24: Friday February 21st 2020

From the Director

I do a lot of interviewing. If you were in my shoes, what would you be asking in those interviews? What would you be looking for? What would you hope to hear? Because I have realized over the course of the past few years that I take quite a different approach both in tone and content to that of quite a lot of my peers when I am interviewing. I am looking for many different things in candidates, of course, but one thing above all others…..

I recall when I worked in Kenya how, when we were on family shopping trips in Naguru, I would be approached as soon as I got out of the car by a woman saying, “I have passion, Sir. Do you want to buy some passion?” Once I had recovered my composure, I realised I was being offered passion fruit. Passion. Passion is what I am looking for in candidates I interview: passion for working with young people; passion for facilitating learning; and (more so with secondary teachers) passion for a specialist subject. Other schools are often looking for particular skill sets, knowledge or experience; they want to know if a teacher has taught “such and such” a syllabus and can offer “such and such” a club as an extra-curricular activity. Not me. I am interested in personal qualities and values, in intellectual capacity and in passion!

I am delighted to confirm that we have drawn a really strong field for our Head of Secondary vacancy. We will be conducting Skype panel interviews on March 2nd and 3rd and then bringing the best two candidates to El Salvador for the community to meet and assess. Let’s see which one of them we think will be the most passionate and committed Head of our secondary school. Will keep you posted!

Have a great holiday!

From the Head of Primary

It seems a distant memory since we started back after New Year. Now it is the mid-term break. This is an opportunity to reflect on what a great place the ABC is. I want to thank all of our hard working staff who put a lot of effort into our students at ABC. Many of our students understand better the different concepts and experiences offered to them by their wonderful teachers!

The Virtue we are focusing on currently is being RESILIENT. This is defined as "the ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.” The ability to bounce back or recover is important. A resilient child recovers from challenges, but they also learn from that experience.

We welcome the return of Rachel Clarke (Literacy Advisor from the UK) from March 2nd. She will be here to support teachers with their Guided Reading. This will include observing lessons, modelling Guided Reading and supporting teachers to become better at ensuring children get the best out of the lesson. Teachers also have an inset which is facilitated by our Literacy Coordinator Edda Padilla.



Congratulations to the 3rd Grade team for organising such a great camp during this week. With a variety of games and activities and even the chance to use the pool at Residencial Tuscania, the children look as though they have had a fantastic time.

We now look forward to the First Grade sleepover on March 6th.

A reminder that Secondary are holding their sports day on March 5th, so there will be no swimming, PE lessons or sports extras on this day. Also, no Primary children can go down to the cafeteria this day- food MUST be ordered and it will be delivered to classrooms.

I hope you all manage to have a good break. If you are travelling, please do so safely. I look forward to seeing you all back on Monday, March 2nd.

Book of the Week
The Song of the Tree by Coralie Bickford-Smith

Coralie Bickford-Smith’s new picturebook is as beautifully designed as her earlier volumes The Fox and the Star and The Worm and the Bird. She uses strong patterns and two distinct colour palettes to tell this story of a bird who is loath to leave the tree it loves.

Dates for your diary

Lower Primary
March

Monday 2nd - Extracurricular activities, Session 4 start
Tuesday 3rd - 1st Grade Let’s celebrate Exit Point - 6:00-8:00pm (pick up at 11:30 a.m. on the blue benches. No extracurriculars for First Graders. Sala Cuna will be available) Thursday 5th - No swimming/PE lessons or Sport Extras
Friday 6th - Pre-Kinder Rampone assembly - 7:40am - PAC
Friday 6th - 1st grade Sleepover - 4pm (pick up at 11:30 a.m. on the blue benches. No extracurriculars for First Graders. Sala Cuna will be available)
Thursday 12th - Prepa & 1st Grade Sports evening - 6-7pm
Wednesday 18th - Prepa McNeil and Prepa Isley trip to FURESA
Thursday 19th - Prepa Gordon and Prepa Chadwick trip to FURESA
Friday 27th - Pre-Kinder Cáceres assembly - 7:40am - PAC

Upper Primary
March

Monday 2nd - Back to School from Half Term Holiday
Monday 2nd - Session 4 Extracurricular Activities start
Thursday 5th - No swimming, PE lessons or sports extras on this day due to Secondary Sports Day.
Wednesday 11th - 5th Linares Assembly - 8:15 am & 10:55 am - PAC
Friday 13th - “Chocolate” Exit point
Thursday 19th - Grade 2 & 3 Sports Evening - 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm - Field
Saturday 21st - Upper Primary Catholic Retreat - ABC
Wednesday 25th - 4th Hernández Assembly - PAC
Thursday 26th - Grade 4 & 5 - Sports Evening - 6:00 – 7:30pm - Field
Friday 27th - Grade 2 Swimming Gala
Monday 30th - Grade 3 Swimming Gala
Tuesday 31st - Grade 4 Swimming Gala

From the Head of Secondary

Dear parents and carers,

We reached the half-term mark and what a busy half-term it has been! Beyond busy, it has been extremely rewarding to see our students working hard together and individually, as well as our staff who I would like to thank and acknowledge for their wonderful dedication to offering the very best possible learning experiences to our students.

