15 August 2014 Volume 1

ES PARENT BULLETIN
International School Manila
IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER
AUGUST
18
Kindergarten Regular Day Begins
Online Registration of After-School Activities
20, 27 Wednesday Morning Student Late Start , 8.30AM
21
National Holiday for Ninoy Aquino Day - No
Classes (Faculty In-Service)
22 School Holiday - No School
25
National Holiday for National Heroes Day - No
Classes
26
Preschool Regular Day Begins
Confirmation of After-school Activities
28 Start of After-school Activities
29
1st Quarter Assembly, 8AM 9AM (FAT)
ESL Afternoon Tea, 1 2PM (CMC, Mother
Tongue Section)
15, 30 ES Parent Bulletin
SEPT
2 ES Open House, 5 - 7PM (LT)
3, 10, 17,
24
Wednesday Morning Student Late Start , 8.30AM
12, 26 ES Parent Bulletin
20
New Parent Coffee for Grades 2, 3, 4
8:30AM (Little Theater)
From te ES Administration From te ES Administration

Welcome
Welcome to the 2014/15 school year at Internaonal School
Manila. It has been great to see so many new and returning
students starng to sele into their new classes and learning
communies this week. We know that transions looks
dierent for dierent ages and students. Our goal is to support
all in feeling safe, valued and ready to learn. It has been equally
pleasing to welcome so many parents onto campus this
week. We held a new parent coee morning on Wednesday
for the Early Years (Preschool, Kindergarten and Grade 1),
where we were able to introduce some key personnel in the
Elementary School, and also start some dialogue focused on
transion, learning and play in the Early Years. We will be
holding a similar event for new parents in Grades 2, 3 and 4
next Wednesday morning at 8:30 am in the Lile Theater
(email invitaons will be sent).
BuildingCommunity&ThePowerofLanguage
As an Elementary faculty we have been focusing on two central
themes over the past three weeks, as we have prepared for the
start of the school year and the welcoming of our new
students. We know that for learning to occur, students need to
feel a sense of membership in, and shared ownership of, their
classroom. This applies whether you are moving grade levels,
schools or even countries. The role of the teacher in helping
create these classroom communies is pivotal. We have
looked at a number of underlying principles which support this
noon of building a classroom community, using Kath
Murdochs Learning Links, (Curriculum Corporaon 2005), as a
provocaon. Some of these key principles include:
The relaonships teachers build with their students profoundly
impact on their learning.
Each learner needs to feel valued for who they are.
A learning community is more eecve when open mindedness
and risk taking are encouraged.
Learners will take risks and embrace challenges in an
environment that feels safe, supporve and secure.
(Continued on page 2)
15 August 2014 Elementary School Parent Bulletin
2

(Continued from page 1)
Learners benet from playing an acve role in classroom
decision making.
Understanding the learning process and personal learning
aributes enhances learning.
We have also started our professional learning for the year by
reading Peter Johnston's Choice Words, (Stenhouse, 2004).
Johnstons work looks at how powerful language can be in
shaping the learning which takes place in our classrooms. Part
of this entails creang an environment where nocing is
central to learning. We are helping construct an environment
where our students noce what good readers, writers,
mathemacians, arsts, musicians, sportspeople and thinkers
do. To quote Johnston (2004, pg. 13),
Much more important is nocing and helping the students
noce what they are doing well, parcularly the leading edge
of what is going well. This leading edge is where the student
has reached beyond herself, stretching what she knows beyond
its limit, producing something that is parally correct. This is
the launching pad for new learning.
Hopefully you will noce some of these learnings in coming
weeks in our classrooms.
Uniforms
A new modied uniform was introduced at the start of the
2013/14 school year. However students in the Elementary
School are sll permied to wear uniforms (including PE
uniforms) from previous years.
ClinicVisits
As part of our review of student wellbeing, we now have in
place an email contact protocol, for when students have visited
the clinic. This replaces the old paper system as a
communicaon tool, which we judged was not as eecve as it
could be. If your child has reason to be treated at the Clinic
while at ISM, the clinic will nofy you by email. The clinic will
also use its discreon as to when a parent is contacted by
phone, depending upon the nature of the diagnosis.
AerSchoolAcvies
Please note, that if your child is at school but will not be
aending their scheduled acvity due to a prior commitment,
it is important that the AFAC oce or the ES oce is noed.
We appreciate your ongoing support for our aendance
protocols for aer school acvies.

