Parent Newsletter 5 December

Dear parents,

Today you will be enjoying the first day of an extended weekend. Many of you who follow a traditional type of Christmas will be decorating trees and your homes.

We sincerely thank a small group of dedicated parents for spending 3 evenings in school after your children had gone home, preparing and decorating our facilities in order to help instil a feeling of joy and festivity into the last weeks of term, for all our pupils.  Thank you to Mandy Turner, who organised this.  She was helped by mums Nicky Keating, Fatima Gonzalez-Izcaray, Jana Nihokova and Becky Sharp.

The grotto, erected by some staff members, added the finishing touch.  As Mrs Salmon’s letter says below, we are now awaiting a special visitor!

The younger children are preparing letters for Santa and practising their scissor skills by cutting out pictures of toys they would like as presents.  The nursery staff have had to stop some children from cutting out the whole toy catalogue! Here they are posting their finished letters:

Christmas Jumper Day
You will have seen from the reminders that your child will be invited to wear a Christmas jumper on Monday 14 December.  This is not compulsory, so you are not under any pressure to purchase one if you do not want to.

Raffle tickets
Thank you for your support in selling the raffle tickets.  You have a last opportunity during this short break to sell any unsold tickets by Wednesday 9 December, before the big draw on Monday 14.

Social Media
I hope you enjoyed the wonderful “Be Kind” video made by Harry Campbell in Year 6, posted on our social media.  If you haven’t watched it, please do, it is amazing.  Well done, Harry!

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Head Students
It was a pleasure meeting with my Head Students this week, Adriana and Caio. Once again, they spoke to me on behalf of all the pupils in the school. They expressed ideas for improvements we can make as a school. Last week and next they are busy popping into Primary classes for a brief minute to see if they need anything. I have to add, I love listening to their feedback, it’s so honest and sincere.

I really enjoyed meeting more new pupils and listening to them recount their experience of their first term at Aloha.

Congratulations to Mara and Zaya for making last Wednesday a really happy day by sharing with me their outstanding work:

Congratulations to Miss Vanessa, Primary School teaching assistant, who gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.

Welcome to Miss Rebecca Barton who is going to teach Ms Dry’s PE classes whilst she goes on maternity leave. She has already arrived and is going through a “handover” week before Miss Dry leaves us temporarily.

Retirement
We sadly say goodbye to Srta. Julieta Garcia, teacher of Spanish in the Secondary section, who retires after 24 years’ service. We wish her every good health and happiness for the future.  Thank you, Julieta.

Mrs Salmon
I am going to share some fond memories of Mrs Salmon in next week’s newsletter as she prepares to leave our school at the end of this term.

Thank you again for all your support.

Elizabeth Batchelor
Principal


PRIMARY SCHOOL

Dear Parents,

As you can see below we were very proud to award our BE KIND certificates this week to

Ian NSERI, Sasha RCJST, Jesse RCJST, Santiago 1MTI, Elija 2FFO, Malak 3EK, Matilda 4CLA, Santino 4ITA, Carlos 5ES, Shaylie 5SJD, Marivi (Maria Victoria) 6CST and Polina 6LF. It was lovely to see Miss Susan, Miss Agostina, Miss Fátima and Mrs Belén being recognised for their kindness too!


As the children may have told you there has been a big change in the Main Reception with the appearance of
Santa’s Grotto. Children can leave their ‘Letters for Santa’ in the red post box here.

I have also received a special letter… Click on the envelope below, I’m sure you will enjoy reading it to your children.

Thank you for your generosity and all your donations for our Give a Gift Campaign. You still have time to donate and children can leave their gifts at the Main Reception Office.

Enjoy the long weekend and don’t forget that on Monday 14 December is going to be ACM Christmas Jumper Day. I have mine all ready! This is also the day of the Christmas Raffle Prize Draw so please remember that Wednesday 9 December will be the last day to return the money for the tickets, the stub and any unsold tickets


Aloha Value – RESILIENCE
December’s Personal Learning GoalTo be a COLLABORATOR which includes being a good team member – TEAM ALOHA!

Yours sincerely

Kathryn Salmon – Headteacher, Primary
kathryn.salmon@aloha-college.com


SECONDARY SCHOOL

Dear Parents,

Ramon y Cajal, a well-known Spanish doctor, literally said: “We all need the buzz of the beehive”. In other words, being a gossip is a natural human condition. Scientific research points in the exact same direction, suggesting that gossip is attractive because it releases endorphins; the main reason we do it is for others to show an interest in us. 

The school playground can be, to say the least, an interesting place for gossip. However, we must not just focus on teenagers; it is very common in adults too. If rumours and gossip are handled incorrectly, they can have serious consequences. It is our job as parents and educators to teach our youngsters how to handle gossip, something that is ingrained into everyone’s daily life.

When we become the victim of gossip, we cannot stop wondering: “Do they gossip because they are bored? Don’t they have a life of their own?”

Most people who gossip probably do it because they are trying to escape from their own worries- to think about others so that they do not have to worry about themselves. Sadly, some people just find pleasure in other people’s shortcomings.

When people come to tell us something about someone else, we do not pay much attention to it. Remember that, next time,  it could be you so the best thing you can do is not spread it around. This way, the rumour ends with you.

I know that it is easier said than done, but we must try to avoid dwelling on rumours. Ruminating about gossip only makes us feel worse. It is also good to avoid social media, especially if this is where such rumours are being spread. Resisting the urge to react when people are mean is very difficult. Instead, we must encourage our students not to seek revenge but to take the high road instead. 

Could gossip be viewed more positively? Good friends talk about other people. It is in that discussion that they compare their own standards, their own values and their own behaviour to that of others. This is valuable, when done properly.

I hope you have a good weekend.

Francisco Escobar
Headteacher, Secondary

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