EDITION 14 / 15 JAN 2021
ALL THE NEWS...
From the Director's Chair
Habit
I realise that it is now the middle of January, but as this is my first Director’s Chair of the new term, let me start by saying “Happy New Year” to you all.
What a year we have left behind and who knows what lies ahead in 2021.
I often say to students that this time of year is the perfect time to consider their aspirations and set their goals. What is it they would like to achieve in the months ahead? What sort of person would they like to be? Are they on course? Are they aiming high?
Very often the force that holds them back – a mighty force indeed – is the force of habit. Habits are those patterns that we get stuck in, that may feel comfortable and familiar, but that limit our creativity, and our potential for growth and change.
Children particularly can become a bit trapped in certain roles because they are expected to behave in a certain way by those around them. The class clown; the rebel; the daydreamer and so on. Often, as they grow, they do not like their role and would like to change but find it difficult to move on. It has become a habit.
The start of a new year is a great time for them to ask themselves what sort of person they aspire to be: in lessons, with their friends, with their family. It is a great time for them to consider if they have become trapped in roles and ways of acting that they would like to leave behind. The new year is a time for reinvention. It is a time to cast off those negative habits and become the person they really wish to be.
It’s a once a year opportunity, not just for our students, but for us all!
Julian Thomas
Director
From the Health Coordinators
Weekly Covid-19 Update
IMPORTANT COVID-19 UPDATE - PLEASE READ:
As we have welcomed students back from their 3-week Christmas holiday, we have been extra vigilant across all parts of ISM to ensure that the health and safety of our students and staff remains the priority.
We have had a great number of students tested today at the Espace Léo Ferré as part of Monaco’s screening of students being educated in the Principality. The testing results will only be shared with parents but we would highly recommend that parents forward these results to the school at their earliest convenience.
We had 103 teachers tested before term started, all of whom tested negative for Covid-19. We have had three positive cases of Covid-19 (PCR tested) this week, one in the Lower Secondary and two in Early Years. All protocols are in place and close contact cases are contacted by a member of our team. Please trust the school. Our Protocols, in line with Monaco Health Authorities, are robust. We will guide and advise as necessary and will react in a calm and professional way. We thank parents for playing their part in that, too.
Please be mindful of informing the school BEFORE information of a positive rapid-antigen test OR PCR test is shared on a parent or student WhatsApp group chat. It is preferable that the school is well informed by the parent of any positive case so that we are able to activate protocols before being informed by other means. This is very much appreciated and you can be assured that these protocols will be put in place in a swift and efficient manner.
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PCR tests are still available for all students and residents in Monaco. To schedule an appointment, contact the Covid-19 Call Centre at 92 05 55 00. In addition to the above, may we please remind you that if any parent, or person you have been in close contact with, tests positive, that you inform the school directly without delay. This in turn allows us to react accordingly and to ensure risk is always at a minimum for the school population. This is particularly important as families return from travels abroad.
In addition to this, if a member of your household is awaiting testing or a test result for Covid-19, the children should also remain at home until a negative result is received. Do not send your children to school if you as the parent, or a member of your household, has symptoms of Covid and is required to take a test. If you have further questions on this, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Please remember that the Health Coordinators and myself remain available during the weekends for anything Covid-related.
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As a continued reminder:
■ The Distance Learning provision remains in place for Covid-related reasons that have been authorised by the Head of Wellbeing, or a Head of School. The Distance Learning programme is not an opt-in, opt-out option, but there to support our students who are obliged to be out of school for specific reasons related to Covid. If a student is out of school for any other reasons, including a medical reason unrelated to Covid, they will not be granted permission to be on the Distance Learning programme.
■ Students should be bringing 2 masks to school.
■ Communications relating to a class will only be sent to parents once authorised by the Monaco Health Authorities and according to the strict protocols we are following.
■ Please check your child's temperature before arriving at school.
Further information can also be found on the dedicated Covid-19 website set up by the Monaco Government.
