From the Director
I am afraid I have no further updates regarding a potential return to school. I think we can all see that Covid cases in the country continue to be on the rise and in this context I think it unlikely that we will have any change soon.
I will be sending out a survey early next week to parents and students in Grade 10 regarding IGCSE exams. Please read the preamble very carefully in order to try to understand what are quite complex issues and thereby make informed choices in the survey. In brief, I can say this much: Cambridge International Exams (CIE), who run the exams, are being distinctly inflexible in their approach- they will not offer any alternative to written exams but have given no satisfactory assurances about how they intend to account for the fact that some schools have been back to normal for many months whilst others (like ourselves) remain fully online. I have given my support to a strong letter from the Latin American Heads Conference Chief Executive, Alan Downie, denouncing the inequity of this approach. I will keep you posted on any changes in the situation. In the meantime, we should remember that:
Grade 10 students do not need CIE IGCSE grades to enter into Grade 11 and commence their IB studies
Universities are interested in students IB scores (and/or Avanzo scores), not their IGCSE grades
The IBO position remains that they also intend for their exams to go ahead; however, they have, at least, quite significantly reduced syllabus requirements and assessment activities in the light of the pandemic. Please note that we still intend to offer Grade 12 students a mock exam experience to help prepare them for the final exams. I am meeting with the Grade next week to discuss this and other matters that they have raised with us.
All that aside, I look forward to seeing many of you at the fireworks on Monday evening!
In the meantime, the author of the following pearls of wisdom was born on this day (Jan 29th) 1737 and wrote a pamphlet that to this day remains one of the best selling books of all time in the United States…..but who was he/she?
“The World is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion.”
“Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God and angels know of us.”
“That which we obtain too easily, we esteem too lightly.”
“A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right.”
Stephen Lang
Director
From the Head of Primary
50th Anniversary Celebrations
On Monday we will be celebrating our 50th anniversary by burying our very own time capsule, to be opened again on February 1st 2071! Students have chosen which items are to be buried and written letters to future students, maybe even their own grandchildren. The children will watch the burial live on Monday during their lessons.
Some of the objects to be buried:
Salvadorean Lottery
A Chromebook (an old broken one!)
SD card with videos from the children
Collage of photos
PE Tribal Uniform T-Shirts
A Newspaper
Letters to be buried:
Dear children of the future,
Thius letter was written in the year 2021, and 50 years have passed since then. We are writing to you to celebrate the Academia Británica's 50th anniversary. Our class is Pre-Kinder Alger and we want you to know that our class is fun, we have learned a lot, we can now count, know our colours, the seasons ( we wear sunglasses each time we sing the song about seasons and it makes us feel super cool). W ehave also learned about nature and have started speaking more English. We can now say "Good morning, Ms. Marcela" or "Good morning, Ms. Kathy". We are only 3 years old. Yes! We are the youngest ones in school. Our first year has been different to yours, in 2021 we learned from home through a computer. Wow!
But..why are we staying home?
“Coronavirus is very dangerous and can make all of us very sick, that's why we wear masks over our mouths.” Manuel.
“Yes that's true, we don't want to get sick, it is too dangerous.” Jimena.
That's why we are staying home, because of this ugly and dangerous virus. But we have also had lots of fun at home. We learn every day, see our friends through the screen, we can see each other and sing, play and learn. We have also talked about what we want to be when we grow up. We want to be firefighters (Santiago, Paolo and David), artists (Jimena Monge), doctors (Jimena María and Jose Ignacio), bake sweets and be chefs (Antonina), Iron Spider (Javier), astronauts (Manuel), princesses (María Elena) and vets (Adriana).
The children of Pre-Kinder Alger love the story of The Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf, it is one of our favourites (sometimes we like to pretend we are the wolf blowing on the houses) and we also play football, because we love playting with balls.
Pre_kinder Alger would like to say goodbye to the children of the future with lots of love, we hope you always find adventures to go on and create new things. Enjoy every morning, play, build, draw, play with mud, run on the playground and always be curious and inquisitive, never stop learning and dreaming.
With love, PreKinder Alger.
