MEF International School, Istanbul

Weekly Newsletter

From the Head of School

A warm welcome to the 2018-2019 academic year to all our students, parents, teachers and staff. I hope that this year will be an inspiring, challenging and nurturing year for all of us. We are all very excited to be back at school - and have very much enjoyed welcoming our students to school. I hope that you all had a wonderful holiday break and feel recharged and positive to be starting the school year with us. An extra special welcome to all our new teachers and new families who are joining us this year. You can see a couple of pictures from our welcome to MEF IS Bosphorous cruise.

As a side note, we are having a new look PE uniform designed at the moment. This means that our PE uniforms will not arrive until the end of October, or the beginning of November. We apologise for this delay.

I would like to share with you some changes that have been put in place for the 2018-2019 academic year:

a new airconditioning and heating system throughout the main and ECC building
Newly renovated toilets on the ground and -1 floors of the main building
A new Turkish as a Foreign Language teacher for the Primary School
Chess lessons for Kindergarten, Grades 1 and 2
A separate international food menu for the international school students
Our own cleaning personnel in place of the previous contractors.

Welcome once again, I wish you all of our students a healthy, happy and successful academic year. Please feel free to contact me any time during the course of the year with any questions, concerns or come by for a chat.

Figen Sonmez

From the Primary School Principal

Greetings to all our primary school families. I was very happy to meet so many of you over the first couple of days of school. Your children have settled so quickly into school and are smiling and happy to be here. We have had a lot of work done over the summer in the primary levels including new air conditioning and renovated toilet blocks on the ground and minus one floors. The toilets on the ground level floor and -1 floor are clean, colourful and user friendly. This is great news. We also are having the swimming pool renovated and this work is still continuing so we will keep you informed about when swimming lessons will be able to begin.

On Tuesday the specialist teachers presented at the school assembly, then we had a good talk together about the way we want everyone to behave when moving around the school and using the spaces like the cafeteria and hallways. The tone of the school is already positive, cheerful and calm. My thanks go out to the leadership team Ms Figen, Mr Christopher and Ms Evelyn and Ms Selin the Primary School Assistant for all their help in preparing for the school year. I also am so impressed with our teachers and teaching assistants who have worked so hard in their classes right up to the day before school opened to make sure their rooms were inviting and organised. I am looking forward to a good year. Do remember we welcome your communication. Our school policy about this can be found in your parent handbook, but a reminder is that you should first take any concerns to your child's class teacher or the specialist involved to see if they can be resolved through a talk together. If you do not feel satisfied with the outcome then please do speak to one of the deputy principals - Mr Christopher or Ms Evelyn (ECC oversight). Dealing with matters when they first occur can often make them easily dealt with and no longer a concern. We encourage you to be proactive and communicate positively with us.

I glanced out my window during one of the recess breaks and saw our children playing on the pirate playground and thought it made a lovely picture so I am sharing it with you below.

Linda Allen

From the Secondary School Principal

Dear MEF IS Secondary Parents,

The first week of school has yet again left an imprint on all of us . New faces were plentiful, and, wherever you looked, there was conversation and, of course, anticipation. Yes, as you might have predicted, old friends reunited, and seeds were sown that promise new friendships.

The family orientation day last Monday allowed families to greet one another after the holidays. We hope that you found meeting the teachers to be a meaningful exercise. The relationship between teachers and families is important in the progression of students. Our relationships shalll deepen throughout the year, as we all chase the same goal - your children reaching their social, emotional, and academic potential, which should come as no surprise, since the Mission of MEF International School (MEF IS) is to inspire, nurture and challenge our students to realise their unique potential.

Following the orientation, teachers welcomed the entire student body to MEF IS, as classes commenced on Tuesday as planned. Overall, it was a great start to the year! Most of Tuesday involved Homeroom Activities, setting up lockers and a wonderful assembly that energized and electrified the student body. Academic classes began after lunch on Tuesday. Throughout the week, students acclimated themselves to the new year and to their new teachers. By all accounts, it was a highly successful first week thanks to our students, teachers, and administrators (Ms. Figen Sonmez, Head of School; Ms. Nicole Incel, Deputy Prinicipal; Ms. Lauren Fajobi, Cambridge Coordinator; and Ms. Alina Zamfirescu, IBDP Coordinator).

It is certain that next week will be even more academically challenging; however, our students will rise to the occasion, stretching their minds as they learn exciting new skills and topics.

Malcolm Ringo

TOP - Picture on left: Activity called 'making goals'; Picture on right: Classroom learning on first weekBOTTOM - Picture on left: Homeroom activity called 'makings chains'; Picture on right: Homeroom activity called 'human knot'