13: Friday 24th November 2017

From the Director

I hope everybody who celebrates Thanksgiving Day had a good celebration yesterday. Thanksgiving Day is increasingly celebrated in many parts of the world. In an increasingly commercial world it remains a celebration based on family, sharing and gratitude. It is something all of us in our families should be thankful for and we as a school community grateful for all we have.

As many of you know I am interested in sports and have really enjoyed the sporting events this week. The Secondary sports day was an amazing event and from my perspective enjoyed by everyone. We saw some very talented athletes in action. I also want to congratulate the boys U18 football team for an excellent result against Lamatepec this week.

Over the last few weeks we have been trialling a uniform option for girls. It was originally suggested by the older girls that girls should have the option of wearing a skirt OR trousers. In response this half term some girls have been wearing trousers. You can see them in the picture below. We are deciding whether or not to include trousers as an option for girls and we would welcome your opinion. If you have time please respond through this questionnaire. We are also surveying students and teachers for their views. Please note we are not suggesting girls uniform will change, we will still have a skirt for girls but we are considering whether girls should be allowed trousers as an option, especially on cold days or if they are concerned about being bitten by mosquitoes where trousers provide more protection. The older girls also feel trousers allow them greater freedom of movement and that business attire for women nowadays is trousers. We realise that change is sometimes difficult to cope with and we do not want to lose our ABC traditions but we also want to ensure our uniform is modern and up to date.

Our traditional Christmas Fair is coming up on December 13th and like the International Friendship Fair, all proceeds go towards our Fairs to Educate project. Fairs to Educate aims to raise funds to provide scholarships for the children of our maintenance and security staff.

This is Daniela, the a daughter of one of our maintenance team. She has just finished Grade 2 at the top of her year, earning a 1st place medal. It is thanks to your participation in our events that we can sponsor children like Daniela and pay for their tuition fees until they graduate.

We want to thank you for your support throughout the year and encourage you to come along to our Christmas Fair so we can keep helping children like Daniela.

Primary News

Dear Parents and Carers,

I hope you all enjoyed the celebrations on Friday. The entertainment from the students gets better each year, the food was delicious and the fireworks were spectacular. The spooky cellar was as popular as ever I understand although I didn’t queue to go in it myself! The students really enjoyed the chance to hold the sparklers and create patterns in the air. 

I would like to say thank you to everyone who took part in organizing the event.

This week the students have started their rehearsals for the Christmas Shows and concerts. Many of them will have lines and actions to learn. Please take an interest and help them to talk very slowly so we can all hear each and every word.

There are a variety of collections going on, as is usual at this time of year, and we thank you to everyone who has already sent in their jars, toys and shoe boxes. Please continue to bring in your contributions as soon as possible. The Lower Primary students who bring in a filled jar will have a non-uniform day on Tuesday 12th December.

Our 11th Graders are running a campaign to support the provision of shelter for the poorer people of El Salvador it is called TECHO. We have been invited to come dressed as a superhero on the 1st December in exchange for a dollar. We do hope to see lots of batmen, spidermen, wonder women etc on the day.

Pre-Kinder students went to visit Tin Marin Children’s Museum on Thursday. It was an unforgettable experience for our students who had the opportunity to extend their learning outside of school, as always in a dynamic and fun way. We are very proud to see their independence and security exploring another environment.

4th Rumsey presented their Spanish speaking assembly on ‘The Romans’ this week. Miss Bessy was the teacher in charge with Ms Bea assisting and it was a very informative and well performed assembly, with gods, speeches, soldiers and a lovely dance. The cast looked stunning in their costumes. Here are some photos to share with you.

Have a great week ahead.

Sharon Short

Head of Primary

Safeguarding Officer

Dates for your diary

Lower Primary

November

Monday 27th - LP extracurricular sign up - 3rd session - 9am

December

Friday 1st - Prepa Kennedy assembly - 7:30am - PAC

Friday 1st - Superhero Day bring a dollar and dress up like a superhero

Friday 1st - Extra-curricular activities finish - 2nd session

Thursday 7th - 1st Pineda trip to Pizza Hut Las Cascadas - 8:30am

Friday 8th - 1st Padilla trip to Pizza Hut Las Cascadas - 8:30am

Friday 8th - LP reports go home

Monday 11th - 1st Bonet trip to Pizza Hut Las Cascadas - 8:30am

Tuesday 12th - 1st Henríquez trip to Pizza Hut Las Cascadas - 8:30am

Tuesday 12th - Non-uniform day for children who brought in a filled jar.

