May 30, 2008
Dear Parents,
With half term fast approaching we can look forward to nice break before we begin our final preparations to close out the term. This is always a busy time of year, and as parents you can expect to be inundated with updates as far as dates and times of special events and field trips.
It has been a busy term III thus far with a number of fieldtrips and special events to keep the students interested and engaged. The school bus has been very busy these past few weeks with field trips to the waterworks, the Roche Caiman Bird Sanctuary, Eden Island, Alliance Francaise, and of course Port Launay. ISS was also well represented at the inter-school athletics competition, and we’ve seen considerable focus on the development of football in the junior section with the Eurofootball Camps training camp and also with the Primary Boys football team. Sr. Bernadette has been busy with the Confirmation and First Communion Preparations—congratulations to the students who have received their Confirmation and good luck to the students who are preparing for their upcoming First Communion. The year 6’s are currently involved in the Transition Programme getting their initiation into to the Senior School. Amongst all of this activity we have still managed to focus on our academic programmes in the classrooms and our students have continued to make excellent progress.
With the upcoming Assessment Week (June 9th-13th) we will be given the opportunity to measure the levels of student progress and achievement. This will be the first time that many students will see the QCA/SATs from the UK—but this assessment system is designed specifically for the National Curriculum which is used at ISS. Again, parents and students should note that while this is an important indicator as far as student performance—these are not exams whose results will be recorded or necessarily reflected in the year end report. These tests are being implemented so we can measure student performance and the overall performance of the section—so we can then make the necessary adjustments to individual and section wide programmes to better meet the needs of our students. Please note thateachers are not prepping students specifically for these tests—nor should students be revising for these tests.
There are many other upcoming events noted on the calendar—for example the Sponsor Spell, half term holidays, fieldtrips (bon voyage to our staff and students involved in the much anticipated trip to France). We will need to begin making preparations for the PTA Fete (July 4th), and we are exploring dates and options for a Sports Day. With athletics behind us, we can anticipate a shift for the track to the tennis courts, as Tim is preparing to use his expertise to deliver the Tennis unit of the PE programme.
Please note there will be no activities on Tuesday, June 3rd or Monday, 9th June—a number of our teachers and students are away for the French trip and with everything else going on at the moment it is probably best to have a regular dismissal of 1:45pm for these two days. The number of students attending late class is disappointing as it really is a matter of scheduling and responsibility. To see the school taken advantage of to such a degree is surprising—but to see the number of children simply left waiting after school (sometimes for hours) is something that we would like to see come to an end. It should be noted that there has been tremendous strides made as far as head lice—thanks in part to Mrs. Bailey and her team of parents—but also because of the efforts at home from all of the parents in the section.
I hope that this letter helps to keep parents up to date and informed as to all of the activities in the Junior Section. Please contact me at the school if you have any questions or comments.
Sincerely,
Ryan Sargeant
HOS—Junior
