Dear Parents,

Welcome to a happy and purposeful new school year. I hope you are all well rested after an enjoyable summer. Below you will find information for the new school year and an outline of our curriculum plans for the term.

First some organizational points:

Mrs. Hewerdine: Mrs. Julia Hewerdine, who has been the Headteacher at Sancton Wood and now Holme Court School, will be teaching Caribbean Class on Friday’s. She has a wealth of experience and her other hat at CIPS is that of special needs advisor. I look forward to working closely with her.

Miss Grass: Miss Grass is our teaching assistant, who we warmly welcome.

Reading:
Please ensure that your child is equipped with a book bag to bring to school daily. These will shortly be available from Mrs. Rigby in the office if you do not have one already.
The children and I will be discussing the importance of daily reading, which I know you will endorse and support. Please read with your child for 10 minutes each day. Setting a regular time to make it part of your child’s daily routine can ensure a positive experience.

Snacks:
Please send a healthy snack for your child’s mid morning break. I encourage predominantly fruit, carrot and cucumber sticks or the like. If you feel your child needs more a cereal bar, rice cakes or pieces of cheese are appropriate. Please avoid biscuits, crisps and fizzy drinks.

Please be sure to send a water bottle refilled daily.

Morning Routine:
The school day begins at 8.50am when the children can come into the classroom and change their reading book if they have finished the previous one. They are at and age now where they can be asked to do this independently. Then they will be ready to read the settling activity on the whiteboard, which encourages a calm and purposeful start to the day. These activities will support your child’s learning. As the children are ready, please say goodbye outside the classroom, and allow their independence to grow by letting come in by themselves. Of course if you need to speak to me I am available between 8.50 and 9.00am.
Just a reminder that prior to 8.50 children should go directly to breakfast club in the hall and register is taken promptly at 9.00am.

Homework: Your children will receive homework every Tuesday from Tuesday 30th September. This will include spellings and one other numeracy or literacy task. Completed homework should be returned to school by the following Monday.

P.E. Caribbean Class will have P.E. on Monday’s and Friday’s and swimming on Tuesday afternoons. On Monday please send the children to school in their kits and tracksuits. On Tuesday please bring swimming things and on Fridays please bring P.E. kits to change into at school. There is a big pink ‘tub’ in the entrance area where kits should be stored.

V.I.P.Talks:  Last year one of the children’s favourite sessions was V.I.P. talks. We will continue these popular events from Friday 26th September. The children are asked to prepare a talk about a subject of particular interest to them. This could be a hobby, a pet, a holiday or day out or a discovery from the natural world… just about anything infact! The children will present their talk to the class and take questions from the audience. It would help if the children have had an opportunity to practice their talk to adults at home. They may find it useful to bring relevant resources; (photographs, pamphlets, pets, a piece of artwork etc.) and to have prompt cards to give their talk structure. You are most welcome to come and listen on your child’s presentation day. We will let you know a week ahead of time when it is your child’s turn.

Toys: Please do not allow your child to bring toys to school. Scooters at this time are for Junior Children only. Thank you for your understanding in this.

Please do not hesitate to contact me with any queries or concerns, briefly in the morning, or by Email through Dr. Sturdy. At other times appointments can be made.

We look forward to a happy and settled first term in Year 2 and thank you for your support in helping the children to make a positive start to the new school year.

Best Wishes

Claire Willis.

Dear Parents,

Welcome to the beginning of a new academic year at CIS. This year we are pleased to welcome lots of new families and members of staff. It promises to be an exciting year for all of us. Outlined below are the basic themes your child will be covering this half term.

Aral

It is a pleasure to start teaching your children! As the form teacher of Aral Class, I will teach Mathematics, English and The International Primary Curriculum topic.

In English, we will start with a unit called: “All about Me”, stimulating the children to start writing reports. For the rest of the half term we will explore different types of texts, such as narrative, non-fiction and poetry, using these texts to improve reading and writing skills. We will also follow a set programme to build on the children’s spelling, handwriting and grammar.

In Maths, we will focus on counting and understanding numbers up to 1000, knowing and using number facts (+ and -), measuring and understanding shape.
In IPC we will learn about Rainforests. This subject will be treated from the perspective of various disciplines such as Geography, Science and Art.

Alet van de Scheur

Drama - Using the voice we will be working in groups to improvise everyday scenarios which challenge the way we use this communication tool. We will produce short “radio” plays, which we will record with sound effects made using the human voice. Jacob  Sturdy.

Music – In addition to their recorder lessons with Mrs Gold, the children  will take part in a range of musical activities surrounding their IPC topic on Rainforests.

Art – Will focus on the IPC Rainforest topic. Children will make rainforest models using mixed media such as clay, papier maché and found materials. They will also learn fundamentals such as mixing colours and different ways of marking using a pencil. Becka Atkins.

PSHE - This term we are dealing Changes and how we cope with being in a new environment. We will also think about how we deal with people we do not know. Hannah Settle.

Cookery – Children will take part in French Cookery sessions with Madame Chevallier.

Spanish – During this term children will learn the numbers 1 to 20 and beyond, social greetings and talking about themsleves, as well as identifying common foods and drinks. Mr LaMotta.

Nature Studies – Children are being ‘nature detectives’ for this term. They will be studying trees, learning how to identify them by their leaves and fruit. They will looking at the different ways in which trees disperse their seeds. Sue Rigby.

Sport – Mondays (indoors) and Thursdays (Outdoors)
Outdoors: Tennis/football first half of term and football second half of term. Indoors: Basketball first half of term and badminton second half of term. David Lowe and James Young.

Aegean

In English, the children will be comparing different styles of writing, and will look specifically at writing to give clear information, report and recount writing, writing instructions, letter writing and the use of persuasive language for advertising. The children will consider differing audiences and appropriate use of language and style. We will also be looking at the writing process, and will be writing stories which raise issues, and stories from other cultures, both themes will arise out of our IPC topic on the ‘Rainforest’.