There are so many activities in store for next half-term! Grade 10 and Grade 12 are quickly coming to the end of their days in lessons before they start their IGCSE and IB exams after Easter. We also have Mathcounts trip to Mexico, Grade 11 introduction to their Extended Essay, Knowledge Bowl competition, STEAMFEST 2020, SATs and IB Art exhibition, Empowerment days, IB and IGCSE options evenings, Dramatic performance of “A Brave New World,” Spanish ortografía competition. All this will culminate with our ABC Bulldog Pride Week organised by the Student Council which will include the student election of the New Student Council President!

Please keep an eye on the school calendar to ensure you are able to support and attend all parent events. Your support is truly valuable.

I wish everyone a well-deserved rest this coming week! See you bright and early (before 7.00am!) on Monday 2nd of March.


Kind regards,

Natalia Cáceres Escalón
Head of Secondary School


Dates for your Agenda

February

Friday 21st to Sunday 1st March - Art trip to Europe
Monday 24th to Friday 28th - Half Term holidays, school closed

March

Monday 1st - Back to school normal day
Tuesday 3rd - Grade 12 Bio SL Deininger National Park Trip, 7:30am to 12:30pm
Tuesday 3rd to Saturday 7th - Mathscount Trip - 10 students G6/8
Wednesday 4th - Knowledge Bowl Trip - after school
Thursday 5th - Secondary School Sports Day, 7am to 2:00pm
Friday 6th - Grade 9 PSAT Tests, 12m to 3pm
Tuesday 10th - Grade 10 Parent/Teacher Meetings/IB Options Evening, 4:30pm, PAC
Friday 13th - Central American College Tour, in Colegio La Floresta, 10am to 12:30pm
Saturday 14th - SAT TEST, 8 to 9am
Friday 20th - Spanish Poetry Competition; Grade 10 Francophonie Day 2020
Friday 20th to Saturday 21st - Grade 9 Empowerment - Camping at school
Tuesday 24th - Grade 8 P/T Meetings / IGCSE Options Evening
Tuesday 31st - Grade 6 Learning Review Day in LRC all day



We are very proud to share that this week the Basketball Pasarela boys got the Bilingual League Championship, well done to all team members and coaches, your effort led to our success!



Secondary students have been preparing for the traditional Sports day on March 5th, which will take place at ABC this time. The sports department along with Tribal Chiefs are working very hard to organize this big event in which every student will have the opportunity to shine, break down Athletics school records and play different sports.

We are expecting that all students attend this important learning sports activity, everyone will have a role to play and a chance to show ABC spirit!

To read more about this week’s Sports events, please visit our Instagram and Facebook pages.

23: Friday February 14th 2020

From the Director

I am delighted to announce that Marianne Taylor will be our new Head of Primary from August 1st 2020. I think we are all rightly proud of our Early Years and Key Stage 1 provision with its innovative and child-centred approach to play-based learning and Marianne takes a great deal of credit for this. Marianne has been in leadership roles (including in upper primary contexts) almost since the moment she entered the profession and has always looked destined for the top. Mr. McNeill is also moving into a new and expanded role as Deputy Head across all of primary (as opposed to the solely Upper Primary role that he has now). I am very optimistic (yes, I know I always am!) about where these talented colleagues can take our primary school in the months and years ahead and i know they can count on all your support in that journey.

I would like to congratulate the following colleagues who successfully qualified as Olevi teacher trainers following a rigorous 4-day course here in school led by a provider from the UK:

Natalia Cáceres
Alex Kilford
Jodie Pashley
Matt Burdett
Colin Hogan
Mayra de Recinos
Andrea Amaya
Carmen Chávez
Tom McNeil
Marianne Taylor
Jen García
Fabiola Cáceres

These colleagues are now fully-qualified to offer Olevi’s teacher training courses, as is James Foster, who qualified previously. In the first instance, they will be supporting ABC teachers to sharpen their practice but in the future our vision is to become a Teaching School offering teacher training to the wider El Salvador community. In addition, we currently have Natalia Caceres, Adrian Hall and Margarita Valdes completing their Masters in Educational Leadership studies and Matt Burdett working his way through his NPQH.

Did you know that the ABC spends approximately $100,000 on professional development for teachers every academic year to ensure that we are providing cutting edge, high-quality education to your children?

On a more mundane note, please can I assure parents that we never undertake fumigations when the students are in school. One of our residential neighbours did begin fumigating earlier this week but we brought a halt to it quickly and are assured that we will be consulted in the future to ensure that this does not recur.

