Friday, March 31, 2017

Dear Parents,

This week all our teachers and many students have been learning from a visiting Teachers College Writing Workshop consultant, Christy Curran. Teaching classes in all grade levels, Christy modelled best practices that will further help us strengthen our writing programme across all grades. In addition to this, all teachers became writers themselves and put themselves in the shoes of their students - experiencing what it is like to write from the heart!  

It is a busy time of year, none the less with a Grade 5 School Sleepover happening tonight and also the Blue and White swim competition happening tomorrow. We look forward to seeing many of you there at the pool!

WrAP Test

In the next couple of weeks, students from Grades 3-5 will complete a standardised writing assessment. Due to the nature of the test, children who are newer to learning English may not be required to take this test. The data we receive from such tests helps us re-evaluate our teaching and learning programs and make further improvements to best meet our student’s learning needs.  

Class placements

In April we will begin the process of placing students into new classes in their new grade level groups. Much consideration is done to ensure balances of gender, nationality, as well as learning and social needs.  

All class and teacher placement is done by the teaching faculty as well as the counselors with final decisions being made by the principals.  

Whilst we are not taking requests for specific teachers, if you feel there are any particular needs your child has that may help us when considering their class placements, please complete the link below. This link is the only official format for submitting such requests. Please do not approach the class teachers or counselors directly as they will redirect you to fill out this link. Thank you for your understanding.

Grade 2 Mela

Student Led Conferences Sign Ups - Repeat Announcement

This year our Student-Led Conferences (SLCs) are scheduled for Thursday 20 and Friday 21 April. Thursday the 20th is a normal school day.  Friday 21st will not have regular scheduled classes.

This Student Led Conference is the time for your child to share their learning growth and future goals with you.  Please expect teachers to be involved as facilitator and not directly involved in the discussions; on this day the main focus is between you and your child. There will be multiple children and their families sharing their learning at the same time in each classroom.

Please sign up here to attend your SLC together with your child.

• The conference will take approximately 30 - 40 minutes in the classroom and 30 - 40 mins with the specialist areas - Music, Art, PE, Indian Studies and World Language.  
• Your child will have a passport to lead you through each area and will know whether to begin in the homeroom or in the specialist areas.
• Students are responsible for leading the conference and also take responsibility for their learning by sharing the process with their parents.  
• Supervision for siblings will be in the ES Cafeteria, Library and outside play areas, with pre-school children supervised in the library only. Please note that this is only for enrolled AISC students. You will need to make your own separate arrangements for younger children and babies.  
• If your home language is other than English your children are welcome to conduct the Student- Led Conference in your mother tongue. Please do not hesitate to contact either the homeroom/specialist teachers, or Lori or myself, should you have any questions regarding these upcoming conferences.

Early Years Parent Coffee

Poetry Month is in April

"The month of April will mark the beginning of our Poetry Month in our World Languages grades 3-12. We will be highlighting poetry and all that it brings the world! The French School and the World Languages will collaborate to publish a book of original poetry comprised of student work.

Any student is welcome to submit one original poem to Poetryschool600113@gmail.com by April 10, 2017. The original poems can be written in any language. Please submit an English translation of poems written in languages other than English, French, or Spanish."  

There will be a banner and posters going up around the school as well, and in April we will be making a display in the courtyard of all that our students 3-12 have done to celebrate the month.   

IB Art Exhibition

Please join us on Tuesday, April 4th, at 4:00pm in the FAC Atrium as we celebrate the accomplishments of our 2017 IB Art cohort. This year we are celebrating the works by Adrienne Hoover, Arya Giri, Eunbin Choi, Aline Nicolai, Marie Schumann, and Seoyoung Park.

Date Change

The High School Theater Production recorded in the community calendar for Friday, April 21 and Saturday, April 22 will instead be held on Thursday. April 20 and Friday, April 21. Kindly mark your calendars. More information on the play and ticket sales will be shared soon.

April 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).

Have a wonderful weekend!

Warmly,

Keryn Dowling

Friday, March 24, 2017

Dear Parents,

Welcome back to the last quarter of the 2016-17 school year. We hope everyone had a wonderful spring break and enjoyed time together as a family. I spent the week back in Switzerland connecting with friends and even managed to get in a couple of days of Snow boarding!  

We have a lot planned for you and your children during this block, so please make sure you continue to read these weekly notes thoroughly.

Student Led Conferences Sign Ups
This year our Student-Led Conferences (SLCs) are scheduled for Thursday 20 and Friday 21 April. Thursday the 20th is a normal school day.  Friday 21st will not have regular scheduled classes.  