ElementarySchoolProgramGuide&Handbook
Today you will have received our Handbook and Program Guide
for 2014/15 (new families will have received these at your
orientaon). The Handbook contains some useful logiscal
informaon and the Program Guide provides a broad overview
of our curriculum framework.
We look forward to discussing this further with you at our Open
House on Tuesday, 2nd September, 2014. A more detailed
outline of the evening will be forthcoming shortly.
Once again, a very warm welcome to the 2014/15 school year in
the Elementary School!


Adam Campbel
Elementary Principal
Michael Rourke
Elementary Assistant Principal


15 August 2014 Elementary School Parent Bulletin
3

From ES PE Team From ES PE Team

From te ESL Ofce From te ESL Ofce





Friday, 29 August
1 - 2pm
CMC, Mother Tongue Section
Welcome to the new school year from the ES PE department. We look forward to a physically acve year for all our students.
Please make sure your child has the correct footwear and PE uniform (including a hat when they are scheduled on the ES Field) on
the days they are scheduled for PE. We also ask children to bring a full water bole (labelled with their name) to all lessons. You
can nd out more about our PE program and individual class schedules/teacher metables on our new ES PE website: hp://
espe.ismonline.org/.
RECESS EQUIPMENT
The PE department has sports equipment for children to use during recess including jump ropes, balls, hoops and frisbees. Kinder
garten Gr 4 can borrow equipment by handing in their school ID to a supervisor at the sports box. At the end of recess children
return the equipment and collect their ID. This system helps students be responsible.
If your child has misplaced their school ID, it may be in the ES PE oce the recess box supervisor brings any unclaimed IDs at
the end of each day to the ES PE oce on Level 1.
PE Venues: August 7 September 12, 2014




John Van Gaalen
ES PE Program Leader
Coach Bill Swimming Pool
Coach Chapman Gymnastics
Coach van Gaalen Covered Court/ES Field
Coach Nat ES Gym
Dear Parents,

Please be aware that our Grade 3 and 4 Internaonal Day con
certs will take place on the last school day before the Spring
Break (Tuesday, March 31). Please take this into consideraon
when scheduling your travel plans.

Greatly appreciated,


The Music Team
15 August 2014 Elementary School Parent Bulletin
4


Message from te Superintendent

DearParents,

Greengs and welcome to the school year 2014/15 Internaonal School Manila. I hope that these weeks of summer
vacaon have given you the opportunity to enjoy some family me together. As I am beginning to realize myself
with my son and daughter having just graduated from ISM and preparing to go o to university children grow up far
too quickly!
I want to take this opportunity to remind you of some of the support services and campus procedures to ensure an
orderly and ecient school start. I hope you understand that, in such a large community, it is essenal for us to estab
lish certain agreements in order to make things easier for everyone.
School Oce hours Monday Friday, 7 am 4 pm. Note that the Cashiers Oce will close at 3pm to allow for the
daily bookkeeping.

UniformShop
The details of our full range of uniform items, along with prices, can be viewed on the ISM website and are available
for inspecon and purchase at the ISM Uniform Shop on the Plaza Level. For those students needing to try items on or
requiring measurements for alteraons a ng room will be in operaon in the Fine Arts Theatre changing room
1123 unl the end of August. The Uniform Shop hours of operaon are detailed below.

