Newsletter
30th
November 2007
Headlines
For This Week
News
From Principal
-
World
Café Follow Up
-
Use
of Outside Van and Bus Operators
News
From Secondary
-
Parent Teacher Conferences
-
Swimming Gala
-
The
School Musical Production” Grease
-
The
School Prom
-
Presentation
On Marketing
News
From Primary
-
Photos
of Primary School
-
Year
3 & Year 4 IPC
-
Year
1 Christmas Assembly
-
Exciting
News From The Primary LRC
-
French
Reading Club & MFLS Homework Club
-
Vote
Today
Co-Curricular
Activities
-
Year 5 & Year 6
Sports Day
-
U13 Fobissea
Parent,
Teachers and Friends of GIS
-
Bring A Book Back Project
-
International Culture Show
-
Christmas Bazaar
-
Calling All Japanese
Ladies
-
Chinese New Year
NEWS FROM PRINCIPAL
What
a busy week. It started last Friday with an outstanding Mufti-day. It was an
excellent day for the whole of the school and we must express our thanks to all
members of our community who supported the day, particularly our prefects. I
personally would like to thank the organizers for allowing me to be dunked for
45 minutes and then sold into slavery, the saving
grace was I could finally shave off my moustache.
Primary
Sports Day was another great occasion, broken up a little by the rain in true
British fashion. It was wonderful to see such a committed effort by all our
Year 5 and 6 students, thanks to the PE department and Primary staff for making
it so much fun.
Finally
I would like to remind you that the School Bazaar and Family/Teacher BBQ will
take place on the 7th of December, please keep your diary clear.
World Café Follow Up
While
the PTF ‘World Café’ may seem a long time ago the information provided during
this forum is being put to good use:
Information
is being used to develop a school vision:
Information
is being used to improve school/family communication
We
have two groups involving staff and parents looking at our methods of
communication and are using the feedback we received:
Thank
you all for your patience in these areas. We value and are using the
information you provide us, however, to make meaningful use of your
contributions takes some time.
Use of Outside Van and Bus Operators
We
have concerns for students who are being transported to and from school using
outside bus/van operators. Would families kindly note the following:
We
would advise parents to use the more reliable team of buses/vans provided
by the school.
Simon Mann
Principal
NEWS FROM
SECONDARY
The
final two weeks of the school term will be a busy time for both staff and
students in the secondary school……
Parent
Teacher Conferences
Year 7 –
Thursday, 6th December, 2.45pm - 4.45pm in the Sports Hall
This
year, we have arranged for all parents of new students to GIS this September,
the opportunity to see how your son/daughter are
progressing at the same time as our Year 7 PTC. Students will be bringing
home their letter and appointment sheet this weekend for you to decide who you
would like to see.
In
the secondary school, we encourage students to accompany their parents to the
conference.
Swimming Gala
The
Secondary Swimming Gala takes place on Wednesday, 5th December.
Events for Years 7 to 9 take place from 8.00am to 11.45am and for Years 10 to 13
from 11.45am to 2.20pm. Medals will be presented in assemblies during the last
week of term.
The School Musical Production: Grease
This
will be taking place in the Grand Hall on the evening of 11th to 13th
of December. Very many students and staff have been working hard over the
whole term in preparation and rehearsals. It promises to be a really
exciting and entertaining evening, do come along.
The School Prom
The
Annual Prom takes place on the final evening of the term 14th
December. “Night of A Thousand Stars” will be at the J.W.MARRIOTT Hotel from
6.30pm to 12 midnight and is open to current students of the school from Years
9 to 13. This is always one of the highlights of the school year and the organising committee of Year 11 students
have been hard at work ensuring that this is one of the best proms ever!
Please
note that if your children are attending the prom, you must make arrangements
for their collection at 12 midnight. Students are not allowed to stay
overnight at the hotel.
It
will be a busy two weeks. I hope it will also be an exciting and positive one
for the whole school.
Head of Secondary
Presentation On Marketing
On
Tuesday afternoon, the Sixth Form Business Studies students were given some fantastic
insights into how market segmentation works and how a company can use the data
it collects to really understand the customer and what makes them tick. Jeff
Orr of Grey Marketing came in and presented to the students how a marketing
agency uses segmentation. The presentation was packed full of real examples and
ideas that the students could incorporate into exam answers in the
summer. The examples, including Tatsin slippers, were
well investigated by the students and, even if the results were disturbing for
those of us who admit to owning Crocs or using Pantene, we all learnt a great
deal. Jeff is the first of several outside speakers that the Business Faculty have arranged for this year, in order to enhance the
students understanding through real practice. If the rest are as eloquent then
we should have a great programme in place this year.