From the Head of Primary

Assess to Learn

Teachers, leadership, parents and students need rich and comprehensive information about what students know and can do. Parents need to be confident that ABC uses assessment to support a child’s learning. We need good quality information on students’ achievements - gained through effective assessment practice - in order to make good quality day-to-day and long‑term decisions for students. For assessment systems to work well schoolwide, all teachers need to develop an understanding of the purposes of assessment and about appropriate learning and achievement expectations for their students. We have worked hard to link assessment with student learning needs and achievement. This includes:


- Clear, school-wide expectations for student learning and achievement that are well-founded and used to inform teaching;


- Closely linked assessment processes to learning priorities;


- Clear rationale and appropriate systems across the school; and to strengthen assessment consistency and judgements.

Assessment linked to learning priorities

Effective guidance, provided by well-structured planning and assessment systems, helps teachers to link assessment information directly to the identified learning priorities for each student. These explicit connections should be a strong feature at all levels in the schools and are established in all curriculum areas.

Teachers regularly assess student achievement. They use this information to determine student placement in flexible groupings within classrooms, to ensure learning needs were met through daily planning. It provides a basis for reporting student progress to parents and management.

Careful consideration is given to the purpose of assessment and the most appropriate tools for gathering meaningful data about students’ learning needs, strengths and progress. These included school-wide assessment timelines, long‑term plans, comprehensive evaluation frameworks, and indicators of progress in literacy, numeracy and other subjects including IPC.

Teachers analyse the data collected to support student learning and teaching. Students and teachers also used this information at ‘three-way conferences. These valuable meetings promoted strong partnerships in learning between the school and students’ families, by allowing teachers, students, and parents to participate in discussions about progress, achievement and to set future goals.

Staff professional development is ongoing to ensure all teachers are very familiar with the principles of assess to learn. We also encourage teachers to collect evidence of a child’s progress, which is used to back up the judgements made by the teacher and to give parents confidence in the judgments that have been made. Assessment, teaching and learning are interdependent. Teaching activities should not be separate from assessment activities or from teachers’ knowledge of their students’ interests, needs and abilities.

Book of the Week
The One That Got Away by Jan Mark

Jan Mark was the author of many highly regarded novels including Thunder and Lightning which won the Carnegie Medal. She was exceptional at capturing dialogue at the same time as conveying the unspoken in human communication. This was particularly apparent in her short stories such as those in the collection Nothing To Be Afraid Of. Most of Jan Mark’s books, including her short stories, have been out of print for some time. Happily, editor Jon Appleton, who is her literary executor, has collected together thirty of her stories and published them in this volume for the enjoyment of a new generation of readers.

Dates for your diary

Lower Primary
February

Friday 15th until Sunday 23rd: Extracurricular activities 4th session enrollment for Lower Primary
Monday 17th: Kinder González trip to Move Wellness lab
Tuesday 18th: Kinder Bonet trip to Move Wellness lab
Wednesday 19th: Kinder Francés trip to Move Wellness lab
Thursday 20th: Kinder Siri trip to Move Wellness lab
Thursday 20th: Pre-Kinder and Kinder Sports evening - 6:00-7:00pm
Friday 21st: Pre-Kinder Suárez assembly - 7:40am - PAC

Upper Primary
February

Tuesday 18th - COESAL father/son meeting for Grade 5 - 7:30am - 8:30am - Lecture Theater
Tuesday 18th - COESAL mother/daughter meeting for Grade 5 - 7:30am - 8:30am - PAC
Wednesday 19th - 2nd Pashley Assembly - 8:15am & 10:55am - PAC
Thursday 20th - Grade 3 Camping Night - Tuscania Club House
Monday 24th - Half Term Holiday


From the Head of Secondary

Dear parents and carers,

Happy Valentine's day! I would like to start by thanking our StuCo team for organising the celebrations of this special day for the Secondary school. We had a great time today exchanging tokens of appreciation and friendship, culminating in the traditional ‘marriages.’

IGCSE and IB Exam Schedule- G10 and G12.
From Mr. Hall- Deputy Head Curriculum

As parents of students in Grade 10 and 12 are no doubt aware, we are rapidly approaching the end of the IGCSE and IB Diploma Programmes for students in the second year of those courses. With study leave starting shortly after the Easter break, we urge you to discuss the exams with your children, support their revision by providing a quiet place for them to work away from distractions and ensuring they are eating and sleeping well. You can find a copy of the exam schedule here, along with a link to the exam regulations for Cambridge and the IB. Their teachers will be working hard over the final six weeks of the programmes to support your children and we are grateful for your support.

This week, Grade 10 had their first Life Skills lesson on the IB, and I will be running one for Grade 8 next week.

