pyp newsletter april 2013

7/28/2019 PYP Newsletter April 2013

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Inside this issueWelcome messages .............. 1

Kindergarten......................... 2

Grade 1 ................................. 3

PE......................................... 4

Grade 5 Exhibition................. 5

Information from Marilyn ...... 6

Information from Marilyn ...... 7

School clubs.......................... 8

Information page .................. 9

Important DatesFriday, April 19

th- No

school, In service

Wednesday, May 1st-

Holiday

Thursday, May 9-10th-

Holiday

Week 20, Culture Week

Wednesday, 15th May -

Spring show

Tuesday, 21st May -

Art Exhibition

Thursday, June 6/7th

Holiday

Friday, June 14th

Students end

PYP NewsletterPrincipals Message

Dear Parents,

We were very pleased with the success of the PYP5 exhibition which took place

during the week before the Easter break. For the rst time, this was held in our

library and in the classrooms. The exhibition was visited by grade 5 family and

friends on the Tuesday evening and by the rest of the PYP on the following day.

This is a special time on the PYP calendar. We are now looking forward to our

next big event which is the culture week that will take place in May. This will

include the annual Art Exhibition and Spring Show.

We have a new article in the PYP newsletter this month. This takes the form of

an information update as a result of questions posed to our Parent Advisory

Group. The items covered will be later incorporated into the parent handbook.

Kind Regards,

Marilyn James,

Principal Primary Years Programme

Coordinators Message

Welcome to the new look newsletter! This month we will focus on what has

been happening in our Kindergarten classes, our grade 1 classes, our PE classes

and we will take a closer look at the Exhibition. Hope you enjoy the read!

April 2013


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Kindergarten

We have been having a fun time in Kindergarten lately with our new inquiry on

Stories.

We are learning how stories can be communicated in dierent ways andhow they can make us think and feel dierently. We are also nding out aboutthe dierent elements of stories and will be recording our own stories on the

ipads. We have been working in Art to create our backgrounds and characters

and you will be able to see the nished stories during Culture Week in May.

Our inquiry started during Reading Week and we enjoyed listening to each ot-hers favourite stories, some in dierent languages and dressing up as a charac-ter from a book. We also built a house for the Three Little Pigs and blew it down

with a hairdryer!

Just before the spring break, we joined with the Swedish section to wrap up anegg and drop it out of the window. Amazingly, many of the eggs didn't break

and the children were really inventive, even using parachutes to slow the egg's

fall!

Later in the summer term we will be exploring the plants and animals in our

local environment.


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The challenge was to work together in small groups to wrap up an egg successfullyso that it would not smash when dropped out of a rst oor window

On Wednesday 27th March, PYP K and1 and LGR F and 1 enjoyed our annual

cross-team egg drop event. The chal-lenge was to work together in smallgroups to wrap up an egg successfullyso that it would not smash when drop-

ped out of a rst oor window. We had

a lot of fun!

Cross team activities

In PYP 1 we are currently focusing onthe transdisciplinary theme ofHow we

organise ourselvesand our central idea

is, Food goes through a process be-fore it reaches our table. We have

been nding out about dierent foods

which we eat, asking questions such as;

where does the food come from? Whathappens to the food before it reaches

us? What is our responsibility when we

buy food? We have visited a local dairyfarm to nd out about where milk and

other dairy products come from andhave also learnt what organic and fair-

trade mean to help us understand the

choices we have as consumers.

Grade 1


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Physical Education

The spring is almost here and it is nally time to start having Physical Educa-tion outdoors on our soccer eld, if the weather lets us. Soccer is going to bethe unit most classes will focus on for the next 3-4 weeks. All classes are prac-ticing for our Student Council Soccer Tournament that will take place during

the spring. Grade 5 is also training for Energikicken, which is a soccer tourna-

ment for all grade 5 classes in Gothenburg. This tournament will take place at

Heden on the 15thof May.

When we are done with the soccer unit, we will end the term with eld games,track & eld and orienteering. Our P.E units normally lasts 3-6 weeks depend-

ing on the activity and the students get to try everything from ball sports, gym-nastics, dance to track & eld and orienteering.

Our next sports day is planned to be Track & Field at Slottsskogsvallen, but we

have not got a date for that yet.

Lastly, please remember that the students should bring P.E clothes and shoes

on the days when they have P.E.

By Peter S


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It should test the students to demonstate all the skills they have learnt throughout

their time in the PYP programme and should give the students a real life problemwith needs a soluation.

During grade 5 the students get to do

a very important unit of Inqury called

The exhibition. This unit of Inquiry is

meant to be the culumating project ofthe primary years programme. It

should test the students to demon-

state all the skills they have learnt

throughout their time in the PYP pro-gramme and should give the students

a real life problem with needs a solut-

ion. This years Exhibition theme wassharing the planet and the focus was

The struggle to share nite resourcesand conict resolution.

The students worked in groups to cre-

ate a presentation to show to theparent community and the other clas-ses in the school. The event itself was a

big success and the students did them-

selves and the school proud!

