Friday, March 7, 2014

Dear Parents,

If you have not had a chance to do so, would you mind sharing your thoughts about the student-led conferences by completing this survey? Thank you. The survey will close on Tuesday.

Several of our students and parents wrote comments (in the classroom) about the student-led conferences. Below is a selection of unedited comments written by parents and students (from upper and lower elementary). Thank you, students and parents, for your positive feedback.

Student Comments

1. In my opinion I liked the student led conference because I can show my parents all the best work that I have done.

2. I like the student conference because I got to show my hard work to my parents - and I got a chance to talk with them.

3. I really liked the student led conference because I am proud of my hard work. It was fun.

4. I like student led conferences because we tell our parents about our learning.

5. I feel happy when I see my mom, I am happy because I like to show my mom some things.

6. I like student led conferences because I can show my parents about school.

7. Student Led Conferences are a great way to show your parents, your teacher AND yourself what you are learning and doing in school. It shows what learning means to you. As you are learning, you are also teaching; yourself, your parents and your teacher. While you answer questions in school and SLC, you teach the adults. A lot of times, your parents and teachers have AHA Moments.

8. I think that Student-Led-Conferences are a great idea because we have a chance to share with our parents our depth of understanding. We can show our parents what we are learning instead of the teacher talking to the parents all the time. I like it when the students are in charge. I was just used to parent and teacher conferences. I liked having some of my work in front of me so that I could explain the topic better to them. The blog posts were very helpful because we can make great connections. We took a look at our goals and decided which we met and which we still had to work on. Overall SLC was a great way for me to show my learning and thinking.

9. I think that the SLC was good for me since my goal is to be more fluent with my ideas. My mom also thinks it is a great idea. And for all I know, it sure is better than the way they do it in other schools. They show one person’s bad work and then they show another person’s good work. In this way, students are more comfortable with sharing their work with their parents. If they show their work where they had a little trouble it is better than a teacher using it as an example for bad work. Now SLC makes it more comfortable for children to lead a conference about their work.

Parent Comments

1. Great platform for students to show off their work of which they are clearly proud.

2. I liked the student led conference because if showed the confidence and pride my daughter had in all the work she has done. I liked the fact that it was very informative.

3. This is good because I get to know all the wonderful things my child learns in school. It is amazing to see his progress - feedback is always great.

4. I am pleased to see this kind of conference. I saw my daughter's skill and best work. I thank the teachers for always getting the best out of our students. 

5. Fantastic teacher!  My child has gained so much confidence in being allowed to share what she has done. 

6. We loved seeing all the fantastic things you’ve done!

7. Thank you for the student led conferences. We can know about our children in school.

8. The best part of SLC was my child’s portfolio because it was very creative and very well prepared!

Pictures from our Student-Led Conferences

News from Student Council: ES Spirit Week March 17-21, 2014

Student Council has been busy preparing for our annual Elementary School Spirit Week, which will run from March 17th through March 21st. All elementary students PK-5 are invited to participate in showing their spirit by dressing in different ways each day during that week. This is not a requirement but simply for fun and community building.

Monday: Favorite Sport Day: Wear clothes that show your favorite sport! (No equipment- no bats, no balls, no toy guns, etc...)

Tuesday: Crazy Hair Day

Wednesday: Career Day: Dress up as the career you want to have!

Thursday: Opposite Day: Wear opposite or mismatched clothes!

Friday: Pyjama Day

Thanks for all your support! Ms. Pam, Ms. Dee, and Student Council Members

ASA Advanced Soccer Club Tournament

We end our regular soccer sessions with our students hosting a tournament. We will have a total of eight teams taking part in the tournament, including two from AISC, and one from each of the following schools: Lady Andal Matriculation School, Abacus Montessori School, Gateway International School, Christ Church Anglo Indian School, St. Patrick’s Higher Secondary School and St Michael’s Academy. The tournament will be held tomorrow, beginning at 7.30 am. The finals are scheduled for 12 noon. It is going to be a fun day for all kids taking part. Many, many thanks to Coach Sebastian and his team. Of course, we cannot forget the parents for their time, dedication and love of the sport, too!

We invite all the Parents to come and cheer the teams and encourage our students.

Summer Camp 2014: Funshine Camp

Our annual “Funshine” Summer Camp for elementary school students will run from June 2 – 13, 2014 on the school campus. Registration forms will be sent via Friday folder on April 7, 2014.  There will be a range of fun activities on offer including, singing, western dance and zumba, swimming pool games, a personality development workshop, creative crafts and outdoor/indoor Games.

Registration Details:

• Grade Levels: K-5 (Includes current year Pre-K 3+, 4+ and Gr.5 students)      
• Registration dates: April 8 – 30, 2014
• Registration Venue: ASA office (MC-1B)
• Fees: Rs.15000 (Only cash payment and there will be no refunds).
• Further inquiries: please reach us in MC 1 B or call +91 22549000 (EXTN- 1)

SAISA Track and Field Meet

The SAISA Track and Field Meet will be held at AISC from March 12 to 14th. The soccer field will be in use before, during and after school on these days. Therefore, the Jogging Club will not meet on March 12. Further, elementary school children will not be able to play on the soccer field before or after school. Thank you for your cooperation.

National Honor Society Support for The Little Sisters of the Poor

The High School National Honor Society is conducting a food and sanitary items drive for The Little Sisters of the Poor, an organisation dedicated to help the elderly. This old-age home requires basic necessities that are not available to them and the following items are recommended for donation:

Food: wheat flour, rice, dal

Sanitary Items: band-aids, garbage bags, soap/sanitizers

Boxes will be present at the Elementary School Reception as well as the main entrance entrance from March 10th to 21st. Please help us assist the elderly!

Parent Coffee with the ES Administration: Topics for the Remainder of the School Year

Our next parent coffee will be held on Tuesday, March 11th from 8:45 to 9:45 in the FAC Cafeteria. Our Literacy Coach, Ms. Megan McCrindle, and our speech and language pathologist, Ms. Chithra, will co-lead a presentation on early childhood literacy. This session will be of interest to parents who have children in our PS 3+, PS 4+ and Kindergarten classes. 

The April parent coffee has been rescheduled and will now take place on Monday, April 28. The topic of our April coffee is standards-based grading and reporting. As many of you know, the elementary school will launch a new report card next fall. In this session, we will talk about the philosophy behind standards-based grading and reporting and why standards-based grading/reporting is best practice for student learning.

Our final parent coffee of the school year will be held on Tuesday, May 13th. This is a recently added parent coffee; it is not printed in the community calendar. During this session, members from the Service Learning Task Force will present an overview of their work to date, and our plans for the future. 

All sessions are held in the FAC Cafeteria from 8:45 to 9:45.

Have a great weekend,

Kevin Hall
Elementary School Principal