A STIMULATINGSTART TO A VISIBLEAND EXCITING FUTURE AHEAD...Dear ICS Community,

I write to give you an update on construction of our new buildings.The school cafeteria and kitchen are working well and I am happyto report that the structures and foundations of the new buildingsare now going up very quickly. At the time of writing the basicfoundations for the underground car park and first floor of thesecondary extension building have been completed. The secondfloor will very soon be visible for all parents, students and teachersto see. Despite the challenges of the weather, the gymnasiumremains on schedule for completion by Easter. If the newgymnasium is not completed on time we will not be able to finishthe new 'drop off' area for buses and ensure that the specialistareas of the secondary extension are ready for September. Thegood news is that we remain on schedule for both of these targets.

Many of our teachers and students have taken a great interest in theprogress of the construction and indeed are using the work as a contextfor the learning activities and content of the programmes they teach.This is as it should be in our IB Three Programme international schoolwhere we endeavour to make connections with the real world andacross subject disciplines. As I check on progress daily I find myselftalking through what is happening with the students who arewitnessing the construction from afar. They are clearly stimulated andexcited by what they see and I am confident we will see someadditional interest in design technology, engineering, architecture andbusiness as a result.

I want to acknowledge and thank all of them, our parents and ourteachers for their patience and focus during this period of constructionand as we work around some of the challenges, both anticipated andunforeseen, which occasionally exercise our adaptability and flexibility.The results for the school will be truly impressive and will enable us todevelop our programme and special brand of international educationstill further.

In addition, the contentsof this Newsletter showthe continuedcommitment, variety anddynamism of the school’sprogramme. A programme and aschool which I know weare all proud and excitedto be part of.

Jeremy Singer, Principal

CATALINA’S BRIDGE TO CHINAThe Chinese Confucius Institutes in Spain, in association with the Embassy of China, hold a competition each year forSecondary School students who are learning Chinese and Chinese culture. The competition involves presentations in Chineseand artistic interpretation of Chinese dance and music.

At the “Bridge to China” contest this year, Catalina Morro, Grade 11, won the Madrid competition in April, and subsequentlywon the final national contest in Leon in early May in front of a big audience.

In late October, Catalina went to China representing Spain, and made it to the finals in a worldwide competition withcontenders from all over the world. As a result she has been offered a six-month scholarship to study in China in the futurefor her "outstanding knowledge of the Chinese language and Culture".

Catalina Morro aboveand pictured left,second from left.

PRIMARY HALLOWEEN PARTYThe new events committee under Friends of ICS Parent Association, led byThelma Martinez recently organised the Primary Halloween Party whichwas an outstanding success and thoroughly enjoyed by all of the PrimarySchool children, as you can see from the photographs below.

ACTIVE INFANT MATHSIn Infants, we’ve been spending a lot of time this half term looking at and working with numbers toincrease our understanding of how numbers work and what we use them for. To give the pupils theopportunity to demonstrate their learning, both classes were given a challenge to navigate clues andfind the answers in the Christina Barlow Garden.

The students had lots of fun putting their knowledge and understanding to the test by solving the cluesand locating the answers. Teachers and assistants were very impressed with the way the children workedwith each other and behaved responsibly as well as showing off their very impressive number knowledgeat this early stage of the year!

Infants Teachers Ms Lacritz, Ms Nuala, Ms Jenny and Mr Carr

TAKING THE PYPATTITUDES HOMEMs Clara came to our class (3PA) and read us a book called “Did I fill a Bucket Today?”After that I got inspired, so I decided to start a daily routine which goes like this. Duringthe week (depending on how I behave) I earn points. They have to do with the PYPattitudes which are:-

Appreciation, Commitment, Confidence, Cooperation, Creativity, Curiosity,Empathy, Enthusiasm, Independence, Integrity, Respect, Tolerance

I have a purple bucket andmy family fills it up withlittle papers where a PYPattitude is writtenaccording to mybehaviour. By the end ofthe week we count howmany points there are andI see how I have improved.We also talk togetherabout my weaknesses andstrengths and I try to be abetter person every day.