Wednesday 13th - LP Christmas Show & Christmas Fair - 3:30pm - PAC

Friday 15h - Last day of school

Upper Primary

November

Friday 24th- Camping day#1 Starts at 4:00pm (2nd Grade)

Saturday 25th - Camping day #2 Ends at 11:00am (2nd Grade)

Wednesday 29th - 4th Molina Assembly - 9:20 am & 12:15pm - PAC

Wednesday 29th - Pastorela Comité Católico (2:00pm - 5:00pm) - PAC

Thursday 30th - Last Golf class from Term 2.

Thursday 30th - 4th Grade Camping at Club Salvadoreño Corinto

December

Friday 1st - Superhero Day bring a dollar and dress up like a superhero

Friday 1st - Extra- curricular activities Session 2 finish.

Thursday 7th - Upper Primary Christmas Concert (6:00pm - 7:30pm)

Thursday 14th - Team Sports activities finish.

Friday 15th - Last Day of School (Christmas Holiday)

Please note Ana Gloria Mena and Edda Padilla are Primary Safeguarding Officers

Secondary News

Dear parents and carers,

This week has been a fantastic one at the ABC and one which leaves us with many things to be grateful for, which is befitting to the week of Thanksgiving which more and more is celebrated around the world! We had our first Whole Secondary school Sports Day at the Stadium, a visiting Mexican Muralist who came to work with our Art students and leave a beautiful mural for our school and finally we had the G10 Learning Review Day which gave us an opportunity to reflect upon the first Cal period of the year. 

A new mural at the ABC!

From Ms Lucila Gonzalez- Head of Art Department

On Wednesday and Thursday we had the opportunity of having the Mexican muralist Gerardo Rivera, internationally known as Fósil, visiting the school to work with a group of Secondary students painting a mural with the theme: “ABC Identity”. We are very proud of all the work made by the muralist and the students who made their best to produce an excellent artistic piece of work. Before painting the mural, the students and art teachers attended a workshop about spray painting technique and a talk about graffiti as an artistic expression. Congratulations to our 8°, 9°, and 11° grade participating students: Héctor Himede, Ana Lucía Díaz, Gabriel Saenz, Kiefer Johnson, Alissa Velásquez, Sofía Jah Eun Liu, Andrea María Garay, Guillermo García.

Finally we had our long awaited Sports Day! I must say a special thank you to Ms Cecy Hernandez and Oscar Lima, Heads of the PE department and Mr Adrian Hall for being the motor behind all of this incredible event! The team of Madres Enlace for organising sponsorship and ensuring we were all well looked after and hydrated! The Maths department for running the scores, the incredible LRC team for all their support and cover of the whole event, the PE and Team sports team for the running of the event, our wonderful office support staff for ensuring the logistics were effective and of course our Maintenance and security staff who are absolutely tireless when it comes to serving our community! And last but not least, our incredible students who took advantage and made the most of this phenomenal event! Their enthusiasm was contagious and it was definitely a day which will go down in ABC history!

SPORTS DAY 2017!

From Mr Adrian Hall

On Tuesday, the entire Secondary school came together to celebrate Sports Day at the Estadio Jorge "Mágico" González. The day took nearly a year to plan and organise, and would not have happened without the vision and determination of our Head of PE Cecy Hernandez and her team, who wanted to give our students a chance to demonstrate their athletic abilities to their friends, parents and teachers, and to celebrate ABC sport together with the whole school community.

Over the day, there were more than fifty races involving nearly three hundred students, as well as field events involving a further three hundred. The competitors enjoyed loud and enthusiastic support from their friends watching, as well as the teachers and parents in the stands. After so much work by so many people, it was wonderful to see our students really enjoying themselves and showing great pride and spirit, both for their tribes and for the school. 

There were also some spectacular performances and achievements to enjoy. At the time of writing, we are still awaiting the confirmed results and details from the stadium, however, many of our students will have set school records which will last for many years, and will give a benchmark for students to challenge in future years.

Unfortunately, due to unexpected delays we were not able to complete the final three races of the day. Obviously we were very disappointed about this, but had to take the safety of our students into account as it was getting dark as we left the stadium. For this reason, we do not, at present, have a winner of the 2017 ABC Sports Day! We have decided to run those final races, as well as those pitching the teachers against student, on the last day of term in addition to our traditional tug-of-war competitions. At the completion of those races, we will be able to announce the winning tribe for each grade as well as the overall winner, and award the trophies and medals..

All of our community put in a huge amount of work to make this day a success, but I would like to mention two groups in particular. Firstly, our students were tremendous ambassadors for the ABC from start to finish, and there were many examples of students demonstrating our ABC values of Respect, Resilience and Enthusiasm, as well as, of course, being excellent leaders and team players. I also have to make mention of the Madres Enlace who worked tirelessly in the weeks leading up to the day to ensure our students had a fantastic time and had plenty of food and drink to sustain them in the over the course of the day. Thank you for your sponsorship and support! Their work on the day was also nothing short of heroic, and we are extremely lucky to have such a supportive team of parents who do so much for the school.

