EDUCATION WITH DISTINCTION

EDITION 22 / 27 MAR 2021

ALL THE NEWS...

From the Director's Chair

You may have seen the recent media reports circulating in the UK press and elsewhere, regarding the unacceptable behaviour by some teenage boys towards girls in their peer group. These reports began in the UK, but similar accounts are now being posted online from around the world, involving both independent and state maintained schools.

I want to start this letter by stating that we are committed to the highest standards of pastoral care and safeguarding for all of our students. We want our students to feel safe and happy, and allowed to flourish in their own ways and at their own pace, free of any sort of unkindness and peer pressure. We aim to achieve this in three ways.

Firstly, by endeavouring to create an environment in which such behaviours are discussed and never allowed to go unchallenged, and all students feel confident and willing to bring to our attention any behaviour that has made them feel unhappy, uncomfortable or vulnerable.

Secondly, by stating and demonstrating that the International School of Monaco will not tolerate disrespect or unkindness in any form, whether online or in real life. When this behaviour occurs, our response will be strong, clear and consistent. We have high expectations of the behaviour of our students and, whilst we recognise that mistakes can be made, we also believe there can be no excuse for sexist, racist, or disrespectful behaviour.

We encourage any student who has experienced unacceptable behaviour to use this network of support to talk to one of the trusted adults at this school. To those students I say, you can be sure that you will be heard, believed and that appropriate action will be taken.

Thirdly, by educating every child in our charge in how to be a positive and kind citizen of the world. Much of this takes place through our PSHE programme and assemblies but also through the daily interactions with homeroom and class teachers. Through our PSHE programme we teach topics such as positive relationships, consent, sexting, online responsibilities and consequences: all in an environment of trust and fairness. The PSHE curriculum provides a safe space for students to develop knowledge, skills and values and to consider current issues relating to their lives.

Our class and homeroom teachers play a pivotal role in this, guiding, supporting and nurturing all students. In addition, the Heads of Year, who oversee pastoral care, have strong intervention processes in place to detect vulnerable learners. These staff are supported by the Assistant Heads of Year and the Wellbeing team, led by Deputy Director Lindsay Mackenzie-Wright, and are all trained in dealing with child protection and safeguarding issues. Our School Counsellor is available daily and her presence around the school is known through Wellbeing Cafes, drop-in sessions at morning and lunch breaks, homeroom support, and workshops.

The whole school works together to create a healthy, safe and nurturing environment. All of the school’s processes and procedures are overseen by the Board’s Safeguarding Committee whose membership of Senior Leaders and Board members all receive relevant and up to date training.

Parents also have a vital role to play in ensuring students in the ISM community are safe outside school. We will work in partnership with you to ensure students are secure and appropriately protected. We are aware, however, that there are some situations where this is not the case. For example, some students are having unsupervised parties and gatherings that may put them at risk. If you have concerns do come and discuss them with us. We will always place the wellbeing of students as central to our work.

I hope this will reassure you. We recognise that schools have a vitally important role in the education and wellbeing of young people. We accept that important responsibility wholeheartedly and will do all we can to ensure that we help our students - your children - prosper now and in the future.

Julian Thomas

Director

From the Deputy Director Wellbeing

IMPORTANT‌ ‌COVID-19‌ ‌UPDATE‌ ‌-‌ ‌PLEASE‌ ‌READ:‌ ‌

Two positive Covid-19 cases were reported at ISM this week. One in Early Years at the beginning of the week which resulted in the class being the first to have the ‘saliva’ tests at ISM, all of which returned negative.

A second Covid-19 case was reported last night in Upper Secondary. The year group in question will be on Distance Learning until Wednesday 31st March once all students in the year group have been cleared with a PCR-test. The reason for transferring to Distance Learning is due to the very high number of close contact cases having taken place outside of school, and during unmasked gatherings.

I will stress again that the social interactions your children have outside of school GREATLY IMPACTS the school if a positive case is detected.

Please continue to limit these social interactions of your children outside of school. We only have 2 more school weeks until the next break and we would very much like to maintain a low number of Covid cases within school. We all have to play our part in this and we therefore ask you not to allow sleepovers, unmasked playdates and parties for the next few weeks.

A further communication will be sent next week concerning the expectation for all students to return to school after the Spring break with a negative Covid-19 test.

