From the Director
¡Feliz Año Nuevo!
It seems to have been a very long week but I am sure we will all be back in our routines soon enough and the weeks will begin to flash by once again.
I am in the frustrating position of having lots of really exciting news about how the school is planning to move forward that is not quite ready to share with you yet. Patience has never been my strong suit but I guess I will just have to steel myself for now! A new round of Board Committee meetings next week, culminating in a Full Board Meeting at the end of the month should mean that I can put you fully in the picture before long.
Equally frustratingly, I do not really have any useful news to pass on to you regarding our situation with respect to moving to hybrid learning mode. We can all see that Covid case numbers are rising around the country right now and I guess the government may be retreating a little from the suggestions before Christmas that a January opening might be possible. I know some of you will not agree but, quite frankly, I think that is wise. And now we have the prospect of the two new Brazilian Covid variants looming on the horizon. The good news is that all of our preparations are made and so we can move easily between our three different learning modes as the situation dictates. I know some of you feel that the school should be offering further discounts in online learning mode but please remember that we need the same number of teachers to deliver our services in online learning mode as we do normally and that staffing costs account for over 70% of our expenditure. While we do make some savings by not being on campus, there are actually other areas in which we are spending more, such as for online subscriptions or on health and safety/sanitising materials in preparation for hybrid.
Something that is certain is that February 1st marks exactly 50 years since the school first opened its doors to pupils. News of how we intend to mark the occasion will be coming out during the course of the week but one especially exciting feature is that we will be holding a raffle to win a year’s free tuition! Limited issue tickets will cost $20 each.
Recruitment of new teachers for next academic year continues apace and I am delighted to announce that Scott Hudson (Physics) and Caroline Steele (Drama), a teaching couple, have already committed to join us next year, as has Jamie Rizk in Maths. We beat off competition from other good international schools to secure them and they all look like they are going to be fantastic additions to our teaching team.
Have a lovely weekend and do keep safe and well.
Stephen Lang
Director
From the Head of Primary
Happy New Year! I hope you are all safe and well.
We are continuing to learn online until further notice from MinEd. Although we are all looking forward to the day we can return to school, I wanted to share with you some of the successes from last term in online learning as described by our ABC teachers;
Progress: Overall student’s made great progress in a range of different subjects, in their skills, knowledge and understanding. Student’s are developing different strengths and interests.
Resilience: All of the teachers describe how much more resilient students have become; overcoming difficulties, facing challenges with positivity and finding solutions to problems independently.
Technology: Student’s have always impressed us with their ability to understand and use new technologies confidently. However during online learning we have been in awe of their ability to master new technologies and use them creatively.
Engagement & Motivation: Online learning requires students to be more self-motivated, to independently engage in their learning and take ownership of their outcomes.
Building Relationships: Staff were pleased with the student’s levels of social and emotional intelligence, which is needed to maintain and develop personal connections with both their friends and teachers when learning online.
Home-School Partnership: Educational researchers have always stressed the importance of strong relationships between teachers and parents. Online learning, and in particular the use of the Evidence Me App in Lower Primary, has increased communication between home and school.
Reading Resources and Tools: Online learning has opened up further access to online reading materials and tools, in particular Reading A-Z in Upper Primary, improving reading levels, comprehension and enjoyment.
Perspective and Reflection: The challenges of online teaching have given staff the opportunity to see the curriculum and student learning from a different perspective, allowing them to reflect on which skills and approaches are both important and successful, and which create barriers to students meeting their full potential.
Marianne Taylor
Head of Primary
Upper Primary Extracurriculars will start on Monday - full list can be found here. Lower Primary Extracurriculars will start the following Monday, more details to follow.
From the Secondary Leadership Team
Happy New Year! I hope everyone managed to enjoy quality time with family during the three week break and that 2021 finds you safe and healthy.
