Dear parents,
I trust you are all well. Thank you so much for your lovely positive comments regarding the inspection report I shared with you last week.
Here are a few reviews from some parents of our school that you can enjoy!
1) ”It is an excellent report. You should all be very proud of what you have achieved, especially considering the very difficult times we are going through, the numerous challenges you must have had to confront and, most probably, are still confronting. If I was a new parent and had access to a report like this one of a school I wouldn’t think twice about enrolling my child there. Congratulations!”
2) “After reading the inspection report, there wasn’t much we didn’t already know about Aloha college and the many reasons why we chose this school for our children.
A child should always be congratulated and rewarded for a good school report, however the input from their school and teachers should not be neglected and it is thanks to Mrs Batchelor and her team that our kids are happy to go to school and learn.
In the background Aloha adopts a similar role to that of a devoted mother who continues to perform the often thankless task of raising her children. Passion, devotion and care are just a few of the qualities which give our children the very best start in life and it’s a rarity to find a school which is also dedicated to their well being.
Congratulations to Mrs. Batchelor and to all of the staff at Aloha for their excellent NIS inspection report. Your continued commitment to excellence is greatly appreciated.”
3) “Just a quick email to congratulate you and all the staff on your excellent inspection report; very well deserved, especially with all the efforts you have made during the pandemic.”
If you have not read the report, please enjoy it in this link; it is a reflection on you and your children.
Year 6 Transition
The Year 6 pupils enjoyed a well-planned transition week in Secondary School. They experienced 6 different teachers in a day; had Science lessons in state-of-the-art laboratories, drama lessons in the Theatre of the Arts and Sports hall; tasted French and German, did artwork with semi-professional artists, and took part in a treasure hunt to gain Pupil Profile points.
Thank you to Mrs Brice, Head of Key Stage 3, for her coordination of the whole experience.
Only 4 weeks left in Primary School – enjoy them!
Yoga in Foundation Stage
This is a lovely way for the children to start the day, as I discovered when I joined in yesterday’s mindfulness yoga session in Miss Christina’s class. By the time I joined Miss Ellen’s class doing yoga, I was too exhausted to join in!
Yearbooks
The Year 13 pupils have requested that the photos of their graduation and prom be included in the new Yearbook (Normally these appear the following year.) Their graduation and prom are scheduled for Thursday 24 June. The photos taken during these events will then need to be included in the Yearbook. Therefore the Yearbook will be available online in the beginning of July, and hard copies will be distributed, as last year, on the children’s first day back in September. As these pupils have had a difficult year we would like to support their request. Thank you for your support in this matter.
Last year’s Yearbook recorded 6,917 viewings. Absolutely amazing! You can see it again in this link or by clicking the image below.
Assessments
Assessments in both Primary and Secondary sections will be carried out over the next few weeks. It is essential that your children attend school until the last day of term, Thursday 24 June. Assessments will not be re-scheduled for pupils taking early holidays, so please do not even request this.
It has been a difficult year for everyone, so let’s work hard and relish the days we have left until the last day, then we can all enjoy a well-deserved summer holiday.
Have a lovely weekend with your families.
PRIMARY SCHOOL
Where has this week gone? It only seems like five minutes since I was writing last week’s newsletter.
Year 6 Transition Days
Year 6 children have thoroughly enjoyed their experience in the Secondary section of the school. Yesterday they returned to their full primary timetable. Next they will have their Primary assessments, then they will be able to look forward to their graduation assemblies, a day trip and a special party.
Evald had a good chat with me about every lesson he experienced this week – he really enjoyed it and said he can’t wait to go over to Secondary.
Attendance
As I said in last week’s newsletter it is so important that all children attend school to the very last day. You have been informed about assessments for all year groups. They will be carried out during the specific allocated times. Separate arrangements will not be made for children who are taken out for early holidays.
Fun Day
We also want the children to enjoy one full fun day. We are currently planning these special events. Each year group will receive a letter giving more information. It has been an amazing year and your children deserve a treat.
Children’s Work
Yesterday I was amazed at Dario’s planet! Miss Emma, his Reception teacher, reminded me he is only 4 years old. Well done!
Year 3 children in Miss Anne’s class produced some beautiful work too!
*Matias Llorente & Harry Blomberg: Poster: Magical Madagascar
They researched information about culture and traditions in Madagascar and created a poster.