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Please also ensure you inform the school BEFORE information of a positive rapid-antigen test OR PCR test is put 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 those protocols will be put in place in a swift and efficient manner.

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PCR tests continue to be available for all students and residents in Monaco and are free of charge.

To schedule an appointment, contact the Covid-19 Call Centre at 92 05 55 00 https://covid19.mc/

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.

If a member of your household is awaiting testing or test results due to symptoms of 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. (healthcoordintators@ismonaco.com) (lindsay.wright@ismonaco.com)

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As‌ ‌a‌ ‌continued‌ ‌reminder:‌ ‌

The Distance Learning provision remains in place for Covid-related reasons which 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. Our expectation is that all students return to school after the Winter Break, unless there are exceptional reasons why this is not possible.
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.

Mrs Lindsay Mackenzie-Wright - Deputy Director - Wellbeing

School Health Coordinators:

healthcoordinators@ismonaco.com

Deputy Director (Wellbeing):

lindsay.wright@ismonaco.com

From the Health Coordinators

COVID-related symptoms to stay home for and alert the school for an absence are:

Cough, difficulty breathing, rapid breathing rate
Temperature of 38 degrees Celsius 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.
When a parent has a positive PCR result for COVID19:- Inform the school via email: - healthcoordinators@ismonaco.com - lindsay.wright@ismonaco.com- The whole household is to remain home in quarantine/isolation- Each member of the household is to be PCR tested as soon as possible- Report results of PCR tests to the above addresses- Await instructions from the health coordinators

Click below for all the news & information from your child's section of the school.

From the Early Years

Dear Parents,

It was with great pleasure that we welcomed our Kindergarten children back to the Early Years on Thursday. It was so good to see their little faces, their classrooms were busy and bustling again, filled with little voices and laughter. The Kindergarten Team were so thrilled to see everyone resuming normal school!

Photo 1 / Photo 2 / Photo 3 / Photo 4 / Photo 5

I bumped into a mother last week whose children have been in the Early Years, and she stressed that it was so important that parents of young children are made aware of the dangers of social media early on. She wished she has been more well informed when her own children were younger. She went on to explain about Cyber bullying (bullying using digital technology) and the risks of young impressionable children seeing inappropriate images and messages.

Parenting has never been easy, but with the rise of social media there are many more challenges for parents. If your children do have iPads, do ensure that there isn’t free access to the internet. Block inappropriate sites and do not let your child be on any IT tool behind closed doors. I know children now have iPhones from a very early age but please be very careful.

A highly discussed topic amongst us all currently is screen time and how much is too much for young children and what implication will screens have on children’s development? Some Early Years parents themselves make clear they are concerned about the effects of screen time and the secret, as screens become a bigger part of young children’s lives, is to get the balance right. There is no doubt that a balanced use of screen can offer children key benefits to help them learn, explore and interact with the world around them, as we have seen through our Distance Learning Programme.

Today in my class, children completed an activity in their exercise books. For extension, children were assigned a Seesaw activity. The confidence children show, with increasing proficiency, when logging in, scanning the QR code, selecting their tools to complete the task and then successfully uploading the completed work, all independently yet under teacher supervision, demonstrates how far our children have come. These skills that children have learned during the past year are skills they will build upon and use in their future daily lives.

On Thursday I was invited to Year 3’s Super 3 Projects where children had researched all their facts and information, presenting their projects as posters or in booklets. Presentations were delivered in both English and French, and children spoke with enthusiasm and confidence, captivating their audience. It was wonderful to hear all about their researched animals and countries, and they have clearly enjoyed completing their projects. Well done to all!

Anthony’s video Mark’s video Allegra’s video

Today we had an online assembly where our Student Council gave a presentation on ‘Citizenship’. We learned about different ways to be a good citizen as well and received helpful advice on how to be a good citizen at home, at school and with friends. Thank you, Student Council!

Photo

Our Bear Family

Look at the children who took our bears home this week! Many congratulations to all!

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House points

Earning House points in the Early Years is so reinforcing! Our children are trying very hard!

The winning House in the EY this week is ….

1st Place - Grimaldi - 230 House Points

2nd Place - Shackleton - 208 House Points

3rd Place - Earhart - 134 House Points

4th Place - Baret - 174 House Points

GRAPH

Easter afternoon

On Friday 2^nd April, in the afternoon, children will be participating in different Art & Craft activities. Children will be making an array of baskets, flowers, bunnies, and chicks, and the PTA has kindly offered each child a little bunny piggy bank to decorate and take home. We have Easter eggs galore to adorn our creations with and these will go home with children at the end of the school day.