IB Options - Key Dates SY1920

Thursday 13th February: Grade 10 Life Skills Lesson 1: Introduction to the IB (AHA/CHO)
Tuesday 18th February: G10 Learning Review Day
Friday 21st February: Life Skills Lesson 2 - Grade 10 will have the opportunity to speak with current IB students about the IB Diploma Programme and what they will study.
Friday 21st February: IB Options Booket published and emailed to all parents and students for reflection over half term.
Tuesday 10th March: IB Options Evening / Parent/Teacher evening
4.30pm - 6.00pm: P/T Meetings
4.30pm & 5.30pm IB Options Presentation (in Lecture Theatre):
6.00pm - 7.00pm: Subject Visits
Tuesday 10th March: Online options form opened for students to complete (Via Google forms)
Monday 16th March: Options forms closed.

IGCSE Options - Key Dates

Tuesday 18th February - Grade 8 Life Skills lessons - Introduction to the IGCSE programme
Monday 2nd March: IGCSE Options Booklet published to students/parents
Week commencing Monday 16th March: Grade 8 IGCSE Taster week - Students will find out more about the IGCSE courses in their subject lessons.
Tuesday 24th March: Online options form opened for students to complete
Tuesday 24th March: Grade 8 Parents evening.
4.30pm - 6.00pm: P/T Meetings
4.30pm & 5.30pm IGCSE Options Presentation (in ABCLT):
6.00pm - 7.00pm: Subject Visits
Tuesday 24th March: Online options form opened for students to complete
Monday 30th March: Options forms closed.

Recilectura Club visits Centro Escolar Jardines de la Sabana
By Jubran Lemus- Class of 2021

Going to Jardines de La Sabana School was an enriching experience for each of us not only as ABC students but as members of Salvadoran society.

We had the opportunity to celebrate Valentine's Day with the students. The children's story "San Valentín y Cupido no están en el mismo nido" was read in order to promote reading. Those who answered the reading comprehension questions were given chocolate cakes.

There were elementary school children and a few high school students. With the older children, we decided to do sports, a hard-fought soccer game was played while with the younger ones we enjoyed more conventional games like "'Duck, duck, goose!".

As part of the ReciLectura Club we believe that we have a commitment to give back to society through direct service.

As ABC students we believe that we are in a situation of immense privilege to receive a competent and world-renowned education. We have to share with our Salvadoran colleagues the gift of learning.

Young people are our future.


Photos on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/48254552@N04/albums/72157713091508371


Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUoSg2Qc7QA






Thank you to all the parents who attended our Grade 7 parent-teacher evening yesterday. We had a great turn out and it was great to receive positive feedback from parents, we appreciate your support.

Grade 10 Learning Review Day is coming up next week and we look forward to welcoming you to the school for these important conversations!

Have a wonderful weekend,

Kind regards,

Natalia Cáceres Escalón
Head of Secondary School


Dates for your Diary

February

Sunday 16th - ICT Silicon Valley Trip returns
Tuesday 18th - Grade 10 Learning Review Day, all day in LRC (by appointment)
Friday 21st - Grade 12 Family Day
Friday 21st to Sunday 1st March - Art trip to Europe
Monday 24th to Friday 28th - Half Term holidays, school closed

March
Tuesday 3rd - Grade 12 Bio SL Deininger National Park Trip, 7:30am to 12:30pm
Tuesday 3rd to Saturday 7th - Mathscount Trip - 10 students G6/8
Wednesday 4th - Knowledge Bowl Trip - after school
Thursday 5th - Secondary School Sports Day, 7am to 3:30pm
Friday 6th - Grade 9 PSAT Tests, 12m to 3pm
Tuesday 10th - Grade 10 Parent/Teacher Meetings/IB Options Evening, 4:30pm, PAC
Friday 13th - Central American College Tour, in Colegio La Floresta, 10am to 12:30pm
Saturday 14th - SAT TEST, 8 to 9am
Friday 20th - Spanish Poetry Competition; Grade 10 Francophonie Day 2020
Friday 20th to Saturday 21st - Grade 9 Empowerment - Camping at school
Tuesday 24th - Grade 8 P/T Meetings / IGCSE Options Evening
Friday 27th and Saturday 28th March - Brave New World
Tuesday 31st - Grade 6 Learning Review Day in LRC all day


Sports Day 2020 Guideline
Thursday March 5th

Highlights

Secondary’s Sports Day will take place at the ABC campus. Students will have different sports activities to participate in throughout the day: Athletics, Basketball, Volleyball and Futsal.

Preparation:

Students will sign up for Athletic events in advance, Tribal Chiefs will be in charge of distributing at PE lessons.

EVERY student must compete in at least one event. Students can compete in a maximum of 3 events.

