From the Director
It is only natural that both students and parents will be worried about the potential negative impact of this extended period of online learning on learning. I have always been a great believer that education is an essentially inter-personal endeavour built on relationships and it is clear that learning online compromises that interpersonal relationship and therefore must be having a negative impact. And as someone who sits in front of a computer screen for 10 or 11 hours each day, I know something about the impact of the online context on energy and concentration levels (though I don’t find this latter particularly significant, perhaps because I am often in one-to-one or small group contexts). However, all this said I am not (and here those who know me well will already be smiling knowingly- or rolling their eyes depending on their perspective!) one of those who subscribe to the ‘doom and gloom’ scenario as far as the impact of all this on our children is concerned. Let me explain why:
The experience of coping with all the challenges of learning online and surviving in a pandemia is building important personal qualities in our current students that will serve them very well in the rest of their lives. Whenever I am asked what I think has been the most important quality in becoming and remaining a Head of School, I always give the same answer: resilience. This generation of children are going to be the most resilient to have graduated school in modern times. I also believe their levels of personal organisation and self-motivation will be higher than in previous generations. Finally, I believe they will have a more balanced and altruistic outlook than any recent generation. It has become patently clear to all of us during the pandemic how important things like health, family and education really are and so, in stark contrast to previous generations, I expect this one to be more humble, more grounded, more community-oriented and, quite frankly, happier, than their predecessors.
Did you know that both Steve Jobs (Apple) and Bill Gates (Microsoft) dropped out of college? What does this tell us about the purpose and value of education? Perhaps we should stop thinking of education as a process of acquiring facts and knowledge and passing or (damagingly, in every sense) failing tests but rather about developing skills, personal qualities and values in young people that will prepare them fully for adult life.
I firmly believe that it is not how much one learns at school that matters but how much one learns after it. As educators, our focus should be on developing lifelong learners: people who are ready and motivated to learn for themselves. I think the young people going through the current pandemic experience of education are better-placed in this regard than those who went before them.
The idea of age-specific expectations for children's learning is nonsense: it denies the obvious and wonderful uniqueness of each individual child; it creates stress for those whose talents are different to the ones that happen to be taught and assessed in classrooms and promotes mediocrity from those who are academically gifted.
In conclusion, I concur with James Williams’ view, as set out in his article of January 20th in the Times Educational Supplement (TES)
James Williams TES article; there is no such thing as lost learning, just learning that has not taken place yet….
Have a lovely weekend!
Stephen Lang
Director
From the Head of Primary
Parent Surveys
Online Learning Review
Thank you to all parents who have already completed this survey. If you have not yet had the chance then please help us by following this link: Primary Online Learning Review. We primary team are working hard to find the best way to ensure your children receive the best academic online curriculum as well as social, and emotional care.
Reading A-Z
We are very happy with the success of the reading platform Reading A-Z and hope to extend it for Prepa children soon. If you are using it with your child then please fill out this survey to let us know how we can get the best results for your child.
Children’s Achievements
I am very excited to share with you some of our student’s achievements from this week.
Kinder Art & Creativity
Kinder children have been getting creative and practicing fine motor skills to make valentines day cards. Here is a beautiful card Payson made for his mum.
4th Grade ICT
4th graders have been learning how to create their own websites using the Google Site tool. Here is an example by Diego Cisneros about lego.
2nd Grade IPC
2nd Grade have been learning about Pond Habitats, and Life Cycles here are some pieces of work by Isabella Castro.
4th Grade Maths
Well done to Rebecca, Ana Sofia and Lisa from 4th Reston for your hard work learning how to solve long division problems, using the mantra ‘Divide, Multiply, Subtract and Bring Down’.
Prepa Literacy
Prepa have been responding to stories with their own writing. They are learning to write words using their phonics and sentences using capital letters, full stops and finger spaces.
5th Grade Literacy
Some 5th Grade students have been working with Mr Truscott to use figurative language to add tension and suspense to their descriptive writing.
By Sophia Olivia Diamond:
As the cart started to slowly move onto the huge mountain of track, she could tell she was in for quite a terrifying ride. Once the cart finally got to the very top, it stopped for an instant and she could see all of the tall grass dancing in the wind. And then, without warning, it whooshed down. She screamed with terror, clinging to the cold, metal handlebar bar; her heart lunged into her throat like a dog lunging for the food bowl. She closed her eyes and tried to drown out the sound of all the whooshing and other passengers, some screaming with delight, and others in terror. And then, as suddenly as it had started, it stopped.