If you feel you can contribute to our curriculum delivery from your own
experience and would relish the chance of presenting to students in the school,
then please contact Andrew Kendrick, Head of Business Education.
NEWS FROM PRIMARY
Reminders for your
diary :
|
All Parents |
3rd
– 7th December 2007 |
Last Week of CCAs |
|
Year 4 Parents |
3rd
– 5th December 2007 |
Year 4 Trips to
Planetarium |
|
Year 5 Parents |
3rd
December 2007 |
Year 5 Trips to
Beryl’s Chocolate Factory |
|
Year 1 Parents |
6th
December 2007 |
Year 1
Christmas Assembly |
Advance Warning
for your diary :
|
All Parents |
14th
December 2007 |
End of Term 1 |
|
All Parents |
7th
January 2008 |
Term 2 Begins |
Two
events have dominated the past week. Last Friday, we enjoyed the Mufti Day and
this week we had the Year 5 and 6 Sports Day. A huge round of
applause to all the Secondary School students for their efforts in arranging
Mufti Day. It was a pleasure to see them organising
such an amazing day of games, activities and events. In doing so, they
raised a large amount of money for charity, well done to everyone involved.
Despite
the threatening weather, the sports day was a huge success. Once again, the
event was extremely well organised by GIS physical
education staff, in particular Mr. Dale who coordinated the occasion. The
students enjoyed the day tremendously and there were some fantastic
performances in the various disciplines. We look forward to Friday’s assembly
when the winning house and the top performers will be named.
Best
wishes for the week ahead.
Neil Smith
Head of Primary
Photos of Primary School
The
school photographer, Johnny Woo, recently took two photos of the
Parents
of children who are leaving the school at the end of Term 1 who wish to
purchase the photo and receive it before they leave, would need to have their
order in by 7th December at the latest.
Deputy Head of Primary
YEAR 3 AND YEAR 4 IPC:
Year 3 ‘Communication’ Topic:
Year
3 have been enjoying an exciting two weeks, receiving letters from all over the
world! Many thanks to all the Year 3 parents and their
friends and families, who have helped to make this so successful. The
children have been tracing the journey of their letter, exploring the people,
food and different weather of the countries that their letters have come from.
Year 3 are now starting their Science objectives within the Communication topic
and will be making a lot of noise as they investigate sound and how it travels!
Year 4 ‘Time Zones’ Topic:
Year 4 were WOWed in their
Entry Point a couple of weeks ago, when they visited different time zones
around the world. Children had breakfast in
The
children have been exploring the relationship between the sun, moon and earth
and how this creates day and night, shadows and seasons. They have also looked
at how the lives of people around the world are affected by seasons, temperature
and weather conditions.
Reminders for your diary:
Exit Point to the National Planetarium
8.30-11.30am
Monday 3rd November – 4G and 4I
Tuesday 4th November – 4S and
4K
Wednesday 5th November – 4L and
4M
Children
will need to wear smart school uniform, bring a snack and water bottle, pencil
case and clipboard.
Year 3/4 IPC Coordinator
Year 1
Parents,
can you please ensure that your child has a healthy lunch and snack each day. A
surprising number of children come to school with just cake or biscuits to see
them through the whole day. Please include some fruits and vegetables
along with a sandwich/rice dish, in their packed lunch. We strongly recommend
that you do not pack sweets and chocolates in their lunchbox. Also water is the
healthiest way to keep children hydrated.
Thank
you.
Year 1 Team
Year 1 Christmas Assembly
Dear
Parents/Guardians,
Please
note the following:
Once
again our sincere thanks for all your hard work in helping us to prepare for
the show.
Year 1 Team
Exciting News from the Primary LRC!
Jeremy
Strong, the award-winning author from the
The
PTF kicked off their fundraising on Tuesday of this week by hosting a bake
sale. It was a great success and they will be holding them regularly between
now and the end of January.
Thank
you in advance for your support of this wonderful event.
Ms Siobhan
Primary LRC
French Reading Club & MFLS
Homework Club
As
of next week, the French Department is setting up a Reading Club aimed
at Year 7 to Year 13 students in an attempt to boost our students’ reading
skills. The French teacher supervising the club, Dr Conti for the current term,
will make available to the students an array of graded ‘readers’ suitable for a
wide range of ability. The ‘readers’ are relatively small and very
user-friendly; they contain a glossary section translating the more challenging
words and plenty of illustrations which orientate the reader. The teacher will
be there to help anyway and assist with any linguistic hurdle.