As our first event of this type in many years, there are many things to reflect on, and we would welcome feedback from students and parents on ways we might improve going forward. It is clear from the positive feedback so far that the sports day will need to become an annual event, and we hope the 2018 Sports Day will be even better!

Link to more photographs here

I feel very grateful to work at such an amazing learning community filled with opportunities for growth and teamwork! 

Have a wonderful weekend,

Kind regards,

Natalia Cáceres Escalón 

Dates for your diary

November

Tuesday 21st to 11th December - Shoe Box campaign for whole school

Friday 24th - Grade 10 Learning Review Day (all day and by appointment)

Tuesday 27th - Grade 6, 7, 8, 9 and 11 Cal 1 reports published on iSAMS parent portal

December

Thursday 14th- ABC Christmas concert 6.00pm PAC

Friday 15th - End of Term 1. Last day of school

Secondary school students leave at 12.00 pm

Team Sports

​The activity started on Friday and continued on Saturday with track and field events during the International Athletic Tournament.

Session one of the First International Athletic Tournament 2017 which is taking place at the American School, San Salvador. Our Bulldogs are participating in the competitions.

Some individual results:

Nancy Massillon 1st place 100 mts.

Airi Shibata 2nd place 1,500 mts.

International Athletic Tournament 2017

During the second and last session, the Bulldogs made

their best effort and managed to achieve good results for the ABC.

Some individual results:

Nancy Sophia Massillon 1st place 200 mts.

Sofia Huezo Bandek 2nd place in cross-country and 3rd place in

long jump.

Training- Youth Football

Methods for youth football taught by Carlos Sotelo (FIFA instructor from Costa Rica).

TSP wants to congratulate Juan Fernando López Schaeuffler for having won the National LII Amateur Golf Championship 2017 in the Boys category.

Congratulations!!

Basketball Bilingual League- Cadets (m)

Lamatepec School and the ABC played a very exciting game played this afternoon. Both teams made their best effort in order to achieve 3 points. At the end, the ABC won thanks to a very effective defence.

Lamatepec 37 – 43 ABC

Bilingual League- Football 18U (m) –

The ABC won the game against Lamatepec School during the match played as visiting team at the LS. It was near the end the end of the game that the ABC Bulldogs won thanks to a free throw.

Lamatepec 1 – 2 ABC

Training session- Football - 8U (m) -

The Bulldogs had their training session at Besport.

12: Friday 17th November 2017

From the Director

I want to start by congratulating the Class of 2018 on their excellent PAES results. 94% of our students achieved the Superior level and our overall average was 7.98. There is an ABC blog entry to celebrate the success. We had some amazing individual results including Daniela Duran with an outstanding full marks in Science and Nicolas tapias a s our overall top student with 9.01. When you consider our students take the PAES with its separate curriculum, while doing a full IB Diploma their results are amazing! Congratulations to all involved.

I hope many of you were able to join us at the Guy Fawkes Party today to mark the end of British week. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the week including the British Ambassador, Mr. Bernhard Garside for his video message which can be seen on our Facebook page. We celebrate British week because of the special relationship the school has had with Britain since its foundation in 1970, this has been developed by the many staff at the school who have come from Britain and of course the hugely respected British educational ideas which underpin the school. The ABC is in many ways a British school with similar programmes to excellent schools in Britain however I often think of the ABC as an institution which wears many different cloaks and that has been apparent this week with the visit of the IPC team this week. The IPC has its origins, like the ABC in British educational values but has grown into an international, values - based organisation promoting high quality learning and reflection with a truly international perspective. In this sense the IPC is promoting internationalism, as do CIS and the IB, the other main external influences on our school and its curriculum. These influences, together with our own rich cultural background make the ABC an international school. So the ABC is a British school in many ways but it is also equally a very international school.

This brings me to my third cloak because in my view the ABC is essentially a community school in all senses of the word. It is a community of people working together to achieve an amazing start to life for our 1,450 students. It is a community that believes in certain values and has high expectations of our young people and each other. It is a community which cares. It is the community around our children which essentially defines our school. It is also a community that has to mutually support each other in the best interests of our children in every sense of the word. I expect my staff to support your children, I expect you as parents to support our community and I expect all of us to nurture and protect our children. The ABC is not a British or international island, like some international or foreign based schools might be. We are a community that defines itself in these terms choosing their values to support our children and sustain a community to make the world a better place. As Sharon describes in her piece we had an IPC visit this week and we await their formal feedback to see if we will become an IPC accredited school. However at the end of the week we did get some comments from the visitors. They told us it had been a privilege to be part of our community this week and that our children were committed to our values and happy in school. Sharon, Tom, Marianne, Ana and I were delighted to hear these words. We all believe that children need to be happy, enthusiastic and interested if they are going to be effective learners but also to grow up into caring young people who will understand and influence their world for good.

