Friday 2 March 2018

24: Friday 2nd March 2018

From the Director

Congratulations to everyone involved in the Bicultural Arts Festival which we are hosting this week. I would particularly like to thank Mr. Julio Coss and his security and maintenance team for their work to get everything ready at short notice. Congratulations also to Anthony Pike and Estela Mena for their leadership in the drama and dance workshops respectively. It was clear in both performances that the students were hugely involved in creating their own shows. Again, well done to everyone involved. As I write we are looking forward to the music shows tonight. 

We have been focusing on the ABC value of resilience this week in school. This has included talking about examples of resilient people who never gave up and continued to work for what they believed in. There are many famous people like Thomas Edison and Nelson Mandela that we can talk about. I am sure you also have examples in your own family to help our children think about resilience and its importance as a value in our lives.

As many of you know we have just completed our reauthorisation with the International Baccalaureate Organisation and we are also in the middle of our CIS reaccreditation self study. As part of our involvement with these prestigious international organisations we are carrying out a short survey with our children from Grade 4 to 12 regarding their home languages. We want to make sure we provide all the support we can for mother tongue language development. If you are a parent of a child from the Class of 2018 to 2026 please encourage them to answer the simple 4 question questionnaire about the languages you speak at home.

Please remember to fill in our annual Parent Satisfaction survey if you haven't already done so. The deadline to fill this in is Monday at noon. Thanks in advance for your cooperation.

We recently conducted a community wide survey on the Circus to consider ways it will fit better into our school calendar and how we can help it grow in line with our values. Thank you to everyone who participated. We have some ideas which we will be discussing over the next few weeks. I can reassure you that we all recognise the importance of the Circus in our community and we will be fully supporting the Class of 2020 in their forthcoming Circus.

I have had some enquiries about communication in Team Sports this week. Team Sports is part of the School and if you have any enquiries about fixtures or timings you can contact the school office as usual. Sara Suster is also available at school to clarify any queries and all games are published on our school calendar which is on our website. 

I hope to see many of you supporting our youngsters at the Bicultural Festival this evening but otherwise hope you have a great weekend.

Primary News

Dear Parents and Carers,

Our trips out of school which help our children learn outside the campus have continued this week They are learning a lot, getting a chance to apply their learning and increasing their independence through these trips. All trips are risk assessed and declared safe by our security team in advance. Ideally we would like all parents to give permission for their children go on these trips. Children who do not participate are missing important lessons including risk management skills, new environment skills and confidence. This places the child at much greater risk when they are older and do not know how to deal with new situations. Here are some photos from recent trips.




At Christmas the Secondary school created some Christmas baskets to give to our school support workers. They were very well received and showed the schools appreciation for the dedicated work they do from the early hours of the morning until late afternoon. Some of them travelling long distances to get here. This time it is the Primary school’s turn. We are going to create Easter baskets for the support staff.Very soon your child will bring home a request for some products to go in the baskets and a quantity. Each Primary class from Prepa to 5th is going to create two baskets. EYFS will create one per class. We have included some Easter treats in the list of items. Please check the sell by dates on all items sent in. They should last until at least the end of April. Please be as generous as you can. If you would like to swap with another parent please let the class teacher know. We want all the baskets complete well before the Easter holiday so please send the items in as soon as you can.

2nd Grade had two visitors this week. One was a dentist and the the children had to answer a question or two. One being ‘Does all food create plaque?’ The children had to make predictions and then tested their ideas with coloured drops on their teeth. They did discover that everything we eat produces plaque to a greater or lesser degree. They also learned about the work of a chocolatier and the significant differences between different types of chocolate. Their verdict was no more Hershey's!! I am not sure they will stick to that.

We are starting the Lower primary swimming lessons next week. Please come and see your child’s swimming group participating in a lesson. Not all children are great swimmers yet, but all have made progress and it is nice for you to share their achievement. Swimming is an important safety skill as well as great exercise and fun. We also want to ensure a supply of swimmers for Mr Lima and his amazing ABC swim team. The lessons are listed below and also on the whole school calendar. We hope to see you there!

Remember there are two mre Teleton T-shirt days to come and we will be supporting Paraiso Down in the near future too.

Best wishes for a great weekend.

Sharon Short
Head of primary 
Lead Safeguarding Officer.

