Friday 25 May 2018

34: Friday 25th May 2018

From the Director


As you will be aware we have an exciting building programme across our campus this summer which includes new science and mathematics classrooms, developments in the LRC, new lights for the field and a new reception area for the top car park. We have now contracted a company for these projects and have been advised that with the extent of the work including the noise and pollution that we will not be able to offer an ABC Summer Camp this year at school. We have only just taken this decision and I am sorry it is late especially if you were planning to send your children to the ABC Summer Camp. We had anticipated that we would be able to work around the construction on our campus, as we have done in previous years, but ultimately we have concluded it is not safe! There is work in more parts of the campus than ever before. We are looking into possible alternative arrangements and will let you know if we manage to do so especially for those students for whom we have recommended participation in the Summer Camp. I apologise for the inconvenience caused. 

It is only a week until the Headmaster's reception for the Class of 2018. ALL Exabrits are invited to welcome the Class of 2018 into the ABC Exabrit family but we especially want to welcome Exabrits who are celebrating a 5, 10, 15, 25, 30 or even a 35 year anniversary of their graduations in 2013, 2008, 2003, 1998, 1993, 1988 or 1983. If you are an Exabrit from one of these years please do make the effort to get a free ticket for the event. You will get to meet friends, make new friends, take part in some quiz trivia and help the Class of 2018 celebrate their graduation from school. Our ABC community is very important to our families and our children and at times like this we can show that unity and togetherness as Exabrits. Please write to anabellasoto@abc-net.edu.sv to confirm your attendance.

In my role I often get asked about success and what is success. Sometimes success is obvious and we can see that someone has succeeded and achieved. At other times success is harder to observe but it does not mean it is not there. I know from talking to parents, staff and children that all our children’s lives are full of successes but sometimes we do not recognise them. I think this is very sad. It is vital for all of us to recognise the progress and successes of our own children and each other’s children, how we are seeing them grow and develop, learning new skills, learning to have an active and full life, learning to work as a member of a team and discovering their own interests and passion. All of these are big successes as our children grow up and as the year starts to close we should be reflecting on these with our children. It is important we do not judge our children against other children or against a predetermined idea we had for them. We should judge them for who they are and how they have grown this year. Please celebrate these successes with your children and help them feel positive about their worlds and their futures. They need to feel your appreciation of what they have done and we are trying to ensure we do the same in school. 

We have an INSET Day next Thursday when school will be closed for students. I hope you have a nice weekend. 

Primary News

Dear Parents and Carers,

We have recently completed out inter tribe competitions in school and would love you to see all the information about them. Please have a look at the PE blogspot link here ihttps://pe-sw-abc.blogspot.com/ and see our youngsters in action.

The new term of the Upper Primary Science Club has started. Our graduates from last term have led the instruction for our new members, in the safe use of Bunsen Burners. New students have now obtained their Bunsen Burner licenses and can successfully boil water safely, using laboratory equipment under supervision. For many students, this was their first experience lighting matches and working with flame. Having mastered these skills, students were able to make Harry Potter, movie prop, magic wands using magnesium metal burning in air. Some other notable experiments were “energy in cookies” and “reacting sugar with acid”. A recent exploration was in the area of forensic science where the question we were seeking to answer was “what is in ink?” Using chromatography, students were able to demonstrate that inks are often composed of many unique colours, allowing us to identify which pen was used in our “crime scene”. Students are recording their experimental observations in their science journals, as all good scientists should, and receiving feedback about their work. It is encouraging to see our Primary students excited by and engaged in Science.
On Thursday 31st May the school is closed for an INSET day. This is where the school carries out inservice training for the staff and allows teams to get together for planning and preparations to begin for next year, Including the ordering of resources from abroad which can take several months to get here. We hope you have an enjoyable day. We will be working very hard!

Please check the dates below or the whole school calendar for the end of year assemblies when we recognise ‘Effort Leads to Success’. As mentioned in last week’s ABC weekly we will be awarding ROC Values awards this year.

The school will be closed on Thursday 31st May for staff training. Please make a note in your diary and check child care arrangements are in place.

Enjoy your weekend.

Sharon Short
Head of Primary
Lead Safeguarding Officer.

Dates for your diary

Lower Primary
May
Thursday 31st May - school closed INSET for teachers 
June
Tuesday 12th - Kinder trip to Maya Country Club - 8:30am - 12:00m.
Monday 18th: First grade trip to Cinemark, La Gran Vía

Upper Primary
May
Friday 25th - Grade 2 Trip to Bicentenario Park - 7:30am - 11:30am
Thursday 31st May - school closed INSET for teachers 
June
Friday 8th - Moving up day
Saturday 9th - UK Trip 2018 Team Building Morning - 9:00am - 12:00pm 
Monday 11th - Grade 2 Effort leads to Success Assembly - 7:30am - 9:00am - PAC
Tuesday 12th - Grade 3 Effort leads to Success Assembly - 7:30am - 9:00am - PAC
Wednesday 13th - 3rd Dykes Assembly - PAC - 9:20am & 12:15pm
Wednesday 13th - Grade 4 Effort leads to Success Assembly - 7:30am - 9:00am - PAC
Friday 15th - Last day of Extracurricular Activities
Tuesday 19th - Children’s Fun Day for Upper Primary
Wednesday 20th - Grade 5 Moving on Assembly - 7:30am - 9:00am - PAC
Wednesday 20th - Grade 5 Moving on Party - 5:00pm - 8:30pm - PAC
Friday 22nd - Last day of SY 2017 - 2018

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

Secondary News

Dear Parents and carers, 

I start this message with a great big THANK YOU to Hilda Gómez, Melissa Hernández and Judith de Méndez, our incredible LRC librarians on their day! It is important to recognise that our LRC staff teach all of us important literacy and technology skills, which we will benefit from for life!