Milena Chimlovski

After a great deal of anticipation, Grades 3, 4 and 5 were finally given their iPads in thelast week of September. Pupils and parents from each grade were invited by Mr Carrand Mr Saich to launch parties to celebrate the release of these 21st century learningtools as well as going through initial set-up and the all-important ground rules aroundtheir use inside and outside of the classroom.

Once the students got their hands on their devices, they were keen to personalise themwith trademark ‘selfies’ and were all eager to learn from each other how they couldcustomise them further using a range of creative applications. Once back in class,students were given a host of activities to familiarise themselves with their iPads. Theseincluded a QR code treasure hunt; where students had to hunt around the school formarkers which linked to clues and questions, a web quest; where students were given

a mixture of reliable and unreliable internet sources whichhad to be evaluated before answering a series of questionsall about explorers from history and many more.

Teachers and students are very excited about theopportunities offered by these devices to extend learningboth at home and in the classroom, providing meaningfullearning experiences enhanced with technology. Ask yourchild what they have used their iPad for in class today!

Alasdair Carr, PYP Technology Integration Leader

For our Unit ‘How we Express Ourselves’ 2EB read lots of different folktales from around theworld. We decided it would be nice to write our own folktales and read these to Infants andK4. We really enjoyed sharing our stories, they were great listeners.

Elizabeth Berkhemer, Grade 2 Teacher

EXPRESSING OURSELVES

KINDERGARTEN LIFE

PYP IPAD LAUNCHServe the City Madrid, with whom the Primary Student Council hasbeen collaborating with in the last few years, gave an inspiring presentation about how each and every student can make a difference with even simple acts of kindness. They hold bi-monthly events in which our students can participate in to help our local community.

Their next Madrid event will be on December 12th. If you would like to make a difference and be a volunteer, you can sign up for an event on their website: www.stcmadrid.com

PRIMARY STUDENT COUNCIL

SERVE THE CITY

The children have settled quickly into Kindergarten life and are extensively using the new outdoorarea as an integral part of their learning environment. Both classes have been looking at Who we areand How we organize ourselves, An inquiry into the nature of the self to include human relationshipsincluding families, friends, communities, and cultures;; what it means to be human.

K3 have been working especially hard investigating their school environment, looking at routines andschedules, meeting different staff members whilst continuing to monitor the daily building work.Autumn walks have taken place, explorations of the school community, making friends and mostimportantly settling into new routines at school.

K4 classes have also been busy since the start of term inquiring about themselves as uniqueindividuals showing curiosity and pride in their own uniqueness. Everyday celebrating the diversityof the languages spoken as Mother tongue is an essential part of identity. The children have beendoing own name investigations, detailed self-portraits and talking about the importance of familylife. Autumn is here and the children have been counting, measuring and weighing all the itemscollected on the Autumn walk combined with different art activities related to the season.

Visits are also being made to the Library to share books and promote a respect for books and the loveof reading. We continue to encourage the children to explore, wonder and question and to makeconnections in their learning. We have developed a ́ Reading Buddies ́ scheme whereby Kindergartenchildren are sharing stories at lunchtime with Grade 5 children and Grade 2 children have beenwriting and sharing their stories with K4. The Reading Shed funded by FOICS has been a wonderfuladdition to the Garden area by helping to extend interest and joy in reading and sharing books.

The children also need time to rest, relax and dream and the long awaited arrival of the new sleepmats is now over! The children are enjoying extending their independence skills in putting out theirown mat and putting it away afterwards. The daily contribution of fruit for the Fruit Basket formorning snack time has been a great success and thank you to all who contribute. The children arevery much enjoying this part of the morning - preparing a healthy lifestyle snack for each other.

Music and the arts are a big part of ICS and the nurturing of this rich curriculum begins early. Inconjunction with the Specialist Music teachers, the children have created a musical frame withrecycled objects and are looking at ways to record their sounds to be enjoyed both indoors and out.

As an introduction to Grades 9 and 10 and toprepare students for assessment ininterdisciplinary tasks, we organised a field tripto Valverde de los Arroyos (Guadalajara). Thetrip was designed to prepare students for thegrade 10 mandatory interdisciplinaryeAssessment which students will sit as part ofthe MYP certification in May 2016. The task thestudents carried out were written so that theyneeded several subject areas of knowledge tosolve it.

