Newsletter - St. Nicholas School

St. Nicholas
Newsletter
www.stnicholas.com.br │ September - 2009
Upcoming events
October
Pedro Tokushiro
Monday 5th
Year 12 Parents’ Evening
Tuesday 6th
Year 10 Parents’ Evening
Wednesday 7th
Infant and Junior Parents’ Day
12th to 16th
Half Term
15th to 18th
LAHC Leadership Student Conference
24th to 30th
St. Nicholas LAHC Review
25 to 31
CEAL IB Andes
th
International Day of Peace
st
At St. Nicholas, we celebrated International Day of Peace
through the following activities: there were school assemblies
about International Day of Peace and secret friend peace
messages written on dove templates were exchanged
throughout Junior School. Everyone wore white to symbolise
peace.
Sunflower seeds were given out to everyone, and we planted
a tree which we did simultaneously with over 2,000 schools
around the world through Environment Online.
In the middle of the morning, everyone held hands circling
around the school, after which we gathered in front of the reception to sing ‘Give Peace
a Chance’ and ‘What a Wonderful World’ with Mr. Carlos.
We were supposed to have a lunch picnic, but because of the rain, we had our sandwiches
in the classroom. A Peace Wall was mounted where you could write a message of peace
during the day.
Friday 30th
Casual Clothes Day
November
Monday 2nd
All Souls Day
TRIPS
Year 3 Trip to SESC Pompéia
Year 1 Trip to Cidade das Abelhas
IB Visual Arts students Trip to Chapel Art
Show
Year 8 Trip to Museu Oscar Americano
Year 7 Trip to Calçada do Lorena
ASSEMBLIES
Infants
Wednesday 28th October – Year 2X
Juniors
Thursday 8th October – Year 4Y
Thursday 22nd October – Year 6Y
Reminder
Summer Uniform
Please be reminded that
after the Half term holiday
Summer Uniform will
be used by all pupils.
Our uniform shops as
follows:
Na Rua da Escola
Rua Prof. Vahia de Abreu, 736/744
Vila Olímpia
3849-5751/ 3846-9873
Uniforme e Cia
Rua Dr. Renato Paes de Barros, 113
Itaim
3168-7975/ 3168-5416
A reflection...
Ms Manuela Moises
Last Monday we celebrated the International Peace Day. But what exactly does peace
mean nowadays? How could we define it? Apparently, giving this society we live in, peace
became a vague and abstract word lost in its meaning. Individuality is supposed to be the
goal; we are surrounded by the worst examples of hatred and selfishness.
It’s beautiful and even touching to watch doves flying freely during a public ceremony or
children singing a hymn of hope and peace. The question would be: can these rehearsed
demonstrations affect people in general to what extent?
Of course our children need to be taught about respect, empathy, group work, care and
affection. All of us, as parents or educators, stimulate real day to day experiences where
children are able to help one another, to listen more attentively to their friends, to show
genuine interest towards someone else’s issues.
We know the only way to promote peace is through education, dealing with the basis,
planting the seed. Does it matter if it takes a lot of effort and it’s time consuming?
A paz pode estar a apenas um palmo de nossos atos
O dia 21 de setembro é uma data que, mais uma vez,
guardamos para refletir sobre a paz. Um conceito amplo
e idealizado, a paz é um horizonte que deve nortear os
gestos das pessoas em qualquer área de atuação. Em
várias aulas de Português a oportunidade de discutir este
tema foi aproveitada e muitos exercícios foram realizados
para comemorar a data. Em um deles, o Year 10 fez uma
descrição crítica do evento realizado na Saint Nicholas. Leia
abaixo a redação feita pelo aluno Guilherme Rizkallah.
Coming up!
Saturday 28th November
Dia da Paz
A eficácia dos atos simbólicos para a promoção da paz se dará no momento em eles
forem feitos com a consciência das pessoas. Se elas souberem o motivo desta ação que
promove a paz, irão valorizá-la e compreenderão a magnitude do assunto com que estão
lidando.
