Week 19 - February 23, 2018
Important upcoming dates
Thursday March 1 Intruder in the school practice drill
Friday March 2 Model for a Night NOVA PTA Event
Monday April 2 Spring Break commences
Tuesday April 10 School resumes after Spring Break
Dear Parents,
It was great to see the relaxed and happy faces on staff and students after the well-deserved 4 day break. I trust that you enjoyed the extra time with your children and hopefully managed to to see some of the beautiful countryside outside of Skopje. I was fortunate to spend a few perfect blue sky days at Mavrovo in the very impressive ski fields.
What are the goals of the new International Curriculum?
In the interests of keeping parents fully informed about the new International Curriculum that we are adopting, I will regularly post updates and information that can help you better understand what we are trying to achieve with your children and also encourage you to become more involved in the teaching and learning process. As we participate in each of the units there are specific goals that we are striving for. These can fall into three categories. This week I will discuss what each of these categories are and and how they relate to educating the "Whole Child".
Subject goals cover the knowledge, skills and understanding of children relating to the subjects they are learning. There are subject learning goals for Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, ICT & Computing, Technology, History, Geography, Music, Physical Education, Art and Society.
Personal goals underpin the individual qualities and dispositions we believe children will find essential in the 21st century. There are 8 Personal Goals - enquiry, resilience, morality, communication, thoughtfulness, cooperation, respect and adaptability. Opportunities to experience and practice these are built into the learning tasks within each unit of work.
International learning goals are unique to our curriculum and help young children begin the move towards an increasingly sophisticated national, international and intercultural perspective. Each thematic unit includes an international aspect, to help develop a sense of ‘international mindedness’.
Arriving on time each day
We are continuing to monitor and support parents to ensure that their children arrive at school on time and are ready to learn each day. Please assist us by helping your children understand the impact that being late each day has on not only the learning of the child who is late, but also on the learning of the other students in that class. Below is the article that I send out last issue that explains the impact.
Please try to support us as we focus on this important issue. If you would like to read the article from last week about the impact of tardiness in schools, please follow this link.
NOVA PTA Parent Teacher Party
The PTA is planning a NOVA parent party themed "MODELS for A Night " with the goal of getting parents and teachers together for a fun evening of socializing, networking and dancing. As part of the evening program, we have planned a fashion show wherein parents teachers/admin and students are invited to sign up to be models for that night!
There will be a latino dancing segment with a basic latino steps lesson by our dance teacher Ivan. Additionally, we will be offering a display of student art and photography or craft works to be auctioned off at the SILENT AUCTION fundraiser throughout the evening. More information can be found below but please mark the date in your calendar for Friday March 2, at the Stonebridge Hotel.
Donate Towels for a very worthy cause
We are currently collecting donations for used (or new) bath towels that we will donate to the special institution for people with disabilities in Demir Kapija. This is an extremely worthy cause as they are in dire need of support. We are also planning to donate shoeboxes of essential items and will provide that list later. For now however, we would like to collect as many towels as possible as this is the most pressing need. They can be dropped off at the entrance to the EMS building in the box provided.
Intruder Practice Drill - Thursday March 1 at 8.30am
As part of our ongoing preparedness for any situation, we will be conducting an intruder lock-down drill at the school at 8.30am on Thursday March 1. We understand that this may be stressful for some of our younger students, so we are informing parents of the timing in case you would like to bring your child to school after 9.00am on that day. This drill will follow up on the Fire Drill and Earthquake Drill that we conducted earlier this school year.
Weebly class pages
I try to feature a couple of class pages each week. This week you can see the EMS Library page by following this link.
I have now added a link at the top of this page so that you can access all class pages in one place. Simply click the "Class Pages" link at the top of this page and then select your child's grade level. All school Weebly pages have the same password which is novaparents
Student Services News
A new and exciting program that we have adopted in the ES is called Kelso's Choice. It has been proven very effective in helping students become more resilient and accepting of each other in social situations. Please follow this link to read the parents page that explains how you can support your child at home and also understand the approach that we are following at school.
New security member
We are happy to report that starting from Monday, February 26th, Mr. Dalibor Arsovski (current security) will be moving into his new role of technology and media specialist, positioned right across from his old post, at the MS entrance, while being able to dedicate himself fully to his varying and competing roles dealing with maintenance, events and IT support.
On his post we are allocating Mr. Risto Nanchovski who, at the same time, will be maintaining his role as head of security. With this shift, he will be available throughout the workweek, with the ability to oversee the work of the security team on a daily basis, and also better assist you with any security related matters.
These changes are a result of our continued efforts to improve the school’s overall security and improve the security team's functionality and operability.
Creating a safe school environment is a continuous and communal process that focuses on the development and implementation of strategies that support the safety and security of our children and all other community stakeholders.
We thank you for your continued support in these efforts
Jolly Phonics program
In the Early Childhood section of the school, all students are engaged in an amazing program called "Jolly Phonics". All teachers have been trained in this program that helps children learn to read. Phonics is a way of teaching children to read skillfully. They are taught how to:
Almost all children who receive good teaching of phonics will learn the skills they need to tackle new words. They can then go on to read any kind of text fluently and confidently, and read for enjoyment. Children who have been taught phonics also tend to read more accurately than those taught using other methods, such as ‘look and say’. This includes children who find learning difficult to read, for example those who have dyslexia. Here is a weblink to the program and the link to a parent information sheet that explains what you can do as a parents to support your child when learning to read and also explains more information about the program can be found here.
Below you can find a lovely video of some of the students in PK4 independently reading by using the strategies they learnt from the Jolly Phonics program.
