Dear parents,
Let me start to thank you for your participation in the parents-teachers meeting yesterday. It was very nice to see so many of you again and to have the possibility to tell you, face to face, about our plans for this school year. I promised to post my notes on the blog; so here they are.
Acronyms
First of all, I will shortly define the acronyms that we all use:
CIPP1 – Cambridge International Primary Programme 1 = students in stage 0, 1 and 2.
CIPP2 – Cambridge International Primary Programme 2 = students in stage 3, 4, 5 and 6.
CLSP – Cambridge Lower Secondary Programme = students in stage 7 and 8.
IGCSE – International General Certificate of Secondary Education = students in stage 9 and 10.
The After School Recreation Centre goes by the Danish abbreviation SFO
Change of Timetable
As you already know the timetable for the CLSP & IGCSE has been changed due to the hiring of our new Spanish teacher, Alma Martinez, and our new teacher of Science, Humanities and Danish, Jennifer Welsh. We welcome Alma and Jennifer to our school.
From next week on, we will also change the timetable for CIPP1 and 2, giving them one more lesson of English on Tuesdays. That means that the CIPP1 & 2 students finish school at 12.50 instead of 11.50 on Tuesdays.
Mobile Phones
As parents you know better than most that children of all ages are very dependent on their mobile phones as if they are an extension of their very being, which is something that neither of us can change. What we can do, however, is to forbid the use of mobile phones and other electric gadgets during lessons.
For the CIPP1 and 2 students, there is a drawer in the office where they have to leave their mobile phone in the morning and fetch it after the end of their lessons. Please tell them to shut it off, before leave it at the office!
The CLSP & IGCSE students can have their mobile phones all day; but the phones are to be switched off or on silent during lessons.
If the students use the mobile phone during lessons, or if it rings, the mobile phone will be confiscated for the rest of the week. The student can come to my office after the last lessons Friday to fetch the phone.
Please help us to help the students to abide to these rules, so that we can eliminate and hopefully avoid a lot of problems that way.
After School Recreation Centre – the SFO
The contact person for the Cosmo-students at the SFO is Carsten Biel.
If you wish to speak to him, please telephone the SFO during opening hours.
If your child is not attending the SFO any given day, please pass that information on to the SFO
You can text the SFO on +45 6166 8750 or leave a message on the answering machine +45 7630 1746 or telephone one of the numbers during opening hours.
Only students signed up for the SFO are allowed to used the school yard / play ground after school hours, as it is impossible for the teachers to figure out, who is there and who is not, if everybody uses the SFO’s facilities.
PE
Rupal Mortensen teaches the CIPP1 students in PE and they stay at the school.
Chad Grimm teaches the CIPP2 and CLSP & IGCSE students in PE.
He walks with the CIPP2 students from the school to the gymnasium; the CLSP & IGCSE students go there on their own.
All students shower after PE lessons, so please make sure that they all bring a towel. If the girls, due to the amount of time spent on hair and make-up before coming to school, do not want to wash their hair that is not a problem, as long as they wash their bodies.
Please tell the students to either leave their valuables in their lockers at the school or hand them over to Chad during the PE lessons, so that we can ensure that nothing is lost or stolen.
Until week 42, PE lessons mainly consist of outdoor activities, if the weather is fine, so please make sure that the students bring outdoor shoes and clothing.
After week 42, PE lessons will only consist of indoors activities, so please ensure that they bring indoor shoes and clothing.
School trips
We are currently organising outings and school trips.
There will be two one-day-outings for the CIPP1 students organised by home-school-coordinator for CIPP1, Lillian Tengesdal. Home-school-coordinator for CIPP2, Synne Haagensen, is organising a school trip to Odense for the CIPP2 students, and home-school-coordinator for CLSP & IGCSE, Chad Grimm and I are trying to organise a school trip to a school in Milan, Italy.
Further information will follow later.
Payment
We are having a new system of payment installed, and you will all receive a letter from me within the next week or two, telling you all about the new system and how to sign up for automatic payments.
Cooperation with Lego
Last year we inaugurated a cooperation with Lego, as many of the company’s designers are English speaking and would like to work with children, who speak English instead of only with Danish speaking children, which require a translator, as much valuable information is lost in translation.
This autumn, 12 Cosmo-students will visit Lego 4 times – in week 36, 40, 44 and 48. The students are accompanied by a teacher. They will be picked up at the school and dropped off here again afterwards. Each visit will last approximately 4 hours – from 8.00 to 12.00.
All the CIPP1 students and some of the younger CIPP2 students will participate. Lego has asked that the students we send are between 5 and 10 years of age.
Homework
Homework will be posted on the blog – each teacher will post the homework on his or her page. Each entry will be marked with level (CIPP1, CIPP2, CLSP or IGCSE) date and the assignments to make it as easy for you as possible.
Some teachers will post everything, and some will only post larger assignments, written papers and presentations.
All larger assignments are scaffolded, unless the students have made other agreements with their teacher.
Two students from IB (International Baccalaureate) in Kolding offered their assistance with homework to meet the requirements for their CAS-project. We will contact those of you, whose children we feel would benefit from this offer.
Trainee Service
In week 46, CLSP & IGSCE students (stage 8, 9 and 10) are to participate in trainee service at IB Kolding. If a student wished to visit another (Danish) high school (Gymnasium in Danish) they are welcome, but they have to confer with me as soon as possible, so we can organize it.
The CLSP stage 7 students stay at school and we will make a special programme for them.
IGCSE
I have posted some information about the IGCSE exams on the blog yesterday, and I will post more in the weeks to come.
School parties
The school parties are going to take place in November (week 47).
CLSP & IGCSE students participate Tuesday, the 23rd, from 19.30 to midnight.
CIPP2 students participate Wednesday, the 24th, from 19.00 to 23.00.
CIPP1 students participate Thursday, the 25th, from 18.30 to 22.00
Only the student and his or her parents are invited; siblings and grandparents are not, due to the lack a room.
Synne will try to coordinate the bringing of food from each family.
Further information will follow later.
Important dates and events
September 27th to October 1st – School photographer
October 15th – Fitness day
Autumn holiday – October 16th to 24th
October 26th to 28th – Checkpoint tests
November 1st to 5th – term test
November 17th to 19th – trainee service
November 23rd to 25th – school parties
December 1st – Christmas decorations for CIPP1 and 2
December 18th – last school day before the Christmas holidays
List of Students in CIPP1, CIPP2, CLSP & IGCSE
Several parents asked me to make a list for each of the classes, containing names, telephone numbers and addresses.
If anyone should not wish to be on these lists, please let me know before Tuesday, the 31st of August.
I will not post the lists, but send them to you via e-mail.
Kind regards,
Simon