Language work will involve, learning how to proof read for accuracy, studying verb tenses, the use of powerful verbs to describe character, the use of adverbs for writing dialogue, the use of commas and paragraphs in story writing to organize and sequence narrative, and the revision and extension of the use of adjectives. There will be weekly spelling lessons, and spelling lists will be given on Monday and tested on Friday each week. There will be a weekly library lesson and group reading sessions.

In Maths, we will start with a topic on number, which will involve mental calculations for addition, subtraction , multiplication and division, counting in tens, fifties and hundreds, number sequencing in ten thousands, hundred thousands and millions, place value for 4digit numbers, ordinal numbers ,estimating and rounding of numbers. We shall also be revisiting the multiplication tables up to 12x. We will also undertake topics on measurement and shape. There will be links to our IPC topic on the ‘Rainforest’ when appropriate.

In IPC for the first half of the term the children will be studying the Rainforests of the world. We will be looking at the destruction of the rainforest and the threat to the indigenous people and animals whose homes and habitats are under threat. We will be visiting the ‘Living Rainforest’ in Berkshire during the first week of term to give the children a ‘flavour’ of Rainforest life.

Kylie Hodges

I will be taking the class on a Friday. We will be carrying out a mini-topic on Aztecs to run alongside the IPC Rainforest topic.

I will also be taking the children for PSHE. This term we are dealing Changes and how we cope with being in a new environment. We will also think about how we deal with people we do not know.

Hannah Settle

Drama - learning to memorise verse and lines and to recite them in public will be the focus of this drama group before creating an group performance by the end of term. Jacob Sturdy.

Music – In addition to their recorder lessons with Mrs Gold, the children  will take part in a range of musical activities surrounding their IPC topic on Rainforests.

Art – Will focus on the IPC rainforest topic. The children will turn their classroom into a rainforest using a range of mixed media including printmaking, bark rubbing and painting. They will also do some silk painting. Becka Atkins.

Cookery – Children will take part in French Cookery sessions with Madame Chevallier.

Spanish – During this term children will learn the numbers 1 to 20 and beyond, social greetings and talking about themsleves, as well as identifying common foods and drinks. Mr LaMotta.

Music – In addition to their recorder lessons with Mrs Gold, the children  will take part in a range of musical activities surrounding their IPC topic on Rainforests.

Nature Studies – Children are being ‘nature detectives’ for this term. They will be studying trees, learning how to identify them by their leaves and fruit. They will looking at the different ways in which trees disperse their seeds. Sue Rigby.

Sport – Mondays (indoors) and Thursdays (outdoors).
Outdoors: Tennis/football first half of term and football second half of term. Indoors: Basketball first half of term and badminton second half of term. David Lowe and James Young.

Adriatic

In English, we will read and discuss stories about different cultures. We will read ‘Emil and the Detectives’ and discuss differences and similarities between our cultures. Children will collect information about characters from other cultures, then plan and write a story about them.
Following this we will investigate key features of newspaper articles, both recent and historical. We will research an issue of interest and write an article about this. If you could think of an interesting topic to do with your work, hobby, community etc. that we could investigate, please approach me or let your child know.

In Maths, we will start out by practising the foundations of numeracy such as basic operational skills for solving addition, subtraction, multiplication and division mentally, on paper and then on the calculator. Once I can ensure that all children are comfortable with these, we will progress to work on the basics of measuring, geometry, algebra and statistics. We will spend some time on each strand building up and reinforcing the key concepts and will then explore these through experiments and problem solving. We should get started on geometry and measuring this half-term. The homework will usually consist of a problem solving activity which will reinforce previous week’s learning and should not be new to children. If you find that your child does not understand the homework, please go over the previous week’s work with him or her and let me know.

In History, after finding out about the main events of WW2, we will investigate the conditions of four children that lived in different countries all taking part in the war. We have literature, pictures and videos to find out more about how the war affected children around the world. The children will have the chance to research more about each child’s situation using the Internet, interviews and the local library. They will present their findings on a poster and a short play, which they will write and perform in their groups. If you have family or friends that have witnessed the war and would like to come in and talk to the children, please let me know.

In Science, children will investigate the components of electrical circuits, their features and relationships. Most of the work will be done in their ‘Thinking Groups’. We will focus on critical thinking, being part of a research team and structuring and presenting their own research. As a final activity, each group will create a monster. Hopefully, this will be flashing, making terrible noise and moving about in a terrifying fashion!

Stephan Wicker
Music - the whole school choir will do vocal percussion, gospel, jazz, pop, folk, traditional songs in Spanish, Latin and Aboriginal dialect, carols for Christmas. Karen Gold.

Spanish – During this term children will learn the numbers 1 to 20 and beyond, social greetings and talking about themsleves, as well as identifying common foods and drinks. Mr LaMotta.

Drama - This term we will be introducing the children to storytelling through mime and human puppetry. Our aim is to produce short drama pieces based on dreams. Jacob Sturdy.

Art – Will be linked to the international History topic of Children in World War Two. The children will begin by making gas mask boxes and gas masks using a range of materials. The children will be designing their own topic book covers/ pictures using mixed media such as ink and collage. Becka Atkins.

PSHE – This term we will be dealing with Bullying. We will discuss what defines bullying. We will also focus on what makes us special and unique individuals. Hannah Settle.

Cookery – We will be looking at some basic wartime recipes and finding out how people had to make do with little during the rationing period. Sue Rigby.

Nature Studies – Children are being ‘nature detectives’ for this term. They will be studying trees, learning how to identify them by their leaves and fruit. They will looking at the different ways in which trees disperse their seeds. Sue Rigby.

Sport – Mondays and Fridays. Outdoors: Tennis/football first half of term and football second half of term. Indoors: Basketball first half of term and badminton second half of term. David Lowe and James Young.