Parents, do encourage your children to attend. The
club will start at 12.30pm every Wednesday. If successful, another session
might be scheduled on Mondays.
As
for the Homework Club, another session has been scheduled on Tuesdays.
So currently, you do have the choice to send your children to any of the
following MFL Clubs: Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday Revision/Homework Clubs (Dr
Conti), Tuesday French Support Club (Ms Pelat) and Monday Lunchtime Year 10-11
Grammar Booster Classes (Dr Conti).
Dr Conti
Head of French
Dear Parents,
For
the past 5 years,
We
have had students involved in prize-winning projects and our very own Cultural Kaleidoscope has won an award over two
consecutive years. In 2006-07, we took part in and completed all phases of the
following projects once again:
Cultural
Kaleidoscope 07
Peace
Project
At
this very moment an on-line voting poll is taking place and students and adults
(members and non AEC members) are eligible to vote for their favourite
projects. If you click on the url
below, it will bring you to this very page and you can vote too. Please
view the projects before you vote and you will see that many of them are of a very high standard.
http://202.157.168.74/aec-net/temp/voting/voting.asp
It
would be great if you felt that the above mentioned projects are worth your
vote! Mastering Media is worth a look at as well as a lot of interaction among
students took place during the project year and it was very successfully run.
If
you are a student, please use your school e-mail address when you vote. If you
are a parent, please enter the school's name when you vote. All votes will be
appreciated. The deadline to vote is Friday, 30 November 2007 at 12:00
midnight (GMT+08:00).
I
do hope you will take the time to look at the projects and support our
student's efforts by voting.
Thank
you for your time.
Regards,
International Coordinator
CO-CURRICULAR
ACTIVITIES
Year 5 and Year 6 Sports Day
Sports
day proceeded this year despite some poor weather with all students competing
well for their respective houses. All competitors managed to achieve a good
personal standard, to be rewarded with an individual certificate for their
runs, jumps and throws. Some school records were broken with some fine
performances in Year 5.
The
overall winners are as follows –
|
|
SPORTS
DAY WINNERS 2007 |
|||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
Year 5 |
Year 6 |
|||||
|
|
|
Boys |
Girls |
Boys |
Girls |
|||
|
Gold |
1st |
Mitchell Schofield |
Eveline Bork |
Liam Cunningham |
Joan Granda |
|||
|
Silver |
2nd |
Daniel Herzhauser |
Kulsum Dawoodbhoy |
Atte Kangas |
Ester Oksenholt |
|||
|
Bronze |
3rd |
James Drew |
Chloe Jane McCombie |
Marvyn Wong |
Molly Smith |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This
year’s house trophy winners were Chancellor.
Well
done to all students who took part. Thank you to all parents who supported the
event in the rain! And a big thank you to all class teachers, helpers and all
PE staff for running the event.
U13 Fobissea
Good
luck to this year's U13 Fobissea team who are
currently participating in
Mr. Dale
Primary PE
PARENT,
TEACHERS AND FRIENDS OF GIS
Bring a Book Back Project
Are
you going overseas this holiday? Maybe back home or to
another foreign land? Why not participate in our new initiative
the ‘Bring a Book Back Project?’
We
would like to encourage each student to bring one book back to donate to the
LRC. A special commemorative bookplate sticker, of the student's
choosing, will be placed in the book. The book could cover anything about the
country, plants, animals, culture or the type of stories that children of that
country enjoy. It may be in English or the language of the country. Happy
reading!!
Thanks.
Karen Ho
PTF
communications sub-committee
INTERNATIONAL
CULTURE SHOW
One
more reminder for all of you Japanese boys and girls (all ages)
If you would like
to learn a traditional Japanese dance to perform at the culture show, please
call Masumi (019-2820 966) by 7th December latest.
CHRISTMAS
BAZAAR
Friday, 7th
December 2007: 9am - 2pm (Grand
Hall & Sports Hall)
Just
1 week to go. Our Box is now placed in the reception waiting for your donations
of: New and Unused items such as toiletries, sweets and biscuits, toys,
trinkets, ornaments etc. Last collection day is on 5th December.
Also don’t forget, we need donations of cakes and pastries for our Christmas
Bazaar cake stall.
CALLING
ALL JAPANESE LADIES
Masumi is organising a stall for the Christmas bazaar. Please contact
her on 019-2820 966 if you wish to contribute or help at the stall. Looking forward to next term.
CHINESE
NEW YEAR
Tuesday, 22nd
January 2008
We are planning a
coffee morning for the Chinese New Year. Anyone interested in contributing,
please call
Helen
Wilson
PTF
communications sub-committee