Our students are shaping the world A message from the Headteacher Let's remember to connect with each other Dear Parents, Students and Staff,
There are many ways that we can connect with one another, and in this particular period of our lives we have had to be more creative than ever. The virtual world has played an increasingly prominent role, and in many cases has helped us to maintain those vital relationships alive. However, there is nothing quite like getting together 'for real' and interacting with those around us. Here at school, assemblies are one of those ways in which we come together and celebrate the achievements of our student community. This week saw assemblies in both the Elementary (see photo of 2C above) and High School, with all the due safety precautions rigorously being adhered to. Year 2C took part in a story about thinking of those around us, whilst Year 11 were treated to an assembly that was led by members of the Student Council. We look forward to more of these events, and in the meantime I wish you all a peaceful weekend.
Mr Thompson
Reminder... Little Night Stars
Families who participated in the Little Night Stars storytelling activity are reminded to drop their booklets off at the Reception before the mid-term break. Dates for your Diary
Tue 9 February Virtual Parent-Reps meeting
Fri 12 February Globeducate Reads
Mon 15 to Mon 22 February Half-term break
Mon 22 February Y7 to Y13 Virtual Parent-Teacher Conferences (Holiday for all students)
Tue 23 February School re-opens for all students Y13 mock exams begin On this day... at RIS What happened this week at school 1 year ago? The happy photo above was taken during the VIII Globeducate International Music Festival held in Bilbao last year. As reported in our newsletter (7th Feb 2020), a delegation of Year 5 and 6 students accompanied by Ms Vivanco and Ms Maia, participated in the event with peers from 18 different schools in Europe, to form a full orchestra and choir. What an unforgettable experience! This year, our students will still have an opportunity to participate in a variety of Globeducate events virtually and coming up next week is Globeducate Reads. Celebrating Excellence IB student wins First Place in International Music Competition
Erminia D., a talented IB student in Year 13 recently won First Place in the Crescendo International Music Competition and has been invited to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York. In this article, Erminia, tells us about her 10-year journey as a Cellist, the sacrifices made, and how studying the IB Diploma at RIS has allowed her to continue to nurture her talent and passion for music. The student magazine created to represent the voice and opinions of the student body. Editor's note by Karen M., Y12 Welcome to the first issue of The Blueprint magazine in 2021. With a year filled with drastic changes put behind us, we're hoping to embrace a new year that will bring a hint of normalcy to our everyday lives. The theme for this month's magazine is New Beginnings and we're going to run you through a few things you can do to get a good start this year and give you all the top news of January. With a range of topics exploring humour, serious news and advice, this month's magazine is just a taste of what's to come for the rest of the year. So stay tuned and see what's coming next! Kinaesthetic learning in Transition Children need many opportunities to experience shape in a kinaesthetic manner. Through creating, exploring and manipulating shapes, the children in Transition are learning about what shapes look like, how to make them and the relationships between 2D and 3D forms. Continue reading ⇒ Y5 EAL with Ms Mirsky In class Year 5 are exploring materials, their properties and the ways these can change in different circumstances. Therefore our EAL classes this week focused on building the vocabulary needed to describe how materials look, feel and behave. The students made their own collections of objects to illustrate the meaning of the adjectives we are trying to use. A lot of rummaging and some thoughtful conversation - together with a dollop of imagination – led to some mini displays. Our first assembly of 2021! Here we are back in the Drama room for our first Assembly with Mr Thompson. Today he shared a story about animals getting mixed up and escaping because of a little boy's carelessness. This led to our discussion on how we can be the ones to take care at school and at home. Emil acted as we made all the animal noises. Then to finish off we all sang "Happy Birthday" to Carol. On our way back to class, many students reflected on our assembly and thanked one of our cleaners for all her hard work keeping our school tidy and clean. Well done 2C! Ms Capparucci MHS WEEK 2 TIMETABLE - 8 TO 12 FEBRUARY 2021 A message from the Middle & High Principal Dear RIS Community,
I have been lucky enough to spend time again this week visiting classrooms and speaking with students a little more than I have been able to do over the past few months. In conversations with our students it's very clear that they value school life and being in school, their friends and their teachers very much indeed. Many older students spoke at length about how hard it has been for them and their families during lockdown and went into detail about what life is really like behind a screen all day. This is very much at the front of our minds and please be assured that we're constantly looking at ways to ensure we balance screen time and activities to maximise opportunities and outcomes for youngsters.
As we head towards another break, please be mindful of my message from last week about the school uniform (particularly our older students). We are very close to having to contact parents and asking for them to drop off or deliver the correct uniform to school. This is avoidable! If your child needs to wear a piece of non-school uniform (like a jumper), please be sure to provide them with a note explaining why they are not in the correct uniform. This will help all of us, especially your children.