Se o ato simbólico for feito sem a compreensão das pessoas, tal simbolismo perde a
mensagem que está tentando passar: “Paz para todos”. Como ilustração deste argumento,
podemos citar o “Dia da Paz”, celebrado aqui na escola. Muitos não sabiam a importância
daquele ato (formar uma corrente/ todos de branco), e não o valorizaram. Com isso, a
mensagem de paz e união entre os povos não foi transmitida.
Contudo, houve pessoas que sabiam do que se tratava, e levaram o ato a sério. Isto,
feito em uma escola internacional, é muito importante, porque promove a união, em
uma só corrente, entre várias raças e nações, que podem estar em guerra na vida real.
Estes pequenos gestos, se realizados em todas as escolas, em todos os lugares em todo
o mundo, são capazes de fazer uma grande diferença.
Em conclusão, eu apoio os atos simbólicos em prol da paz. Não são tão eficazes como
decisões da ONU, por exemplo, mas, em grande escala, podem promover uma enorme
conscientização pelo mundo. As pessoas podem entender, com o símbolo da corrente
com todos de mães dadas, que somos humanos, independentemente de raça, religião ou
nacionalidade, e por isso somos todos iguais.
Sign up ends 9th October
Errata
We would like to apologise for some mistakes
in the previous newsletter issue.
• Misplaced images in “SN welcomes this
term’s SC representatives”.
• Wrong date for Rosh Hashanah
• Wrong date close to Peace Day logo
Where does food come from?
In Year 2s we were learning “Where does the food in your fridge comes from?”. We’ve learned how people work together to supply us
with food from many sources.
We learned how to read recipes and follow them. Here
we were making bread.
We used the bread we made to make sandwiches. It was
a balanced and delicious snack!
We went to Galeria dos Pães and found
out how food is prepared before it is sold
or eaten and which tools they use to
process their food.
Caiu no Vestibular...
Universidade e Carreira
by Mr L. Anderson
Proposta de Redação (FUVEST 1995)
1. “Assim como eu preciso aprender a ser só,
Reagir e ouvir o coração responder:
Eu preciso aprender a só ser.” (Gilberto Gil)
2. “Livre pensar é só pensar.” (Millôr Fernandes)
a. Qual a diferença semântica entre ser só e só ser no contexto da
letra de música de Gilberto Gil?
b. Quais interpretações podem ser feitas da frase de Millôr
Fernandes?
Um desafio de Física
(UNESP) Ao passar pelo marco “km 200” de uma
rodovia, um motorista vê um anúncio com a inscrição:
“Abastecimento e restaurante a 30 minutos”.
Considerando que esse posto de serviço se encontra
junto ao marco “km 245” dessa rodovia, pode-se concluir que o
anunciante prevê, para os carros que trafegam nesse trecho, uma
velocidade média, em km/h, de:
a. 80
b. 90
c. 100
d. 110 e. 120
Uma dica para um bom aprendizado
“Se você está no Ensino Médio ou no cursinho, estude a matéria
em casa no mesmo dia que você a teve na escola. Especialistas
dizem que é a melhor forma de assimilar e garantir o aprendizado.
Durma bem, pois é durante o sono que o cérebro processa e
assimila tudo que foi aprendido durante o dia.” (Mr Anderson)
University and Career
by Mr Brotherton
IB Diploma Students English Speaking University Week
During the third week of September, the Year 11 and 12 students had the opportunity to talk to representatives from four different
English speaking countries about the universities and degrees they have on offer. The IB Diploma allows direct access to many
universities around the world. Increasingly, there are financial incentives offered to attract Diploma candidates due to their maturity
and strong performance at university level.
Monday...
United States of America
Almost 30 universities from all over the USA
were represented in this annual Council Of
International Schools Education Fair held
at Chapel School.
Wednesday...
United Kingdom and Australia
Douglas Mundie from the University of St
Andrews (Scotland) presented the benefits
of doing a three degree in the UK and
future Latin American scholarships from a
partnership with Banco Santander. Alison
Campbell from The University of Queensland
explained how high quality universities, low
cost of living and high quality of life attracts
students ‘Down Under’.
