Dates for your diary
Whole School
| 6th February | SIS Great Bake-Off Competition 2015(P6-D1) in the Cantina 3pm start, 6.30pm finish |
| 2nd March | Professional Development day – No school |
Primary
| 3rd February | P5/P6 Interschool handball competition, selected pupils |
| 4th February | EC2 Unit related trip: Sabinillas, Manilva and Sotogrande |
| 16th-20th February | After school, Primary Parent Teacher Consultations (EC1-P6) |
| 30th April | Primary Student Led Conferences Day (No formal school, students and parents will be given an appointment time during the school day for their individual Student Led Conference.) |
| 13th May | P6 PYP Exhibition for parents and school community |
Secondary
| 2nd February | Uganda 2015 Expedition presentation in the Theatre 4.00-5.00 pm (M4-D2 students and parents) |
| 19th March | Careers & University Convention at SIS |
Whole School News
From the Head of Teaching and Learning
Dear Parents and Guardians,
What another busy week we have experienced at SIS. The constant provision of learning opportunities and support for the community continues to astound me as the leader of learning within the school. I am thankful to the staff who continue to offer these experiences and to the community for supporting them.
On my weekly walkabout, I had a lovely tour of EC1 by one of the students. In P1 I was greeted by students who were cooking egg fried rice, P2 were completing their weekly reflections, P4 taught me about the nutrients that we get from our food and the purpose of insulin. P5 showed me some wonderful artwork looking at perspective and scale. In M5 I helped to teach some Pythagoras and non right-angled trigonometry. The variety of teaching and learning methods in one walkabout was outstanding. Thank you to all of the students who took the time to talk to me and share their learning.
Last Thursday was a very busy day with many parents attending the IB framework session run by Andrea Bennett and Emma Butler. Feedback from parents was very positive. This was further enhanced by the second Parent Ambassador training event on Thursday night where parents learnt about the values and traits of different personality types. This extremely informative session, run by Colin Hiles, was very well attended.
This week we have invited students from Baby Planet on Tuesday and St George’s on Wednesday to come for a taster day. Thanks to the primary team for supporting this initiative, aimed at helping us establish meaningful links within our community.
On Tuesday we organized a visit from Lanterna Education for students in M5, D1 and D2. These sessions were focused on three specific areas: preparation for the IB Diploma (for M5), study skills (for D1) and revision techniques (for D2). Thanks to Jason Mungles for organising the event, which was enjoyed by staff and students alike.
On Wednesday our P5 – D1 students attended the annual cross-country event held at Sunlands. Congratulations to all members of our cross country squad for their commitment and determination. They were outstanding ambassadors for SIS. All results will be announced in next weeks newsletter.
I wish you a wonderful weekend.
Jak Kearney
Introducing our new staff
Hugo Chittenden
Hugo Chittenden is a languages teacher. He has been in Moscow for the last 3 years tutoring and mentoring Russian students looking to go to British schools. Hugo has now moved to Spain and he will be working part time at Sotogrande International School as a support teacher for English Language Development. He speaks Spanish, French and Russian and as a hobby makes charity driven documentaries about volunteering. He is a keen sportsman, writer and traveller and is excited to share his passion for education with the school.
Mitzi Ingram
Sports Results
Congratulations to our large contingency of cross-country runners. Over 70 students from P5-D1 travelled to Sunland, Estacion Cartema to compete against 12 other international schools in the 2015 Regional Inter School Cross Country Championships.
Our SIS students ran exceptionally well and continued our success from recent years. In next week’s newsletter, we will give details of the Championships and celebrate our outstanding team and individual results.
Forthcoming Sports Fixtures
Good luck to the following teams:
Tuesday 3 February – P5/P6 – Handball Workshop at Aloha College, Marbella
Wednesday 4 February M1/M2 – M3/M4 Boys Basketball Tournament at Swans, Marbella
Wednesday 11 February M1/M2 – M3/M4 Girls Basketball Tournament at Swans, Marbella
Primary School News
Learning together with our local community
This week EC1 and P3 have enjoyed sharing their learning with fellow students in our local area.
On Tuesday children from Baby Planet in Algeciras spent the morning with our EC1 students. Together they participated in different activities involving the arts, IT and PE.
Later in the week sixteen children from Saint George’s in San Pedro spent the day with P3. During the day they had to work together to solve maths problems, use iMovie to demonstrate mapping skills, take part in a gymnastic apparatus lesson, learn together in Spanish and in music, explore rhythms used in Samba.
These were wonderful and enriching learning experience for all involved.
Experiential Learning For P1
To support the Unit ‘Who We Are’, P1 students have been exploring the central idea ‘our world is made up of different people and communities that all have their own culture’. After completing a two-week discovery of China and India P1 have returned home to look at Spain. This began with an experiential trip to San Pablo, where they started the day by going picking up oranges, bringing back bags of juicy fruit and sketches of the orchard.
Although the journey took almost an hour, nothing deterred them from enjoying the ride, checking out the scenery and making observations along the way. The children took the fruit home and brought back a donation for The Kindred Project. They know in this way they support the children of Nagubabo, Uganda.
Visiting Experts
This week ‘experts’ in the fields of journalism and dentistry have once again enriched the learning for our Primary School students.
Linked to their Unit ‘Who we are’, P4 students have been exploring the central idea ‘making balanced choices about daily routines enables us to have a healthy lifestyle’ and on Tuesday they had the opportunity to listen to and question a dentist.
On Wednesday, P5 students enjoyed learning more about writing newspaper articles when Sarah Burgess, a journalist, joined their language lessons. This is connected to their current language unit on newspaper texts.
Thank you to those who have already offered their services; the experiences you offer our students really are rewarding.
If you are interested in sharing your expertise or interests, please contact Emma Butler on ebutler@sis.gl
Sporting success
Over the past three years it has been wonderful following P5 student Mihail Budilov’s progress and success in skiing. Last weekend he was victorious again, coming second in a Súper Slalom and third in a Super G in Sierra Nevada.
Well-done, Misha!
Parent Workshop: How you can get involved by helping listen to readers
On Thursday, Lisa Clegg, our Language Coordinator ran a session that focused on useful reading and comprehension strategies for parent volunteers.
Thank you to all the parents who have offered to support our Primary Students by coming into school and listening to readers. If you were unable to attend the session but would be interested in helping please contact Lisa at lclegg@sis.gl
Secondary News
PE Kit Order Reminder
SIGA News
Calvin Greschner (SIGA), brilliant winner on the Barbésula Trophy´s sixth edition
Last weekend, our student Calvin Greschner won the Barbésula Trophy, scoring for the absolute and junior ranking of Andalusia. Calvin was able to sign the best scratch back in the two days of competition.
Our sincere congratulations to him and all SIGA team for their excellent work and results; behind these successes there are many hours of training, at all levels and of course, a good dose transferred to the sports field values. Juan Antonio Marin (Director of SIGA).
The Kindred Project News
Uganda 2015 expedition
Find out more by joining us in SIS theatre on 2nd february at 4.00 pm!