Dr Jennifer Barnett, MYP Coordinator

On the 10th October, 28 students from 9th and 10th Grade set off for Gredos ontheir Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Practice Adventurous Journey, accompaniedby the ICS DoE team: Louise Clement, Ms Grove and Mr McLaughlin. Theobjective of this trip is to encourage a spirit of adventure and discovery, anunderstanding and appreciation of the natural environment, and theimportance of working together in a team. This meant spending the first dayand a half rigorously preparing a route with a compass and map, learning aboutpossible hazards and how to cope, preparing to carry a rucksack containing all

the kit necessary for the next 24 hours (food and drink, cooking equipment, tent, sleeping bag, clothing, etc), whilst bonding with a team ofbetween 6-8 participants. And no personal phones or navigation systems allowed! Whilst some were taken out of their comfort zone (gettinglost is all part of the learning experience!), the students were remotely supervised with checkpoint meetings along the route and emergencycontact was enabled by one basic mobile phone per team containing the guide's telephone number (only to be used in a dire emergency).

Memorable moments included: much of 10th Grade's dinner ending up on the floor; tales of encounters with snakes, wild boar and mice; therealization that apples taste great when you're really hungry; the declaration that if you are offered more food, always take it: you neverknow when you'll get more; huge smiles of satisfaction at the end of the hike!

In the meantime, all Duke of Edinburgh students, Bronze and Gold, have started their weekly activities: a skill, a sport and a service, forvarious time periods depending upon the level. The Bronze group are now eagerly looking forward to their Qualifying Adventurous Journeywhich will take place in June and conclude their award. Meanwhile, we are planning the PAJ and QAJ for Gold: 4 days and 3 nights of hiking!

Louise Clement, Duke of Edinburgh Coordinator

NEW RESIDENTIAL TRIP TO VALVERDE

3D PRINTING

MATHEMATICAL MARVEL

Students at ICS are continuing to develop their designskills with Google Sketchup, the free Computer AidedDesign programme suitable for children of all ages. Takingthis to the next stage, this year the Department of Designhas invested in a 3D printer, enabling students to make aphysical object from their three dimensional digitalmodel. The precision of the technology demands ‘accuracyand rigour’ in students designs that enable them to seethe contrasts and constraints between the virtual and‘real’ physical world.

David Bailey, Design Teacher

Twelve year old Salar Ravangouy was born in Spain to Iranian parents, he started at International College Spain when he was 4 years old and isa mathematical phenomenon with his recent achievement of coming 40th in the top 100 mathematical minds of the world.

The annual Mental Math International Championship is a mathematics competition for students aged between 6 and 15 years. Students indifferent year groups participate in one of nine different competition categories depending on their age. The competition promotes interest inmental Mathematics and develops skills in number and mental calculations. The competition aims at discovering and celebrating talent in mentalmathematics.

Salar tells us how it all started, “I was interested in numbers and mathematical symbols as a small child. At age 2, I already learned how to addand subtract. At age 4, I got into multiplying. At age 5, I had already leared how to add, subtract, multiply and divide. Also at age 5, I got veryinterested in calendars and how they worked, and about at age 6 or 7, I could guess what day of the week any day of the year fell on.”

“Since I was a child, I loved mathematical challenges and always wanting to be ambitious, that’s why I tried the SuperTMatik Competition. In Grade5 we started learning how the game worked and in Grade 6 we did class competitions where the best 2 out of the grade would try an onlinechallenge against the rest of the world. I passed and a few days later, took the final challenge.” “On the last day of the academic year, at theannual award ceremony I was told I was ranked 40th in the world in the competition. I am really proud of what I have achieved and I still lookforward to more challenges.”

DUKE OF EDINBURGH AWARD

In 2001 the United Nations decided that the 21st September would be the official InternationalPeace Day - the first ever annual day of global ceasefire and non-violence. At ICS we decided tocelebrate this day by giving our students the opportunity to think, reflect and debate over the topicand all its aspects by answering questions related to peace and reading poems and quotes fromrenowned figures famous in the world for their contribution to peace.