Extended days from July 24 to August 29, 2014
Monday Friday, 7 am to 4 pm

Regular hours start the week of September 1, 2014
Tuesdays and Fridays, 7 am to 4 pm

Smartcards(IDs)
All students will be provided with a Smartcard ID which contains a smart chip. This ID can be loaded with cash
through the onsite kiosks located in front of the canteen and near the ATM, online or at the main cashier located in
the Business Oce. Guidelines for loading are online at www.ismanila.org under Student Services.
The smart cards can be used for making purchases in the Canteen, Bearcat Den, copy and print in the library, purchas
ing ckets for school performances and for accessing MS/HS lockers, therefore it is important that students carry their
IDs at all mes.
Parents may obtain a Smartcard ID through the Security Oce at a charge of php 250.00.

Canteen
Parents can sign up for prepaid meals for Elementary School children. The Urban Chef (Internaonal Cuisine) and Yogi
Chef (Internaonal Vegetarian Cuisine) oces have been moved to the ES Canteen, please proceed to their oces for
signups. Cost for lunch is Php100.00. You may refer to the ISM website for addional informaon on the canteen
concessionaires and services.
We encourage all MS/HS students to use their ID cards for payments in the canteen. This will allow parents to monitor
student purchases through the Campuscard website and it will also speed up lines in the canteen during peak mes.

BearcatDen
We invite all to visit the newly renovated Bearcat Den. The Den will be open from Monday Friday from 7am 4pm.
15 August 2014 Elementary School Parent Bulletin
5

(Continued from Page 4)
The Den will accept cash and smartcard ID (debit card) as modes of payment. We apologize but the Den does not pro
cess tax exempons, all those eligible must process documents through the BIR on their own.

BusService
Inan eort to make the use of our bus service an aracve opon for student travel, we have, over the years, worked
with our service providers to keep the fees down to a compeve rate. Consistent with this we are pleased to announce
that there will be no increase to the bus rates for the start of School Year 14/15. Details of the bus fees are available on
the ISM website and from the Transportaon Oce.

When we invited T Shule Service into the school, we stressed the importance of making the bus service an aracve
opon for travel between home and school for as many students as possible. They have demonstrated a willingness to
explore ways in which they can, within the constraints of running an ecient and praccal service for the majority of
riders, provide a viable transport soluon for those who are interested in using the school bus service. Of course, there
will always be certain locaons or needs that cannot be provided for, but if the oered bus service does not at rst ap
pear to address a parcular need, in regard to locaon or roung, parents are encouraged to discuss this with the
Transport Oce sta.

I urge all parents to consider making use of the ISM Bus Service for their students. Should parents wish to discuss in
more detail the school busing arrangements for the new school year, or they have any parcular concerns or needs they
can contact the ISM Transport Coordinator, Ms. Ruth Estella, on 8408541 or email Ruth at EstellaR@ismanila.org.

Billing
Billing statements are available for online viewing on the School website to facilitate access. A user ID and password
have already been provided to exisng parents and are available for every new parent. Parents are advised to maintain
an uptodate email address for billing informaon and to view the online billing at least monthly for up to date charges.
Please read carefully the School Fees and Payment Schedule on the web. As was the case last school year, there will be
no reenrollment deposit. Instead, we expect all deparng families to complete the WITHDRAWAL NOTIFICATION FORM
on or before May 8, 2015. Failure to do so will lead to a deducon of $1,000.00 from the Facilies Upgrade Deposit.

Payments
Payments may be in cash, check or through wire transfer in any of the BPI, HSBC, and Cibank branches. Please make
sure that the student ID number and the name of the student for whom the payment is being made is indicated on the
deposit slip, check, or in the bank instrucon for wire transfer to ensure proper recording, and provide a copy of the vali
dated deposit slip / conrmaon receipt to Treasury Department. Take note of the corresponding bank charges by each
bank for wire transfers and over the counter transacons. Contact Treasury Oce at 8408506 if you have quesons.

OperaonsandSecurity
Access and parking within the campus are important security and safety issues. For the wellbeing of all members of the
ISM community, those entering the school campus are requested to take note of the informaon and procedures out
lined below.

