Words from the Director
We have had an excellent response to our shoebox campaign to help make Christmas special for children around the country. Thank you to all the families who participated and showed once again that the ABC is a community that cares. Many of our older children will be involved in Operation Pupusa over Christmas and again we thank you for your support. We are hoping many secondary students will come to help Operation Pupusa at school on the 23 and 24 of December. If your son or daughter wants to participate please remind them to register through the email sent by the organizing team. We are also proud of all our students who contributed to the Teletón over the past few weeks, we enjoyed seeing everyone wearing their shirts and supporting such a worthy cause. To read more about the community service our students have been involved in during this season, please see our newsblog.
On a personal note I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for all their support this term. In particular I want to thank my staff for their dedication to the work, our ABC children for their participation and especially you our parents. I know that together we make a great community working together for each other and especially for our children. It has been an amazing term and I am already looking forward to welcoming you back to school on Monday 7th January. In the meantime I hope you all have an excellent holiday with your families and friends remembering and respecting the true spirit of Christmas.
Words from the Head of Primary
The final day of term one has arrived. I would like to share with you my reflections of ABC since I arrived in August. I have been amazed at how wonderful the ABC is. In particular the hard working staff, who care very much about the children and want to do their very best for them. I am very lucky to have leaders throughout Primary who support teaching and learning. The children who come to us every day are always excited about being at school. They love school and enjoy the many learning opportunities offered to them. The Director, school campus and amazing resources ensures our learners have every opportunity to grow, learn and thrive!
I hope your Christmas is filled with joy, love, family and friends. Christmas is about parents and children spending quality time together. If you are traveling, please take care, and if you are not, I hope you have a safe and fun holiday.
We look forward to seeing you all back on Monday, January 7th 2019!
Dates for your diary
Lower Primary
December
Friday 14th - Christmas Holiday Break
January
Monday 7th - Return to school from Holiday Break
Monday 7th - Session 3 extracurricular activities start
Upper Primary
December
Friday 14th - Christmas Holiday Break
January
Monday 7th - Return to school from Holiday Break
Monday 7th - Session 3 extracurricular activities start
Words from the Head of Secondary
Dear parents and carers,
It is incredible to believe we are already at the end of the first term of this academic year! It has been such a busy term and absolutely filled to capacity with learning opportunities and memory building moments. It is a time to give thanks and reflect upon our blessings. I would like to thank all our staff, who make the ABC be such an incredible place for our students. Truly they go above and beyond the call of duty and make coming to work a real pleasure. I would also like to thank all the students. Truly there have been moments this term when they have left us amazed and inspired and above all proud of what ROCs they are. Thank you to the parents who have collaborated with us throughout the term, whether it is by attending events, helping at sports day, trips, supporting campaigns and especially working with us in regards to teaching our students the value of punctuality and attendance to school and respect to the school by wearing their uniform with pride.
I would like to thank Clarisa Arteaga and Marco Samour, our Head Prefects, Sebastian Carranza and Ana Sofia Colorado, our Deputy Head students of the class of 2019, for all their work over the last 12 months leading the Prefect body. Thank you to all the Prefects of the class of 2019 for keeping our campus safe, mentoring our younger students and welcoming us to school every morning. It is now time to hand over to the class of 2020 through the temporary prefect team led by the newly appointed Head Students: Julie Espinal and Matteo Cabrero and Deputy Head Students: Paulina Alarcon and Guillermo Silva. We look forward to working with you!
Grade 12 IB Theatre Performance
From Mr Anthony Pike- Head of Drama
This week Clarisa Arteaga and Irma Hernandez presented the first of their IB Theatre performance pieces.
These were both based on the theories of well known theatre practitioners and the students had to select one aspect of their theory before creating a piece of theatre that showcased it.
The audience was treated to an emotional monologue based on excerpts from ‘A Raisin in the Sun’ and exploring the use of Uta Hagen’s emotional substitution - the result was a moving and somewhat disturbing piece in which real emotions were clearly displayed on stage.
The second piece was based on the theories of Zeami Motokiyo, a Japanese actor and playwright from the 14th Century, who was a leading practitioner in the dance/ drama tradition of Noh Theatre. This powerful performance demonstrated a high level of physical control and beautifully retold the Central American folktale of La Llorona through this Japanese art form.
Grade 7 Charity Event December 2018
From Ms Helen Hopkins- Head of Year 7
On Saturday December 8 ten Grade 7 students met at school just after 6am. They all piled into the school minibus and headed for the Costa del Sol. But they weren’t going to the beach or one of the many swimming pools or restaurants that line the coastline in that area. They were headed for the ISLA DE CORDONCILLO. In CAL 1 Grade 7 students had raised US$1200 and had decided to buy all 74 children a backpack full of items. An awesome achievement by all.
They were warmly welcomed by all islanders. They confidently met all children, learning their names, playing football, hitting pinatas. After a tour of their school Grade 7 decided that during CAL 2 money would be raised to buy equipment for the school, stationary, books, whiteboards. The children were also determined to let us know that they would appreciate some sports equipment too! So if you would like to support us in anyway please be in touch!
Any support whether it be with contributions or ideas of how to fundraise would be greatly appreciated. Grade 7 will be updating you regularly so watch out for this space!
Grade 10 Empowerment Camp
From Mr Anthony Pike- Head of Year 10
Last Thursday a large group of Grade 10 students and 6 teachers set off from school to Portezuelo Campsite near Sonsonate for their empowerment camp.
The activities started almost as soon as they arrived with the students split into four groups. Students took part in obstacle course, horse riding and a high speed buggy ride through the woods, lifesize table football and zorb football played whilst wearing giant inflatable balls.
After dinner there was a highly competitive, boys v girls, game of Capture the Flag with the boys just narrowly stealing a victory in the dying seconds of the game.
This was followed by ghost stories around the campfire, complete with sound effects and spectral visions. Once everyone had regained their nerves, the rest of the night was spent chatting and toasting marshmallows on the fire.
Following a chilly night, most students were up and awake bright and early ready for the challenging hike that was scheduled - a three hour trek that led through the woods to some fantastic views across the country. Despite some finding the hike more of a struggle than expected, all students (and staff) made it to the view point at the top and were able to enjoy views across to Santa Ana and Izalco volcanoes to the east and as far as Volcan Acatenango and Volcan de Fuego near Antigua Guatemala in the west.
After a few final games and another round of Capture the Flag (which the girls won convincingly!) it was time to return to school.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the students and staff who made it such an enjoyable trip.
Thank you once again for making this term so great and see you all back in school bright and early on Monday 7th of January 2019, before 7.00am!
Feliz navidad y próspero año 2019!
Kind regards,
Natalia Cáceres
Dates for your diary
December
Friday 14th - End of School term and Christmas holidays-Secondary school closed at 12 noon
January 2019
Monday 7th - Back to school. Arrive before 7.00 am please!