“Peace is not merely a distant goal we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal” Martin Luther King Jr

CELEBRATING PEACE DAY

NEW STUDENTVOICES INSECONDARY

CREATIVEWRITINGCOMPETITION

The elections for the Secondary School Student Council took placein October with the following Executive Committee being electedby the students. President: Rocio Alvarez, Secretary: AuroraSbampato, Treasurer: Nico Díaz, Vice President: José Lara

Rocio said, “Student Council supports students to speak up and share their own ideas. It promotes creativity, forms a community,and strengthens commitment towards a united goal. With the responsibility to represent the school, Student Council has weeklymeetings to think ahead for possible events which encourage education and entertainment. We are planning unique and engagingexperiences for the students, all complying with school rules, providing students with unforgettable memories. For Student Councilto thrive, it will need help from the student body, as they are our main objective.”

The Student Council has already organised a Halloween Dance for Grades 6-8 and are planning a range of events throughout theyear to help raise funds for the less fortunate and to raise school spirit.

Global Campus aims to help ICS students explore the world and develop a truly international perspective through outstandingonline, in-school and worldwide experiences. Again, this year we will be participating in the Global Campus Creative WritingCompetition with the theme being “Be Ambitious” The great news this year is that there are four different categories of creative writing from which the students can choose:

Short story 500 wordsPoetry 40 linesNews Article 500 wordsBiographical Sketch 500 words

Every year the winning works are published in a beautiful book that is distributed to all Nord Anglia Education´sschools (32000 students and their families from 15 different countries are the potential readers). This competitionwill be followed by an ICS internal competition, as a result of which the stories will be published on our website.

The Global Campus team have worked hard to prepare workshops for each category, which can be found on the Global Campus website for students through Moodle. The competition is open to students from Grades 3 - 12.

Emiline Yakin Sigwalt, Global Campus Lead Teacher & Secondary Librarian

Secondary school students were privileged to welcome Anthony Graylingto speak to Grades 10, 11 & 12 about “Why Study the Humanities” tosupport ICS students in their Theory of Knowledge (TOK) studies at theIB Diploma level.

Mr Grayling is a British philosopher. In 2011 he founded and became thefirst Master of New College of the Humanities, an independentundergraduate college in London. Until June 2011, he was Professor ofPhilosophy at Birkbeck, University of London, where he taught from1991. He is also a supernumerary fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford.

Mr Grayling is the author of about 30 books on philosophy, including TheRefutation of Scepticism (1985), The Future of Moral Values (1997), TheMeaning of Things (2001), The Good Book (2011), and The God Argument(2013). He is a Trustee of the London Library, a Fellow of the Royal Societyof Literature and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

LEADING BRITISHPHILOSOPHER SPEAKS AT ICS

The Primary Schoolalso celebratedWorld Peace Daywith thiswonderful display.

GRADE 10 MEET & GREET

CANADIAN ARTISTAll Grade 10 students attended the performance of DV8’s physical theatre piece “John” at Teatros del Canalin October. After the show, the company got together with the students for a meet and greet which thestudents enthused about and gained great insights into the work of an actor and the preparation neededto become successful.

LIFE IS DREAMPatricia Munn excelled once more with her direction of some of the finest Grade 12 actors we have seen fora long time. The Life is Dream/La Vida es Sueño play was a delight to watch. She said, “As it is the 400thAnniversary of Cervantes and Shakespeare we wanted to commemorate the era and have adapted theSpanish Golden Age piece of "La Vida Es Sueño" by Calderon de la Barca into a bilingual performance. Thework the students have done is extraordinary and well worth the hard work and determination that goesinto putting on such a diverse play of this nature.

For those who missed the performance you can see it on our ICS Picasa site: https://picasaweb.google.com/117565797083511567475/LifeIsDreamLaVidaEsSueno1stNightVideo?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCKOr46P2zPyLDQ&feat=directlink

Christopher Thornton is a twelfth Grade student who arrived from Toronto, Canada to join ICSin the 3rd term of Grade 10. He tells us about his love for art and sculpture and what he hopesfor the future.