I look forward to meeting with our parent reps next week, so if you have any questions or concerns, please be sure to pass them onto the relevant parent member. Have a wonderful weekend.
Mr Mongare Message from the IB Coordinator
Dear RIS Community,
This has been a busy week for all IB students. Year 12 had their first Extended Essay session and were introduced to the purpose, structure and timeframe of the writing. The Extended Essay (EE) is part of the core of the IB Diploma and is externally marked together with the Theory of Knowledge (TOK), see the matrix below. The EE is a formally written research paper and should strive to maintain a professional, academic outlook. It is highly appreciated by universities as it makes IB students stand out from other undergraduates for their research skills and presentation of academic work. Year 13 will use the February break as study leave to prepare for the upcoming mock exams. They are all looking forward to going through their first 'run-through' of an IB exam simulation! During the week of the mock exams, February 23rd to March 2nd, there will be no classes for Year 13 and students can come to school and leave according to their exam schedule. Download it here. We wish them all the best!
Ms El Sheikh Virtual Parent-Teacher conferences 22 February 2021
The Y7 to Y13 conferences will be organised via the booking system used for the October conferences (Calendly). Details will be shared with parents before the mid-term break. In Year 7A English with Mr Opas, the class has been looking at the "Language of Advertising." Students have been introduced to the four main sentence types and some literary devices commonly used in advertising. After watching different infomercials, it was the students' turn to try their marketing skills and write sales pitches that would convince potential customers to buy items students had with them or an item inspired by their imaginations. Physical Education (P.E.) classes with Mr Fulgaro and Ms D'Alessandro are continuing to take place both outside and inside the gym so that students can benefit from the outdoor spaces dedicated to physical activity. In the gym, we are working on learning and improving our Badminton skills. Given the large indoor space we have, badminton allows us to offer our students the opportunity to experience a sport using a racket, which is very useful for coordination, while at the same time maintaining safety rules. Read more ⇒
Save the date: Wednesday 10th February Final Y7 Badminton Tournament! After completing a round-robin tournament (where every student played against their classmates) the top 4 scorers will battle it out in a final competition next Wednesday during Form time. Stay tuned for the results! Curriculum and Assessment Update Dear All,
It has been wonderful to have High School students back in school recently, we know that face-to-face learning is preferred by the vast majority of both students and teachers so it is wonderful to be able to get back to it.
From the Assessment and Curriculum front, we have continued our work on our assessment tracking and the move to live reporting and I look forward to sharing an update with the community via the Parent Rep meeting next week. I have also had the wonderful opportunity over the last couple of weeks to meet with each of the Heads of Faculty to discuss their curricular, their assessment approaches and their plans for the future. There is some very exciting work going on across the school, all in the name of providing our students with the best possible education here at RIS. Heads of Faculty and individual staff are constantly working to improve on strategies and make curricular more relevant to our specific students, so a huge thank you for that continued work.
Now that I have been 'in post' for a little while, the three key areas that I will be working on for the rest of this academic year will be 1) our tracking and live reporting system, 2) supporting faculties with the excellent work they are doing with regards to assessment, 3) working with heads of Key Stage and tutors on our PSHE curriculum. I look forward to working with my colleagues and students on these areas over the next couple of terms and reporting back to the community as a whole later in the year.
Ms Bell Message from the Middle School Coordinator
Dear RIS Community,
We are approaching our first half-term in 2021. We have been working relentlessly and I am sure we are all ready for a well deserved break. I am very grateful of all the support and appreciation shown by our families.
I would like to point out a few issues that I would like us to collectively address after the break.
⇒ Students are required to come to school wearing the correct uniform, no exceptions. We have been rather flexible so far, but it's time to get back on track! ⇒ Mobile phones must be used only as an educational tool, should our students have no access to any other portable device to work on. ⇒ Early exit requests seem to be on the rise. I would like to reinforce that students are allowed to leave for health or serious issues only.
Thank you for your continued cooperation and have a great weekend.
Mr Baldoni
Calling all Middle and High School students! Sign up to participate in the Royal Academy Young Artists Competition.
Message from the IGCSE Coordinator
Dear Parents and Students,
Year 11 have successfully finished their mock examinations. Congratulations to you all!
Now it's time to reflect on your strengths and weaknesses to gauge where your focus for the remaining short period of time should be concentrated.
Provisional Statement of Entries have been shared with students and a thorough discussion about the right subject choices has taken place over the past few days. We aim to finalise the entries by Monday at the latest so that payment of the fees can be done before the deadline. Please contact us if you need help with this process.
Full reports for Year 11 with comments on how students performed in the mock exams will be issued on 12 February and the Parent-Teacher conference on 22 February will be the place to discuss strategies on how to further improve grades in the real exams. Please do not miss this opportunity.
Ms Hetzer |