Week 14 - December 6, 2017
Important Dates to Remember
Friday December 8 Winter Performance Stage Rehearsal - Mk Opera & Ballet (more details below)
Saturday December 9 Winter Performance Dress Rehearsal and Show - Mk Opera & Ballet (more details below)
Wednesday December 20 Last day of school
Wednesday January 10 First day of school
Friday February 2 Parent-Teacher Conferences
Thursday February 15 School holiday
Friday February 16 School holiday
Dear Parents,
This week has been extremely busy as students and teachers prepare for the annual Winter Performance. Everywhere you look, there is a buzz of excitement and anticipation. Dances are being rehearsed, costumes are being designed and fitted, backdrops are being painted, and lines are being memorized. Here are the details for when and where to be.
Friday 8th December - Stage Rehearsal
Student arrival time - 11:30 am
Finish - 15:00
Saturday 9th December - Dress Rehearsal
Student arrival time - 09:30
End of dress rehearsal - 13:00
Saturday 9th December - Performance
Student arrival time - 17:00
Money found
I think I said last week, that this isn't a 'lost and found column' but it seems that this week there is another exception to that rule. A rather large sum of money was found inside the EMS building a couple of weeks ago and we would like to return it to its rightful owner. If you have lost a significant amount of money recently, please come and see me at school and we can discuss the amount and the location it was found, to see if it is yours.
Stephen Fry's New Bedtime Story For Adults Will Make You Fall Asleep In Minutes, Apparently!
I found a very interesting webpage recently that would be useful to both adults and children. It is called www.calm.com and it has a great selection of relaxing sounds and pictures as well as bedtime audio stories for adults and children that are designed to help you fall asleep. I think you will be pleasantly surprised by the quality of the content on this webpage and while it does have an option to buy sections, there are a lot of free resources as well.
For a sample of a child's bedtime story that puts them to sleep you can follow this link.
If you yourself, spend hours each night tossing and turning in bed, Stephen Fry could have the perfect remedy to help you sleep. The actor and presenter has teamed up with meditation app 'Calm' to create a new audiobook designed to make you enter the land of nod within 24 minutes. Here is the link to the adult version to put you to sleep. They claim it is impossible to stay awake for the full 24 minute audio story. Why not give it a go.
Mobile phones at school
The use of mobile phones at school is always a contentious issue that most schools deal with. We have adopted a policy that allows students in Middle School to bring their phone to school but if it is seen by a teacher or heard to ring, then it will be confiscated and the student will need to collect it from me at the end of the day. If it happens a second time in a semester then parents are contacted to let them know. This works well at our school and on the whole, students are very good a following this policy. I read with interest this morning in a newspaper, that there has been a significant drop in cyber-bullying after a school in Australia adopted a similar policy.
Here is an excerpt from the article that I read.
“Some of the students initially were afraid of missing out on what was happening on social media but because everyone is in the same boat I think that has actually given way to feelings of relief,” Mrs Ethell said. “It mean the girls now use break times to develop authentic relationships rather than just communicating through their mobiles. “The other benefit we have seen is a reduction in the cyber bullying and social media issues we’ve had to deal with as a school. In the younger years especially it has taken away that peer pressure to compare phones.” Mrs Ethell said the school grounds had transformed into a cacophony of noise and activity as students rediscovered the joy of play. Click here to read the full story.
Student Services News
As a follow up to the www.calm.com article above, there have been some concerns from parents lately who are worried about the amount of sleep that their children are getting each night. Here is an article that discusses that issue.
How to Cope with Big Kid Sleep Issues
This is an article about helping middle school students navigate their social lives.
Helping middle schoolers navigate their social lives.
Air Filters
The rollout of the air filters across the school has been a huge success and one to be truly celebrated. It was also great to see that so many parents took the chance to get their own air filter for home. There a still a couple that need to be collected, so please see Dalibor at the EMS security to collect your air filter.