“The change in school systems has been demanding for me but at the same time, both veryrewarding and worthwhile. The IB Visual Arts program at ICS has challenged my creativity andI continue to gain a new understanding and appreciation for art.

For as long as I can remember, I have been drawn towards artistic endeavors with a passion forVisual and Fine Arts. I enjoy working with my hands and it feels natural for me to express myselfthrough art with my drawings, paintings, sculptures or any other form of art. It was only a fewyears ago when I was introduced to sculpting and it has become my favorite medium to workwith. My latest art piece is an over-sized head sculpture of a Bangladesh women. A ragged, oldrobe pulled together with twine is draped around her shoulders which represents the restraintsand ties to forced or ‘slave’ labour. Replacing her caste mark is a coin embedded in the centre ofher forehead which shows her worth by those who extort her for financial gain. Her weatheredskin and exhausted appearance illustrates the soulless existence of this corruption in Bangladeshwhere she works in hazardous conditions for long hours at a time for only small change.

Although I am driven by a creative mind and have a deep love for art, these last few years in theIB program have introduced me to new found interests in other areas like economics and computerscience. As I begin to prepare myself for University, I realise there are many career options whereI can use my creative talent and business knowledge together. I feel that I have acquired manyvaluable new skills at ICS that have prepared me well for my future.”

DUTCH TRIPGrade 8 and Primary Dutch Students recently visited the Royal Palace (Madrid), where they witnessed the ceremony of the presentation of credentials of the Dutch Ambassador to His Majesty the King of Spain.It was a very exciting experience enjoyed by all.

FRIENDS OF ICS PARENT ASSOCIATION COMMITTEES

NEW STAFF UPDATE

In our Administration team,Ada Oliver is replacingLiliana Ugarelli as the PA tothe Head of Primary for theinterim and Maria Olmos hasbeen appointed as the newMarketing & AdmissionsAssistant

We are very pleased to present our new Parent Association, Friends of ICS and the elected executivecommittee members. It is essential for a school with such a tight knit community to have suchvalued and dedicated parent representatives and we know they are going to make extremelyvaluable contributions to the life of the school.

President - Erika PomarVice President - DD SiresTreasurer - Mara YoungSecretary - Nehad SharafEvent Committee - Thelma MartinezShare Committee - Monica Otero and Adriana SetterWelcome Committee - Mariette MatoosianSecondary Educational Matters Committee Chair - Maria StareforsSecondary Educational Matters Committee Secretary - Jen GreenowPrimary Educational Matters Committee Chair - Ana OrdasPrimary Educational Matters Committee Secretary - Elena Fondevila.

Pictured left to right are: (Back) Erika Pomar, Mariette Matoosian, Ana Ordas. (Middle) Mara Young, AdrianaSetter, Elena Fondevila. (Front) Monica Otero, Thelma Martinez and DD Sires. Missing from the picture are JenGreenow, Nehad Sharaf, Maria Starefors, Alex Courie (Communications) and Louise Clements (Counsellor)

Alasdair Carr (Scotland)PYP Technology IntegrationLeader

Ana Parra (Spain)Grade 3 Teacher (Alumna of ICS from Spain)

Elizabeth Berkhemer(Netherlands)Grade 2 Teacher

Indra van Leeuwen (Netherlands) Kindergarten Assistant

Denah Kibene (UK)Grade 1 Teacher

Diane Wigmans (Netherlands)PYP Dutch Teacher

Angela Hill (UK)Early Years Coordinator

Celine Morris (UK/Spain)Teaching Assistant

Laura Rostron (UK)Grade 1 Teacher

Linden Wint (UK/USA)Grade 5 Teacher

Louise Winchester (UK)K4 Teacher

Peter Brooke-Tyrell (Ireland)Music Teacher for Grades 5 & 6

Savannah Navarro (USA)English as a Second LanguageTeacher

Angus Stroud (UK)Universities & Careers Counsellor

Bethan Vokelt-Igoe (UK)Humanities Teacher

Cristina Cuenca (Spain)Sciences Teacher

José Luis Calderón (Spain)Spanish Teacher

Sara Oblisar (Serbia)Art Teacher

Tom Clery (UK)Economics & TOK Teacher

Tom McLaughlin (Ireland)English Teacher

Ada Oliver (Spain) Maria Olmos (Spain)

Welcome to our new members of staff to the community, we hope that they are settling in well and enjoying life atICS. Starting with the primary staff, let us introduce you to them...

