Issue 4 - SY 2018-19 31 August 2018 5 September Secondary Sports Day 7.45 am - 1.30 pm 6 September SCN Coffee with Content: Tech Talk #1 “ScreenAgers” - PMPR 7.45 am 8 September ACT Testing - SMPR 7.30 am 8 September SCN Welcome Back Picnic 3.00 - 6.00 pm 8 September COMUN 2019 Executive Committee interviews - Room M26 9 am - 5.00 pm 12 September MYP Parent Workshop “Assessment in the MYP” - SMPR 12.40 pm 13 September Finance Meeting 5.00 pm 18 September PYP Parent Workshop “Early Years in PYP” - PMPR 7.45 am 20 September Board Meeting 5.00 pm 21 September Founders Day Assembly - Gym 8.00 am 24 September Poya Day 27 September Tech Talk #2 - PMPR 7.45 am INSIDE THIS ISSUE….. Page Table of Contents 1. Upcoming Events 2. Primary School Information 4. Secondary School Information 5. Head’s Corner 6. iSAMS Parent App 7. Counseling Information 9. Sports News 11. Gecko Singers 12. Pay Online 13. SCN Information 14. Canteen Menus 17. Classifieds
Transcript
Issue 4 - SY 2018-19 31 August 2018
5 September Secondary Sports Day 7.45 am - 1.30 pm
6 September SCN Coffee with Content: Tech Talk #1 “ScreenAgers” - PMPR
7.45 am
8 September ACT Testing - SMPR 7.30 am
8 September SCN Welcome Back Picnic 3.00 - 6.00 pm
8 September COMUN 2019 Executive Committee interviews - Room M26
9 am - 5.00 pm
12 September MYP Parent Workshop “Assessment in the MYP” - SMPR
12.40 pm
13 September Finance Meeting 5.00 pm
18 September PYP Parent Workshop “Early Years in PYP” - PMPR
7.45 am
20 September Board Meeting 5.00 pm
21 September Founders Day Assembly - Gym 8.00 am
24 September Poya Day
27 September Tech Talk #2 - PMPR 7.45 am
INSIDE THIS ISSUE…..
Page Table of Contents
1. Upcoming Events
2. Primary School Information
4. Secondary School Information
5. Head’s Corner
6. iSAMS Parent App
7. Counseling Information
9. Sports News
11. Gecko Singers
12. Pay Online
13. SCN Information
14. Canteen Menus
17. Classifieds
Primary School Principal
Page 2 OSC NEW SLETTER
Eating, Sleeping, and Learning – 3 ingredients to Success in School As you begin to establish your routines for a new school year, please account for proper eating and sleeping habits at home, as they have direct impact on your child’s engagement and success in the classroom. There is a great deal of research linking healthy eating and sleeping to improved motivation and learning at school. The following article highlights the importance of developing proper eating and sleeping patterns and routines.
Eating, Sleeping, and Learning Even if your child can’t wait to start school, transitioning from lazy summer days to strict school schedules can be tough. You can help your family prepare for the school year by easing into new routines and promoting healthy habits at home.
Eating Breakfast: Don’t let your kids skip breakfast in the morning rush. A nutritious morning meal helps kids concentrate better in class and maintain a healthy weight. Stock your kitchen with plenty of healthy breakfast foods, such as whole-grain breads and cereals, yogurt, and fresh fruit, or make sure your children eat a balanced breakfast at school. Lunch: Look over the school menu with your child, especially if he’s a picky eater. (Many schools post menus on their websites.) If he turns up his nose at the special of the day, plan to pack a healthy lunch he’ll enjoy. After school: Keep nutritious foods on hand so your child can prepare her own snacks. She may be more likely to eat celery with peanut butter or carrot sticks with low-fat dip. Microwave popcorn, nuts, and low-fat cheese with whole-grain crackers are also good options.