Dates for your diary

Lower Primary
March
Monday 5th - Kinder Quintanilla G1 Swimming lesson - 9:15-10:00am -LP pool
Monday 5th - Pre-Kinder Rampone G1 Swimming lesson - 11:15am-12:00m - LP pool
Tuesday 6th: Kinder Suárez G1 Swimming lesson - 9:45-10:30am - LP pool
Tuesday 6th: Pre-Kinder Siri G1 Swimming lesson - 11:15am -12:00m-LP pool
Wednesday 7th: Kinder Francés G1 Swimming lesson - 9:45-10:30am-LP pool
Wednesday 7th: Pre-Kinder Rampone G2 Swimming lesson - 11:15-12:00m - LP pool
Thursday 8th: Pre-Kinder Siri G1 Swimming lesson - 11:15-12:00m - LP pool
Thursday 8th: Pre-Kinder González assembly - 9:30 -10:30am - PAC
Friday 9th - Teletón jeans day
Friday 9th: Kinder Cáceres G2 Swimming lesson - 9:00 - 9:45am - LP pool
Friday 9th: Kinder Quintanilla G2 Swimming lesson - 10:30-11:15am - LP pool
Monday 12th - Prepa Kennedy Swimming lesson - 8:10 - 8:55am - LP pool
Tuesday 13th - Prepa Macdonald Swimming lesson - 8:10 - 8:55am - LP pool
Wednesday 14th - Prepa Ware Swimming lesson - 8:10 - 8:55am - LP pool
Thursday 15th - Prepa Pashley Swimming lesson - 8:10 - 8:55am - LP pool
Friday 16th - Kinder Suárez G2 Swimming lesson - 9:45 - 10:30am - LP pool
Friday 16th - Teletón jeans day
Saturday 17th - LP Sport morning & Family day
Monday 19th - Pre-Kinder González G1 Swimming lesson - 10:30-11:15am - LP pool
Tuesday 19th - First grade Swimming Gala - 11:30 am. - 1:00 pm. - Big pool
Tuesday 20th - Pre-Kinder Carbajal G1 Swimming lesson - 10:30-11:15am - LP pool
Wednesday 21st - Pre-Kinder González G2 Swimming lesson - 10:30-11:15am - LP pool
Thursday 22nd - Pre-Kinder Carbajal G2 Swimming lesson - 10:30-11:15am - LP pool
Friday 23rd - Pre-Kinder Siri assembly - 7:40am - PAC
Friday 23rd - Last day of term

Upper Primary
March
Friday 2nd - Bicultural Arts Festival Performance - 6:00pm-7:30pm
Monday 5th - Friday 9th - Upper Primary 3-Way “Learning” Conferences
Wednesday 7th - 4th Quijano Assembly - 9:20am & 12:15pm - PAC
Friday 9th - Teletón T-shirt Day
Monday 12th - Friday 16th - Upper Primary 3-Way “Learning” Conferences
Friday 16th - Teletón T-shirt Day
Friday 16th - Teletón (Fri- Sat)
Monday 19th - Friday 23rd - Upper Primary 3-Way “Learning” Conferences
Tuesday 20th - 2nd Grade Swimming Gala
Wednesday 21st - 3rd Grade Swimming Gala
Thursday 22nd - 4th Grade Swimming Gala
Friday 23rd - 5th Grade Swimming Gala
Friday 23rd - Last day of Term 2

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

Secondary News

Dear parents and students,

Miss Caceres has been at a school in Colombia this week as part of a CIS review team. As we continue our own journey towards CIS reaccreditation, her experience will help us continue to reflect and improve as part of the CIS family of schools and prepare for our own visit in November. 

Next week we have school teams traveling to Mexico for the next round of the Mathcounts competition and Cartagena for the HACIA Democracy debating competition. We wish them all safe journeys and good competition.

February is always a busy time. There have been many competitions, sporting fixtures, art exhibitions, musical, drama and dance performances as well as a great deal of learning! The Bicultural Festival workshops and performances last night were wonderful and a real credit to the hard work and commitment of our students and teachers. We have also been celebrating British Science week in school, and Miss Brown delivered some fascinating assemblies to our students about the importance of Science and scientific research in the modern world. Meanwhile, staff and students continue to work hard preparing for the upcoming Steamfest in March.

I would like to thank the parents who attended our parents evening on Tuesday, and particularly the parents of Grade 10 students who were given some more information about the IB programme at the ABC. The IB information and options form have now been emailed to parents and students. These should be returned to Lissett as soon as possible. You can find a copy of the form here. The Options evening for our Grade 8 students will be held in on Thursday 15 March. Parents of the Class of 2022 please make a note in your diaries. 

