Attitude

The overarching goal of the PYP programme is to develop internationally minded, balanced students. The teachers endeavor to do so by employing a holistic teaching method, recognizing that academics are only one part of a child’s education. The PYP written curriculum, as noted in the PYP publication Making the PYP Happen, is created so that students can acquire “essential knowledge and skills, development of conceptual understanding, demonstration of positive attitudes and taking responsible action”. These are referred to as the 5 Essential Elements of the Written Curriculum. The 5 Essential Elements was discussed this past week in the context of the Year 6 Exhibition.

Developing skills and ensuring students understand concepts are important, as I have touched on in recent newsletters. But, there is a vital focus on the development of “personal attitudes towards people, towards the environment and towards learning, attitudes that contribute to the well-being of the individual and of the group.” Including the attitudes as an essential element of the written curriculum signifies that the PYP “is making a commitment to a values-laden curriculum.”

In PYP schools, students should demonstrate:


Appreciation    Appreciating the wonder and beauty of the world and its people.

Commitment    Being committed to their own learning, persevering and showing self-discipline
                           and responsibility.

Confidence       Feeling confident in their ability as learners, having the courage to take risks,

                          applying what they have learned and making appropriate decisions and choices.

Cooperation    Cooperating, collaborating, and leading or following as the situation demands.

Creativity        Being creative and imaginative in their thinking and in their approach to problems

                         and dilemmas.

Curiosity         Being curious about the nature of learning, about the world, its people and cultures.

Empathy         Imagining themselves in another’s situation in order to understand his or her 

                         reasoning and emotions, so as to be open-minded and reflective about the 

                         perspectives of others.

Enthusiasm     Enjoying learning and willingly putting the effort into the process.

Independence Thinking and acting independently, making their own judgments based on reasoned 

                         argument, and being able to defend their judgments.

Integrity         Being honest and demonstrating a considered sense of fairness.

Respect           Respecting themselves, others and the world around them.

Tolerance       Being sensitive about differences and diversity in the world and being responsive to

                        the needs of others.


Dr. Michael Berry
Head of Primary

Week 26 of the Primary Weekly Correspondance

Primary Weekly Correspondence

• 2019 Parent Survey

Dear Parents,

Each year, Chatsworth asks that you share your thoughts regarding your child’s education. The survey contains questions touching on all areas of the school. We value your opinion and ask that you take a few moments to complete the survey by clicking on the link.

• Chatsworth School Fair (9 Mar 19) 

More details here.

• Parent Cafe: Maths (6 Mar 19) 

RSVP link here.

• Parent Cafe: Language Curriculum (13 Mar 19) 

RSVP link here.

• Extreme Reading Photo Contest

Send in a photo of your child caught reading in strange and unusual situations by Monday Mar 4 to Ms. Fong at efong@chatsworth.com.sg. Creative photoshopping is HIGHLY encouraged. Examples are here. Winners will be announced on Mar 8.

• Year 4 Market Day

The Year 4 students have been busy preparing for our HWOO Market Day in the Mmainsports Hhall on Monday 25th February. JY students and parents are invited to attend. Please see the attached letter and invitation.

Link to Poster
Link to Letter

Chinese New Year Celebration

Chinese New Year is a major holiday in Singapore, this year spanning from 5 February until 19 February.  This Year of the Pig is the twelfth of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar. Students in Mandarin classes and music classes have experienced all different forms of cultural celebrations around this holiday.

On 7 February, we experienced a Chinese lion dance performed for good luck in the new year. Then on 8 February, our students performed cultural dances, which were the fan and chopstick dances, and displayed their drumming and puppet skills. The photos below captured some of these wonderful events. Many thanks to all the classes of students who performed and to Ms. Bac, Mr. Marcelo, Mrs. Teleford, Zhang Laoshi, Hu Laoshi and Huang Laoshi.

Today, student council passed out mandarin oranges to each of the students during their lunch breaks. Also below you can see photos from this event in the canteen.

