From the Director
I am delighted to report that our U17 boys football team has qualified for the national schools competition following victory in the final qualifying round at Estadio Magico Gonzales this morning. We are very proud of them and the way they are showing our school spirit and values
I am looking forward to a day of fun tomorrow at the ABC Carnival and hope to see you there. Our thanks go to the Parents Association for their tireless work preparing for the Carnival. If you can come with your children and make a family outing it would be great because we want these events to be community events where we all meet as friends and share responsibility for the wellbeing and entertainment of our children.
The ABC will be hosting the Bicultural Arts festival next Thursday and Friday. There will be an amazing drama performance in the PAC on Thursday followed by the Dance performance in the Auditorium. Tickets are available for $2 and we will be selling soft drinks and pupusas between the shows. On Friday we have the choirs, music and bands performing in the Auditorium and again tickets cost $2 and we will be selling drinks and pupusas. Tickets are available from the Offices. Please buy early to avoid disappointment as we are limiting the number of tickets we sell and the other schools participating in the festival are also selling tickets.
I would like to take this opportunity to respectfully remind you to fill in the Parent survey if you haven't already done so. This information is important to us. I know there have been a number of surveys recently but we want to hear your opinions! The link is here.
I would also like to remind you that our STEAMFest is only 3 weeks away. If you would like to sponsor the event in any way, please contact Anabella Soto. (anabellasoto@abc-net.edu.sv).
Primary News
Dear Parents and Carers,
This week saw the Upper Primary students and parents compete for the honour of “Best Sports Tribe” in the Annual ABC Sports & Family Fun Day which was held on Saturday 17th February. With two sessions over the course of the morning, all of the children in Upper Primary had the opportunity to score points by taking part in fun events and relay races for their tribes. There were great performances from a lot of the children, too many to mention individually, with all of the running, catching, as well as the slip & slide events.
With 5 points for a win, 4 for 2nd, 3 for 3rd and 2 for 4th as well as double points for relays, the whole competition came down to the last race of the day. With only 2 points separating 1st Placed Pipiles and 2nd placed Mayas, it was going to go all the way down to the wire. All the Pipiles had to do was beat the Maya Tribe in their final event of the day and the trophy was theirs. The race was magnificent, the lead changed a number of times at the start and then coming into the home straight it was just a sprint to the end. The Inca tribe ran their hearts out and took the victory on the line, with Pipiles taking a very close 2nd Place. Aztecas took 3rd place with the Maya tribe coming in 4th. It was sealed the 2nd Place in the last event meant that they had done enough to secure victory. Pipiles had won the ABC Sports & Family Fun Day 2018.
Congratulations to all that had taken part, it was a fantastic day. Nearly all of the children leaving looked tired and had smiles on their faces which was all that could have been asked of a school event.
Thank you to the PE staff that organised the event, as well as the UP Staff that supported the children to complete the activities. An event like this could not have happened without you. Tom McNeil
I mentioned earlier in the year that I will be finishing in June. I have a message here from my replacement Mr Nevan Bridge and he is just telling you a little bit about himself, a taster to whet your appetites!
Hola desde Nueva Zelanda. Estoy emocionado de ser nombrado Jefe de Primaria en ABC. Tengo muchas ganas de aprender español, sin embargo, esta declaración es a través de Google Translate!!
I have had the privilege of a successful career in education for 30 years. When I began my first Principalship at the age of 26 I set a goal that I wanted to make a positive difference from the time I was appointed until the day I moved on. I spent my career leading transformational change that was cutting edge, innovative and impacted positively on student learning. That passion and experience equips me well to fulfil this role as Head of Primary. I believe in a positive learning culture that is focused on the student and should be based around sound educational practice, the role of leadership and realising the schools Vision. I embrace and believe strongly in this approach to leadership. To have an opportunity to work in a school like ABC that put children first is something I would treasure.
To inspire, encourage and support colleagues has been a key aspect of my Principalship because I am a strong believer in collaboration, reflective practice and growing as an educator. I offer a 21st Century approach to leading the Primary section at ABC and contributing to whole school development. I do this by:
- Strong educational philosophy which guides my thinking, actions and beliefs;
- Excellent work ethic and strong ethical principles. I work with a moral purpose and therefore I am highly ethical as a professional teacher;
- Building an inclusive learning culture through developing positive relationships;
- Celebrate educational success for all children and staff;
- Ensuring a safe physical and emotional environment;
- Effective communication;
- Experience with the following Curriculums- New Zealand, Cambridge, National Curriculum of England, Reggio Emilia, IB PYP and IPC;
- Experience in international schools in Kazakhstan and Kuwait;
- ICT literate with a strong emphasis on enhancing the learning experience.
I would bring to this position an experienced educator who has achieved much in education as a teacher and as a principal. My passion, energy and commitment is as strong today as it was when I first became a teacher. I love being an educator and making a positive difference to the lives of the children I am responsible for. I want to take those experiences I have been through in supporting teaching and learning at ABC so children are given a quality education which will realise their potential.
Espero trabajar en ABC, conocer a sus hijos y ver una parte del mundo en la que no he estado antes.