Grade 12 Cal 3 reports
Please access the Cal 3 reports via the iSAMS portal today at 2.00p.m. If you are unable to access your child’s report, please speak with them to verify that they have returned all their books to their teachers and have been “cleared” on our system. The Graduation events are coming up very soon and we look forward to seeing them at the rehearsals and events soon. Please check the Schedule of these events carefully and ensure your child attends and is punctual to all of them as it is compulsory to attend rehearsals. I know we will all enjoy them to the maximum!

Class of 2019- University Search and Application Process- Parent Partnership 
From Maria Eugenia Diaz-Nuila - University Guidance Department 
As part of the University Guidance process, we will be holding an information session entitled "University Search and Application Process". Parents and students of Grade 11 are strongly encouraged to attend as we are certain it will provide information regarding the application process which will prove very helpful throughout the year. It will cover how to search for universities, and the requirements and deadlines for different countries.

Monday June 4th at 6.00 p.m. in the PAC- We hope to see you all there!

As part of the Careers Program we also wanted to invite 11° grade students to take the Vocational Orientation Test (Prueba de Orientación Vocacional). This year the Universidad Dr. José Matías Delgado will be conducting them on Thursday June 7th, 2018. We will leave at 7.30 a.m.

The cost of the test is $15.00 per student, and it has to be paid in full before the established date of the test at the Caja ABC (from 7.00 am to 1.00 pm). Please make the payment to the account: PRUEBA DE ORIENTACIÓN VOCACIONAL”, and bring the receipt to the University Guidance office, along with the permission slip to go to the test. The last day to pay for the test is Thursday May 31st. After this date, no payments shall be received due to the fact that the university needs to prepare for the exact number of students. 

This test can be used as an instrument and as starting point in terms of having an idea of which are the areas of preference in opting for a professional career.

EUROPEAN UNION DAY
From Mr Eric Quijano
Today, our Grade 9 students participated in an interscholastic event called “Let's Talk about EU” at the German School with students from there and the French School. We celebrated Europe Day, which here in El Salvador has turned into an entire month of academic, artistic, sports, and cultural activities promoted by the European Union Embassy. The Embassy aims to raise awareness of two basic principles the EU was founded on, unity and respect for diversity, as EU Ambassador Andreu Bassols expressed at the opening ceremony. 

Ms. Ines Kahmann, German School Head, and Mr. Bassols led the inauguration. Teachers and students dressed in the commemorative event t-shirt, which displayed the logos of our three schools and the European Union’s, showing unity and cohesiveness under this year’s theme about the importance of cultural heritage. Afterward, students distributed into workshops in the arts, sports, literature, and culinary arts, to work on topics and activities that are common to the European countries. The students worked very well together, as if from the same school. 

Later on, we joined the ambassadors from Germany, Italy, and Great Britain for an open forum to address topics of interest among students, ranging from what it takes to become an ambassador, to questions like what is the EU doing to help with the refugee situation. In sum, there were great interventions by both students and ambassadors, showing the importance of discussion, debate, and the exchange of ideas to reach new understandings. 

The final closing event included presentations by the students in drama, music, video making, food preparation, painting, arts and crafts, and literature; overall, a great ending to a day when we celebrated unity with the European Union. 



Today, our Grade 9 students participated in an interscholastic event called “Let's Talk about EU” at the German School with students from there and the French School. We celebrated Europe Day, which here in El Salvador has turned into an entire month of academic, artistic, sports, and cultural activities promoted by the European Union Embassy. The Embassy aims to raise awareness of two basic principles the EU was founded on, unity and respect for diversity, as EU Ambassador Andreu Bassols expressed at the opening ceremony. 

Ms. Ines Kahmann, German School Head, and Mr. Bassols led the inauguration. Teachers and students dressed in the commemorative event t-shirt, which displayed the logos of our three schools and the European Union’s, showing unity and cohesiveness under this year’s theme about the importance of cultural heritage. Afterward, students distributed into workshops in the arts, sports, literature, and culinary arts, to work on topics and activities that are common to the European countries. The students worked very well together, as if from the same school. 

Later on, we joined the ambassadors from Germany, Italy, and Great Britain for an open forum to address topics of interest among students, ranging from what it takes to become an ambassador, to questions like what is the EU doing to help with the refugee situation. In sum, there were great interventions by both students and ambassadors, showing the importance of discussion, debate, and the exchange of ideas to reach new understandings. 

The final closing event included presentations by the students in drama, music, video making, food preparation, painting, arts and crafts, and literature; overall, a great ending to a day when we celebrated unity with the European Union. 

Europe Month
From María Haydée Diaz-KS3 Coordinator - Spanish Department
The ABC Spanish Department, represented by María Haydée Díaz and David Flores, attended “Europe Month” organized by Escuela Alemana. 

