The Principal’s corner
The art of ‘just being’
One more week before the start of our December break. This is a time of year when, for many of us, we disconnect from work, busy daily schedules, meeting deadlines of all sorts to spend some time with loved ones, family and friends, and to indulge in simple pleasures. Disconnect to reconnect. Be in the moment. How easy is it? Let me ask you this: think of your last holiday as a family; how much were you in the moment? How present were you? How easy was it to disconnect in order to reconnect with your people, and with yourself? As adults, we often notice that we need a transition time to fall into holiday mode, and truly start noticing the benefits from it. The same goes for our students; the sustained pace of Term 1 comes to an end. It is time to stop, pause, and take stock of everything that they have done, achieved, learnt and how much they have grown in those 16 weeks.
I find this slightly ‘old’ article from 2011 to still be relevant on how to approach the whole question of ‘just being’; ‘the point is not that we should all stop and do nothing, but that we need to recognise how much more creative, considerate and judicious our actions could be if they were grounded in a daily experience of just being’. At IST, we have been intentional about bringing experiences to our students where they can ground themselves in the now and tune in with how they are feeling: Forest School in Early Years, the practice of mindfulness techniques in secondary with students and staff, our OPAL programme in primary school are some of the examples where environments and tools are part of our weekly approaches.
On a similar note, we are delighted to be partnering with the RITMO Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Rhythm, Time and Motion (University Of Oslo) to host our first classical SynchIn Concert on January 25th. This research concert is a fascinating and unique opportunity for our community to participate in, and learn more about, how the cardiac and respiratory rhythms of both musicians and concertgoers intertwine during live performances. This ground-breaking investigation delves into how these rhythms mirror the aesthetics of concerts and respond to social and contextual factors. Thank you to Sara D’Amario, professional pianist and researcher in music, and Elisabeth Tielmann-Wahl, professional viola player, for bringing this exciting project to our school. More information can be found here. We hope many of you can attend! We will send out a registration form after the December break for registration. A wonderful example of the benefits of ‘being in the moment’, and the positive impacts on our mental and physiological selves.
Have a wonderful weekend,
Rachel Leonard,
IST Principal
The Primary corner
Seasons Greetings!
The Primary Student Council had a very special job this week. They visited Primary classrooms to look at the seasonal decorations on display. They awarded points based upon visual impression and also on how eco-friendly the decorations were (reusing and recycling).
The winning class was G4P. Bravo!
The Early Years had a very important event at the end of the week. It was maybe a surprise as I didn’t see it on the PKA class visual timetable. So, I was very happy that PKA & KC invited me to see them perform festive songs and act out an original story.
Well done everyone.
Reminder, shoeboxes are being collected until Tuesday 19th December.
Next week Primary will have a celebratory non uniform day on Thursday 21st December. Class teachers will share the theme with you as some classes are being very creative for example Grade 5 might all have red noses!!!
Alison Pattinson
Head of Primary
The Secondary corner
Chess, Jazz and Tanzania!
A fantastic demonstration of ‘bullet’ chess took place this week at Speaker’s Corner. Mr Lauber was joined by Pranav and Marcos from Grade 9 to give us a really interesting talk on the history of chess and their passion for it which was rounded off with a thrilling game of chess between Marcos and Pranav. A big thank you to Mr Lauber for setting up and running our chess club and generating such enthusiasm and skill in those who come along.
This week we were once again given the chance to see some great music thanks to Mr Palmer and the G12 & G11 musicians. The G12 students gave us a really impressive version of the jazz classic ‘Autumn Leaves’ and a great rendition of the Jamiroquai number ‘Cosmic girl’. They were also joined by G11 musicians performing U2’s ‘With or without you’ brilliantly.
As mentioned last week, fundraising and aid collections for our participation in the Bandari project have begun with a Tanzanian colours day. Please remember to drop things off in the collection boxes (shoes, socks, pens and games) and support the various other fundraising activities being organised. We are also very happy to announce that we have a great raffle prize to help raise money for this project - a Stade Toulousain rugby shirt signed by the players and staff at Stade Toulousain! A big thank you to the Kaino family for helping organise this for us. Students should see the Grade 11 students at the common room for tickets.
Nick Fretwell
Head of Secondary
#whatISThebuzz @IST next week?
Next Week | |
Monday 18th December - Thursday 21st December | Thursday 21st December Primary Non Uniform Day |
Monday 18th December & Tuesday 19th December | Fair Trade Bake Sale during morning break (10h40-11h00) in EC1 under the rotunda |
Tuesday 19th December | WaterAid Christmas Card/Gift/Message delivery in Secondary Secondary Christmas Concert (7.30/9pm) |
Thursday 21st January | Last day of term |
Save the date | |
Thursday 25th January | SynchIn Research Concert (more information here) in collaboration with RITMO Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Rhythm, Time and Motion (University Of Oslo) |
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