Dear families,

Head lice have been found on several students in first and third grade. The linked document explains what approaches you may want to take to prevent and treat them.

Thanks very much,

Jamie

What a fantastic day we had last week exploring the creations of Jean Tinguely in Basel. The students were very engaged as they made sketches and recorded ‘what they saw’, ‘what they thought’ and what they wondered’.

Please click on the link below to see some photos and short video clips from our visit.

This Thursday, October 25th, we will be going on an Art Field Trip to Museum Tinguely in Basel.

We are aiming to strengthen the connection between Grade 5 units; Matter & Energy to Kinetic Art Unit. We will be learning about the Swiss Kinetic Artist, Jean Tinguely, and experience his Art during our visit.

Students will be leaving the school at 9.30am and will be back for the regular pick up time. Please remember to prepare a packed snack and lunch for your child. The cafeteria will prepare a packed lunch for only those students who normally receive hot lunch.

If you have any concerns or questions, please let the homeroom teachers know. You can also contact our Art teacher, Elif Raskin. (eraskin@zis.ch)

Looking forward to our trip!

Have a look at a few Tinguely works below:

Dear 5 Grade parents,

Over the last few weeks, we have worked with the unit “In der Stadt” (In the city). In classroom students have expand their vocabulary, grammar and speaking skills around this unit. They acted out a variety of dialogues and created their own song to apply the correct grammar and verbal choices.

As a reflection of learning, children have completed their assessments, which will be send home with them after the fall break. Please sign them and send them back to school once you have been through them with your child.

Photo Challenge:

Have your picture taken with a German book! Choose an unusual, creative or touristic spot where you are reading a German book, newspaper or magazine. Involvement of family members, friends, pets etc. is highly encouraged. We´ll display the pictures at school and we´ll award a prize.

The following rules apply:

• We have to be able to identify the German language
• Electronically send the picture to your child´s German teacher or bring in a printed copy by October 26th

This is a Lower School wide project.

Have an inspirational and literate holiday!

Herzliche Grüsse from all of us in the German Team

Hi parents of 5R tweens!

At last we are contacting you!!!  We thought we’d give everyone some time to settle into the school year, and not bombard you yet with even more information. But now we’re getting in touch!

We’re your room mums this year: Rachel Kaas, mum to Henrik, and Catharina Brenninkmeijer, mum to Amelia. We’re lucky enough for this to be our second experience in Mr Raskin’s class- both of our elder daughters were in his class a few years back, so its awesome to be back in his class!

We’ve noticed over the years that the older the kids, the less involvement there is from parents, and as a result less social interaction… We thought we’d try change this! Not to worry, we’re not planning weekly get-togethers! We’d just like to give everyone the opportunity to meet each other, see who the parents of their kids friends’ are, or make a new friend yourselves! So we are super curious to to meet as many of you as possible, so would love to invite to an Autumn breakfast at Catharina’s house (surprise surprise, not at the usual class coffee venue at Schönegg!!)
We thought to plan for next Monday morning, 8th October, straight after drop off… Address is Weinbergstrasse 43 in Kilchberg.

Please could you drop us a quick rsvp whether you can make it or not to the breakfast, so we can plan roughly! Thanks!

Communication via the school portal is a bit tricky, so you are welcome to email us directly (Rachel: Rachel.kaas@bluewin.ch or Catharina: catharinabrenn@hotmail.com ) Also, if you’d be happy to join a Grade 5R whatsapp chat group, to make communicating quicker and easier, please send Rachel an email with your ok and your mobile number…

At the breakfast, we’ll give some further info on the winter party coming up in December, some graduation details for June, gift ideas etc etc…

Also, as per usual, the class collects a class fund, which is Chf 30 per family- this goes towards teacher gifts, class party needs etc… It is not compulsory to add to this class fund, but it is of course much appreciated as it goes towards the atmosphere of the class!
Any questions, please shout!!
Looking forward to a FAB Grade 5 year!
Catharina & Rachel

Hi parents of 5R tweens!

At last we are contacting you!!!  We thought we’d give everyone some time to settle into the school year, and not bombard you yet with even more information. But now we’re getting in touch!

