Friday, October 19, 2018

Dear all,

Thank yous…

• Homeroom, EAL, LSS teachers for hosting the growth story conferences - thank you for all the preparation and hard work; parent feedback has shown this to have paid off!
• Jet and his library team for all the supervision during conferences
• All the teachers who hosted HS students today for Discovery Day
• Hilary, Ryan, & Balajee for hosting our Service Learning faculty meeting
• Priya Venugopal and Evelyn for their interactive Storytelling sessions this week with Grades 1, 2, 3 (Flex - IS) for India Month.
• Music team for coordinating and integrating with an Indian Percussionist in their classrooms for Grades 3, 4, 5 for India Month.

Upcoming Week at a Glance

Monday 22 Oct	India Celebration Week Grade team Leader meeting; 3:45 p.m SHED
Tuesday 23 Oct	Grade 1 & 2 WIDA testing of identified children
Wednesday 24 Oct	SAISA swim team leaves to Jordan Early Release - Wellness Afternoon
Thursday 25 Oct	-
Friday 26 Oct	ES Movie Night; Witches - 3:45pm. BBT
Saturday 27 Oct	PCA Diwali Mela & India Month Closing Performance

Halloween Info

The timeline/window for celebrating Halloween is October 22 - Nov 2. Regarding the actual Halloween day - we would like to only dedicate the last two periods (P6/7) to celebrating; one period for the party and one for the parade.

Room Parents have attended a meeting where they have been encouraged to reach out to you to offer the following support

• They can come in for 1 x class block to create decorations; Joseph and Anita are happy for this to be one art class
• They can arrange to host a party for 1 x class block. Parties would ideally be P6 on Wednesday 31st
• Parade will begin P7 on Wed 31st; starting 2:45 p.m with Grade 5
• The parade will become one continuous snake, starting with Grade 5, and the parade will come by your classroom areas for you to join on the back of the snake parade.  

 Approximate timing schedule:

2:45     Grade 5

2:47     Grade 4

2:50    Grade 3

2:52    Grade 2

2:56    Grade 1

3:00   EY5

3:02   EY4 then EY3

After all classes are collected in the snake parade - the parade will take one final lap of the ES ground floor, collecting candy in different stations along the way:

Route & Candy Stations

1.      ES reception/gate (ES leadership)

2.      Amphitheatre (coaches and specialists)

3.      Nurse’s Office

4.      MS locker area (HOS / Teaching and Learning / Admissions)

5.      CIC (Jet and team)

6.      ES Cafeteria (ES Office)

PG&E Revisions

For those of you who are making revisions to your PG&E, SAP-S, or SAP-X documents, please make sure those revisions are completed by Wednesday, October 24th.

Info on Upcoming India Month Activities

Yoga (October 22nd - 26th)

Grades 1, 2 and 3 (Flex-IS) will have Yoga sessions during Indian Studies.

Grades 3 and 4 will have optional Yoga sessions during their lunch recess.

Click here for more details!

*TAs are requested to be present during this time.

Indian Snack and Lunch (October 26th, Friday)

All students and Faculty will be provided a complimentary Indian Snack and Lunch, catered by our Taj Madras Flight Kitchen on Friday, October 26th.

Snack and Lunch for Students:

Early Years - Grade 3 at the ES Cafeteria

Grade 4 and Grade 5 at the FAC Cafeteria

Snack and Lunch for Faculty:

Veg Samosas will be available at the ES Office during Morning Recess.

Lunch will be served at the FAC between 11:30 a.m. - 1:15 p.m.

*Parents who do not want their children to have this, will send a packed snack and lunch from home.

Potter and Glassblower (October 29th and 30th)

We will have a Potter and a Glassblower on campus on October 29th (Monday) and October 30th (Tuesday). Grades 1 and 2 will have a session with the Potter and Glassblower during Indian Studies.

Early Years teachers and Grades 3-5 teachers, please note that, more slots have been added to accommodate as many classes as possible.

Click here to sign up for a brief demo of Pottery and Glassblowing for your students.

*Parents are invited to purchase products from the glassblower between 3:30-4:30 on October 29th and 30th in the covered area.

ES Vision of a Learner Recognitions (repeat announcement)

To continue to highlight our Vision of a Learner profile and socialise these attributes further in our section, we will be recognising students who have consistently demonstrated one of the traits from this profile. 

If you have recognised a student displaying these attributes, please  click here to add names. Anyone can add to this, specialists, homeroom teachers or teacher assistants.  

**If you see a student’s name listed and you also support this nomination, please add your name too.

Recess Updates (repeat announcement)

Rainy Day Recess - As monsoon season approaches we have added a column to the duty schedule for rainy day recess coverage. For morning recess, there is coverage for each grade level with additional faculty roaming on the first and second floors. For lunch recess, two faculty members will be covering each grade level.

Covered Area - As you may have noticed this week, two 4 square courts have been added to the covered area along with a hopscotch pattern. Students can four square or two square with the bouncy balls. If students want to kick a ball with a friend then they should be directed to the field.

Devices - Just a reminder that there should be no devices used at recess. However, if a student has a KIndle instead of book then that’s acceptable. Please review the Duty Locations and Responsibilities document if you didn’t get a chance before Fall break.

Virtual Learning Days: Reminder

Please make sure you are prepared for Virtual Learning Days should school need to close for an extended period of time. The goal of VLD is to continue to provide high quality instruction. Check your preparedness by:

• Update the skills tracker; get training for areas you are not proficient.
• Familiarize yourself with the AISC Continuity of Instruction Plan

See this week’s Head of School Notes for information on VLD sent to families.

ES Kitchen

If you are using the kitchen for a cooking lesson or for ASA please make sure that all the vessels are washed, wiped and put back in the respective places. Everything is labelled there (thanks to Kay) and whatever you use, be it a spoon or the blender, it needs to go back to its place. This makes the kitchen look clean and neat and also easy for anyone to use after.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Warmly,
Keryn, Dave, and Calley