So as a British, international community school that develops happy, confident learners I want to urge all of us to continue working together, talking to each other and sharing ideas for moving our community forward. I was disappointed this week to hear that some secondary parent partnership events were cancelled because of lack of participation. In turn some parents felt the school had not fully communicated the events. We all lead busy lives. Our children need their share of our lives and we need to set aside time to discuss their needs as a community as well as within our families. The school communicates through its calendar, available on the website and through this weekly as well as via email reminders. All of these were used to promote these events and I know the topics were important. We will be talking to parents and community members to see how we can make these events even more relevant but I suspect the issue is time and I do urge that we all find time to support each other and our children at parent partnership events in future.

As many of you are aware we have been trialing the option of girls having the choice to wear trousers as part of the ABC uniform. We see this as a possible option and not as a replacement for the traditional ABC skirt. I know some parents are concerned that the skirt may be replaced by trousers but I can reassure you that this is not our intention. We are simply considering an option for trousers in an adult world where most women do not routinely wear skirts and are certainly not required to wear skirts in the workplace. School is simply looking at the possibility of reflecting this. We will be surveying the community later this month for your views on this issue. On the uniform issue I am pleased to report that long PE uniform pants are now available from the school shop. They are a slightly different design and can be worn with PE uniforms on PE days. 

We are looking at food provision at school at the moment and we are committed to safeguarding our children’s wellbeing through the food we offer. We are not against fun food or treats but we do not want our children to be eating unhealthy foods on a regular basis and certainly not at school when they are out of your restriction. We will be ensuring our on site food is healthier and we are also not allowing students to receive delivery of fast food at school either directly from the restaurant or delivered by parents. Please take note the school will not allow fast food to be delivered or left for children. It will be returned when it arrives at school and you will be informed.

Please note that our Guy Fawkes Party tonight will be streamed live for those who will not be able to attend. You will be able to see the livestream here.

I hope to see many of you this evening and hope you have a great weekend with your children.

Primary News

Dear Parents and Carers,

This week has been an interesting one for our staff as our IPC Accreditation Team visitors have ‘dug deep’ into our school. We wanted to make sure that the visiting team saw everything that will help them when they are writing their report. We will hopefully know their verdict just before Christmas. We would like to thank those parents and Board members who gave up their time to meet with the them in what was a very engaging meeting

Miss Aviles volunteered herself and her class to do the assembly while the visitors were here. They all did a terrific job and ticked all of the IPC boxes as well as entertaining us all splendidly. They had a standing ovation from the family members present. Well done and thank you 2nd Aviles. All of our students have been their usual enthusiastic, curious and delightful selves and the visitors said how much they liked our school and what a happy place it was.

On Wednesday First Grade put ‘being Global’ into practice. They worked as a team to clean an area of San Diego beach. They were all surprised to to find out how much rubbish people leave behind or gets washed up on beaches. This helped them reflect on different things they can do to help keep the environment clean, like putting rubbish in the bin and trying not to use durapax plates. They finished off the day by releasing turtles understanding that doing this will help protect them and save them from extinction. Thank you very much to the parents, mostly Dads, who accompanied this trip.

On Thursday evening the Pre- Kinder parents came into school for their curriculum night. They learned how it my just look like play but every activity has a learning purpose. It was a good turn out and I would like to thank all those parents who came and the Madres for the lovely refreshments. It will be the Kinder curriculum night on Tuesday 21st and we look forward to seeing all our kinder parents there.

We started British Week with an Upper Primary assembly and a game of ‘Call My Bluff’, a very traditional British TV game. The students were given three possible answers and we had to convince them that each answer was correct then they made their choice. The students did very well and knew a lot more about Britain than I thought. They were very pleased to share how much they knew. We are of course ending the week with Guy Fawkes night. It is one of my favourite evenings and I love the sparklers. Please make sure your children are closely supervised by a parent when they use them. We recommend gloves to hold the metal stalks as well. I know the primary children have been practicing hard and that there will be some great entertainment from all sections of the school along with the ‘Spooky Alley’ and the artisan stalls in the auditorium. I do hope to see you all there tonight.