She let out a huge sigh of relief, hoping that the rest of it would just be much less bumpy. As the roller coaster jerked around all of the twists and turns, all she could think about was what would happen next. Then the cart lunged forward into a tunnel, and darkness rained upon everything. She could smell the cold dampness of it, and there was a bitter taste in her mouth. Then, suddenly, she saw that straight ahead the track was broken. she panicked. Her heart froze. All of the passengers screamed along with her, as soon as they saw too. Then, as soon as she thought it couldn’t get worse, a light came on and a huge shadow appeared. It let out a huge roar and it appeared to be holding a piece of track. And then the cart stopped. She wondered what was next, and if she would make it out alive.
And instantly, the cart started to race backwards, as if it was as scared as her. All she could do was close her eyes and imagine that she was back at home. And then her dream almost came true. She was back where she had first gotten on the ride, and she let out a sigh of relief and got off.
By Giuliana Emelie Cárcamo Pagano:
It was a cool day with clear skies, as I observed the huge roller coaster I was about to climb onto. I quickly jumped into the front seat, in order to have the best and most beautiful view in this exciting experience. My heart began beating rapidly as the roller coaster started to take off. I was shaking. Everyone around me was thrilled and I could hear them squealing with excitement. The fairground roller coaster was suddenly going faster, faster and even faster! I felt like I was about to fall off the cart into the void … I held on the rusty, steel bars with my slippery, sweaty hands. My chest wanted to burst open. We were going upwards; I could see the mountains and the tips of the trees. I saw below me and got even more nervous … Sweat dripped down my face. It suddenly seemed like the weather had changed, but it was actually my nerves betraying me. It was as hot as fire. As we kept going up, I could see we were approaching a dark, dirty cave. We came out and saw more giant mountains and bright green trees. We went into another big cave, I could taste the disgusting flavour of puke in my mouth from all the ups and downs we went through earlier. Everyone could see the light shining at the end of the long and scary cave. Once we came out, my heart skipped a beat … There were no more tracks to be seen and I heard everyone at the back shouting with fear. I could also hear some mysterious roars from behind. I thought this was gonna be my end. Suddenly, the ride stopped for a second and roughly, we began going backwards! I felt relieved. I was alive! It was pitch black … I heard more, and more roaring. I glanced to my right, there was an enormous shadow … I kept hearing noises, “ROAR!!!” I looked closely. It seemed like it was a gigantic gorilla; it was a huge, frightening creature. My stinging, red dry eyes were starting to be filled with tears after seeing what was in front of me. We were getting close to the end, going forwards again. It was now bright and calm, I could feel the breeze touching my hair and my fingertips. Flashing lights, more roars … We slowly stopped and I breathed in and out … I jumped off the cart and stretched, that was a scary and joyful adventure!
2nd Grade Literacy
2nd Grade have been learning how to retell a story from a 1st person perspective, they have been reading Tadpole’s Promise and retelling the story from a character’s point of view as well as describing the life-cycle from the perspective of a sunflower. Well done Lena and Rolando from 2nd Aviles.
British Children’s Television Channels
It can be difficult to find the right things for your children to watch, so I wanted to suggest a few programmes from the BBC (accessed via YouTube) that balance education and entertainment. British TV programmes are also a fun way for children to hear british pronunciation, as well as learn british idioms and cultural references.
Here they have everything for an inquisitive mind – help your child know what’s going on in the world. Complex stories are explained in a way that makes sense to children. At Newsround they bring you news stories, the latest trends, movie reviews and what children are doing to help each other and the environment.
Horrible Histories is a hit CBBC show that explores the side of history that they don’t always teach you about in school! From the Vicious Vikings and Awful Egyptians to the Slimy Stuarts and Terrible Tudors, Horrible Histories covers the funniest, yuckiest and most gruesome bits of history for kids.
Get cosy, snuggle up and enjoy a new bedtime story read to you by a different celebrity each week. They have a new story available every Thursday.
