GROWING, CHANGING, ALWAYS IMPROVING

Dear ICS Community,

As we settle into the second term and after a well-deserved and chillyhalf term break, we review and look forward to the many amazing thingshappening at our school. It is inspiring to see in these pages of TOPICSthe positive, productive and proactive community we live and breathe.

As you have seen recently with our new videos, ICS has ‘a secret’,something special that you can’t quite put your finger on. We believe oursecret is YOU, our students, parents and staff without you ICS just wouldn’tbe the same.

We are always striving to improve and meet the demands of ourever-changing school in an ever-changing world, initiatives such as theParental Survey and other surveys sent to our students and staff are vitalfor our development. I urge all parents to complete the annualNAE Parental Survey issued last week, as your feedback is essentialin allowing us to grow, to change and to improve in every wayhttp://parentsurvey.nordanglia.com/survey/selfserve/5a0/171202?wave=y2018.

This links in well with our Strategic Planning Process, for which we willagain meet in early March to discuss new initiatives devised for ourforthcoming academic year. This is an ideal opportunity for our communityto share their knowledge and forward thinking to help us all in advancingevery aspect of our school. Anyone interested in joining our groups shouldcontact us and come along to the next meeting.

To remain safe and secure on our campus we would like to advise thecommunity of a new Identity Card system, soon to be issued, to ensuresecurity is prominent and respected when on the ICS site. This is not anew thing, but the new cards will be more efficient and effective inensuring our students’ safety is paramount at all times.

Staff have been working in unison on reviewing and updating theAcademic Honesty Policy which aims to promote authenticity in ourlearning. This policy goes hand in hand with the Home/School PartnershipGuidelines which we promote for a smooth collaboration between parents,staff and students. A reminder that all ICS policies can be found on ourParent Portal.

A reminder also that our school continues to be in very high demand andwe need to hear from you about your intentions to stay at ICS for the nextacademic year. Our Admissions Department has many families wishing tobe part of our amazing school. These responses are crucial for us and evenif you are still unsure, a simple email to [email protected] will help usin having a clearer picture of places available.

I hope you enjoy our good news in this issue and of course ourever-diverse accomplishments at ICS.

GROWING, CHANGING,ALWAYS IMPROVING...

MARCH 2018

Kindergarten and Grade 12 enjoying the snow

VISIT THE ICSMADRID YOUTUBE

CHANNEL OR CLICK HERE.

Andreas Swoboda, Director

On the 2nd February our IB Coordinators and Director were invited to a prestigious eventto celebrate the introduction of the International Baccalaureate Programme in Spain.

As one of the first IB schools to be accredited in Spain our Head of Spanish & SpanishUniversities Counsellor was asked to speak about the importance of mother tonguelanguages. Mary Carmen Caballero is an outstanding professional who is an experiencedIB examiner, author and renowned linguist amongst other institutions in Madrid and Spain.

She told us, “the event was very special for us and there were many important peoplefrom the IB world who see ICS as a reference and role-model. At ICS we live and breathethe IB curriculum and my speech highlighted the importance of the maternal language forall students as an advantage to multilingualism.”

CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OFTHE IB IN SPAIN

GRADE 1WEATHERPEOPLE

Every break time at 11:00 am, a group ofvolunteer students from Mathematics HigherLevel are helping other students who needhelp with math. This includes students whohave missed a few school days and requireproper explanations to catch up, test revision,practice questions, homework help, and anyother way they can assist.

We are located in room E7 in the originalSecondary School building. We encourage allsecondary students to take advantage of thishelp and feel free to come whenever theyneed to.

STUDENT TUTORS IN MATH

Esther EspinalMaths and Digital Design

Secondary

As part of our inquiry into Weather, Grade 1 carried outscience experiments to help us investigate andunderstand how solids, liquids and gases change state.

We discussed our hypothesis in classand wrote conclusions based on whatwe observed.

Laura LacritzGrade 1 Teacher &

Lower Primary Coordinator

As part of a new initiative in Primary, Grade 5 has nowbeen given Bluetooth keyboards to use in conjunctionwith their iPads. The slim line, lightweight splash proofqwerty keyboards will be used to aid data input whenusing Apps, the Internet and Microsoft Office 365.