Electives – This year, the children have been given two periods per week for which they can ‘choose’ a subject. These consist of Design and Technology with Ms Mieszkian, School Magazine with Mr Wicker and Film Animation with Mr Sturdy. The groups will be rotated each half term. Every child will get to take each elective.

Arabian

In English, we will be doing a novel study on Carrie’s War. This will include developing an active attitude towards reading, seeking answers and anticipating events; investigating how characters are presented in dialogue,; examining how settings are built up from small details; looking at how the passing of time is conveyed to the reader. In terms of writing, we will be rewriting scenes from a different point of view; analysing a character’s feelings; preparing sections of the story as a playscript; writing scenes  not described in the novel; writing alternative endings, letters and diary entries.

We will also be following a Spelling programme and a Handwriting programme.

In Maths, we will be following the National Numeracy Strategy, backed up by our Heinemann maths scheme, backed up with numerous other materials. We will first cover the basics of place value, recognising the value of digits and multiplying and dividing by 10, 100 and 1000. We will then look and mental and written methods for the four operations. Finally we will begin to work on fractions, decimals, percentages, ratio and proportion.

There will also be an emphasis once each week on problem-solving, when both the Bridging Class and Arabian children will get together to carry out investigations with a practical base. I will be working on Maths Investigations with the children on Tuesdays. We will be concentrating on the creative side of Maths, focusing on generalising, working systematically and visualising when problem-solving. We will be encouraging the children to explore their own ideas, ask questions and find ways of recording their findings as well as teaching them useful strategies to used when faced with a mathematical problem.

In our international History topic, we will be finding out about what it was like for children in World War Two. We have two fantastic trips to go on including Duxford and the Imperial War Museum in London. Through a range of activities, including drama, reading, writing, examining primary and secondary source material, the children will begin to see similarities and differences between their lives and the lives of children back then. We will look at topics such as the Blitz, shelters, evacuation (interviewing real evacuees!), rationing, everyday life and school. We will compare and contrast these experience with children in different parts of the world at that time.

Louise Mieszkian

In Science, children will investigate the components of electrical circuits, their features and relationships. Most of the work will be done in their ‘Thinking Groups’. We will focus on critical thinking, being part of a research team and structuring and presenting their own research. As a final activity, each group will create a monster. Hopefully, this will be flashing, making terrible noise and moving about in a terrifying fashion! Stephan Wicker
Music: the whole school choir will do vocal percussion, gospel, jazz, pop, folk, traditional songs in Spanish, Latin and Aboriginal dialect, carols for Christmas. Karen Gold.
Spanish – During this term children will learn the numbers 1 to 20 and beyond, social greetings and talking about themsleves, as well as identifying common foods and drinks. Mr LaMotta.

French – Will involve revision of basic questions and answers for example, where we live, where we are from, family and pets, what we look like. We will also look at the alphabet, colours, ages and birthdays. There will be an emphasis on speaking and enjoyment of the language through a variety of resources. Rachel Hill.

Drama - Exploring the senses through dramatic role play we will be creating memorable characters from well known stories. Jacob Sturdy.

Art – Will be linked to the international History topic of Children in World War Two. The children will begin by making gas mask boxes and gas masks using a range of materials. The children will be designing their own topic book covers/ pictures using mixed media such as ink and collage. Becka Atkins.

PSHE – This term we will be dealing with Bullying. We will discuss what defines bullying. We will also focus on what makes us special and unique individuals. Hannah Settle.

Cookery – We will be looking at some basic wartime recipes and finding out how people had to make do with little during the rationing period. Sue Rigby.

Nature Studies – Children are being ‘nature detectives’ for this term. They will be studying trees, learning how to identify them by their leaves and fruit. They will looking at the different ways in which trees disperse their seeds. Sue Rigby.

Sport – Tuesdays (indoors) and Fridays (outdoors).
Outdoors: Tennis/football first half of term and football second half of term. Indoors: Basketball first half of term and badminton second half of term. David Lowe and James Young.

Electives – This year, the children have been given two periods per week for which they can ‘choose’ a subject. These consist of Design and Technology with Ms Mieszkian, School Magazine with Mr Wicker and Film Animation with Mr Sturdy. The groups will be rotated each half term. Every child will get to take each elective.

Bridging Class

English - We are embarking on a programme of creative writing and learning to respond to a variety of stimuli. Particular attention will be given to aspects of dialogue writing including indenting and paragraphing. I shall also work on spelling using word banks. I know Mrs Parsons (Upper School English teacher) would be delighted if we focus on punctuation and basic grammar too!

In literature, we are currently studying Goodnight Mr Tom. I am interested in making the students into enlightened readers who can be critical of the text. All pupils should know about plot, setting and character. There will be regular library periods where I shall be keeping a watch on what children are reading and encouraging them to try new genres.

In Maths, we will be following the National Numeracy Strategy, backed up by our Heinemann maths scheme, backed up with numerous other materials. We will first cover the basics of place value, recognising the value of digits and multiplying and dividing by 10, 100 and 1000. We will then look and mental and written methods for the four operations. Finally we will begin to work on fractions, decimals, percentages, ratio and proportion.

There will also be an emphasis once each week on problem-solving, when both the Bridging Class and Arabian children will get together to carry out investigations with a practical base. Ms Mieszkian will be working on Maths Investigations with the children on Tuesdays. We will be concentrating on the creative side of Maths, focusing on generalising, working systematically and visualising when problem-solving. We will be encouraging the children to explore their own ideas, ask questions and find ways of recording their findings as well as teaching them useful strategies to used when faced with a mathematical problem.

You will all know by now that our international History work this half term is World War II. We are thoroughly enjoying this study and are building up knowledge of evacuation, the Blitz, the major leaders of the time and also enjoying the minutae of Air Raid Precautions.

In Latin, Bridging pupils are getting to grips with Pompeii, Roman family life through the marvellously vivid and soap opera-like Cambridge Latin Course.