Kind Regards,
Nevan Bridge
Educator
I feel very inspired by Mr Bridge's statements and I am sure that when he arrives you will all feel inspired by his strong leadership too.
We have had lots of trips out of school this week to La Granjita Educativa and El Jardin Botánico. These trips out of school are vital for increasing children’s experience of the world and learning in different contexts. Going with the school is a very different experience to going with the family and school has access to different personnel and activities when the visit is booked. School makes every effort to ensure all educational visits are safe. We can contact security consultants and visit the place in advance, we prepare risk assessments and review the facilities. I strongly encourage you to always send your child on the school trips. We can see the impact they have on your children’s academic development.
In the Early Years we have had a pop-up playground this week. What a wonderful experience this is for our youngsters to get to grips with unusual materials and use their imaginations to be creative and play together.Well done to the staff who organised it. We hope to arrange another one soon.
We are looking forward to other events coming up. Please check the dates below. We look forward to seeing you all at the carnival tomorrow.
Kind regards to you all,
Sharon Short
Head of Primary and Lead Safeguarding Officer.
Dates for your diary
Lower Primary
February
Friday 23rd - Extracurricular activities, 3rd session, ends
Friday 23rd - Prepa Macdonald trip to Jardín Botánico
Friday 23rd - Pre-Kinder Rampone assembly - 7:40am - PAC
Saturday 24th February School Carnival
Monday 26th - Extracurricular activities, 4th session starts
Wednesday 28th - Prepa Night Activity - 4:00pm - PAC
March
Friday 2nd - Pre-Kinder Carbajal assembly - 7:40am - PAC
Friday 2nd - LP Sports morning practice
Friday 2nd - Teletón jeans day
Friday 9th - Pre-Kinder González assembly -7:40am - PAC
Friday 9th - Teletón jeans day
Friday 16th - Teletón jeans day
Saturday 17th - LP Sport monring & Family day
Friday 23rd - Pre-Kinder Siri assembly - 7:40am - PAC
Friday 23rd - Last day of term
Upper Primary
February
Friday 23rd - Extracurricular activities, 3rd session, ends
Saturday 24th February School Carnival
Monday 26th - Extracurricular activities, 4th session starts
Monday 26th - Bicultural Arts Festival Week (26th Feb - 1st Mar)
Wednesday 28th - 5th Truscott Assembly - 9:20am & 12:15pm - PAC
March
Thursday 1st - Bicultural Arts Festival Performance - 6:00pm-7:30pm
Friday 2nd - Bicultural Arts Festival Performance - 6:00pm-7:30pm
Friday 2nd - Teletón T-shirt Day
Wednesday 7th - 4th Quijano Assembly - 9:20am & 12:15pm - PAC
Friday 9th - Teletón T-shirt Day
Friday 16th - Teletón T-shirt Day
Friday 16th - Teletón (Fri- Sat)
Please note Ana Gloria Mena and Edda Padilla are Designated Primary Safeguarding Officers
Secondary News
Dear parents and carers,
This week we have been celebrating the International Day of the Mother Tongue and I want to thank the Spanish Department and the LRC staff for all their work promoting this important day. We held assemblies to mark this day and I encourage you to speak to your children at home about the importance of our mother tongue and to celebrate all the languages we are lucky to have in our rich learning environment. You can read an excerpt of this below.
Maria Eugenia Rossi - Head of Spanish
In 2007, UNESCO established February 21st as the International Day of the Mother Tongue. This year the Spanish Department and the LRC of the ABC celebrated this by organizing allusive activities during the whole week.
I wish to highlight the importance of recognizing the value of all the mother tongues around the world, and of the objective set by UNESCO this year about the promotion of a multilingual education for global citizenship.
During our assemblies, we valued Nahuatl as the mother tongue of El Salvador, something which was established by the National Assembly of El Salvador in recognition of this international date.
And now, we would like to share with you Nelson Mandela’s quote: "If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart”.
KS3 Board Games Club
From Ms Chávez- Pastoral Coordinator
On Monday we launched the KS3 Board Games Club. The purpose behind this idea, is to offer an alternative open space for all children form Grade 6-8 to spend lunch and break and make new friends. The space is located in our mezzanine area, on the second floor near the Art and Humanities classrooms. We have picnic tables and bean bags to make the space really comfortable for our students. The Grade 6-8 Ambassadors are helping to look after it, and they have been allocated with rotas so that the area is always supervised. Our students are enjoying playing Scrabble junior, Minion Cards, Trivial Pursuit, Chinese checkers, connect 4 and many more.
We are trying to provide different environment to children, so that they all feel happy in school. Here you can access the presentation used at the KS3 assembly and which was created by Rhadamés Espinal, Hugo Perdomo, Melissa Corpeño, Michael Romero and Victor Tarazi, all Grade 6 Ambassadors.We are hoping this makes a positive difference to many students in school!
Grade 11 Extended Essay Launch Day
From Mr Hogan- HoY 11
The Class of 2019 were introduced to the Extended Essay on Tuesday this week. The opening periods of the day was spent thinking about why students produce an EE and how they can research successfully. After that, everyone headed to the LRC where subject specialists were available for a conversation about how to produce an EE in each specialised area.