We would like to inform you that Ms Taylor had her baby this week; an 8lb 3oz boy on the 14th November. Mother and baby are doing well. In Ms Taylor’s absence Mrs Ana Cabrera will be Acting Deputy Head Teacher for Lower Primary and she will fulfilling all of Ms Taylor’s duties for this time. Congratulations to Marianne and her family and I know you will all support Mrs Cabrera in her new role.

The letters for the Lower Primary Toy Collection and the Upper Primary Shoebox campaign will be out very shortly. Please keep an eye open for them. This is a very successful charity collection and we thank you in advance for your support and hope you enjoy preparing them. I know I do. The letters for Santa’s Festival are also about. Lower Primary fill the jars for the very popular Tombola for this event. Please remember that not every tombola ticket is a winner. The standard ratio is 1 in 5 tickets but we are usually a more generous than that!

Have a happy weekend everyone.

Kind regards,

Sharon Short

Head of Primary

Safeguarding Officer

Dates for your diary

Lower Primary

November

Friday 17th - Guy Fawkes Celebrations 6:00pm

Monday 20th - Lower Primary Christmas Toy Collection begins

Tuesday 21st - Kinder Curriculum Night 6:00pm - PAC

Tuesday 21st - No PE or Team Sports Extras

Friday 24th - Prepa Pashley Assembly 7:30am - PAC

December

Friday 1st - Prepa Kennedy assembly - 7:30am - PAC

Friday 1st - Extra-curricular activities finish

Friday 8th - LP reports go home

Wednesday 13th - LP Christmas Show & Christmas Fair - 3:30pm - PAC

Friday 15h - Last day of school

Upper Primary

November

Wednesday 15th - 2nd Avilés Assembly - 9:20am & 12:15pm - PAC

Friday 17th - 3rd Grade Madres Enlace BAKE SALE (during breaks).

Friday 17th - Guy Fawkes and Christmas Fair Celebrations - 6:00pm - Field

Tuesday 21st - Shoe Box Campaign Begins

Wednesday 22nd - 4th Grade Spanish Assembly - 9:20am & 12:15pm - PAC

Wednesday 22nd - Upper Primary Extra-curricular Enrollment (becomes active 9:00am)

Friday 24th- Camping day#1 Starts at 4:00pm (2nd Grade)

Saturday 25th - Camping day #2 Ends at 11:00am (2nd Grade)

Wednesday 29th - 4th Molina Assembly - 9:20am & 12:15pm - PAC

Wednesday 29th - Pastorela Comité Católico (2:00pm - 5:00pm) - PAC

Thursday 30th - Last Golf class from Term 2.

December

Friday 1st - Extra- curricular activities finish.

Thursday 7th - Upper Primary Christmas Concert (6:00pm - 7:30pm)

Please note Ana Gloria Mena and Edda Padilla are Primary Safeguarding Officers

Secondary News

Dear parents and carers,

This week we celebrated British week and it was wonderful to see how our students embrace our school’s identity. A huge thank you to Mr Hall for organising Lunchtime entertainment for our students to watch British tv series and a fun quiz in the morning!

We look forward to the closing of this week with our Guy Fawkes celebrations tonight! 

PAES Results are in!

From Mr Quijano

Congratulations to the Class of 2018 for achieving an 8.0 global average. 94% of the students scored at the Superior Level of 7.5 and above, and our top score reached was a 9.0! The PAES is a national exit exam for graduating students, which covers the Natural Sciences, Maths, National History, and Spanish Language and Literature. Over 80,000 students took the exam on October 11th and 12th of this year; 23,661 came from private institutions. Our students scored higher than the average for private schools at 6.5, in La Libertad. We are very proud of our students' effort and dedication, and very thankful of the support of all our teachers who work with them. The national PAES average stands at 5.3. Yet, we want to work hard to stay strong and deliver our earnest effort. 

Learning Review Day for Grade 12 was very successful and a huge thank you for making your appointments and supporting this new system of feedback and communication. We look forward to next Friday 24th November for our Learning Review Day for Grade 10. 

INTERNATIONAL KNOWLEDGE BOWL

From Mr Paul Hickey

Last Thursday the ABC competed in the International Knowledge bowl competition entering a Junior Varsity and Varsity team. A fun day was had by all with an intense competition of very fine margins. Congratulations to all the students that competed, especially to the Varsity team which claimed third place!

