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Chess is a very important signature program at AISB. Chess creates skills and resilience in our students and is integral in building our school community. Our chess program is well recognised for its achievements in interschool tournaments. Every month, AISB holds a chess competition for our students. Below is the schedule of the upcoming AISB Chess tournament, August 28th- Chess Player of the Month September 4th- Friendly simultaneous online chess September 11th- Training session at 9 am-12 pm September 18th- Friendly match against Anglo Chess Team September 25th- Chess Player of the Month Register now for your chance to compete on Saturday 28th August 2021 at the Soi 31 campus. Please click the link in the email we sent to you. There will be trophies for the winners and medals for all competitors. See you there! Introducing our New Chess coach for school year 2021-22 I am Arvie Lozano, a P.E. teacher and a chess teacher. With an extensive background in the field of sport, I am both an inspirational educator and a professional chess athlete. During my time as a student-athlete, I have been recognized for my extraordinary commitment to chess and granted the following certification: Trainer Certification by Meralco Chess Club on December 28, 2016; Philippine Women National Chess Master, an acquired title in 2017 P- Award for Outstanding Athlete by University of the Philippines-Diliman after the 2018 university sports competition, University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP). Work Experiences: Online Chess teacher - New York Chess Academy Professional Chess Player - Professional Chess Association of the Philippines (PCAP)

Happy first day of school! Watch this video for a short welcome message from our School Director, Mr Brenton Hall: “I wish you a very warm welcome to the 2021/2022 school year. This is my 44th start to a school year and I still feel the excitement that a new school year brings. New teachers, new students and the anticipation of what each of them will bring and how they’ll contribute to the new school year”

Dear AISB School Community Members, I am so pleased to be joining the AISB community, especially in these challenging times of Covid-19. I am an Australian educator, prior to my appointment at AISB I held the positions of Deputy Principal and Literacy Leader in a large primary school in Victoria. In the last few years I have obtained my Master of Leadership and also completed an Advanced Leadership for Women program. I am a dedicated and passionate life-long learner. Over the past 30 years, I have worked in varied educational settings from indigenous schools in remote desert towns to rural and inner city Catholic and government schools. Each school context has been vastly different but I have thoroughly enjoyed working alongside staff, students and their families in creating optimal learning environments. Working at AISB will be my first time working overseas, but it has been a life-long dream. My two children and three grand-children are also excited for my next educational journey and hopefully they will have the opportunity to visit me in Bangkok in the near future. In my leadership role, I aim to continue the fantastic work already evident at AISB as a contemporary 21st century school. I will encourage students and staff to continually strive to be critical and creative thinkers, develop growth mindsets, work collaboratively with others and make a positive difference in the world. The culture I strive to create is where each stakeholder feels safe, is respected, is treated with dignity, and can flourish. As an educator, I believe learning should be fun, meaningful, and rewarding. I believe student engagement, student wellbeing and student learning outcomes are positively impacted when students are connected, supported and suitably challenged. On a personal level, I love reading, exploring markets and their wares (I hear there are many markets in Bangkok), travelling locally and abroad, and meeting up with friends and family. I am not much of a cook but I do also love sharing food. I look forward to meeting everyone at AISB and I am excited to explore Thailand and learn about its rich culture firsthand. Louise Anderson, new Deputy Head of Primary and Leader of Soi 20