Book Day

Please note that on Friday 9^th April, the Early Years will be celebrating ‘Book Day’!

There will be further details coming but we have managed to organise Korky Paul, a renowned illustrator of children’s books, to join us online and tell the children about his work and books. He is most known for his illustration of the the well loved Winnie the Witch series.

Just a little reminder that once you have picked up your child from school, we asked you to move away from the area outside the Early Years entrance promptly and not linger. Children are running around as parents chat to each other, with some jumping in the flower beds and jumping off the little wall.

Our Security Team are trying to do their best with surveillance and we ask for your cooperation.

Thanking you for your understanding.

That’s it for now!

Have a lovely weekend.

Best regards,

Mrs Ragi and the Early Years Team

MORE FROM EARLY YEARS

EARLY YEARS CLASSES

From Primary

Dear Parents,

Appropriate Challenge

As we all know, children develop at different rates and therefore within any Primary School classroom there will always be a wide range of needs. Some need close support, some need regular reassurance, and some need additional challenges. Meeting such a wide range of needs is one of the biggest challenges of teaching this age group and, this school year, we have been actively focusing on ensuring all students are given the support and challenge that they require.

This is done by closely tracking both the wellbeing and academic development of all students, meeting regularly in year groups to discuss their progress, and intervening, where deemed necessary. Such interventions may include speaking directly with a child, contacting parents, closely monitoring a situation, adapting our teaching accordingly or seeking further external support, as required.

In addition to this, we have also placed a particular focus on “appropriate challenge”, during lesson observations and when scrutinising student work. This means ensuring that all students are challenged in their learning. For many students, the demands of their year group’s curriculum present an appropriate challenge, however, for some, once they’ve demonstrated a capacity to meet these demands, further challenge and extension are needed.

Creating a culture of high expectations and appropriate challenge for all is something that the entire Primary School team has bought into whole-heartedly, and the latest round of classroom visits that I have conducted along with the Heads of Year has clearly demonstrated a very strong shift towards securely establishing such a culture in all classrooms.

Whilst we have always been ambitious for our students and they have achieved some very pleasing results over the past years, knowing that your teacher expects that extra 10-20% from every child can help turn a good school into a great one.

The children’s reaction to these challenges has been extremely encouraging, and in the final week of term we will be holding our second Awards Assembly of the school year, where the outstanding achievement of students across the Primary School will be recognised and rewarded. The competition is tight and there will be much to celebrate. We look forward to sharing the results with you, shortly.

Best wishes,

Chris Benson

MORE FROM PRIMARY

LINK TO THE PRIMARY PARENT ROOM

READ "THE EXPLORER" EDITION 2

From Secondary

NOTE: YEAR 11 STUDENTS CAN SIGN UP FOR HOLIDAY REVISION SESSIONS USING THE LINK BELOW THIS POST

Dear Secondary Parents,

Like him or loathe him, one thing that can be said about US motivation guru Tony Robbins is that he comes up with some killer quotes.

“Complexity is the enemy of execution.”

I love this. In fact it pops into my mind almost daily. Schools try to execute something that sounds so straightforward. That being to ensure students learn well, make excellent academic progress and flourish as human beings. Seems simple enough.

The challenge of course is that schools are incredibly complex places. In trying to execute this overarching goal, they have to execute hundreds (if not thousands) of smaller goals. Each one of which can be made more complex than perhaps it needs to be. The enemy of execution can easily then compound problems and prevent progress.

To add further complexity, everyone in a school has knowledge and experience of school. Teachers trained to be teachers and work there every day. Students' lives are dominated by school, and parents once went to school themselves. This is further complicated in international schools by the cultural complexity. The experience and expectations that might exist within one country's system may be very different from others. If we place a British, French and Finnish family in the same room to discuss education we might be right to expect a lively debate. These views are often driven by the same, seemingly simple motive “we just want the best for the kids”. And we do. All of us. We just usually want to do it the way we know or have experienced. This makes the whole thing astonishingly complicated.

