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Nov 9, 20233 min read

Diwali Celebrations, Student Triumphs, and History Focus: A Look at Our Community's Buzz-Worthy Events


WhatISTheBuzz logo with the IST logo included with a colored background

 

WEEKLY COMMUNITY BULLETIN

 

 WEEKLY COMMUNITY BULLETIN - November 10, 2023 

The Principal’s corner

Awe Moments

Having students and colleagues back on campus always warms my heart and reminds me why I love what I do: being together as a learning community, creating the best learning experiences for our students. This week provided just that, see below in Primary and Secondary corners. 

Returns after breaks are also opportunities to share stories and anecdotes of what everyone did during the break. I asked colleagues to share ‘awe moments’ they had experienced during the half-term break (goosebumps and dropped jaws, when you want to go ‘wow’). I was reminded of the power of experiencing awe by coming across a couple of articles highlighting their benefits: The Power of Everyday Awe (HBR) and Eight Reasons Why Awe Makes Your Life Better (Berkeley University). When did you last experience awe? I can name a few for me recently: 

First of all, when I came across the news of the achievement from one of our ex-students, Thomas Carlile, who is now a professional horse rider, and represents France. He won the 6-year-old championship last year and this year went one better and on the same horse, Golden de Beliard, winning the 7 year old championship! This has only been done twice before. How is that for goose bumps? More details can be found here.

I am also awed by how we truly live our value of caring for each other and making a difference within our community. Our yearly support of the Restos du Coeur and Secours Catholique are yet another example of this. Click on the link to find out how you can support.

Final awe moments for this week: our Visual Arts department work and the beautiful work our G6 students did on the theme of ceramics, and G4 students building spaghetti towers in our Design & Technology classroom: from designing their tower to putting it together with a glue gun.

You will remember Optimistic October last month, so I would like to share New Ways November this month: you can download and print it in many languages.

Enjoy, and have a great weekend, 

Rachel Leonard

IST Principal

The Primary corner

Lighting the way!

I hope everyone had a relaxing break despite some very unpredictable weather. Hopefully, everyone  profited from an extra hour thanks to the clocks going back. We have returned to school to lighter mornings (for now)!

Light has been considered in many classes this week as there is a very special celebration this weekend for some of our International families: Diwali. Saturn Class has been busy making diyas and creating mandala patterns. G2 also created their own rangoli designs.


As part of their unit on celebrations Grade 1 delved deeper into the festival and looked at some of the traditions that go with it such as cleaning and firework displays. 



Some of the older G5 students acted as experts during our weekly assembly and shared how they celebrate in their homes.



We discussed how light can often be a symbol of hope and peace- very important in the context of the World at the moment especially with Armistice Day tomorrow.

Alison Pattinson

Head of Primary


The Secondary corner

History focus and a request from the Shrek team!

With Armistice coming up this weekend we were captivated by  an assembly from Mr Tarr looking at the history of the  Middle East Conflict, and giving us a remarkably succinct and clear overview of 2000 years of history. It was a prompt for us to reflect on and explore how we can create a more peaceful world both today and in the future.

Meanwhile back in the history classroom, Grade 12 historians were given the challenge of an escape game focussed on the Cuban Missile Crisis. Giving them a  great opportunity to test their knowledge of this key moment of 20th Century history. 

Also this week, we are very pleased that rehearsals and preparations for the G6-8 school production of Shrek are well underway. The Shrek team is looking for volunteers from our community to help with costumes. Previously we have enjoyed the support of some very enthusiastic and talented parents, and for the production to be a success we are looking for volunteers to help out this year. If you are interested please contact Mrs Mancey ( mancey_s@intst.net ). 

With thought provoking, creative and challenging activities like these above, our future IST graduates are very well prepared and ready to go forward and have a really positive impact on our world!


Nick Fretwell

Head of Secondary 


 

#whatISThebuzz @IST next week? 

Next Week

Wednesday 15th November

Lockdown Drill

( Vigipirate info - click here for the latest government guidance)

G11 parent and teacher meetings

Thursday 16th November

School Photographs - PK, K, G1, G2, G5, G8, G9 and G11 - and sibling photographs

Friday 17th November

School Photographs - G3, G4, G6, G7, G10, G12 - and sibling photographs

Early Years Open Day (see poster below)

KG - G2 Orchestra visit

Save the date

Friday 1 December

Winter Wonderland (after school)

Festive and fun stalls run by Friends of IST



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