Leopard's Tale |
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Leopard's Tale |
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The Middle School Band and Choir concert will be held on June 1 at 1800 in the PAC. Every Middle School student will take part in the evening of merriment. We welcome all parents, relatives, and friends to come out to enjoy the evening and watch our talented all-stars on stage.
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We will be recognizing the Class of 2017’s achievements at an awards ceremony on May 26 from 12:00-13:00 in the PAC. This will include awards from our various academic departments, the U.S. President’s Education Awards, and a slideshow highlighting our scholars’ plans for university. It will also be a great opportunity to thank our seniors for providing great leadership for the entire Secondary student body.
Being in the middle of the IB Diploma Programme period has gotten me to thinking about the different myths that we have learned and practiced in our youths and then pass along to our children/students. However, some of these have been proven to actually be detrimental to learning and performance. For example, cramming and all-nighters may have been common when we were in university, but contemporary brain researchers have helped us to learn that it is far better to put those books away the nights before exams and go to bed at a reasonable time. The irony is that we often ignore our brain's needs, despite that being the driver of all performance and learning. To make it even more ironic is that it is our own brain telling us to ignore aspects which would help itself. For example, if we are truly concerned about how our children's are doing in school, we would pay far more attention to their diets, skipping the sugar and saturated fats. Here is a five minute video that explains in animation how nutrition affects the brain and its performance.
Over the past couple of months, the primary teachers have been revising the units of inquiry to promote inquiry and action. Check out the new display of these units in the library by the Lego station! The board was created collaboratively by students, teachers and our maintenance team. Thank you Jenni Redman, Mwamba Mulangala, Matildah Kapila, Johanna Schooley, Jo Bicknell, Smilla and Zhenyi for your beautiful artistic expression. If you have questions about our PYP programme of inquiry, please see Chye de Ryckel, our PYP coordinator. The central ideas are organised under six transdisciplinary themes which:
Next year, we will be shifting our early years program from a grade-specific program to a multi-age program for our 3-5 year olds, Preschool and Prekindergarten only. With the new structure, there will be three multi-age sections, with approximately sixteen students each, one teacher and one teaching assistant. This would provide a 1:8 adult-child ratio in each class. The children’s ages will range from 2y11m to 4y10m within each section at the beginning of the school year. Each home group will aim to balance ages, gender, language and developmental needs (learning, socio-emotional, and physical) in order to maximize the benefits of a multi-age setting.
The three multi-age sections will work closely together in a shared learning environment to support each child’s development. As a PYP school that implements developmentally-appropriate practice across all year levels, a multi-age setting recognizes and supports each child’s unique timeframe of development. As stated by the IB, “young learners are intelligent, resourceful and creative individuals who grow, develop and learn at different rates. They explore their environment and learn about their world through play and relationships with peers, teachers, family and community members. Early learning in the PYP is a holistic learning experience that integrates socio-emotional, physical and cognitive development. In the PYP classroom, it takes place in dynamic environments that promote play, discovery and exploration” (International Baccalaureate Organization, 2005). As we begin to wind down the school year, we are bracing ourselves to say farewell to departing students, parents, and faculty. This year, eight of our teaching faculty are moving on. AISL is a better place thanks to their hard work and numerous contributions. Please join me in saying farewell and thank you to these excellent teachers:
What I am excited about this week…
This week's article from the American Psychological Association challenges conventional wisdom about the importance of parents pushing their children to higher academic achievement. It appears realistic expectations could be more important than simply shooting for the stars. Read more here.
May 1-19 IB DP Exams
May 20 Prom May 24 Sports Awards Ceremony May 25 No School – Africa Freedom Day May 26 Senior Walk @ 9:55 May 26 Senior Assembly @ 12:00 May 27 Graduation @ 2:00 pm June 1 Middle School Band and Choir Concert June 2 MS Dance June 12 Grade 5 Fly-Up Day June 15 Secondary Awards Assembly June 15 Last day of school |
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The Leopard's Tale is our main medium to keep our families informed on such things as the day to day happenings on campus, after school activities, summaries of any arts and sports events, helpful resources, and important dates and reminders.
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