Dear Families;
We continue to have busy and productive days at ABIS and there is lots happening around the campus to keep students engaged and excited about their learning each day. The weather remains hot enough to continue having indoor lunch times, but we are monitoring and will allow students back to outdoor play once the temperatures are a bit cooler. In the meantime though, they continue to play outside during morning arrival times and morning recess, and are doing a great job of playing safely and social distancing… with ongoing reminders of course! Thank you for always sending your child to school with a full water bottle, enough healthy food for morning snack and lunch time, and a hat and good shoes for running and playing. Your support is always appreciated.
We had some new faces in our school this week! Ms. Ana (our previous music teacher) and Mrs. Brady (an experienced Primary teacher) have been taking the Primary Information Literacy and Music classes while both Ms. Margot and Mr. Mike are away for personal and family reasons. All teachers have communicated and planned for seamless transitions in the students’ learning and children are happy with this temporary arrangement.
Exciting news: We have permission to begin swimming with students again! The MoE and MoH have given ABIS permission to begin swim lessons, which means our PE teachers, Mr. Cooper and Mr. Munn, have been very busy preparing and planning for a safe and organized start. They are finalizing protocols and procedures that will allow our students from grades 1-10 to swim in small groups and safely distanced in both the water and in the change rooms. We anticipate an early October start, so please stay tuned for the schedules and plans to be shared with you soon.
Today all teachers, classroom assistants and teacher trainees attended our first Professional Development Day of the school year. We focused on “PLCs”, which are Professional Learning Communities. These are small groups of teachers working together towards a common goal, driven by interest and need. The overall aim of a PLC is to improve learning, but it may focus on strategies and data analysis from a range of possibilities, including: Approaches to Learning (ATLs), Assessment, Language Development, Inquiry Based Learning, etc… All teachers are now working in these groups throughout the year, during our planned professional development and meeting times, to improve practices and learning at ABIS. It was an exciting day and wonderful to see everyone collaborating and working together.
I hope you all enjoy your long weekend. Maeve