Parent Newsletter 16 May

Dear parents,

What has happened to our Spanish sunshine? I hope you all continue to be safe and well.

Year 13
As I was preparing this week’s newsletter I had a moment of overwhelming sadness thinking about my Year 13 pupils. Less than 2 years ago they lost a member of their year group, and most of them grieved for a long time for their friend. This year they find themselves in the middle of a pandemic which has seen all their public examinations cancelled. Their future is full of uncertainties. They left school on 13 March, as we all did, thinking they would soon be back together again, doing their exams and then looking forward to enjoying their Prom and Graduation Ceremony. In their young lives they have been tried and tested much more than is normal at their tender age.

Yet, despite those grave challenges, they have remained positive and resilient and we are all really proud of them. We are going to do everything within our power to send them on the next stage of their educational journey with happy memories to enjoy and, if possible, some physical and not just virtual celebrations. They certainly deserve the best. I have known many of these pupils since they were 3 years old so they are not going to escape one last Batchelor hug if I can help it!

Congratulations to Aurora in Nursery who has overcome her fear of dogs by meeting and befriending Pongo, her neighbour’s pet. Very brave, Aurora!

 

Creative Role Play in Nursery
Once travel restrictions are lifted, Hunter Anderson is well prepared to zoom off all over the world!

 

Reception Class
I enjoyed sharing my favourite book with some of the Reception children this week, and hearing them talk about their favourite books.

 

Literacy in Year 1
If Year 13 do have a “proper” Prom, perhaps we could ask George Lippiett, Year 1, to write their invitations!

 

Covid-19 KM Challenge
The Covid challenge in which so many of our families are participating is going splendidly. Miss Fatima, our Receptionist, contributed a fantastic 54 km just last Saturday on her bike at home. Watch the video here!

Thank you to all for your support. Have a lovely weekend with your families.

Yours sincerely


Elizabeth Batchelor
Principal


PRIMARY SCHOOL

Dear Parents,

In my Monday morning message I read out the weekly totals for House Points and was pleased to see the children are continuing to make great efforts to be awarded these for their teams – find my video message here. Although we are apart, teamwork is as important as ever as it promotes our feeling of belonging and helps us to feel less isolated. In the next few weeks we are planning collaborative events to promote this still further and help your children connect with their school friends. 

The first of these is our ACM ‘At Home’ House Olympics on Friday 29 May when we are inviting all families to participate. Families can enjoy 10 challenges of the ‘Decathlon’ Event. It is a House occasion so remember to wear your House t-shirts and to take some photographs of your family. More information to follow. I’m warming up already!

Our team of dedicated teachers are planning to ‘assess’ where your children are in their learning and how we can help them achieve their next steps. This is something we do normally in school and so there is no need for you or your children to worry or feel pressurised. More details are in the letter I sent to you yesterday here.

 

STARS OF THE WEEK 
NSCCU Dario Kalantari-Nazari, NSERI Abdallah Adham Touati
RCEMA Sofia Ben Larbi Doncel-Moriano, RCJST Sarah Abril Sinnwell
1KED Sienna Kafourous, 1MTI  Ananda Corderas De La Cuesta, 1LHO George Lippiett
2LT Quillhan Berrichi Sauer, 2ARS Matthew Sweeting, 2FFO David Lesko-Nuttall
3EK Alek Yankov, 3JCH Oliver Aspden, 3ESE Lola Ortiz
4ITA Fernando Taillefer Díaz, 4ES Luca Leader, 4SJD Maddie Verinder    5MAS Alba Sofia Olivo Campos, 5ASH Jimena García Vidal, 5BWA Isabella Jagdev
6PSM Felix Cooper, 6WA Maia McDermott, 6CST Tarah Wandoren


SPANISH STARS
Srta Encarnita: NS Arran Crossland, RC Denis Zhukov, Y1 Emma Robb, Y2 Cara Cartwright, Y3 Meral Madi
Srta Rosa: NS Aurora Toal García, RC Tina Anakhasyan, Y1 Elija Sidorovic, Y2 Matthew Sweeting, Y3 Ornella Sowada
Don David: Y2 Sakiel Teran-Coniglione, Y3 Mina Kipcak, Y4 Mélanie Deny
Srta Laura: Y2 Olivia Cergneux García, Y3 Astrid Verweij Cruz, Y4 Dina Gzouli
Srta Antoinette: Y4 Fred Chamizo, Y5 Polina Pchelkina, Y6 Artur Dosmukhamedov
Srta Sylvia: Y4 Bobby Sharp, Y5 Yasmeen Ojjeh, Y6 Timur Dosmukhamedov
Srta Ana: Y5 David Gandía Bisbal, Y6 Francesco Primitivi Vidiella
Don Diego: Y5 Isabella Jagdev, Y6 Chloe Herráez Alonso    

PE AWARD CERTIFICATES – For outstanding commitment to At Home PE
Francesca Tye RCEMA, Adrian Ghaffari Gharzi Said 1KED, Mijia Sidorovic 3ESE, Vega Sofia Reinhard 4SJD

MRS SALMON’S SPECIAL DISTANCE LEARNING AWARDS
3EK – Ilya Dekker for a super investigation, measuring and recording the movement of shadows for IPC. 

House points results here.

Aloha Value – RESILIENCE                         
Personal Goal – ADAPTABILITY

Have a lovely weekend, hopefully enjoy some sunshine and stay safe!

Yours sincerely

Kathryn Salmon
Headteacher, Primary


SECONDARY SCHOOL

Dear Parents,

As soon as I open my eyes in the morning, I reach for my mobile phone. I read the messages that I have received during the night and, without getting out of bed, have a quick glance at some online articles. As I prepare breakfast, I switch the TV on to check if there has been an increase in the number of infections or deaths around the world. At that moment I think about friends and family who live in places where Covid-19 is hitting hard. I keep getting messages through whatsapp with some funny memes about the situation we’re in.  It’s not even 8 a.m. and I already have a headache from the amount of information that I have had to handle in less than two hours. 

Does the above description sound familiar? Let me continue!

I take a break halfway through the day and decide to put on some music. I check my phone and keep getting messages and information about the same topic. I’m in a vicious circle of information overload! I can, as an adult,  take control of the matter and start restricting this information so I don’t get overwhelmed. Think about how dangerous and difficult it can be for our youngsters to manage this overload of information and fake news. It is time to take action to help us deal with this “infodemic”.

Limiting information
We don’t have to be glued to our screens to know what’s going on every second of the day. We only need a single dose of information per day. Our job is to choose the best time for this.

Choosing reliable news 
“Knowledge does not mean wisdom, just as information is not knowledge.”  We are in the age of fake news so it is imperative to choose reliable sources. 

Silencing whatsapp groups
We can’t be in an online class and have our phones beeping to alert us that new information has arrived. Please, let’s silent our whatsapp groups!

Even if we take these three steps, we will still receive information continuously. Once we have finished our work for the day and we still have a few hours before going to sleep, one piece of advice that works well is to leave mobile phones in another room in the house so that they cannot be easily accessed – I will ensure that I put  these measures into practice!

I hope you have a nice weekend.

Francisco Escobar
Headteacher, Secondary

 

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