Despite living in a world of touch screens, ICS still feelstyping is an important life skill which will benefitstudents further in their education and in their futurecareers. Touch typing also supports young learners inliteracy skill development and is useful for new writers.Primary intends to aid this transition by teaching Grade5 students how to type effectively using appropriatetechniques and typing websites.

TIME TO TYPE

SUPER BLUE BLOODMOON

WORKING HARD FORTHE GREEN TEAM

Infants have been learning about light and dark and decided to stay overnight in school toobserve a Super Moon a few weeks ago.

These Super Moons are pretty rare and the last one happened around 150 years ago. We wereso excited! We learned that Super Moons happen when a full Moon is closest to the Earth. Forthis reason, they appear larger and brighter in the sky than a regular full Moon. A ‘Blue Moon’is what you call the second full moon in one month. And a ‘Blood Moon’ is the name given fora view of the Moon during a total lunar eclipse.

Before it got dark, we observed the sky and its beautiful colours as the Sun was going down.

At night, we used a real telescope and binoculars to observe the full Moon! We also used our iPads in order to find constellations and learn more about them.

Spending a whole night in school was a lot of fun!

Well done Infants!

Each Wednesday at break time the Primary School Green Team, led by Ms AsaMytouei and Ms Cynthia Arreola , encourage students to help recycle and maintainthe primary school clean by emptying the blue and yellow bins into the containersat the entrance to school.

This year two very conscientious and risk taking students from Grade 3, Alba Nieto& Constance Mielvaque from Ms Gonzalez's class are doing amazing work andalways turn up on to carry out this task each week. We would like to thank themand let everyone know about their dedication and commitment to the Green Team.

Well done Alba and Constance.

Jonathan Dunsby, ICT Coordinator - Primary

Maura Sarmentera, Infants Teacher

Ms Asa and Ms Cynthia - Green Team Leaders

GLOBAL CAMPUS UPDATE

Mr BT and Ms Parra led the expedition to Tanzania recently tohelp the children of Aruza in their building projects as part ofthe Seeway Project. The students again experienced a lifechanging event which helps to make such a difference to thechildren and families who want to change their lives andmove forward.

TANZANIA EXPEDITIONS

Three ICS students were recently announced as winnersof the Global Campus Creative Writing Competition. JuanDel Casar Kim won the age 8 to 11 category with his story‘Mr Brown, Going Through the Dumps’, Grade 7 studentsElika Khoshravani won the 11 to 14 category with herentry ‘The Story of My Escape’ and Anneke Kuipers (ages14 and up) won with her entry entitled ‘Control’

The lucky winners will be able to see their storiesillustrated and published in the 2018 Creative Writing andVisual Art Anthology.

CREATIVE WRITINGTALENT AT ICS

Elika Khosravani Anneke Kuipers Abad

Juan Del Casar Kim

Visual Art Competition 2018Just like every year, we invite youall to enter the Visual ArtsCompetition following theCreative Writing Competition. Inthis Competition, you are askedto create compelling works of artto illustrate the winning pieces from the Creative Writing Competition.

Students please see your emails from Ms Emiline and Ms Coberly aboutthe topic matters.

The winning Visual Arts entries and the respective Creative Writing piecesare published in a stunning anthology that will be enjoyed by thousands ofNord Anglia´s students and their families worldwide.

Competition Deadline: 22nd March 2018Winners announced: 3rd May 2018

THE RASPBERRY COLOURED DRAGON

GRADES 10 & 11 FRENCH STUDENTS HIT THE MOVIESGrades 10 and 11 French Students enjoyed afull cinematic experience when they wentto watch a 2017 French Drama based on anautobiographical novel ‘A Bag of Marbles’by Joseph Joffo.

The film tells the story of a Jewish kid andhis brother escaping from the Nazis inoccupied France.

Our students said they really liked themovie: Did they laugh? Did they cry? Didthey talk about it with friends afterwards?Yes, and they might also think that whilethey were eating popcorn, they haverevised a chapter of European history.

