Es Parent Bulletin Vol#6 2009 Nov 13

International School Manila

ES PARENT BULLETIN 13 November 2009

Volume 06

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER NOV 9 - 20

MAP Testing for Grades 3 and 4

18, 25

Wednesday Morning Student Late Start @ 8.30am

16 - 20

PTA New Book Fair, Fine Arts Theatre Lobby

19

ES Parent Coffee @ 7.30am, Little Theatre

21

K-12 Dance Recital @ 3pm, Fine Arts Theatre

27

School Holiday for Eid’l Adha - No School

30

School Holiday for Bonifacio Day - No School

DEC

2, 9, 16 4 7 - 16

Wednesday Morning Student Late Start @ 8.30am ES Concert, Fine Arts Theatre Registration of AFAC Activities for 2nd Semester

8

ES AFAC Concert @ 3pm, Little Theatre & AMR Hall

11

Last Day for AFAC

16

Early Student Release @ 12pm 1st Semester Report Cards Sent Home

17 - Jan 4 School Holiday

From the ES Administration Dear Elementary School Parents,

We are looking forward to our next ES Parent Coffee which will take place this coming week on Thursday (November 19) at 7:30 in the Little Theatre. The agenda for the morning will be an introduction to our WordPress blogs which I will explain about in more detail below, and the second item will be a discussion about our assessment practices in the Elementary School. We will spend about 30 minutes on each topic. Along with this, our ESL program leader Pippa Beetson has been organizing another parent coffee which will take place on Thursday, November 26, at 7:30 in the Elementary School Faculty Lounge. The topic for this morning will be

about sharing stories of bilingualism. Students are all well into their second units of inquiry exploring topics such as properties, growth, time, energy and systems. With this we continue to look at ways for us to share and reflect on learning. At the beginning of the year, WordPress blogs were set up for each faculty throughout the school. The initial purpose was to have a system in place to deliver our curriculum online in the event that we had to have a long-term school closure. At the same time, we had a group of interested faculty come together to explore how we could improve our communication and make use of this great technology. Over the months of September and October, this group set up blogs and shared them with their parents. We are now ready to launch our blogs schoolwide. Jen Smith, our IT integration teacher and coordinator, has been training faculty, working with students and, at our next parent coffee, will be showing parents more about the blogs, how to access them and post comments. She will also follow up with some written communication to explain the process in more detail. Faculty have all been undergoing training and now we need to continue to practice and put our skills to the test. We will be moving our third Friday of the month communication from individual class newsletters to the new format of blogs beginning next week. You can expect four postings per month with an update of learning in the classroom along with pictures. Jen Smith will be sending out information on how to set up RSS feeds and how to post comments to make the blogs more interactive. We also have security in place with comments being moderated by the class teacher, and no student last names being used on the sites. We look forward to this improved interactive way of communicating with you. Grade 3 and Grade 4 students are currently in the midst of Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) testing. Student reports on the MAP results for Reading, Language and Math will be sent home with the Report Cards. Teachers are currently working on report cards which will be distributed on December 16, 2009. We also look forward to our next ES music concert which will take place on December 4, 2009 in the Fine Arts Theater. We hope you have a good weekend! Yours in Education,

Simon Gillespie ES Principal

Michael Rourke

ES Assistant Principal

Elementary School Parent Bulletin

13 November 2009

From the Guidance Office Dear Parents; Every year, the K-12 Guidance Department hosts a discussion on Third Culture Kids or TCK’s. “A Third Culture Kid is a person who has spent a significant part of his or her developmental years outside the parents’ culture. The TCK builds relationships to all of the cultures, while not having full ownership in any. Although elements from each culture are assimilated into the TCK’s life experience, the sense of belonging is in relationship to others of similar background” (Pollock and Van Reken). Many students at ISM are TCK’s, and as parents of these students you might have wondered what impact this experience will ultimately have on your children both now, and in the future. These are among the questions we will consider during our presentation here at ISM next semester. However, because presentations that take place during the school day are not always convenient for all interested parents, there is an alternative, although it is not hosted by ISM. On November 15th, 2009 at 6:30 pm, there will be a presentation on Third Culture Kids at the Union Church of Manila in Legazpi Village, Makati. The presenters, Jason Atkins and Dan Chalmers, are both educators as well as expats living with their families here in the Philippines. Admission is free, however reservations are appreciated. Please contact Ynang Caliza at 812-6062 or by email [email protected] to reserve a space or for more information. This is a great opportunity to learn more about the TCK experience from two very knowledgeable individuals.