Friday...
Canada
Representatives from leading institutions
from British Columbia gave a presentation
in our hall about how the multicultural,
low cost lifestyle and many opportunities
for work and leisure make Canada a very
attractive possible destination for our
students.
A Perfect Machine
Year 4 students have studied all about the human body in the unit
‘A Perfect Machine’. Last Wednesday, to celebrate the end of the
unit they invited parents to watch their final presentations about
the body systems they had researched about.
It was great to see how each group chose how to present their
findings; some groups used a PowerPoint program, some preferred
to act a scene, some made a quiz and some made models of the
main parts of the system.
It was a very positive and informative morning. The students were
confident and showed how much knowledge they acquired during
the whole research process.
All presentations were very successful and the Year 4 students
have to be congratulated for their hard work. We would also like
to thank all parents who came for their support!
23rd - 31st October
11 Headteachers of school leaders from around Latin
America will be in school looking at everything
Because we want to grow and be better
W
H
Y
?
W
H
A
T
?
W
H
E
N
?
LAHC Review 2009
St. Nicholas has asked the Latin American
Heads Conference to carry out a school
review this term. The team of 11
headteachers and senior managers will
spend 9 days in school, between October
23rd and 31st and will be led by Mr.
Alan Downie of Lancaster School Mexico.
During this time the review team will
observe lessons, scrutinise documentation,
interview parents, speak to pupils and
analyse all school procedures. Before they
leave on the 1st November the team will
write up to 20 separate reports, each with
commendations and recommendations,
indicating how the school is performing
in all academic and administrative areas.
The Review is an entirely voluntary process
and the school has asked for it to receive
independent feedback on the progress we
have made over the last 5 years.
Who would you
like to interview?
We would like to include
an interview in the next
St. Nicholas newsletter. It
could be a teacher, pupil
or other member of staff.
Please send in your
suggestions via e-mail to
Priscilla:
[email protected]
III Campeonato de Esportes das Escolas de Educação Internacional
‘Too little too late’
‘All Smiles & Kisses’
As tournament holders for the past two years, St Nicholas traveled for what promised
to be another hard fought Alphaville Tournament success on this occasion. However,
much too sloppy defending, lack of quality when in possession and the pressure of being
the school that everyone wanted to beat meant St Nicholas could not, disappointingly,
defend their past two tournament titles.
In a more impressive nature the girls for
the 3rd year running made the finals,
simply underlining the consistency and
Futsal playing qualities of St. Nicholas
females. Execution in terms of control,
movement, passing and finishing has
greatly improved both individually and
collectively. St Nicholas, fortified by Julia’s
defending, energised by Alice’s persistence
and electrified by the effervescent Sofia,
defined another significant final which
was perhaps just one game too many for
a young, tired but ever enthusiastic St
Nicholas squad.
Yr 7,8,9 Boys Futsal
Yr7&8 Girls Futsal
Felippe Daccache and Patrick Sewell delivered fine performances in all four games,
but losing any game in the last second, even if it was Pele’s son who scored... hurts
especially when it was the Tournament 2009 winners!
Results:
St Nicholas 2 x 3 Escola International
St Nicholas 0 x 3 St Francis
St Nicholas 4 x 1 Cidade Jardim Playpen
St Nicholas 2 x 3 Escola do Futuro
‘Putting it down to
experience’
Yr7, 8, 9 Girls Basketball
‘Redemption’
Yr9/10 Boys Basketball
Theo, Rodrigo, Leonardo and Santiago emphatically silenced any doubts to returning to
Alphaville by leading a 7 man team in winning the Alphaville Basketball Championship.
With every player contributing with points, assits, steals and rebounds, the St Nicks boys
looked like a much improved and focused team, not the maddeningly inconsistent one
that has played and lost on certain occasions.
The boys dominated the paint on both ends, forcing their opponents into turnovers and
bad shots, and owning the backboards. They always led in both games and all players
finished..... yes fatigued but exceptionally happy and pleased with their successes,
notable style of play and performances both individually and as a team.