Emmanuelle Peu Duvallon, French Teacher

Last December, Spanish native and non-native students presented theplay El Dragón Color Frambuesa. Our enthusiastic actors and actressesfrom Infants and Grades 1, 2, 3 and 5 delighted the Primary childrenwith a sweet, colourful and vibrant story about the beauty of diversity.

It was a present for us to witness our students displaying PYP attitudesand skills in the learning process of preparing the play: creativity toinvent their own choreography, tolerance and cooperation to worktogether and learn from each other, responsibility and commitment toattend rehearsals, perseverance to improve, enthusiasm to work in acommon project with joy and, finally, empathy to help each other andunderstand that we all learn at a different pace and in different ways.We are proud of you all!

"Ni mejores ni peores, diferentes.Cada uno a su manera, vive y siente.Ser feliz es lo que todos persiguen.Y cada uno a su manera, lo consigue"

-El Dragón Color Frambuesa

Marta Abad Querol, Primary Spanish Coordinator

ICS TOPICS Feb 2018 8/3/18 14:56 Page 5

I thought you might like to see some results from the students’ ‘RecycledDenim’ project, only made possible by the old denim products the ICScommunity donate.

Below you can see Enrique Martínez-Laforgue Díaz-Ponte & Pelayo CabrerizoMalmierca with their creations of a denim Platypus and a Rhino. Otherprojects have included 2 sharks, a really nice whale, cushions, some teddybears and a penguin, along with shoulder bags, purses, a rucksack and someneck cushions for long journeys.

I now have new groups and am once againinterested in replenishing my denim stocks, so willbe grateful for anything you have to donate.

Jonathan Salmon, Design Teacher

DENIM DAYS STATE OF THEART PRINTING

ARRIVES AT ICSA new state of the art Carbon Dioxide Power Laser Printerarrived recently in the Secondary Design Department from LasVegas to add to its range of manufacturing machines. 3D printingstarted at ICS about 3 years ago, however the process is slow attimes therefore we have adapted to what we have learned bydesigning smaller products such as jewellery, made even morerealistic with the development of bronze and steel filaments.

The laser offers lots of opportunities for students to developdesigns much quicker. Piece parts are designed with CAD orGraphics software which will allow students with different skilllevels to develop professionally finished designs.

Prototypes cut in cardboard are in the Students hands in literallyseconds which is vital for their learning. When is anything evercompleted correct the first time around? After gaining peerappraisal of their work, they can return to their programmes andadd refinements which embeds a student in the cyclic nature ofdesign and gives them very rapid feedback on their ideas. Oncehappy with a product, a student has a widerange of materials to work with as thelaser will cut and engrave plywood, acrylic,leather, cork and even denim.

David Bailey, Head of Subject Group - Design.

SAY HELLO, WAVE GOODBYEICS would like to welcome some new members of staff to our SecondarySchool as we wished farewell to two wonderful teachers just before theWinter holidays. Rahera Meinders, Head of English returned to her nativeNew Zealand and has been replaced by Patrick Curran. Patrick is highlyexperienced as an IB teacher of both Language and Literature and EnglishB he comes to ICS from Markham College in Lima, Peru, and has workedin a variety of international schools.

In the Individuals and Societies Department Aliya Chaplin returned to theUK and we are pleased to announce that Ian McDougal, also from the UK,has stepped in to teach our Secondary school students until the end of thesummer term.

A reminder that a full list of our outstanding staff and their experience canbe found on our webpage.

Patrick CurranRahera Meinders Iain MacDougallAliya Chaplin

Below: Testing the printer is Grade 6 student Henry Wilcox

PRIMARY WORKSHOPS WITH AUTHOR DECLAN

WHAT’S SO BAD ABOUT ‘THAT’S SO GAY’?

Visiting author, Declan Carville, from Ireland was with us for a coupleof days recently giving creative writing workshops to all our primarystudents. Declan is the author of over 15 children’s books and is famousworldwide for his entertaining stories such as ‘Nelly Fandango’ and the‘The Magic Harp’.

Declan talked a lot about what illustrators do and their importance in making a book. He also said that when you write, you have to write about what you know, about your experiences and surroundings because that is what you know the best.

Both students and teachers were very inspired by him!