Our last week of Summer School Summer School is officially over! A big thank you to all the families that participated in the online format of Summer School this year. Ideally, we would have preferred to be face to face but the children really seemed to enjoy the variety of activities that our teachers offered. Here are some of the activities children have been taking part in this week: Arts & Crafts This week, the Year 1’s created miniature houses with recycled materials. The Year 2’s made a ring toss game also using recycled materials and the Year 3’s created personalised name art. Art This week, we engaged in a modern art activity called cubism. In this activity, we drew faces that can be seen from different angles; The profile of the face and the front of the face. Book Club Book club this week we read I Walk With Vanessa by Kerascoet. The story has no words however uses color and expression to tell the story. At the end of the lesson, we used the annotation tool to create a shared Venn diagram comparing and contrasting this week’s book from last week’s The Invisible Boy. Creative Writing Students participated in an activity to create their own similes and metaphors they can use in their own poetry. After a quick refresher of figurative language, students were to create their own color poem using the five senses to share in class. Comic Creator Students in the class were shown how beginning animation was created to make the effect of 3-Dimensional in cartoons. After a brief discussion and a “Comic of the Day” presentation, students were given a set dialog to create their own comic strip using the techniques they have learned the previous week. Debate / In The News This week, we considered whether the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 should be postponed another year due to the pandemic. After having a whole class discussion, we broke out into small groups to argue the viewpoints of the athletes, the people living in Japan and the Olympic Committee, and then we came back to share with the whole class. Coding The Year 3A students have successfully completed their coding challenges by inputting an on-screen turtle instruction to achieve the desired outcome. Drama Games Students participated in an exercise called What Do You Meme? Kids are shown famous Memes and will provide dialog to these pictures for entertainment. We had some quick witted students this week! Fitness Students were able to engage in a variety of different fun fitness activities to get their heart rate up and body moving. Some activities included Zumba, AMRAP traditional fitness moves, and Yoga. We included a mindfulness session into our lesson so students could slow down their heart rates and be fully present. Hip Hop The students were amazing during their live final performance. They came prepared by wearing their favorite hip hop outfit and excited to perform. Mystery Science Students explored the life of a caterpillar as they look completely different from the juvenile stage to their adult life stage. Students examined how caterpillars grow and change throughout their life and then used what they learned to create a card for someone special in their own life. Maths Games For Math Games, we students played a Jeopardy-style game to answer various questions related to mathematics. Students were also introduced to online games they can play in their free time against one another or to brush up with their math skills on their own time. Problem Solving Students this week thought about another conundrum in which they had to pick the best leader out of a group of astronauts going on a mission to space. We also read a story called “Jabari Jumps” and students came up with solutions to help solve Jabari’s problem based on their own ideas and experiences. Mindfulness What is imagery? Simply, imagery is thought. For example, the thought or image of a certain person at work can provoke a feeling of happiness, humour, anger or fear. You feel these emotions, and in your mind’s eye, you begin to respond to those feelings. In this process you elicit images from within (the mind) and interact with these images through the senses (the body). Now picture how children process the world around them, how much of their everyday existence is experienced through the imagination. Dr Seuss This week we read There’s a Wocket in my Pocket y Dr. Seuss. After reading and recognizing the made up creatures Dr. Seuss created by rhyming with household items, we made our own pages to continue the story. Students used the sentence frame “Sometimes I feel there is a _____ in my _____. That _____ in my _____ I could not live without”. Thai Language For this week Thai language class students learned about daily routines vocabulary. They have been practicing to pronounce the words in Thai that it is useful to use in real life and they had fun playing a bingo game. Thai Songs In this week Thai song class, students learnt 'Hippo' song. The lyrics of the song includes vocabulary about facts of hippo’s. They paid attention to the class and also did some dance exercises together while singing. Kahoot Questions this week covered many topics. Well done to all for participating and doing their best in our general knowledge quiz this week. Congratulations to all our winners! Storytime This week we read Please Please The Bees by Gerald Kelley. The children learnt about the importance of appreciating what other people do for you. If you don’t appreciate the kindness of others then people will stop being kind to you. After reading the book we completed a drawing of the main character. Chess To apply what they have learned, this week, the students played against each other using their lichess account. Those who didn't have a lichess account were tasked to solve a number of puzzles. Foundation 1, 2, kinder and year 1 sung a chess related song to help them remember what they have learned. Podcast Creating Students were introduced to “Spreaker” which is an online platform that allows users to create their own audio recordings and their very own podcasts! Students also thought about interviewing someone from history and the questions they would ask that person. MecaBricks Check out Bailey’s Hunger Games opening scene recreated in MecaBricks (top). Grace continued building her fortress from last week, and equally impressive was David’s Batmobile. He took on the challenge of building something using the ‘wheels’ tool. GeoGebra This week in summer school, students continued their work on tessellations by rotation in GeoGebra. Logic Puzzles Students learned about renewable energy during this week’s lesson in Logic Puzzles as they matched speakers to their presentations on renewable energy. Music Students learn singing several songs with some dynamic markings. Playing some music game was fun and at the same time we learn something new and to be assertive too. Yoga During the last week of Yoga classes, we enjoyed building energy together by practicing sun salutations. Written by various teachers at Soi 31 campus