Our 9th grade students had a very productive and exciting morning, working on their project “Los héroes del tiempo” (Heroes of Time), which was implemented alongside girls from Liceo Francés. 

This has been a fulfilling experience for them.



End of YEAR AWARDS CEREMONIES
We would like to ask you to make a note in your agendas to come to support your child’s Grade in their End of Year Awards Ceremonies. 

They are taking place in the PAC as follows:
Grade 6- Tuesday 19th of June, 7.00- 8.00 am
Grade 7- Monday 18th June, 7:00- 8:00 am
Grade 8- Tuesday 19th June, 1:00- 2:00 pm
Grade 9- Monday 18th June, 10:15- 11:00 am
Grade 10- Friday 15th June, 7:00- 8:00 am
Grade 11- Monday 18th June, 11:00- 11:50 am

Please take note that next Thursday 31st of May is an INSET day for teachers so school is closed for students. We look forward to seeing them back on Friday 1st of June. Grade 6, 7 and 8 have their annual “Linguistic races” which I know are great fun and a great learning experience for them! 

Have a wonderful weekend.

Kind regards, 

Natalia Cáceres Escalón 

Dates for your diary
May
Thursday 31st - school closed for all students: INSET for teachers
June
Saturday 2nd to Saturday 9th - Grade 8 History and Science Washington trip
Monday 4th - Grade 12 Senior Exit and last Day of School; Grade 11 University Guidance Parent Partnership Meeting, 6pm PAC
Thursday 7th - ABC DVA Awards, 6pm PAC
Thursday 7th and Friday 8th - Grade 5 Moving Up Day in Secondary 
Friday 8th -Grade 9 Empowerment Day and Grade 10 Cal 3 Reports publishing via iSAMS
Monday 11th - Logros Event for all Grades, 6pm PAC
Monday 11th to Friday 15h - Grade 9 Work Experience / 
Tuesday 12th - Grade 5 in Secondary Parent Partnership Meeting, 6pm/ Grades 6, 7 & 8 Kombi-Dar breakfast
Thursday 14th - Class 2018 Graduation Ceremony, 5pm in the Auditorium - Grades 10 and 11 students must return to school at 4:15 to their Tutor classrooms
Friday 15th - Grade 10 Awards Ceremony, 7am PAC
Monday 18th - Grade 6 Water Day / Grade 7 Awards Ceremony, 7am PAC / Grade 9 Award Ceremony, 10:15 am PAC & Grade 11 Award Ceremony, 11am PAC
Tuesday 19th - Grade 7 Poverty Day / Grade 6 Award Ceremony, 7am PAC & Grade 8 Award Ceremony, 1pm PAC
Wednesday 20th - Grade 5 in Secondary Moving Up Assembly, 7:30am PAC / Grade 6, 7, 8, 9 & 11 Cal 3 Reports publishing via iSAMS / ABC’s Got Talent 10am
Friday 22nd - Last Day of Term three and End of School Year 

Team Sports

TSP Football
College Cup - Football - U18 (m) -
ABC 1 - 3 Liceo Salvadoreño was the result of today’s match. 

TSP Football
Bulldogs Cup – Football – U8 (m) –
During Thursday’s second match, the ABC and the Escuela Panamericana played a very exciting game.

Results:
ABC 4 - 4 Escuela Panamericana

TSP Football
Bulldogs Cup – Football – U10 (m) –
On Thursday the ABC played against BeSport, and the Bulldogs won the match 

TSP BKB
57th Student Games– BKB – Mini (m) –
To finish off the second round, the Bulldogs played twice against Santa Cecilia. At the end, our team won the victory over Santa Cecilia. 

Go Bulldogs!!!

TSP Handball
Trojan League- Handball -
The Trojan League came to an end, leaving the Bulldogs as an important opponent.

The U14 Bulldogs team won as the undefeated champion, and although our U12 Bulldogs team won 5th place, they did an excellent job as they played in the U14 category.

TSP Track and Field
Trojan Tournament – Track and Field 2018 -
There was activity in the Track and Field Tournament where sprinters were tested on speed and strength. The results are as follows:

U14 Category
Ana Isabela González Velázquez
1st place 80 mts
1st place long jump
1st place 600 mts 

Andrea Murillo
2nd place 80 mts

Irene Quan Andino
2nd place long jump

U16 Category
Sofía Huezo Bandek
2nd place 100mts
2nd place long jump

U18 Category
Nancy Massillon
1st place 100mts

TSP BKB
Bilingual League – BKB – Cadet (m) –
ABC Champion!!!!

The Bulldogs were crowned champions of the Bilingual League during a very exciting game.

ABC 36 – 34 Escuela Americana

57th Student Games - BKB - Mini (m) -
Showing excellent defensive skills, the Bulldogs managed to control a very difficult match.

ABC 45 - 15 Colegio Santa Cecilia​

Bilingual League - BKB - Pasarela (m) -
The Bulldogs in the Pasarela category, played against Colegio Maya. It was an even game from the beginning, but during the second half the ABC managed to take the lead.

ABC 33 - 23 Colegio Maya

Bilingual League – Football- U8 (m) –
Once more, the ABC played against the American School in what now has become known as the Classic in the Bilingual League. An even match which ended in a tie.

