Dear Parents/Guardians,

Keeping with the new format, where a section from each part of the school, writes about what they have been doing, here is Mr. Nigel from Year 3 explaining just how his class have been doing..

Year 3 has enjoyed a very positive start to the school year so far, with all students settling down nicely and contributing enthusiastically to create a lively and energetic environment. As year 3 makes the transition from Key stage 1 to Key stage 2, there is a huge focus on handwriting skills and presentation of work. This can be rather daunting after a 5 or 6 week break from school. However I am proud to say that many of the students in Year 3 have risen to the challenge well, as is demonstrated by some of the beautiful work that has been presented across the curriculum.

The year 3 assembly was one of our most enjoyable recent activities, in which students used the skills and storytelling techniques, learnt in Literacy classes to write, prepare, and perform a short play on the topic of bullying. Although bullying is not a serious issue at Heathfield, we hope that our play has reminded students that teachers are always there to help, whatever issues a student may have. Nigel Woods. Year 3 homeroom teacher.

Here is just a brief update with regard to science at Heathfield International School; it has been a very busy start!

Year 6 have been carrying out an experiment. To examine the different conditions required for seed germination. Year 7 have been observing cells using light microscopy, and have also been working on their project, my favourite scientist.

Year 8 have been examining foods and discussing healthy and unhealthy diets. Each student in year 8 has compiled two different menus from a fictional restaurant, one containing healthy food and the other unhealthy. The students have also been working on their project, the benefits of science to society.

Year 9 have been examining inheritance and basic genetics. We greatly enjoyed looking at their family photos! They have also been working on their project, the state of the planet.

Our IGCSE students have been examining global warming as their project. They have also been busy performing experiments. Their latest was examining the effect of enzyme concentration of enzyme activity. All of this work will in due course be displayed on the science notice board if you wish to see it. It has been a very enjoyable start to this academic year, and I am sure that the students will continue to be excited and eager to discover more about science using this very student centred activity based approach. Dr Alan Science teacher

The Nursery has had a great start to the 2009-2010 school year. All the children have settled in very well and it is wonderful to see everyone developing their friendships. Our theme for this half-term is “All About Me” and we have been learning about parts of our bodies through singing ‘Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes’. We have also been learning about actions and movements that we can do with our bodies through the story book ‘From Head to Toe’ by Eric Carle. This is a fun book that helps children to learn how to move their bodies whilst building their self-confidence by inviting them to say “I can do it!” after every action.

We have begun an introduction to the sounds of the alphabet. Last week we had great fun learning about the letter ‘j’ by making jam sandwiches and jelly for our snack times. This week we have been learning about the letter ‘t’ and we have had a wonderful time making telephones from paper cups and string. Once we made them we enjoyed using them to talk to our friends – the Nursery has been full of the sounds of children chatting to each other and hearing them ask “how are you” and replying “I’m fine, thank you”. It’s wonderful to see the children having so much fun whilst learning. Donna Rao Nursery Teacher I would like to remind you that on Friday the 9th October 2009 there will be a book swap day at the school. This is an ideal opportunity for your children to swap a book that they have already read before. As I mentioned reading in the school still needs to improve so the more opportunity your children have at reading, the more they will improve. I would like to remind all parents especially in the early years and primary that children taking part in physical education lessons must bring their school uniform and change back. Not only is this for hygiene, especially with the weather and current flu epidemic, but also we are teaching a life skill of changing your clothes for different environments.

One of the things I here many of you say to me is “how can my child speak with an English accent”? This is a very difficult question to answer, as someone from Liverpool will have a different accent, than someone from London. What is important is that children pronounce the words correctly and use polite language, with words like pardon and excuse me. We now have a new initiative in school called “Excellent English Speaking” where teachers are looking for this in the classroom and playground. Children look up to teachers and parents as role models, so encouraging your child to pronounce words correctly will be a big help. Together I know that we can get everyone speaking excellent English.

You should have all received the school draft Vision, Philosophy and Objectives (VPO). This is a collaborative effort and you as parents are a vital and important part of the school community. If you could send in your comments, so that we can get our new VPO published on the schools website and also in our brochures.

Stephen James O’Connor

Headmaster