ParentIDs
The parent IDs issued in SY 2013/14 (black) will connue to be valid for the new school year. The old parent IDs
(burgundy) issued before this year are no longer valid and must be replaced. Standard parent cards will be issued free of
charge. Parents may, however, elect to apply for a smartcard ID which will be usable with the cashless payment system
introduced into the school for SY 201314. There will be a fee of P250.00 for a smartcard. Applicaons for parent IDs can
be processed through the Security Oce.


15 August 2014 Elementary School Parent Bulletin
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(Continued from Page 5)

StudentIDs

All students will be issued with new ID cards at the beginning of the new school year. The cards will be compable with
the cashless payment system. There will be no need for returning students to visit the Security Oce as we will be
ulizing the photographs taken for the yearbooks.

SchoolPasses
School passes issued to parents employees and representaves need to be replaced for next school year. As of Au
gust 29, 2014 the grey bordered passes will be invalid.

The security oce is now accepng applicaons for new school passes, however the cards will not be available for col
lecon before July 1, 2014. These passes will not be compable with the cashless payment system.

Each family will be given two free school passes. Addional school passes may be obtained aer paying a processing
fee of Php100.00 each to the Cashiers Oce.

VisitorsPasses
All visitors must secure a pass from the guardhouse at Gate 3. Before entry will be allowed, a telephone check will be
made with the relevant oce to conrm the visitors business within the school. Visitors will need to surrender a pho
toID upon entry to campus.

CarSckers
The car sckers for school year 2014/2015 are available from the security oce.

For vehicles already displaying an exisng scker, parents should submit a completed renewal form with a copy of a
current LTO ocial receipt. For new vehicles, parents are reminded that a copy of the vehicles cercate of registra
on and a current ocial receipt need to be submied with the applicaon. Applicaons for vehicles registered with
companies or other instuons should be supported by a leer of assignment.

Each ISM family will be issued one vehicle scker free of charge. Any addional sckers will be issued following pay
ment of P100 to the cashiers oce.

In order to facilitate the easy recognion of authorized cars at the gates, the sckers should be axed to the top right
corner of the windshield. ISM sckers issued in previous years must be removed.

Vehicles not displaying a current car scker will not be allowed access from August 29, 2014.

VehicularAccess
During dropo and pickup mes, vehicles may enter through Gates 2 and 3. Those entering through Gate 2 should
proceed to the drop o area and, once the student has alighted or boarded, they should exit via Gate 1. Those vehi
cles entering through Gate 3 must turn into the covered parking area and use the designated dropo areas. All vehi
cles must exit through Gate 1.

Please note that Gate 2 may only be used by those drivers and passengers who have an ISM ID card and who are in a
vehicle displaying a valid ISM vehicle scker.


15 August 2014 Elementary School Parent Bulletin
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(Continued from Page 6)

Alternavely, vehicles entering through Gate 3 may park in the covered car park. The spaces reserved for parent
driven cars should only be used by those vehicles which are driven by parents themselves. Vehicles in which parents
are traveling, but which are driven by a driver, should not use these spaces. Rather, they should park elsewhere in the
covered car park or make use of the outside spaces next to the power center.

Visitors to ISM must enter through Gate 3. There is an area for shortstay visitor parking near Gate 1.

ThePedestrianGate
The pedestrian gate is located in the perimeter fence midway between Gate 1 and Gate 2. There is a paved area be
tween the road and the perimeter fence, allowing easy access to the gate. The pedestrian gate is solely for the entry of
members of the ISM Community at the beginning of the school day. It will only be open between 7:00 am and 7:45 am
(8:00 am to 8:45 am on Wednesdays). Due to parking restricons, and in the interests of security, it will not be open in
the aernoon for pickups. During the me it is open, it will be under the supervision of members of the ISM Guard
Force.

Drivers should stop adjacent to the paved area and students should alight from the right side of their vehicle. The driv
er should then move o, clearing the space for other vehicles dropping o students. Under no circumstances should a
student be dropped o from the middle lane. This is dangerous as the student would need to walk in front of another
vehicle. Drivers are reminded that trac regulaons forbid parking on the roads around ISM. Therefore, vehicles
should only be stopping for the brief me it takes for a student to alight. Drivers must not wait for anybody to return
to the vehicle.

