*This week's photos come from a variety of events, including: the Grade 4 trip to Dundee Rep Theatre and the V&A Museum, the Grade 5 French class making crepes, the Grade 3 students working through computer programming challenges for the Hour of Code and the Meet-a-Coder presentation to Grade 1 from Middle School technology students.
Getting out to the theatre & Getting on stage in the Theatre
During the past week, the Preschool, Kindergarten, and Grade 4 students all had the opportunity to travel to see theatre performances. Next week, that collection of classes will grow to include Grade 1, Grade 2 and Grade 3. Today, a good number of Elementary School children had the chance to be performers on stage. The Grade 3 & Grade 5 students will have further opportunities to perform in the coming week (see below), as will the Preschool children. Getting on stage to perform in front of an audience takes courage and preparation. It is an important life skill that cuts across subject areas and professions. Having repeated opportunities during their formative years to be “under the spotlights” will help all our children to develop their confidence and some will, no doubt, catch the “performance bug” and begin to seek out future opportunities to take to the stage - whether that’s as a musician, actor, dancer or even a teacher or lecturer. In fact, I have recently been overwhelmed by the number of children who are approaching me to propose a wide variety of assembly presentations they’d like to lead. This is a truly exciting development, and I look forward to seeing how this grows in the coming year.
It is safe to say that the children at ISA can expect to have every opportunity to stand up in front of their peers (and others) to share their learning and understanding, or demonstrate their skills and passions - and often in languages other than English. Just recently, we’ve had presentations in Spanish, Malay, Japanese, Korean, Hungarian, Portuguese and American & British Sign Language.
Next week's trips & performances
Here is a list of some of the performances (and other events of note) to look forward to in the coming week:
Monday, December 11 - Grade 5 Band Winter Concert (2:10pm; Queen Elizabeth Theatre). This is the Monday afternoon assembly for the final week of 2023. If your child has a birthday between 11 December and 7 January 2024, they will be recognised at this assembly. As usual, parents and families are welcome to attend.
Tuesday, December 12 - Grade 2 trip to His Majesty's Theatre.
Wednesday, December 13 - Grade 3 trip to the Dundee Rep Theatre and the Dundee Science Centre (leaving at 7:30am and returning at 4:30pm); a visit from The Critter Keeper to enhance Preschool and Grade 4 science topics.
Thursday, December 14 - Preschool Winter Show (2:00pm, Black Box Theatre). We hope to see as many parents and family members as possible. Also on this day: Grade 1 trip to The Lemon Tree.
Friday, December 15 - Last day of school before the winter holidays. Please note that there will be no after school activities on this day. For those children who normally have a Friday activity, and who can’t be picked up or take the bus home at 3:00pm, we will run a movie in the QET from 3:00 to 4:00pm.
Please note: While MS/HS students will receive end of semester report cards in December, the end of the second quarter in the ES doesn’t take place until Friday January 19, 2024. Therefore, ES children’s second reports will be available through PowerSchool on Friday, January 26, 2024. Preschool children will have their formal reports at the end of the school year, which is in addition to the individual reports that are prepared and shared during the course of the year by each child’s key worker and Andrea Taylor. If you have any questions about this, please direct them to me.
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