Grade 10 and 12 Cal Grade reports have been published and the other Grades should be published on Friday 9th March. As usual, parents will receive an email notifying them that the reports are available on the Isams portal. Parents can easily get a log-in by following the instructions on this link. Once registered, you will be able to see your son/daughter’s attendance and punctuality in real time, as well as information about sanctions and rewards. There is also an App available which works on smartphones.

Watching our students (and teachers!) working so hard this week has made me think about the school motto -“effort leads to success”. It is a simple but profound phrase. As a values based school, we firmly believe that our students success in life should be judged more by the person they become than the things they do or own. Aristotle wrote that “The ultimate end of life is the development of character.” Hard work, resilience and commitment all require character, and I am encouraged to see so many of our students demonstrating this every day in school.

Although definitions of success can differ from one student to another, success in any aspect of your life, education or career is entirely predictable. People who work hard are almost always more successful than those who do not. Furthermore, to be truly successful in achieving your goals, the hard work needs to be done in advance. As Brian Tracy wrote, success is not like a restaurant where you pay after you have enjoyed your meal. Instead it is like a cafeteria, where you can choose whatever you want (decide your goals and aspirations), but you must pay for it before you eat it. Those who are willing to ‘pay’ now will enjoy success later. We must remind our young people that the commitment and effort we ask from them today has a purpose. The work they are doing in class and at home, and the sacrifices they make to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding is a ‘deposit payment’ for future success. This is especially true for our IB and IGCSE students who will be taking exams in the near future. Effort really does lead to success!

I hope you enjoy the information below about this week in the secondary school. I hope to see many of you at the final Bicultural performance this evening - if last night is anything to go by, we are in for a treat! It starts at 6pm in the Lecture Theatre.

I wish you a restful and enjoyable weekend.

Best wishes

Adrian Hall
Deputy Headteacher

British Science Week - Miss Diebelius



British Science Week is a ten-day celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths - featuring fascinating, entertaining and engaging events and activities across the UK for people of all ages. As a British School, the ABC are celebrating Science Week in the following ways:

Science Fair for G6 & G7 
Students have begun working on innovative Science projects over the past few weeks, in line with the theme ‘’Exploration & Discovery”. They are thinking about how discoveries have influenced their lives, and considering how they can have a positive impact on the future. Two groups from each Science class will be nominated to present their work in the Auditorium on Thursday 8th March to their peers. One winning group from G6 and one from G7 will be voted for and will present their work the following day at the STEAM fest!

Lunchtime Science Demonstrations/Science Talks
(Week of 12th March- More information to come soon)

Find a Problem, Solve a problem Competition
See student portal for more information about the competition to think of an innovative solution to a problem that exists



Bicultural Arts Festival - Dance: Miss Estela Mena
The Dance Bicultural was a wonderful challenge and a great learning experience for students and teachers of seven different schools, from 6th to 12th grade. The learning was tremendous. On day 1 they had a creative workshop were they were challenged to create a dance story by groups, with given guidelines. After non-stop rehearsals they put together ideas of costumes,music,movement, visuals and props. On day 5 we managed to create an amazing show. Different cultures coming together, young minds working together and acquiring knowledge and experiences that will last a lifetime.


Bicultural Arts Festival - Music: Mr Mayer
It was met with great anticipation that this years’ bicultural festival was to be held at the ABC. This week sees the culmination of months of planning involving the international schools of El Salvador promoting the theme of friendship through the creative arts. It was extremely pleasing to see so many of our young people from all different backgrounds fully engaged with the rehearsal process in this joint collaborative effort. Many new friends were made and each week pupils and staff were able to share their musical experiences and work together to create something quite remarkable.

The pupils involved with the Rock Band rehearsals have been busy this week putting the final touches on their presentation for Friday, including some original interpretations of the well-known classic by B. E. King; Stand by Me. At the Escuela Alemana the Coro Juvenil have enjoyed rehearsing complex arrangements of well-known classics for song and stage through a series of workshops and large and small group ensemble activities. Likewise it was pleasing to see the vast conglomerate of string pupils, from beginners to the advanced, fully engaged in undertaking a variety of exercises and sharing their musical experiences in an international environment. Finally the Concert Band rehearsals at the Escuela Americana saw some quite unique instrumental arrangements successfully encouraging the international friendship theme. 