You may or may not know that we are currently undergoing a full curriculum review in the school. The curriculum essentially refers to what we teach and when we teach it. It runs from kindergarten to Year 13, and over time it becomes more complex as things are added, subtracted and amended by multiple people year on year. The purpose of the curriculum review is to try and remove some of this complexity to better execute learning and teaching in the school.

This is a truly exciting and important project. It aims to develop more educational pathways for our students and is driven by a goal of being genuinely future focused. It is part of our strategic plan and a real keystone in the future development of the school.

So watch this space as the review bears fruit and the curriculum develops. It will be whole school, aligned and hopefully free from unnecessary complexity. It should provide options for our students to pursue their passions and to transition through the school more easily and efficiently. Perhaps most notably you will see approaches, systems and processes becoming more aligned across the different sections of the school.

To move from the abstract to the concrete, a good example of this is within maths. Currently our provision across the schools is more complex than it needs to be. It has different approaches and language attached to it in different parts of the school. This has an impact on execution. The maths teams have been doing a lot of work on aligning the curriculum into a coherent and effective through school approach. They are already a long way down that road, and the new school year will bring a less complex approach that will undoubtedly improve execution.

Thanks, Tony.

Have a good weekend, everyone.

James Wellings

IGCSE SPRING BREAK “BOOT CAMP” - MAY/JUNE 2021 EXAM SESSION

We are delighted to share THIS SCHEDULE for our IGCSE revision programme taking place during the Spring Break holiday. Every day there are up to 6 different sessions that students can pick from, covering 15 different subject areas. Physical attendance at school for these sessions is HIGHLY recommended, but if this is absolutely impossible (due to travel or COVID reasons), students will be allowed access online. Students are welcome to sign up to any session (even if it is not their normal class teacher). The sign-up form for the programme can be found at the bottom of the schedule.

CLICK HERE FOR VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION FROM SECONDARY REGARDING:

YEAR 13 ELECTIVES
IGCSE REVISION PROGRAMME
UPDATED IGCSE INFORMATION
YEAR 11 PARENTS - NOVEMBER 2020 IGCSE EXAM CERTIFICATES
CONGRATULATIONS - UNIVERSITY OFFERS SO FAR
UNIVERSITY NEWS
YEAR 9 GEOGRAPHY TRIP
IBCP IN FOCUS

From the Deputy Director Academic

Why it is important to ask “why?”

After the umpteenth time your child has asked “why?”, this may be the last time you want to hear that word.

However, I would like to reassure you that this is a question that must be celebrated and encouraged. This seemingly innocuous question will be the most important one your child asks.

1.“Why?” is a critical part of how we learn

Asking why we are doing things is an effective way of building understanding and digging deeper into details. These details will then be better understood and remembered in the longer term.

2.“Why?” for better analytical thinking

A type of question which begins with why forces us to step back and think more analytically. Sometimes just focusing on what, when, how and who detracts from the goal but why enables us to make sure that we understand the objectives.

3.“Why?” eliminates confusion

Asking why in any context can go a long way to eliminate confusion or assumptions. These assumptions will be fueled by a lack of knowledge or partial knowledge. Asking why ensures a common path and brings everyone on the same page.

4.“Why?” gives you purpose

When we are learning, it is important to ask why, so that we understand reasons for our learning and the path that we are taking. This gives our lessons a common goal and at home this will also fuel inquiry and passion.

Therefore, I urge you to encourage your child to ask “why” as often as possible. I hope that you enjoy the educational, interesting and passionate conversations this weekend.

HOT OFF THE PRESS

MEET EVELYN WALSH: English & Music Teacher, Early Years

Hello everyone, this is my first year at ISM and I teach Year 3 English as well as Music throughout the Early Years.

I come from a family of primary school teachers; both my grandfather and my mother were headteachers so I grew up around passionate and supportive school communities. For me, there was no other professional path worth taking. I now have 7 years of teaching experience,

primarily in Dublin and London, while also undertaking some charity ventures in Uganda and Samoa.

My personal interests are very varied, and each one has led me to new roles and responsibilities in each teaching role I have taken on. My love of sport led me to train school sports teams in Dublin that won all-Ireland medals; my interest in using technology in the classroom brought about my appointment as the Digital Curriculum Lead in my previous school in London. And now, here at ISM, I feel extremely lucky to be able to teach Early Years music.

