Friday 26th August, 2016

Dear Parents,

Inquiry Learning in the ES

This week all homeroom teachers and most specialists had the opportunity to work with Tania Lattanzio from Innovative Global Education. Teachers worked in sessions unpacking higher level conceptual Inquiry learning and made connections to how our standards connect to these. Pictures below of our teachers working in one of the Inquiry workshops on our Early Release Day.

   

Early Release Day

Thank you for all promptly collecting your children and having them exit campus in a timely manner.  A reminder on these days (remaining dates listed below), students finish class at 2 pm, and should be off campus by 2.30 pm.

Remaining Dates for 2016
September 7, 21
October 19
November 2, 23
December 7

MAP Testing

This coming week we begin Measures of Academic Performance (MAP) testing for all our students in Grades 2-5.  This online computer based test measures academic performance and growth over time in the areas of math, reading and language usage (grammar, spelling etc).  Grade 3-5 students are also measured in science.  Results from these give us individual as well as class and grade level progress and help us create teaching and learning programs to meet each child's’ instructional level.

Each test takes around 45 minutes, and no preparation at home is necessary.  Parents often ask how they can help their child get ready for these and the best way is to ensure your child gets a good night sleep before their test as well as eats a substantial breakfast on the day.  These are overall great preparation ideas for any day at school - students cannot study in advance for a MAP test!

Later in September, parents will receive a MAP Student Progress Report card.  For further information, parents can go to this link.

Yearbook Photos

Beginning Monday 29th August, the photographer will be in taking photos of every child - please look to Edmodo to find the day and time for your child’s class.

Learning Celebrations

You would have seen a post/email from Ms. Meg and Mr. Wilson regarding our addition of Friday morning Learning Celebrations.  Whilst this is an exciting opportunity for more of our children to practice performance skills and participate in sharing learning across the school or grade level, our children and teachers need the chance to consolidate this in-school before inviting in a parent audience.

All other scheduled Assemblies on the calendar are open for a parent audience, and we look forward to welcoming you on those dates.

UN Country Selection

If your child is planning on parading and celebrating a country for UN Day different to their country identified during enrollment at the school, it is important you inform Sanja Ilic at admissionsdirector@aischennai.org so correct preparations for signs and flags can be made.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Warmly,

Keryn Dowling

Friday 19th August, 2016

Dear Parents,

Another great week down at the ES with classes in full swing.  This week I’ve had the chance to begin visiting many classrooms and observe the great learning that is happening. If you are feeling a little lost now the ‘kids are back at school’ we still have a couple of grade level rep positions open - particularly in PS3, KG, Grade 3 & Grade 5.  This is a great opportunity to get involved - contact Laurinda Porter on Laurinda Porter on plaurindapca@aischennai.org  

Next week we have Tania Latanzio, an International Inquiry-learning consultant in working with all our teachers.  She will be working with each grade on how to create inquiry based teaching and learning programs around our standards.

We had our first Emergency Drill on Thursday where we were proud to see all of our students remembering to remain quiet and focused.

Below are a lot of important dates for your reminder. Please read carefully!

Welcome back picnic - this Saturday 20 August
We look forward to seeing many of you at our welcome back picnic tomorrow from 1-4pm tomorrow.   Please stop and introduce yourself and your family to me if you haven’t already done so!  

After School Activities (ASAs)
Our ASAs begin on Monday 22nd, and run Mon-Fri from 3.45 - 4.45pm.  There are no ASAs on Wednesdays.  

All instructors/teachers of each activity will be meeting their group in the ES cafeteria for the first week only.  To avoid huge congestion in our ES Cafeteria, for the following weeks, your instructor will let you and your child know where the meeting spot will be.

Daily ASA routines
- Students attending ASAs will be accompanied to their ASA pick up spot  by 3.30pm

- Students should have a drink and snack with them to eat before their ASA

- Students can be collected from their meeting point by 4.45pm (first week this is the ES cafeteria)

- Driver/Maid handover will be done by the ASA instructor at the Elementary Reception turnstiles

- Parents must contact the ASA department if a child will miss an ASA, or needs to leave early

Back to School Afternoon - next Tuesday 23 August

We encourage both parents to attend our back to school afternoon to receive vital information about your child’s class curriculum and specific routines and systems.  Playground supervision will be in place from 3.30 - 5.15pm

Each class teacher will run two sessions for accommodating parents with more than one child in our ES.
Session 1:   4pm - 4.30pm
Transition 4.30 - 4.40pm
Session 2: 4:45 - 5.15pm

Please look to your Edmodo account for specific information pertaining to your child’s class.