DropO/PickUpPasses
Following their introducon in 2012/13, we will be connuing the use of pick up and drop o passes at Gate 3. This is
for nonregular drivers who are entering school to drop o or collect visitors or members of our community but who
do not intend to park within the campus. Our regular checks to conrm the identy of drivers and their purpose for
entering the campus will connue to be made, but we will not retain a photoID in return for the issued pass. The use
of these new passes will avoid delays at the Gate 1 exit and reduce trac congeson at busy mes.

Vehiclechecks
The pracce of inspecng vehicles will connue. During opeak hours all vehicles will be checked before they are al
lowed to enter the campus.

During peak hours (drop o and pickup mes), all vehicles without valid sckers and randomly selected vehicles with
sckers will be asked to undergo an examinaon.

Whether an examinaon is conducted or not, it is important that the security sta at the gates are able to idenfy the
occupants of vehicles entering the campus; therefore IDs must be clearly displayed. Vehicles with nted windows
must roll down windows to allow a clear view of the interior of the vehicle.

Drivers,HelpersandBodyguards
Drivers, helpers and bodyguards should not wait on campus for students throughout the school day. Aer dropping o
students they should exit the school grounds and not return earlier than 30 minutes before dismissal me. Those who
repeatedly fail to comply with the regulaon will have their access privilege suspended.

Only those vehicles carrying parents or other people with business within the school will be allowed to return to the
campus before the scheduled pickup me.
15 August 2014 Elementary School Parent Bulletin
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(Continued from Page 7)
There are designated areas for unaccompanied drivers, yayas, helpers and security escorts to wait for parents and stu
dents. Unless specically authorized, they may not enter any other area. In the interest of security, and to prevent con
geson at the pedestrian entrances to the covered parking area, parents are requested to emphasize to their employ
ees the importance of cooperang with the security sta and remaining in the appropriate areas.

Firearms
All members of the ISM community are reminded that it is strictly forbidden for rearms to be brought onto the cam
pus. This includes concealed weapons carried by bodyguards for close protecon. Any person arriving at the school
with a rearm should inform the gate guard, and arrangements will be made for the weapon to be safely and securely
stored during the visitors stay.

Securitystadirecons
Our security team is endeavoring to make the school as safe and secure an environment as possible for all members of
our community.
We ask that everybody cooperate with us in this important task. In parcular, all those entering our campus are re
quested to comply with any direcons given to them by members of our guard force.
If you are confused or unclear as to the purpose of such instrucons, please seek claricaon from the security oce.
Please note that it is the parents responsibility to advise their sta accordingly.
Thank you for your cooperaon. We are looking forward to another great year at Internaonal School Manila.

Best wishes,

David Toze
Superintendent
ISM Sailsh Swim Club ISM Sailsh Swim Club

SailshTraining
Training will commence on Thursday 14th. On Wednesday 20th August we will have a full informaon and team building session
for ALL SQUADS, ES 2:303:15pm and MS/HS 3:154:30pm.
Squad 1 Coach Gica Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Squad 2 Coach Bey Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Squad 3 Coach DJ Tue, Wed, Thu
Squad 4 Coach Hazel Tue, Wed, Thu
Squad 5 Coach Bey Mon, Wed, Fri
Squad 6 Coach Gica Mon, Wed, Fri
Squad 7 Coach DJ Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri
Squad 8 Coach Holly & Hazel MonFri
SailshParentMeeng
The rst Sailsh Parent Meeng will be held on Tuesday 26th Aug, 7:308:15am in the AMR (corridor opposite Yogi Chef).
Regards,
Holly Chapman
Head Coach, ISM Sailfish Swim Club
15 August 2014 Elementary School Parent Bulletin
9



From te Professional Learning From te Professional Learning
Welcome to te Bearcat Den!