We are so proud of how the children have engaged in a wide variety of fun and educational activities throughout our program. A big thank you to parents and families for your continued support and involvement. Here are some of the activities the children have been taking part in over the four weeks: Craft Making STEAM - Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics During our Summer School programme , students got creating, building, developing and engineering various skills used across all year groups. Nursery - Storybook Art Nursery 1 and 2 created art inspired by stories such as Old Macdonald had a farm, and Goodnight moon. Music During Summer school, Nursery to Year 1 engaged in a variety of creative activities. Including making musical instruments, finding objects around the house that make certain sounds and students learned to use their voices in four different ways; “My whisper voice, my talking voice, my singing voice and my shouting voice.” Music Year 1 Students learn singing several songs with some dynamic markings. Playing some music game was fun and at the same time we learn something new and to be assertive too. Drama - Block 1 During Block 1 of Summer school, learners engaged in games where they had to create their own mime and completed a poem recite “Knite n Amour”. Drama - Block 2 During Block 2, learners in Foundation and Year 1 had to create their own puppets using a variety of materials from home. They then created their own puppet show. They also hosted a digital talent show, where they had a chance to show off their variety of talent. Talents included roller blading, singing, dancing football, mathematics, minecraft and building legos. You go superstars! Fitness During fitness with Mr Oh and Mr Ed, learners from Nursery to Year 1 engaged in a variety of activities that included stretching, jumping, hopping and running. These activities were aimed at developing gross motor skills. Fun games such as fitness Bingo , were used to develop perceptual skills, as well as hand eye coordination. Science club Nursery to Year 1 put their science coats on and got experimenting. From fizzy dough. Rain clouds, lava lamps, volcanic eruptions, Mindful mini’s During Mindful mini’s learners practiced breathing techniques, along with affirmations. They also created glitter jars to remind us that when we are feeling difficult emotions, we can sit and breathe and use our jars to help us stay calm and think clearly. Mindful mini’s - The World Made a Rainbow The World Made a Rainbow is a book by Michelle Robinson and is about a little girl who is stuck at home with her family because of lockdown. During our mindful mini’s session we listened to the story and many of us could relate by missing our friends and family. Kindergarten to Year 1 each made a colour rainbow and said what they were grateful for. Coding Foundation and Year 1 students learnt how to code, creating their own animation. In week 2, students used commands to help move their panda robot around. Cooking class All the students thoroughly enjoyed cooking and baking during our Summer school programme. We definitely have some future chefs among us. Some of the dishes that were made were pizza, smoothie bowls, and cake in a mug. Yoga *Yoga is not just for adults! In fact, it can give children very important life skills that can help them succeed in the world. Chess The students learned more about the structure of the chessboard and the movements of each chess piece. Then, the class was encouraged to sing the song “Let’s learn chess.” They also proceed with learning some special moves and how a chess game ends with ‘check,’ ‘checkmate,’ and ‘stalemate.’ To apply what they have learned, the students played against each other using their lichess account. Those who don't have a lichess account were tasked to solve a number of puzzles. Written by various teachers at Soi 20 campus