By Mike

Grade 5 Exhibition


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Information updates on routines and

procedures following Parent Adviso-

ry Group meeting March 2013Updates on the school calendar: The school calendaris on the website. Important dates like the start and

end dates for terms and half terms will be added in

January before the beginning of the next school year.

Routines regarding cleaning of the school: ISGR has

a service team which consists of our own sta who

care for and maintain the premises. There is a regular

cleaning schedule and also the students are encour-

aged to care for their environment by looking after

school property and their own property.

The older students (from grade 3) have lockers to put

away their extra clothes and possessions. Younger

students have hooks and shelves and boxes in the cor-

ridors. The younger students have the extra challenge

to sort all their possessions neatly and tidily. They are

reminded and helped to do this on a regular basis.

Parents are also requested to talk to their children

about looking after their things.

Any grati is removed by a specialist company as

soon as it is noticed. There may sometimes be delays

however due to very low temperatures outside.

Organisation of classes within the school: The

school premises are used for both daytime school ac-

tivities and also by PAL. There are more children in

dierent parts of the school at dierent times of the

day. This is particularly noticeable in Dwing where

there are more students downstairs until 13.30.After

this time, the situation changes and then there is a

greater concentration of students upstairs when the

PAL organisation starts their groups. We are looking

at a rearrangement of classes for next year when wemake the annual review of the premises. There will

also be more space since we are having portocabins at

the front of the school where the present car park is

situated.

Number of students in a class: PYP has seen a 50%

increase in students since the beginning of 2012. This

has meant, that although we have been able to create

extra classes in grades 1 and 2, we have not had the

space to expand any more. We have instead employed

extra teaching sta for the bigger classes in grades K,

3, 4 and 5.

Communication between teachers and parents:

Routines regarding communication between parentsand sta have been updated and sent out to all par-

ents in October 2012 and March 2013. These routines

will be added to the sta handbook in the next up-

date.

Books in the library at Guldheden: The books in the

library are chosen for students from the ages of 5 to 11

years old. The students are helped to choose books so

that they are appropriate according to age-level, read-

ing and interest level. If you nd that your child brings

home a book which you feel inappropriate, please

contact the classroom teacher.


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Availability of food in the Guldheden bamba:

Guldhedens school has been given an award for being

one of the top ten school canteens in the whole of

Sweden. The range of food is extremely good. Howev-

er, despite this, they may not always serve your childs

favourite food. Occasionally children will report that

there is nothing to eat. However, all sta eating with

their students give regular feedback about the availa-

bility of food at the big bamba. There have been no

shortages reported this term.

Behaviour of students in class and on outings: Social

education is considered highly important at ISGR.

Within the PYP, the students are taught to reect on

the PYP proles and attitudes. We do have children

from many dierent backgrounds and with dierent

levels of language ability and we take this into account

and have regular communication with parents and

with children who are experiencing behavioural chal-

lenges. Having said this, we do not tolerate behavior

which is disturbing to other children and work carefully

on promoting a good learning environment for every-

one. We do this in many dierent ways; through mak-

ing clear rules and consequences and through dieren-

tiation of instruction. It may be that work that we do

with a particular child is not immediately apparent to

other children or parents. However, due to condenti-

ality rules, we are not allowed to describe the develop-

ment of any individual child to anyone outside of their

immediate family.

According to Swedish law, children are not expelled

from school due to their behavior. The school is

obliged to provide an education suitable for all children

even if the learning environment is modied.

There are clear expectations of behavior for school

outings. For some students, school outings may pre

sent an extra challenge which they nd extra dicult

to cope with. Special arrangements are made for these

students when planning school outings.Teachers on leave: Teachers at ISGR are employed

according to Swedish employment regulations. This

means that they are eligible for full or part-time leave

for parenting or studying. The school aims to provide

consistency with regards to long-term substitute

teachers. We even aim for consistency in the substi-

tutes used for short-term leaves. However this is not

always possible because the substitutes have other

work and commitments. The substitutes are always

given lesson plans for the day.

The procedure for handover of students to the care

of PAL teachers at 14.30: For the Kindergarten clas-

ses the procedure is that the students are escorted to

the PAL room by the Kindergarten assistant. The

grade 1 students go to the PAL room in D wing on their

own.

Procedures for students leaving the classroom to go

to the bathroom: Each class has a system for moni-

toring toilet visits.

Procedures for handing over information about stu-

dents arriving at ISGR: When a new student is accept-

ed into ISGR, a short account is sent to the teachers

involved. The teachers are given access to school rec-

ords. It is a requirement of ISGR that previous school

records are sent to the school before the student is

admitted. Teachers are also notied about any special

dietary requirements.


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PYP coordinator website

If you would like to learn more about

the PYP programme, please visit my

website to watch some interesting vid-

eos and maybe read the PYP book.

http://teacherweb.com/SE/ISGR/

MikeHowlett/apt1.aspx

Guldheden Library 2013

Library opening hoursMonday 8.30

-

3.30 pm

Tuesday 8.30 -3.30pm

Wednesday 8.30 -3.30pm

Thursday 8.30 3.30pm

Friday 8.30 2.30pm

Rouhia Lothah

pyp newsletter april 2013

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