Bicultural Arts Festival - Drama: Mr Pike
23 students and four teachers from five international schools around San Salvador came together this week for the Drama performance of this year’s Bicultural Arts Festival. 

With just two Saturday rehearsals and four days this week the team were tasked with the challenge of writing and staging a performance on the theme of ‘Friendship’. Before they could do that, they had to overcome the first obstacle - working together and taking creative risks with a group of people they didn’t know! Fortunately all the students in the group were very open to sharing their ideas and we were quickly able to get on with creating some drama.

We decided that we didn’t want to end up with a performance that was too stereotypical or ‘sweet’, so we looked at the more problematic side of friendship - trust, betrayal, sacrifice, acceptance - and how these could be overcome in daily life. Through a montage of scenes the exploration of friendship led the audience (and the cast) to question what matters to them in a friendship and how to deal with friends when things break down.

The cast put a lot of hard work into the rehearsals throughout the week and produced a compelling piece of drama that was presented on Thursday evening to a full PAC.

I would like to offer my thanks and congratulations to all the students and staff involved in the Bicultural Drama performance 2018!





MathsCount State Round Competition: Miss Bradburn
We wish the Mathcounts team the very best of luck as they head to Monterrey, Mexico next week to compete in the State Round Competition. They will compete against over 50 teams, (200 students) from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. We are very proud of their dedication and achievements so far and wish them every success.
Spanish Poetry Competition: Miss Rossi
For nine years, the Spanish department has organized the Poetry competition for the Secondary school of the ABC. Each year the competition has a different theme which motivates and inspires.
This year the competition is called, ‘Poets of Music’. We know that inspired in this art, our students will write rich and touching verses.

This competition begins March 5th and finishes April 27th. There will be prizes for the winners, and participation certificates.

The rules of the competition have been published in our Spanish portal on the school’s Internet website. We ask you to encourage your children to participate in this very creative activity.


Values Through Animation: Mr Martinez
Traits and values in school are the core of education. Grade 7 students supported by their ICT teachers have been developing the project called: "Values through animation". First, students choose traits and values from school which are represented on a storyboard. The story can be made either on paper or on the computer. When the storyboard is completed and checked by the teacher, the next step is to set up the iPads with props on the green tables in the Animation studio at the LRC. They use a variety of apps in order to produce the animation. The students have enjoyed the project and the best videos will participate in the DVA. 

Skills and objectives:
  • Students recognize the rights, responsibilities and opportunities of living, learning and working in an interconnected digital world, and they act and model in ways that are safe, legal and ethical.
  • Students use a variety of technologies within a design process to identify and solve problems by creating new, useful or imaginative solutions.
  • Effort leads to success

Dates for your diary
March
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 Track and Field
Friendly Dual Meet Track and Field - U10 y U12 -
The “Dual Meet” Track and Field event took place today at the American School, and teams from the following schools participated: Liceo Francés, Colegio Highlands, American School, and the ABC. The teams participated in shot put, 100 and 400 metres race.

TSP BKB
Friendly match- BKB - Mini (f) -
Match between the ECI and the ABC as an entertainment match in preparation for the coming games.

ABC 30 - 20 ECI

TSP Handball
Thank you Handball - First Troyan Bilingual Festival-

The First Troyan Bilingual Festival took place yesterday, and the Bulldogs had a great performance.

Positions:
1. ABC blue
2. ABC green
3. American School

TSP Soccer
Bilingual League- Soccer - U18 (m) –
The ABC played against Liceo Frances to win 3 points and keep its position in the first places of the charts.

ABC 3 - 2 Liceo Francés

TSP BKB
Bilingual League-BKB Festival- Mini (m)-
This match took place at the American School in the two groups of three mode, and the winners played a final match. The Bulldogs won all their matches and were the champions of this edition.

ABC 19 - 10 CSI
ABC 8 - 1 EA
ABC 16 - 12 Maya

Bilingual League-BKB-Cadet - Cadet (m) -
In a heart stopping final match, the Bulldogs won the Classic Bilingual BKB. A very exciting game which was won by the ABC two seconds before the end.

ABC 38 - 37 American School

TSP Soccer
School games- Soccer - CODICADER (m) -
The school match for the Bulldogs U17 team began today with a Lighting Tournament. The match was very closed and exciting.

ABC 1-0 Instituto Nacional de Las Isletas

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