He said, “it was a real pleasure sharing my writing techniques with the ICS Primary School, we had a great time, telling stories and using our imagination. Thank you to the Primary Librarian, Colleen Coberly for the invitation and for all the students and staff that made me feel so welcome.”

Recently, grade 6 students have been looking at the topic of homophobic bullying and the use of the word GAY during the PSHE component of tutorgroup activities with the aim of putting an end to the incorrect, hurtful/insulting use of the word GAY. The goal of these lessons was to help studentsexamine how inappropriate language can hurt, and to help them think of ways to end this kind of name-calling.

Using the lesson plan What’s So Bad About “That’s So Gay”? (www.tolerance.org) students debated and questioned the use the expression “that’sso gay” as a way of putting down or insulting someone (or to describe something). They also reflected personally on times when they had beencalled hurtful names, shared ideas on graffiti walls, discussed their findings and wrote anonymous letters to put an end to homophobic name calling.

The graffiti walls and anonymous letters have been shared with the ICS´s GSA (Gender and Sexuality Awareness group) who aim to create a displayaround the hurtful use of the word GAY and homophobic bullying.

Declan with Infants students and left with Colleen Coberly who organised the visit.

Katie LumsdenGrade 6 Grade Level Leader

The Grade Level Leader for Grade 6 Katie Lumsden with the Grade 6 students .

FRIENDS OF ICS PARENT ASSOCIATIONOur Parent Association (Friends of ICS - FOICS) have been working hard on preparing for the next International Bazaar due to take place onSaturday 5th of May and is an event that should certainly not be missed. They have already held two planning meetings so that countriescan join together to arrange the various country stands that make this event so special. There will be a country parade, ICS got talent show,over 15 country stands, student initiatives raising money for charity via the Care Committee and much more.

The Friends of ICS are also seeking candidates to run for Executive Committee Secretary, and PEMC chair and secretary to start next September.There will be an election in April and any parents interested in making a difference should contact them by sending an email [email protected].

Finally members of the FOICS Parent Association Executive Committee have been trying out the ICS Cafeteria lunch and specifically seeinghow long the lines are for the children in the Secondary School to eat. We found that the lines last no longer than 9 minutes on each daytested and have also confirmed that the Cafeteria lunches are of excellent quality.

We recently held a welcome coffee morning for the new families who joined ICS in January, and it was a great opportunity for the classreps and new parents to get to know each other and get involved.

If you are interested in being part of our Association, please contact us at any time.

Jennifer Greenow, President ICS Parent Association, Friends of ICS

Alumnus, Guillermo Paredes, from the ICS Graduating Class of 1998, has a very successful Cake MakingBusiness locally which we recommend you try. Guillermo has always had a passion for baking and hasseen his dream come true with his new venture. His website www.repostreria.com is a home-basedhome-made made to order cake business. All-time favourites like carrot cake or red velvet forcelebrations, as well as more sophisticated cakes for dinner parties are available on request. Guillermois also organising the 20 year reunion in 2018 and recently came back to see us all.

ALUMNI NEWS FROM THE CLASS OF ‘98

Above: Parent Association Executive Committee members - Carolina Awuapara, Hans Christian Riege, Jennifer Greenow,Maria Starefors, Nehad Sharaf, Amelia Lewis, Marta Malmierca and Melanie Powell.

Another Ski Trip has gone by in the blink of an eye!

This year we encountered sunny skies

Ms. Denah gave out a bunch of fun supplies!

The amazing help from the Grade 10 students was a great surprise!

And the trip was so good we all came back with a big smile and energized!

Jaden Adams, Ski Trip Organizer

SKI TRIP

In our yearlong unit of inquiry on How the World Works, Kindergarten 4children look into how the weather changes along the year. We had beenwaiting for the snow and it finally showed up this week! How lucky wewere!

We embraced this opportunity to adapt our learning experiences to thisexciting turn of events. We felt the cold through our whole body,including sticking our tongues out! We engaged in lots of physicalactivity shovelling the snow from here to there, wondering why it wasso heavy. We stamped our letter moulds in the snow to make snowletters and some of us tried to paint the snow.

We marvelled while examining Mr Bentley’ssnowflake photographs and observed them very closely. We did this until we discovered that although they are all different, almost all snowflakes have six parts. So we decided to be creative and design our own snowflakes. Learning is everywhere!

