17th October 2014
Dear Parents, A quarter of our academic year has now passed as our students enjoy a well-earned term break with their families. The School terms seem to go faster and faster each year. There has been much accomplished in this short period of time; on the sporting field, in the classrooms, and in the service programmes. ISHCMC was due to send a team of students and staff to Jordan last week for the annual Round Square Conference. However due to the unrest in some areas of the Middle East we decided, following discussions with the parents of the students involved that it would be better not to attend. The Round Square is a group of over 100 schools worldwide whose students promote Independence, Democracy, the Environment, Action, as well as Leadership and Service activities. It is an organization that our school would very much like to become involved with as it will give our students a broader context in which to focus and participate in activities with likeminded young people which ultimately will benefit those who do not have the same opportunities that we have. We will have further opportunities in the future to connect with the Round Square organization. Recently some of you may have received advice from our Human Resources Department about a security screening process which we are asking all parents who volunteer at school to undergo. There have recently been, at other international schools in the world, some serious issues regarding inappropriate behavior by adults with, or in the presence of children. As you would expect we are therefore obligated and willing to do all that we can to ensure that our children are protected and safe when at school or on school sanctioned events. This screening applies to all groups or individuals who are in close and regular contact with ISHCMC students and who are assisting them in isolation. These include (for example): teachers, coaches, support staff, catering staff and outsourced activities e.g. ASA’s. Hence if you have received or receive in the future information from our Human Resources Department in regard to this matter I would be grateful for your co-operation. The School will pay for the screening to take place. The company that has been contracted to undertake this service is First Advantage. More information about the company can be found at: http://www.fadv.com/ If you have questions about the process please contact our Human Resources Director Mr. Steve Pham at HRManager@ishcmc.edu.vn I wish all members of our community a safe and enjoyable half semester break. With kind regards, Simon Leslie Headmaster
Celebration Of Cultures This morning’s Celebration of Cultures was viewed around the world with viewers watching our live film footage in the US and Dubai. Thank you to the PTO for such a well-organized event and to the students and parents that worked so hard to deliver magnificent performances. Further performance images will be shared in the next edition of the newsletter and a full DVD will be produced. Click to the ISHCMC Facebook page to see further photographs: https://www.facebook.com/ISHCMC
View on mobile device? Slide to see more.
PRIMARY ACTION We hope that learning in the PYP empowers and energizes our students to look at the world, to see problems and then to try and do something about those problems. This group of Grade 1 and 2 students has become rather unhappy about the amount of litter that they see around the school every day and made the decision that they would try and do something about it. A few of them started to go around and pick up the rubbish they found and – when other students noticed what they were doing – a movement began! This is because they looked like they were having fun and enjoying doing something good for our community. “The cleaner’s job is to clean, not to pick up all of our rubbish” said Ruby “We think people don’t pick up their rubbish because they might be a bit… lazy” said Ella “The worst area is the canteen” said Kennedy. This week, they had organized to get a pair of plastic gloves for everyone so that they could protect themselves and by hygienic. It is this type of organization and initiative that we hope for! When students take steps to do something like this, we call it action. If you see any of your children taking action at home – even little tiny actions – please make sure you tell their teacher about it as it shows that what they learn is shaping who they are.
Book week This year’s Book Week will be celebrated 3-7 November, 2014. I would like to highlight three events being planned by the committee, we are requesting parental support for any parents that would like to get involved. First of all, we need volunteers to come in and read to students during recess and lunch time. Don’t know a lot of English? Don’t worry. We are looking for books to be read in other languages such as Korean, Japanese and Spanish to name a few. If you are interested please send an email to NancySnyder@ishcmc.edu.vn Secondly, we are launching the Read-a-Thon on Friday, November 17. A letter and sponsor sheet has been sent out to families. Please encourage your child to participate. We have various community organizations which will benefit from the money raised in this venture. More information can be found on Firefly, by clicking here http://vle.ishcmc.edu.vn/whole-school-event/book-week--november-3-7/read-a-thon Lastly, we will have our favourite book character or author dress up on Friday, November 7, 2014. We encourage you and your child to collaborate and create the costume together. It would be great if you child could display the book that the character is from or a book from the favourite author. Lianne Kalapaca Primary Vice Principal
ISHCMC Celebrates Book Week!
