SCHOOL EVENTS
GRADE 5 Workshop for parents
All grade 5 parents are welcome to come to a workshop where you will learn about the academic program for your child as they make the transition to middle and high school.
Jaimaila Quinlan will speak about the curriculum for students as they move into the high school and the value of the Diploma Program IB.
The date: 25th February
Time: 2 pm
Venue: Room 156
Jaimaila Quinlan will speak about the curriculum for students as they move into the high school and the value of the Diploma Program IB.
The date: 25th February
Time: 2 pm
Venue: Room 156
GLG TRAINING
We are
currently in the process of updating the GLG. The GLG is our
communication link between home and school. After logging in to the
GLG you will find yourself on the 'School' page, here you will find the latest
news, the monthly calendar, the weekly newsletter, information on Accuro, refer
a friend, school fees and more. 'The Launcher' page is where you will
find our academic area with links to your child's class website, including
notes from their teacher, photos, class and school events as well as updates
from specialist departments such as PE, Library and ICT
we will be running training sessions on how to use the GLG starting Monday at 2pm in the auditorium.
we will be running training sessions on how to use the GLG starting Monday at 2pm in the auditorium.
PARENT ENGAGEMENT WEEK - LAST WEEK
I thought it appropriate to give you my perspective on our parental engagement sessions last week.
Firstly, I thank all parents who took the time to attend curriculum information sessions. I know that you like to understand how we organize ourselves, so the low number of parents attending was a little disappointing. On the other hand it shows you have trust in where we are, so that is encouraging.
Reflecting on this experience, and noting that many parents stayed for the I-pad session after the well-attended KG4 Community Sharing, we have decided to organize curriculum information sessions after some of our grade 1-5 Community Sharing events in the coming months. I shall send the schedule soon.
‘Open Door’ time in KG and Grade 1-5 last Thursday was a pleasant event indeed. It was wonderful to see so many parents interacting with their child (and children from parents who could not participate) in our usual class situations. We will plan another event later on in the year.
I thought you’d like me to share some photos.
Kind regards,
Mariette Williams – IB PYP/Curriculum Coordinator
College and Career Planning
Secondary
The College and Career Planning process accelerates for grade 11 juniors in the spring of the year. In the fall, students attended a mini-university fair on campus, met with admission representatives in campus visits and presentations, took the practice SAT (PSAT) and some even took the SAT. They will kick-off second semester with two College Info Days next week.
The College and Career Planning process accelerates for grade 11 juniors in the spring of the year. In the fall, students attended a mini-university fair on campus, met with admission representatives in campus visits and presentations, took the practice SAT (PSAT) and some even took the SAT. They will kick-off second semester with two College Info Days next week.
Students in grades 6-10 will also be participating in
college and career awareness activities this semester. Tasks will be planned
according to three main themes, Assess, Explore, & Plan. Students will
engage in activities that focus on knowledge of self, career interests,
transition to high school and education after high school.
LIBRARY NEWS
www.gaalibrary.weebly.com
The following password-protected sites may be accessed through the Library Weebly site listed above or via the link provided below.
Login and Password information for Library subscriptions and databases:
Tumblebooks: http://www.tumblebooks.com/library/asp/customer_login.asp
Username: gemsaa
Password: books
This great site is focused on books for early elementary children and has hundreds of books to listen to or read. The site also has videos, games, puzzles and more!
TumblebookCloud: http://tumblebookcloud.com/
Username: gemsaa
Password: login
TumblebookCloud is focused on books for older students and includes audio books, poetry, graphic novels, Shakespeare and many other genres.
Ebsco Host: http://search.ebscohost.com
Username: ns177866main
Password: main
Ebsco Host is an online database with loads of information for all students. It starts with the “Searchasaurus” for the youngest learners all the way to EbscoHost Research Databases for High School students.
Mother Tongue Books
When we talk about “Mother Tongue,” we are referring to the first, native language that a person learned. We were thrilled to receive 28 beautiful books in Greek this week courtesy of the Greek Mother Tongue program! These books will be catalogued and put into our International Book collection for circulation. Many thanks to all of the families who donated these wonderful books!
If you have books in your Mother Tongue that you would like to donate to the Library program that would be suitable for our students, we are always looking to expand our collection. We currently have books in Dutch, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Romanian, Spanish and Swedish. Please see Lara Keller in the Library if you have resources to donate. Thank you for helping to increase our collection of Mother Tongue books in the GAA Library!