This Student Led Conference is the time for your child to share their learning growth and future goals with you. Please expect teachers to be involved as facilitator and not directly involved in the discussions; on this day the main focus is between you and your child. There will be multiple children and their families sharing their learning at the same time in each classroom.  

The conference will take approximately 30 - 40 minutes in the classroom and 30 - 40 mins with the specialist areas - Music, Art, PE, Indian Studies and World Language.  

Your child will have a passport to lead you through each area and will know whether to begin in the homeroom or in the specialist areas.

Students are responsible for leading the conference and also take responsibility for their learning by sharing the process with their parents.

Supervision for siblings will be in the ES Cafeteria, Library and outside play areas, with pre-school children supervised in the library only. Please note that this is only for enrolled AISC students. You will need to make your own separate arrangements for younger children and babies.  

If your home language is other than English your children are welcome to conduct the Student-Led Conference in your mother tongue. Please do not hesitate to contact either the homeroom/specialist teachers, or Lori or myself, should you have any questions regarding these upcoming conferences.

• Please sign up here to attend your SLC together with your child.

Two Great ES Parent Coffees Planned
Monday 3 April 8:45 in the Hall of Light - Early Years Program. This coffee will talk about our exciting plans moving forward for our newly named Early Years Program, including curriculum, philosophy and newly designed learning spaces.

Tuesday 11 April 2:00 - 3:00pm in the BBT - Math in the Elementary School. This coffee will be run by Calley Connelly, our Math Instructional Coach, along with ES teachers, talking about how conceptual math instruction looks in a contemporary international school.  There will be hands on opportunities for parents to explore how math is being taught to their children.

Scholastic Book Fair
Get lots of great new books! AISC is holding it’s next Scholastic Book Fair on March 27-29 in the Main Courtyard (8:00-4:30 on Monday and Tuesday, 8:00-3:30 on Wednesday). Please stop by and check out some of the wonderful books on sale! You will find many fiction and nonfiction books available!

In addition, several AISC parents are running a book drive during the fair to get books for a local school. This means that students and parents have the option during the Scholastic Book Fair to purchase books towards this project. More information can be found here: AISC Volunteer Parent Book Drive

Please contact Mr. Jet at wjeremy@aischennai.org if you have any questions. We look forward to seeing you at the book fair!

April 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 to order lunch for your child(ren).

AISC SUMMER CAMP 2017 from June 5 - 16 (Monday – Friday)
Click here to view the  Summer camp handbook

Timing: 9.00 a.m. – 1.00 p.m.
Registrations have opened and will end on April 30, 2017.

• To register through pay online, click here
• You can also use your debit or credit card at the cashier and pay for the summer camp, please submit the registration form at the ASA office at MC 1-B to complete the registration.  

Activities for the camp
Swimming Pool Games |Crossword | Word Puzzles | Creative Writing | Reading Aloud |Story-telling | Glass Painting | Fabric Painting | Art & Craft | Zentangle | Puppetry | Theatre | Cooking & Baking | Singing | Dancing | Indoor & Outdoor games

Fees: Rs.15000/-  There will be no refunds.
(Students need to bring their own lunch and snacks)

Have a nice weekend!  

Warmly,

Keryn Dowling

Friday, March 10, 2017

Dear Parents,

Happy Spring Break! We wish each and every family a relaxing and enjoyable break together wherever you may be. For those travelling, travel safely and we will see you all on Tuesday 21st March. Please remember that Monday 20th March is a faculty only professional development day.

This morning we had another great celebration of learning with performances being shared by students from Grades 3-5. We heard excerpts from fantasy writing pieces, listened to some beautiful music performed and were informed about making healthy food choices in the cafeteria. It is always impressive to see children owning the stage with confidence and poise!

Student Protection Curriculum
On Wednesday our Counselors, Ms Meg and Mr Wilson led a presentation outlining our Student Protection Curriculum. We will be continuing lessons from this curriculum after Spring Break, with more of an explicit focus on correct anatomical body part names, as well as strategies for keeping ourselves safe. For those who were unable to join us, you can access the presentation here.

Student Protection Presentation  

Student Led Conferences
This year our Student-Led Conferences (SLCs) are scheduled for Thursday 20 and Friday 21 April. Thursday 20th is a normal school day. Friday 21st will not have regular scheduled classes.  