Grade 12

Rafael Mendoza

Matías George Hudson

David García 

Amanda Toledo

Fernando Vega

Grade 10

Carlos Ernesto Vásquez Arbizú

Martha Julia Espinal Alemán

Ana Carolina Saade Interiano

Ana Sofía Perdomo

Vanessa Guadalupe Nuñez Escobar

Habitat for Humanity- 11th november

From Mr Edward Dafnis

On the morning of Saturday, 11th November four students from 11D and two members of ABC staff equipped with work gloves and hard hats set off to work with Habitat for Humanity in San Juan Opico. Upon arrival we were met by the site manager who explained the site safety rules and the background of the house that we would be working on alongside members of the local community. It was good, hard physical work but commitment was 100% throughout and spirits were high. A particularly poignant moment was when we were joined by the family who would be living in the house once it was completed - they were grateful for our efforts and time and said how the new home would would change their lives. Our students were a real credit to the ABC school and demonstrated a number of the values that are so central to the school community. We're already planning the next trip for grade 11 students in early 2018.

SPORTS DAY!

The big day is just around the corner and we thank all the parents for their support and in particular the Madres Enlace for all their help! We understand there are some concerns regarding our students’ well being as they will be out in the sun but we want to reassure you that caring measurements have been taken. The school will provide plenty of water throughout the day: there will be water spots on the track and field as well as near the spectator's bleachers. The Madres Enlace will kindly provide all students with fruits and healthy snacks throughout the day! In case of an injury or any health incident, there will be a nurse station on the field and an ambulance on grounds for transportation. We will also have a provision of sun block for our students in case they need it. 

We have sent an information pack to all parents and we ask that you read it carefully. All students should arrive equipped with cap, applied sunblock and a lunchbox with healthy snacks and water. 

All parents are welcome to join us and support our students and we ask you to follow our guidelines for parent seating. We have reserved the car park in the Gimnasio for parents.

We have closed the inscription to pick children up from the Stadium as we have coordinated transport to and from the stadium with strict registers and supervision. If you have communicated to us that you will pick your children up from the stadium, please note that you need to be present by 4.30pm as we will leave the stadium and we will not delay any buses coming back to school. Thank you in advance for your collaboration! 

Important notices for Sports Day:

• All students must be dropped off from 9.00 am and no later than 10.30am by the PAC Carpark ONLY 
• Please ensure your child brings: Cap, sunblock, water bottle, lunchbox
• Parents taking their children from the stadium must check in by 4.30pm and register out with Roxana, Marielos or Lissett on their way out at the end of the event. 
• If parents have not arrived by the time we finish the event, students will be brought back to school for security reasons. 
• Pick up ONLY by PAC carpark from 5.30pm onwards (Madres Enlace will help keep parents informed of leaving times from the Stadium)

Please do not hesitate to contact us should there be anything else you need to know.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Kind regards,

Natalia Cáceres Escalón

Dates for your diary

November

Friday 17th - Guy Fawkes Party & Christmas Fair (afternoon)

Tuesday 21st - Secondary Sports Day, Estadio Mágico González

Tuesday 21st to 11th December - Shoe Box campaign for whole school

Friday 24th - Grade 6, 7, 8, 9 and 11 Cal 1 reports published on iSAMS parent portal

Friday 24th - Grade 10 Learning Review Day (all day and by appointment)

December

Friday 15th - End of Term 1. Last day of school

Team Sports

The third week of November starts with great news:

Team Sports, 56 student games.

Academia Británica Cuscatleca

1st place, school with the wider participation in sports.

Department of La Libertad.

This is the third consecutive year we obtain this title.

CONGRATULATIONS and THANK YOU to our athletes, teachers, and parents.

BULLDOGS!!!

Bulldogs Cup- Basketball- Mini (f)-

Scheduled game for the Bulldog Cup between ABC and CISS, emotions, and good scores.

ABC 32 - 13 CISS

Bulldogs Cup - Basketball - Mini (m) -

Tuesday game between ABC and Lamatepec. An exciting set of actions that thanks to their efficiency, the game was won by the Bulldogs.

ABC 29 - 23 Lamatepec.

Bilingual League-Football- U16 (m) –

The Bulldogs had a hard and exciting match against their neighbour, Liceo Francés. The ABC was able to win this game at the last quarter of the match.

ABC 4 – 2 Liceo Francés

TSP congratulates Diego Hidalgo (blue jumper with the number 8) for having won during the Indoor Soccer tournament at the Appalachian State University, NC.

Bilingual League- Basketball- Cadets (m) -

During the second game of the season, the Bulldog cadets managed to score three points and win the match against Liceo Francés.