Blue Peter is the longest running children’s television programme IN THE WORLD! See the presenters and Henry the Dog doing brilliant things live from their studio in Salford Quays and on location around the world! The programme includes favourite celebrities and performers, colossal Blue Peter challenges and clever ways to create (how tos, tutorials, makes and bakes).
Marianne Taylor
Head of Primary
From the Secondary Leadership Team
Over the past weeks 9 of our Grade 11 students have been competing for the Head Student role for text school academic year SY 2021/22
They all went through the process of submitting an essay and 3 proposals they want to implement in school. 6 candidates were chosen and they were asked to talk to all students from G6 to G12 in all the morning assemblies, presenting their ideas and proposals to all children, who after each assembly had the option to vote through a Google form.
The last step was a meeting with the SMT team, Mr Lang, Mr Hogan any me were part of the leadership team and Sebastian Tona from as former STUCO President, Daniel Figueroa, liaison between the STUCO and the HS, and the former HS, Luciana Molins and Senji Shibata.
We were all amazed by the whole experience, listening to our current leaders in G12, how they analyse, how they agree to disagree and are open to different points of view, is very rewarding, We are building Responsible Outstanding Citizens.
Daniel Figueroa
Liason between STUCO and Head Students
The process of electing the new Head Students has been a very enriching experience. I had the opportunity to interact with and get to know very talented and empowering students. They were all significantly enthusiastic and I could see in them the desire of helping the ABC community. After a lot of thinking and challenging evaluation, we concluded that Daniela Saade and Hector Himede are both students with a lot of potential and capable of complementing each other. Therefore, Hector and Daniela were elected as the next Head Students. Nevertheless, their fellow candidates were taken into consideration for the leadership position that follows; Deputy Heads, and proudly the opportunity was given to Valeria Melara and Gabriela Lopez to undertake two of the four Deputy Head positions. The remaining candidates have valuable characteristics that we can not ignore, therefore, they will automatically be considered for the remaining two Deputy Head positions and the rest of the Student Government structure.
The next step is to guide the new Head Students and Deputy Heads through the election processes of the remaining leadership positions. Ambassadors are the next who follows our schedule and the election process starts on the 23rd of February.
Thank you so much for your interest in this new student lead collaboration,
We will keep you updated as we proceed,
Sincerely,
Daniel Figueroa
United We Thrive
Héctor Himede
Head Boy SY 2021-22
Hello, ABC community! I'm Hector Himede, currently an 11th Grader at the school. I'm glad to be introducing myself to you all as one of the two Head Students for the coming academic year. More than anything, I am excited to be able to say that I will have the opportunity to give back to this community the same way that it has for me and my peers ever since we first became a part of it. As a Head Student, I pledge myself to the progress of this fantastic school; to work day and night not only for the good of the community but also for the individual student. I am moved to have been given this opportunity, and I am also looking forward to standing proud at what I'm sure we will achieve as a school. Hopefully, we will be able to meet soon!
Daniela Saade
Head Girl SY 2021-22
Greetings all, my name is Daniela Saade, and I'm delighted to have been picked for the role of Head Student for the next academic year. After having been part of the ABC community since pre-kinder, the school has become my second home; hence, I am not only honoured but thrilled upon what's to come. I am engaged in working with the community despite the current uncertainties Covid has brought to ensure every student feels heard, and we as a community can improve every day. It is an honour for me to be a Bulldog, so I can assure you, I am very grateful for this opportunity and will work my hardest to not only fulfil the duties of this position but leave a footprint on the school.
I am very proud to present to you our two new Head Students for the year 2021/22.
We will keep you informed as the process continues for Deputy Head Students, Prefects, Executive Prefects and Ambassadors.
It is a pleasure to work with such talented students.
Kind regards,
Carmen Chávez
Assistant Headteacher - Student Wellbeing
Dates for your diary
SECONDARY
February
Wednesday 17th to Monday 22nd - Half Term holidays (school closed)
Monday 22nd - Staff INSET Day (School closed for students)
March
Monday 8th to Friday 12th – Brain Week
Monday 8th - International Women's Day / Día Internacional de la Mujer
Wednesday 10th - English Dept Oral Exams G12
Friday 19th - Francophonie Day
Monday 22nd to Friday 26th - Francophonie Week
Monday 29th to Friday 9th April - Easter holidays