Sleeping Earlier wake-up times can be tough on kids and parents alike. Ease your family’s transition to a “school night” sleep schedule by rolling back bedtimes the week before classes start. Kids ages 5 to 12 need 10 to 11 hours of sleep per night, while older children need at least 9 hours of sleep. Your kids may not be getting enough sleep if they:
• are irritable or restless or have a short attention span.
• have much less energy than they normally do.
• are more impatient, anxious, or defensive than usual.
You can help your children get sufficient sleep by establishing and maintaining a nighttime routine. The National Sleep Foundation recommends:
• Limiting caffeine consumption in the afternoon and evening.
• Avoiding serving big dinners close to bedtime.
• Setting a regular bedtime and enforcing it.
• Creating a calming nighttime routine. Video games and TV shows are too stimulating before bed. Instead, share a favorite story with your child or encourage her to read on her own.
Learning Much of a child’s success in school is tied to the support he gets at home. You can help your kids get the most out of school by:
• Maintaining open lines of communication with teachers and understanding their expectations.
• Creating a homework station and keeping adequate school supplies on hand.
Page 3 OSC NEW SLETTER
• Designating times for doing homework, playing outside, and watching TV or playing video games.
• Being available to help with homework.
• Observing your children for signs of frustration or confusion.
You’ll most likely get the teacher’s email address or phone number at the school open house. Don’t be afraid to use it, and don’t wait until the parent-teacher conference to address issues of concern. Taking steps early can make a big difference.
If you would like to read more on this topic, or many other school related issues, please visit: https://www.schoolfamily.com/school-family-articles/article/738-eating-sleeping-and-learning Have a wonderful weekend. Regards, Jason Grandbois Primary School Principal [email protected]
Today, we welcome back our DP1 students who have spent the last three days at the Borderlands camp in Kitulgala. They have rafted the white water and abseiled down waterfalls, challenging themselves both physically and mentally, they have visited caves and contemplated the Theory of Knowledge as well as being introduced to the CAS programme. As they return to the classroom next week, we hope that they will carry their experiences with them and support and care for each other throughout the DP programme as they have done in these past days.
Next week, we shall all be looking out our house colour T-Shirts so we can support our teams at our annual Secondary Sports Day. The details of which are shared by Mr. Turner in this newsletter. Also next week, our counselors will be showing the film “Screenagers” to kick of a series of coffee with content mornings that focus on technology. Please join if you can, it is a very interesting documentary and not
available for general release – you will not find this one on the web!
Looking forward to seeing everyone at the Welcome Back Picnic on September 8th! Best wishes, Claire McQuillan Secondary Principal [email protected] Upcoming dates 12th September – MYP Parent Workshop - Assessment in the MYP
One of the current initiatives in education we have adopted here at OSC is the use of Makerspaces designed for hands on interactive education. This article by Jennifer Gonzalez may help clarify the rationale and value of the somewhat recent addition of Makerspaces into the international school world.
What Are Makerspaces All About?
In this Cult of Pedagogy article, Jennifer Gonzalez confesses her initial skepticism about makerspaces in schools: “I have this picture in my mind of kids kind of messing around with Legos instead of, I don’t know, reading primary source materials that would shed light on some period of history. Or taping together some cardboard strips to make them into a car. Or attaching some kind of wire to a banana. I don’t know, the more traditional, stodgy, control-freak part of me says it looks like a bunch of hooey.”
But the thoughtful educators that Gonzalez respects all speak highly of makerspaces, so she reached out to one of them (John Spencer) and asked him to convince her. Here’s Spencer’s definition of a makerspace: A space designed and dedicated to hands-on creativity, allowing students to actually make some kind of physical or digital product . The materials provided might vary from week to week – cardboard, popsicle sticks, styrofoam, duct tape, packing tape, laptops, microphones, green screens. Makerspace materials might be on a cart shared among classrooms, or a set of stations that students can rotate through or access as needed.