In Spanish we are building on our basic vocabulary using song and kinaesthetic learning, Muzzy will also make frequent appearances as I believe this BBC course to be superb.

Science - One of the most enjoyable things about teaching in the independent sector is the freedom to study science at its most exciting, We have regular access to the laboratory where we will experience the delights of chromatography and capillary action. If any parents would like to give a talk on their work, if they are scientists, we would be very happy to welcome you to one of our sessions.

Russell Lord
Music - the whole school choir will do vocal percussion, gospel, jazz, pop, folk, traditional songs in Spanish, Latin and Aboriginal dialect, carols for Christmas. Karen Gold.
Drama  will consist of Physical Theatre which will be the backbone to the
storytelling work we will be producing this term. Jacob Sturdy.

Art – Will be linked to the international History topic of Children in World War Two. The children will begin by making gas mask boxes and gas masks using a range of materials. The children will be designing their own topic book covers/ pictures using mixed media such as ink and collage. Becka Atkins.

PSHE – This term we will be dealing with Bullying. We will discuss what defines bullying. We will also focus on what makes us special and unique individuals. Hannah Settle.

Cookery – We will be looking at some basic wartime recipes and finding out how people had to make do with little during the rationing period. Sue Rigby.

French – Will involve revision of basic questions and answers for example, where we live, where we are from, family and pets, what we look like. We will also look at the alphabet, colours, ages and birthdays. There will be an emphasis on speaking and enjoyment of the language through a variety of resources. Russell Lord and Madame Gargeut-Duport.

Nature Studies – Children are being ‘nature detectives’ for this term. They will be studying trees, learning how to identify them by their leaves and fruit. They will looking at the different ways in which trees disperse their seeds. Sue Rigby.

Sport – Tuesdays (indoors) and Fridays (outdoors).
Outdoors: Tennis/football first half of term and football second half of term. Indoors: Basketball first half of term and badminton second half of term. David Lowe and James Young.

Electives – This year, the children have been given two periods per week for which they can ‘choose’ a subject. These consist of Design and Technology with Ms Mieszkian, School Magazine with Mr Wicker and Film Animation with Mr Sturdy. The groups will be rotated each half term. Every child will get to take each elective.
Reminders

Punctuality

Please ensure your child arrives at school by 8.50am so that lessons can begin promptly.

Indoor Shoes

Children should have a spare pair of shoes in school so that we can keep the rooms and corridors clean and tidy.

Sports Kit

For indoor sports could pupils have clean sports shoes, which will be carried to Cherry Hinton Sports Hall. For outdoor sports, pupils should remove shoes prior to entering the building. Children must have suitable kit and shoes in order to participate.

Electives

Children taking Design and Technology would benefit from having a steel rule.

Homework

Please remember that Homework Club runs on a Tuesday and Thursday from 3.30 – 4.00pm.

Homework should be completed to the highest possible standard and handed in on time. Homework Books can be used to communicate with the teacher. If Homework cannot be completed on time, parents should provide a note for the teacher.

Playground Days

Mondays and Fridays are quiet play days. Children may bring playing cards or small games. Electronic games are not allowed. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, children may bring in scooters and skates. Thursdays are for ball games. It should be noted that children are responsible for their own equipment.
Parent Consultations

Please note that it is difficult for teachers to discuss any concerns you may have first thing in the morning or if they are on register duty in the afternoon. Lessons need to begin promptly and children need to be organised. Please telephone or email your child’s class teacher to make an appointment. We are always happy to meet with you.

End of Day Register

Please ensure that you see one of the two people on duty at the end of the day, to get your child checked off the register. We like to be sure that all our children are in the right place at the right time and with the right person!

With best wishes for the new term,

The Junior School Team

Dear Parents,

It has been so lovely to see all our children returning to school, and with a smile on their faces! We are delighted to welcome many new faces and thrilled to see how quickly everyone is settling in. From our very modest beginnings two years ago, where we opened at Brookside, in the centre of Cambridge, with 25 pupils, the school is now almost completely full. We had not anticipated reaching capacity for at least five years, and, while it has been extremely hard work, it has also been an absolute pleasure. Some of our ‘original’ children reminisce fondly of our small beginnings but enjoy having a wider circle of friends to be with. We strive to ensure that our high level of knowledge and care for all of our pupils is not diminished in any way and remain firmly committed to keeping our class sizes small, with a very high staff: pupil ratio.

In our determination to offer the most personalised, exciting and effective education to our pupils, we look closely at the curriculum offered, the environment we teach in and the demands we make on our pupils. We have now worked with the IPC (International Primary Curriculum) for several terms and are very pleased with its relevance and accessiblity to children. Class teachers will shortly be writing to let you know what Topic is being followed this term. We continue to teach our Maths and English programmes broadly in line with that taught in the rest of the UK, but being an independent school, we do not need to follow these as rigidly as other schools. This flexibility allows us to focus on specific target areas for each child while ensuring all areas of the curriculum are fully covered.

We are proud to offer children the opportunity to learn a wide range of languages. French and Spanish are taught throughout the school, and we are happy to arrange for children to study another language by arrangement. We have a small number of pupils currently learning Japanese, Chinese and Arabic. With our close connections with the University, we can arrange for other languages to be taught to a high standard. We are very impressed with our new intake of multi-lingual children who have just joined the school and plan to work closely with them at keeping these languages at a good level.

You may remember that at the end of last term I outlined two of my aims for this school year: to improve the music and sports provision in school and to aim to achieve excellence in both subjects.

We are delighted to announce the formation of a Senior Band which takes place on Wednesdays and the continuation of Orchestra on Tuesday lunchtimes. We have also introduced a Choir for pupils from Adriatic up to Tyrrhenian. The choir will meet on Wednesdays at 3pm to work together on vocal percussion, gospel, jazz, pop, folk, traditional songs in Spanish, Latin and Aboriginal dialect and carols for Christmas. We offer tuition in a wide range of musical instruments. Please contact us if you wish your child to learn an instrument in school.