St Nicholas girls were taught a harsh lesson,
on the need for mastering fundamentals,
being focused and determined, learning
from mistakes, having confidence in
yourself and working hard against the
opposition and for your team mates.
Results:
St Nicholas 22 x 13 Escola International
St Nicholas 14 x 6 Cidade Jardim Playpen
The experience was a steep learning curve
for all the girls in their first ever game. I’m
sure it will make them stronger next time
and one day it will be their day to perform at
a much improved level. Although obviously
disappointing, their basketball future can
certainly be bright!
Results:
St Nicholas 2 x 24 Escola International
Year 1 Minibeasts
Year 1Y has been finding out a lot of information on minibeasts lately. They were very happy to share what they have learned during
their assembly.
Our Cultures
Barbara Borges
In Year 3 for our unit, “Our Cultures” students and parents were invited to an international
brunch at school. Pupils wore their national dress proudly and brought their favourite
national dishes to share with classmates. We had a lovely time eating different delicacies
from around the world! Thanks to all those who participated!
It’s Snow Joke!
The Demon Headmaster
Year 7 English
Miss Toulson
Why do children love it when it
snows?
Because there is snow school!
By Bruno Aquino
Knock, Knock
Casual Clothes Day
Who’s there?
Snow
Snow Who?
September Charity
We would like to thank
everyone for contributing
Casual Clothes Day last
Friday. We raised over
R$1400,00 which will be
used to buy playground
equipments for ACOMI.
??
?
LANGUAGE CORNER Dedé Toffoli
Do you want to test your English skills and win an R.O.A.? Today’s quiz is about
PRONUNCIATION. Sometimes words with similar spelling patterns have different
sounds in English. Look at the underlined letters in the pairs of words below and
decide if the pronunciation is the same (√) or different (×). Then cut out this quiz
and and hand it to Mrs. Toffoli (ESL). Good luck!
Snow body!
Who is never cold no matter what
the temperature?
Snowbody
By Ivan Falsztyn
What would you
win for a wonderful
snow creation?
The Snowbell Prize
By Lisa Lim
What is important in the exam?
Snowledge
By Nodoka Matsumura
(
(
(
(
(
(
)
)
)
)
)
)
room / flood
soup / cousin
bread / dead
move / love
Islam / island
enough / through
(
(
(
(
(
(
)
)
)
)
)
)
book / took
give / five
honest / horrible
breathe / breath
pleasing / pleasant
purple / burn
Name: ________________________________ Year: _____________
Last issue’s winners:
Carolina (4X), Eduardo Lyrio (4X), Peter (4X), Pedro Camargo (6X), Yash (6X), Christopher (Y9)
“Where is he – he stole my
wallet”
“Sorry, he’s
found!”
By Yoon Shu
snowhere
to
be
Graduação do Ensino Fundamental
Realizamos em 22 de setembro a Formatura do Ensino Fundamental do Year 9 20082009.
Student Council welcomes
Sarah
A cerimônia contou com a participação do diretor Mr. Thody e da diretora brasileira Mrs.
Muniz, em discursos que lembraram a importância da etapa concluída e a necessidade
de continuar com o mesmo entusiasmo.
Pais, convidados e os vinte e quatro formandos presentes receberam emocionados as
palavras carinhosas dos professores, paraninfos da turma: Mrs. Broome e Mr. Fazstyn.
Os alunos, Bruna Cunha e Guilherme Rizkallah agradeceram em nome da classe as
homenagem recebidas.
A St. Nicholas parabeniza todas as famílias e alunos por este momento tão especial.
We would like to welcome Sarah Machado
as a new Student Council representative
for Year 6X to replace Bruno Riguzzi who
unfortunately left St Nicholas.
Did you know...
didyouknow.org
... a house fly lives only 14 days.
