Thoughts from the Chatsworth Primary Hallway

“A little nonsense now and then, is cherished by the wisest men.” 

― Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator

As the two-week half term draws near, I would like to thank our Chatsworth Community for the constant support you show towards your child/ren at school.  This week we held our first 3-Way conferences where students, shared with their parents and teachers in a 3-way dialogue all the things they were proud of.  Together they set goals to work towards by the end of the school year.

The PE department successfully planned an excellent sports day morning on Thursday where all of the Early Years  (and many of their parents!) enjoyed various sporting challenges.  Each class rotated around  the basketball court, sports gym, main hall and the astroturf  with teachers and parents in toe.  Everyone had lots of fun! Thank you to Ms Tonkin, Ms Brennan and Mr Marcelo, our extraordinary PE teachers.

I wish you all a very safe and restful two week holiday.  Enjoy this time with your child/ren.

Mario Gauci

Head of Primary

From the PYP Coordinator

This week have seen the first Three Way Conferences here at Chatsworth. You will have had the opportunity to come in and share in your child’s learning and development and hopefully had a very positive experience.

Assessing and reporting is a very important part of the Primary Years Programme. As part of the unit planning process the teachers use a range of techniques to assess the students.

Firstly, at the start of a new unit we assess the prior knowledge and understanding -

What do the students already know?

What do they already have experience of?

Another type of assessment is called formative assessment. This is where the teachers are continually assessing the understanding of the students in order to modify the teaching and learning to meet their needs and to make the lessons more effective.

Finally we use summative assessment. This is to assess how well they understood the unit. Did they understand the Central Idea? What is the evidence we can see that demonstrates their understanding?

These types of assessments build a picture of how well your child is doing that we can then feed back to you at our conferences and also in our end of semester report cards.

Alex Inman
PYP Coordinator

Week 28 of Primary Weekly Correspondence

Here is the following correspondence from Primary Office this week;

Primary Correspondence

• JYP Sports Day 22th April 2015
• April Lunch Menu (Order Form)
• Doing some "spring" cleaning? If you want to donate any books, you can do so at across the street at Gateway, CYC #03-06A from now until March 29 to charity.  Please do not leave used books at the library for us to dispose as this create work for us. (Ms Elaine Fong -Teacher Librarian)
• Support Earth Hour, Saturday 28 March 2015, 8.30pm - 9.30pm(local time), Check the Earth Hour Official website for more information.
• Conjunctivities Note from Ms Lorie Tanpoco,School Nurse
• Sports Update
  re:11 under neball
  The 11 under Netball Team played their 5th and 6th Game on Thursday against
  
  Dulwich and SJII . After more than 30 goals scored for Chatsworth they narrowly lost 5 -6 to Dulwich. The game was excitingly close with it being 4 -4 at halftime.
  Their next game is Tuesday 7th April home game against under 12 LFS.

Malissa Rahman

Primary Admin

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Thoughts from the Chatsworth Primary Hallway

“Three-way conferences at Chatsworth provide a meaningful opportunity to share, celebrate and enhance the student's learning journey.” Three Way Conference Central Idea, Chatsworth International School 2015

On Tuesday 17 March 2015 and Wednesday 18 March 2015, the primary school will have Three-way Parent Student Teacher Conferences. Three Way Conferences at Chatsworth are a time when the teacher, parents and students come together and share in supporting the development of the child. It’s a time when the student has an opportunity to share with their parents, together with the teacher supporting him or her, their growth and development as a learner. All three parties sit together and discuss the students learning by looking at a range of the student’s work. Three-way conferences focus on the student and the important role they have in reflecting on and developing their learning. Students decide the next steps while parents and teachers find ways to support the students with self-reflection, dialogue and asking questions. What does a Three-way conference look like? Bangkok Patana School has created a public Youtube video on their 3-Way Conferences. Take a look! We are looking forward to seeing you next week.

Preparing for the 3-Way conferences:

Mario Gauci Head of Primary

Week 27 of Primary Weekly Correspondence

Here is the following correspondence from Primary Office this week;

Primary Correspondence

CCA/ECA information:

Please see below the dates to remember to register your child-ren for CCA/ECA session 3.

Starts Monday 13th April until Friday 29th May 2015 (7 weeks)

CCA selection posted on our school website on Friday 13th March 2015

Online parental registration will open on Monday 16th March 2015 at 7.00pm

Online parental registration will close on Friday 20th March 2015 (1 week)

School Spring Holidays from Saturday 21st March to Sunday 5th April 2015

Online confirmation for CCA registration via email on Monday 6th April 2015

All these documents are also be available from our school website.

          CCA Page http://www.chatsworth.com.sg/page.cfm?p=491

          ECA Page http://www.chatsworth.com.sg/page.cfm?p=518

• Early Years Sports Day - Thursday 19th March 2015

K1 & K2: 9.00am - 10.30am

Yr 1 & Yr 2: 10.30am - 12.30pm

Reminder

1. wear house shirts
2. hats and water bottles are compulsory
3. parents are encouraged to wear house colours and comfortable clothes
4. house points to be awarded for participation, good sportsmanship, cheering, being organising, teamwork, etc....not just winning.