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WITH LANCE KING On the 1st and 2nd of October, students in 12th grade met with Lance King, an Approaches to Learning consultant for a full day workshop on Exam Confidence. Although most students commented that the workshop was “interesting” and “helpful”, if you ask any students that took part in the workshop about what was taught, most students would just say “how to juggle balls”. That is because most things that were taught cannot be described in a summary of a sentence or two. The boring answer would be that he taught us how to manage our time, overcome procrastination, persevere, utilize online resources and learn better. However, the more interesting story would be how we failed at juggling balls again and again to learn perseverance and positive response to failure. You will be surprised at how we overcame our body’s perceived limitations through visualization, any student from the workshop can demonstrate to you the back twisting trick. We can tell you stories about bicycles, hot air balloons and puppies from our memory exercise. The height of the table, brain food, brain music, we were taught how to utilize everything to our advantage for the optimal learning experience. We learned to engage the whole of our brain in the learning process, to use colors, to talk and to play and for the eventual exam days and any other stressful situation, we were taught how to relax and regain confidence. Again, the words cannot do the workshop justice for the detail and the breadth of knowledge that was passed on to us. It is both of these factors that contributed to the comprehensive, well-rounded and realistic approach to learning that not only motivates to learn more but to learn better. You’d think that such a workshop would be boring and even more so due to its length. But Mr. King’s interactive and well organized presentation engaged the students in a worthwhile, educational but no less entertaining experience. I am sure that every student came out of this workshop with at least one new thing to utilize in his or her learning. I, for one, can tell you at least a hundred ways how to not juggle balls. It’s not that I can’t do it but that I “haven’t yet”. Olia Nguyen Grade 12 student
GRADE 6 creative ART Grade 6 is building buildings inspired by Hundertwasser, Wright, Gehry and Gaudi. They have been hacking at cardboard and learning to put it all together. They have created their own set of class rules that they must build using as their guiding force: Students must complete a building. The building must encompass the ideas of creativity, environmentalism, openness, and colour. They are having a great time! Laura Guay Secondary Visual Arts Teacher
PINK MY ISHCMC PINK MY ISHCMC was certainly a very ‘PINKILICIOUS’ day. The Pink My ISHCMC T-Shirts completely sold out on the day! THANK YOU to students, parents, friends, ISHCMC staff for your participation & support. We look forward to PINKING IT UP again next October in support of Breast Cancer Awareness. The total amount raised will be announced in the next newsletter. Pink My ISHCMC Team
STINGRAY MEET & Booster club The Booster Club had another successful sale last Tuesday at the Stingrays Meet. Thanks to all the bakers and all the hungry students, parents and teachers! For more details about the Booster Club and being a Booster Club volunteer please contact Anette by sending an email to familien@haxelsen.dk
SISAC CHAMPIONS Click below to watch the latest videos of the ISHCMC Rhino Volleyball teams in action. Game 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U-VI53Jr8Y Game 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0BXTfxKhhM Game 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iVOomxfZuw I’m happy to share the great news that both the Boys Senior Volleyball team and Girls Senior Volleyball teams were crowned SISAC Champions. The boys went through the opening games undefeated and won the final 25-19 and 25-10. The girls team played SSIS in the final which in the past has always been a closely fought match. They won the final in another very close game prevailing 25-14 and 25-22. The next challenge for the teams is the MRISA champs at the end of October. CONGRATULATIONS ISHCMC RHINOS U19 BOYS & GIRLS VOLLEYBALL SISAC CHAMPIONS 2014 – 2015 Matthew Gollins Director of Athletics