Toys for tots
Cub Scout Pack 2187 is collecting new, unwrapped toys at NOVA EMS on December 18, 19 and 20 in support of the U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots program. Bring a toy to school so that children without parents will have a brighter new year.
Parent meeting regarding activities when the air is bad
It was great to meet with a group of interested parents on Monday to discuss ideas about how we deal with those times when the air pollution prevents us from going outside. Earlier in the year we devised new activities and strategies which fortunately we have not had to put into place so far this year. By hearing the ideas from the parents, it allowed us to further add to those ideas and also gain suggestions and support from parents to expand our offerings during these times.
PTA Coffee Morning
Following up on the needs our HS and MS parents expressed during the last HS coffee hour, where stress was discussed, I would like to organize two sessions with parents in the following weeks. The planned dates are Thursday, December 14 and Tuesday, December 19, from 6pm, held in HS library. The discussion would revolve around signs of stress and how to deal with them. One session is allocated for HS parents and the other one for MS parents, so we can address their needs adequately. Please contact Valentina Trpkoska for more information.
Photos this week
Once again we have a variety of photos that have been provided by teachers about fun and interesting activities that took place this week. Below are the teacher descriptions of what the photos are about. We hope you enjoy viewing them.
Kindest regards,
Russell O'Neill
EMS Principal
Important Dates to Remember
Friday December 8 Winter Performance Stage Rehearsal - Mk Opera & Ballet (more details below)
Saturday December 9 Winter Performance Dress Rehearsal and Show - Mk Opera & Ballet (more details below)
Wednesday December 20 Last day of school
Wednesday January 10 First day of school
Friday February 2 Parent-Teacher Conferences
Thursday February 15 School holiday
Friday February 16 School holiday
Dear Parents,
This week has been extremely busy as students and teachers prepare for the annual Winter Performance. Everywhere you look, there is a buzz of excitement and anticipation. Dances are being rehearsed, costumes are being designed and fitted, backdrops are being painted, and lines are being memorized. Here are the details for when and where to be.
Friday 8th December - Stage Rehearsal
Student arrival time - 11:30 am
Finish - 15:00
Saturday 9th December - Dress Rehearsal
Student arrival time - 09:30
End of dress rehearsal - 13:00
Saturday 9th December - Performance
Student arrival time - 17:00
Money found
I think I said last week, that this isn't a 'lost and found column' but it seems that this week there is another exception to that rule. A rather large sum of money was found inside the EMS building a couple of weeks ago and we would like to return it to its rightful owner. If you have lost a significant amount of money recently, please come and see me at school and we can discuss the amount and the location it was found, to see if it is yours.
Stephen Fry's New Bedtime Story For Adults Will Make You Fall Asleep In Minutes, Apparently!
I found a very interesting webpage recently that would be useful to both adults and children. It is called www.calm.com and it has a great selection of relaxing sounds and pictures as well as bedtime audio stories for adults and children that are designed to help you fall asleep. I think you will be pleasantly surprised by the quality of the content on this webpage and while it does have an option to buy sections, there are a lot of free resources as well.
For a sample of a child's bedtime story that puts them to sleep you can follow this link.
If you yourself, spend hours each night tossing and turning in bed, Stephen Fry could have the perfect remedy to help you sleep. The actor and presenter has teamed up with meditation app 'Calm' to create a new audiobook designed to make you enter the land of nod within 24 minutes. Here is the link to the adult version to put you to sleep. They claim it is impossible to stay awake for the full 24 minute audio story. Why not give it a go.
Mobile phones at school
The use of mobile phones at school is always a contentious issue that most schools deal with. We have adopted a policy that allows students in Middle School to bring their phone to school but if it is seen by a teacher or heard to ring, then it will be confiscated and the student will need to collect it from me at the end of the day. If it happens a second time in a semester then parents are contacted to let them know. This works well at our school and on the whole, students are very good a following this policy. I read with interest this morning in a newspaper, that there has been a significant drop in cyber-bullying after a school in Australia adopted a similar policy.