ABC 1 – 1 American School

Bulldogs Cup – Football - U8 (m) –
Two very exciting games in the U8 Category took place. The ABC played against Escuela Alemana, and in the second match the ABC played against Liceo Frances. Great effort shown by our teams, but at the end both games were won by our opponents.

Bilingual League - Football - U12 (m) -
This match took place at the beginning of the week, and the Escuela Alemana won 4-2 against the ABC.

European Union –


Today at the Escuela Alemana, the European Union held a sports event in which an estimated 200 children participated in handball, BKB, and football activities.

The morning was a display of emotions, fun, harmony, and friendship, some of the values sports pursue. 

The participating schools were: Liceo Castilla, Colegio Español Padre Arrupe, Liceo Francés, Academia Británica Cuscatleca, and Escuela Alemana

Congratulations to everyone involved!!!



College Cup - Football - U18 (m) -
The ABC finished the week with a new victory over Colegio Augusto Walte in the College Cup. Now our team has better chances of getting into the next stage of the championship.

ABC 5 - 0 Colegio Augusto Walte

57th Student Games - Pasarela (m) -

The Bulldogs Pasarela team continues participating in the Student Games, this time playing against Colegio Inmaculada Concepción.

Friday 18 May 2018

33: Friday 18th May 2018

From the Director

Congratulations to the Class of 2018 who are finishing their IB exams this week. The IB Diploma is a demanding programme designed to bring out the best in young people both academically and in terms of their social and international awareness. The examinations at the end are challenging and rigorous and we are proud of the work the students have done to prepare for their examinations. We are the only school in the country which offers full IB Diplomas to all our graduating class and it is a huge achievement that so many of them achieve the full diploma each year. It is a tribute to our community, to our families and our students as well as to our excellent staff and the school. 

The parents of the Class of 2020 will be aware that the IGCSE examinations roll on for a few weeks longer. At the end of the IGCSE examinations the Class of 2020 will be starting their circus rehearsals as their circus will be taking place at the end of August 2018. Please put the dates in your diary! 

I would like to add my congratulations to the Varsity Boys football team who overcame Josue this week to claim third place in the Bilingual League. They have proved themselves to be a talented team this year and they could have achieved even more with a little luck! We are still very proud of their determination and their achievements and many of the team will still be in school next year so we hope to see even more success next year. On the sporting theme I would also like to again highlight the amazing resurgence in girls volleyball this year and congratulate everyone involved including you the parents and the girls for getting involved. Anyone who watches one of their games can see how much they are enjoying themselves. That for me is what sport is about - being part of a team and achieving that feeling of success together. Go Bulldogs!

We had a very interesting visit from Dr. Guy Djoken who works at the UNESCO Centre for Peace in Washington. He is visiting El Salvador inspiring young people to give peace priority in their lives. To learn more about the UNESCO Center for Peace, please see: http://www.unescocenterforpeace.org/. His message to our students was to show that you care and make a positive difference in your world especially in terms of helping El Salvador and the world achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. One of our students asked him which goal was his favourite. He answered the last one - partnership - because if we do not work together we will not achieve any of them! It made me think of the importance of all of us working together as staff and parents to achieve the best for all out children. Here is a reminder of the SDGs. 


We had fun in school today celebrating the forthcoming wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. It is nice for us to share the happiness of a young couple as they look forward to their lives together. We wish them a happy future and I wish all of you a pleasant weekend. 

Primary News

Dear Parents and Carers,

In school we have always recognised the value of reading at home in all sorts of ways. Not just the child reading to the parents but sharing books together, reading books without words and making up the story to go with the pictures, guessing what might happen next, all of these things really help with children’s academic development. Here is a very short article that explains the benefits of reading 20 mins a day. It is well worth the two minutes to read it.


Today we have celebrated the upcoming Royal Wedding. Everyone in Primary wore red white and blue - and very lovely they all looked - it would be a great new uniform choice! Everyone was able to have a cupcake on the lawn in front of Mr Keslake’s office in our version of an English garden party with images of Harry and his bride to be looking on. It will be a very exciting event in the UK and we wanted to reflect that here in the ‘British School’. We wish the Royal couple well and all the best for their future together.

Thank you to everyone who has sent in a backpack or lunchbox for the CAS appeal. Keep them coming. We will be collecting them until the end of August so don’t throw them away. 


In Primary we feel it is very important to recognise the efforts of all of our students. We feel that every child in school has many very good qualities. We want to be as inclusive as we can so that as many children as possible can experience success in school, whilst recognising those students who have achieved well. In line with this policy we are changing our awards at the Upper Primary end of year assemblies to ROC Value Awards where every child will receive an award recognising the value that they have demonstrated most consistently throughout the year. We will also be awarding a limited number of academic awards per grade to supplement this. We are very keen to promote attendance and punctuality and so will also be recognising those children with the highest levels of both for the academic year. We think these changes will reflect our school’s attitude to our students more accurately and I am sure you will agree.

We only have a few more weeks left of school and we can see that some children are demonstrating tiredness. Please ensure all children have a good night’s sleep every school night and that they get to bed nice and early so that they can cope with the following day.

Have a lovely weekend.

Sharon SHort 
Head of Primary
Lead Safeguarding Officer.