Students will organize themselves and practice during PE lessons, on the 17 - 21 of February. The tribes will also have time to design posters and banners to show off their Tribal spirit on the day of the event.

Tribal Chiefs will organise the competitors on that day for the Athletic competition as well as the Team Sports tournaments. If a student doesn’t show up or is absent, they need to arrange for a substitute and inform the judges.

Schedule for the day


7:00 am. Tutor time for registration

7:10 am Staff/Students will gather with their Tribal Chiefs at specific points to ensure there are no gaps in the Athletics event lists.


Pipils Tribal meeting at the Auditorium


Aztecs Tribal meeting at the outdoor BKB court


Mayas Tribal meeting at the Cafeteria


Incas Tribal meeting at the Football field/Archery area

7:30 am. Parade starts. ROUTE: Auditorium - BKB courts - Cafetería - Football pitch - then a lap on the track finishing in front of the Stage by the Cafeteria.

Students encouraged to cheer for their tribes – Tribal points for best chants/posters etc.

7:45 am. Opening short ceremony - Tribal pep talks/introductions

COMPETITION

8:00 - 9:30 am Slot # 1

9:45 - 10:40 am Slot #2

11:10 - 12:30 pm slot # 3

12:00 - 1:05pm LUNCH TIME

1:05 - 1:45 pm RELAYS

1:45pm. Paletas hand out

Expectations

Students may stay in the sports areas, moving to the areas with their tribe. Students are not allowed in the halls or classrooms. Staff should supervise according to the duty rota for common areas (exits, cafeteria, bathrooms, etc) so that students are supervised.

Heads of Year must walk with and stay with their year group at all times, ensuring that kids are behaving properly

The Competition will be run by KS, while one KS compete in Athletics the others will be participating in basketball, volleyball and futsal tournaments.

Track and Field events: Tribal Chiefs to remind students of their event time. Students should go to the start line 10 minutes before the start time. The announcers can notify students, but Tribal Chiefs should also be tracking competitors down to ensure nobody misses their event. STUDENTS IN ATHLETICS: must remain in the Cafeteria waiting for their competition

Track competitors need to be at the start line 10 minutes before the start of their race. If there is a clash between a field and track event, the student MUST go to the track event, and complete in field events afterwards. Track events MUST stick to the schedule.

Team Sports Tournaments:

All students will have the opportunity to participate in: athletics, basketball, volleyball and futsal according to the timetable. Tribal Chiefs ensure that everybody participates.

1:05pm – 1:45 pm:Relay finals. All students and staff not competing must be under the Canopies at the Football pitch encouraging, cheering its Tribe. At 1:45pm students are getting a Paleta provided by Madres Enlace, then students are dismissed.

1 hour duties will be allocated for staff to supervise . At all other times, staff are expected to be with their tribes, supporting the Tribal Chiefs in organizing the competitors, and encouraging students to cheer on their peers.

When not competing, students will need to be WITH THEIR TRIBE. We don’t want students wandering about, though, and we need to keep tribes together.

Drinks and food

Healthy drinks and food will be sold by the Bulldog Pack at lunch time. Students must bring their lunch boxes or cash to buy the food.

ABC ATHLETICS RECORDS


























This coming week the Varsity Boys team will play the Bilingual League Semifinals, against Colegio Internacional on Monday February 17th, 4:00pm at CISS.

The Pasarela Boys team will play the Bilingual League Final against Colegio Lamatepec on Wednesday February 19th, 3:30pm at Escuela Americana.

All Bulldogs are invited to cheer them on, good luck boys!

Semifinals and Finals of the Football Bilingual League are around the corner, as well as the opening of Juegos Estudiantiles in which we will participate with all our teams and we will look towards classifying at CODICADER with U17 categories teams.

To read more about this week’s Sports events, please visit our Instagram and Facebook pages.

22: Friday February 7th 2020

From the Director

The most important duty we have to you, our parent body, is to ensure the safety, well-being and happiness of your children while they are in our care. We do not take lightly the trust you show in us by choosing us for your children nor the weight of responsibility that comes with it. Here are a few ways in which we work to safeguard your children:

- A Safeguarding Team of five senior colleagues, all with recent level 2 training (usually involving a residential course overseas- myself and two colleagues were in Panama for this purpose earlier in the year) meets every week in my office. In line with best practice globally, the team is led by Natalia Caceres rather than myself to ensure that there is never any possibility of the school’s interests being put before those of a child.