... it is said that if a statue of a person on
a horse has both front legs in the air, the
person died in battle; if the horse has one
front leg in the air, the person died as a
result of wounds received in battle; if the
horse has all four legs on the ground, like
the Zizkov Monument, the person died of
natural causes.
Commemorations, celebrations and fun events around the world
Action Committee / International Committee
October
1st October - International Day of Old Persons is a date
to observed to raise the world’s awareness about the welfare
of old persons worldwide. This year’s theme is “Addressing
the Challenges and Opportunities of Ageing.” Policies and
programmes of this theme hope to enhance the quality of life,
participation and engagement of older persons in the social,
economic and political spheres of their societies.
2nd October - Gandhi Jayanti / International Day of NonViolence falls on Mahatma Ghandi’s birthday. It is one of
the three official declared National Holidays of India, and was
announced by the United Nations General Assembly as the
International Day of Non-Violence worldwide, which hopes to
“disseminate the message of non-violence, including through
education and public awareness”.
4th October - World Animal Day is a celebration of all life forms
all over the world. This date was chosen for the event because
it is the feast day of Francis of Assisi, a nature lover and patron
saint of animals and the environment.
4th – 10th October - World Space Week was declared by the
United Nations General Assembly “To celebrate each year at
the international level the contributions of space science and
technology to the betterment of the human condition.”
5th October - International World Teachers’ Day
commemorates teachers, and hopes to mobilize support for
teachers, and to raise people’s awareness, understanding and
appreciation displayed for the vital contribution that teachers
make to education and development. Teacher’s Day is celebrated
15th October in Brazil.
9th October - Han’Gul / Korean Alphabet Day is commemorated
in South Korea to mark the invention of Hangul, the native
alphabet of the Korean language.
12th October - Day of the Races / Columbus Day is a
commemoration of Columbus’ arrival in the Americas in South
American nations. It is also known as Día de la Raza, which is
a commemoration of the first encounters between Europeans
and Native Americans. It is commemorated on 8th October in
the United States. This is also commemorated in Spain as the
Hispanic Day Spain / Fiesta Nacional de España or Día de
la Hispanidad.
Children’s Day / Nossa Senhora de Aparecida is a national
day in Brazil. Our Lady of Aparecida, represented by a statue
of the Virgin Mary located in São Paulo, is the Patron Saint of
Brazil. The International Children’s Day is celebrated in other
countries on 1st June.
15th October - Teachers’ Day in Brazil.
16th October - World Food Day aims to raise public awareness
of the world food problem by campaigning against hunger,
malnutrition and poverty, with a UN General Assembly declaration
that “food is a requisite for human survival and well-being and
a fundamental human necessity.” This year’s theme is “The right
to food.” The following day, 17th October is the International
Day for the Eradication of Poverty.
17th October – Diwali or Deepavali, (also called Tihar and
Swanti in Nepal) is a major Indian and Nepalese festival, and
a significant festival in Hinduism, Sikhism and Jainism. Today it
is celebrated by Hindus, Jains and Sikhs across the globe as the
“Festival of Light”, where the lights or lamps signify victory of
good over the evil within every human being.
24th October – United Nations Day aims to raise the world’s
awareness of the aims and achievements of the United Nations.
Many international schools celebrate internationalism around
this time. At St. Nicholas, we celebrate International Day on
27th October.
31st October – Halloween is celebrated on the eve of All Saints
Day. It is celebrated by such activities as trick-or-treating,
costume parties, viewing horror films, and visiting “haunted
houses.”
THINK GREEN
Alessandra Vassellucci
Worm House - helping develop a sustainable world!
Last month our school purchased a
bigger worm house that has been placed
at the entrance of our school next to the
lunch area. The Worm House Project was
presented and brought to school by Ms.
De Vitto who is proud to say that this is a
very nice and easy way to help our school
become more environmental friendly.