Already we were hearing some very interesting ideas and when we all went to the PAC for the remainder of the day, students began developing these ideas into EE proposals. Again, subject specialists were available to offer support.
By the end of the day, Grade 11 had recognised that the EE is a great opportunity to demonstrate their independent study skills to universities and prospective employers and also made a solid beginning towards completing their proposals. The final EE is due to be completed at the beginning of Grade 12 but there are important IB external deadlines throughout the process. The following table contains the immediate deadlines which we and the students need to stick to:
Silicon Valley Trip
Mrs García and Mrs Serrano
The first ever Silicon Valley trip returned last Saturday evening. The trip included twelve 11th and 12th grade Computer Science and ITGS students as well as two teachers, Mrs. Garcia and Mrs. Serrano.
This adventure in learning took students and teachers to tech landmarks and organisations as well as historical sites around San Francisco and neighboring Silicon Valley. Some of the memorable visits included the Intel Museum, Google, Stanford University, The Computer History Museum, NASA Ames Research Centre, the Tech Innovation Museum, Apple Park. The group also got in a full day tour of San Francisco.
A great deal of exploration and learning were packed into this trip and we are confident that the learning experiences, the cultural exchanges and the friendships that were forged will be with our students for a very long time.
We want to thank all of the parents and students and staff members who made this memorable trip possible.
I am happy to share with you that I will be taking part in a CIS Evaluation Team in Bogotá this coming week so I will not be at school. Please contact Mr Hall, Mr Hogan or Ms Chávez should you need anything.
I hope you are all planning on joining us at the Parent Association Carnival on Saturday. It is always a fantastic event which reminds us how fortunate we are to belong to this incredible community!
Have a wonderful weekend.
Kind regards,
Natalia Cáceres Escalón
Dates for your diary
February
Friday 23rd - Cal 2 Reports issued for Grade 10 and 12 via Parent iSAMS portal
Saturday 24th - Parent Association Carnival. All day
Monday 26th to 1st March - Bicultural Arts Festival Week (Drama and Dance)
Tuesday 27th - 4:30 pm - 7.00pm- G10 and G12 Parent Teacher meeting (NB. G10 IB Options evening in PAC at 6.00pm)
March
Thursday 1st - French trip information evening 5pm Lecture Theatre
Thursday 1st - Friday 2nd - Bicultural Arts Festival Performance, 6pm Auditorium
Friday 2nd - TELETON T-shirt Day for whole school
Wednesday 7th - Sunday 11th - MATHCOUNTS trip to Monterrey, Mexico
Wednesday 7th - Monday 12th - HACIA Democracy trip to Cartagena, Colombia
Friday 9th - TELETON T-shirt Day for whole school
Monday 12th - Friday 16th - Class 2018 IB Arts exhibition
Thursday 15th - 4:30pm - 7pm- Grade 8 Parent Teacher Meetings (N.B IGCSE Options evening in PAC at 6.00pm)
Thursday 15th - Saturday 17th - NAQT Quiz Bowl Tournament
Friday 16th - TELETON t-Shirt Day for whole school
Monday 19th - Convocatoria - Annual Parent Meeting
Friday 23rd: Last day of term Two
Friday 23rd -Sunday 8th April - Easter holidays
Team Sports
TSP Volleyball
Bilingual League- Volleyball- Varsity (F)
Three set match between ABC and Josué. The teams filled the atmosphere with excitement thanks to their good practices.
Sets
ABC 1 (25 – 15)
CISS 2 (22 – 25 & 3 – 15)
TSP BKB
Bilingual League-BKB- Cadet (m)
Exciting match between ABC and American School. The game was finally decided 58 seconds before the end.
ABC 38 - EA 44
TSP Volleyball
Bilingual League-Volleyball- Cadet (F)
Tuesday was a Volleyball day, ABC against CISS. Very exciting game from beginning to end. The teams played as equals and it took three sets to establish a winner.
Sets
ABC 1 (25 – 19)
CISS 2 (24 – 26 & 10 – 15)
TSP BKB
Bilingual League-BKB
BKB Festival for Mini (f) and Premini (m) was held this afternoon at the American School. It was a match filled with emotions and good BKB.
TSP BKB
Bilingual League-BKB-Varsity (m)
To start the week, the ABC hosted a game against American School. Both teams played as equals, and there was much emotion as the teams scored hoops for their schools.
ABC 38 – 42 Escuela Americana
TSP Soccer
Opening Tournament “El Cafetalón”- Soccer- U8 (m)
The Bulldogs U8 team and their coach.
Go Bulldogs!!!
TSP Volleyball
Bilingual League- Volleyball-Cadet (f)
During the round of the afternoon, Colegio Josué played against the Bulldogs. A very exciting game which took a third set to establish a winner.
Sets
ABC 1
Josué 2
TSP BKB
Bilingual League- BKB- Varsity (f)
To finish off the week, the Bulldogs ladies team played against La Floresta in another Bilingual League match.
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