- We deliver a 3-hour training session annually for all staff (including coaches and admin. and maintenance colleagues) to revise our procedures and to educate ourselves on latest developments and trends in safeguarding and how to tackle them. Our session last week tackled peer-on-peer abuse and depression in children, both of which are rising in prevalence

- New staff undertake a Level 1 online course on safeguarding with Educare in their first term with us

- All staff undertake annual first aid training

- Two new dedicated phones are carried by Natalia Cáceres and Ana Mena 24 hours a day and seven days a week so that a safeguarding officer is always available to our community

- New posters throughout school raise awareness and carry contact information for safeguarding officers

- All new teachers are rigorously background checked. We use interviews to not only establish their professional competence but to explore their character and values. We call three references and contact their current Head directly by phone

- Any trips that children go on are rigorously risk assessed. For domestic trips we liaise with the Regional Security Office of the US Embassy for reports in the security situation in locations we plan to visit

- Teaching children about how to keep themselves safe in a whole range of contexts is an explicit part of our curriculum for children of all ages

- All of our accrediting bodies (CIS, IBO, IPC, LAHC) rigorously quality assure our child protection and safeguarding policies and procedures

Many thanks to those of you who came to the Coffee morning on Wednesday to discuss our safeguarding processes and the operation of the school’s Health Centre. I want to summarise one or two of the main things that have come out of it:

- If there is a medical need for an intimate/private part of a child's body to be examined (or treated), the School Doctor will call home to ask for parental consent and/or to invite parents to attend (or have the exam performed elsewhere) before proceeding. If we cannot get hold of parents, we will continue to try, of course, but, if the matter is felt to be medically urgent, the School Doctor will proceed in the best interests of the child.

- We are actively exploring adding more human resource to the Health Centre. This will improve colleagues ability to cover duties during lunchtimes and the promptness with which they are able to communicate with home about children who have come to the Health Centre for attention/treatment

- We will review and amend our policies relating to the operation of the Health Centre

- We are exploring expanding the Parent Partnership model further down through school to improve collaboration between home and school in helping keep our children safe and happy.

Finally, I want to say that Dr. Jennifer Harrison has been our School Doctor for 15 years and during that time has always had the trust of this community in terms of how she cares for, and treats, our children. I want to say very clearly that, as far as I am concerned, that trust continues.

From the Head of Primary

Today, students at the ABC are away from their normal school day. Why? Because today the teachers, assistants, administration staff, support staff and leadership have an opportunity to be inspired to learn and grow in their role at the ABC!

What does it take to inspire a passion for learning in each student who attends the ABC?

One of the key ingredients to success is that teachers love learning. If we are not all a community of learners then the philosophy which drives our learning journey can fall apart.

Why does it matter to have teachers with a love of learning?

Young children are greatly influenced by their environment. We want to ensure the love of learning is contagious. We need teachers who are enthusiastic about continuing their own education, and who are passionate about seeking better ways to facilitate and inspire learning for students. Educators who find joy and challenge in the pursuit of their own professional growth inspire our students to love learning too.

Teachers who love learning are, quite simply, better educators. That’s why we constantly challenge everyone on the ABC team to pursue new growth opportunities.

Here are 4 Reasons why Teacher Development is so important:

Teaching is as much a learning experience for the educator as it is for the student. Professional Development occurs daily through all our interactions, in addition to courses and workshops, and it ensures that educators remain effective in the long run, helping them to:

1. Strengthen Subject Knowledge

Few people would think a history course that ended at the end of the 20th century was up to date—yet less attention is paid to how often schools update the curriculum they use to educate students.

“Curriculum” goes beyond just subject area knowledge but into concepts and approaches to teaching. Teachers should be constantly working out new ways to engage students—whether that’s including the latest developments in their field or looking for ways to interact across fields to fully explore concepts through the lens of multiple subject areas.

While it’s important for teachers to be able to teach about the latest advancements in their subject area, it’s even more important for teachers to always be learning about new ways to help students succeed.

2. Improve Student Outcomes

Think about how the world would be different if we were still using steamships to cross the ocean. Just like transportation, teaching is a field that evolves as researchers and practitioners find more effective ways to reach students.

Teachers need to be constantly seeking more effective ways to help students learn and to look for more creative and engaging ways to assess their learning. We are constantly looking for new ways to improve our curriculum at the ABC—whether that’s experimenting with language immersion in our Lower Primary School or weaving the IB Learner Profile into our curriculum to help students develop the skills to succeed in a global environment. We encourage educators to find ways to take risks to ensure we are providing significant, challenging and relevant learning engagements for each and every student. To achieve this, we promote shared professional reading and professional action research in our classrooms to improve and assess the quality of our teaching and learning in each classroom.

We also focus on improving student outcomes through ongoing student assessment. Assessment not only provides a picture of where students are in the learning process, it helps teachers better understand the students as learners. ABC teachers then use the insights they gain from assessments to shape their teaching to improve student outcomes.

3. Include New Technology

A school can’t prepare students to use the tools of the future if it continues to use the technology of the past. When we bring in new technology, however, teacher development is critical. Educators not only need to know how to use technology in the classroom well enough to teach students, but they also need to be able to tie the technology into a unit of inquiry so that students learn to think and create as they learn the technology.