Dates for your diary

Lower Primary
May
Thursday 24th - Trip to Super Selectos Las Cascadas: Kinder Suárez and Kinder Quintanilla - 9:00-10:30am
Thursday 24th - Trip to Super Selectos Las Cascadas: Kinder Cáceres and Kinder Francés- 10:00-11:30am
Thursday 31st May - school closed INSET for teachers 
June
Tuesday 12th - Kinder Suárez and Kinder Cáceres trip to Maya Country Club - 8:30am - 12:00m.
Wednesday 13th - Kinder Quintanilla and Kinder Francés trip to Maya Country Club - 8:30am - 12:00m.

Upper Primary
Friday 25th May - Grade 2 Trip to Bicentenario Park - 7:30am - 11:30am
Thursday 31st May - school closed INSET for teachers 

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

Secondary News

Dear parents and carers,

Today we celebrate the Royal wedding and I must say it was a fun day! We thoroughly enjoyed the cupcakes and the garden party with our staff and students today. Thank you to Anabella Soto, Estefanía Chacón and Natalia Carrillo for all your work with this, Rafael Martinez for the wonderful music and of course our Prefects who helped distribute the cupcakes!


DVA Awards
From Mrs Jennifer García- LRC Coordinador
The annual ABC Digital Video Awards will take place on June 7th this year, with submissions from across Primary and Secondary as well as submissions from the French School and Acton Academy. All nominations have now been submitted and voting begins today. A Google Form has been sent to all staff and students and anyone with an abc-net account can vote. Voting will close this coming Monday at 6 pm, so please do encourage your children to watch the videos and vote for their favourite ones. 

A form to purchase an optional t-shirt for DVA will be sent out to all nominees shortly. Information about purchasing the t-shirts and the corresponding deadline will be included in the form. We look forward to reporting back on this event next month.


SWIMMING GALAS
From Ms Cecy Hernández- PE Head of Department 
This week Secondary students from 6th to 9th participated at the Swimming and Water polo competition. All students had fun and competed performing their best at every game and swimming event. Please visit our PE blog to see our kids in action: 


The Grade 11 and Grade 9 students begin their Exams next week and should be spending some time this weekend preparing for these and ensuring they have all the equipment and materials they will need for them. Mr Hall has sent all the relevant information to parents and students. Please read these documents carefully as they contain all the regulations, including Uniform and equipment allowed. 

THE MEDIA and social platforms- What are our children doing and watching online? 
It is unfortunate to say that we continue to deal with isolated incidents of students displaying disrespectful and unkind behaviour towards others via Whatsapp chats and other social media platforms. We remind you that every social media has an age restriction and that we need to be very careful and proactive in guiding our children regarding their use of electronic media. Often, children will behave and express themselves online (text, Memes, etc) in manners which they would not dream of doing in person. The influence of being over exposed to these types of communication media is clear.

On this note, I would like to warn you that Netflix releases the second season of the highly controversial series “13 Reasons Why” today. As you may remember, we held a Parent Partnership regarding the content of this series last year as it became very clear to us that the high popularity of the series caused serious impact on the decision making and behaviour of teenagers. The series stirred much confusion regarding very sensitive topics such as bullying, rape, self harm, drunk driving, substance abuse, sexual abuse, and of course suicide being presented as the manner the protagonist decided to deal with these issues. The storyline of the second series is not published yet but we know there will be once again very explicit and controversial scenarios explored such as a rape trial, another suicide attempt and a school shooting, among others. We encourage you to talk with your children about the series and guide them to reflect upon the nature of the decision made and the attitudes towards these issues which are presented in the series. This link is worth visiting for some information on how to talk with your children about it. 

Have a wonderful weekend! 

Kind regards,

Natalia Cáceres Escalón

Dates for your diary
May
Monday 21st - CAL exams start for Grade 9 & 11 students
Thursday 31st May - school closed for all students: INSET for teachers

Friday 11 May 2018

32: Friday 11th May 2018

From the Director

We are recognising the value of being open minded at school which is one of our CORE ABC values. We have come to realise that being open minded helps our children think about different ways to solve problems and to consider problems or challenges from different perspectives. All of us as adults are aware of situations where we needed to think about something from a different perspective, rather than always approaching it the same way and hence finding a solution. We also have to bear in mind that being open minded also leads to us being more willing to think outside the box and to apply creativity all of which are important skills as we help prepare children for challenges ahead.

We are approaching the graduation time of year with many events coming up for the Class of 2018. It is an important time of year for all of us to reflect on our student’s aspirations for the future. I know from the experiences of the Class of 2018 that many students are fulfilling dreams that they have had for many years while others are still exploring their options. As parents and educators it is important we help children to understand their talents and their interests and how those might relate to university and future careers. It is also important we allow them to develop their own talents and choices. This sometimes requires us as parents to be open minded about our children and their interests rather than expecting them to follow a particular path.

I hope you have a nice weekend.

Primary News

Dear parents and carers,

I hope all our mothers had a happy Mother’s day yesterday and that your families let you have some rest and had some nice treats planned. 

Please keep an eye on the school calendar. We have the Lower and Upper primary talent shows at the very end of term. The auditions will start soon and we want the children to be prepared. There will be 12 places per talent show so the competition is tough to get through. We are sorry if your child does end up disappointed, but please help them to cope, with the reminder that there is always next time and next time they can be better prepared.