We’re your room mums this year: Rachel Kaas, mum to Henrik, and Catharina Brenninkmeijer, mum to Amelia. We’re lucky enough for this to be our second experience in Mr Raskin’s class- both of our elder daughters were in his class a few years back, so its awesome to be back in his class!

We’ve noticed over the years that the older the kids, the less involvement there is from parents, and as a result less social interaction… We thought we’d try change this! Not to worry, we’re not planning weekly get-togethers! We’d just like to give everyone the opportunity to meet each other, see who the parents of their kids friends’ are, or make a new friend yourselves! So we are super curious to to meet as many of you as possible, so would love to invite to an Autumn breakfast at Catharina’s house (surprise surprise, not at the usual class coffee venue at Schönegg!!)

We thought to plan for next Monday morning, 8th October, straight after drop off… Address is Weinbergstrasse 43 in Kilchberg.

Please could you drop us a quick rsvp whether you can make it or not to the breakfast, so we can plan roughly! Thanks! Communication via the school portal is a bit tricky, so you are welcome to email us directly (Rachel: Rachel.kaas@bluewin.ch or Catharina: catharinabrenn@hotmail.com ) Also, if you’d be happy to join a Grade 5R whatsapp chat group, to make communicating quicker and easier, please send Rachel an email with your ok and your mobile number…

At the breakfast, we’ll give some further info on the winter party coming up in December, some graduation details for June, gift ideas etc etc…

Also, as per usual, the class collects a class fund, which is Chf 30 per family- this goes towards teacher gifts, class party needs etc… It is not compulsory to add to this class fund, but it is of course much appreciated as it goes towards the atmosphere of the class! 😉

Any questions, please shout!!

Looking forward to a FAB Grade 5 year!

Catharina & Rachel

On October 5 you are invited to make an appointment to come to 5R with your child. This is an opportunity for your family and I to discuss observations from the beginning of fifth grade, and set plans and targets for the coming months.

Please click on this link and add your name to an available time slot. Further details on these conferences are included below.

Family Conferences and Parent-Teacher Conferences

Friday 5th October 2018

Dear Parents,

Family Conferences (for G2, G3, G4 and G5 students) and Parent-Teacher conferences (for KG and G1 students) will be held on Friday, October 5th. This is an opportunity to have a conversation with your child’s teacher about their learning and progress. There will be no classes on this day (also at the ECC).

Please note the following:

• In Grades 2, 3, 4 and 5 your child is required to join you for the conference. We feel it is important that they hear what their teachers have to share and that they have a voice in the conversation. Students in KG and Grade 1 are not required to attend the conference.
• Please sign up for a conference slot on the signup sheet published on your child’s class blog.
• On the day of the conferences, there will be  child care supervision at Waedenswil for children aged 5 and above. This is on a drop in basis and does not need to be pre-registered.
• Please try to be punctual for your conference. The schedule is very full, and we want to ensure everyone has their full 15 minutes with their teacher.
• To make an appointment with your child’s German teacher, please email their German teacher directly. These appointments will take place in German classrooms.
• If you wish to make an appointment with Ms. Henry (music), please email her directly on ahenry@zis.ch. These appointments will take place in her music room B208. Other music teachers will not be present on this day.
• For Art (please note Elif Raskin will not be present on this day) and PE, please feel to drop in to meet the teachers, the Lower School Gym for PE, respective Art classrooms for Art – (B203 for Ms. Reymond and the Maker Space at 150 Steinacherstrasse for Mr. Philpot).

Dear 5R Families,

Starting today, every 5R student should have their agenda in their backpack each day going home and each morning returning to school.

• To help students stay organized with upcoming responsibilities
• As a conversation starter/communication aid between home and school

My hope is that the agendas serve to inform the conversations you have with your child in the evening. There is no requirement to use that day’s information to prompt a discussion, however, if you do, I would love it if you could initial or sign at the bottom of that day’s column.

The agendas will come home with your child each day, and must return to school each morning.

Would you please:

• use their notes as conversation starters to chat about their day
• initial/sign at the bottom of the day’s column, if you have had a chat with your child about their school day

We hope this can be a valuable tool for improving home-school communication, and preparing students for the organizational demands of middle school.

We welcome your feedback on this learning tool!