Mrs Lindsay Mackenzie-Wright - Deputy Director - Wellbeing
School Health Coordinators:
healthcoordinators@ismonaco.comDeputy Director (Wellbeing):
lindsay.wright@ismonaco.comCOVID-related symptoms to stay home for and alert the school for an absence are:
- Cough, difficulty breathing, rapid breathing rate
- Temperature of 38 degrees C or over
- Loss of sense of smell and/or taste
- Diarrhea
If a PCR test has been ordered for your child, the child needs to stay home until the result has been received. Once you have the result, please forward it to the School Health Coordinators and await further instructions from them on when to come back to school.
Possible boarding provision for ISM
I am writing to ask for your feedback as we consider the next exciting stage of the ISM journey.
In recent months, we have been actively considering opening up a boarding provision. Although we are still in the early stages of planning, we are envisaging a boarding house close to the school with between 25 and 40 boarders. We would, of course, ensure that the boarders have excellent accommodation and are well looked after along the lines of the UK boarding school model.
If there is demand, we could consider further boarding accommodation in the future.
We now need to gauge whether there would be sufficient interest for us to further pursue this proposal.
I would like therefore to ask the ISM parent community to give an indication of whether a boarding provision might be of interest to you and to request for you to fill in the form that can be found in the link here.
The form takes only a few seconds to complete and your views will be crucial to us in reaching a final view. Please note that an expression of interest in no way constitutes a commitment on your part of any kind.
Many thanks in advance for your help.
Julian Thomas
Director
Click below for all the news & information from your child's section of the school
From the Early Years
Dear Parents,
A very Happy New Year to you all ! I hope you all enjoyed the Winter break with your families. We are all looking forward to 2021 with renewed energy and a positive outlook as we continue to work responsibly together to ensure that our school is a safe haven for all!
At the end of this first week back at school, I can report that everything is going well! It has been lovely to see our little faces back in school, looking so well and rested, eager to be back in classrooms, focused and ready to get on with their learning. We have had some absences across the Early Years due to children quarantining, shielding a vulnerable relative or delayed in returning from a destination due to closed borders, but in the main attendance has been very good and I thank you for this. For those unable to return for the moment, Distance Learning is being offered.
Our Animal Day will take place on Friday 5th February and is all about Chimpanzees.
Like us, chimps are highly social animals, care for their offspring and can live to be over 50 years old. Chimps are our closest cousins; we share about 98% of our genes! Young children are fascinated by them; I remember as a child being captivated, watching the chimpanzee tea party at the London zoo, in Regents Park and this was my favourite family outing! We will be discovering about these primates, brainstorming their characteristics and look at how they are being threatened in their habitats. As we learn how to be responsible global citizens, we will look at the actions to help protect these endangered animals. The Early Years will adopt a chimpanzee and support the WWF’s conservation efforts.
On Friday 5th February, we would like all children to come to school wearing a chimpanzee or brown t-shirt as well as bring in a little chimpanzee cuddly toy. Any books, photos or other relevant materials about chimps are most welcome. We will be linking up with the Edinburgh zoo from their Chimp enclosure and Amy, the Head Keeper, will talk us through this virtual session. There will be many activities on offer including workshops and Art and craft activities. Further details to follow.
To celebrate the New Year, we shared the Galette des Rois in classrooms. A wonderful French tradition with the pleasure being not just tasting the delicious brioche cake, but the anticipation of wondering whether you will be the lucky one to discover the ‘fève’, a tiny charm, buried inside one of the slices and become the ‘king’ or ‘queen’ and…. wear the crown for the afternoon!
Seesaw Updates - following our successful launch of Seesaw, here are some analytics from our admin dashboard:
Number of current posts: 16, 529
Comments made on student work: 13, 773
Likes of student work: 4,467
Visits by family members: 359
We would now like all our children, from Kam through to Year 3, to participate in a New Year’s Resolution activity on Seesaw this weekend to be done with the family! There are two main reasons why we would like you to sit down with your child and work on this together, firstly so that you can engage in a deeper learning focused conversation with your child and secondly, so that we can ensure you child is able to log into their Seesaw account at home and use all the tools effectively.