Here is an excerpt from the article that I read.
“Some of the students initially were afraid of missing out on what was happening on social media but because everyone is in the same boat I think that has actually given way to feelings of relief,” Mrs Ethell said. “It mean the girls now use break times to develop authentic relationships rather than just communicating through their mobiles. “The other benefit we have seen is a reduction in the cyber bullying and social media issues we’ve had to deal with as a school. In the younger years especially it has taken away that peer pressure to compare phones.” Mrs Ethell said the school grounds had transformed into a cacophony of noise and activity as students rediscovered the joy of play. Click here to read the full story.
Student Services News
As a follow up to the www.calm.com article above, there have been some concerns from parents lately who are worried about the amount of sleep that their children are getting each night. Here is an article that discusses that issue.
How to Cope with Big Kid Sleep Issues
This is an article about helping middle school students navigate their social lives.
Helping middle schoolers navigate their social lives.
Air Filters
The rollout of the air filters across the school has been a huge success and one to be truly celebrated. It was also great to see that so many parents took the chance to get their own air filter for home. There a still a couple that need to be collected, so please see Dalibor at the EMS security to collect your air filter.
Toys for tots
Cub Scout Pack 2187 is collecting new, unwrapped toys at NOVA EMS on December 18, 19 and 20 in support of the U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots program. Bring a toy to school so that children without parents will have a brighter new year.
Parent meeting regarding activities when the air is bad
It was great to meet with a group of interested parents on Monday to discuss ideas about how we deal with those times when the air pollution prevents us from going outside. Earlier in the year we devised new activities and strategies which fortunately we have not had to put into place so far this year. By hearing the ideas from the parents, it allowed us to further add to those ideas and also gain suggestions and support from parents to expand our offerings during these times.
PTA Coffee Morning
Following up on the needs our HS and MS parents expressed during the last HS coffee hour, where stress was discussed, I would like to organize two sessions with parents in the following weeks. The planned dates are Thursday, December 14 and Tuesday, December 19, from 6pm, held in HS library. The discussion would revolve around signs of stress and how to deal with them. One session is allocated for HS parents and the other one for MS parents, so we can address their needs adequately. Please contact Valentina Trpkoska for more information.
Photos this week
Once again we have a variety of photos that have been provided by teachers about fun and interesting activities that took place this week. Below are the teacher descriptions of what the photos are about. We hope you enjoy viewing them.
- The second graders have started to turn the famous Literature classics for children into colorful " Reading Boxes", during the Macedonian language classes.
- The third graders are truly enthusiastic and work with dedication on their first books in Macedonian language. The students work in small groups, rotating the roles of the writer, the illustrator and the spelling and grammar checker. They hope that their books will find home in Nova ES library, soon.
- Last week, students from 1S visited Art Vitrum Studio where they had an amazing time attending a glass coloring workshop. Students were so excited, especially when it was their turn to create their own works of art. Our hosts were very kind and introduced us to the meaning of the art of coloring glass and showed the students what they can do with colors and of course, their imagination. It was truly heart-warming to see all those happy faces and later, to see their imaginative pieces of art. We are very grateful to all the parents who joined us and put in an effort to take us on this journey on exploring the magic of art.
- It is a difficult task to find various fun, educational, and engaging ways to help our first grade ESL students how to decode, blend, and read. Yet, once they get the grip on it, the experience is magnificent, both on the part of the students and the teacher!
- On Saturday (25.11.2017), NOVA employees volunteered in delivering 100 cooked meals to the homeless and socially endangered people of Skopje at the distribution point behind the Memorial house of Mother Teresa in the city center. The meals were completed with a piece of fresh fruit and bread. In addition to this, most of the leftover food (cupcakes, muffins, bred rolls etc.) from the faculty’s Thanksgiving potluck lunch on Friday was collected, wrapped neatly and added to the donation. Big thank you to #retweetameal and Real acts of kindness for assisting in making all of this possible.
Kindest regards,
Russell O'Neill
EMS Principal