At the ABC, it’s important to push teachers to go beyond using technology for the sake of technology. When our teachers learn the technology we have available, we challenge them to find ways to work it into the curriculum in a way that enhances teaching and learning (when appropriate). Students not only become creative but they also gain experience with entrepreneurship.

4. Help each other become better Educators

No one understands the challenges teachers face in the classroom better than other teachers—which is why collaboration is a crucial part of teacher professional development. When teachers get the chance to help each other and learn from one another, they are able to share their experiences and research, evaluate each other's learning engagements in the classroom, and join forces to provide more creative and innovative educational experiences.

When teachers are challenged to share their teaching practice and their learning journeys with their peers, it also pushes them to identify what is really working in their classroom. They have to think about whether it’s the learning tasks they give, how they work with students or even if a particular book or visual prompt sparked students’ interests.

Best Educators Keep Learning

Peter Drucker, a famous management trainer, wrote that “We now accept the fact that learning is a lifelong process of keeping abreast of change.” The best teachers are the ones who are constantly pushing themselves to learn about new research in their field.

Whether teachers attend conferences or workshops, learn on their own, or join collaborative learning communities, ongoing professional development is the key to quality education. How else can we ensure teachers are able to take advantage of the latest research in their classroom, know how to take risks by including new concepts, teaching approaches and technology in the curriculum and inspire each other to be better educators?

Book of the Week
Little Red Riding Hood by Lari Don and Célia Chauffrey

Célia Chauffrey uses a predominantly red, pink and grey-green palette to illustrate this fresh retelling of the famous fairy tale. In this version, Red Riding Hood gets eaten as well as grandma and it is a hunter rather than a woodcutter that rescues them. The pictures show our heroine to be a determined little dame, from her facial expression on the front cover onwards, who is not afraid to step from the forest path to pick flowers or sew up a wolf’s belly full of stones.

Dates for your diary

Lower Primary
February

Monday 10th: Prepa Isley (Diamonds) and Prepa McNeil (Stars) Curriculum Morning - 7:30-8:50am.
Tuesday 11th: Prepa Chadwick (Pineapples) and Prepa Gordon (Penguins) Curriculum Morning - 7:30-8:50am.
Wednesday 12th: Prepa Isley (Pearls) and Prepa McNeil (Rockets) Curriculum Morning - 7:30-8:50am.
Thursday 13th: Prepa Chadwick (Watermelons) and Prepa Gordon (Monkeys) Curriculum Morning - 7:30-8:50am.
Thursday 13th: Pre-Kinder trip to Jardín Botánico - 8:30 - 11:45am
Friday 14th: Kinder Francés and Kinder González assembly - 7:40am - PAC
Thursday 20th: Pre-Kinder and Kinder Sports evening - 6:00-7:00pm
Friday 21st: Pre-Kinder Suárez assembly - 7:40am - PAC

Upper Primary
February

Monday 10th - Valentine’s Grams sale begins
Wednesday 12th - 3rd Truscott Assembly - 8:15am & 10:55am - PAC
Thursday 13th - COESAL meeting for Grade 5 parents - 7:30am - 8:30am - PAC
Tuesday 18th - COESAL father/son meeting for Grade 5 - 7:30am - 8:30am - Lecture Theater
Tuesday 18th - COESAL mother/daughter meeting for Grade 5 - 7:30am - 8:30am - PAC
Wednesday 19th - 2nd Pashley Assembly - 8:15am & 10:55am - PAC
Thursday 20th - Grade 3 Camping Night - Tuscania Club House
Monday 24th - Half Term Holiday
Monday 24th - Friday 28th: Half term break - no school

From the Head of Secondary


Dear parents and carers,

This week started off with our community celebrations of the amazing performance our Mathscounts winners delivered over the weekend. We are grateful to the Maths department, under the leadership of Mr Isle, who went above and beyond to prepare our students and school to host this year’s Mathscounts. A special mention to Mrs Escapini who coordinated the event and Mr. Cañas and Ms. Ward, our Mathcounts coaches.

Below you can read more from the Maths Department. We are very proud of our champions!

Mathcounts 2020
From Mr. Isley- Head of Maths department

We were privileged this weekend to host the Central American Chapter Round of the Math Relay and Math Counts 2020 competition. Key Stage 3 students representing 21 schools competed from 6 countries to be crowned the best mathematicians in Central America. Ms. Escapini organized the event this year and Mr. Canas prepared our team of excellent mathematicians to compete. Congratulations to both of them for making the weekend one of the best Math Counts on record. Our students were on top form and I am proud to say they proved themselves to be the best team in Central America. On Friday In the Math Relay Competition, our Team A won second place. On Saturday in the main Math Counts competition, we achieved extremely well in the individual rounds with 10 of our students in the top 20 out of 294 competitors, and even better than that 7 of them were in the top 10! The team competitions saw ABC totally dominating. In the B competition, our C team won and our B team came second. In the A competition, our A team comfortably won. Overall it was a great weekend’s work for the ABC mathematicians.