We have recently become members of the Cambridge Athletics Association and look forward to arranging a series of sporting fixtures with neighbouring schools in the coming months. We have our first invitation to enter Senior pupils for the District Cross Country Championships in December. I am also pleased to inform you that we are running enrichment sports on Thursday lunchtimes for all keen students in our Junior Department. Please ensure your child brings appropriate kit. Early focus will be on athletics (track, field and cross country), tennis and football. Students can only choose one of these activities for their session. We had excellent attendance for our first week and I have high hopes for the next Olympics!

After a very busy summer, we are delighted to announce the opening of the new Jill Sturdy Centre (the JSC) in time for the start of term. This centre, at 5 Glisson Road, Cambridge provides the opportunity for our older pupils to have a little more independence, to meet with more students and to enjoy their own spacious and, may I say, trendier, surroundings. It has been named after my late mother, to honour her vision and commitment to providing a broad, engaging and exciting education to as many children as possible. We feel this is being carried on proudly at the International School. The centre offers classroom space to pupils from Sancton Wood and the International School. It has been beautifully decorated and designed and the children all seem very pleased with it. Our Art Room for the Upper School has been relocated to Glisson Road, so all our older pupils have the opportunity to be there at least once a week. You are all most welcome to pop in and have a look. We do plan to let our older Juniors do some art sessions there on special occasions. We are currently waiting for Planning Permission for our new log cabin for the Junior and Infant Art Room. We expect this to be installed over the Christmas break.

As is usual in a school, much refurbishment is completed over the summer break. Classrooms have been painted, carpets cleaned and new furniture bought. Our main concentration has been on improving our toilet facilities, a crucially important aspect of school life. The main toilets have been completely stripped out and rebuilt and really are a massive improvement. We have also had two infant toilets installed in the small room beyond the creative area near Caspian class. This allows our younger children to be more independent managing their needs during the school day.

Please do keep in very close touch with us. If your child is struggling with any aspect of their work or social life at school, we want to know. The staff will look forward to meeting you at our Parents Evenings held just before half term.

I hope all our pupils have a happy and purposeful term ahead. There will be plenty of opportunities for fun as well as hard work. I look forward to seeing you whenever you wish to come in and see what your children are getting up to. You are always welcome.

Kind regards

Harriet Sturdy
Principal
Cambridge International School

Dear Upper School Parents,

It has been so lovely to see all our children returning to school, and with a smile on their faces! We are delighted to welcome Anouk van Beurden, Cal Morrison, Naomi Cox, Eleanor Stocks, Leá Garguet Duport, Bahador Chizari to Med, joining four of our ‘old’ boys. I am the Form Teacher for this class and must say they are shaping up to be a great little group and very tidy indeed!

Mrs Osman is the Form Teacher for Tyrrhenian and we welcome Chloe Shepherd and Jack Ashurst. It may be fair to say they are not quite so tidy as ‘my’ form…….yet! Mrs Parsons is Form Teacher to our Ionian class where we welcome Seung-Yeob Song, Jackson Dolphin, Haris Zaman-Pedersen and Jonathan Stocks. Our top two classes, who are partly based out our wonderful new centre, the JSC, have Mrs Young as Form Teacher. We welcome Iman Ali to IGCSE 1 and Reza Davoudian to IGCSE 2. We hope all our new children will be extremely happy. They are already working hard and looking as if they have been here for ages.

After a very busy summer, we are delighted to announce the opening of the new Jill Sturdy Centre (the JSC) in time for the start of term. It has been named after my late mother, to honour her vision and commitment to providing a broad, engaging and exciting education to as many children as possible. We feel this is being carried on proudly at the International School. The centre offers classroom space to pupils from Sancton Wood and the International School. It has been beautifully decorated and designed and the children all seem very pleased with it. IGCSE 1 and  2 pupils are allowed out for lunch but must ensure they are back promptly for the start of afternoon lessons. We can accompany any children, if parents so wish. While most of the lessons are taught specifically to Sancton Wood or to CIS students, we have merged in cases where the classes were otherwise too small to run effectively. Drama and Spanish for IGCSE 1 are shared with the two schools this year. As well as Psychology, Media Studies and Physical Education GCSE for the IGCSE 2 class. This provides the children with a welcome opportunity to make new friends and meet more people.

While I would like to state with complete confidence that there will no hiccups at all with the new site, I think we have to recognise that there may be some adjustments that will need to be made. We need to observe for a week or two how everything works logistically with the timetabling and spread of lessons across two sites. (we cannot bear not to have the IGCSE 1 and 2’s back with us at Cherry Hinton some of the time, they are so lively and fun!). We will be glad to have any feedback from parents and children as to how everyone is getting on.

You will already have seen a copy of your child’s timetable. We recommend that students come in wearing their sports kit on the days they have sport in the morning. If it is in the afternoon it is easy enough to change at school. Remember that on  Fridays school uniform does not need to be worn.

We have been very pleased to see Mrs Young, our Head of Upper School back in school. She is available to contact by email every day and will be in school for a few hours each day as she eases back to work. For new parents, you will soon meet the very popular Mrs Young, who is recovering from a gruelling bout of chemotherapy this summer. We are delighted to welcome Dr Villamil to the role of Chemistry teacher for our Upper School for this term. Dr Villamil is an extremely high ranking research chemist who is focusing on Chemistry this term to enable Mrs Young to give more attention to Biology next term.

A reminder to all parents: Children will receive merit points for excellent work or behaviour. They all have a merit sheet in their homework diaries. On accruing 40 they will be awarded a cinema voucher for £10. It is a real achievement to be awarded merit points, so you may find it takes time and effort to achieve! Conversely, children are given black marks for inappropriate behaviour, or failing to hand in homework. With Med class we will not be so strict for the first term as they do have a lot to take in as they take on Senior school expectations and requirements.

You may remember that at the end of last term I outlined two of my aims for this school year: to improve the music and sports provision in school and to aim to achieve excellence in both subjects.

