January 2024 Family Newsletter

Dear Parents, 

Welcome to Cycle 2 and the first newsletter of the year. We would like to wish you all a wonderful 2024! 

We have exciting news and events planned for the learners and for you this cycle. 

To start 2024, we interviewed some learners and asked them to tell us what they were looking forward to in the new cycle. Watch the videos below to find out what they said.

Reminders

• Explorers and Creators should bring a notebook and pencil case with them every day. Please, make sure they have these by the start of next week. 

• Urban Hub Family Survey: We'd appreciate it if you could spare a few minutes to give us feedback on your Learnlife experience during cycle 1 (September to December): Participate in the survey here

• Book your place for our Afterschool Programmes if you would like your kid to attend any programmes starting in the third week of January. Booking closes on January 17th.
  
  What´s new? 🍽️ Cooking - Snacks of the World, Tuesdays 17:30-19:00 (€120 for 4 sessions)
  
  What will we repeat? 🎨Mixed Materials, ⚒️Carpentry and 🎮Good Gaming
  
  Book now

Key dates

• February: Semana Blanca from February 12th to 16th included. Remember to check the family website or the live Google calendar for events, holidays, etc. 

• Intensives: From March 4th to March 15th. 

• Sustain event (in lieu of Cycle 2 Showcase): Akasha Hub 26.02.24 from 5 to 7 (Learners will start at 12 pm that day) 

• Parents Workshops: January 25th, February 7th (see below for more information) 

A message from Devin regarding Showcase Cycle 2. 

Click here to read

Studios 

• Are you curious about our upcoming Cycle 2 studios? Check out everything you could possibly want to know right here from our Studio Lead, Lars!

Donation requests for Studios 

• Do you have an old skateboard you don’t know what to do with? Donate it to Learnlife!! The Carpentry Studio will be giving them a second life. Bring them by Learnlife at your earliest convenience or write to Lars, lars@learnlife.com if they need to be picked up. Thank you! 

• Do you have old pieces of clothing you don’t need or wear anymore because they are stained or have holes in them? Consider donating them to the Fashion Studio! They are looking for clothes they can repair. Any further questions, get in touch with Lars! Thank you! 

Parent Workshops 

We will be starting with a series of workshops aimed at all the parent community around a variety of topics to do with parenting and teenagers. These will be facilitated by Devin Carberry or Suzzane Slocum. 

January Workshop - “How to have conversations with your learner about drugs”
First, let's empathise and understand what is going on in an adolescent's mind. Then, we will dive into some practical tips for talking openly about drugs. And to wrap it up, we will role-play these conversations together so you will feel ready to have them at home.
Day and time: Thursday, January 25th from 5.30 to 6.30 pm.
Facilitator: Devin Carberry

February Workshop "Boundaries Matter: Nurturing Adolescence Together with Healthy Limits"

Explore setting clear boundaries aligned with personal needs, values, and ethics. Learn effective communication and consistent enforcement to foster a supportive and harmonious environment at home and for your children(s) growth.
Day and time: Wednesday, February 7th from 5.30 to 6.30
Facilitator: Suzanne Slocum

Programme Updates

Explorers

• Please revise the information discussed in the meeting on Wednesday. If any further questions arise, please do not hesitate to contact your learner’s mentor. 

• We encourage you to ask your learners to share their Personalized Learning Plan with you, and invite you to compare the one they wrote this cycle to the previous cycle as a means of expressing your genuine interest. 

• Explorers will be out all day on Tuesday, January 23rd as they will be going on an outing with the Natural Systems Building Block. Please, make sure they bring appropriate outdoor clothing, a metro ticket (one zone) and a packed lunch and snack. 

Creators 

Our focus for cycle 2 is on quality outputs that shows depth of learning, as well as competency development, awareness and tracking. This focus will permeate every session and be reflected in the learner guidelines for their 360s at the end of the cycle.

All GCSE learners intending on sitting exams this May/June 2024 should make sure they have their display folders in order and books bought and up to date. At this this stage, revision should be daily.

As a reminder, also make sure everyone signed up to GCSES sessions has their book list.

Aside from GCSE sessions, Creators have access to the following blocks this cycle:

• Well-being and Natural Systems: Suzanne is leading a block on relationships, intimacy and sexual education, encompassing both socioemotional and anatomic perspectives. GCSE learners will also be covering reproduction in biology.

• Communication: Jenny is running another round of Literature Circles, with a focus on stories of history. The pre-selected range of books allow learners to step into the shoes of a dynamic, well-written character navigating the choices and conflicts of their time and place.

Learners in this block need to have the book they have chosen for it as soon as possible. They are free to use physical books, ebooks, and audiobooks in the language that works best for them. They have 6 weeks to complete their book, so any encouragement to read at home as well is appreciated. Here is the link to the Slidedeck with the book choices and groups.

• Communication in local languages: learners continue to access Spanish (both basic level and advanced) with Laura, as well as Català with Adri (single group with differentiation by levels).

• Number Systems and Human Systems: Laura and Adri team up to guide the Creators in the exploration of world-shaping events of the last century (wars, recessions, globalisation) from both historical and mathematical perspectives.

As usual, Creators have access to Math Dojo and Lit Café, Adelantes and Studios in the afternoons!

Thanks for reading and we hope you have a great start to 2024!

Take care,

-Joyce & the Learning Team