School Bulletin 7 – 10th of March 2023

School Bulletin

Upcoming Dates

Monday 13th March: Public Universities Information Session (Year 11NB and Year 12 only)
Tuesday 14th March: Year 11NB Estudios Sociales Excursion – San José Tour
Tuesday 14th March: National Honour Society Induction Ceremony (12:00 pm)
Thursday 16th March: Year 9B Expedition to Laguna Don Manuel
Friday 24th March: Last Day of Quarter 1
Wednesday 12th April: First Day of Quarter 2
Wednesday 19th April: Parent-Teacher Meetings Afternoon (All Year Levels)

 
Whole School

International Fair
We would like to thank all members of our Learning Community who attended our International Fair last Saturday.  As it was our first Fair since the pandemic, we were thrilled that so many members of our Community attended and we hope that all attendees thoroughly enjoyed the day.  We would particularly like to thank all those members of our community who worked extremely hard, both before the event and on the day, to ensure that it was such a success.  Ticket sales on the day totalled over ₡ 10,600,000 which, once expenses have been deducted, will be used throughout the year to support our student’s Service Learning projects.

Primary

Central American Walking Championship
Congratulations to Tiago Núñez (Year 4B) on finishing second in the U13 3,000 metre competition at the Central American Walking Championship, which was held in Nicaragua last weekend.

House Football Competition
This week our House Football tournament ends with Irazú and Arenal competing for first place in the Year 1/2 tournament final during Friday lunch.

Cultures Assembly
On Monday, we completed our Cultures Week celebrations with a special assembly with Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3 all performing songs and dances from other nations. Year 4 also introduced the languages of Italy, Portugal and Germany to the students. We also had one of our Year 1 students, Lev Larionov, teach everybody how to count from 1 to 10 in Russian. All of the activities over the past week have greatly helped our students to develop their understanding of the differences in our world.

Student Council
The Primary Student Council met last week to offer suggestions to the Primary Leadership Team to help us improve their school experience. Two of the main areas they mentioned were – more options for games at break-times and improving the recycling facilities. The Primary Leadership Team are now looking into their requests.

Year 2 – Pastas Roma Activity
This week all year 2 classes participated in a virtual tour facilitated by the company Pastas Roma. Their topic in IPC is “What’s on the Menu” and Year 2 children have been learning about healthy food, healthy habits and the different food groups.  Representatives from Pastas Roma also kindly gave us 2 footballs and 2 basketballs as a gift for our participation. These are now available for students to play with at break times.

Secondary

Student Council
Congratulations to the ICE Student political party on their election to the Student Council for the 2023 academic year.  Votes were cast by Secondary Students on Thursday and Friday of last week with ICE receiving 175 votes in favour and 88 votes against.  As a result, the 2023 Student Council is composed of:

President:                         Isabella D’Arsie – Year 10
Vice-President:                Manrique Quesada – Year 11
Secretary:                         María Pía Verdesia – Year 10
Treasurer:                         Felipe Montero – Year 12
Vocal:                                Santiago Gazel – Year 8

UNHCR Talk
On Wednesday 1st of March, Year 11 and Year 12 students had the opportunity to participate in a talk by a representative from the UNHCR. The students learned about various issues linked to refugees, including how this relates to Costa Rica. The talk was a valuable introduction to the global political issue of refugees and will greatly help students in their IB Diploma courses.

Visual Arts
On Friday 3rd of March, The Art Department organised an excursion for Year 11NB Visual Art students to visit The Calderón Guardia Museum, and the Museo Costarricense in La Sabana. It was a wonderful event, particularly being guided around the artwork at the Calderón Guardia Museum with the current exhibiting artist, Enar Cruz.  It was also fascinating to receive a valuable talk on the Harold Fonseca and Luisa González de Sáenz exhibitions by the Education Centre at the Museo de Costarricense. Both visits were a valuable experience for the students’ NB Visual Arts studies. Thank you to Nidia Brenes and María de Los Angeles Castillo for their support with this event.

House Board Competition
Congratulations to all those involved in the House Board competition. All four boards were outstanding and the five judges, Mrs. Lloyd, Mr. Berridge, Ana Lourdes, Teacher Nidia, and Mrs. Haigh-Patel had the very difficult task of choosing the winner.   However, at the International Fair the final decision was announced: Arenal won first place, followed by Poás, Barva and then Irazú.  So, congratulations go to Arenal painters Camila Gutierrez, Isabella D’Arsie and Raquel Rodriguez for their winning entry.  In addition, we thank and congratulate each of the following talented artists for creating such wonderful designs:

Poás:     Ariella Chaves, María Pía Verdesia and Natalia Villamil
Barva:   Emma Videche, Isabella Palma, Jimena Rojas, Cecilia Poll and Nina Brohl
Irazú:    Marianna Ortiz and Isabel Arman

Visual Arts
The Art Department would like to express their sincere thanks to ex-students Valentina Sosto and Mathias Freiwald after they took time out of their busy schedule to speak to the Year 10 IGCSE Art group and Year 11IB Visual Arts students. They gave invaluable advice and guidance to the students and spoke about their experiences and the benefits and opportunities that studying IB Visual Arts can provide.

Each year, the National Public universities organize a joint informative session to assist students in their decision-making by providing information on their educational offerings and student services.  Students in Year 11NB and Year 12 will receive this session on Monday 13th of March from 10:00 am to 11:00 am.

National Honour Society Induction Ceremony
On Tuesday 14th of March from 12:00 pm to 12:45 pm, we will hold our National Honour Society Induction Ceremony to recognize those students who have demonstrated excellence in the areas of scholarship, service, leadership, and character. Parents of those inductees are invited to attend in-person and we are live streaming the event on our Facebook Page for anybody who is unable to attend.  On Friday 17th of March, the NHS students are organising a Jeans Day for all in order to raise funds for various causes.  Those students who come to school wearing Jeans are asked to donate 500 colones.

Year 9 Expeditions
This week Year 9A became the first form group to participate in the Year 9 Expedition since the start of the pandemic.  The students visited Laguna Don Manuel in Santa María de Dota where they took part in a number of team-building and individual reflection activities.  Year 9B will be undertaking their expedition next week with Year 9C’s expedition taking place in the following week.

Design by Luigi Mata @Addict2Design