Thoughts from the Chatsworth Primary Hallway

“A book is like a garden, carried in the pocket.”

-Chinese Proverb

As we approach the final two weeks of the semester, the primary school is a hub of activity. Preparations for the Christmas concert began months ago and are quickly coming to fruition. Practising of Christmas songs is heard throughout the school, schedules for rehearsals are under way and costumes and sets are being made as we speak.

Together with this buzz, we have had the pleasure of enjoying a marvellous Book Week organised by a team of teachers, but led by our librarian Ms Elaine Fong.  The Chatsworth community has been indulged with Book Week events from a Parent Cafe on the importance of reading hosted by parents, teachers and students to numerous authors who have shared their stories.  An amazing book bazaar hosted by Bookaburra and the week was topped off by a wonderful book parade and a book week assembly.

Movember was also a big hit this week especially with the "Throw the Mo" activity.  Thank you to all students, teachers and parents for the exciting week of events.

Mario Gauci

Head of Primary

From the PYP Coordinator

A great source of information about the International Baccalaureate programmes is the IB website.

It has detailed information about all the programmes - the Primary Years Programme, Middle Years Programme and also the Diploma and it isn't just for teachers but also for parents interested to know more.

From December the IB is relaunching its website to make it a lot more accessible to educators and parents.

Have a look here IB Website for more information.

Alex Inman

Week 15 of Primary Weekly Correspondence

Here is the following correspondence from Primary Office this week;

We Need Your Help 

for the 

Spring Musical 

The Drama Department will be putting on Ali Baba and the 14 Thieves in February at the Raffles Jubilee Theater.  The students and the drama department do the entire production themselves and have asked if there are parents who are willing to help with the production.  

They are looking for parents who have experience or are willing to help in the areas of:

• Costumes - sewing and creating costumes

• Set Design

• Lighting Design

• Playing a musical instrument

• Providing food for rehearsals 

If you have a background or an interest in any of these areas and can donate a bit of time please email us at cpg@chatsworth.com.sg.

It is going to be a fabulous production in a beautiful space!  Please consider donating just a few hours of your time.
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Kindly find the link HERE to read more about the Early dismissal on Friday December 12.
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December Lunch Menu 2014
January Lunch Menu 2015

Primary Office (Malissa Rahman)

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Thoughts from the Chatsworth Primary Hallway

Search is about finding pieces; knowledge is about knowing the potential value of those pieces; wisdom understands the need to see the big picture, no matter how difficult or seemingly complex or how many perspectives you have to consider or people you have to ask, and put it all together.  The Difference Between Search And Inquiry by Terry Heick (http://goo.gl/Xng5Ey)

One of the articles I shared with the teachers this week talked about the difference between searching and inquiry.  Given that in today's world information is at our fingertips, and not just a small amount of information but enough information that would take a life time just to sift through and find what you are looking for. The skills necessary for this search is paramount in today's teaching and learning programme. What a dilemma teachers have these days when confronted with the question "what knowledge is important for our students to know?". It is a tough balancing act between this and teaching the skills necessary for the students to find information, and then to sort and find the right information.  In todays's world searching to satisfy an inquiry, whether it is searching on the World Wide Web, through reference materials in the library or by seeking out experts, the skills necessary for these searches have to be taught.  And let's not get confused, once the search is done, the inquiry begins: "Now that I have this information, what now?".

Mario Gauci

Head of Primary 

From the PYP Coordinator

Students will be starting new units of inquiry in the coming weeks before the winter break.

Units are organized under six transdisciplinary themes, "of global significance, explored using knowledge and skills derived from six subject areas, with a powerful emphasis on inquiry based learning."
IB Website 2014

The themes are Who we Are, Where we are in Place and Time, How we Express Ourselves, How the World Works, How we Organize Ourselves, Sharing the Planet.

We will look at these and what they are in more detail later.

Alex Inman

Week 14 of Primary Weekly Correspondence

Here is the following correspondence from Primary Office this week;

24 - 28 November Book Week

Book Week Letter (24 - 28 November)
Author Helene Averous Book Order
Paw Prints Book Order
Author Adeline Foo Book Order
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CCAs/ECAs reminders:

• CCA Session 1 will finish after school on Friday 28th November 2014. 
• ECA Session 1 will finish on the same date unless providers have informed you differently. Please confirm with the ECA providers if unsure.
• CCAs/ECAs Session 2 will resume on Monday 26th January 2015 (more information about sign-ups to come later

Christmas Concert Reminder and information:

• Primary class parties to be organized for Thursday 11th December at lunch time, please see your Homeroom teacher/class parents.
• Early pick up on Friday December 12th can be done from 12.30pm from Orchard campus not form the concert Hall venue.
• Return the Christmas reply slip and consent form to your HR teacher as soon as possible.

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• ECA - Torpedo Swim Team

In collaboration with our ECA providers from Torpedo Swim Team we would like to offer a weekly session for Year 3 to Year 6 complete beginner swimmers and students with very low confidence in the water.

Tentatively, we are looking at either Tuesdays or Wednesday from 3.45pm to 4.30pm from January to May 2015.

If you believe your child could benefit from such a class, please email me at lhebert@chatsworth.com.sg by Wednesday 26th November 2014. Please indicate your child's full name, your name and contact with your child's class and teacher name.

Based on the responses I will meet with the provider and see where we can go from there and inform you of the outcome.

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1st December 2014 - Parents Cafe - Cultivating Creativity in PYP Maths by Ms Carla Heard, Mr Ben Drury and Mr Michael Lucchesi

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Introduction of Ms Tamara Kiri Serong - Year 1 Teacher

21/11/14

Primary Office (Malissa Rahman)

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From the PYP Coordinator

To return to the topic of the IB learner profile, the attributes are - caring, knowledgeable, risk - taker, inquirer, balanced, reflective, thinkers, communicators, principled.

If you were to choose attributes that would best describe you, which would you choose?

All of them?

We hope our students can identify with the whole learner profile.

Alex Inman

Week 13 of Primary Weekly Correspondence

Here is the following correspondence from Primary Office this week;

• Christmas concert poster competition
• Reminder - 21 November 2014 Primary Movie Night
• More Information about the extended date for our School Photographs early bird discount .
  From Prêt-a-potrait (Chatsworth School Photographer) 
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Thoughts from the Chatsworth Primary Hallway

"Open your eyes and see the way our horizons meet" - Ed Sheeran

Being internationally minded is not only celebrating our different cultures, costumes, food and way of life, but being open minded to different ways of thinking; that those who think differently can also be right.  This week at Chatsworth we celebrated a united world with multiple ways of thinking and being.  Our students had the opportunity to show off their cultures and experience that of others, a celebration of minds and a call to unite as one. A strong message of unity displayed by the whole community and modeled for our students understanding that being open minded is truly internationally-minded.  

Thank you, to the teachers, parents and students who worked hard to organise this event and for those of you who visited. 

Mario Gauci

Head of Primary