The children have continued to work hard, participate well and embrace the spirit of Summer School. Here are some of the activities children have been taking part in this week: Arts & Crafts This week in Art we created paper owl craft (Year 1), snakes and ladders (Year 2) and mandalas (Year 3). We discussed what other materials could be used to make owls, how to create your own tokens and dice to play snakes and ladders, and what a mandala is and how we could use it. For example, creating coasters with mandala craft. Art This week in Art, we learned about using patterns to create an aesthetically pleasing handprint. We traced our hands and drew divided sections. We all had our choice of the design to draw in each area of the hand. The kids came up with many unique and whimsical ideas for patterns such as lightning, ants, moons, sprinkles, smiley faces, clouds, math objects, and items found in popular video games. Book Club We read about the Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig. Throughout the story, we discussed times we haven’t been included in activities or at school. Each class thought of ways this may have happened intentionally or unintentionally and how in the future we can instead care for one another and make our peers feel seen. Creative Writing Students participated in an activity called Show, Don’t Tell. This activity provides a sentence for the students to elaborate and extend upon by adding more details. After the activity, students were given the opportunity to create their own narrative by giving a story to continue on with their own details. Comic Creator Students first received an introduction to when comics were first published in the 1930’s. After going through the key components of a comic, students had the opportunity to create their own cartoon characters and facial expressions. Years 4-6 and Years 7-10 were then given the opportunity to create their own comic strip using a provided prompt and their own imagination to create. Debate In Week 3, students from Years 4-10 learned the language of persuasion to argue and consider alternative views on a variety of topics. Coding Year 2 has been exploring and finding solutions to the given puzzles using an Ozobot simulator. They used Ozoblockly language and drag-drop editor to write programs wherein the Ozobot traces the shape. Year 5 and 6 have completed their first animation project on Scratch. The student had to use different backdrops and letters sprite and move along the stage with sound effects. Drama Games Students were first shown a scene from Whose Line is it Anyway? focusing on improv and using props in their performances. Students participated in the art of improv by providing scenarios for class. A Picker Wheel with choices was spun and students were to act out the scenario in class. Fitness Similar to last week, students were able to engage in a variety of different fun fitness activities to get their heart rate up and body moving. Some activities included Zumba, AMRAP traditional fitness moves, and Yoga. We included a mindfulness session in our lesson so students could slow down their heart rates and be fully present. Hip Hop The kids were preparing for another set of live dance performances for next week. They focused on practicing the dance steps and I can’t wait to see them perform. Good luck! Mystery Science We learnt about why people are scared of bugs and became a little less scared of bugs. We then made centipedes out of paper if you would like to do the activity again and click the link https://mysteryscience.com/trending/mystery-23/biodiversity/626?code=MTM4Njk1Mzk&t=student&chapter=all Maths Games For Math Games, we played a Jeopardy style game where students competed in teams against one another. A variety of mathematical skills were tested including addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Problem Solving Students were given a conundrum in which there was no certain answer to. They defended their thinking by explaining why that option was the best choice. Students also solved riddles and used logical thinking to solve other problems. Mindfulness Year 1 and 2 Healing imagery is a way to use one’s imagination in a focused way to help the mind and body to self-heal, perform and recuperate on both a physical and emotional level. To learn a state of “quiet” enables children to connect with their self-healing abilities, to strengthen their self-esteem and to enjoy their own imaginations at the same time. Dr Seuss We read Dr Seuss’ Bartholomew and The Oobleck and made our own Oobleck! We decided that the king’s idea to have Oobleck rain down would be sticky and disastrous! Thai Craft This week, students learnt the plant seed germination and then they made a craft from seeds and other dried food materials. Thai Language This week the children learned about Thai banknotes and coins. They had fun playing a shopping game with the teacher. Thai Songs For this week’s Thai song class, students learnt about fruit song, knowing the name of fruit in Thai and they had fun dancing with fruit song. Kahoot Year 1 and 2 General knowledge Quiz This was a first time for some Year 1 students to participate in a Kahoot and they really enjoyed it. Congratulations to all our winners and well done to everyone for trying! Yoga 7 yoga poses that will support & strengthen your core; chair pose, table top pose, boat pose, bridge pose, wheel pose, plow pose and bow pose. Storytime We read Arnie The Doughnut as a class. Students had to use sequence words to describe how a doughnut is made. Then they turned their sentences into a procedure poster. Chess For this week, we learned more about the structure of the chess board and movements of each chess piece. Then, to recall the basic principles discussed, the class were encouraged to sing the song “Let’s learn chess.” We also proceed with learning some special moves and how a chess game ends with ‘check,’ ‘checkmate,’ and ‘stalemate.’ Podcast Creating Students learned the basics about podcasts and the various ways they can be recorded. Students discussed the various topics they can record a podcast about and were introduced to tips and tricks they can use when creating their own podcasts! MecaBricks Students used their creativity to create online 3D lego models. They could save their work and keep building even when summer school is over! GeoGebra Students learned about tessellations of 2D shapes in GeoGebra Geometry and created their own work in the online program. Logic Puzzles Students worked through a set of clues with the teacher and each other to answer a logic puzzle using their deductive reasoning and critical thinking skills. In The News The Year 4s and 5s watched a recent news story about a flying car making its first successful inter-city flight in Slovakia last week. We had a whole class discussion and then broke into small groups to consider safety, advantages and disadvantages of having a flying car and potential changes to day-to-day life. Written by various teachers at Soi 31 campus

To conclude our school year we invited our wonderful families to view our Director's Awards Assembly presentation sent via email. This assembly is designed to celebrate the academic achievement of our students. Covid 19 has thrown up plenty of challenges in education this year, which makes the accomplishments of our students even more meritorious. Welcome message from Mr Brenton Hall Ms Laura King, Deputy Head for Primary and Leader Soi 20 Mr Neil Robinson, Head of Secondary Congratulations to all award winners. The Spirit of AISB House Shield At AISB the house system provides opportunities for students to meet in cross grade groups to build school tradition and school spirit; a sense of teamwork through various whole school activities. This year, the students at Soi 20 are also involved in the house competition. There are now two Spirit of AISB shields displayed on each campus. This is the first year for the Soi 20 campus to have its own Spirit of AISB Shield. The Spirit of AISB House Shield is presented at the End of Year Assembly. The Shield goes to House that has gained the highest numbers points in the current academic year. Soi 20 campus: The winning house is Eucalyptus. Soi 31 campus: The winning houses are Eucalyptus and Acacia. Congratulations on winning this prestigious award! Farewell from Ms Gail