• ESL Assembly is taking place on the 20th of March at 2pm in the Main Hall. Please feel welcome to join us and enjoy the show! Thank you.

• Recipes needed for the Chatsworth Family Cookbook

Malissa Rahman

Primary Admin

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Thoughts from the Chatsworth Primary Hallway

Taking a look a at Year 1:

There was a tremendous buzz and excitement in year one as they documented the growth of their beans.  They were comparing the growth of the beans sprouts and were wondering why some bean sprouts were taller than others when all of the beans were planted on the same day.  The children were discussing, comparing and coming up compelling reasons why the sprouts were all different in length.  

I also visited a year one class during a rather enthusiastic Mandarin lesson.  All the students engaged in singing Mandarin songs and rhymes.  Watch the short video below!

Reading is a lot of fun when you can talk with your friends about the book that you are reading.  This was precisely the case in the third year one class I visited this week.  Students were reading on their own or with a friend while others were in deep discussion about favorite pages and characters!

Other exciting events have taken place this week in the primary school.  K1 were excited to find their tables covered with leaves, twigs and paint that resulted in a creative afternoon. The K2 classes have been experimenting with mixing ingredients which led to yummy pancakes and biscuits.  Experimenting with class made playdough was a huge hit!  Year 3 have been preparing for their end of unit celebration on Friday with students involved in demonstrating their understanding of the unit in a variety of ways. Year 5 have prepared all week for their end of unit celebration on Friday - songs/raps/poetry about ecosystems and responsibility.

What a great week!  Enjoy the snaps of year one!

Mario Gauci

Head of Primary

From the PYP Coordinator

In an earlier blog post we look at at the curriculum and how the units of inquiry are arranged under transdisciplinary themes.

There are six transdisciplinary themes per year and they are the same for every year group in the school. They are globally significant and support the acquisition of knowledge, concepts and skills through the units of inquiry.

They are -

Who we are

An inquiry into the nature of self; beliefs and values; personal, physical, mental, social and spiritual health; human relationships including families, friends, communities and cultures; rights and responsibilities and what it means to be human.

Where we are in place and time

An inquiry into orientation in place and time; personal histories; homes and journeys; the discoveries, explorations and migrations of humankind; the relationships between and the interconnectedness of individuals and civilizations from local and global perspectives

How we express ourselves

An inquiry into the ways in which we discover and express ideas, feelings, nature, culture, beliefs and values; the ways in which we reflect on, extend and enjoy ur creativity; our appreciation of the aesthetic.

How the world works

An inquiry into the natural world and its laws; the interaction between the natural world (physical and biological) and human societies; how humans use their understanding of scientific principles and the impact of scientific technological advances on society and on the environment.

How we organize ourselves

An inquiry into the interconnectedness of human-made systems and communities; the structure and function of organizations; societal decision making; economic activities and their impact on humankind and the environment.

Sharing the planet

An inquiry into the rights and responsibilities in the struggle to share finite resources with other people and with other living things; communities and the relationships within and between them; access to equal opportunities; peace and conflict resolution.

“The students inquire into and learn about these globally significant issues in the context of the units of inquiry.”

Making the PYP Happen, International Baccalaureate

Alex Inman

PYP Coordinator

Week 26 of Primary Weekly Correspondence

Here is the following correspondence from Primary Office this week;

Primary Correspondence

• Parent Teacher Student Conference Sign-up Letter (17 & 18 March 2015)

• CCA - Next week is the last week of the CCA Session 2. All CCAs/ECAs will resume on the week commencing on Monday 13th April 2015 and will finish by Friday 29th May 2015. Make sure to check with your ECA providers when will be their last session too.Before Easter break you will have access to all CCAs and ECAs offers via our school website. All CCAs Session 3 registrations lines will be open during the last week before the holidays. Confirmation emails will be send home after the holidays. More information on CCAs/ECAS to come next week. 

• @Chatsworth parent email account

• Chatsworth Parent Group
  The end of the academic year is quickly approaching but we've still got a few more tricks up our sleeves. Please join us for another lovely coffee morning on March 16.
  We'll be discussing some of the last few projects lined up for the remainder of the year -- including a Chatsworth Family Cookbook, updates on the recycled uniform sale and the parent advertising/re-sell board, and possibly even a school wide flea market event.
  Please RSVP via cpg@chatsworth.com.sg so that we can order the appropriate amount of snacks and beverages for our gathering. Thank you!
  What: CPG Coffee Morning
  When: March 16, 2015, 9:15 a.m
  Where: Room 5D

• Literacy Parent Cafe - 6th April 2014

• HFMD Awareness

• If your child was born between 2003 and 2006 and enjoys play chess please follow the link of the 2015 Chess Competition at Overseas Family School

• Sports News

  We welcome season 3 of Acsis. This season sees:

  8 and under Football team coached by Ms Tonkin in action
  

  11 and under Netball team coached by Ms Brennan in action

  The 11 and under Netball team travelled to Tanglin to play Dulwich B  and  Marlborough College. Chatsworth was delighted with the team’s confident start to the season with two convincing wins.

  We wish all the teams well in the next round of matches next week at the Australian school.

  Ms J.S. Brennan

  P.E. Specialist Elementary Department.