On Monday 14th May it is the whole school unit ‘the world cup’ entry point. There will be a ceremony that will be live streamed if you want to see what is going on. Grade 1 will be dancing to represent the host country Russia and we will have a genuine russian speaker as well as some local football talent to inspire our students.

You all received the flyer last week about plastic bags. Please send your carrier bags in to school where we will be using them to make sleeping mats for the homeless. It is better not to use carrier bags at all but if you do have them then to ensure they do not end up in the sea or in landfill sites we need to find ways to reuse them.

This year there have been some noise issues for the students taking their exams so from time to time children will not be allowed to sit on the white benches directly next to the PAC. We ask for your understanding whenever we have this temporary change in arrangements. Please make sure other people who pick up your children know this too.

There are quite a few trips out of school at the moment. pLease note that they have all been approved and risk assessments have been carried out.

Enjoy your weekend.

Sharon Short
Head of Primary
Lead Safeguarding Officer.

Dates for your diary

Lower Primary
May
Tuesday 15th: Pre-Kinder Siri and Pre-Kinder Carbajal trip to Pizza Hut Las Cascadas
Wednesday 16th: Pre-Kinder Rampone and Pre-Kinder González trip to Pizza Hut Las Cascadas
Thursday 31st May - school closed INSET for teachers 

Upper Primary
Monday 14th - Golf clinic starts - $40 - 2:15pm - 3:15pm - ABC Field 
Friday 18th - UK Trip 2018 Study Group (2pm - 3pm)
Friday 18th - Last day to return permission slip for Grade 2 Trip to Parque Bicentenario
Friday 25th - Grade 2 Trip to Bicentenario Park - 7:30am - 11:30am
Thursday 31st May - school closed INSET for teachers 

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

Secondary News

Dear parents and carers,

I would like to start by reminding the community of our commitment with the environment and in particular the CAS activity that the LRC and Grade 11 students are leading regarding the use of plastic shopping bags to make sleeping mats for homeless people around the community. Please encourage your children to bring them in to the LRC! 

Santa Ana Geography Field Trip - Wednesday 9th May
From Mr Kilford- HoD Geography
On Wednesday 23 IGCSE Geography students climbed Santa Ana volcano to experience the challenge of climbing the highest volcano in the country. During this trip students reviewed their knowledge of stratovolcanoes at destructive plate boundaries and learned more about why some people decide to live close to active volcanoes such as this. A fun and exhausting time was had by all. "This was the most tiresome but fun trip I have been on" said a Grade 9 student.



GRADE 8 - Art, Drama & History UK trip in April 2019 
Thank you for those parents and students that attended last Wednesday 9th May meeting where we showed a PP presentation about the Art, Drama & History UK trip in April 2019 (SY18-19) . You should have received via email the letter with all the details and new dates for payments. If you missed the meeting but would like information about it, please don’t hesitate to send an e-mail to adrianhall@abc-net.edu.sv or call Roxana Hall at 2201-6261.

Don’t forget our Swimming Galas coming up!
Monday 14th at 10:30 a.m. P4 - 6th Girl´s Competition 
Monday 14th at 1:00 a.m. P6 - 7th Girl´s Competition
Tuesday 15th at 10:30 a.m. P4 - 9th Girl´s Water polo Competition
Tuesday 15th at 1:00 a.m. P6 - 8th Girl´s Competition
Wednesday 16th at 10:30 a.m. - P4 - 7th Boy´s Competition
Thursday 17th at 10:30 a.m. - P4 - 8th Boy´s Competition
Friday 18th at 10:30 a.m. - P4 - 6th Boy´s Competition

May the best tribe win!

The summer is just round the corner and like every year, we encourage our students to make the best use of this time to grow and learn more. This year, we are offering a Summer Course for our older students within the framework of our Annual ABC Summer Camp. It has been designed with our students in mind to help them in their path through Secondary school in preparation for life after school. If you are interested and would like to know more, please contact Sara Suster sarasuster@abc-net.edu.ev


ABC’s Got Talent!
From Mr Pike- Drama teacher
Does your son or daughter have a talent?
If so ... We Need Them! ABC's Got Talent is back on Wednesday 20th June and we need performers.m

Whether they sing, dance, act, juggle, do magic, have an entertaining sporting act, do martial arts, or have any other talent; either as a soloist or part of a group - this is the chance for them to show off their talents to the community!

Auditions will be scheduled between Monday 14th May and Thursday 17th May and finalists will be announced on 23rd May.

Audition pieces should be between 2 - 4 minutes in length and will be watched by a panel of judges to decide who makes it through to the final show on 20th June.

Please encourage your child to participate by filling in this form by Thursday 10th May.

Grade 10 and Grade 12 continue in their examinations and Grade 9 and Grade 11 will be starting their Cal 3 exams soon! Please check that your child has their Exam timetable ready and has all the equipment they will need for these important exams. A reminder of the importance of sleep and a healthy lifestyle at these times!

Best of luck to all our students.


Have a wonderful weekend.