The Bearcat Den is the ocial oncampus store for
all exclusive ISMthemed sportswear and accesso
ries. We carry some of your all me favorites such
as hoodies, sweatshirts and gym bags. This year
the Den has introduced many new items such as
footballs, prewrap tape, water boles, drit t
shirts and many other products. Come by and
check it out!
The Den is open from Monday to Friday, 7:00 am
4:00 pm. We accept cash and debit card purchases
through ID's.
For comments and product suggesons, please feel
free to email us at bearcatden@ismanila.org.
15 August 2014 Elementary School Parent Bulletin
10


From te ATAC Ofce From te ATAC Ofce


Welcome to SY 1415 Bearcats. The ATAC (Athlecs/Acvies) Dept hopes you sele in quickly to enjoy all that ISM and the Philip
pines has to oer.
Our rst match for the year is today so come on out to the MS gym to help cheer on our HS Varsity Girls Volleyball team as they
take on a vising team from Shisedo HS, Japan. The game will start at 3:30pm and be a full 5 sets of volleyball.
Parents and students please take some me to peruse the ATAC blog it has a wide variety of informaon and links to our sports
and acvies program. If you have any quesons regarding the compeve program of sports at ISM aer reading the informaon
on the blog please send an email to pekinm@ismanila.org and I will endeavor to assist you as best I can.
It was great to see so many students trying out for our ES/MS and HS 1st season teams this past week. The season pracce sched
ule is now in full swing through unl mid October. It is

posted on the ATAC blog and on noce boards around school.
ES soccer players in grade 14 had their tryouts for the Rifa Fesval compeon teams earlier this week. Parents please see more
detailed informaon about the ES Soccer Fesvals at this link hp://atac.ismonline.org/atac/1stseason/essoccerrifaleague
fesvals/. Informaon yers are also posted on the ES noce board and are posted under the big tent at the ES eld. Fesval dates
are posted on noce boards and the link above.
Our ATAC all year round teams also began this week (see all year round pracce schedule) for Wall Climbing, Gymnascs,
Taekwondo, Aikido, Chess and Table Tennis and Sailsh swim team. New students who would like to join one of these teams and
compete at local compeons please go to the venue as per the schedule to register and meet the coaches.
The AFAC (Aer School Acvies) program has a wide variety of recreaonal/experienal oerings for ES and MS students. Links
to online registraon and informaon booklets can be accessed via the ATAC blog and by going to the AFAC sites directly. Registra
on is now open for MS AFAC and ES AFAC registraon opens on Mon 18th. Programs for ES/MS AFAC begin on Aug 28th.
New Bearcat Den drop by our fantasc new spirit store to meet Rica and Francine and give them a big Bearcat welcome. There is a
range of new products and items to purchase including items from our service partners.
Bearcat Den hours of operaon 7am4pm MonFri.
TheATACgameschedulepdfwhichisupdatedregularlybyTrizGonzalez(ATACAthlecsCoordinator)givesthemostuptodate
informaononwhere/whenandwhoourBearcatteamswillbeplayingthroughouttheschoolyear.Accesstothegamesched
uleisviatheISMparentportalnotviapowerschoolasinthepast.Kindlyaccesstheparentportal,loginwithyourusername/
passwordandlookfortheATACGameScheduletab.Remembertorefreshthepagewhenthepdfscheduleappearssoyouview
themostcurrentschedule.
Gameschedulescanchangeatshortnocecheckoentoensureyoukeepupwiththemostcurrentgames/mesandvenues.
Toaccessseasonpraccescheduleandtheallyearroundteamschedulendthemonthedropdownmenusunderthesched
uleshomebartab.
GoBearcats!
Regards,

Mark Pekin
Athletic Director



15 August 2014 Elementary School Parent Bulletin
11


Pizza Day!
Every Friday is Pizza Day for Elementary School (grades
14). The pizzas are being supplied by Piadina.

Pizzee Quaro Formaggi Php 60.00
Pizzee Margherita Php 50.00

Coupons will be sold at the
undercovered ES playground
every Friday from 6:30 a.m.
up to 7:30 a.m. These cou
pons are then redeemed by
the students at the ES Cafete
ria during their lunch break.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
ANNOUNCEMENTS