We have now completed our final week of the Soi 20 Campus Summer School Program. Over the past 4 weeks, children have reviewed and enhanced basic skill development in Thai language and culture, creative arts, dance & drama, Science, Literacy, Digital Technology, and physical skills, just to name a few. A variety of activities and approaches to learning have been used by staff to ensure that the learning was exciting, and included hands-on exploration and discovery. We would like to thank all our Teachers, TAs, and Nannies for their hard work and dedication to the program, and also thank you, the parents and children, for being a part of our school. We are proud to have had you be a part of our school community! Wishing everyone a wonderful Summer Holiday, and we look forward to welcoming you back in August for the new school year. Please feel free to contact the office if you have any questions at admin@australian-isb.com. Written by Ms. Sheridan - Head of Early Childhood Education (Nursery & Kindergarten)

This week is the concluding week of fun-filled and interesting lessons and activities. Thank you to all the children for their enthusiasm, willingness to try new things, and for their extraordinary effort to follow the new health regulations for the past 4 weeks. It has been a great success all around. Here is a brief look at what the children have been doing this week in Summer School: Anime This week the students have learnt how to draw a manga head in proportion along with its facial features, expressions and hairstyle! Ball Games/Outdoor Sports This week our students engaged in a range of fitness activities and ball games such as mini soccer games and some running games. This allows students to maintain their fitness in a fun and inclusive environment. The Year 3 students had fun playing various team building games. By the end, we were all hot, sweaty, and thirsty. The Year 4 students enjoyed taking part in touch frisbee, rounders, and various team-building games. Book Club In Year 3 Book Club, students enjoyed the stories of 'Hansel and Gretel' and 'Charly did it'. Year 4 have been reading the text 'Ali Baba'. The text has proved stimulating and provoked interesting class discussions. Year 5 have been reading the text of 'Believe it or not'. There was stimulating class discussion, with the children communicating their opinions of possible solutions to the mysteries presented. Year 6+ have been reading an informational text about 'Unsolved mysteries'. The children came up with many interesting ideas and possible solutions to these mysteries. The children reflected on the importance of keeping an open mind and having the investigative skills of a scientist. Book Creator Year 1 to 4 students had fun completing their short Book Creator stories or information texts and learned how to embed media from the web into their books.  Year 5 students enjoyed working in pairs or individually to finish their Toontastic stories. They then had fun watching them. The Year 6 to 9 students worked hard to complete their Book Creator comics and stories. Coding Students in Year 1 create a program of monkey’s journey in order to catch bananas and unlock the treasure. The Year 2 classes did Hour-of-code (Minecraft) to create coding solutions that include sequences, loops, and conditionals. Students in Year 3-4 continued with Coding Adventure, an interactive game-based course. The Year 5-9 use a puzzle game where they put blocks in a sequence. The students learn about computer science specifically to program a small bot to make its way through a maze by using ‘if statements’ and ‘while loops’. Creative Writing After planning a creative story using a template for their setting, characters, beginning, middle, and end, Year 4 have been writing up their stories with emphasis on detail and interesting vocabulary. Year 5 have been planning a creative story. After outlining their plan and focus of having 'hooks' to engage the reader, they continued forward to write up their short stories. English/Traditional Tales During Traditional Tales with Ms Lyn the Year 1 and 2 classes listened to a fairy tale. The students then sketched the character and used details from the story to write about the character's personality. In English, the students listened to a story and completed visualization activities to enhance their understanding of the story being read. The students also actively participated in Brain Gym exercises. Hip Hop & Fitness For this week's Hip Hop class, the students were really happy to perform the 3 dance routines that they've learned. They had a small group dance competition inside the class and took this chance to show off their dancing talent. The students engaged with basic Yoga positions. The children were focused and calm during the class and tried their best to perform all the different positions. Maths Challenge The Year 1s and 2s have been provided with geo shapes and multilink blocks to complete small and creative challenges, this week the challenge was to create the funniest 3D designs. Some very creative outcomes have been produced in the process. Maths Investigation This week students were math detectives as they had to solve various clues in order to work out who the bad superhero was and save Mathhattan. Maths Through Art This week the younger students used coloured paper shapes to make a pattern that completely filled their piece of paper. The students had to think carefully about what shapes fit together best. The older children created 3D art by plotting a center point on to paper and then using a ruler to draw lines. Musical Instruments This week we learned some new chords and play along with some songs on the ukelele. We hope the kids enjoyed and were inspired by the music! Origami This week the Year 1 children have been creating origami animals such as a fox and a cat. The children have been enthusiastic and involved with their creations. Year 2 focused on folding techniques to produced origami models such as a penguin and a dog. The children were enthusiastic and followed the origami instructions well. The students were also excited to finish making their origami pyramids and then create their own wall art. Swimming Training This week the children focused on freestyle, backstroke, and then breaststroke, refining their skills and technique. The younger children concentrated on the basics and getting their arms and legs working together. They also built up their long-distance endurance. Water Sports This week the children played a specially modified version of water polo, taking social distancing into account. They also played lots of polo shooting games in the water. Textile Art Students continued their weaving textiles and learnt how to take their weaving off of the cardboard loom. Singing This week the learners learned the song You Raise Me Up, a song that gives appreciation to the people who are always there to encourage us always to do better in everything that we do. The learners also learned good voice production and good vocal control. Thai Cooking In Thai cooking class, the children learned how to make coconut jelly and used molds to make lots of interesting and delicious looking treats! Thai Games The children played a game called Pan jing reed deed manao, where they had to cover an eye and try to accurately flick a ball of paper off a bottle. It was much harder than it looks! This blog was written by various teachers from AISB Soi 31 campus.

