message from mr benson - international school of … · message from mr benson . important dates...
TRANSCRIPT
The first term of the school year is always a long one and one that means changes for all of us in school. A good start to the year sets us on course for a successful year and I have once again been very impressed with the excellent attitude that our students have shown towards learning. There is nothing more important in education than what goes on in the classroom. It is not only where we learn new knowledge and skills but also where we learn to integrate, communicate and collaborate with others. I have been fortunate this term to have had the opportunity to spend a considerable amount of time in the classrooms, observing the learning that is taking place and discussing this with both the students and teachers. This newsletter will provide you with some great examples of the many things your children have been learning about but cannot capture the great desire to learn that is present in all the classrooms and the commitment and support shown by the teachers. Once again, you, the parents, have played a very significant role in working with us, the teachers, to support the children’s learning. Our A.R. and Rallye Lecture results once again eclipse all previous records and your participation in the presentations from both myself and the students has been particularly encouraging. I would like to take this opportunity, on behalf of the Primary school team, to wish you and your families a very enjoyable and relaxing Christmas break. We look forward to welcoming you back in 2017! Best Wishes,
Chris Benson (Head of Primary School)
Primary Newsletter December 2016
Message from Mr Benson
Important dates for your diary Monday 16th January – Reports sent out to parents Wednesday 18th and 25th January – Parent/Teacher Conferences Friday 27th January – School Closed - Saint Devote Friday 10th February – 15:30 – February Half-Term Break Begins A Groupcall will be sent to all parents during the week beginning Tuesday 3rd January 2017 explaining how you can reserve an appointment time for the parent/teacher conferences.
A.R. and Rallye Lecture
Independent Reading in the Primary School
Once again the students in the Primary School have broken all previous records by passing a total of 4,287 A.R. and Rallye Lecture quizzes! This works out at an average of 30 quizzes per student over the course of the first term!! These excellent results have been made possible not only by the hard work and commitment from the students but also the combined support of the parents, teachers and librarians. This is an excellent example of all members of the ISM community working together to provide our students with both a love of reading and the necessary skills to become excellent independent readers. As you can see in the graph below, whilst the total number of students in the Primary School has remained fairly constant over the past five years, the number of A.R. and Rallye Lecture quizzes that the students have passed has continued to grow at a very impressive rate!! Well done!!! Keep up the good work!!!
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000
2011 2012
2012 2013
2013 2014
2014 2015
2015 2016
2016 2017
Total Quizzes Passed
Total Quizzes Passed
Independent Reading in the Primary School
Every term children are set goals based on the numbers of books they are expected to read and quizzes they are expected to take and pass in both English (Accelerated Reader) and French (Rallye Lecture). Congratulations to all of the following students who achieved either one (A.R. or Rallye Lecture) or both (A.R. and Rallye Lecture) of their goals.
4C
A.R. and Rallye Lecture
Elliot
Sammy Nereus Dimitry Electra Perla
Laryah Josephine
Ioseb
A.R. Only
Khaled Michelle
Rallye Lecture Only
Caliana Aidan
Ekaterina Alexander
Joshua
4B
A.R. and Rallye Lecture
Logan
Dominic Bobby Roman Alvaro Alexey
Margarita Freya Daria
Tina Maya
A.R. Only
Anastasia
Nader Manolis
4A
A.R. and Rallye Lecture
Edgar Allegra Felipe
Alexander Maria Maria
Jacqueline Joelle
A.R. Only
Janibek
Felix Maxim Adam Edison Nicole Marie
Rallye Lecture Only
Dmitry
Independent Reading in Year 4
5B
A.R. and Rallye Lecture
Gregory Michelle Jasmin
Alba Angelica
Sofia
A.R. Only
Stefan Armando Margot Emily
5A
A.R. and Rallye Lecture
Yason Sophia Filippo
Konstantin Gian Carlo
Audrey Lily Rose
Flavia Daniela
Rallye Lecture Only
Tristan
5C
A.R. and Rallye Lecture
Ludovica Katarina Anaiis
Alexandra Mila
Richard Elona
A.R. Only
Diana Lina Gigi
Mikolaj Sophie
George Melissa
Independent Reading in Year 5
6A
A.R. and Rallye Lecture
Elizabeth
Clara Heléna Sveva Giorgio Georgy Iakov
Emanuele Vladimir Basya Zlata
A.R. Only Chloé Evelyn Enzo Amun
Antonina Alexander
Andrey
6B
A.R. and Rallye Lecture
Alexandra
Loïs Anna
Martina Laura
Stephanie Benoit
François Gustavo James Micol
A.R. Only Theophanis
Raphael Caroline
Maria Alexei
6C
A.R. and Rallye Lecture
Varvara Angelica
Erika Anastasia Michael
Aris Nikolay Grace Tiffany Luna Alexis
A.R. Only
Larissa John
Rebecca Kenan Sofia Savva
Independent Reading in Year 6
Year 4
Ce trimestre s’achève pour notre travail de recherche sur les dinosaures. Durant ces trois derniers mois, nous avons découvert comment vivaient ces formidables créatures aujourd’hui disparues. Leur mode d’alimentation, de vie, ce qui les distingue des autres animaux qui vivaient au Trias, au Jurassique ou encore au Crétacé. Ce dernier mois, nous nous sommes surtout intéressés au classement des paléontologues concernant les “dinos” : par couleur, par mode de vie, par taille… ? Alors… quelle est votre réponse?