We are delighted to announce the formation of a Senior Band: Band music will include rock and roll, jazz improvisation and carols from the 16th and 21st centuries, to accompany singing in the Christmas performance. The first meeting of our new band will be at 1.15pm on Wednesday September 17th. Please encourage all students who play instruments to bring them into school on that day. Message for the students from Mrs Gold: “Band will be in the hall on the Cherry Hinton site. If you play both acoustic and electric guitar, please bring the acoustic for the first session at least, so we can see how much power we’re going to need! If you only play electric guitar then bring that and don’t forget to bring your amp. Please make sure your instruments are in tune as soon as you’re in the hall; don’t wait for me to tell you. We’re going to start off with some jazz improvisation, and some rock and roll, and take it from there….”

As well as this, we are introducing a Choir for pupils from Adriatic up to Tyr. The choir will meet on Wednesdays at 3pm to work together on vocal percussion, gospel, jazz, pop, folk, traditional songs in Spanish, Latin and Aboriginal dialect and carols for Christmas.

We have also become members of the Cambridge Athletics Association and look forward to arranging a series of sporting fixtures with neighbouring schools in the coming months. I am also pleased to inform you that we are running enrichment sports on Friday lunchtimes for all keen students. Please ensure your child brings appropriate kit. Early focus will be on athletics (track, field and cross country), tennis and football. Students can only choose one of these activities for their session. We had excellent attendance for our first week and I have high hopes for the next Olympics!

We offer a wide range of languages for our pupils to study. We are very impressed with some of our multi-lingual children who have just joined the school. We are offering extension Latin for those children who will particularly enjoy learning this wonderful language. This is run by Mr Lord, who has taught Latin for many years at Sancton Wood and who is now the class teacher for one of our Year 6 classes. He will be teaching this on Friday lunchtimes. I am aware this may clash with enrichment sports but there is no other available time for him this term.

Please contact us if you wish your child to study any other language and we will do our very best to facilitate this.

Please do keep in very close touch with us. If your child is struggling with any aspect of their work or social life at school, we want to know. The staff will look forward to meeting you at our Parents Evenings held just before half term.

Please find attached information about what your child (Med, Tyr and Ion) will be studying this term. IGCSE pupils have begun to follow the curriculum for each subject which can be found on www.cie.org.uk

I hope all our pupils have a happy and purposeful term ahead. There will be plenty of opportunities for fun as well as hard work.

I look forward to seeing you whenever you wish to come in and see what your children are getting up to. You are always welcome.

Kind regards

Harriet Sturdy
Principal
Cambridge International School
Mediterranean:

English:
I hope that you will really enjoy your English course this year. Here is a little taste of the term ahead:
Reading: This term our class texts range from Louis Sacher’s amazing novel ‘Holes,’ to selected highlights from Geoffrey Chaucer’s ‘General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales,’ which will complement your work on the Middle Ages in History. You will each keep a reading diary and write and present regular book reviews. The library will be well-used!

Writing:
We will aim to write clear, fluent and stylish English for all occasions! As well as reviews, we will write letters, stories, poems and undertake formal comprehension exercises. We will learn or
revise, as required, the rules of spelling, grammar and punctuation and have regular spelling and dictation tests. We will make good use of a dictionary and a thesaurus!

Speaking and listening:
We will enjoy debating, presenting our ideas and discussing We will also develop our ability to listen courteously to each other, being sensitive in taking turns!

Mathematics:
Mrs Mieszkian will be working on Maths Investigations with the children on Tuesdays. We will be concentrating on the creative side of Maths, focusing on generalising, working systematically and visualising when problem-solving. We will be encouraging the children to explore their own ideas, ask questions and find ways of recording their findings as well as teaching them useful strategies to used when faced with a mathematical problem.

Mr Wicker will be teaching the class for the remainder of the week, introducing the class to the National Numeracy Strategy Renewed Framework KS3 syllabus through a new OUP Resource called Maths Links. This term, the children will work on number, including place value and written methods for the four operations; sequences and functions; measures including area, perimeter and angles; fractions, decimals and percentages; processing data including bar charts, pie charts line graphs and mode, median and range; expressions and formulas, introducing algebraic symbols, expressions and collecting like terms.

Science:
Med pupils will be covering the following topics: Measurements; Mixtures and separating techniques;  Acids & bases;  Physical and chemical changes and Investigating everyday materials

French:
We will be covering two topics: personal introductions and daily routine.This will include using the past tense and simple future tense. Children will have two weekly homeworks; one learning and one written. Resources: Metro 2 Green and workbook.

German:
We are introducing German with major emphasis on the enjoyment and speaking of the language!We aim to cover topics including talking about oneself and school. Children will have two weekly homeworks; one learning and one writing. Resources: Logo 1 and workbook.

Spanish:
Using Listos 1 we will begin work on Greetings – asking names, how they are; numbers – asking age etc; school – asking what you have in your bag etc.

Art:
Portraits. Med will be producing portraits of each other in a variety of media, making a self portrait and developing this into a mono print and finally into a collagraph print.

History:
This year we will be focusing on the Medieval period 1066-1485, starting with the Battle of Hastings and ending with The War of The Roses. We will be looking at Medieval Life, key historical figures of the period, the nature of warfare, The Crusades and The Black Death and its global impact.
We will start the term with an introduction to history, looking at timelines, discussing pupils’ previous knowledge and looking at historical sources. This will provide pupils with the necessary building blocks to develop their historical knowledge and understanding.

Geography:
The United Kingdom, Pupils will be learning the basic geography of our country. We will be studying village and city settlements, looking at Coast lines as well as environmental issues.

Music
1) Defining music, its role in society. What do the children understand as “music.”
2) Different musical cultures: Western, African, Indian, possibly Javanese, Klezmer. (How these stem from point 1)
3) Common themes in these cultures - eg, stringed instruments, percussion instruments, scales etc.
4) Practical music-making: Composing on a pentatonic scale (will have been covered in material above)
5) Aleatoric music. Children make their own instruments and compose “sound” pieces on them.