What’s the point of a makerspace? “We know that students learn at a deeper level and they retain more when they’re engaged in creative thinking connected to the subject, right?” says Spencer. So providing opportunities to make things connected to subject matter will allow for deeper learning, and that’s essential for success in the 21 stcentury. Today, he says, students “need to be able to engage in iterative thinking, creative thinking, critical thinking, they need to know how to pivot, how to change, how to revise, how to persevere. They need to solve complex problems. They need to think divergently. All of these are involved in that maker mindset… The space is just the platform that facilitates it.”
Here are some sample maker projects, each of which stretched Gonzalez’s understanding of what this is all about:
- A documentary film – Students write a script and produce a film to get a deeper understanding of a period or event and appreciate the challenges faced by historians;
- A working roller coaster – Students use popsicle sticks, cardboard, duct tape, and a marble, demonstrating force and motion, and then create a website about it;
- The tiny house project – Students use concepts of volume, surface area, and proportional reasoning to create a scaled-down structure.
What about classroom management? Aren’t makerspaces messy and noisy? Spencer argues that they can actually reduce discipline problems by involving students who might otherwise be bored and troublesome. But he does have some practical tips:
- Prepare students up front with the expectations and planned outcomes. - Co-construct guidelines and procedures with students, including handling materials and cleaning up as the end of
class approaches. - Call for a two-minute “silent mode” time right in the middle of an activity to calm things down and help students
reflect.
For teachers thinking of getting started, Spencer suggests beginning with a single maker project and gathering the materials needed for it, then gradually branch out.
“What Is the Point of a Makerspace?” by Jennifer Gonzalez in The Cult of Pedagogy, May 20, 2018,https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/makerspace/ Phil Joslin Head of School [email protected]
iSAMS PARENT APP Dear parents, It has been about two weeks since the initial introduction of iSAMS to the parent community. To date there are over 250 registrations or about 1/3rd of our parent community can currently be found on this new platform. The goal of the school is to try and get everyone onto this new student information system. Many questions have come up since the initial introduction from the parent community and in the best interest of communication I wanted to share some common information that was originally explained in the news article a few weeks ago. iSAMS is a major student information system. These gigantic databases are a core component in almost every school; however, OSC has not had a formal student information system in almost 5 years due to no system being compatible with ManageBac/OpenApply. ManageBac is not a student information system but rather an online learning platform where class instruction can take place and report cards can be sent. A student information system is a platform that warehouses very detailed records of a student, parent information, family information, medical records, learning support records, extra-curricular activities, and allows for new more detailed ways to communicate with parents. Most of this information was previously stored in paper filing systems or on about a dozen micro storage systems across campus. iSAMS reduces all these little individual systems and brings everything into one database. The new iSAMS system works between OpenApply and ManageBac and constantly collects and sends information between the two platforms. The immediate impact for parents is the ability to get more information about the daily operations and events at OSC. For the first-time parents have access to their child’s after school information (ASA) and service schedules. Parents can also finally update core information such as their mobile number, email address, or mailing address details. The new parent app allows for the school to send real time app alerts, which we use to send to alerts in the event of important school information, calendar day changes, weekly newsletters, or other emergency situations. Within the coming days primary parents will finally be able to see their child’s PYP daily schedule as well. If you have not gotten on iSAMS yet please send your school secretary an email at [email protected] (Primary School) or [email protected] (Secondary Office). They will communicate with the tech office to try and get this information out to you. It is really-important that each and every parent gets registered for this system with the mobile app. I do want to let all parents know that we will be testing our emergency notification system this coming week on Thursday, September 6
th. In the event of an actual emergency the school would send information as an
immediate app notification alert on the iParent app (iSAMS Parent App). This form of communication occurs within seconds, which is why it is so important for parents to have this app downloaded. In addition, the school would also do a mass SMS using the parent mobile information within iSAMS; however, this form of communication can take between a few seconds up to about 20 minutes for all parents to be notified. This is a major improvement from our old system, which could take over an hour for a mass SMS bulk; however, it is not instantaneous in most situations. Kind regards, Brad Fisher Director of Information Technology
SAISA Teams We have seen a great response from students signing up for the Gecko teams this season. We have 40 plus swimmers in the pool, and 35 volleyball players in the gym. Parents of swimmers and volleyball players should have received a welcome email from me with competition costs and basic details AND asking your to give written permission for you son/daughter to travel with the teams if they are selected. Please contact me at [email protected] if you did not receive the mail. Upcoming events
• On Friday afternoon, the boys and girls have their first volleyball games of the season. Games start at 3.15pm in the gym. Come and cheer them on.
