Newsletter February 2020

Overseas Family SchoolElementary School

Master Policy:To maintain a happy, safe and effective school for overseas families living in Singapore

Principal’s MessageDear Parents and Students,

A warm welcome to our new students and families that have joined us in the Elementary School at OFS and a “welcome back’ to our returning students and parents. Unfortunately with the recent outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus, we have been presented with many challenges such as the postponement or even cancellation of many upcoming events and a temporary suspension to our After School Program. Our school is doing its very best to take every precautionary measure to keep our school community safe. We will continue to update parents with new guidelines and practices. I would sincerely like to thank our parents for your support, understanding and cooperation during these trying times. In the meantime, I would like to remind all students to stay home if you are feeling unwell and to continue observing good hygiene practices such as frequent handwashing.

Please note a number of ES events coming up in February / March 2020:

17-21 February Book Week

21 February Book Character Dress Up Day

6 March Grade 1 Sports Morning

9 March Grade 2 Sports Morning Lastly, it is my pleasure to welcome Mrs. Jenny Riffel into her new role as Deputy Principal, responsible for students in Grade 1 to 3. Mrs. Riffel has been with OFS since 2007 and is a talented Homebase teacher, as well as the Grade 2 Teachers’ Team Leader. She brings a wealth of experience and knowledge about student learning and support to the role of Deputy Principal. I wish her the very best in her new role. Mrs. Riffel will be supported by Mr. Matthew Young, our Deputy Principal for Grades 4 and 5. Both Mrs. Riffel, Mr. Young and I look forward to a continued partnership with you and your child.

Penny LiewElementary School Principalpenny_liew@ofs.edu.sg

From The Parent Association (PA) Desk

Art NewsAll grade levels have started their third IPC Units of Work in Art. Grade 1 students have been using a range of media to create still life drawings of fruit, and they get to eat the fruit afterwards! Grade 2 students have transformed their bottles of sand into the bodies of fabulous bird sculptures. Grade 3 students are discovering artists who have ‘made a difference’. Grade 4 students are busily recycling junk into wearable art and Grade 5 children have been inspired by Op Art to create art that gives the illusion of movement.

(Jennifer Freeman)

Mother TongueWednesday, 15 January 2020, OFS was honored by a visit of His Excellency Mr. Andy Detaille, Belgium’s Ambassador to Singapore. The ambassador is a skilled linguist and spoke in several languages with teachers and students while visiting classes in action. A few of our Dutch, French and Belgium students welcomed the ambassador and the Grade 4 - 5 Mother Tongue French students composed an impressive poem for this special occasion.

(Clara Oosting)

In light of the current measures to enhance protection against Wuhan coronavirus, we regret to inform that the Lion and Dragon dance and Chinese New Year Themed Coffee Morning have been postponed until further notice. We will keep you informed of any new developments as we hope to reschedule these affected events to a later date.

Stay Safe!

Overseas Family School Elementary School Newsletter February 2020

Grade 1 NewsHappy New Year to all our Grade 1 families and a special welcome to all the new families who have joined our Grade 1 classes this semester. We have begun the new year with our fourth IPC Unit of Work, “How Are You?” In this unit, students will be exploring what things make them healthy. It is great to see the children bringing in healthy lunches and snacks and taking responsibility to ensure they are eating a healthy diet. We had fun exercising in our Entry point, where we danced to Zumba videos and stretched in different positions while listening to the story, “Going On A Bear Hunt”.

(Joanne McLinden)

Grade 2 NewsHappy New Year and a warm welcome to all our new OFS families! We have started our new unit, “Land, Sea And Sky”, where we are exploring water plants, fish and birds and how each has adapted to its habitat. The children were very excited to visit the science lab where they observed and sketched a variety of water plants. Our experiment looked at what happens to a land plant when it is submerged in water and a water plant that is planted in soil. There was great excitement building our terrariums.

(Dee Randhawa)

Grade 3 NewsIt has been an exciting start to 2020 in Grade 3, with the beginning of our brand new unit, “They Made A Difference”, where students have been considering and vocalizing what makes someone a significant individual because they made a difference to or changed events in world history. During the Entry Point, teachers presented some key achievements and memorable contributions of five notable figures, while students noted clues from each presentation in their journals to gain an understanding of what made each person not just famous, but significant and influential to society. Students are also engaging with the craft of storytelling and developing their skills as writers, as they work their way through the writing process to draft narratives. This exercise in creativity will lead nicely into the upcoming celebration of our love of reading and books, and the famous authors who write them, during Book Week.