This is a journal extract written by our Year 11 student Benito: Moving to a new country is both exhilarating and exciting. I have only realised how strongly I am tied to my home culture as I have moved abroad. I now face a culture and a language that are markedly different to my own. I have definitely felt the change. I think I should embrace it, instead of letting it get the best of me. My foreign friends back at home have warned me that getting adjusted starts with learning and embracing all the new experiences that lie ahead. I’m an Indonesian who has lived in Jakarta for most of my life. I don’t know much about living in a foreign country. I certainly never thought I would experience living abroad, at least not while still in high school. When I first heard that my dad had taken a job at AISB, I could not summon up the courage to pack my bags or break the news to my friends and family. “Hey, guys! I’m peacing out and moving to a foreign land!” However, I started thinking about the pros of moving to another country (my defence mechanism when faced with a difficult situation). So here are my main 3 pros of moving abroad: 1.    New travel opportunities. The possibilities of travel range from merely exploring my own neighbourhood to venturing beyond and embarking on an adventure to a neighbouring country. 2.    Personal growth. I’ll be thrown into brand new situations and settings that may seem intimidating and scary at first, but these are always the best way to grow as an individual. 3.    Expansion of knowledge. With travel comes the power of knowledge and learning. I will constantly learn about different cultures, languages, histories as I travel to new cities. I’ve just started a special journey. I am looking forward to all it has in store.

Construction has started on the Secondary School Building Project behind the Innovation Centre. Clearing of the land began last week and a simple groundbreaking ceremony on Monday signalled the start of work. The start of the new building marks an important stage in the development of the school. This will be a four-storey, 13 classroom building with two Science labs and excellent study facilities for secondary students. Completion of the building is scheduled for next June and the construction of the second building will start soon after that.

The expected attention span of young children often comes as a surprise to most people. Many assume it should be longer, but like anything else a child learns, e.g. crawling, walking, talking etc, it takes time and practice to develop. Parents and teachers alike can become frustrated when children won't sit still or concentrate for large amounts of time, particularly when the activity doesn't interest them. It's important to remember what is considered developmentally normal, as well as why something isn't holding their attention. Some hints and points to remember: Celebrate small wins each time a child concentrates in play or on a task. Reduce screen time - this is unfortunately linked to reduced concentration skills, and doesn’t provide sufficient practice as it is considered ‘passive entertainment’ as the brain doesn't have to do the work. Children are more likely to focus if they enjoy what they are doing, which is why learning through play is so effective! It is also why focusing on strengths and interests ensures genuine engagement for longer. You just can't "force" a child's attention span - it takes support, understanding and facilitating. Keep in mind that environmental, situational and physical aspects can impact on a child’s attention span, e.g. feeling sick, being too hot/cold, a noisy environment, tiredness, being hungry, or needing to go to the toilet Developing a good attention span can have a positive impact on future life-long learning Written by Ms. Sheridan - Head of Early Childhood Education (Nursery & Kindergarten)