Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Issue 35 - SY 2017-18 1 June 2018
Head’s corner….
“One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.” Carl Jung One of my favorite aspects of working at OSC is having the opportunity to work with an exceptionally talented team of thoughtful, creative, and effective teachers who are naturally inclined to exhibit the empathy and warmth Carl Jung has identified in this quote above. Our teachers are noteworthy for the personal attention they bring to each of their students and to their craft as a whole. One of the “bitter-sweet” aspects of international schools like OSC is the annual turnover in our teaching and learning community. Our end of the year assemblies are typically infused with a small touch of added emotions that result from the tight bonds and the warm positive nature of the human connections between our teachers, students, and their parents. Please join with me as we say goodbye to the following faculty members as they move on to the next chapter in their lives.
• Sonalee Abeyawardene, Secondary English and coordinator of our school service projects. She and her husband Paul will be moving to Spain to enjoy a gap year following her 9 years at OSC.
• Amanda Lenk, Head of Secondary English and coordinator of our Mother Tongue language programs.
Amanda and her husband Keshok will be moving to China following her 7-year tenure at OSC. • Sandali Handagama, Secondary Mathematics. Sandali will be enrolling in a PhD program in the USA
following her latest tenure of 3 years at OSC. Sandali is also a valued alumna of our school. • Luke Ramsdale, Secondary PE and multi-talent sports coach. Luke and his wife Rebecca are
currently exploring various opportunities following his 3 years at OSC. • Rebecca Morse, Secondary ELA. Rebecca will be travelling in a gap year with her husband Luke
following 2 years at OSC.
Page 2 OSC NEW SLETTER
• Javier Canizales, 6th grade math and science. Javier will be exploring new teaching opportunities following his 3 years of employment at OSC.
• Gunilla Bengtsson, Assistant Principal/PYP Coordinator for 5 years at OSC. Is moving to France with
her family and has been appointed Head of Primary School at The International School of Toulouse. • Rachel Kayce, Grade 1 Teacher for 2 years at OSC. Is moving to Latvia and will be the Learning
Support Teacher at the International School of Latvia. • Matteo Dietz, Preschool Teacher for 4 years at OSC. Is moving to Saudi Arabia and will be teaching 3
- 4 year old’s in Kindergarten at KAUST. • Kristi Deguzman, Learning Support Teacher for 4 years at OSC. Is moving with her family to Qatar
and will continue in Learning Support at the Qatar Academy. Admin Staff • Lilamanie de Zoysa, Admissions & Communications Officer. Early retirement in April due to health
issues. Long serving and valued member of the administrative staff. 36 years of dedicated and loyal service to the school.
• Shanthi Goonetilleke, Information Technology Support Assistant. Long serving and valued member of
the administrative staff. Retiring after 38 years of dedicated and loyal service to the school. Phil Joslin Head of School [email protected]
Page 3 OSC NEW SLETTER
Secondary School Principal
This week, we welcomed Grade 5 to the Secondary campus where they experienced classes in Science, Individuals and Societies, Language and Literature and the Arts. They had a busy morning, learning how to navigate around the building (with a bit of help) and getting a feel for life in the Secondary School. We finished
the morning with a number of our current Grade 6 students sharing the wisdom of their experiences in a panel discussion. Grade 6, 7 and 8 performed their CAP
presentations on Thursday as a culminating Arts activity focusing on the theme of Transformation. Thanks to all the performers and teachers for a varied and interesting morning. Once the performances were over, we were treated by parents to a wonderful lunch in the staff room for Teacher & Staff Appreciation Day. Many thanks to all those who contributed to this event; at this busy time of year everyone really appreciated being appreciated!
Thursday also saw the last of the exams take place in Grades 9,10 and 11 and I am sure that all will have enjoyed having the opportunity to destress today with the SGA Games Day. This
is an event which has now become an annual tradition and a good time for our Houses to share some friendly competition. Whether you are in Blue, Red, Yellow or Green, there was fun to be had for all.