• On Saturday morning, we have swimming time trials, giving swimmers an opportunity to swim in races against each other to get their first official time of the season
Over the next few weeks students, with the help of their coaches, will be working hard to improve their skills, fitness levels and understanding of the concepts and strategies required in their disciplines. We hope to make final selections on September 8th. Gecko selection criteria can be found below. Selection Criteria
• Gecko Athletes should be able to play/swim at a level which allows them to be competitive in game/competition situations
• Gecko Athletes need to be committed to training, attending and arriving on time to all sessions
• Gecko Athletes need to be coachable; focus during training, listen carefully to instructions and be receptive to feedback
• Gecko Athletes need to maintain their academic standing and remain focused in the classroom
• Gecko Athletes need to act as role models and ambassadors for OSC at all times
Secondary Sports Day (See details below) On Wednesday 5th September, Houses will take up the annual challenge to become Sports Day Champions 2018. There will be no lessons just a day filled with activity and fun.
Are YOU ready for Secondary Sports Day?
When: Wednesday 5
th September
Time: 7:45 am-1.30pm Grades 6-12 Activities will kick off with a SPORTS DAY meeting in the gym. All STUDENTS will compete in their house teams and be in the following grade level combinations. Grades 6/7
Grades 8/9
Grades 10/11/12
Students will compete in 2 sports and finish with larger team fun activities. Each house will play against the 3 other houses. Each game will be 12 minutes long. Each goal, basket, run scored will be tallied to give a final house score.
• Bring a towel to mop your brow and shower afterwards
• Wear APPROPRIATE sports shoes
• Bring a hat and water bottle
• Apply sunscreen before arriving at school
• BRING Money for Blue Gecko Cafe Refreshments
• HOUSE SPIRIT
The schedule…
See you all there!
Go Geckos
Teams 8:00 – 9.45 10.15 – 12.00 12:30 – 1:30
Grade 6/7 Dodgeball Tee Ball Team games
Grade 8/9 Handball Cricket Team games
Grade 10-12
TEAM 1 Football Volleyball Team games
Grade 10-12
TEAM 2 Football Volleyball Team games
Page 10 OSC NEW SLETTER
Page 11 OSC NEW SLETTER
AN INVITATION TO JOIN THE GECKO SINGERS!!
• The Gecko Singers is an adult choir, open to all the different members of the OSC community: parents, staff, faculty, administration and the wider Colombo community.
• We rehearse once a week, on Thursday afternoons, from 4pm to 5pm, in the Secondary Music Room. Our first rehearsal this semester will be on Thursday 30th August.
• We will be performing in the upcoming Winter Gala Concert, on December 6th, and will be learning some fun and beautiful music to sing together.
• If you would like to join, both men and women are very welcome, you don't need to be able to read music, just to have a love of singing! No auditions.
• Come and do something different, try something new, and come and sing with us! Hope to see lots of you on August 30th, please email me if you are planning to attend so I have a sense of numbers and how many chairs to set out. Also, please let me know if you have any questions about the ensemble. Kind regards, Mrs Loretta Duncan HOD Arts
Page 12 OSC NEW SLETTER
Page 13 OSC NEW SLETTER
Page 14 OSC NEW SLETTER
Page 15 OSC NEW SLETTER
Page 16 OSC NEW SLETTER
Page 17 OSC NEW SLETTER
For sale/lease is a rare 16 perch 2 storey solid warehouse in a blue chip location in Colombo 13, in immaculate condition. Situated right in front of Trico Warehouse with easy access to Colombo harbour and Pettah. The road has container access and the building has forklift access. Please contact [email protected]/0770190808
