Lunar New Year / Maslenitsa / Carnival
"When I ride on him I soar, I am a hawk: he trots through the air; the earth sings when he touches it."
William Shakespeare Henry V
Dear Colleagues
In this final week before the mid-term break we have been as busy as ever offering a wide variety of stimulating and energising educational activities for our students here at The Island School. The main theme of the week was Lunar New Year and we held our celebrations on Tuesday. We also rolled over our Tsiknopempti celebrations postponed from last week due to the rain and combined them with a wonderful fun day of Carnival on Friday. Thanks to the amazing Tsiknopempti committee and the Greek faculty for all the hard work and patience.
Our wonderful Russian teachers reminded us of the wonderful tradition of Maslenitsa. Maslenitsa, Tsiknopempti, Shrove Tuesday in the UK (17 February) are all festivals marking the beginning of the Lenten period for Christians and a period of fasting and reflection before the Easter festival. Children in Waldorf Kindergarten enjoyed eating pancakes this week as part of the celebrations and in Primary Russian club children learned about the tradition of pancake making for Maslenitsa. Green Monday next week is also part of this ritual of cleansing the body in order to focus the mind. Traditionally on Green Monday Cypriots eat fruit and vegetables, enjoy time in nature and fly kites!!
For our Muslim students and colleagues this week also marked the start of the Ramadan fasting in the days before the Eid festival. For the people of China, Japan and Southeast Asian countries this Lunar New Year marks the beginning of the year of the Horse. The Horse represents freedom and speed, while fire represents intensity and urgency. That means this year of the Fire Horse could bring both chaos and opportunity. So it has been a week of celebrating transition into a new season and a new phase of the calendar. Children enjoyed assemblies where they learned about the Lunar New Year traditions and also did activities led by our wonderful teachers and visitors from Japan and South Korea including traditional games, calligraphy and making lanterns. Many thanks to the Lunar New Year committee for all your hard work to make the day such fun.
Montessori children went on trips to a pottery in Limassol and had a chance to develop their creative skills as they began their investigation of early civilisations. Pre-Primary 2 class also had a visit to the Paradox museum related to their unit of inquiry. Great job Montessori and PP2 teams!!
On Wednesday we held our bi-annual parent teacher conferences. It was a great opportunity for teachers to give feedback to both parents and students about their academic progress and social integration in school and for parents to ask questions about the programmes and assessment. This allows students to set targets to ensure further progress in the coming half term. Thanks to all teachers for your participation and for Sofia for setting up the systems and appointments.
Our DP 2 students completed their mock and Apolytirion exams and will now use the results and feedback from teachers to refine their preparation for the final examinations. They also spent the end of the week completing Internal assessments and their Core essay work. Keep the faith DP teachers we are almost at the finish line.
Grade 10 have been thinking about their options for next academic year. We held an options event as one of a number of events to help them choose the best pathways for their future. Students will be having individual meetings with our guidance counsellor or senior colleagues to help them make the final decisions. They have many subjects to choose from and the option of following the Diploma programme, the Careers programme or the Apolytirion. Thanks to Sean, Tania and Tagir for your ongoing efforts with these students.
Grade 8 students had their mock Community Project presentation today and it was a great success. Well done to Konstantin and the team. We also had our first football match of the year against another school, The Grammar School. I am delighted to announce that we won! This was a great community event for both players and spectators. Thank you to our great PE colleagues for this achievement.
I would like to thank all my colleagues for your continued support and dedication this half term. I wish you all a well-earned relaxing and restorative week and look forward to welcoming everyone back to school on March 2nd for the second half of the spring term.
Best Regards
Deborah Economou
Head of School
"When I ride on him I soar, I am a hawk: he trots through the air; the earth sings when he touches it."
William Shakespeare Henry V
Dear Colleagues
In this final week before the mid-term break we have been as busy as ever offering a wide variety of stimulating and energising educational activities for our students here at The Island School. The main theme of the week was Lunar New Year and we held our celebrations on Tuesday. We also rolled over our Tsiknopempti celebrations postponed from last week due to the rain and combined them with a wonderful fun day of Carnival on Friday. Thanks to the amazing Tsiknopempti committee and the Greek faculty for all the hard work and patience.
Our wonderful Russian teachers reminded us of the wonderful tradition of Maslenitsa. Maslenitsa, Tsiknopempti, Shrove Tuesday in the UK (17 February) are all festivals marking the beginning of the Lenten period for Christians and a period of fasting and reflection before the Easter festival. Children in Waldorf Kindergarten enjoyed eating pancakes this week as part of the celebrations and in Primary Russian club children learned about the tradition of pancake making for Maslenitsa. Green Monday next week is also part of this ritual of cleansing the body in order to focus the mind. Traditionally on Green Monday Cypriots eat fruit and vegetables, enjoy time in nature and fly kites!!
For our Muslim students and colleagues this week also marked the start of the Ramadan fasting in the days before the Eid festival. For the people of China, Japan and Southeast Asian countries this Lunar New Year marks the beginning of the year of the Horse. The Horse represents freedom and speed, while fire represents intensity and urgency. That means this year of the Fire Horse could bring both chaos and opportunity. So it has been a week of celebrating transition into a new season and a new phase of the calendar. Children enjoyed assemblies where they learned about the Lunar New Year traditions and also did activities led by our wonderful teachers and visitors from Japan and South Korea including traditional games, calligraphy and making lanterns. Many thanks to the Lunar New Year committee for all your hard work to make the day such fun.
Montessori children went on trips to a pottery in Limassol and had a chance to develop their creative skills as they began their investigation of early civilisations. Pre-Primary 2 class also had a visit to the Paradox museum related to their unit of inquiry. Great job Montessori and PP2 teams!!
On Wednesday we held our bi-annual parent teacher conferences. It was a great opportunity for teachers to give feedback to both parents and students about their academic progress and social integration in school and for parents to ask questions about the programmes and assessment. This allows students to set targets to ensure further progress in the coming half term. Thanks to all teachers for your participation and for Sofia for setting up the systems and appointments.
Our DP 2 students completed their mock and Apolytirion exams and will now use the results and feedback from teachers to refine their preparation for the final examinations. They also spent the end of the week completing Internal assessments and their Core essay work. Keep the faith DP teachers we are almost at the finish line.
Grade 10 have been thinking about their options for next academic year. We held an options event as one of a number of events to help them choose the best pathways for their future. Students will be having individual meetings with our guidance counsellor or senior colleagues to help them make the final decisions. They have many subjects to choose from and the option of following the Diploma programme, the Careers programme or the Apolytirion. Thanks to Sean, Tania and Tagir for your ongoing efforts with these students.
Grade 8 students had their mock Community Project presentation today and it was a great success. Well done to Konstantin and the team. We also had our first football match of the year against another school, The Grammar School. I am delighted to announce that we won! This was a great community event for both players and spectators. Thank you to our great PE colleagues for this achievement.
I would like to thank all my colleagues for your continued support and dedication this half term. I wish you all a well-earned relaxing and restorative week and look forward to welcoming everyone back to school on March 2nd for the second half of the spring term.
Best Regards
Deborah Economou
Head of School