Senior Band: Band music will include rock and roll, jazz improvisation and carols from the 16th and 21st centuries, to accompany singing in the Christmas performance.

Choir: the whole school choir will do vocal percussion, gospel, jazz, pop, folk, traditional songs in Spanish, Latin and Aboriginal dialect, carols for Christmas

Film-making: Factual Programming / Documentary / Drama / Animation / Music Videos
This term we will be looking at a wide variety of media forms which use filmmaking as the means to address and communicate storytelling viewpoints. Pupils will discuss and research different filmmaking
approaches and choose how to best produce a film around a chosen class theme by the end of term.

Sports:
Upper School pupils will be focusing this term on athletics (track, field and cross country), tennis, and football. We are currently making arrangements to book swimming for the next school term.

Tyrhennian

English: I am really looking forward to seeing you again, and welcoming some new faces. We are starting the term with two master short story tellers: Roald Dahl with his deliciously twisted endings and Arthur Conan Doyle with some of his best Sherlock Holmes stories, so if you like surprises and mysteries you’ll be very happy indeed! Later in the term we’ll look at one of Charles Dickens’ best-loved and beautifully written works, ‘A Christmas Carol,’ to get us in a festive mood and remember the true meaning of the season.
Some modern short stories will bring us up-to-date.  As ever, we will be making good use of the library, and will keep reading diaries. Our poetry lessons will focus on a range of ballads.
In our writing, we will aim for security in use of paragraphs, commas and speech marks, and develop strategies for learning and correcting spellings. We will work on a range of written forms: newspaper reports, letters, reviews and summaries.
Speaking and listening
We will take part in interviews and discussions, do some role-play and enjoy acting and writing scenes based on our literary texts. We have a lot to get through but will have fun!

Mathematics: Mathematical diagrams including mileage charts, networks, & flow charts; Factors; Pythagoras’ Theorem; rounding and estimation; data analysis - averages and ranges for discrete data; nets and surface area; ratio and proportion; expanding brackets.

Art:
‘The Many Moods of a Sunflower’ Tyr will be looking at colour codes and finding out about the meaning of different colours. They will then use this knowledge to produce images of sunflowers in
different ‘moods’.

History- The Tudors 1485-1603
The Tudors ruled for 118years from 1485-1603. This is a fascinating age of Royal scandal, religious uprising, life changing discoveries and fierce wars. This term we will be looking at who the Tudors were and what life was like in Tudor England, from daily life to culture and pastimes. We will then focus on the Court of Henry VIII, his six wives and the break with Rome leading to the Reformation.

Science
Flowering Plants: all aspects of the lifecycle including methods of reproduction and seed dispersal, nutrients, transpiration, trans location(water movement)
Human reproduction: lifecycle, sexual reproduction, gestation, birth, anatomy, menstrual cycle
Light and sound: light and sound as waves, their characteristics and how we see and hear.

French:
We aim to cover two topics: Salut! And Ma Vie.
Unit 1: Talk about yourself and someone else; talking about the past; saying where you have been and what you have done.
Unit 2: Routine in the morning; weekend routine; talking about clubs and arranging to go out.

Pupils will have two homeworks; one learning and one written. Resources: Metro 2 Rouge and workbook.

Spanish:
Using Listos 1 we will revise Chapters 1, 2 and 3, discussing the home, where you live, household items etc.
At home – saying where you live.  Talking about the house.

Geography:
Europe, Pupils will be learning the basic geography of Europe. We will also be learning about rivers, types of Energy and Water.

Religious Studies:
Pupils will spend the term looking at the different religious ideas of God. How God is perceived and worshiped. Pupils will also reflect upon their own beliefs as well as different religious biases.

Music
1) Defining music, its role in society. What do the children understand as “music.”
2) Different musical cultures: Western, African, Indian, possibly Javanese, Klezmer. (How these stem from point 1)
3) Common themes in these cultures - eg, stringed instruments, percussion instruments, scales etc.
4) Practical music-making: Composing on a pentatonic scale (will have been covered in material above)
5) Aleatoric music. Children make their own instruments and compose “sound” pieces on them.

Senior Band: Band music will include rock and roll, jazz improvisation and carols from the 16th and 21st centuries, to accompany singing in the Christmas performance.

Choir: the whole school choir will do vocal percussion, gospel, jazz, pop, folk, traditional songs in Spanish, Latin and Aboriginal dialect, carols for Christmas

Film-making: Factual Programming / Documentary / Drama / Animation / Music Videos
This term we will be looking at a wide variety of media forms which use filmmaking as the means to address and communicate storytelling viewpoints. Pupils will discuss and research different filmmaking
approaches and choose how to best produce a film around a chosen class theme by the end of term.

Sports: Upper School pupils will be focusing this term on athletics (track, field and cross country), tennis, and football. We are trying to confirm a booking for swimming for the next school term.

Ionian

English Literature
Welcome back to familiar faces, and welcome for the first time to our new pupils.
Our reading this term will complement your studies in History, with a focus on the Victorians, who forged our modern world. We will take a trip to the theatre to see ‘Far from the Madding Crowd’ through to the stage. Later in the term, as Remembrance Day approaches, the First World War Poets will move and inspire us. To bring us bang up- to-date, and in answer to your requests, we will take a look at a contemporary prize-winning novel, ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time’ and its fascinating portrayal of a boy with Asperger’s Syndrome setting out to make sense of a mystery.

English Language
We will spend plenty of time preparing for Cambridge Checkpoint Examinations, and will have a practice test for these at the end of term. These will evaluate your ability to summarise, to argue and to persuade, to comprehend and to interpret what is read as well as to express yourself with accuracy and clarity.  We will need to develop a sense of writing for an audience, to engage the reader’s attention. It will be a challenging but an enjoyable year, building on what you have achieved so far. We will work hard but will have fun!