Kind regards,

Natalia Cáceres Escalón

Dates for your diary
May
Monday 21st - CAL exams start for Grade 9 & 11 students
Thursday 31st May - school closed for all students: INSET for teachers

Team Sports

These are the latest activities:

TSP BKB
Friendly Match-BKB-Cadets (m) -
Our team played as host against Colegio Nazareth. A very exciting match where the Bulldogs kept displayed a good set of skills. 

TSP Football
College Cup - Football - U18 (m)
Colegio Josué and the ABC played for the College Cup. The match was very exciting and the player’s skills were even, although at the end the ABC won the game.

ABC 5 - 2 Colegio Josué

TSP BKB
57th Student Games - BKB - Mini (m) -
A new match in the 57th Student Cup took place between Colegio Nazareth and our Bulldogs. Our girls visited Colegio Nazareth and won the match for the ABC. 

Go Bulldogs!!!!

Bulldogs Cup - Football - U8 -
In a threefold football session, three very exciting matches with a good display of football moves, score of goals, and exciting action. The boys gave their best in each of the matches.

Results:
ABC 3 - 2 Escuela Panamericana
ABC 3 - 3 Escuela Alemana
ABC 2 - 3 BeSport

Bulldogs Cup - Football - U6 -
Tuesday ended with good football action. There were two very exciting matches ath the ABC. The ABC played against BeSports; and another Bulldogs team played against Escuela Alemana.

ABC 3 - 6 BeSport
ABC 7 - 0 Escuela Alemana

TSP Football
Bilingual League - Football - U12 -
Double football match in the Bilingual League. Good moves and good goals. This sets the ABC in a very good position for the closing of this stage of the League. 
ABC 3 - 6 Colegio Josué
ABC 6 - 4 Liceo Francés

European Union –
This morning the ABC participated in an event called, “Nadar y correr para Europa”. This event is open for all European schools in El Salvador. The students of these international schools competed in swimming and in track and field sports (mixed relays and beat 60 minute records).

The participating schools were:
Academia Británica Cuscatleca
Escuela Alemana
Liceo Castilla
Colegio Padre Arrúpe
Colegio Santa Cecilia
Liceo Francés (host)

Friendly Match – Football – U10 (f) –
The Bulldogs girls played two matches against the girls from Corazón de María. Very exciting games where the girls from both teams displayed good skills.

ABC 1 – 2 Corazón de María
ABC 7 – 0 Corazón de María

Bilingual League - Football - U14 (m) -
An exciting match in the Bilingual League between the ABC and Escuela Alemana. Good football, good goals.

ABC 3 - 6 Escuela Alemana

Friday 4 May 2018

31: Friday 4th May 2018

From the Director


We had a very welcome visit from Mr. Bernhard Garside the Ambassador to the United Kingdom on Wednesday morning to promote a campaign sponsored by the Embassy to reduce plastic waste. Sometimes in our personal lives we think of recycling as a nice thing to do if we have time but not a high priority. Mr. Garside pointed out that our world is in serious danger of plastic poisoning with plastic entering our food chain through the exposure of fish to plastic on our seas. The situation is urgent but as he pointed out each and everyone of us can make a big difference. Indeed each and every one of us needs to. It is essential that we recycle plastic and prevent it getting into our oceans as waste. It is essential we use non plastic alternatives whenever we can, not using straws,not using unnecessary plastic bags when we go shopping. We are going to help our students lead this campaign and inspire all of us to take the idea of “reduce reuse and recycle”seriously. I would like to thank Mr. Garside for bringing this campaign back to school and challenging us to make a difference in our corner of the world.

The Class of 2018 and 2020 are now involved in their final IB and IGCSE examinations respectively. These are important external examinations where are children are judged against international standards and students all over the world. We are confident they will do well and we are proud of their achievements so far. The Class of 2018 will soon be in their graduation period and there will be many events when younger children will also be attending. I want to take this opportunity to remind all of us that we have a responsibility, backed by the Ley Lepina to ensure that younger children are protected during these events. In particular it is important they are not exposed to alcohol or left unsupervised at these events. I know all of us are working to ensure these events are safe but we must not take anything for granted. 

I would like to wish all families a Happy Mothers Day and hope you have a time to reflect on families and the importance of spending time with each other. 

Primary News

Dear Parents and Carers,

A short week this week but still plenty to tell you!

Fridays Latin Music Night went with a swing. The children performed beautifully and the guest band were very exciting. Thank you to all those students who performed, staff who decorated and organised, and family members who came to watch and dance. It was a most enjoyable evening as always. Here you can see some people sitting round the dance floor watching the performances at the start.


Last week as part of the Funzel Fundraising 3rd Mena also had their bake sale. THe children had made lots of delicious things for everyone to eat and the stall was very popular. Well done 3rd Mena! The whole school total is rising very nicely and currently stands at $1,444.55. I would also like to mention one of our second graders Lourdes Zeledon from 2nd Tutty, who decided to do some of her own fundraising over the weekend. She raised an additional $18 entirely on her own. Well done for showing such initiative. She is just one example of the fantastic effort made by all the students in the primary school.

We also like to support the community whenever possible and recently there have been two retreats in school. There were 75 children in the 3rd to 5th grade Retiro, which took place in the UP area. PK to 2nd grade were in the Auditorium-PAC- basketball-Cafeteria area. 133 children attended this one, the PK and K children were with their parents.