*Harry Blomberg: IPC Unit poster for Water, Water Everywhere
Explaining the importance of clean water for everyone.
*Roxane Bourasseau and Siyona Gupta: Poster: Healthy Hawaii.
They researched information about culture and traditions in Hawaii and created a poster.
*Siyona Gupta: For homework she made a tourism poster about Marbella.
*Gia-Valentina Franklin Pellegrino: showing her IPC book, excellent reflective work about the value and importance of water.
Meet Alexandru and Santiago, who loved reading to Mrs Batchelor.
In their IPC lessons Emilia Osztrovszka and Mina Tobal in Year 2, Miss Georgia’s class, designed beautiful zig zag books about living and non-living things. They gave Mr Escobar (Head of Secondary) and myself a full lesson on what it all meant! Wonderful!
Years 3 and 4 Maths Presentation
Thank you to the 31 parents who attended the Maths Presentation entitled Calculation Methods in Lower Key Stage 2 and thank you also for your very positive feedback. This was an opportunity for Miss Liz and Miss Fox to share with parents how we teach these concepts and to answer any questions they may have had. The presentation is available on the Parent Portal and on the iParents App.
The parents were given access to the presentation slides at the end of the virtual meeting to reinforce all that had been said. It was a pity not all parents were able to attend.
Online Safety
This is a topic which comes up repeatedly and no doubt we will need to continue to talk about it indefinitely.
Please, please monitor the use of your children’s devices.
The last few weeks we have had various issues that have arisen outside school where children have been seeing or sharing materials that could put their safety at risk. When children are in these situations they are sometimes too scared to tell you or us as they think they may get into trouble, and they are unable to extract themselves from their plight.
We understand that you want to ‘trust’ your children but they are children and many are accessing sites that are NOT designed for primary-aged pupils. We, like you, want to keep your children safe.
All of us will help any of you to answer questions that you may have regarding online safety.
Please remember that Mrs Emma Saunders is the Primary Head of Pastoral Care and is always there to support your children and indeed to answer any questions you may have.
May’s BLOSSOM Award – TO BE ETHICAL
Congratulations to all the children and in particular to:
Thank you for your continued support. Have a lovely safe weekend with your families.
May Personal Learning Goal – TO BE REFLECTIVE (THINKER)
Next week’s Aloha Value – CARE
Elizabeth Batchelor
Principal
SECONDARY SCHOOL
Dear Parents,
This week we have had the privilege of meeting our future Year 7 pupils during transition. It has been an absolute pleasure working with them!
Teachers in the Secondary School have been blown away by their positive attitudes, their enthusiasm and willingness to throw themselves into everything we offered. They have followed a typical secondary timetable and have shown they are well and truly ready for the next step of their journey.
Well done Y6! Thank you for your energy and cooperation. We look forward to you joining us in September!
Here is a selection of pupils’ reflections and photos from this week:
Andrey Kukusta 6KFI
Andrey really enjoyed Science. He said the experiments were enjoyable and they were a tiny bit dangerous! However, Mr Serbetsglou made him feel safe and excited about Science. He would have liked to use even more chemicals in the time they had. Andrey said he is most excited about French lessons and meeting new teachers in September!
Laura Eggens 6LFO
Laura loved her Art lesson and said that all of it was so fun. She really enjoyed learning about the artist and exploring the style, but mostly she liked how kind the teacher was. She said the teacher made her feel happy and confident during the lesson and it absolutely made her day!
Polina Pchelkina 6LFO
Polina really couldn’t choose between Art and Science! She loved how each classroom had a lovely atmosphere, how kind and patient the teachers were and how the classrooms were full of interesting things. She said the teachers made her feel part of the group and listened to her opinions. They allowed to answer and corrected her if she was wrong. Polina is really excited about owning her own chromebook and locker, being able to eat outside and exploring the new buildings!
Freya Horncastle 6 CST
Freya had fun doing the Treasure Hunt. This activity isn’t a regular lesson, but it was an activity which encouraged students to find their way around the buildings, meeting different teachers, as well as incorporating key words in the Pupil Profile award jigsaw. Freya enjoyed it a lot and it made her feel independent. She is looking forward to feeling more independent and having more responsibility in September!
Francisco Escobar
Head of Secondary