Despite the competitive nature of the weekend there was a great community feel to the whole event. The students from the 21 different schools in the region mixed with each other and many new friendships were made. I am proud to say that our ABC students conducted themselves admirably and were great ambassadors for the school and El Salvador.

The competition is open to all students in Grades 6, 7 and 8 and 2 of the Grade 6 students made it into the top ten. All of the students who made it into the top ten now have the opportunity to compete in the next round which is held in March in Mexico.

Next year we are looking for more girls to enter the competition so if you are a budding mathematician who loves to solve problems then see Mr Cañas to sign up for next year’s Mathcounts.






Mini Maker Fair 2020
From Ms. Judith Méndez



Our Secondary school students had the Mini Maker Fair as an introduction to the technological resources and tools that can be used for the different STEAM Fest projects.

Many of our students had the opportunity to explore, meet and enjoy our robots; Ozobot, Sphero and Lego. Create innovative circuits with LittleBits, Creating 3-dimensional models using 3Doodler pens, making virtual reality tours through Google Cardboard, and animation resources with rotoscopes.




All this as part of our next Steam Fest, taking place on March 12, 2020; where creativity, entrepreneurship, leadership, teamwork and much more will be demonstrated, within the areas of Science, Engineering, Technology, The Arts and Mathematics.




You can see the photos through this link on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/48254552@N04/albums/72157713001205736

Parent Partnership evening - “The Big Disconnect”- Protecting childhood and family relationships in the digital age’



Thank you to the parents who took their time to attend our Parent Partnership event which our Pastoral Coordinator and LSU coordinator facilitated. It is clear we have so much to learn still and we need to keep up to date with the latest trends and potential dangers in order to raise our children’s Media Literacy.

From Ms. María Eugenia Vides- University Counsellor

As part of the university counselling program at the ABC, we will be holding personalized meetings with those families that are interested in starting the process with their children. This is an opportunity to discuss future plans, explore options and set team objectives.

We invite you to schedule a meeting with us by calling 2201-6287.

Finally, next week we have our Learning Review Day for G11 and G12 by appointment. We look forward to seeing all the parents there!

Have a wonderful long weekend!

Kind regards,

Natalia Cáceres Escalón
Head of Secondary School

Dates for your Agenda

February

Friday 7th - Staff INSET Day - school closed for students
Monday 10th to Sunday 16th - ICT Silicon Valley Trip
Tuesday 11th -Grade 11/12 Learning Review Day in LRC all day (by appointment)
Thursday 13th - 7th Grade - Parent Teachers meeting - 4:00pm, Auditorium
Thursday 13th and Friday 14th - Grade 8 Empowerment trip
Tuesday 18th - Grade 10 Learning Review Day, all day in LRC (by appointment)
Wednesday 19th - Grade 7 empowerment Day
Friday 21st - Grade 12 Family Day
Friday 21st to Sunday 1st March - Art trip to Europe
Monday 24th to Friday 28th - Half Term holidays, school closed

March

Tuesday 3rd - Grade 12 Bio SL Deininger National Park Trip, 7:30am to 12:30pm
Tuesday 3rd to Saturday 7th - Mathcounts Trip - 10 students G6/8
Wednesday 4th - Knowledge Bowl Trip - after school
Thursday 5th - Secondary School Sports Day, 7am to 3:30pm
Friday 6th - Grade 9 PSAT Tests, 12m to 3pm
Tuesday 10th - Grade 10 Parent/Teacher Meetings/IB Options Evening, 4:30pm, PAC
Friday 13th - Central American College Tour, in Colegio La Floresta, 10am to 12:30pm
Saturday 14th - SAT Test, 8 to 9am
Friday 20th - Spanish Poetry Competition; Grade 10 Francophonie Day 2020
Friday 20th to Saturday 21st - Grade 9 Empowerment - Camping at school
Tuesday 24th - Grade 8 Parent/Teacher Meetings / IGCSE Options Evening
Tuesday 31st - Grade 6 Learning Review Day in LRC all day



The Basketball Bilingual League is finishing for all our teams. Congratulations to all the ABC Basketball Athletes, who have done their best at every game, here are some results:

Premini Boys Champions

Mini Boys Champions

Mini Girls 2nd place

Parasela Girls 3rd place

Cadet Girls 3rd place

Premini Girls Second place

Cadets Boys 4th place

Varsity Girls 4th place




Pasarela Boys are having their Final this week and the Varsity Boys are having their Semifinals, good luck to both teams!

To read more about this week’s Sports events, please visit our Instagram and Facebook pages.