(Ryan Lecours)

Physical Education (PE) Students and teachers have been relishing their two PE lessons a week since returning from the semester break and we have noticed much better skill progression with the more frequent lessons. We have two new PE staff members, Mr. Hawkins and Mr. Leaver who have been busy getting to know the students. Currently, some classes are learning about Net games while others are developing skills for Striking & Fielding games. After Week 4 (approximately 8 lessons), all classes will swap over to the alternate unit. We have sports mornings coming up on Friday, 6 March 2020 (Grade 1) and Monday, 9 March 2020 (Grade 2), with the other grades holding theirs later in the Semester.

(Steven Kennedy)

Chess News Congratulations to all participants in the Elementary School Championship on 18 January 2020. We had 208 participants in two groups who played seven rounds each. In Grades 1 and 2, the final ranking of the top players are: 1 DHANUKA Ayaan, Grade 2, 7 points 2 RANDHAWA Arjun, Grade 2, 6 points 3 OTTERSKRED Sofia, Grade 2, 6 points

The best player from Grade 1 was VYAS Miransh with 5.5 points.In the category comprising Grades 3 to 5 we had the following top 3 placings: 1 DHANUKA Aman, Grade 4, 6½ points 2 KARANAM Srikoustubh, Grade 5, 6½ points 3 QIN Yixuan, Grade 5, 6 points

Right behind them was the best player from Grade 3, GOEL, Kartik with 6 points. All students showed a lot of focus, endurance and fairplay throughout the day. We are proud of them!

(Dijana Dengler and Philipp Ziegler)

Master Policy:To maintain a happy, safe and effective school for overseas families living in Singapore

Grade 4 News

Our new IPC Unit of Work, “Going Global” has begun. This unit focuses on the impact of what we buy and consume, on other people around the world. It also looks at how being a global citizen is to become a part of something bigger than ourselves. Students have been actively involved in trading simulations and experiences, allowing them to broaden their knowledge of how the trading world is interconnected and that a fair degree of integrity is needed if future trade deals are to be successful. Following the Entry Point and early understandings, the Grade 4 students will experience the Model United Nations (MUN) programme, which is a simulation of the United Nations. Each homebase class is representing a country; some developed, others developing. This country is researched in depth and key issues facing the country are debated. In the MUN committee rooms, students report on their country and share their perspectives on a variety of food related issues. These issues include food wastage, sugar taxes, fair trade and genetically modified foods. The experience will culminate in a General Assembly on Friday, 13 March 2020 in the Auditorium, where resolutions will be voted on. The platform of MUN allows children to debate and discuss issues and enables them to verbalise their opinions and thoughts in a safe and unthreatening way.

(Peter Williams)

Grade 5 NewsHappy New Year and welcome back to all our Grade 5 students and their families. Semester 2 is a very exciting, challenging and rewarding time for our Grade 5 students. It is their final semester as an Elementary School student before moving on to Middle School. The students will be participating in a range of diverse learning experiences this semester. Some of the highlights include presenting their Expo show piece, dressing up for Book Week and attending Grade 5 camp at the zoo. There is of course the Elementary School Musical as well – so much to look forward to! Our new IPC Unit of Work is “Making Things Go (Expo)”. The Expo is a celebration of their time in the Elementary School. They will work in a collaborative group setting, focusing on different aspects of renewable energy. The Grade 5 teaching team and students look forward to all our parents attending our Grade 5 Expo on Wednesday, 25 March 2020.

Junior Student Council (JSC)

Congratulations to the students who have been elected by their peers to be our new JSC members. These student leaders will be working hard to support the OFS programs and make a positive impact throughout the school community.

(Roger Calais)

Music NewsIn the music classrooms, Grade 1 students are learning to play a variety of rhythms on percussion instruments along with a steady beat. Grade 2 students are working to perform on xylophones while reading music notation. Our Grade 3 students have been working very hard on developing their recorder skills and will soon begin their recorder tune composition. Grade 4 students have been playing three different parts at the same time in a group and building their ensemble skills. Finally, Grade 5 students are learning to play the Ukulele and are starting to write a song together to prepare for their upcoming Expo event.