Mathematics:
Base arithmetic; the 4 operations; indices and standard form; fractions and percentages; linear graphs and equations; probability.

Art
Movement. Ionian will be looking at figures in motion and how to capture the feeling in a picture. They will be combining this with imagery from the 1970’s!

French:
We aim to cover two topics: Salut! And Ma Vie.
Unit 1: Talk about yourself and someone else; talking about the past; saying where you have been and what you have done.
Unit 2: Routine in the morning; weekend routine; talking about clubs and arranging to go out.

Pupils will have two homeworks; one learning and one written. Resources: Metro 2 Rouge and workbook.

Spanish:
Using Listos 1 we will revise Chapters 1, 2 and 3, discussing the home, where we live, household items etc.
At home – saying where you live.  Talking about the house.

History- Britain and International Relations 1850-1918.
We will start this term looking at why and how the Industrial Revolution began in Britain and what inventions and developments facilitated this change in society. We will look at how this had an economic, social and environmental impact not only in Britain but throughout the World.

Geography-Key Geographical Skills
This terms focus will be on developing pupils Geographical skills. This will include map reading, map interpretation, sketching, longitude and latitude and time. Pupils will also learn how to analyse a variety of ways to depict geographical information, this will include tables of data, graphs, diagrams and photographic sources.

Science:
Digestion: including food and nutrition, biochemical processes and anatomy
Energy: all physical energy transfers, knowing types eg potential,kinetic(movement) etc and investigating how energy is used. We may progress to Metals vs Non Metals.

Religious Studies:
Pupils will spend the term looking at the different religious ideas of God. How God is perceived and worshipped. Pupils will also reflect upon their own beliefs as well as different religious biases.

Business Studies
Ionian students have been invited to commence their IGCSE studies for Business Studies one year early. Being a particularly inquiring, astute group, we think this will suit them very much. They will work alongside IGCSE 1 students in this course, the details of which are to be found on www.cie.org.uk under qualifications 14-16.

Film-making: DOCUMENTARY- different forms/ techniques / messages / reconstructions / uses
Pupils will investigate how to communicate and express their points of view using the documentary form. Experimenting with interview techniques whilst addressing social issues and relevant peer group
challenges, they will be asked to work in groups which will aim to produce short films underscoring valuable insights into their everyday lives.

ICT: The Internet - Website Construction /Basic Code / Design / Content Creation
This term we will focus on researching and creating a website by the pupils for the School. We will be looking at basic code, Website construction, design and functionality so that it is a useful website
for all the pupils and parents of the school.

Sports: Upper School pupils will be focusing this term on athletics (track, field and cross country), tennis, and football. We are trying to confirm a booking for swimming for the next school term.

Ionian students will have one outdoor and one indoor sports lesson this term.

Dear Year 7 Students and Parents,

May I take this opportunity to welcome you to Cambridge International Upper School.

As a student, you may have some reservations moving from the Junior school environ but these are completely natural and hopefully my letter will alleviate some of those worries.

Hear are a few of the guidelines and some of the exciting privileges Upper School students enjoy.

Students are expected to be in class for 8.50am ready for their tutor who, for Year 7 will be Dr. H. Sturdy. Formal registration is  9.00 –9.05.  First lesson begins at 9.05. The lessons are normally 40 minutes with one of the afternoon lessons lasting for 50 minutes.

I would like to give you the specific break and lunch times but we are in the process of modifying these and are looking to overlap some of the breaks so that Year 7 students still spend time with friends in the Juniors.

At lunchtimes, students are allowed into the park to play. This has been thoroughly enjoyed by Upper School even when it has been a little muddy but students all bring in an extra pair of shoes to use for this.

With regards to uniform, we operate a Dress Code. For the boys we expect to see them in navy blue or beige chino style trousers or standard grey with a crisp white shirt and a navy or grey jumper. The same applies for the girls plus the option of a navy or beige knee length skirt. The School encourages children to wear the navy blue blazer which is also shared by Sancton Wood and can be bought at John Lewis in Cambridge. Sensible shoes are preferred, not trainers as these are for Sport. The School tie is also available but is not yet mandatory. We expect to see students following the Dress Code Monday to Thursday and on Friday everyone is allowed to wear their own clothes for our Casual Day.

Your school day is longer as we finish at 3.50pm, you will quickly get used to the extra 20 minutes.

In terms of lessons, you will enjoy the full complement of subjects taught by subject specialists. This can be a little daunting as you will have many new teachers but after a week you will know their names and during the first few days you will be given clear instructions of what is needed for that lesson.

One of the fabulous things we have in Upper School is the diary, which is a professional secondary school academic diary in full colour. It has so many features and exciting tips that you will love keeping it up to date with work and notices. You can write out your timetable, keep friends telephone numbers and even look up an element on the Periodic Table. The diary will be issued in September.

We also go out on excellent trips including a Geography fieldtrip to the coast, Science talks, Art workshops, plays, Maths Challenges to name but a few. These are relevant to your lessons and curriculum and work will be expected but it is such fun that it never feels like hard work.

Other lessons which you may not have experienced before are Film Making, Religious Education and Discussion plus there will be a rotational option of subjects, for example, Technical Drawing and Design and Technology. This will provide another opportunity for Upper School students to mix with Year 6 from Juniors.

My final piece of information is with regards to homework. The individual subject teachers will set this with the core subjects normally giving two pieces in a week. It is important to record all homework in your diary but I do email all Upper School homework to the parents. This has proved to be very successful and allows parents to monitor what homework is being completed more effectively. Year 7 students should expect to spend an hour a night and two hours at the weekend completing homework. This will vary a little across the weeks but it is the general rule for this age.

I hope this letter clears up a few questions you may have had before starting in September.

All there is left to say is have a super summer holiday and I look forward to seeing you in September.

Kindest regards,

Nina Young
Head of Upper School