Nancy Rousset-Bert, Kindergarten 4 Teacher

K4 DISCOVER THE SNOWThe 2018 ICS Ski Trip Group at Boí-Taüll

My name is Jorge Garcia Lamelas and I am in Grade 6 at ICS. Iused to live in Marbella but I came to Madrid when I won a dancerole in the musical Billy Elliot.

I really enjoy being in the show because I can express myself bydancing and I can do what I love to do every evening. It is hardwork and a lot of commitment, you need to be very wellorganized and manage your time. I go straight from school eachday to the theatre and I stay until 9:30 and when there is aperformance I stay until 11:30. Even though sometimes I’m tiredto perform I still do it because it is my passion. As I train so muchI realize that each time I am getting better and better, I play thepart of Kevin and one day I hope to become the star role of Billy.

I won the recent Student Council Talent Show, it was great fun toperform the dances of Billy Elliot in front of the Secondary School

Juan Carlos Martin, the ICS Activities Broadway Teacher, alsoplays a star role in the Madridshow. It’s definitely worth seeingif you haven’t already.

OUR OWN BILLY ELLIOT

GRADE 10 PERSONAL PROJECT RAISES FUNDS FOR CHARITYThe first Charity Football Match was held at ICS in December and wasorganised by Grade 10 student, Ariel Gelman as part of his PersonalProject. The aim of the matches was to raise money for ‘Medicinaspara Venezuela’. This charity supply lifesaving medicines to the peopleof Venezuela where medicines and equipment are becomingincreasingly unavailable in hospitals.

The Personal Project is carried out in Grade 10 and is a long-termproject designed to be an independent learning experience. The Projectformally assesses students’ skills for self-management, research,communication, critical and creative thinking, and collaboration.

Ariel, following his research into the crisis in Venezuela decided that hewanted to support this organisation. He was not only creative incombining his love for football with his Project, but also to combine his(and many other students) love for football to raise money for such aworthy cause.

Students were invited to participate or to spectate, for a fee. Thecompetition was organised as a knock-out resulting in one of the

Grade 8 groups being crowned the winners. (Pablo Domínguez 8AGC,Cesar Asensio 8BVG, Jorge Pérez 8AGC, Gabriel González 8PT, AntonioAlvarez 8OA, Joel Del Moral 8BVI, Rodrigo Burzaco 8KJC, ArmandoMartínez 8RP). Well done for taking on the challenge and winning.

This event raised an amazing €332.50. To further help this worthwhilecause Ariel’s Parents, Geraldine and Joseph matched the donationpersonally, resulting in a whopping €665 donation.

The event created a great deal of attention throughout the VenezuelanCommunity here in Madrid. Several celebrities were ‘tweeting’ aboutit and in mid-February the final donation was presented to CarlosBaute, the Venezuelan singer and ambassador for the charity,Medicinas para Venezuela.

We would like to thank all that contributed to the success of this projectand donated money to help those in Venezuela. We look forward to thenext Charity Football Match.

Franco Fernandez, Grade ESL Teacher and Personal Project Supervisor.

WHAT IS THE ‘PERSONAL PROJECT’The Personal Project is the first piece of autonomous work students completeas part of the Middle Years Programme (MYP). They must first identify a topicthat inspires them and then think about how they can develop this passioninto a project with a ‘Highly Challenging Goal’ which will have an impact on theworld in which we live.

This year we have seen some excellent examples of students who have notonly been creative but have also been dedicated to ‘give something back’ to the wider community, through theirproject. From fundraising initiatives to help people around the world, we have had an inspirational model to introduceour younger children to 3D printing and coding, an inspiring piece of art, donated to a local hospital, and manycampaigns aimed at raising awareness of topics that our children face today.

We are excited to be holding a Personal Project Fair in the very near future, so that we can celebrate the success ofthese young people and share with the School Community the wonderful, creative work our students have carried out.Please keep an eye on the events calendar for the exact date.

