Dear Community – two weeks has gone past incredibly quickly! As I write this I have just returned from the first Secondary Coffee Mornings of the year. First there was an open invitation Coffee Morning which

was followed by our Korean community’s PTO meeting. Both meetings reflected what I want to be a cornerstone of our school: communication and sharing of opinion. For me, it was a great opportunity to listen to our parent community’s thoughts, which thus allows me to help and support. It was also a good venue for us to begin to build relationships that focus on what is best for the 524 students that are in the Secondary Division.

This week has been a week where I have had valuable opportunities to listen to Secondary students too. Once every two or three weeks, I meet and buy lunch for a group of students who have been nominated by the SRC as good talkers! We sit in the canteen, have lunch together and I listen to what the students have to share with me; what they feel it is important for me to know and the things I can help with. This first session I met with a group of Grade 12 students who were well chosen - they couldn’t stop talking – so much so we were nearly late for the first class after lunch! I’m looking forward to hearing what the Grade 11’s have to share next time.

As you’d expect in a school as busy and dynamic as ISHCMC there has been much going on since the last time I wrote to you. Auditions for the Secondary production ‘The Wiz’ have begun with style, panache and no little noise! I dropped into some auditions and the range of talent our kids have is astounding. I’m sure the actual show will be magnificent. Also, our sporting activities are up and running with Volleyball, Basketball, Track and Field and, of course, swimming all enthusing the students with energy and passion.

Finally, I would like to make a special mention concerning one of our students; Le Tran Quang Huy. Huy was invited by John Hopkins University in the USA to receive an award for outstanding achievements in Mathematics in May, 2013. We are proud of all our students who prove that ISHCMC is a place where the success of our students is recognised far beyond Ho Chi Minh and Vietnam!

Dear all,

Time is starting to accelerate as we complete week three of the year. Thank you to all parents who attended the Primary and Secondary “Meet the Teacher” evenings, it is good to see we have a strong community. The senior academic leadership team has been working hard to ensure we build upon the good start to the year and next week you will receive information regarding the academic reporting cycles and parent / student/ conference dates. These will not be the same as original posted on the School calendars.

As the pace of the year settles I have decided to create a blog for ISHCMC parents to learn more about education today. The posts will consist of a short extract from an article with no comment from me. They will be selected to make you think about your own children’s education and their learning experience. The blog can be located at this link http://www.4u2nomore.blogspot.com

It would be appreciated if you could leave a comment that might create a dialogue amongst parents.

Several years ago I did write longer posts that were more provocative and contained more reading but I decided that these were not as popular as shorter articles. If you would like to read some of my previous posts they can be found at http://time2question.wordpress.com/

I will attempt to make a couple of posts each week. Welcome to the exciting world of education of 2013.

This amusing and powerful TED Talk by Sir Ken Robinson was part of a series of conversations the faculty have been having about 21st Century teaching and learning at the start of the year:

http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_how_to_escape_education_s_death_valley.html

Throughout their week long orientation, and since, the teaching teams and administration have been collaborating to create a vision for 21st century teaching that will take ISHCMC forward as a learning community. The teachers’ level of engagement and passion for education has been excellent and has created a very positive atmosphere throughout the school at all Grade levels.

Sam Sherratt the PYP Coordinator captured the discussions taking place in our learning community and shared them with his wider community around the world…..an example of 21st century education in action. You can see the link to these tweets by following the link below:

http://storify.com/sherrattsam/21st-century-teaching-and-learning.

Have a great weekend,

Adrian WattsDirector of Academic Studies Deputy Headmaster

Michael RobertsSecondary Principal (Grades 6-12)

newsletter30th August 2013

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Dear Parents and Guardians,

ISHCMC reverberated with activity as sports teams try-outs, field trips, the start of ASAs and classroom activities had students moving and shaking all week long. Grade 3 made a special trip to Ben Thanh market on Wednesday as part of their unit on senses and, as you can tell by the article below, students thoroughly enjoyed the learning experience. Thank you to all parents who came along to help supervise the trip and to the teachers in grade 3 who organized it. Athletic, academic, and an assortment of other activities started on Monday and continued right through the week. The numerous elated (and sometimes sweaty) faces indicated that students enjoyed the clubs offered this term. Thank you to Bob Connor (our Athletics Director) for his tireless efforts to make these events come alive in our school. If your child still does not have a club and wants to join, please speak with Mr. Connor at the P.E. office near the outdoor basketball court.

Our playgrounds are coming along nicely and the majority should be completed by the time we come back from the long weekend. In addition, construction will start on our new EE2/3 fence today; thank you to all parents who came out to our meeting this past Monday.

Parents also were quite involved this week as many attended field trips, came to the PTO coffee morning for new parents, and attended our parental workshop on our Gifted and Talented Educational (GATE) program. Thank you for your support!

Primary Choir (from Ms. Alicia McKeogh)

Primary choir this year will resume in semester two as an after school activity. Currently all creative energies of staff and students are committed to the Primary Production which will be a spectacular event. Also, at the end of semester one there will be the Celebration of Music where all students will have an opportunity to express themselves musically, both vocally and instrumentally, on stage.