If you are attending a SLC on Friday, children, together with their parents will only attend school for part of this day. This is the time for your child to share their learning growth and future goals with you. Please expect teachers to be involved as facilitator and not directly involved in the discussions; on this day the main focus is between you and your child. There will be multiple children and their families sharing their learning at the same time in each classroom. If you decide you need a further follow up with your child’s class teacher, please arrange a separate time for this. Directly after the break, you will be invited to sign up via this blog for one of the following blocks:  

Thursday
Block 1: 3:45 - 5:15pm Block 2: 5:00 - 6:30pm  

Friday
Block 1: 8.30 – 10.00am Block 2: 10.30 – 12.00pm
Block 3: 12.30 – 2:00pm Block 4: 2:00 – 3:30pm  

The conference will take approximately 30 - 40 minutes in the classroom and 30 - 40 minutes with the specialist areas - Music, Art, Physical Education, Indian Studies and World Language. Your child will have a passport to lead you through each area and will know whether to begin in the homeroom or in the specialist areas.

Students are responsible for leading the conference and also take responsibility for their learning by sharing the process with their parents.  

Supervision for siblings will be in the Elementary Cafeteria, Library and outside play areas, with pre-school children supervised in the library only. Please note that this is only for enrolled AISC students.

If your home language is other than English your children are welcome to conduct the Student- Led Conference in your mother tongue. Please do not hesitate to contact either the homeroom/specialist teachers, or Lori or myself, should you have any questions regarding these upcoming conferences.

SEVAI Day Night Owl Collection

On Friday, March 31st, we are doing our 9th Night Owl delivery! This time around, middle school students will be doing the majority of the collecting and packaging! We are collecting empty plastic water bottles, non-perishable food, and toiletries. We encourage you to begin collecting mini-bottles of shampoo/conditioner, combs, soaps, toothbrushes, razors, etc. as you travel and stay at various hotels. You can also, make a cash donation to the cashier (please specify that is for Night Owl).  

Please contact Anna Van Horn vanna@aischennai.org know if you have any questions or would like to participate in the delivery.  

Thanks for your support! Our last delivery was 200 bundles! Let’s keep expanding!!

Warm Regards,

Keryn Dowling

Friday, March 3, 2017

Dear Parents,

Sitting in the Makeology keynote this morning, many AISC teachers and leaders were encouraged to reflect on the worth of maker centered education. Jaymes Dec, the keynote speaker stated “If students are all doing the same thing, it’s not a project. It’s a recipe”. This further reinforced the importance for us to continue on our journey towards inquiry, maker and personalized learning within the Elementary School at AISC. It is an exciting time to be part of education.  

Grade 5 Grade NESA Science Fair
Next Monday, March 6th, from 3:00-3:30PM in the Black Box Theater - come support our young scientists, as they present their self-directed, research experiments.  

Student Protection Curriculum - ES Coffee - Wednesday 8 March in the BBT
As you are aware, the importance of educating our children to keep safe in all domains is part of our curriculum. Our counselors, together with classroom teachers, have been focusing on developing lessons and acquiring resources to educate our children about circles of trust, understanding which secrets to keep and which to share, as well as safe touch, unsafe touch and the correct anatomical names of all our body parts.

Over the last trimester in school, explicit lessons will be taught in every 2-5 homeroom, as well as all children have access to books and anatomically correct dolls. If you would like to know more about this curricular focus, and experience some of the ideas covered within these lessons, we will hold a parent coffee about this on Wednesday 8 March, 8.45-9.45am in the BBT.

Healthy Snacks and Lunches
Please remember not to pack candy/sweets in your child’s lunchbox, and also discourage them from bringing them to class.  

Student Led Conferences
Coming up on April 20th and 21st we will have our Student Led Conferences. The focus of these is on the student; leading their parents through different examples of learning, sharing their learning growth and future goals.

This year, we want to be more intentional in sharing and celebrating all the learning that is happening in the Specialist areas as well as the Homeroom. You will be invited to sign up for a longer block with your child so they can also lead you through their learning in these areas too.  

Please note this is not a ‘parent/teacher’ conference; we highly value our students’ understanding of their own learning, and we know you will appreciate the chance to hear from them as they lead you through their learning journey.  

Yearbook Photo Orders
Your child's individual and class yearbook pictures from the August 2016 & January 2017 photo sessions may be purchased using this Form.  

To order photos - On the All School Moodle page, (guest password:raptors17) you will find a folder - Yearbook photos 2016-17. If your child joined school after September 4th, or missed the first session, the photo can be found in the folder labelled "SESSION 2 ".     

Please complete the form, pay at the cash counter and submit the form at the respective section office along with the receipt. Last day for orders is 7 March. Prints will be ready for pick up after 21 March.

Warmly,

Keryn Dowling