Miss Marcela and Miss Kathy
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This is a letter from the children of 2nd Ware 2021. We currently receive classes online instead of in school due to the Covid Virus, it has been a difficult year but we still have a lot of fun! Here is our message to you:
Dear Children of 2071,
Dear students of the future, you are very lucky to go to the ABC. It is the best school, even online! We hope you always follow your dreams and eat healthy with some chocolate. Play with and help your friends and families. Visit your grandmother and grandads lots, as we can’t right now. Listen to your teachers, be curious, independent and creative. Do you still use cars and computers? Love, grow and care for animals, plants and each other. Play everyday, paint lots and work hard. Be good to each other and have fun. Grow plants and have a farm. Eat ice cream often.
Love from 2nd Ware
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Dear people of the future,
My name is Lourdes Martinez Fuentes and I am writing on behalf of 5W (5th Williams). We are a class of 26 students from El Salvador, Costa Rica, USA and the UK.
We want to tell you everything and anything about our experiences of 2020 and 2021. The global pandemic that is called Coronavirus or Covid19 and has taken many lives. We are thankful for our health and that we are safe. We are grateful for online learning - we have been learning online for 10 months now! Because of covid we have to wear masks and have social distancing, and we can not touch our faces or other people! We have had to stay home and many people lost their jobs because of covid .
Now I want to tell you all about all the cool stuff! You should play Kahoot online, (which is a quiz game), because it is a really cool game where you can compete with your friends. We have been using voice chat to keep in touch with our friends on our computers and phones. We spend a lot of time watching Netflix Kids - have you seen any shows on Netflix? We can choose tv shows to watch anytime.
You must treat your teachers and class friends well - we have had a lot of time at home to think and reflect, and we feel very lucky to attend the ABC. Working online, we have used Google Classroom and Chrome computers. We have had to have lots of breaks because it can be hard to work at a computer all day! Make sure you enjoy 5th grade and have a lot of fun, because life is short. Last but not least, do not spend all of your time in the mirror, telling yourself that you are ugly, because you are not! Do not let social media poison your mind, keep a strong grip on reality.
We hope in 50 years there is no virus.
BY Lourdes Martinez Fuentes
Sign up for Extras
We have lots of exciting extras on offer, please see the following documents to find out what is on offer.
Celebrating Our Primary Artists!
Mateo Belloso
Georges Seurat - Pointillism
Natalia Bonet
Andy Warhol- Pop Art
Maria Fernanda Guardado
Georges Seurat- Pointillism
Valeria Renee Chacón
Andy Warhol- Pop Art
Marianne Taylor
Head of Primary
From the Secondary Leadership Team
Due to the current situation our children are now online more than ever before. Whether it's using the internet through mobile phones, social media, online gaming, emails etc. We all have the responsibility to ensure that us and our children understand how to keep ourselves safe when using the internet.
To remind us all about how to be safer online Safer Internet Day is celebrated at the ABC for an entire week each year. This year Safer Internet Day 2021 will be celebrated globally on February 9th, 2021 with a focus on the theme, "Together for a better internet"
Here are some driving statements and questions to prompt powerful conversations focused on this topic:
Let's face it the internet is a powerful place to connect with others, but issues can occur.
How could we work together as a class, a school, a country or a planet to make it a better, safer place for everyone to connect?
Can you think of a few ideas that you as a student would be able to do to help make this happen?
This coming week students in each grade will work on a series of short mini lessons during tutor time and Life Skills. In doing so they will explore a variety of positive and negative impacts of the internet, as well as the various ways to conduct themselves in a safe, ethical and positive manner online, while making the most of the positive opportunities that are available.
We encourage you to browse our resources by grade level and engage in conversations with your child which focus on these topics.
We have also provided a list of videos for conversation starters as well as additional resource collections from leading organisations, lower down on the home page, which we hope you will find useful.
We would also like you to draw your attention to the ABC Secondary Digital Learning Pledge (which can be found on the student and parent portals). Please ensure that you have read this through with your son or daughter and ensure they fully understand the expectations outlined in this document.
Let's make every day a safer internet day, together!
Dates for your diary
SECONDARY
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)
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