Important Notes and Reminders

• Supervision is provided starting at 7:30 for students grades 1-5 only;• Due to our health and safety procedures, students arriving after 7:55 will be considered late and will have to report to the office so that proper attendance can be taken in case of an emergency;• www.ishcmc.edu.vn website will be used to post certain school-related items (e.g. ASA lists).

Upcoming Events

Don’t forget that this coming Tuesday is a Day F and will result in our assemblies taking place next Monday; please remember to check the calendar for assembly dates. Also note the following major activities:

Event Date Time LocationNational Day (No School) Sept 3rd Parent Coffee Morning Sept 5th 8am Meeting RoomPTO Family Night Sept 6th 7pm TBDSpirit Week Sept 9-13th All Day Throughout the School

Our newsletter will have a different look next week as we develop more opportunities for students to be writers, critics, and photographers.

To all of our Vietnamese families, I wish you all the best as you celebrate National Day: Vietnam is a country of amazing beauty and vitality.

Have a relaxing long weekend,

Watch “Grade 3 Sensory Overload” video http://youtu.be/I00l36ISUlQ

It was a breezy, thoughtful Thursday afternoon in Room 207. Through the windows, we could hear the sounds of the school: people talking and shouting, trees whispering, students playing, the distant beeping of horns and the hum of cars and motorbikes.

Suddenly, Mr. Peterson burst in like a well-dressed whirlwind. His normally nice face was as red as a chili and he looked troubled, as if he had seen the ISHCMC Monster.

“3D! Please help me,” he cried. “The marketing department has told me they need an article about your trip to Ben Thanh, and they need it NOW!”

There was stunned silence, as his words echoed around the classroom like desperate bats. Mr. Quirke, who had been sitting and helping people, leapt to his feet like a jumping frog.

``“3D and I can do it!” He roared dramatically. “To your writing books, Romans!”

Immediately, we started to brainstorm metaphors, similes, personification and alliteration. The purpose of our Ben Thanh trip had been to develop our creative writing skills, using our senses, so we were more than ready to save Mr. Peterson. Thirty minutes later, we had worked as a class to build a Ben Thanh poem.

Sun reflecting off gems into my eyes.Hungry, hot hands and sandy, smooth sculptures.Pretty paintings peek and laugh at me.Soft toys, so sleepy that they yawned.Watches like scary, shiny eyes staring at me.Two tiny boats, sitting on a chair.Bloody brains, like red and white worms stuck together.Heaps of hearts everywhere,And guts, as disgusting as a war.Flopping fish, shiny scales.A fish jumped up and flapped on my leg!Cockroaches, like little running candies.Rats racing everywhere!Sweet, sour lollipop candy looks cool, tastes good.Clinking coconuts dancing crazy Gangnam Style.Bustling, breathing Ben Thanh.

Kurtis PetersonPrimary Principal (EE2-Grade 5)

GRADE 3 FIELDTRIP TO BEN THANH MARKET

SenSory

overload

Ben Thanh Market was quite fun, but it was stinky. We

saw a lot of things: pig brains, shiny watches and a lot more – Justin

It was a disgusting experience, because there were brains,

hearts, livers and organs, all the way to fish and meat. The things I admired were the tiaras, watches and jewellery. They sparkled like the shiny, golden sun. – Emma

The most interesting thing in Ben Thanh are the paintings,

because they are neat and tidy, and the paintings are beautiful. – Jennifer

Ben Thanh Market was fun because we saw wooden

sculptures, like shining boats. Also, we saw lots of fish in Ben Thanh. We saw some paintings of fruit, flowers and other things. Ben Thanh was a very interesting place for us. – Yewon

PTO NEw PARENTs MORNING TEA

uPcOMING cOMMuNITy EvENTs

AROuND THE wORLD PHOTO cOMPETITIONThank you for all the fantastic entries we received. It is amazing to see all the wonderful places you travelled with your families over the holiday. Here at ISHCMC we really do come from all corners of the World!

Our three winners!

CONGRATULATIONS!

Our winners will be able to choose an item from the RHINO HUT for every member of their family.All entries will receive an Adidas voucher. Prizes will be handed out in next weeks’ assemblies.

Mehak Matharu Taj mahal, Agra, India

The Boot GirlsLange Voorhout, The Hague, the Netherlands

Jarrah LawtonFairy Sands Stream Mui Ne Vietnam

New country!.....New school!....New faces!....New ideas!Amidst all these changes it is always good to feel like you are amongst friends.....This is what the PTO New Parents Morning Tea was all

about.Fifty new parents and PTO representatives attended our event and all of them who came that morning made friends, felt at home and looked forward to being part of our ISHCMC family.Thank you to the PTO committee members for making our new parents feel so welcome.

Anjana PTO Newcomers Representative

Following ISHCMC’s mission to create a “Caring Community” and understanding that many of our ISHCMC parents serve on local charity boards, the Community Section of the newsletter was created to help communicate upcoming charity events being held in HCMC. If you have an upcoming charity event that you would like to share with our school community, please send your submission to MarketingManager@ishcmc.edu.vn. All submissions and graphics should be sent as a PDF.

UNTIL NEXT TIME