Kindest regards,
Russell O'Neill
EMS Principal
Important upcoming dates
Thursday March 1 Intruder in the school practice drill
Friday March 2 Model for a Night NOVA PTA Event
Monday April 2 Spring Break commences
Tuesday April 10 School resumes after Spring Break
Dear Parents,
It was great to see the relaxed and happy faces on staff and students after the well-deserved 4 day break. I trust that you enjoyed the extra time with your children and hopefully managed to to see some of the beautiful countryside outside of Skopje. I was fortunate to spend a few perfect blue sky days at Mavrovo in the very impressive ski fields.
What are the goals of the new International Curriculum?
In the interests of keeping parents fully informed about the new International Curriculum that we are adopting, I will regularly post updates and information that can help you better understand what we are trying to achieve with your children and also encourage you to become more involved in the teaching and learning process. As we participate in each of the units there are specific goals that we are striving for. These can fall into three categories. This week I will discuss what each of these categories are and and how they relate to educating the "Whole Child".
Subject goals cover the knowledge, skills and understanding of children relating to the subjects they are learning. There are subject learning goals for Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, ICT & Computing, Technology, History, Geography, Music, Physical Education, Art and Society.
Personal goals underpin the individual qualities and dispositions we believe children will find essential in the 21st century. There are 8 Personal Goals - enquiry, resilience, morality, communication, thoughtfulness, cooperation, respect and adaptability. Opportunities to experience and practice these are built into the learning tasks within each unit of work.
International learning goals are unique to our curriculum and help young children begin the move towards an increasingly sophisticated national, international and intercultural perspective. Each thematic unit includes an international aspect, to help develop a sense of ‘international mindedness’.
Arriving on time each day
We are continuing to monitor and support parents to ensure that their children arrive at school on time and are ready to learn each day. Please assist us by helping your children understand the impact that being late each day has on not only the learning of the child who is late, but also on the learning of the other students in that class. Below is the article that I send out last issue that explains the impact.
Please try to support us as we focus on this important issue. If you would like to read the article from last week about the impact of tardiness in schools, please follow this link.
NOVA PTA Parent Teacher Party
The PTA is planning a NOVA parent party themed "MODELS for A Night " with the goal of getting parents and teachers together for a fun evening of socializing, networking and dancing. As part of the evening program, we have planned a fashion show wherein parents teachers/admin and students are invited to sign up to be models for that night!
There will be a latino dancing segment with a basic latino steps lesson by our dance teacher Ivan. Additionally, we will be offering a display of student art and photography or craft works to be auctioned off at the SILENT AUCTION fundraiser throughout the evening. More information can be found below but please mark the date in your calendar for Friday March 2, at the Stonebridge Hotel.
Donate Towels for a very worthy cause
We are currently collecting donations for used (or new) bath towels that we will donate to the special institution for people with disabilities in Demir Kapija. This is an extremely worthy cause as they are in dire need of support. We are also planning to donate shoeboxes of essential items and will provide that list later. For now however, we would like to collect as many towels as possible as this is the most pressing need. They can be dropped off at the entrance to the EMS building in the box provided.
Intruder Practice Drill - Thursday March 1 at 8.30am
As part of our ongoing preparedness for any situation, we will be conducting an intruder lock-down drill at the school at 8.30am on Thursday March 1. We understand that this may be stressful for some of our younger students, so we are informing parents of the timing in case you would like to bring your child to school after 9.00am on that day. This drill will follow up on the Fire Drill and Earthquake Drill that we conducted earlier this school year.
Weebly class pages
I try to feature a couple of class pages each week. This week you can see the EMS Library page by following this link.
I have now added a link at the top of this page so that you can access all class pages in one place. Simply click the "Class Pages" link at the top of this page and then select your child's grade level. All school Weebly pages have the same password which is novaparents
Student Services News
A new and exciting program that we have adopted in the ES is called Kelso's Choice. It has been proven very effective in helping students become more resilient and accepting of each other in social situations. Please follow this link to read the parents page that explains how you can support your child at home and also understand the approach that we are following at school.
New security member
We are happy to report that starting from Monday, February 26th, Mr. Dalibor Arsovski (current security) will be moving into his new role of technology and media specialist, positioned right across from his old post, at the MS entrance, while being able to dedicate himself fully to his varying and competing roles dealing with maintenance, events and IT support.
On his post we are allocating Mr. Risto Nanchovski who, at the same time, will be maintaining his role as head of security. With this shift, he will be available throughout the workweek, with the ability to oversee the work of the security team on a daily basis, and also better assist you with any security related matters.
These changes are a result of our continued efforts to improve the school’s overall security and improve the security team's functionality and operability.
Creating a safe school environment is a continuous and communal process that focuses on the development and implementation of strategies that support the safety and security of our children and all other community stakeholders.
We thank you for your continued support in these efforts
Jolly Phonics program
In the Early Childhood section of the school, all students are engaged in an amazing program called "Jolly Phonics". All teachers have been trained in this program that helps children learn to read. Phonics is a way of teaching children to read skillfully. They are taught how to:
- recognise the sounds that each individual letter makes;
- identify the sounds that different combinations of letters make – such as ‘sh’ or ‘oo’; and
- blend those sounds together from left to right to make a word.
Almost all children who receive good teaching of phonics will learn the skills they need to tackle new words. They can then go on to read any kind of text fluently and confidently, and read for enjoyment. Children who have been taught phonics also tend to read more accurately than those taught using other methods, such as ‘look and say’. This includes children who find learning difficult to read, for example those who have dyslexia. Here is a weblink to the program and the link to a parent information sheet that explains what you can do as a parents to support your child when learning to read and also explains more information about the program can be found here.
Below you can find a lovely video of some of the students in PK4 independently reading by using the strategies they learnt from the Jolly Phonics program.
Kindest regards,
Russell O'Neill
EMS Principal
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