Dr Jennifer Barnett, MYP Coordinator

INTERNET USE ANDTEENAGERSEvery day the number of internet users in the world increases significantly tothe point that they already exceed half of the global population. This has beenhighlighted in the new edition of the report presented by We Are Social andHootsuite in 2018. wearesocial.com/blog/2018/01/global-digital-report-2018

While the Internet is incredibly useful and educational, it is also potentiallydestructive. Dangers are everywhere, just waiting for a child to click on. Youhave probably asked yourself questions such as: What is the limit of an abusiveuse? At what age can my child have a mobile? Should I put a time limit? How can I prevent my child from visiting inappropriate sites? When shouldI seek professional help?

Keeping kids safe and sound at home is no longer as simple as physically keeping them indoors. Some dangers can be easilyaccessed within the walls of your home. The virtual world can be as harmful or more as the real world if you do not anticipateand prevent behaviours that you would reject in your day to day life. It is your job as a parent to protect and guide your childin the right direction. You have to be technological parents. You must remain connected and you must accompany your childfrom the moment of purchasing a smartphone, when downloading applications and when creating their profiles on socialnetworks. You must establish some basic security rules: create a telephone access code, know in detail the applications thatare installed, the conditions of those applications and the minimum age to use them. Your child has to behave in the virtualworld in the same way as in real life: with respect.

The technological revolution is unstoppable and your child is already on board.

ICS CARE COMMITTEE INITIATIVES - CARING IS SHARINGThe ICS Care Committee worked hard to organise a range of charity drives to help thehomeless and families during the festive season. Over 200 bags full of toiletry accessoriesalongside encouraging Christmas cards written by the Primary School students weredelivered to the homeless people just before the winter vacation. There was also anappeal to the ICS community for food products to give to families in Madrid which wentto the charity Pato Amarillo to encourage a happier time for all.

This term The Care Committee will be asking the community to give donations of petproducts for the charity ‘El Campito’ a pet rescue centre nearby.

Both the Primary and Secondary School Student Council’s raised money with theirValentines Days Sales of which all funds will be given to Serve the City, a charity in Madridthat aids all the less fortunate locally in many different ways.

Clara Benacerraf,School Counsellor

Calle Vereda Norte 3, 28109, La Moraleja, MadridTel: +34 91 650 23 98www.icsmadrid.org

Send your news stories to [email protected]

Look out for the monthly list of events and Cafeteria menus sent to thecommunity at the beginning of each month.

CROSS COUNTRY WINNERS

DANCING THE DAY AWAY IN THE GYM

ICS participated recently in the Runnymede Cross Countrycompetition and we gained 3rd position overall.

Congratulations to our students who won the followingcategories:

Ronald Sires (3rd - Infantil Masculino)

Alessandra Pastor (1st - Infantil Femenino)

Amanda Montes (1st - Cadete Femenino)

Gerardo Torres (1st - Juvenil Masculino)

FOLLOW US!Look for us on social media and follow, like, love, share.

The PE Department had a very interesting visitor in to show the differentvariations and forms of dance as part of the PHE Dance unit whichstarted in January. Vinatha Sreermakumar is a professional dancer who tours Spain with her workshops and dance shows. She ran two different workshops for us, one in Bollywood Dance for Grade 6 and the other in Fusion Dance for Grade 9.

The students really enjoyed it.

Sara MorenoHead of Subject Group - PHE

Vinatha with the grade 6 students

Summer Camps at ICS in July 2018 are coming soon andwe have a wide and exciting range of activities for allages to ensure they all have a great summer with us.

Contact [email protected] for furtherinformation.

DISCOUNTS FOR ICS STUDENTS AVAILABLE.

• CUBS CAMP (AGES 3-6)Activities, games, cooking, water play, dance & music in English for the little ones.

• ACTIVITIES CAMP - IN ENGLISH (AGES 7 – 14)Drama, cooking, music, dance, circus, sports, games and much more.

• INTENSIVE ENGLISH (AGES 12 - 16)English classes helping students advance in the English language.

• TECHTALENTS CAMPS (AGES 6 – 13) A variety of courses available in Technology from Robotics to Coding and web design.

• BASKETBALL CAMP (2nd -13th JULY)Exclusive to ICS with NCAA star coaches from the USA, Dan Kilbert and Joe Cravens

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