From the Art Department All students are invited to take part in an art competition! The four winners’ art work will be selected to be used as the front, back and inside covers of this year's Memory Book 'Ala Ala'. The theme is 'Beautiful World'. Students may use any media of their choice, for example, pencil, marker, crayon, pastel or watercolor. In art class we shall explain the following criteria to students: ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗

Must be on white A4 paper and you can choose any media you like (we can provide this, or you can find from home) The theme is Our Beautiful World We recommend no words We recommend entire paper is colored, though understand that some designs may require that you keep a white background. ∗ We recommend you do not fold or crease the paper BILINGUAL AND ESL ∗ The work must be created by the student entirely - not by any PARENT COFFEE MORNING adult ∗ Your full name, grade level and class teacher's name should be Mark your Calendars! on the back Nov 26th – 7.30am – 9am ∗ You must hand the art work to your Art Teacher before ThursES Faculty Lounge day 26 November Theme for this morning is “Sharing Stories of Bilingualism” We are in need of recycled objects to use for our third grade We’d love to hear about your experiences and hopefully Form and Construction Unit, as soon as possible - SMALL together we can learn some tips and strategies to help support all our bilingual children. objects which have the shapes of spheres, cubes, cylinders, pyramids etc. For example, bottle tops, toilet roll holders, See you then! small perfume boxes etc. Please send in to Helen Arnold. (Please RSVP to Pippa Beetson Many thanks. at [email protected] so we can cater accordingly.)

From the ESL Office

2

Elementary School Parent Bulletin

13 November 2009

From the PE Department Some parents tell me they have started their Christmas shopping!! Consider buying “ACTIVE” presents this holiday season. Though most stores still stock an overabundance of cell phones, video games, TV action figures and other toys that encourage kids to sit around the house, there are alternatives to consider when you’re doing your holiday shopping for your children. Elementary children love to play with Koosh balls in PE class; ask your child if they would like their own Koosh ball. How about a basketball hoop as a family present? Many stores now carry hoop and pole sets that allow height adjustments so younger students can enjoy success in making baskets. Also consider gifts like bicycles, bicycle helmets, Frisbees, hula hoops, jump ropes, S-Boards, in-line skates and all kinds of balls, bats, and rackets. These items all promote healthy, active lifestyles for your children. Some classes have begun learning some circus skills including stilt walking, juggling, and riding a unicycle! Consider buying a unicycle or pair of stilts for an added surprise at Christmas. These skills allow your child to really challenge themselves and develop the necessary patience and persistence needed to master these skills (not to mention impressing family and friends!) You can order all these toys online…. Children can also benefit from indoor games such as juggling balls or scarves which focus on hand/eye coordination, concentration, visual tracking, and manual dexterity. Even just a bag of balloons to blow up and play balloon volleyball will help your child with visual tracking and coordination. Recommended activity guidelines for elementary aged children is a minimum of one hour per day. ES PE Department

From the CMC Presenting…the CMC Blog: A World of Discovery. Stop by our blog on the ES blogroll at es.ism-online.org. We’re located under the “Specialists” tab. On the CMC blog, you’ll find information about what students are learning, read our very own book reviews, see photos from special events, and find general information about the CMC. Looking for a way to help out at ISM? Stop by the CMC and find out about our volunteer opportunities, we’d love to have you onboard! 3

Elementary School Parent Bulletin

From the Music Department

13 November 2009

From Go Green Are we really living in THE AGE OF STUPID? Make up your own mind on Tuesday, 1st December in the F.A.T THE AGE OF STUPID is a 90-minute drama-documentary-animation hybrid starring Oscar-nominated Pete Postlethwaite as an old man living in the devastated world of 2055, watching archive footage from 2008 and asking: why didn’t we stop climate change while we had the chance?