ABC 48 - 20 Liceo Francés

11: Friday 10th November 2017

From the Director

I would like to welcome you back to the second part of this term and I hope you had an enjoyable vacation with your children. We have noticed that most of our children are refreshed and ready to come back after their break. At the moment we are promoting our ABC Value of Ethical which is one of our CORE values. Ethical covers so many things which we value in our children, each other and in our community. It includes being honest and being fair but it also implies a commitment to doing the right thing at all times. Being “ethical” challenges all of us to monitor our own behaviour and attitudes and to ensure we are seen to be true to our beliefs in all we do. It is also a challenge to the school and everyone who represents it, including of course staff and my leadership team, but also all of us who are parents and role models in our community. So please - let us reflect on our actions and let us embrace being ethical at all times. 

As I mentioned in the previous issue of this publication we are undertaking a uniform trial this half term to see how the school community feels about secondary girls being allowed an option to wear trousers. Towards the end of this month we will be asking for feedback via a community wide survey. I want to reiterate that we are simply considering allowing girls an option to wear trousers as some girls have requested. There will be a small number of girls trialing trousers this half term.

Our afternoon pick up is much smoother this week with less cars arriving early and blocking the access roads or the pick up areas. Thank you for your patience and cooperation. There are a couple of points our traffic team would like me to reiterate.

• Please advance as far into the pick up area as you can so other parents behind you can also enter the pick up area and collect their children. We then expect your children to walk to your car
• Please note the PAC car park is now open to secondary parents with primary siblings from 2 pm (provided your secondary child has obtained a car park pass) but if you use this facility please do not arrive until after 2 pm)
• The PAC pick up area is open from 2.20 pm for all parents 
• On a Wednesday when we have many children picked up at 3 pm - please do not arrive early as you are blocking access for parents trying to collect their children at 2.30 or 2.45 pm

On another note tomorrow is the 99th anniversary of the end of the First World War. A war with an estimated 41 million casualties. On 11th November 1918 the machine guns stopped firing and there was peace. We mark the end of this terrible war in Britain and in many countries with a poppy flower which many people have been wearing in school this week. The saddest part of the story of the First world war is that it has been followed by so many more wars and loss of life. The poppy reminds us of hope for a new generation which will not be blighted by war. 

I am looking forward to seeing many of you at our Guy Fawkes party next Friday as a climax to our British week celebrations. We will enjoy music, dancing and fireworks as well as food, shopping and each other’s company.

I hope you have a very enjoyable weekend with your children.

Primary News

Dear Parents and Carers,

We finally have some photos of our IPC International Mindedness activity where we discussed how we belong to various communities - our family, our class, our grade and our school. 

The Stones are now being cemented onto the wall outside of my office as a permanent reminder of the activity and the idea of belonging as part of one’s identity. 

Here is a link to a video of the completed stones on the school field. 

In primary we had several different colour runs but everybody had an amazing time. Thank you to everyone who bought a Colour Run Kit all the money raised will go to Save the Children.

Following the Primary Friendship Fair we were able to present those classes who sold the most raffle tickets with their ice cream treat. The winning classes were 2nd Tutty, 3rd Borgo, 4th Guzman and 5th Navas. Well done to all those students and their families for supporting such a good cause.

This week Grade 5 had their entry point for their new unit ‘Investigators’. The staff had carefully planned a crime scene and the students became the detectives investigating what had happened. They looked for clues and evaluated their significance. All of the students participated really well and some were very creative in their ideas about what had happened.

Nov 21st there will be no PE for Primary as the PE staff will be running a sporting event in the local stadium.

Next week is British week. In Primary we will be focussing on activities on Friday because of the accreditation team in school. The week will round up with the wonderful Guy Fawkes evening. There will be entertainment, food and fireworks. There will also be some stall holders selling items that could make great Christmas presents. There are Sparklers for sale. We recommend the children have gloves to hold them and they must be supervised by an adult as the spent wires can be very hot and they need to be disposed of correctly in the sand bins. We all enjoy this school tradition and we look forward to seeing you there.

In case it has slipped your notice, this coming week is our IPC accreditation visit. We are very excited and a bit nervous but everyone in school has worked really hard towards this and whatever the outcome we have had an amazing journey, deepened our learning and evaluated our practices. The students will be the ones to benefit from all our improvements. Wish us luck. We know all of our students will be amazing and ‘do us proud’ by being friendly, open and sociable with our visitors and sharing all they have learned.

We will not get our official feedback for several weeks but I will let you know the general feel next week.

Best wishes for a wonderful weekend

Sharon Short

Head of Primary and Safeguarding officer.