Secondary Teaching Staff

Calle Vereda Norte 3, 28109, La Moraleja, MadridTel: +34 91 650 23 98 Fax: +34 91 650 10 35www.icsmadrid.org

Send your news stories to sharon.spencer@icsmadrid.org

There are still some spaces available on the following activities, remember to go to thewebsite www.icsactivities.com or contact Pilar Róspide, Activities Manager for furtherinformation.

Interactive Theatre Academy (ITA)Improvisations, mime, choreography, musical theatre, stage combat and interactive theatre games.

Grades 6 to 8, Wednesday 16:15 - 17:15

Drama IntroAn introdution to theatre. Drama, Music & Dance.

Kinder to Grade 2, Mondays and Wednesdays 16:15 - 17:00

Jumping ClayEncourages imagination with this polymer clay that does not stain, it is easy to knead and can mix colors, making it really fun to use.

Kinder to Infants, Fridays 16:15 - 17:05

Visual Arts, Design & ArchitecturePhotography and digital retouching, graphic design, drawing, illustration, architecture and 3D modelling.

Grades 6 - 10, Mondays 16:15 - 17:30

Visual Arts, Photography & Spatial CreativityDrawing, painting, photography, modelling, sculpting, collage, Stop-Motion (Story-Board & Video).

Grades 4 - 5, Mondays 16:15 - 17:30

PARENT PROGRAMMEDance and get in shape! Get in shape with our professional dance teacher and choreographer Juan CarlosManrique!

TennisHave some fun, improve your game and polish up your technique with expert coachingfrom Rafa.

Please check the Engage Portal to see the events on the Calendar. At the beginningof each month we will send the list to you via an Engage email.

Geraint Saich joined ICS in 6th Grade. He has been training and competing as an athlete since he was 5years old. In France, he won the prestigious International Cross de La Cite (Carcassonne) twice beforedeciding that running anything over 400m should be considered a marathon. He has been a sprinter eversince. Geraint has won Madrid International Schools Athletics titles at 100m, 200m, 400m and LongJump. Geraint, now a Grade 10 student, belongs to CAP-Alcobendas athletics club, where his coach, DaniBarrosso, has guided him to the national standard for 100m. CAP-Alcobendas is a warm, welcoming cluband many students from ICS attend training and competitions.

Geraint helps Ms Moreno coach the ICS Athletics club on Monday evenings after school at PolideportivoJose Caballero. He trains five nights a week, with competitions at the weekend, and knows that hard-workand commitment is key to being successful. Geraint is sponsored by Zagros Sports and Social Club. Hispersonal trainer at Zagros, Paul Cordonnes, works to prepare Geraint for competitions. Geraint’s favouriteevent is 200m but he can only start competing in 200m races from January 2016, when he changes age category.

ACTIVITIES ACTIONA PASSION FOR ATHLETICS

OUR OWN GOLFCHAMPION

ICS’s Girls Volleyball team took part in theInternational Schools Madrid league a GirlsCadetes & Juveniles volleyball tournamentfor all schools in Madrid. The girls came firstin the final and we are very proud of theirachievements.

Sara Moreno

LEAGUEWINNINGVOLLEYBALLGIRLS

Carolina López Chacarra in Grade 7 has recently won theNational Spanish Golf Open Championship in the Alevincategory for 11 & 12 year olds.

Carolina told us, “For me winning the championship ofSpain, has been very important because I've beenworking all year to get it. Early this year my goal was tobe between the top three in Spain in my category, butin the end I won. “

“I love golf, I love playing with my friends and I love totrain with my brother where we play for four hours onthe golf course each day. Golf is a very interesting sportif you know how to play, and can also be very difficult!”

“In the future I see myself studying in America andbeing part of their golf team, with a scholarship for golfin one of the best universities in America. I would alsolike to become a professional golfer which is my all-timegoal.”