There’s no denying we’ll all look back on 2020 as a year of difficulties and challenges so I thought the best way to open 2021’s first installment of The Weekly would be to celebrate a student led initiative that has kept student leadership busy for quite a large chunk of 2020. To do this, I’ll hand over to Daniel Figuero from Grade 12 so that he can explain the work he and his team have put into revitalising STUCO and the prefect team. Once you’ve read Daniel’s explanation, I’m sure you will all agree, this is an exciting initiative that demonstrates the lengths to which students are willing to go to keep our community as cohesive and vibrant as they possibly can: now and for future generations.
Over to you Daniel:
Greetings,
The student initiative of uniting both student bodies, The Student Council and the Prefect Team and converting them into one Student Government, was undertaken with the objectives of improving communication and efficiency. However, as a secondary effect, the feeling of belonging has increased among students; younger students feel welcomed and appreciated into the secondary community since they already have a leadership position before moving into the next school year. A lot of thinking and planning has been taken into consideration, especially when finding ways in which we can maintain characteristics of both institutions yet increase the British influence. The Student Government will provide new leadership positions, with high importance. Each position will become fundamental for the Student Government. The positions are the following:
Head Students (12 grade)
Deputy Heads (12 grade)
Executive Prefects (9-12 grade)
Prefects (9-12 grade)
Liaison Officers (6-8 grade)
Ambassadors (6-8 grade)
Currently, the process of electing the new Student Government is ongoing with the aim of completing and announcing the full Student Government before the summer vacations. Each leadership position has its own way of applying. Our priority right now is the Head Students, therefore if your child is in 11th grade and applying for this position, he/she must have sent the first required material by Friday the 15th.
So far this process has been very enriching and a lot of positive feedback has been received from the school community; over 150 applications have been sent. It has been a success. We are genuinely excited and motivated by your involvement and interest in the new Student Government.
United We Thrive,
Daniel Figueroa
Liaison Officer
Over 150 applications at the time of writing! I think this speaks for itself. What a fantastic project and what a response for everyone to feel proud of. Happy New Year!
Colin Hogan
Assistant Headteacher- IB Years
Extra-curricular Activities - Term 2
So students can extend their learning and improve their skills beyond the classroom the teachers, music specialists and sports coaches have come together to continue to offer Extra-curricular Activities throughout Term 2.
If your son/daughter is already involved in Extra-curricular Activities, they should continue attending as they did in Term 1. If your son/daughter would like to join a new activity they need to go to the booklet and contact the member of staff facilitating the club and attend the first google meet session from Monday 18th January.
This booklet is also available on the student portal and parent portal so you can access it whenever you need to.
If you have any questions about the extracurricular clubs please contact anthonypike@abc-net.edu.sv for Performing Arts, ceciliahernandez@abc-net.edu.sv for Sports and alexanderkilford@abc-net.edu.sv for Academic Support and other Clubs available.Dates for your diary
SECONDARY
January 2021
Monday 18th to Friday 22nd - G12 English Orals
Wednesday 27th - IB Spanish EE
February
Monday 1st to Friday 5th - Internet Safety Week
Monday 1st - ABC Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration
Wednesday 17th to Monday 22nd - Half Term holidays (school closed)
Monday 22nd - Staff INSET Day (School closed for students)
We are very excited to start 2021 offering sports opportunities to our community. Practices and sports activities from 2nd Grade to 12th Grade will start this coming Monday January 18th.
Practices will remain virtually aligned with the school protocol, timetables are on this bulletin and also posted on the Parent and Student portals.
We are inviting all students to take part and join the individual sports and teams: Athletics, Fitness lessons, Table Tennis, Archery, Dance, Cycling, Swimming, Football, Volleyball, Basketball, Handball.
If you have any question or want to register your child, please contact: tatianahernandez@abc-net.edu.sv
We truly believe that keeping our students active will maintain them physically and mentally healthy, but mostly safe during these difficult times.
We are ready to continue working together keeping the Bulldog spirit strong!
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