My love of music started from a young age - as is so often the case in large Irish families! I play piano, but my first love is singing. As a child I took part in dramas and musicals, going on to perform with choirs or to sing solo at weddings, festivals and concerts. I have completed all classical singing grades and also a diploma in vocal performance at the British Institute of Modern Music. I really love that I can spend half of my working week bringing the fun and joy of music to each class in the Early Years.

It has definitely been a strange year to move to a new country and school. However, the ISM community has been incredibly supportive, and I do look forward to meeting you all in person in the future!

Year 6 parents: Language survey

A gentle reminder to complete the language survey which can be found here and below if you have not already done so. This was due on Friday 26th March.

Please share your photos by tagging @ismonaco and using the hashtag #ISMplantsaseed on social media, or email them to shasta.almi@ismonaco.com. Happy spring!

ISM Plants A Seed: school-wide April initiative

We are excited to announce "ISM Plants A Seed", our entire-school initiative for the month of April! As it is now springtime and the ideal time for planting, we encourage all of our students, teachers, staff, families, and alumni to plant a seed (or two) and watch it grow, sharing photos of your progress as you go along. This is an excellent activity for children and adults of all ages to plant a seed, care for it, and watch it grow over time. Planted seeds can include anything that you would like to grow (with or without soil, indoor or outdoor, etc.), including avocado seeds in water with toothpicks, seeds in a cup with cotton, and of course traditional seeds planted in soil. To support this initiative, the PTA is providing a packet of flower seeds to every student and staff member at ISM.

Seed packets can be picked up at reception next week (date to be confirmed) and taken home to plant. We look forward to seeing everyone's colorful photos of their seeds, sprouts, and (hopefully) blooms throughout April!

TedxYouth@ISMonaco event videos now viewable on YouTube

We are pleased to announce that the full video of our TedxYouth@ISMonaco event that took place on February 13 is now viewable here: TedxYouth@ISMonaco full event video. We had a phenomenal team of students, coaches and sponsors who made this event possible, and we congratulate them all for their success!

Each individual student's speech can also be viewed on the global Tedx YouTube channel, by searching for "tedxyouth@ismonaco" in the YouTube main search panel.

ISM virtual Open Morning - another success!

On Thursday, March 25th, we held our second virtual Open Morning of the year.

We had a good turnout of families and their children who were interested in what ISM has to offer, and our presenters received excellent questions in the live Q&A sessions regarding ISM's goals, ethos, and admissions procedures. For anyone who was not able to join the live Open Morning, they can visit our Open Morning website here, where recordings of each presentation will be uploaded soon.

Year 4 Science Club

Our weekly Year 4 Science Club sessions are filled with exciting science experiments that introduce children to a wide range of science topics such as chemistry, physics, and biology. Here are some of the latest photos from this popular extracurricular activity!

Easter activity in Lower Secondary

This week in the Lower Secondary School, Student Council members Arabella and Constance from Year 7 led a mindful activity to colour Easter eggs during break time.

Year 4 practice outdoor yoga

This week, our Year 4 students had the opportunity to teach their classmates their favourite yoga postures!

Can you recognise which ones?

ISM students take on roles of responsibility throughout the school

ISM believes in promoting student voice, agency, leadership, and empowerment by having students take on roles of responsibility throughout the school. As part of this initiative, one of our Year 9 students took to the challenge this week in her role of responsibility as a Hub assistant, by lending books and ensuring the smooth running of one of our school Hubs. Bravo!

ISM boosts digital resources

Join our Director Julian Thomas in his recent interview with Riviera Radio discussing how the pandemic has strengthened ISM's approach to digital resources. "What we've seen is a real acceleration in the use of digital technology and an understanding of how it can be successfully integrated into more traditional teaching and learning methods."

From social media to online and hybrid learning programmes, to state-of-the-art classroom technology and devices for students, to our recent virtual Open Morning, ISM continues to adapt its resources and offerings to the ever-increasing digital needs of its students and the entire community.

Year 5 Cooking Club

This week, our Cooking Club students in Year 5 played the role of pizzaiolo with their homemade pizza!

ISM YouTube channel

We are pleased to announce that ISM is now on YouTube, in addition to being on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Please subscribe to our ISM YouTube channel to view our latest videos!

ISM Video Tour.mp4

In case you might not have seen it yet, our ISM virtual video tour is now viewable above. As in-person school visits are not possible at the moment due to the current health situation, this video gives an overview of the school, highlighting our state-of-the-art facilities and exceptional location in Monaco.