Dates for your diary

Lower Primary

November

Wednesday 15th - 1st grade field trip to playa San Diego to release turtles 

Thursday 16th - Pre Kinder Curriculum Night 6:00pm - PAC

Friday 17th - Prepa Macdonald Assembly 7:30am - PAC

Friday 17th - Guy Fawkes Celebrations 6:00pm

Monday 20th - Lower Primary Christmas Toy Collection begins

Tuesday 21st - Kinder Curriculum Night 6:00pm - PAC

Tuesday 21st - No PE or Team Sports Extras

Friday 24th - Prepa Pashley Assembly 7:30am - PAC

Upper Primary

November

Wednesday 8th - 3rd Mena Assembly - 9:20am & 12:15pm - PAC

Monday 13th - Friday 17th - British Week 

Friday 17th - Grade 3 Bake Sale (rearranged)

Friday 17th - Guy Fawkes and Christmas Fair Celebrations - 6:00pm - Field

Wednesday 15th - 2nd Aviles Assembly - 9:20am & 12:15pm - PAC

Tuesday 21st - Shoe Box Campaign Begins

Wednesday 22nd - 4th Grade Spanish Assembly - 9:20am & 12:15pm - PAC

Friday 24th- First Camping day 4:00pm (2nd Grade)

Saturday 25th - Last Camping day. Ends at 11:00am (2nd Grade)

Wednesday 29th - 4th Molina Assembly - 9:20am & 12:15pm - PAC

Thursday 30th - Last Golf class from Term 2.

Please note Ana Gloria Mena and Edda Padilla are Primary Safeguarding Officers

Secondary News

Dear Parents and carers,

MOVEMBER is HERE!

From Mr Anthony Pike

Following the successful Cancer Awareness assemblies at the end of last half term, and October’s well supported Breast Cancer Awareness month it is time for ‘Movember’!

Movember began in Australia in 2004 when 30 friends decided to grow a moustache for one month. Inspired by the amount of conversation their facial hair created the following year they decided to use their moustaches to raise money and awareness of men’s health issues - setting up the Movember Foundation. 

Since 2004 the Movember Foundation has raised hundreds of millions of dollars around the world supporting charities that are involved in testicular cancer, prostate cancer, mental health and male suicide.

This Movember at the ABC Grade 9 - 12 students have been challenged to grow the most impressive moustache that they can (there will be a competition for the best towards the end of the month) and to donate $5 which will go towards men’s health charities here in El Salvador.

ACTUA activities for Cancer Awareness NEXT Week!

ACTUA, a student organization in school is promoting Cancer Awareness among our students and staff through CAS activities. 

Girls will be allowed to use pink nail polish from Monday 13th through Friday 17th, and asked to contribute a $1 donation on Monday. All proceeds will be donated to fund cancer research. NOTE: PINK polish! No other colours allowed. 

Also, on Friday 17th, girls will be allowed to wear pink shirts and boys will wear blue, and asked for a $1 donation to fund cancer research. NOTE: PINK and BLUE only; no hoodies of any other colours on top of your shirt! 

Sports Day

We are really excited and looking forward to the Sports Day coming up and we have sent parents a handbook with all the information regarding the event. Please read it carefully, especially as it asks for parents to confirm whether they will pick up their children from the Stadium or back at school.

We have also sent via email the permission slip which we need to have back by Wednesday 15th of November.

Thank you for your support!

Cal 1 Grade 12 and Grade 10 reports 

Our iSAMS parent portal is working and we have have published our Grade 12 and Grade 10 Cal 1 reports there. Please look at the report carefully with your child and reflect upon their performance in light of how they did at the end of last year. 

Please note we have our Learning Review Days coming up (see calendar below) for Grade 12 and Grade 10 and this will be an ideal opportunity to discuss with us a plan of continued support for them. Letters were sent home and we need you to send back the time which is suitable for you. 

We hope everyone has next Friday afternoon marked on their agenda as we have our traditional ommunity celebration of Guy Fawkes. We look forward to seeing you all there!

Have a wonderful weekend,

Kind regards,

Natalia Cáceres Escalón

Dates for your diary

November

Friday 10th - Grade 10 and 12 Cal 1 Reports published on iSAMS parent portal

Monday 13th - British Week

Tuesday 14th - Parent Partnership KS3 (Grades 6 to 8) "Looking after our child's wellbeing" (to be confirmed!) 

Wednesday 15th - Parent Partnership KS4/IB (Grades 9 to 12)"Looking after my child's wellbeing" (to be confirmed!)

Friday 17th - Guy Fawkes Party & Christmas Fair (afternoon)

Friday 17th - Grade 12 Learning Review Day (all day and by appointment)

Tuesday 21st - Secondary Sports Day, Estadio Mágico González

Tuesday 21st to 11th December - Shoe Box campaign starts for whole school

Friday 24th - Grade 6, 7, 8, 9 and 11 Cal 1 reports published on iSAMS parent portal

Friday 24th - Grade 10 Learning Review Day (all day and by appointment)

December

Friday 15th - End of Term 1. Last day of school