Thoughts from the Chatsworth Primary Hallway

What a fabulous way to end our week leading up to our Spring Break. Our youngest artists hosted a wonderful art exhibit where they invited their parents and various primary classes to view their art work. For me, the highlight was having our artists explain why they chose to create their piece and what they enjoyed most about the process of making the artefact.

For those lucky enough to attend, it was obvious that there was a tremendous amount of work put forth by many. I want to thank the kinder teachers and teaching assistants, Ms. Gia, Ms. Betsy, Mrs. Oza, Mrs. Jaslin, Mrs. Pinto and Mrs. “D” for the facilitation of learning done with their students. As noted, our artists are young, however the quality and sophistication of the work is to be commended. There was also a great deal of support provided to the students and teachers by Ms. Ann, our art teacher, Mr. Marcelo, teacher of music, and our French and Mandarin teachers Mrs. Yard and Ms. Hai Ying. We thank them for their efforts.

Another reason to celebrate today is the first edition of “The Phoenix Time” Primary Version was published today. As stated on the front page of the publication, the submissions to the magazine stem from the writings of our students in the Writing Slueth cross-curricular activity sponsored by Mrs. Riemer, Assistant Principal / PYP Co-ordinator.

As the magazines arrived to the Primary Office, the students (and Mrs. Riemer) were terribly excited. Each of the authors helped to deliver the magazines to various stakeholders across the school. Soon, you can expect a link to an electronic version to be placed on the Chatsworth website enabling all to enjoy the publication online.

Finally, I would like to wish you all a safe and relaxing holiday. We look forward to welcoming you and the students back on campus on April 9.

Week 34 of the Primary Weekly Correspondance

Week 34 Primary Blog

Primary	Book Week 2018 More details here. PRI Staff and Student Book Character Parade (13 April 2018) How to Raise a Reader:  Students Tell Us How It’s Done!   More details here. Chatsworth International School Annual Fees 2018-2019 More details here. 2018-2019 School Calendar
Primary Parent Event	Bukit Timah Campus Tour 14 April, 12 May, 9 June: 0930am More details here.

Thoughts from the Chatsworth Primary Hallway

The International Baccalaureate (IB) describes the IB Learner Profile as “The IB mission statement translated into a set of learning outcomes for the 21st century and provides a long-term vision of education. It is a set of ideals that can inspire, motivate and focus the work of schools and teachers, uniting them in a common purpose”.  There are ten attributes that frame the IB Learner Profile. IB schools are charged with developing these attributes in a meaningful and contextual way in the hope that our students are:

·      Inquirers

·      Risk Takers

·      Communicators

·      Thinkers

·      Knowledgeable

·      Principled

·      Caring

·      Open minded

·      Balanced

·      Reflective

What does this look like in the context of teaching and learning in the elementary section at Chatsworth International School?  We begin to introduce the learner profile early with our K1 students.  Although the Learner Profile is composed of big words and even bigger concepts, teachers still use the vocabulary with the students.  This is done through discussions; usually stemming from actions and events that happen in class.  This provides the students with authentic opportunities that can be connected to a specific attribute enabling the children to understand these abstract ideas easier.

Literature is a wonderful vehicle in which to explore the attributes from the Learner Profile for all of our students.  In the Primary library, we have now begun to categorize our picture books according to one of the attributes connected to that piece of literature. I want to thank Ms. Fang and Ms. Siti for their efforts in organizing this for our teachers and students.  Should you like to learn more about our books and the profiles, please feel free to contact our librarians.

Dr. Michael Berry

Head of Primary

Week 33 of the Primary Weekly Blog

Week 33 Primary Blog

Primary

Parent-Teacher-Student Conference (19-20Mar) Please note that students will attend their conferences with their parents but there are no classes on both days. More details here. CCA/ECA Semester 2 Break (March 9 to April 13) CCA/ECA dates here. Parent Survey Parent survey letter here. Parent survey link here. Non-Uniform Dress Days in the Primary (March) More details here. Human Library - Volunteers Needed More details here. March Lunch Menu Chatsworth International School Annual Fees 2018-2019 More details here. 2018-2019 School Calendar

Primary Parent Event

Bukit Timah Campus Tour 14 April, 12 May, 9 June: 0930am More details here.

Chatsworth Primary Sports Day

In the PYP Personal, Social and Physical Education Scope and Sequence document published by the IB, it states that, “Physical education in a PYP school should be more than just student participation in sports and games. Its purpose should be to develop a combination of transferable skills promoting physical, intellectual, emotional and social development; to encourage present and future choices that contribute to long-term healthy living; and to understand the cultural significance of physical activities for individuals and communities. Therefore, in the PYP, there should be specific opportunities for learning about movement and through movement in a range of contexts.”

Our Primary Physical Education (PE) teachers, Mr. Mat Jones and Ms. Jeanette Brennan, understand and implement these ideas when working with students. The Primary Sports Days and the teaching and learning leading up to them are just one example of how the teachers develop skills during class while later providing opportunities for the students to practice and showcase these skills in authentic settings. An important component in the development of these skills is the attention drawn to the proper technique in how the students perform individual tasks.

The sports day event also allows the students to work collaboratively in groups to compete against their peers. The students learn to support each other by cheering each other on, whether in the same House Group or not, providing motivation for each to do their very best. Sportsmanship among the students is always a highlight for me as the children genuinely want their peers to perform to the best of their ability.