AISC UN International Peace Day Celebration, September 23, 2016
One of AISC’s amazing traditions is the celebration of UN Day. This celebration will be held on Friday, September 23, as part of United Nations International Day of Peace.

Parent Action Needed   
During the UN day parade, students will be marching, under their citizenship of record as listed in Skyward, our student information system. We would like to seek information about your children’s nationality representation interest if different from what is on our records. If you would like to make a change and have your child(ren) march under a flag different from their citizenship, kindly send this information directly to Sanja Ilić, Director of Admissions, (admissionsdirector@aischennai.org). Admissions office will be accommodating the aforementioned requests until September 2, 2016, in order to be able to prepare additional flags in a timely manner.

Yearbook photos
Your child's Yearbook Class group photos and Individual student photos will be taken from 29th - 31st August during school hours. Your child's teacher will send you the date for their individual classes. If your child is not in school on these dates there will be a make-up photo session on Friday 2nd Sept., and later in January 2017.

Fever Reminder

If your child has a fever, sore throat, stomach upset/pain, or respiratory complaint, please keep your child home until they feel better. This will help them recover faster and prevent any contagious diseases from spreading to other students. Please inform the sectional administrative assistants in the Principal’s Office if your child is absent.

No child with a temperature equal to or above 99.6F/37.5C should be sent to school. A child who has a temperature equal to or above 99.6F/37.5C will be sent home from school. A child needs to be fever free for 24 hours before returning to school.

September Lunch menu & Order links  
If you wish to order a school lunch for your child, you can access the elementary lunch menu here.   You may use either the Payonline or the Lunch Pre-order system to order lunch for your child(ren).

Lunch Pre-Order System for Cash Payments

This system allows parents to pre-order lunches for the month and pay with cash at the cash counter. Login using just the email address we have on file at AISC. Please see the user guide here. You may access the Lunch Pre-Order System here.  

The Payonline System

Payonline allows parents to charge their child’s smart cards online, order and pay for lunches, and register and pay for after school activities. Payment is completed online using a credit or debit card. You need a username and password to access this system.  Please see the user guide here for help using the system. You can access the Payonline link here.

If you have any difficulties logging in or ordering, please notify itsupport@aischennai.org

Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow at the Welcome Back Picnic,

Keryn

Friday 12th August, 2016

Dear Parents,

Happy Indian Independence Day and happy long weekend!  

At the end of this first full week I have been amazed daily at the positive attitudes shown by our young learners.  For some of our students (and parents) this first week at AISC has been well out of their comfort zone;  first time at school, first time at an International School, or first time at a school that has English instruction.  Daily, I have seen our students learn and play with such resilience, demonstrating a true growth mindset, that will absolutely benefit them as the year unfolds.

SAFETY REMINDERS

We have fabulous facilities which are also open to our students and their parents after school.  However, any child on campus must be under the direct and active supervision of their parent.  This means actively supervising children on the playground or soccer field, not from a distance such as the ES cafeteria.  When you are directly with your child, we know they are accounted for.  Our top priority is keeping our students safe, so we thank you for your support in this.

From the Parent Community Association (PCA) - Calling for Grade Level Reps

Grade representatives serve an important function at AISC to facilitate communication between school, PCA, and parents.  PCA still needs volunteers for the grades PS3, KG, 3, and 5.
If you are able to take on this role please email the head of the PCA  at plaurindapca@aischennai.org

ASA Information

​We have our in-person (cash) registration on August 16 & 17 at the elementary cafeteria from 8.00 am – 9.30 am.

• Activity registrations will be on a first-come-first-served basis, as the activities will be capped (limited number for each class) depending on their nature.
• We do not accept payments by cheque.
• Payments cannot be dropped off at Receptions or Section Offices.

​To know more about the activities, please check the ASA brochure.​

Back to School Afternoon - Tuesday 23 August

We encourage both parents to attend our back to school afternoon to receive vital information about your child’s class curriculum and specific routines and systems.

Each teacher will run two sessions for accommodating parents with more than one child in our ES.

Session 1:   4pm - 4.30pm
Transition 4.30 - 4.40pm
Session 2: 4:45 - 5.15pm

Please look to your Edmodo account for specific information pertaining to your child’s class.