Best wishes, Claire McQuillan [email protected] Upcoming events: Thursday 7th June- last day, early dismissal at 12:30pm
Signing off on the DP2 students’ CAS work is the final step for the DP coordinator, as our now-graduated class of 2018’s IB journey comes to an end. Their immediate reward for successfully completing the journey is an extended break with no exams, IAs or teachers asking for work. July the 6th at precisely 12:15 GMT is their next milestone when the DP results are issued. Students have a personal code and pin to access their results but if they have difficulties they should contact me. Well done class of 2018! Our class of 2019, the rising DP2s have reached a milestone of their own: the half-way point in their IB Diploma Programme. In the first year of the programme, students typically complete few IB assessments as they become familiar with the criteria in each subject. Many of the key assessments are completed in the first semester of DP2, and the early part of the second semester. One key assessment in the Diploma Programme is the Extended Essay which the students are currently working on. As they leave for the 8-week break, students should be at least half way through this piece of work and have a very clear idea of how they will proceed over the holiday. A complete first draft of the work is due on the day students return after the break, so it is vital that all students have met with their supervisors to discuss the way forward. Even with this piece of work on their plate, students should have plenty of time to relax and recharge and I wish them a restful break. Will Duncan IBDP Coordinator
Page 4 OSC NEW SLETTER
DP Coordinator’s notes...
Primary School Principal
Page 5 OSC NEW SLETTER
Primary Teaching Assignments & Class Placements Teaching assignments for the next academic year have been finalized and you will see a few new faces in primary. Teachers have created class lists for the new academic year, which are now being finalized. When creating class lists, teachers spend a great deal of time ensuring classes are balanced according to gender, academic ability, ethnicity, nationality, and for students with educational needs. Teachers also consider student friendships and productive partnerships. Parent requests are heard and considered but cannot be guaranteed. I can assure you that all our teachers are well trained, qualified and do a wonderful job with the kids in the classroom. The following table outlines the teaching assignments for the upcoming school year: Teacher & Staff Appreciation Lunch I would like to thank all parents who donated food and their time toward the Teacher & Staff Appreciation Lunch that was held on Thursday afternoon. There was an overwhelming amount of delicious food with an overabundance of variety. Your positive parent support is greatly appreciated throughout the year and helps to build a community of solid partnerships. Thank you!
1 week (4 days) to go! Regards, Jason Grandbois Primary School Principal [email protected]
Primary Classroom Teaching Assignments 2018-19
Class 1 Class 2
Preschool Chee Wan Yuen Laura Tunley
Kindergarten Melissa Harford Tanuja Senanayake
Grade 1 Nyriz Illeperumaarachchi Jill McHale
Grade 2 Prashani Gamage Zulfica Marikar
Grade 3 Scott Hawkins Geraldine Rasiah
Grade 4 Tassy Dahlan Stella Damir
Grade 5 Brian Milburn Tharushi Nanayakkara
Page 6 OSC NEW SLETTER
Page 7 OSC NEW SLETTER
From the Primary Library An Appeal for Gently Used Board Games We will appreciate very much if you can please donate to us, gently used board games that you no longer need. Primary Library runs a game center during lunch and break for our students as an additional recreation option. Our students will most certainly appreciate, if some fresh board games that are in good condition and no longer needed by you if they make their way to the library.
Thank You Last but not the least, many thanks to our parent community for your generous support by way of volunteering regularly to organize the library and helping us when we needed you for different library programs. Have pleasant summer Ms. Sureshnie & Ms. Shyamie
As the last project for the MYP design course, the MYP 5 students built and coded robots to carry out various functions. This was achieved through their learning developed with the use of block base programming with Lego Mindstorms EV3. It may come across as a simple task, although it truly is a lot easier said than done. These students worked tirelessly to execute some outstanding projects. The exciting part to this unit
for the students was that they could select the specific project they want to develop. This included: maze solvers, loom band maker, fighting robots, rubric cube solver, bowling alley and much more. It was incredible to work with the robots that were built, as it was unbelievable to see the sorts of functions they could carry out. Clearly, presenting how these students truly learnt a lot through the process whilst having fun. The word spread throughout secondary and classes came in to experience first-hand the creations of the tenth
graders. Many of the audience members were in fact quite amused and taken aback by most of the creations. Not only did members of the secondary school come to appreciate the creations but also students of Vidya Wardana Vidyalaya came by. Unlike for the OSC community, it was a new and exciting experience for them.