As with all our holiday events, our students, parents, and staff are able to join in celebrating the important holidays of our host country. Singapore cherishes all its holidays.

Kim Riemer
Assistant Head of Primary

Week 25 of the Primary Weekly Correspondance

Primary Weekly Correspondence

• 2019 Parent Survey
  Dear Parents,
  Each year, Chatsworth asks that you share your thoughts regarding your child’s education.  The survey contains questions touching on all areas of the school. We value your opinion and ask that you take a few moments to complete the survey by clicking on the link.
• Chatsworth School Fair (9 Mar 19) More details here.
• CPG Coffee Morning (18 Feb 19)
  Please join us Monday, 18 February 2019 at 9:00am in the Discovery Centre (4D). We will have coffee, snacks and additional information about upcoming events such as Book Week, Sports Day and the Spring Fair.
  
  
  We look forward to seeing you there!
  The CPG Team
  
  
  Please RSVP via: cpg-orc@chatsworth.com.sg.
  
  
  What: CPG Coffee Morning
  When: February 18, 2019 (Monday)
             9:00 a.m.
  Where: Room 4D (Discovery Centre)


• Parent Cafe: Maths (6 Mar 19) RSVP link here.
  
  
• Parent Cafe: Language Curriculum (16 Mar 19) RSVP link here.

Collective Efficacy

In 1977, Stanford psychologist Albert Bandura observed that a group's confidence in its abilities seemed to be associated with greater success (ASCD Educational Leadership). There has been much research in the area of collective teacher efficacy. In an effort to take advantage of this phenomena, the teachers and teaching assistants at the Orchard Campus and the secondary teachers at the Bukit Timah campus are taking the online Jo Boaler course to become even stronger mathematics teachers.

There has not been much research in collective efficacy where parents are part of the collective efficacy group. We are changing that as there are a number of parents also taking the Jo Boaler course. On March 6, those parents who are enrolled, and those who would like to take the course, will be invited to attend a session with the teachers to learn more about mathematics at Chatsworth. More information will be coming soon about this event.

At the end of the day, we want to make a systemic change in how mathematics is taught at our school. Change is hard. There is evidence that suggests that in organizations 70% of change initiatives are not successful. Furthermore, a sustained change is even more elusive.

In order to make and sustain change, it is important to surround yourself with like minded individuals. Some would say that you would want those with alternative viewpoints as group members to represent other perspectives (Collins book Good to Great goes into this in great detail). That is true to a certain extent. However, if you are considering changing how your school teaches mathematics from procedure based to conceptual, when you have those who are like minded, the conversation becomes "how do we become better at teaching conceptually?" instead of "why are we teaching conceptually?". Change is much easier to implement and, more importantly, sustain.

Having the parents and teachers working together will enable us to make our school better as we all have the same vision as to what quality mathematics teaching and learning looks, feels, and sounds like. I am excited for us to meet on March 6 to learn together.


Dr. Michael Berry
Head of Primary

Week 24 of the Primary Weekly Correspondance

Primary Weekly Correspondence

• 2019 Parent Survey

Dear Parents,

Each year, Chatsworth asks that you share your thoughts regarding your child’s education. The survey contains questions touching on all areas of the school. We value your opinion and ask that you take a few moments to complete the survey by clicking on the link.

• Chatsworth School Fair (9 Mar 19) 

More details here.

• CPG Coffee Morning (18 Feb 19)

Please join us Monday, 18 February 2019 at 9:00am in the Discovery Centre (4D). We will have coffee, snacks and additional information about upcoming events such as Book Week, Sports Day and the Spring Fair.
We look forward to seeing you there!

The CPG Team

Please RSVP via: cpg-orc@chatsworth.com.sg.

What: CPG Coffee Morning
When: February 18, 2019 (Monday),9:00 a.m.
Where: Room 4D (Discovery Centre)