ES Parent Coffee - Tuesday 16th August

From 8.45 - 9.45 our counselors, Meg and Ron will be hosting a parent coffee session on ‘Transitions’.  Please come along to learn about how best to manage any transition with your children.  There will also be plenty of time for discussion and learning strategies from other parents who may be going through a similar transition.

Part of our counseling program also includes being ‘Mindful’.  We're starting into our second year of mindfulness practice here in the elementary school at AISC. You may be wondering why are we so focussed on bringing the tools of mindfulness into children's lives?  Well, for many reasons!  To read more, click on Ms Meg’s blog.

With that in mind, I wish you all a safe and relaxing long weekend.  Enjoy this extra day of family time and relaxation at the end of our first week together.

Teaching & Learning Update, Calendar Notes for 2016-2017

In order to support continuous professional learning and development for AISC faculty members, there are fourteen Early Dismissal Wednesdays this year. The dates of these days are noted on the 2016-2017 Community Calendar.  These Professional Learning Days have proven to be valuable for our faculty as they allow for continued professional learning and important collaboration for our entire teaching community on an on-going basis. This learning has a positive impact on the quality of instruction and development of our programs at AISC.

By way of preview for family activity planning purposes, the following Wednesdays are Early Release Days starting at 2:00 p.m.

2016

August 24

September 7, 21

October 19

November 2, 23

December 7

2017

January 11, 25

February 8, 22

March 8

April 12, 26

On August 24, we will have our first Early Release Wednesday. Students are expected to depart campus in a timely and organized fashion. We appreciate your patience with traffic on these days. In preparation, please plan on allowing longer time for entry and exit to the school at release time. For Elementary School students, the lunch routine will not change.

Also, for those who plan way ahead, there will not be half-days at semester-end (December 16) and year-end (June 1). Those days will be regular school days, 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Warmly,
Keryn Dowling

Friday August 5th, 2016

Dear Parents,

What a wonderful start to the school year we have had.  On Wednesday, we welcomed 186 new students across our AISC community, of these 120 were to the Elementary Section.

On Thursday morning our 446 Elementary Students were welcomed with smiles as we began our first day together.  Classrooms & teachers were ready - ready to embrace this year together as we begin a year of ‘wonder’.

Today we had our ‘Welcome Back Assembly’, run by our counselors Ms. Meg and Mr Wilson.  I shared the story ‘What do you do with an idea?’, a book about how we all have our own original ideas, and when we embrace these and share these with others, our ideas can create change - change for our classrooms, change for our school and even change for our world.

Elementary classrooms are truly a special place, where we take students wonderings and turn these into learning engagements. All our teachers this year are engaging in further professional development in understanding Inquiry-based learning.  Student ownership of their learning is a vital component of this, so expect to see this year your children becoming further engaged and knowledgeable about the programmes happening in their classrooms.

ES Parent Coffee

Regularly, on Tuesday mornings from 8.45 - 9.45 am we will be hosting parent coffees in the ES Cafeteria.  Our first will be on Tuesday 16th and will focus on ‘Transitions’.  Run by our counselors, Meg and Ron, this coffee will offer parents advice and strategies for dealing with transitions - be it the start of the new year, moving to a new school, moving to a new country, or even how to make new friends.


As a new parent to AISC myself, I look forward to joining many of you at this event.

ES Back to School Afternoon - Tuesday 23 August, 4 pm.

Next week I will post more specific information, but for now please save the date above to attend the ES back to school sessions.

Edmodo for Elementary School Parents

If you have not signed-up for Edmodo and added your children, please do so as soon as possible to receive communications from your teachers. New parents have received an email from the IT department with instructions and their student codes. Returning parents will not need to do anything other than ensure you can log-in through a web-browser or through the mobile parent app (iOS  | Android. If you have any questions about Edmodo, please stop by the IT office and we will help you sign up.

After School Activities

Payonline registration:

• Online registration opens on August 8 and concludes on August 10, 2016.
• Please go to (https://payonline.aisch.org/), login and register.  
• If you are unable to register through pay online due to any problem (username/password) please write to itsupport@aisch.org. IT will reset your username and password and you may register thereon.
• Kindly note that payments made through credit card will carry a service charge.  This fee is charged by the bank and not by the school.
• We encourage parents to register through pay online.  