The ES December Concert will be held. . . Friday, December 4 • ECLC, Grades 1, and 2 8:30 AM • Grades 3 and 4 10:30 AM ISM Fine Arts Theatre Students should dress in regular uniforms. See you there!! =)

The film is supported globally by Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, Move ON and Tck Tck Tck and has been screened for the United Nations, Center of American Progress, EPA, The World Bank, the UK Parliament, the European Union, and the Scottish, Welsh, Swedish, Australian and Dutch parliaments. For more info, check out www.ageofstupid.net

~Marnie, Irene, and Linell

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Elementary School Parent Bulletin

13 November 2009

From the ATAC Office

ANNOUNCEMEMENTS: Nov 12-15th ISM Golf team at Jakarta for IASAS Golf Exchange Nov 14 Swim meet at ISM Nov 13-15 ISM Varsity Touch team at Singapore for All Asian Touch Tournament Nov 18-22 ISM MUN group to Bangkok for IASAS MUN Nov 27-28 IASAS Basketball Exchange at ISM. ISM Basketball Exchange November 27-28 2009 Boys Draw Venue: HS gym Friday 4pm ISM v Jakarta Brent v Shanghai Friday 6pm *this game may be played earlier at Brent Saturday 8am Saturday 10:00am Saturday Noon Saturday 2:00pm Saturday 4:00pm

ISM v Shanghai Brent v Jakarta ISM v Brent Shanghai v Jakarta Final 1 v 2 after round robin play!

Girls Draw

Venue: MS Gym

Friday 4pm Friday 6pm

ISM v Jakarta UST v Brent

Saturday 8am Saturday 10:00am Saturday Noon Saturday 2pm Saturday 4pm

Jakarta v UST ISM v Brent Jakarta v Brent UST v ISM Final 1 v 2 after round robin play!

Come join in this fun activity! All ISM community are invited Students, mums and dads of all grades!

I S M S W I M AT H O N W NE E! T DA

Saturday, December 5th at ISM Pool from 2.30pm

Visit www.ismanila.org/atac/sailfish.htm for details and pledge forms, or contact Andy Astfalck, Head Coach at [email protected]

Part of the proceeds goes to charity.

International Rugby at ISM next week: Those who were here last year may remember ISM hosted an IRB International U/20’s Rugby Test Match between Philippines v Guam. It was a great promotion for the start of our rugby season and we had a good crowd of interested students, faculty and ISM community members turn out for the twilight matches under lights on our HS field. Next week ISM will host two evenings of International Rugby as a part of this years series with four teams participating. This year four of our ISM varsity boys’ team have made it to the Philippine Eagles squad and will be playing in the games. This is a great achievement for them and will be a terrific experience for them to play international rugby at this level. I hope you are able to make it to some of the matches to watch and cheer for them. The four ISM HS reps are: Fergus Mitra, Shay Nielson, Brian Liston and Noriyuki Fukuyama Should be some great rugby on display next Tues and Thursday after school! PRFU/IRB International Rugby u/20’s Series: Round One: Tues 17th Nov @ISM 5pm Philippines V Laos 6.40pm Pakistan V Iran

Round Two: Thurs 19th Nov @ISM 5PM Philippines V Iran 6.40pm Pakistan V Laos

At third round of matches will be played Saturday afternoon Nov 21 at Nomads Sports Club in Merville. Season two sports: all 2nd season sports have made a good start after tryouts; please consult the ATAC and or the school divisional web page for the games schedule to be up to date with the latest match fixtures. This schedule does change on a regular basis. We are seeking more MS girls from grades 5-8 to join our MS girls’ tennis team. Please check the practice schedule and go to the rooftop courts to meet the coach if you are interested. 5

Elementary School Parent Bulletin

13 November 2009

From the Admission Office Please update the Admission Office if you have changed your residence or billing address, telephone or cell phone contact numbers, or your current e-mail address. This is especially important with regard to the mobile numbers for the school TextConnect system which is used in emergency situations when parents need to be urgently informed about something. We try to keep everything current in our database but if you are not sure if we have it right, please either call us at 840 8488 or email your current information to [email protected] using the form below. Thank you for your help.

IN T E R N A T I O N A L S C H O O L M A N I LA – Admission Office University Parkway Fort Bonifacio. 1634 Taguig Metro Manila . Philippines Box 1526 MCPO . 1255 Makati City, Philippines . Tel. 840-8488

CHANGE OF CONTACT INFORMATION

Address :

Home Phone :

From :

From :

To :

To :

Office Phone : ( Mother o

Father o )

Mobile Number : ( Mother o

From :

From :

To :

To :

EMAIL : ( Mother o

Father o )

Father o )

From : To :

Child’s Name :

Grade Level :

Change of contact information given by: Name : ______________________________

Relation : ________________

Signature : ___________

Office Use Only Below

Receiving Office / Initials / Date

Admission Office Updated / Initials

6

TextConnect Updated / Initials