Very soon we will be sending out information on two projects the school is undertaking. One is to collect backpacks and lunch boxes that the children have finished with and our CAS students will distribute them to underprivileged children. Many of our students get new lunchboxes and backpacks as a matter of routine each year so the CAS students will be collecting the old ones until the end of August but please bring them in as soon as you can. The other project is making sleeping mats from woven plastic bags. This beautiful country is ruined by the rubbish we see everywhere, and of course the planet as a whole is suffering from single use plastic pollution. We are going to ask you to bring in all of your plastic bags so they can be reused to make the sleeping mats. Please remember though the best thing is not to use a plastic bag at all.

On Monday 14th May it is the IPC unit ‘The World Cup’ entry point. This involves all of the clases from Prepa to 5th directly and EYFS are joining in with anything they think is appropriate for their age group. We are planning to livestream the event. The classes will be allocated their teams for the football tournament at the end of the unit and they will be researching their country’s history and geography in the build up. 

Next week the school will be closed for Mother’s day. We wish all of our mothers out there a lovely day.

Best wishes,

Sharon Short
Head of Primary 
Lead Safeguarding Officer.

Dates for your diary

Lower Primary
May
Thursday 10th: Mother’s Day School Closed
Tuesday 15th: Pre-Kinder Siri and Pre-Kinder Carbajal trip to Pizza Hut Las Cascadas
Wednesday 16th: Pre-Kinder Rampone and Pre-Kinder González trip to Pizza Hut Las Cascadas
Thursday 31st May - school closed INSET for teachers 

Upper Primary
Friday 4th - UK Trip 2018 Study Group (2pm - 3pm)
Monday 7th - 4th Guzmán visit to Pizza Hut Las Cascadas - 8:30am - 12:00pm
Tuesday 8th - 4th Rumsey visit to Pizza Hut Las Cascadas - 8:30am - 12:00pm
Wednesday 9th - 4th Quijano visit to Pizza Hut Las Cascadas - 8:30am - 12:00pm
Thursday 10th - Mother's Day school closed
Friday 11th - 2nd grade bake sale
Friday 11th - 4th Molina visit to Pizza Hut Las Cascadas - 8:30am - 12:00pm

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

Secondary News

Noticias de Secundaria

Dear parents and carers,

A short but busy week in Secondary! 

We were very happy to receive the British Ambassador who came to talk to our Secondary students about the “ETNYA Earth Ambassadors” campaign which the UK Embassy is promoting. He invited our students to think about how much plastic they use on a daily basis and encouraged us to reduce our use of single use plastics which end up in the seas, causing havoc! We encourage our community to use less, if at all, supermarket bags, plastic straws, plastic water bottles for a start! These are simple things we can do as a community which can have a huge impact in the long run. 

We encourage everyone to collaborate to this global campaign. Remember you can bring in your plastic waste to the School to our Recycling centre located on near the cafeteria. Don’t forget to share your efforts via social media on #YouAreTheChange

The LRC and a group of Grade 11 IB students have launched a CAS campaign to work on this very thing. Please support! 


Our Grade 10 and Grade 12 students continue in their examination process and we wish them all the very best of luck! Grade 9 and Grade 11 are now heading to their Cal 3 Exam time and are working hard in preparation for these. Mr Adrian Hall will be contacting parents with more information on these soon.

I sign off quoting the Ambassador when he reminded us that “we do not inherit the world to our children, we borrow it from them.” It is all of our responsibility to do all we can to protect it and do our bit in Reducing, Reusing and Recycling!

Have a wonderful weekend. 

Kind regards,

Natalia Cáceres Escalón

Dates for your diary
May
Monday 21st - CAL exams start for Grade 9 & 11 students
Friday 25th - Class 2018 Senior entrance and last day in School
Thursday 31st May - school closed INSET for teachers 

Team Sports

Bulldogs Cup– Football – U10 (m) –


The other Bulldog team also had a match against Escuela Panamericana, during which the opposing team managed to give the Bulldogs a hard time. But an excellent set of football skills enabled our boys to score the 3 points needed to go through to the next round.

ABC 4 – 0 Escuela Panamericana

Bulldogs Cup – Football – U10 (m)


The ABC and the Liceo Francés played an exciting game which was won by the Bulldogs. This win enables the ABC team to go through to the next round.

Go Bulldogs!!!

TSP Handball
Trojan League - Handball-


The Trojan League began activities with a game between the American School and the Bulldogs which was won by our team won as visiting team.

U14
Escuela Americana 10 - 43 ABC

TSP Football
Bilingual League – Football - U14 (m) -


After a long weekend, the sports activity began with football. The ABC and the American School played in the Bilingual League.

ABC 2 - 4 Escuela Americana

TSP Archery
I1st National Tournament for Beginners 2018 - Archery -


The ABC competed in the tournament with a team of 11 archers. This event was organized by the Natonal Federation of Archery. The Bulldogs performance was outstanding in the 10, 20, and 30 metres. Some of the results are shown below:

Andrés Hernández Gold in the qualifying round and National Record in the 10 metres, and a Bronze medal.

José Miguel Jimenez, Gold in the qualifying round, and Silver medal

TSP Football
College Cup - Football - U18 (m) -


With a score of 4 to 0, the Bulldogs had a new victory. The boys played very simple, but yet, very effective football.

ABC 4 - 0 Colegio Maya