You can also have it
in your house and
the steps are very
easy to follow
Find a Suitable Place
The worms and bedding should be contained
in a small box or bin, approximately one
30,5 cm high, 61cm deep and 1m wide, so
you’ll need that much space. Temperatures
of about 16 to 27 degrees C
are ideal, but the worms will
tolerate temperatures from 4,5
to 32 degrees C. You’ll want
the location convenient to
your kitchen to make disposal
quick and easy. Even though
a properly maintained bin is
odourless, most would rather
not have a box of worms
inside their house. Most people
prefer a basement or garage
location.
in parallel strips of about 2,5cm in width.
You’ll need about 28g for an average sized
bin.
Put the shredded newspaper in the bin.
Add a gallon of garden soil-the worms
need the grit to aid their digestion-and 15l
of water to provide sufficient moisture. The
bedding material should be moist but not
soggy. Prepare moistened bedding at least
2 days prior to adding worms, as it may
heat initially and harm the worms.
Get the Worms
These worms are commonly raised for fish
bait and can be readily purchased locally
for stocking. You’ll need approximately
750g of worms for each Kg of garbage your
household produces daily. For example, if
you are stocking one worm bin and your
household generates one pound of kitchen
waste a day, common for an average
household of four, start with 750g pounds
of worms.
You’ll need to change the bedding and
harvest the larger worms after about 2
months and every month or so thereafter.
To harvest the worms, you can dump them
and the compost onto a piece of plywood
in a cone-shaped pile. In a few minutes,
the worms will move into the pile to escape
light and exposure. At this point, you can
remove the top few inches of the pile, wait
a few minutes, and repeat. Eventually, you
will be left with a pile of mostly worms. You
can harvest the large ones for fish bait and
return the small ones and the egg cases to
a freshly prepared bin with new bedding.
Use the old composted garbage and
bedding as a nutrient-rich soil amendment
around plants or in your garden.
Worms move by the powerful
stretching and pulling strength
of their muscles. They detect
light from dark and are very
sensitive to vibrations in the
soil. Each worm bears the
reproductive system of both
sexes, but two worms must
mate for reproduction to take
place.
Red worms consume large
amounts of organic matter
and are found in manure and
compost piles and decaying
leaves. They live closer to
the surface than earthworms
and reproduce very quickly
in captivity. Eight red worms
become 1,500 red worms in six
months!
Purchase or Build
a Container
The worms aren’t too picky
about housing, so mainly
consider what suits you. Some
people prefer building a box
usually with the dimensions
mentioned above. If you decide
to build your own box, use exterior grade
plywood and construction grade lumber.
Don’t use pressure-treated wood for
those parts on the inside surface, as the
chemicals may be toxic to worms. You can
paint or stain the exterior of the box, but
leave the inner surface unpainted. Be sure
to drill at least twelve 3cm holes in the
bottom of the box for drainage.
If you place the garbage in sequence
at different locations in the bin over the
course of several days, you won’t come
back to the same place twice and thus will
avoid a disagreeable encounter with freshly
decomposing garbage.
Caring for the worms is
easy
Prepare the Bedding
Spread the worms gently over the top
of the prepared bedding. They can be
fed on plant-derived products such as
potato peels, lettuce leaves moldy bread,
spaghetti, orange peels, tea or coffee
grounds, and garden waste like corn shucks
or pea shells. Large amounts of meat or
bones can cause odours and attract dogs
or rodents and should be avoided.
Commonly available sources of suitable
bedding for your worm bin are shredded
newspaper,
cardboard,
or
computer
printout paper. Knowing someone in an
office with a paper shredder is helpful, but
you can easily shred your own paper. With
newspaper, use only the regular black and
white sections - not the color sections - as
dyes maybe toxic to worms. Tear the paper
along the center fold, then keep tearing
You can feed the worms twice a week or only
once a week. Let your schedule, not the worms,
be your guide. If you’re going to be away from
home for more than a month, you may wish
to have someone feed the worms for you. To
feed your worm bed, push back the bedding,
place the food, and cover it so that it’s an inch
or so beneath the surface. There’s no need to
chip or grind the food; let the microorganisms
and worms do that for you.
You can use the soil produced by
the worms to fertilise your plants and your
garden.
Now you are ready
to help our world
become a better
place!