Week 16 & 17 – Monday 30th November to Wednesday 9th December

Dear Parents, Caregivers, Friends and Family,
Welcome to the final newsletter of 2020! We about to embark upon the final week of learning of a busy but brilliant term. I’d like to thank everyone in the community for their efforts this term.

The school will finish at 12.00 on Friday the 18th of December and will start again on Monday the 11th of January.
Below are a few of the highlights from the last couple of weeks and are a wonderful example of the learning opportunities that our students have available to them every week.

Long Service Awards
It was my pleasure to award four members of our staff their long service award this week. It was a wonderful reminder of how our school is made up of so many caring and hard-working individuals, who without we would not have a school at all. From left to right the long service awards were 20 years, 15 years, 10 years and 10 years respectively.

Reception Zoo Trip
As a highlight of their study of Living Things the Reception classes went to visit the Khao Kheow Open Zoo. We were all very excited to be going on our first field trip since March and even more excited that it was to the zoo. What a wonderful time we had. We were so proud of the children and how they behaved and they all enjoyed seeing amazing animals at such close quarters. When we got back they were just a buzz with discussions about what they had seen and done. It was such a great learning opportunity.

Secondary Swiming Gala
Friday 27th November saw GIS host the annual inter-house Secondary Swimming Gala. There were over 50 races swam by students from Year 7 to IB, with both championship and participation events. The sun kept shining throughout the day, culminating in a large proportion of students being awarded medals for their success. Each House leader selected MVPs per keystage:

Eagle: KS3 – Lisa & Nessa
KS4/5 – Cameron
Cobra: KS3 – Anna, Jeep & Ellie
KS4/5 – Nick
Gecko: KS3 – Jasmine M
KS4/5 – Rajan
Tiger: KS3 – Jessica & Seoyul
KS4/5 – Aeryn

IB English
The IB students worked collaboratively to draw links between some of the poems contained in Carol Ann Duffy’s ‘World’s Wives’ anthology. They also managed to identify a range of global issues which are explored and examined within Duffy’s work.

The Primary Upcycling Club
The Primary Upcycling Club students made these colourful flower pots using old towels and cement. First, they cut the towel into squares, then soaked the towel in a cement mixture. Next, they took the towel and draped it over an old plastic water bottle. After the pots have dried, they painted them in different colours and filled them with soil and some garden plants.

Year 2 – Learning together with Year 4
This week, the Year 4s came to our classroom to read us the stories they made. We enjoyed listening to the stories about elephants! In Literacy, we also made our adjective posters, inspired by ‘The Naughty Bus.’ We designed each word, focusing on visually representing the adjective.

Secondary – Wellbeing Wednesdays
IB2 students started their first Wellbeing Wednesday with Stress Management techniques. In the sessions run by the school counsellor, students are learning about what stress is, where it comes from and how to manage stress in more healthy ways. The session outline is attached in the link below if you want to try some new techniques for yourself.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1oci25s0n-F_qLSwOLkNtSO4e752fhHvhyk4j_IIU0Jo/edit#slide=id.p

Year 3 – Model Makers
Year 3 had a special visitor this week. Mr Andreas Gietz, CEO of CARF-Models brought along one of his company’s jet models to show and present about to the children. They learned plenty of things, such as how the different flaps work to control the movement of a plane as well, and other various facts about the working models.

IB2 – Geography
The GIS IB2 geography students travelled to Chiang Mai and even further north to the Burmese border to the world-class Maekok field studies centre in northern Thailand. The trip was postponed due to the covid pandemic last year. The students collected a wide range of data related to river processes in the mountains surrounding the Mighty Mekong River. The aim is to collect accurate data enable students to create a hypothesis to complete the IA element of the geography course worth 35% this year. The students also have the opportunity to take part in archery and visit the Chang Dao cave network.

Dates For Your Diary
Thursday 17th December – Christmas Concert
Friday 18th December – End of Term 1 @ 12.00
Monday 11th January – Start of Term 2

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