DECEMBER 2012

PYP Newsletter
ISGR
Dates of Interest
13th DecemberLucia 20th DecemberFirst term reports sent home 20th DecemberLast day of first term. Finish 11am 7th JanuaryIn-service day for teachers 8th January First day back for students

Principals Message
Dear Parents, It is the season of lights and celebrations when the wintry chills come and the days get shorter. We have just had a wonderful Christmas Bazaar made possible by the large number of parent volunteers who contributed with a variety of foods, fun activities, music and stalls from the different countries. I would like to thank all who took part! I would especially like to mention the three main organisers Rachel Callander, Wendy Van Duijvenboode and Birgit Thomas who were the main organisers. Our next big celebration is Lucia the festival of light which will be held in Annedals church on Thursday 13th December. We are fast approaching the winter holiday with a well-deserved rest for all of our learning community! We wish you a joyful and peaceful holiday! Marilyn James

Sankta Lucia The choir are hard at work preparing for this years Lucia Celebrations. They warmly welcome you to join them for our annual celebration on Thursday, 13th December, 2012. Where: Annedalskyrkan When: 9am The program will take approximately 40 minutes and will include songs in Swedish and English. Your childs teacher may need helpers to walk with the class to Annedalskyrkan or you are welcome to meet us there. MiniLucia There will also be a 'miniLucia' for Dwing on the 12th and a 'mini - lucia' for grade 2 on the 14th.

Grade 5 raising money for Cancer Research

PYP5 Present Mike with the money they raised to help Mikes Moustache Campaign.

Whats happening in PYP!

Grade 4
This month we will focus on grade 4 & 5.
One of the highlights for us in our new inquiry (How We Organise Ourselves) is going to be making a soundscape of Gteborg. In our new unit we will be focusing on the role a city's infrastructure plays in keeping a city working. We will research and discover what happens when one or many infrastructures break down or disappear and how the infrastructure is maintained. Before we dive into our unit we need to get an idea of our city and how it works. We are doing this by developing our 'picture' of Gteborg through sound. On Friday (12.12.7) we will head into the city and record its 'voice', then in music class we will turn these recordings into a song or 'picture' of the city. At the same, time in art class students will also make an artist interpretation of Gteborg that will eventually accompany the song as an art instillation in the school.

Guldheden Library 2012

Library opening hours Monday 8.30 -3.30 pm Tuesday 8.30 -3.30pm Wednesday 8.30 -3.30pm Thursday 8.30 3.30pm Friday 8.30 2.30pm

Grade 5
In our last unit on How We Organise Ourselves each table in the class was organised into a village. Each village ran a simulated economy where they had to decide what to buy (for example how many pencils and erasers) but also making sure they allowed money for taxes and possible fines. Some of the tables showed some great initiative by advertising services for other tables. In this simulation the class learned a lot about how a real economy is run. In our current unit on Where We Are in Time and Place the students have had to decide the top 10 push and pull factors for people deciding to move to another country. Also they have placed eight of these in a diamond formation of importance. This week each student has designed an interview so that they can interview someone who has moved to Sweden from another country. Next Monday we will visit the Emigranternas hus in Gothenburg as an excursion for this unit.

Mike PYP coordinator website

Please check out my website for some interesting information about the IB and the PYP programme. http://teacherweb.com/SE/ISGR/ MikeHowlett/apt1.aspx

PYP 5 essential elements.

The Winter Bazaar

There was a warm smell of glgg and cinnamon in the air . The International choir was singing all the holiday classics and the children were running around winning all sorts of prizes. It must be the Winter Bazaar! People turned up in their hundreds for this great event and what an event it was! There was international food being sold, prizes to be won, a music and dance show, and even a performance from the teachers! A big thank you to all the parents, teachers and volunteers who made this event possible! More information about the event, including how much money was raised, will be coming out in the PTA newsletter!

Emma SjbergKicking it
Just some fun news. Emma Sjberg in 5D won gold in the Swedish Championship (SM) in Tae Kwon Do on Saturday.

Emma with her gold medal

The new Music room! I am glad to be back after my parental leave in the autumn. We have worked hard to reinstall the new music room and the students seem to respond very well to the new set-up. Here you can see a grade 5 class using one of the two music rooms, the keyboard room. The students are getting more familiar with the keys and are learning to play along with a new song. Thanks! Jol

Calling the school about sickness It has come to our attention that many parents have the wrong telephone number for sick reporting. Please make sure you use the following: Sick reporting for students at Guldheden 031 - 708 92 53. Lost and Found Dear Students and Parents The lost and found will be displayed in the B1 corridor, outside the staff room, between the 10th-20th of December. Please come and look to see if any of your children's clothes are there. Any items not collected by the 21st of December, will be sent to the charity "Stadsmissionen", during the Christmas break

Greetings from Library Media Centre

Libraries are not book warehouses anymore; they are active places to find inspiration or knowledge, Beth Barlow

We are living in the Digital Age. Our kids are more computer-comfortable than book-comfortable! Access to information and culture is much easier than before. A digital age student, especially in an international school, is an international and intercultural person. Of course children love to keep a book in their hands and disappear in the magic of imagination and the world of fantasy. That is why we also remember the value of literature in printed materials and welcome love of reading. Our library media centre has been a place for students and staff to come to find information, inspiration and recreation; a center for the whole school community to find and practice new information technologies. We use different kinds of media in library media activities to teach, create and maintain information retrieval, websites, and digital documents. Our library media centre is not only a room that includes over 13,000 books but it also gives services to 24 scheduled classes when it is accessible 24/7. Our library media centre is also a room without walls; http://www.isgr-lmcguld.se , there you can find out about new books, programs, databases or inquire about every kind of educational services in the school. The school library media centre integrates student perspective and equal opportunities perspective into its active role within its school community. Rouhia is a representative for school culture and tries to activate systematically involvement of culture into education. The library media plays an active part in both our International week, Culture Week, Reading weeks and hosts a number of special events and visits. Museum visits, orchestra visits and various visitors from different organizations who work in cooperation with inquiries are a part of the library media activities. Having visits from different artists, authors and people involved in global issues help our children to be open-minded to know who we are, where we are in place and time, how we express ourselves in different ways and how we organize ourselves to share our vulnerable planet. Karl Chilcott is the artist; sculptor, who will come to PYP4DE to work with cities in February.

Plans for extending the outside areas of the school and to have increased security.
Considering that we are so central, we count ourselves fortunate that we have access to so much playground area and also a football field of such high standard. We will be increasing our playground area even further by fencing in the green area at the front of the school. This will be a pleasant area particularly suited to our youngest students (Kindergarten and the F classes in the National Section); both during the play-breaks and also during the after school activities at PAL. We are also extending the fencing at the side of the hill and at the entrance of the school nearest to Dr Salensgatan. Some of these projects have been started and will be expected to continue as soon as the weather conditions are favourable. We have also locked the barrier at the side of the PE hall, so that any transport needing access can be better regulated. Below are some views showing where the fencing and gates will be. In some photos the fences and gates have been superimposed onto the image. Marilyn James, Principal

Top left: New gate and fence near the hill . This is a view from when you have walked from Wavrinskysplats. The hill can be seen in the background. The council preschool and the path to Wavrinskysplats is on the left. Top right: The New playground for Kindergarten. This is a view from when you have walked from Wavrinskysplats. The hill can be seen in the background. The council pre-school is on the left and the path to Wavrinskysplats. Bottom left: New gate and fence at the back side of the school. This is a view from when you have walked from Wavrinskysplats. The hill can be seen in the background. The council pre-school is on the left and the