MEF International School Istanbul

Weekly Newsletter

4 October 2019

Whole School (WS) News

WS Spirit Week

Thank you to our parent community for supporting our MEF IS Spirit Week. What an exciting and enjoyable week for our students and teachers.

Thank you to the Secondary Student Council led by Ms. Blundon and Ms. Bahn as well as by Ms. Pelin and the Primary Student Councilors for their time, energy and organization of Spirit Week.

WS Earthquake Drill

The school reviewed its earthquake drill procedures in the classroom and later in a drill. Both students and teachers clearly understand what to do in case of an earthquake.

Primary School (PS) News

Primary Principal Sharlene Carki

There were plenty of highlights this week including our ever eventful Spirit Week, and our Primary Sports Day. On weeks like this, it is great to see teachers taking part and our students really enjoyed dressing up and coming to school to see their friends. Our Primary Sports Day is about participation and enjoying all the benefits of team sports and physical activities. I'm sure you will have tired but happy children come home today.

I would like to give a big thank you to Ms Pelin and our Student Councilors for their effort and organisation of Spirit Week. I would also like to recognise our PE teacher Steve who organised a fun filled Sports Day and to our teachers who supported our students and ran each station.

What a superb MEF IS team spirit.

Have a great weekend everyone. We look forward to seeing you at our upcoming parent-teacher conferences. Please refer to Ms Kate's email for booking information.

PS Library:

MEF Libraries are off to a great start this year. Engaging library sessions will encourage the love of reading in students. The library is the hub of the school and a place for inquiry, caring, critical thinking and taking risks.

Grade 2 students learned the basics of choosing a Good-Fit book independently, learned the IPICK Books song (I, Purpose, Interest, Comprehend, Know) and made their IPICK bookmarks. Grade 4 students learned how to access the online library catalogue in order to locate resources and find them in the library. They also enjoyed their pleasure reading and book checkout session this week.

PS Art: Inktober:

October has a new name - Inktober! Inktober is the brainchild of an illustrator by the name of Jake Parker. It was originally a means of exercising his creative muscles. Every day for the month of October, he challenged himself to make a different drawing based on a random prompt. Ten years later, Inktober is an international phenomenon, challenging artists around the world to create 31 different drawings during the month of October. At MEF, the students and teachers have been invited to participate in this drawing challenge, if they wish. Ms.Donna has started a bulletin board on the lower staircase to showcase students’ and teachers’ drawings. If parents would also like to participate in the drawing challenge, they are welcome to join in. The daily drawing prompts can be found at https://inktober.com/

PS Music:

School choir is an amazing place where young children enjoy learning and playing. There is no better start to educational and musical training for boys and girls aged 7 years and up who love to sing. The MEFIS Children's Ensemble is here to help parents and youngsters to make the most of this incredible opportunity.

The ASA Choir is for FREE. It is open for students from Grades 2 until 5. The MEFIS Children's Ensemble are rehearsing every Mondays from 3:20 until 4:20 PM in the Primary Music Room.

If you are interested to let your child join the choir please do not hesitate to contact Mr. Dennis or register using the ASA Online Registration Form. You can find more information about the benefits of choir singing in the attached letter in today's email.

PS Sports Day

Our students had a wonderful time participating in a variety of activities during our sports day. There were 12 stations including basketball dribbling, bean bag toss, soccer fun, volley ball, parachute and scoops and balls. One station was for 'creating a cheer.' Children were supporting each other with chants and songs which made for an exciting atmosphere.

ECC Sports Day is coming!

Time & Date : 9:00-10:40 am, Tuesday 15 Oct 2019
Venue : ECC playgrounds & Football pitch

Children will engage in a wide range of fun, safe and easy-to-participate activities. They will learn to cheer on their friends and follow the rules of good sportsmanship. To add more to the festive spirit, we plan to finish the event with an ECC picnic. Please mark the date on your calendar, come and support the children with good spirit and cheer!

If you wish to take a more active role during ECC Sports Day, we would love for you to join us! Please contact Ms Jianne (hanj@mefis.k12.tr) if you can participate in these areas.

