5: Friday 14th September 2018

Words from the Director

We have had a very interesting week leading up to the Independence Day break. We have had some excellent assemblies and reflection on the idea of independence as it impacts on young people. We have also been reflecting on our pride in our country’s achievements as an independent nation. I would like to wish you all a good Independence Day on Saturday and through the long weekend. School reopens on Tuesday.

Action Jackson has had a big impact on our community this week with his positive message based around our values, vision and mission. I know he has inspired many students and it was amazing to see four hundred people at the evening event. We are going to continue working with Jackson and Ayo over the coming months to help our students realise their dreams as they approach their exams.

Please note Friday 21 of September in your diaries. We have a community event to celebrate the inauguration of our the new lights on our field. We will be having football and volleyball, food and soft drinks as well as tours of our new science laboratories. The event starts at 5.30 pm.

ABC Sports

We have had another very busy week with record numbers of children practicing after school. We have had a number of fixtures and our teams have performed with pride. A big shout out to our Varsity boys team who started their season with an excellent 7-1 victory over Colegio Josue. There is a long way to go to consistently achieve excellent results but we know that with our new practice guidelines and commitment that we will see the benefits. This term we will be focusing on fitness and preparations for the bilingual league tournament and finishing the Juegos Estudiantiles 2018. After the Christmas break we will be participating in College Cup tournaments provided we are happy with the safety and emotional environments especially for younger students. We need your cooperation and support about decisions regarding participation in events not organised directly through school.

We would like to see our ABC community supporting our students on sports activities, in response we are offering a special T-shirt designed for the “ABC barra” You might order it at the School shop in the coming two weeks, the same period to order the Sports uniforms that goes from September 10th to September 28th, details have been sent home through email and letters.

If you want to be informed about the games you might add to your calendar the ABC sports calendar:

https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=abc-net.edu.sv_d6lb0h8pai2ufhp7ah9nho405o%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America%2FEl_Salvador

Important dates

September 18th - Sports participants contract handout deadline

September 21st - FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHT. Duatlon, Football and Volleyball

September 28th - Last day to order Sports uniforms

Words from the Head of Primary

Today, school was closed for students and it will also closed on Monday to celebrate El Salvador’s Independence. Today was an important time for the teachers assistance as we spend this day developing and growing to ensure your children are receiving quality learning. In Primary we have 3 focuses- 1. Preparing for the CIS visit in November; 2. Improving our Maths programmes and; 3. Ensuring all staff undertake First Aid training.

Could parents ordering meals from the cafeteria please talk to your child first before ordering so the choice of food is something they like. Also, please inform your child that a lunch has been ordered as students are not coming to the cafeteria because they do not know a lunch has been ordered for them. Time, money and food is being wasted, so your cooperation in this matter would be appreciated.

This week Pre-kinder Francés has turned into a Cookie Factory. Children have been preparing cookies made of playdough and decorated them with colourful beads. They have enjoyed using their imagination and fine motor skills and are now ready to start baking their creations. But the story doesn't end there, they even sell their cookies!.

On Thursday our 5th grade students went on a trip to Parque Arqueológico San Andrés and Joya de Ceren as part of their Entry Point to the topic “AD 900”. Children were introduced to the Mayas and their culture: history, ideas, beliefs, religion.

On Wednesday it was 5th Caceres’ turn to present their Assembly, which was about El Salvador’s Independence Day. We thank Mrs Caceres and her team for preparing this assembly and congratulate the children for their great performance.

Yesterday we participated in the Independence Fair organized by the Secondary Section selling pupusas to support Fairs to Educate- our school charity. The Fairs to Educate Committee would like to thank all the children, parents and staff who supported this activity.

We will be celebrating Peace One Day next Friday 21st September. Please join in the celebrations. On this date we commemorate the occasion when all members of the United Nations unanimously adopted the first annual day of global ceasefire and non-violence.

This year the McLay Fun Run for 5th grade will take place again at Parque Bicentenario. On Friday 28th September children and their teachers will all leave in buses at 7.30am. The PE Department has planned several activities at the park. Children must bring a $1.00 to use the trails.

Children from Pre-kinder to 4th grade will take part in the McLay Fun Run on Friday 5th October here at school. This promises to be a morning filled with fun and challenging activities.

Dates for your diary

Lower Primary

September

Friday 14th - INSET Day school closed

Monday 17th - School Closed

Friday 21st - First Henriquez Assembly

Friday 28th - First Quintanilla Assembly

Upper Primary

September

Thursday 13th - ACTION JACKSON- Motivational Speaker from London, all parents welcome 6:00pm PAC

Friday 14th - INSET Day - School closed for students

Saturday 15th - National holiday - Salvadoran Independence Day

Monday 17th - School closed

Wednesday 19th - 4th Guzmán Assembly- 8:15am & 12:20 pm - PAC

Friday 21st - Peace One day

Wednesday 26th - 3rd Mena Assembly- 8:15am & 12:20 pm - PAC

Friday 28th - McLay Fun Run Grade 5 at Parque Bicentenario

October

Monday 1st - Children’s Day

Friday 5th - McLay Fun Run at school (2nd, 3rd & 4th Grade)

Saturday 20th - International Friendship Fair

Words from the Head of Secondary

Dear parents and carers,

Action Jackson

I AM AMAZING!

This was what kept being repeated to our students this past week as we hosted motivational speakers Action Jackson and his colleague Ayo. Their inspirational message of self confidence, growth mindset and positivism we know are tools which will enable our students to develop a successful mindset and leadership skills. It was incredible to see how our students responded to them and welcomed them into their life. Their sessions were filled with positive energy making students feel that our School’s motto “Effort leads to success” is true more than ever and it is attainable through time, effort and focus.

Some takeaways I will certainly remember and will remind students of:

“I am amazing, I will stay in my lane, I won’t give up!”

“My thoughts affect my feelings which in turn define my actions and affect my success.”

“The process a diamond goes through is different to the process plastic goes through. Your choice- want to be plastic or diamond? A diamond goes through pressure! But it is worth it.”

“What is your big WHY?”

We also held a session for our teachers where we were reminded that leaders “Know the way, Show the way and go the way.” Our visit ended with our Parent Partnership event where the team worked with our connection between parents and children and highlighted the importance of not comparing our children to anyone else and honouring their individual talents and streghts and above all, to love them AND challenge them and not over protect them in order for them to be able to fly in the world.

If you missed the Parent Partnership session, you can access the live stream here https://livestream.com/accounts/19223434

LRC celebrates the Civic month

Special thanks to our LRC staff for their valuable work. In the LRC we have spent a lot of time celebrating and enjoying our civic month and feeling very proud of our roots. You can see photographs of the different activities that were carried out in the LRC in this link https://goo.gl/og8MaS

We are very grateful for the participation of Mrs Roxana Hall and Mrs Lisseth de Castro for their participation in the Civic Week! The students learned and

They enjoyed the folk dance of El Salvador and we have received excellent comments from the students, they did not expect this surprise!

Civic Month Celebrations- Independence Day assembly

A huge thank you to Mr Alvin Silva, Ms Estela Mena, Mr Reebe Mayer and Mr Paul Valladares for putting on a beautiful and inspiring assembly to mark El Salvador’s Independence Day.

A special thank you to our Director, Mr Keslake, who reminded us of many reasons why we ought to be proud of our heritage. Among them, being the first country in the region to allow the vote for women, to abolish slavery and to join the United Nations. Our community was reminded that it is really a great privilege to belong to small country in size but immense in potential, culture and beauty.

You can see some of the assembly highlights on this link: https://goo.gl/XxkzhL

Some highlights: