures teenagers face today, the LSU and pastoral team have got together to offer a Parent Partnership evening for KS3 (G6,7 & 8) and one for KS4 and above (G9, 10, 11 & 12) around the subject. Our intention is to take advantage of the fact that our teens are discussing topics which are of a sensitive nature and therefore at times difficult for us as parents to know how best to approach them. Mr Keslake makes reference to parents working together in his message and this is exactly what we are after. The sessions will inform parent of the topics dealt with in the series but more importantly it will be a session designed to offer parents skills and strategies on how to deal with these conversations at home. These evenings will only run if we have a sign up of at least 50 students represented per session so it is imperative that you sign up by contacting Marielos Soto (marielossoto@abc-net.edu.sv or on 22016273) to confirm your attendance.
6th, 7th and 8th Grade Parent Partnership: Thursday 11th of May, at 6.00 p.m. in the PAC
9th, 10th, 11th and 12th Grade Parent Partnership: Thursday 4th of May, at 6.00 p.m. in the PAC
We also have a session for Grade 11 parents as part of the University Guidance process. We will be holding a two part information session entitled "University Search and Application Process". Parents and students are strongly encouraged to attend as we are certain it will provide information that will prove helpful throughout the year. Monday 8th of May at 6.00 p.m. in the PAC. This session will provide important information for students and parents about the application process. It will cover from how to search for universities, to the requirements and deadlines for different countries.
In this past week we have also been faced with the latest “challenge” for teens and it is important that as parents we are aware of them so we can also talk to our children about this at home.
As we have mentioned before, there is a trend amongst teenagers regarding various “challenges”. It is through the Internet and the social media that teens from all over the world learn about them, and are exposed to carry them out, endangering their lives and wellbeing.
1 Blue Whale Challenge. This challenge asks the kids to do negative things against others and against themselves. The actions escalate to the point where they reach the last challenge which is to take their own lives. You will find more information in the next link: Article
2. The Fainting challenge. In this challenge another person must faint through varous methods. Applying pressure to the neck or chest. You can see a video here video
It is important that you talk to your children because through the social media and Internet, our children are exposed to this type of negative challenges all the time. Talking about these issues openly with them, and listening about their doubts, questions, and concerns, y helping them understand the decisions they make are important, will be of great help to them. It is important that they are aware of how they can face up to saying no to something like this.
If any student carries out any action linked to these challenges, it will be considered a violent action and will be sanctioned. Please do not hesitate to contact your Head of Year or our LSU team should you have any concerns or questions.
I would like to end my message on a very positive note by saying a huge “Congratulations” to all the cast and crew of our school production of “The Sound of Music.” It is inspiring to see so much talent and creativity and effort on display and I hope to see many of you there in the next shows. Truly a phenomenal production! Also a big thank you to Mr Arévalo and the IGCA team who have run activities this week, including an assembly, to mark Earth week and remind all of us of the importance of looking after our environment.
Have a wonderful weekend and see you all back on Tuesday the 2nd of May.
Kind regards,
Natalia Cáceres Escalón
Secondary dates for your diary
April
Thursday 27th, Friday 28th and Saturday 29th - School musical production ‘The Sound of Music’ (7:00 pm on the 27th and the 29th, 2 shows on the 28th: 4:00 pm and 7:00 pm)
Friday 28th - First IB exam and last day of lessons for G10
May
Monday 1st - National Holiday for Labour Day - school closed (except for scheduled IB/ IGCSE exams)
Thursday 4th- Parent Partnership KS4 and KS5- 6.00pm PAC
Monday 8th - G11 Parent Partnership - University Application Process - 6pm PAC
Wednesday 10th - National Holiday for Mother's' Day - school closed
Thursday 11th- Parent Partnership KS3- 6.00pm PAC