Nos essais de classement des dinosaures
Réponse : selon leur squelette et surtout, selon les os de leur bassin !
L
Year 4 have been enjoying our new science topic ‘Humans and Animals’. We have been looking at different habitats and how animals are adapted to live in these different environments. We carried out an experiment to show how blubber is a great insulator to keep the animal warm. Mr Richardson had made a ‘blubber’ glove so we put one hand in the blubber glove and our other hand in the ice water. We were able to feel how well the blubber can keep us warm. We recorded the temperature differences with a thermometer and the difference was enormous!
We are also looking closely at the rainforest habitat and the animals that live there. Here we are creating the ‘canopy’ of the rainforest.
In class 4, we have been learning about habitats. We then took a closer look at the rainforest habitat and in groups learned about the different layers of the rainforest and the animals that live there. We presented out mini reports in class.
Year 5
La phéhistoire en classe 5
Les élèves des classes 5 ont finalisé leur projet sur la préhistoire en réalisant de magnifiques maquettes relatant la vie des hommes préhistoriques. Les parents ont pu admirer le travail écrit qui a été présenté dans la classe. Bravo à tous les élèves. Isabelle Amon
PLANTASIA
This term we have taken a thematic approach to our learning and amalgamated our English and Science! The children have been busy with a research enquiry into plants using, ‘The Big 6’ to carry out each step of their research. They have been delving into interesting information to find out facts about some of the most amazing plants on the planet. It is fantastic to see them engaged in researching, sharing information and putting together an information report. The final element will involve using their IT skills to present their findings to parents using the multi -media prezi application. Great team work and purposeful learning. Well done 5B!
Year 5: Writing in the style of a traditional tale. We have been looking at the features of a traditional tale and comparing different versions of the Cinderella story this term. Although you may be forgiven for thinking that this story was written by Walt Disney, it wasn’t! It is much, much older! In fact one of the earliest versions dates back to 9th century China. This Chinese tale tells the story of Yeh Shen whose only friend the magic fish helps her attend the Spring festival where she meets the king, who falls in love with her. The Persian version recounts the story of Settareh, whose blue jug helps get her to the New Year party where she will meet the prince. In this version poor Settareh is changed into a bird before she can marry the prince! The Kenyan tale has a different outcome, the heroine Chinye finds treasure after helping an old lady and uses it to set up a community for the village women. As to our European version, it was written in the 17th century by Charles Perrault a French writer and originally called “The little glass slipper”
Here is a class version written with the pupil’s ideas and respecting the features of a traditional tale. Eddy and the magic football kit Once upon a time in the faraway kingdom of London, lived a young boy called Eddy. He had lived happily until his father had died and now he lived with his mean stepfather and stepbrother. One day they were given tickets to a world cup football match at Wembley but Eddy had to stay at home and do his maths homework. He was sad and angry when all of a sudden he received a text message: "Look on your bed and prepare for the match" on his bed lay an England football kit , he put it on and found himself transported in a flash to Wembley stadium. "At last ,said the coach, we're counting on you Eddy!" Eddy scored the winning goal in front of the cheering crowds and his furious stepbrother and stepfather. Eddy became a permanent member of the English squad, the coach's daughter who had watched the game fell in love with him and they lived happily ever after.
Depuis le début de l’année, les classes 6
ont fait de nombreuses
présentations orales, devant leurs
camarades. Chaque élève s’entraîne ainsi à prendre la parole en public, sur des sujets
variés tels que l’actualité, les légendes de la
mythologie grecque…
Dans un tout autre domaine, ils expriment aussi leurs talents pendant le club de dessin, de la classe 4 à la classe 6, le jeudi soir, où ils peuvent expérimenter librement le dessin, l’aquarelle, et laisser libre cours à leur imagination d’artistes !
!
Year 6
Analyses de cartes dans les atlas Ce trimestre, les élèves de classe 6 ont beaucoup utilisé les atlas pour analyser différentes sortes de cartes (politiques, physique, climatiques, …). Ainsi, en équipes, ils ont pu découvrir les nombreuses informations qui se trouvent sur ces cartes et également les liens qui peuvent être établis entre elles.