Please use the Seesaw CLASS APP on your iPad or the Seesaw Class platform on a mac computer as this is where your child has to complete and submit their work. The Parents Seesaw app is purely for you as a parent. On Wednesday afternoon, you received your child’s QR code and log-in details from your child’s teacher so your child can access the activity on the Seesaw Class platform. You will find all instructions within the activities tab once your child has logged in. We hope you enjoy engaging with this activity as we believe it will really help to strengthen our learning relationship. We would love to see more parents commenting on their child's post as we know how much they enjoy this.
That’s it for now.
Wishing you a lovely weekend!
Stay safe!
Best regards,
Mrs Ragi and the Early Years Team
From Primary
Dear Parents,
It has been wonderful to see the students return to school this week and get straight back into the business of learning. I often refer to this second term of the year as the most important one, as students are well-settled and have matured over the course of the first term, meaning that this is a great time to make the maximum progress in their learning.
Student Reports
First term reports will be sent to parents on Monday. In order for students to gain as much as possible from the learning advice contained in these reports, it is essential that parents read through the reports carefully with their child.
You will receive a hardcopy of the report via the post and a PDF version will also be accessible on the school database, Engage. You will receive further information about how to access this shortly.
Parent/Teacher Conferences
Parent/teacher conferences will be taking place on the afternoons of Wednesday 20th January and Wednesday 3rd February. Due to Covid-19 safety measures, these meetings will take place online. Earlier this week, all Primary School parents were sent the schedule for these meetings. If you are unable to meet with the teachers at your allocated time, please contact your child’s class teachers to arrange an alternative appointment time. The email addresses of all teachers can be found here.
The meetings will take place via Google Meet video conferences. An invitation to your meeting will be sent to the email addresses you have provided to the school, shortly before your allocated time.
In order for this process to run smoothly, it is imperative that we stick to a tight schedule. Each meeting is 15 minutes long. If any parents feel that they need more time to discuss matters concerning their child, we would be more than happy to arrange an additional meeting at a later date.
Year 6-7 Transition Meeting
All Year 6 parents are invited to an online Year 6 into 7 Transition assembly which will take place, via Google Meet, on Thursday 28th January between 08:30 and 10:30.
During this meeting, we will take you through the journey your child will be taking in the transition between Primary and Secondary School, highlighting the similarities and differences between the two sections of school and informing you about the events that will be taking place between now and the end of the school year.
These steps are specifically designed to help inform you and your children about school life and learning in Year 7.
Extra-Curricular Activities
Extra-curricular activities resumed on Monday. At present, we are unable to offer any sports activities, however, we do have a wide range of enriching activities and will be commencing Cooking Club and Spanish Club for Year 5 students from the week beginning Monday 1st February. These activities will then be open to Year 6 students for the final term of the school year.
Student Tracking
Following close collaboration with our “sister school”, King’s College School, Wimbledon, we have now completed a very comprehensive student tracking system that will allow us to closely follow the progress of all Primary School students in reading and writing (English and French) and mathematics. This new system will allow year groups to regularly review the progress of all students and to intervene in a timely manner (where necessary), with additional support, additional challenge, and meetings with students and parents.
This system is designed to compare student performance with their academic potential, to ensure that all students are appropriately supported and challenged. Alongside staff training, regular lesson observations by senior members of staff, and close scrutiny of student work, this system is designed to ensure that all Primary School students receive the maximum support to enable them to fulfil their academic potential.
This new system is complemented by a student well-being tracking system that enables teachers to monitor your child’s social development and intervene in a timely manner (where deemed necessary), to support your child through the social challenges that they may face in school.
Later this term, I will be running an online session for all parents to demonstrate and explain in more detail, how these new systems will be used to support your child. I will provide you with further information about this meeting nearer to the time.