I would like to thank Mr. Jones and Ms. Brennan for their effort in preparing their students and for their phenomenal organization of this week’s sports days. I would also like to thank the classroom teachers, PE staff and the parents for their support.

On another note, I would like to ask for support with student supervision after school. As a school, we are ecstatic that the students want to remain here on campus; it provides a real community feel to our school. However, once the students are dismissed from their last classrooms at 3:30, the teachers cannot be responsible for the their wellbeing except those children in ECA or CCA events.

We are asking that for those parents / guardians who decide to remain at school after 3:30 that you are vigilant with student safety. The children should be playing in the playground or in the 4-square areas. Parents and guardians should have the child in their view at all times.

At Chatsworth, we want all of our students to be safe. We appreciate your support with this endeavor.

Week 32 of the Primary Weekly Correspondance

Week 32 Primary Blog

Primary

CCA/ECA Semester 2 Break (March 9 to April 13)Please note that there will be no CCA/ECA from March 9 to April 13. CCA/ECA dates here. Parent SurveyParent survey letter here. Parent survey link here. Non-Uniform Dress Days in the Primary (March)More details here. Human Library - Volunteers NeededMore details here. Parent-Teacher-Student Conference (19-20Mar)Online registration opens 5th March, 12pm. More details here. Words Go Round - Author Visits (February 27 to March 7) More details here. March Lunch Menu Chatsworth International School Annual Fees 2018-2019More details here. 2018-2019 School Calendar

Primary Parent Event

Parent Cafè: Student Authors In this hands on workshop, you will meet a child author and his mother and their journey. You will have a chance to experience the type of inquiry based language activities Chatsworth students engage in to develop their reading, writing and speaking skills. We will then give you the opportunity to see EY and JY classes in action and then reflect on your observations. Date: 16 March 2018 Time: 0900 - 1100 Venue: Room 5A Presenter: Ms Sri Gupta & Rishav Gupta RSVP your seats here. IBDP Visual Arts Exhibition Opening - 14th March, Wed 6.30pm Please join us at the opening ceremony of our IBDP Visual Arts Exhibition on Wednesday 14th March at 6.30pm in the Main School Hall , Orchard Campus . We will not only be celebrating the talent of our six Year 13 artists, but also the last IBDP exhibition at Orchard Campus. We would love to see you there in support of our young artists.

Thoughts from the Chatsworth Primary Hallway

In the coming weeks our teachers will be working towards creating class lists for the 2018-2019 school year. In creating class lists, the teachers always have the students’ best interest driving their decision making. In preparing for the creation of the class lists, we spoke about the fact that we, as teachers, need to be more explicit with the children in terms of gathering their insights on whom they would like share their classroom. In the past, students were asked to list friends that they would like to be their classmates for the following year. I will ask our Year 1 - 6 teachers to discuss with the children that the names they note on their lists should include children with whom they work well, in addition to having a strong friendship. The teachers understand that putting students together solely based on friendships is not always best for student learning. As our K1 and K2 students are very young, those classroom teachers will work together to create the class lists for our K2 and Year 1 classrooms.

The teachers and students spend a vast amount of time together throughout the year. Children and teachers in the primary will spend well over 1000 hours together in a school year. Because of this, the teachers are aware of the relationships between students and are cognizant of individual learning styles, personalities and group dynamics. The classroom teachers also receive input from the specialist teachers and members of the Student Support Team (SST) consisting of the primary counselor, special learning needs and the English as additional language teachers. For these reasons, I trust the classroom teachers to place the children where they believe each student will experience the most success. The final decision to where students are placed lies with the classroom teacher and the Head of Primary.

We encourage parents to provide information that they feel would help us to place their child in the best possible learning environment. We do not acknowledge requests for specific teachers. However, if there is a particular teaching style that you feel matches well with your child, please inform the classroom teacher or me via email or in person. We also welcome any other pertinent information you feel that we need to know.

As a reminder, the online registration for the PTSC’s will go live on Monday, March 5 at 12:00pm. Should you have questions leading up to the registration, please do not hesitate to contact the Primary Office.


Dr. Michael Berry
Head of Primary

Week 31 of the Primary Weekly Correspondance

Week 31 Primary Blog

Primary

Parent Survey Parent survey letter here. Parent survey link here. Non-Uniform Dress Days in the Primary (March) More details here. Human Library - Volunteers Needed More details here. Parent-Teacher-Student Conference (19-20Mar) Online registration opens 5th March, 12pm. More details here. Sports Day K1-K2 Sports Day (9 Mar) Y1-Y6 Sports Day (8 Mar) Words Go Round - Author Visits (February 27 to March 7) More details here. March Lunch Menu Chatsworth International School Annual Fees 2018-2019 More details here. 2018-2019 School Calendar

Primary Parent Event

Parent Cafè: Student Authors In this hands on workshop, you will meet a child author and his mother and their journey. You will have a chance to experience the type of inquiry based language activities Chatsworth students engage in to develop their reading, writing and speaking skills. We will then give you the opportunity to see EY and JY classes in action and then reflect on your observations. Date: 16 March 2018 Time: 0900 - 1100 Venue: Room 5A Presenter: Ms Sri Gupta & Rishav Gupta RSVP your seats here.