From the Director
A colleague recently sent me a link to an excellent article in Forbes magazine (Forbes article) exploring the nature of the skills and qualities that this generation of young people will need in order to be able to flourish in the rapidly changing workplace that lies ahead of them. Forbes lists them as: Creativity, Analytical thinking, Emotional intelligence, Growth mindset, Interpersonal/communication skills, Good judgment, Leadership, Cultural intelligence, Adaptability.
Sound familiar? It should do, because these skills and qualities are a very good match for both our own ABC values, qualities and skills (ABC Mission and Values) and the IB Learner Profile (IB Learner profile). This is why we constantly review and evaluate our curriculum and regularly make changes to it so that we are sure that it is responding to a rapidly changing world and giving our children the best possible preparation for it.
The IB Diploma is often referred to as the “Gold Standard” amongst secondary school graduation programmes. A lot of that has to do with the level of academic rigour that it contains. Did you know that 82% of IB Diploma graduates in the US enroll in good 4-year tertiary education experiences compared to a general national average of 40%? Did you know that in the UK 46% of IB Diploma students enroll at a top 20 university compared with 33% of A’ Level students (British A Levels also have a very strong academic reputation worldwide). There is data to demonstrate that: fewer IB Diploma students drop-out of university; more of them achieve high class degrees (Firsts, Cum Laudae etc); and they have measurably higher earning potential when they leave university.
All good reasons for choosing the IB Diploma but not, for me, the most important reason. The main reason we choose the IB Diploma for our graduating classes is that it takes a holistic and values-based approach to education. It is purposely designed to prepare young people to flourish in tomorrow’s world and to help change it for the better. Here are some direct quotes from the IBO website:
“The International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.”
“What we really want to know is how to instil in our students the knowledge that will make them better learners and better people’. How can we be sure that we send them off into life with the skills they really need to grow and develop in a successful, happy way? Now in our 52nd year, we're more dedicated than ever to developing international education that creates a better world.
Again, I ask….sound familiar…..?!!
Have a lovely weekend!
Stephen Lang
Director
From the Head of Primary
This week and in the coming weeks there may be some changes to your child’s timetable as staff begin to access professional development opportunities. We do our best to ensure there is no disruption to learning but…
Why is Professional Development for teachers so important?
Today’s world is a challenge for every educator. Technology, best teaching practices and students’ needs are always evolving. Teacher’s need to access the latest research and learn from each other to improve their skills, knowledge and understanding. Our staff are involved in professional development on a daily basis, with in-house training sessions, learning focused grade meetings, target setting, reflecting, reviewing, monitoring and sharing. Many of our teaching assistants and teachers attend local universities.
However the global pandemic has meant that our staff now have access to a wider range of professional development opportunities, as international training can now be accessed online. Here are just some of the ways in which we are working to improve our teaching.
The OLEVI Programme for Outstanding Teachers and Leaders (UK)
“With great teaching and leadership comes great learning. When every child in every school experiences outstanding teaching in exceptional learning environments, our work will be done.”
For over 20 years, OLEVI has been at the forefront of working with schools on whole-school improvement strategies including professional development. Next week a group of Primary teachers will begin the Creative Teacher Programme. Over seven weeks, six of our teachers will become more reflective and creative, gaining a deeper understanding of the pedagogy that ensures a significant impact on relationships and student learning.
Diip Reggio Emilia Conference (Spain)
Diip is an organisation that specialises in childhood innovation and it’s projects promote pedagogical, technological and cultural progress in education for children aged 0-12 years. Twenty six members of our Primary staff are attending a course of seminars over three months to reflect on how we can better use the Reggio Emilia approach to improve our children’s school experience.
Primary English Education (UK)
Our Primary literacy leaders are attending online courses as well as meeting with a network of English Literacy coordinators from schools in the UK to discuss the latest challenges and share good practice.
BeeReaders (US)
Our staff attended a Webinar this week with Dr. Kristina Cordero to learn more about the opportunities we can take during this crisis and how digital media can help us continue the teaching and learning process, with a particular focus on reading.
LAHC: Latin American Heads Conference (Latin America)
Over the next three weeks our staff will be accessing the LAHC festival of learning with international acclaimed keynote speakers and our own Ms Raquel Suarez leading a session for Early Years educators.
Google Educator Certification
The pandemic has driven us to become expert digital educators. Now our staff have the opportunity to demonstrate their mastery of Google tools in the classroom with the Educator Level 1 Certification and validate their expertise and advanced technology integration skills with the Educator Level 2 Certification.
Marianne Taylor
Head of Primary
Dates for your diary
PRIMARY
October
Saturday 17th - Pre-Kinder and Kinder 2021 Open Morning
November
Monday 2nd to Friday 6th - Half Term holidays
From the Secondary Leadership Team
Tomorrow (10th October) we celebrate World Mental Health Day, with the overall objective of raising awareness of mental health issues around the world and mobilizing efforts in support of mental health.
For this reason we have been focusing all of this week’s Life Skills sessions from Grade 6 to Grade 12 on this important topic that has become our primary focus in School.
But what is Mental Health? (According to the World Health Organization) “Mental health is a state of well-being in which an individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.”
At the ABC we know mental health is critical to our children’s success during their school life and that this resonates louder during the pandemic. Since we started online we have focused our efforts on our students’ wellbeing. Our weekly Life Skills programme has been accommodated to target our students’ needs during this lockdown; we are covering topics like anxiety, stress, coping strategies and keeping ourselves safe online, to name a few.
We also believe that crisis also brings opportunity. We are taking the situation we are living in as an opportunity to invest and promote mental health and wellbeing as a core role in the school. This will help our students to not only flourish in their educational journey, but also build skills that will provide them with the tools and the confidence to grow and seek help when they need it.
In line with the WHOs World Mental Health Day focus: “raising awareness of mental health issues around the world and mobilizing efforts in support of mental health”, the ABC’s main focus is that all our students who need social emotional support can access it, which we know is the key to achieve better academically. School climate, classroom behavior, on-task learning, and students' sense of connectedness and well-being all improve as well.
I want to take the opportunity to thank our fantastic LSU team who have been working non-stop, providing counselling, Tutor time and Life Skills sessions for all our students, giving them tools to help them build resilience to cope and thrive with challenges and adversity.
Kind regards,
Carmen Chávez
Assistant Headteacher - Student Wellbeing
Thank you for all of your feedback from the Parent and Student surveys over the last week. We are pleased with all the positive comments we have received from the community. Please click here to find out more about what your son/daughter has fed back to us.
We are pleased to announce that all three of the ABC Libraries will begin lending physical copies of books to the community through our new library book pickup system. Next week we will publish important information to the community on how to get started accessing the system and placing holds on books, as well as the steps to take in picking up and dropping off books. We hope that as a community this system will be widely and frequently used.
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”
― Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!
Dates for your diary
SECONDARY
October
Thursday 15th - Grade 7 Learning Review Day
Monday 19th to Friday 23rd - United Nations Week
Tuesday 20th - Grade 8 Learning Review Day
Wednesday 21st Parent Partnership “Self-regulation and growth in a digital world”
5:00 p.m.
Friday 23rd - ABC Founders' Day
November
Monday 2nd to Friday 6th - Half Term holidays
Monday 9th - back to Distance Learning lessons
Monday 9th to Friday 13th - British Week
Thursday 12th - Grade 10 Learning Review Day
Friday 20th - World Children's Day
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