(Mikiko Lawrence)

Math-a-Funics

Overseas Family School Elementary School Newsletter February 2020

International Primary Curriculum (IPC)The Process of Learning in the International Primary Curriculum (IPC) In IPC, students use the process of learning to understand the significance of the IPC Unit of Work and experience how they learn best. Teachers display the process in the classroom, tagging student work, photos and research material to each stage. There are seven stages in the learning process, most are interchangeable, with students revisiting their learning and further developing their understandings.

1. The Entry Point is an engaging activity that serves as a provocation for the unit, an experience that encourages students to think about the learning that is to follow. 2. The Knowledge Harvest provides the students an opportunity to share what they already know about the unit, their prior knowledge. Students make connections and think about areas they would like to enquire into during the course of the unit.3. Explaining The Theme: The teacher provides information on the subjects and content that will be covered during the course of the unit4. The Big Picture/Unit Summary provides information on the main ideas within the unit.5. Research Activities: Teachers plan experiential, exploratory, collaborative and individual research-based activities giving students the opportunities to use and develop a variety of skills and acquire knowledge.6. Recording Activities: The recording activities give students the opportunity to process and use their knowledge and skills to present the information they have gained and demonstrate their understanding. 7. The Exit Point provides an opportunity for students to share their learning and understanding within the unit with their peers, parents and caregivers.

(Shalini Maira)

Answer: 44Start on the left and move to the right. Add the first two numbers together to give the next one, then add 2 to this to give the one after that. Repeat this sequence all the way along.

Sport News Get excited about the new OFS Tigers Competitive Swim Team! Gil Levy, our Swimming Consultant, has this message to share with us:

“After 3 days of trials, more than 100 students were selected to become members of the inaugural OFS Competitive Swim Team, also known as “OFS Tigers”. There is clearly some real talent and many swimmers with tremendous potential. The OFS Tigers Swimming Program emphasises competing at the Athletic Conference of Singapore International Schools (ACSIS), as well as the Singapore National Age Group Championships and Open Nationals and may feature competing in the FINA World Cup, which is reserved for athletes who have not only attained World Cup Qualification but are also committed to consistently training at the highest possible level. Tremendous momentum has been created - It is now up to the swimmers to make the most of the opportunities being offered here at OFS.”

(Jason Lawrence)

New StaffMICHELLE CLOETEGrade 2 Homebase TeacherHi OFS family. I am Michelle Cloete and I come from South Africa. I am the mother of three daughters, two of whom attend OFS. My eldest daughter is studying in the USA. I studied at The University of the Witwatersrand and I have taught children from Pre-School to Grade 5 for many years. I have an identical twin sister, who is also a teacher. As children, we spent our holidays playing ‘School-School’ so teaching is a fulfillment of our childhood fantasy. In my free time, I enjoy reading, participating in community projects, exploring new sights and attending the theatre. I am very excited to be living in Singapore and teaching students who hail from all over the world. It is a rewarding and enriching experience.

WENDY TANArt SpecialistHi everyone. I am Wendy Tan-Lew and my students address me as Ms. Wendy. I was born and raised in Singapore, and went to university in Sydney, Australia. I fulfilled my childhood ambition to be an Art teacher and I have been teaching Art since 1999 in both the local and international educational systems. My students ranged from Pre-school to adult learners but my favourite is the elementary level. In my free time, I enjoy playing with my dog “Panda” and cooking with my children. It is wonderful to be working with so many professional and experienced colleagues and students from very diverse backgrounds. I had an interesting first semester in OFS and I look forward to continue contributing, learning and growing with the OFS family.

Library News Over the holiday period, I have been sent many wonderful entries for the Holiday Reading Photo Competition, depicting photos of students reading in exciting locations around the world. These photos will be on display outside our library on Level 4, along with the winners for each category. Semester 2 in the Library always begins with a Radical Reading Challenge for Grades 2 to 5. This is a fun, optional challenge for students to read 20 books between now and the end of May, which encourages reading widely and getting to know our library’s books better. The highlight of the semester is Book Week, commencing from Monday, 17 February 2020 and ending with our wonderful Book Character Dress UP Day on Friday, 21 February 2020. Students are excitedly planning their book character costumes and we look forward to seeing everyone’s transformation for this one special day!

(Olivia Burford-Taylor)

Book Week Character Day Let your

character shine!

Every February something strange but amazing happens in OFS.

Students AND teachers transform into very hungry caterpillars, hobbits, detective mice, cats in hats, Little Miss and even Sam I Am!

Who will you become this year?

ES Book Character Dress Up Day Friday, 21 February 2019 (All Day)