It is safe to say the each and every student learnt a lot
throughout this process, which they can potentially take with them into the future. It was truly wonderful to work alongside the help of Ms. Kuruppu, considering the amount of experience she has with the topic of choice. Projects like this come to show the ways in which MYP courses challenge and captivate the interests of students, when it comes to what they do. From the year’s, tenth grade to the next, a challenge has been set to create more out of the box projects for the robotics unit!
Disara Samayawardhena Grade 10
ROBOTICS - MYP DESIGN COURSE
Page 8 OSC NEW SLETTER
From the Doctor
Hand-Foot-and-Mouth Disease We have had a student diagnosed with Hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD) in the Primary school. It is a highly contagious viral infection that occurs mainly in the mouth, on the feet, and on the hands. It affects younger children severely. The infection typically spreads from child to child, and from child to parents. Resolution can be expected within a week. Cause Hand-foot-and-mouth disease is caused by the coxsackie virus. Isolated cases can occur, and epidemics occur regularly. Signs and Symptoms A few days after exposure, a low-grade fever, and mouth soreness occurs. The fever, usually is about 101 F and lasts a few days. Within a day or two, sores erupt in the mouth. They begin as tiny blisters on a red base that open up and resolve in a few days. Within a couple of days, small, clear to white blisters develop on the palms and soles. Similar lesions may develop on the rest of the skin. The characteristic oval blisters resolve within 1 week. Diagnosis Diagnosis is typically made by clinical observation. Treatment Treatment is directed toward symptomatic relief. It is best to take the child to the Paediatrician or Dermatologist as the treatment would differ according to the severity. The child should be kept away from school till all the blisters have dried as it is highly contagious. Prevention No vaccine exists to prevent hand-foot-and-mouth disease. Infection during the first trimester of pregnancy may occasionally result in miscarriage, so exposure should be avoided. At OSC we have thoroughly disinfected the class where there was a student diagnosed with this infection. Dr Indrika Senaratna School Doctor
Page 9 OSC NEW SLETTER
Page 10 OSC NEW SLETTER PAGE NEW SLETTER
Page 11 OSC NEW SLETTER
2 May SAT Subject Tests - SMPR 7.30 a.m.
5 May Grade 5 PYP Exhibition - Auditorium
7 June Primary “End of the school year” Assembly - Auditorium 7.40 a.m.
7 June Last day of school - 12.30 pm dismissal
SY 2018-19
7 August New Student & Parent Orientation
8 August First day of school
*Additions/changes to the calendar
Page 12 OSC NEW SLETTER
Page 13 OSC NEW SLETTER
The School Community Network (SCN) is a group of volunteer parents who organize and support school events geared toward building the OSC community and creating the best possible experience for our children. For more information,
email [email protected]
Page 14 OSC NEW SLETTER PAGE NEW SLETTER
Page 14 OSC NEW SLETTER
ITEMS FOR SALE
We are re locating again and have many household items to sell that we brought in 2 years ago from the UK.
Dining table with chairs, bar, sofa, armchairs, kingside bed, desks, bookshelves, office chairs, garden furniture, carpets, artefacts, candle stands, kitchen items and glassware. Available for viewing form next week. If you are interested please email [email protected] or call 0777374197. Photos can be sent on request.
Maid Available for work Our lovely maid is available for work from mid July. She has been with us for a year and a half. She is dedicated, conscientious and totally honest and reliable. She cooks mainly Sri Lankan food, cleans, irons and has managed our household. She would prefer to work in Colombo. She is not completely fluent in English but understands a great deal. She worked for an expat family before she joined us. Please email - [email protected]
Apartment for Rent A very large bright and spacious apartment to rent or for sale in Rajagiriya on the 29th floor, with stunning uninterrupted views. Large balcony to soak up the views at sunset. 4800 square feet. 2 master suites, 2 other bedrooms, study, 2 living areas, dining room, modern kitchen, maids room and extra room that can be used as a drivers room or maids room. Unfurnished. Please email [email protected] or call 0777374197 for more information.
Page 15 OSC NEW SLETTER