Aid one of the activities during the Sports Day (No skill required)
Guide small group(3-4) of children to each activities
Prepare snacks to share at the picnic.

We are looking forward to seeing you there!

The 2019 - 2020 Primary Sports Day Winners were ...

BLUE HOUSE 1st

RED HOUSE 2nd

GREEN HOUSE 3rd

Winners of the MEF IS Spirit Cup was YELLOW HOUSE

Congratulations to everyone for their participation.

Secondary School (SS) News

SS Counselor

This week it was Grade 6, 7 and 8s turn to do leadership and teambuilding activities.

Grade 6 participated in a high-ropes challenge where they traversed an obstacle course 20 feet up. Each student was responsible for helping his or her partner complete each section of the course. Students had a picnic lunch and participated in team building activities.

Grade 7 spent time at Yildiz Park participating in team building activities and having a picnic lunch. Students then traveled to İstanbul Gastronomi Merkezi in Eyüp for a cupcake bake-off. In teams of 2 and 3, the students made cupcakes from scratch following a recipe and then tried to outdo each other on decorating their cakes. Students were also taught how to make lemonade before re-boarding the busses and heading back to MEF IS.

Grade 8 also spent time at Yildiz Park participating in team building activities. Students played games in small groups and as a class, which allowed students to take leadership roles and devise strategies for accomplishing a goal. After a quick snack, students went to Trump Tower. Students formed teams and continued to challenge themselves and each other to solve a mystery in the Escapist escape rooms. Each room has a set of clues the students needed to decipher in order to get another set of clues which ultimately led the group to “escape” the room. This required a great deal of teamwork, and it provided opportunities for students to step up into leadership roles that highlighted their strengths.

These were great experiences for the student as well as being educational. Each student had the opportunity to challenge him or herself in different ways and then reflect on his or her own achievements, while engaging in something fun and memorable.

SS College Counselling Department

The autumn visits by university representatives began last week and is now in full swing! There are more than 40 uni reps who will visit the MEF campus this autumn, from Canada, UK, USA, Hong Kong, as well as Europe. Each year there are approximately 75 university rep visits, a high number by any standard! This past week on Tuesday a rep from the University of British Columbia gave a presentation for interested students and parents, followed by a table session in the canteen during the lunch break. On Wednesday afternoon there was a UK Mini-Fair, with 9 uni reps (from Durham, Sheffield, East Anglia, Westminster, Strathclyde, Southampton, U of Law, Kaplan International Pathways - Foundation Year Programmes @ Glasgow, York, Birmingham, Nottingham, as well as a rep from Oxford Royale Academy summer school programmes) who spoke with interested students. Finally, on Friday a US college rep visited from The New School for a Q & A table session during the morning break. Students and parents are encouraged to make the most of these wonderful opportunities and chat with the uni reps!

Next week is Autumn University Week at MEF!

Follow this link to our College Counseling Google Site for more details:

MEF Schools CCD Site

SS Sports Day

Secondary students participated in a variety of activities at the annual Sports Day on Thursday, October 3rd. Individual performances were only surpassed by teamwork as Houses (Red, Blue, Yellow and Green) competed against one another. In the end, the Red House won the Secondary competition. Red was followed by Blue, then Green and finally Yellow. During the day, students developed physical and social skills. Big thanks to Mr. Simon Ibbotson for his organization and school spirit!

SS Curriculum

Exam Week 1: 17-22 October

Exam week 1 is fast approaching! This is an excellent opportunity for students to reflect on previous performance and develop effective study plans. Students should take special care of themselves with a healthy diet and plenty of sleep during study and exam time. Subject teachers will make study guides available to students 1 week before the start of exams. The exam week 1 schedule is included here.

Curriculum Guides

Each year our teachers and administration work together to create curriculum guides to share important information about learning and teaching at MEF IS. You can find the links to our curriculum guides for each grade level below:

Grade 6, Grade 7, Grade 8, Grade 9, Grade 10, Grade 11/IB1, Grade 12/IB2

IBDP FAQ

We know that understanding the IB Diploma Programme is important for our grade 11 and 12 parents/guardians who want to support their child throughout their studies. Click here to visit the IB blog for the top 15 IB Diploma terms that all parents and student should know.