Warmest Regards,
Chris Benson
From Secondary
Dear Secondary Parents (Class 7 - 13),
Happy new year to you all and I hope that this finds you well and in good spirits. It has been lovely to see the students back in school (or indeed online) this week. The three week holiday was most certainly needed but it feels like quite a long time ago that we were in school. The students have been in excellent spirits this week.
I will very quickly touch upon the news of my departure that was shared with you by Mr Thomas earlier in the week. Firstly, thank you for the many kind messages I have received. I am very sad to be leaving ISM and have thoroughly enjoyed my time here. It has been hard but rewarding work. No person is ever bigger than an organisation and the people, structures and systems that we have in school are robust and embedded. I have a dedicated and talented team around me and we will work very hard to ensure the final term of the year is smooth for the students. You have my word that my dedication to the ISM community will remain fully intact this term.
Ok, that’s more than enough about me.
We still remain in a difficult and unstable situation with COVID and its repercussions. I said to the secondary staff on Monday that we should feel a sense of confidence and security in the fact that we are ready and now experienced in dealing with these challenges. We have the timetable, systems and flexibility to adapt to the various situations that may arise in the next couple of months. I hope that this gives you confidence too.
Perhaps the most stress is felt by our Class 11 & 13 students who are faced with the uncertainty of examinations. Cambridge International and the IBO are still intending to run the summer examination session. This is and must remain our current position until they tell us otherwise. However, it would be remiss of us not to consider the cancellation of the exams a strong possibility. We are well placed to adapt to this eventuality and are making precautionary preparations for it. As ever we will keep both you and the students fully informed.
Have a wonderful weekend
James Wellings
CLICK HERE FOR VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION FROM SECONDARY REGARDING:
PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES
REGISTER NOW FOR TEDxYOUTH@ISMONACO
MOCK EXAMS & FEEDBACK
CONGRATULATIONS YEAR 13 UNIVERSITY OFFERS
UNIVERSITY NEWS
UNIFROG CAREER WEBINARS -YEARS 10-13
YEAR 7 tO 9 PE
From the Deputy Director Academic
“Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.”
Henry Ford
What we need to remember is that learning never stops. It does not just happen in the classroom. It does not just happen at school. It does not just happen before your high school graduation.
Learning takes place all the time. Professionally, we always have something new to learn, to relearn or to discover. There are always new ways to do things, to experiment and to discover.
At ISM, it is not just our students who learn, but also our staff. They are continually trying out new resources, reading articles about the latest education research and finding out more about different theories that will aid all students to learn and to develop their skills.
Before school even started again this term, all our teaching staff spent two days in school, learning and discovering at our first annual ISM Professional Learning conference -Pictures below- (you may have seen this on our Twitter @ISMonaco).
There were 19 sessions on offer for the staff, with a wide range of topics ranging from differentiation, feedback and asking good questions.
The sessions were led by a variety of our talented staff as well as our King’s colleagues.
At ISM, we are all learners, all the time.
Check out the event on our Twitter page! @ISMonaco
HOT OFF THE PRESS
MEET EMMANUEL GASPARRO
Hello! My name is Emmanuel Gasparro. When people ask me where I’m from, I always struggle to give a short answer. I was born in France, but my family comes from Italy. Having spent almost 20 years living in Australia, I’m also a citizen of this amazing country.
My career has not evolved in a straightforward manner. I graduated as a Civil Engineer from the National Institute of Applied Sciences in Lyon, France. However, I quickly concluded that Civil Engineering was a field for which I had no real passion and when I moved to Sydney, aged 23, I was determined to find my true vocation. It is by chance that I started to give French lessons at the Alliance Française in Sydney. By the end of my very first lesson, it was clear to me that becoming a qualified language teacher was something that I simply had to do. I decided to return to university, and, within two years, I was working for a leading private school for girls (Santa Sabina College). I went on to teach French to all grades from Y6 to Y12 (no Y13 in Australia) at another top girls’ school (Ascham). I also joined the New South Wales state board of studies where I developed and wrote Statewide High School Certificate French examination papers.
