Elementary School News
What an industrious time we have had at ISS this week. The ESL children were making gingerbread men in support of their literacy programme (Reading the book ‘The Gingerbread Man’) students were inventing games with the skipping ropes and upper elementary students have been unpicking ‘Action’ (see photographs). The joy of the PYP is that students take ownership of their learning and through this, decide on how to learn as well as how to take action through their learning. The Grade 2s are certainly taking action by deciding to collect items for the Salvation Army. We thank you all for your donations and encourage you to keep these coming in. Friday saw the students racing around the field in support of the ‘Fun Run’. This was a House competition supported by the PE department and was an exciting way to finish the week. Next Thursday 31 January we will be conducting an information session on the upcoming ISA assessments that some of our students will be taking. This is just one of our assessment tools which tells us how our students are doing, compared with other schools of a similar cohort. The session is open to parents of Grades 3 to 9 and will start at 8.00 am. Our school camps are coming up and we will be inviting parents to information sessions after the Lunar New Year break. Grade 5 are going to Bintan May 8 - 10 and Grades 3 & 4 will be staying overnight at the Singapore Zoo 13 - 14 May. Everyday is an open day at ISS so if you wish to encourage your friends to visit as they decide on schools for their children, please feel free to contact us. We are proud of what we do everyday! Middle School News Greetings everyone and welcome to the wonderful world of ISS Middle School and Paterson Campus. This week students have done a ‘deep dive’ into their Semester One school report. In our Developing Approaches To Learning (DATL) period, students were asked to review and analyse, for each subject, where they were strong and areas for development. From this data point they created their own Semester Two Goals, linked to an ATL, with steps on how they are going to achieve the goal. As a parent and or guardian, you can check to see your child’s goals! International Schools Assessment (ISA) A reminder that we have an ISA information morning on Thursday 31 January starting at 8AM. This will be in Changi Hall. In the session you find out about what is the ISA and why do we use this external assessment at ISS. There will be a practical element of completing part of the assessment as well. No study required! RSVP here. Science Excursions Dr Jeremiah has the all the students going to the Science Centre here in Singapore. It is a wonderful opportunity for our scientist to delve into many more advanced experiments and experiences. Make sure when your child comes home to quiz them about all the ‘cool’ things they tried at the Science Centre. ACSIS sports Our footballers, lead by Coach Orgee, finished the season on a high with a come from behind win against Tanglin Trust School. Showing the true meaning of resilience, the U14s bounced back from 0-2 down at half time, to record a historic ISS victory. Well done lads and all those who supported over the season. A true testament to the game and ISS in general. School exchange We are privileged to have students from Zhengheng Secondary School join us next Thursday. In an effort to develop our learning network and experiences, 16 students from G6-7 will spend the day at ISS with a buddy. They will go to classes, eat lunch, learn about ISS and Singapore in general. Hopefully this is the beginning of many such exchanges between the two schools. Have a great weekend MT Elementary School News
I have been quite simply amazed at the standard of work and presentation of the Grade 4 Mini-Exhibition on ‘The Human Body’. The students were well prepared and were certainly knowledgeable, confident and risk takers! An excellent job done, Grade 4. Our new students are settling into ISS very well and have made new friends; playtime is always a wonderful place to see our students welcoming those who have just arrived at ISS. This Semester we will be celebrating our Grade 5 students’ ‘graduation’ to Middle School with a Valedictory dinner on May 29th - please put this new date in your calendar. Other dates to put in your diary are: Grade 3 - 9 ISA Information Morning January 31 Family Fair (PTA) - Friday April 5 At the Fair we will be having a ‘Silent Auction’. You will be able to bid on precious paintings by Robert Lovett, dining experiences, travel vouchers and food baskets. If you are able to donate a Spa treatment, dinner voucher or some other item that you think people would like please email Savannah of the PTA. Please look out for future dates for Camp meetings. The ES camps take place in May. Middle School News Greetings and welcome everyone to the week that was and what is on the horizon. The Middle School (MS) push on the use of diaries by students has started quite successfully. Reinforced by the teachers and by the parents/ guardians, students are getting into the habit of recording and reviewing any and all matters that relate to school. This will be something that ultimately will serve them well as they move on to further education and into the workforce. To quote Benjamin Franklin ‘For every minute spent in organizing, an hour is earned.’ Once On This Island production Today many of our students who are participating in the production Once On This Island (OOTI) also participated in a Physical Theatre Workshop. Mr Lebon and Ms Missen were able to bring an external facilitator who worked at further developing each student’s physical stage presence. This will all contribute to another wonderful production come May this year. ACSIS sport The U14 footballers have been quite busy this week with two games in two days. Having secured a hard fought draw verse Tanglin Trust School on Tuesday, they could not maintain the momentum on Wednesday against National Public School. Well done to the Grade 5 students who ‘stepped up’ and played in the big leagues for the NPS game. International Schools Assessment (ISA) On Monday you will receive your letter outlining this years ISA. The ISA assessment program is designed specifically for students in international schools in Grades 3–9. It is based on the internationally endorsed reading, mathematical literacy and scientific literacy frameworks of the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). (https://www.acer.org/au/isa) This is an annual data point the school uses to establish learning trends within the school and in comparison to other similar schools to ISS. We will be inviting you to join us for a background and information session on Thursday 31st January at Paterson Campus (08:00am) Have a good weekend one and all MT Elementary School News
I love the first day back at school after the holidays; excited students, enthusiastic teachers and relieved parents! A school is just a building with no students so it was wonderful to be part of the buzz again. This Semester promises to be full of solid learning experiences and interesting and valuable activities to complement our programme. Grade 3 & 4 will be going on their camp - overnight at the Singapore Zoo, and Grade 5 will be preparing for their trip to Bintan. Grades 3 - 5 will be involved in our standardised testing through ISA and of course, we have the Grade 4 Mini Exhibition next week and the final PYP Exhibition in May. We welcomed a number of new students to the Elementary School on Tuesday and are now conducting reviews of our programmes to ensure our offering is world class. Please take note of the following date: 28 January 8.00 am - PYP/MYP Information Coffee morning on ISA Assessment Grades 3 - 9. In February we will inform you of information sessions for our Grade 3, 4 & 5 Camps. Have a great week ahead! Middle School News Greetings and welcome to Semester Two, 2019! We have started off the semester with an influx of new students. So great to see many, many fresh and excited faces, ready for their ISS education. 2019 kicks off on Paterson Campus with the upgraded version of the ‘field of dreams’ fully functional. Great to see students running, jumping and playing on real grass in the middle of a major international city! Safe and sound At Paterson Campus (K-8) we conducted another of our evacuation drills today and without doubt it was our most efficient yet. Unannounced to students, they all responded calmly and promptly. Well done to all students, teachers and administration staff on evacuation of the buildings in a safe, quiet and quick fashion. School Diaries This semester we need your help!!! In an effort to improve student organisation, all teachers are going to increase the focus of using the school diaries. What this will mean is an enhanced approach to how the students record, review and organise their thoughts, their homework, their feedback for each day. What is the role of the parent and or guardian? To at LEAST once a week ask to look at the student’s diary, to see if it is being used in a positive and organisational way. Feel free to write notes to subject teachers in the diary, which will be then countersigned by the teacher themselves. We ask that every time you look at the diary sign and date it. As always, feel free to give us feedback. ACSIS sports The footballers started training again this week. Finishing off the week with a game verse Dover Court. Now the field is fully operational, one gets the feeling things may begin to click for our U14 boys. The boys are playing even as the blog is going to press. Good luck Mr Orgee and team. Parents are always welcome to join for games. Reach out to Mr Orgee for dates and venues. Coffee morning Keep the date free for PYP/MYP Information Coffee morning on ISA Assessment Grades 3 - 9. This will happen in Changi Hall on 28 January 8.00 am - 9.00am. Have a good weekend. MT |
Susan Tilney
Paterson Principal Archives
April 2020
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