Raptor's Swim Club information: Try-outs: August 5, 8, 9 & 10 after-school from 3.30 - 4.30 pm. There is likelihood that there will be two sessions of this ASA program. Session 1 will be from 3:30-4:30 for beginner and intermediate Club members and Session 2 will be from 4:30-5:30, for more advanced swimmers. If numbers are high, group division will be determined after the first week.

SAISA Swim team - Grade 5 only

• Do you love to swim?
• Will you be 10 years old by October 19, 2016?
• Can you swim Freestyle, Breaststroke and Backstroke? Maybe Butterfly?

I would like to invite you to try out for the 2016-17  SAISA Swim Team!!!

• First Practice is MONDAY, August 8 at 6:15 a.m.
• Bring your suit, cap and goggles and jump in.
• Practices will be on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday mornings from 6:15 am.- 8:00 am., with a few exceptions.
• You will receive a full practice calendar on Monday.
• Coaches this year: Coach Donna, Coach Ilona and Coach Velin, plus guest coaches!!!
• If you have any questions, email fdonna@aischennai.org or stop by the pool.

TARDY/LATE ARRIVAL AT SCHOOL

Children arriving at school after 8.40 must come directly to the ES Office to receive a tardy slip from Ms Cheryl or Ms Hazel.  If you are bringing your child to school, please come to the office first before heading to class. Children who are dropped by their driver/nanny will be sent to the office to collect their slips before joining the class.  

Although we all experience circumstances when lateness is unavoidable, regular lateness disrupts both the learning of your child and the others in the class.  Therefore, all classes will begin on time and children who are regularly late will need to catch up on the learning missed.

Signature Page from ES Handbook - Reminder

Please remove this perforated page from the handbook (page 57) and return to the Elementary Reception or Office. Alternatively, students can give the page to their homeroom teacher. The due date for returning this page is Thursday 18th August. Elementary School Handbook

Morning Drop Off/Afternoon Pick up procedures

All students arrive between 8.00 - 8.20 am, either with their parents or dropped off by nanny/driver. School personnel are at the Elementary Reception every morning to receive our younger students.  Pre-K children will be escorted to their classrooms, and KG children to their play area.  All other children will proceed to the playground where they are supervised until the bell rings.

Our school day ends at 3.30.  Pick up procedures differ for different grades

PK to Grade 1; Parents collect children from classrooms and on handover assume supervision.
Grade 2, 4 & 5  - parents collect from covered area.  
Grade 3 - parents collect from hallway by sandpit.  

Students collected by a nanny/driver will be escorted to the ES Reception where they will await pick up.  Each grade has its own pick up spot, so siblings may not be together.

KG - Grade 5 students attending an after school activity (ASA) will be escorted to the ASA meeting point in the ES Cafeteria.

Any ES student with an older sibling cannot walk to meet them; older siblings instead should come to meet their ES sibling near the ES Reception & together meet parents.

* All students can only remain on campus when under the direction supervision of their parent.

August Lunch menu & Order links  

If you wish to order a school lunch for your child, you can access the elementary lunch menu here. You may use either the Payonline or the Lunch Pre-order system to order lunch for your child(ren).

The Payonline System

Payonline allows parents to charge their child’s smart cards online, order and pay for lunches, and register and pay for after school activities. Payment is completed online using a credit or debit card. You need a username and password to access this system.  Please see the user guide here for help using the system. You can access the Payonline link here.

Lunch Pre-Order System for Cash Payments

This system allows parents to pre-order lunches for the month and pay with cash at the cash counter. Login using just the email address we have on file at AISC. Please see the user guide here. You may access the Lunch Pre-Order System here.  

If you have any difficulties logging in or ordering, please notify itsupport@aischennai.org.

Health Forms

As a quick reminder, all AISC returning students are required to complete the "Student Health Form" and "Physical Exam Form" and submit it to the school nurse at the earliest.  

The links to the Health Form and Physical Exam Form are as provided for your convenience.

Any 5th Grade student wishing to participate in ASIAC Table Tennis or Badminton and SAISA Swimming must have this form returned to the school by no later than Tuesday, August 16, 2016. Students that have not returned these forms by this deadline, will not be permitted to practice or participate.

Thank you all for taking the time to read this.  If you have any questions or concerns about any of the above items, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.  My email address is esprincipal@aischennai.org

Have a fabulous weekend, and I look forward to our first full week of school together next week!


Warmly,

Keryn Dowling