Year 6 English Language Year 6 students are continuing to make great progress in their English language learning. Reading continues to be an important focus and we are on track to produce a record-breaking term with almost every single student reaching his or her English reading target at least once since the beginning of September. Writing continues to enthuse the students. They have been focusing on descriptive writing, incorporating powerful vocabulary. They have also combined this with their story-writing skills, endeavouring to produce exciting stories with vividly described settings. Their writing will soon be displayed in the classrooms and throughout the Primary School, so please come and read them – you are sure to be impressed!
Student Council 2016-17
Primary School Student Council The Primary School Student Council have been busy this term with several projects, the main one being the Christmas Toy Collection. They produced some beautiful posters, which are displayed throughout the Primary School, and presented the project to their class. We have already received some lovely toys and games, and hope to receive many more before the December 12th deadline, when they will be taken to the Centre Maternel in Nice. Our Primary Students hope to bring great pleasure to less fortunate children this Christmas!
Primary School Weekly Assemblies
Assembly time is the ideal opportunity for students in the Primary School to get together to share their work and ideas. This term, amongst other things, we have been looking closely at the theme of responsibility in the use of social media. This is obviously a subject very dear to the students’ hearts, and it has been very encouraging to witness how keen they are to learn more and to try to apply the suggested strategies to their own lives as and when appropriate. The THINK poster, which was introduced earlier in the term, has been a key point in all interventions. Students have heard how important it is to think before speaking; when using social media, it is even more crucial since other “clues” are missing (facial expression, tone of voice), making it more difficult to judge the speaker’s/writer’s feelings and intentions. Ms Cook gave us some very important rules to follow when using the internet and social media – ask your child if they can explain why you need to remember the following items when online: toothbrush toothpaste soap padlock A very big thank you to Ms Cook for her extremely interesting and valuable presentation!
Red and White Day On Friday 18th November, the Primary School students came to school dressed in red and white to celebrate the Monaco National Holiday which is celebrated each year on November 19th. Thank you to Mme Amon for explaining the origins of this important date in the Monaco calendar, and for informing us of the various activities which happen each year to mark this important event.
Stepan and Mr.Gianni Stepan has his picture (as seen here and to the right) on the wall in Mr. Gianni’s office.
Year 5 November 2016 Science Unit: ‘Plants’. The Year 5 students were first introduced to the Impressionist painters, Paul CEZANNE (1839- 1906) and Pierre Auguste RENOIR (1841-1919) and they were asked to compare similarities and differences between their Still Life artworks. Following this, the students drew and then painted (using tempera paints) a Still Life of a ‘Peace Lily’. However, they needed to do so in the style of one of these four other artists below. Of these four artists, three of them (Dufy, Hundertwasser and Macke) were influenced by the Impressionism, Fauvism, Cubism and Expressionism Art Movements. They were not allowed to use green paint and therefore, had to mix their Primary colours to make shades and tones of Secondary colours. Can you tell which artist’s style the children’s artwork reflects?
Friedensreich Hundertwasser (1928 - 2000)
Raoul Dufy (1877-1953) Claude Monet Auguste Macke
(1840-1926) (1887-1914) (An Impressionist)
Mrs Brees
Sophia G (5B) Flavia (5B) Lily-Rose (5B) Jasmin 5C Diana 5C
Anais 5C Jasmin 5C (work in progress) Diana 5C
Isayah 5A Armando 5B
Le Festival International du Cirque de Monte-‐Carlo
Le 41ème Festival International du Cirque de Monte-‐Carlo aura lieu du 19 au 29 janvier 2017. http://www.montecarlofestival.mc
The Primary School winner of the ‘Monaco Circus Poster Event’ December 2016 is: Clara FILLERY 6A
The surprise
announcement was made during the Primary School Assembly on Friday 2nd December 2016 (see photograph above).
Monaco Circus Poster Event Results!
Each year, under the direction of S.A.S. la Princesse Stéphanie, 6 children
(from Monaco schools) are chosen to take part on the Children’s Circus Jury.
We are extremely proud to announce that Clara FILLERY (6A) will represent our school on the Children’s Monte Carlo Circus Jury in January 2017 as her ‘sewn-button elephant’ collage artwork,
above, was chosen.
Clara, along with some other children in the Primary School chose to design a picture about the Monte Carlo Circus during the October holiday and the Palace representative came last November
and selected two pictures from ISM. (Congratulations also to Lara MOUTINHO in Class 2B as her clown face was also chosen)!
Congratulations Clara and to all those who entered this yearly
event as the quality of artwork was super!
Finally, please note that all of the Primary School ‘Circus’ artworks will be displayed in the Primary and Middle School Reception.
Mrs.Brees December 2016