I really enjoyed my time in Australia, but in 2019, as I had recently turned 40, I decided that it was time to return home to spend more time with my family. I feel extremely privileged to be working at ISM because I get to enjoy the best of two worlds: the chance to work in an international school where I can remain connected to the English-speaking world whilst also getting the opportunity to reacquaint myself with my homeland - I was born in Grasse, less than 50 kms from Monaco. I am thrilled to have joined the primary school at ISM; my colleagues and students inspire me every day to become the best teacher I can be. I also look forward, with the help of students, to publishing more episodes of the Explorer (the new primary school magazine).
When I am not working, I enjoy international travel as well as learning about other cultures and languages. I also have a passion for the Arts; I love going to the theater, the opera and classical music concerts. As an ex Bondi Beach Life Saver, I also enjoy a swim. I can often be found in the Mediterranean Sea, all year round, provided that the sun is shining!
TEDx Save the Date with link (1).pdfSave the date! TedxYouth event at ISM
ISM is excited to hold the first-ever TedxYouth event in the Principality on Saturday, the 13th of February, which will take place through live streaming online. Ten student speakers from a wide range of year groups will be participating, where they will present their thoughts on the theme "Mistakes that change(d) the world".
Further information about the event can be found on the website HERE, and you can register to participate in the event HERE.
We hope to see you there!
Follow us on social media!
To start the new year off with a bang (and a tweet!), we have revamped our social media accounts on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Follow us for regular updates on school news, current projects and activities, upcoming events, featured students and staff members, and many other topics related to life at ISM.
Bilingual Model United Nations conference
From January 6th to the 8th, a select number of our secondary school students took part in FERMUN 2021, a bilingual Model United Nations conference where students simulate UN procedures in an academically challenging environment. While normally we would have travelled to Geneva to take part, this year the conference was held online. To allow for over 400 delegates taking part from across the globe, including Australia and South America, students registered in two different groups, depending on their time zone. (Group Europe Asia or Group Europe Americas). This meant some debates ran until 9:30 pm in the evening! Students had the privilege of listening to an opening speech by the World Health Organisation (WHO) Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom, which can be found here.The opening ceremony also involved a Q+A session with the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General of the UN, Fabrizio Hochschild-Drummond.
Within committees, ISM students participated in the World Meteorological Organization and the Human Rights Council. All students were well prepared and were able to contribute to high-level debate and resolution writing, collaborating with delegates in an effort to create constructive resolutions for such topics as 'combating misinformation in times of health crisis' and 'how to address the persistent decline of tolerance towards communities of colour'.
The MUN community also created a 'song for change' collaboration, please do check it out.
Congratulations to the following students who participated:
Alice C.
Olivia C.
Martina C.
Matteo P.
Vladimir V.
Enzo D.
Mobhi M.
Alexander H.
Natasha N.
Amael A.
Georgie D.
Benoit U.
Our thoughts now turn to ISMMUN, taking place virtually in February. Further details can be found in our ISM MUN Website.
We welcome applications for next Academic Year 2021-2022 !
We have now begun accepting applications for the 2021-2022 academic school year. Application requests are welcome at any time and can be made to the ISM Admissions department at: admissions@ismonaco.com. Children aged 3 years old before the 31st of August are eligible to apply for a place in our youngest group of the Early Years school. Thank you for sharing this information with your friends, family, and acquaintances who may be interested in applying to ISM!
ISM Admissions: Virtual Open Morning
We would like to announce that ISM will be hosting a Virtual Open Morning this month on the 28th of January, as in-person school tours for prospective students and parents are currently unavailable due to the current health pandemic. This live online event will highlight different aspects of the school and its offerings, including a virtual tour of the school, presentations by our Directors and the Heads of our Early Years, Primary, and Secondary schools, live Q&A sessions, and an overview of our IB Diploma Programme and IB Career-related Programme. The link to register for this event will be announced in upcoming editions of Pulse as well as on our social media. Please feel free to share this information with your friends, family, and acquaintances who may be interested in attending this online event.
First annual ISM Professional Learning conference - Photos
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