Just a reminder that on Tuesday May 31 5R will have our bike safety day.  Below is the letter that was sent out a couple of weeks ago.

Dear Parents,

The traffic and safety education team of the Kantonspolizei Zürich aims to educate students in grade 5 about riding a bicycle on Swiss roads.  Practical exercises will focus on challenging traffic situations.

The practical bike training will take place on:

For this purpose, your child will need his/her own bicycle. It will be possible to store bikes in the Lower School garage during this week. All bikes will need to be picked up by Friday, 3rd June.

The training consists of four parts:

1. Theory
2. Bicycle inspection
3. Practice on school ground
4. Riding a bike on the road under professional supervision and with walkie-talkie headsets

It is the parents‘ decision whether children will be allowed to participate in part 4 (see above). We strongly recommend that your child participates with his/her own bicycle which must be checked at home in advance according to the following inspection list:

• Two functional brakes
• White front reflector
• Red back reflector
• Reflectors on the pedals
• Front and back lights (only for the night or during bad visibility)
• Bike lock
• Bell
• Bike helmet
• Private liability insurance

Your child will only be allowed to participate if the checklist is complete.

Please support your child in preparing for this practical bike training.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me (in German). Phone: 044 247 37 10, E-Mail: sali@kapo.zh.ch

Kind regards,

Ciriaco Salierno, traffic instructor

What a process, and what a night!

In many ways the PYP exhibition is the culminating experience of the PYP journey and of elementary school. This past Tuesday’s demonstration of learning and creativity was truly an empowering one. I lost count of the number of people (parents, teachers and others), who approached me in admiration of the work of our grade 5s.

Enjoy the collection of images below!

Also, please continue to keep an eye on the Grade 5 blog. Posted today were important details regarding our Middle School simulation over the coming weeks. Students will be on a very different schedule at school and may even have… gulp… homework!

• There will be no regular classes on that day.
• Each child will have a passport.  As they visit the different classes/stations, they will check off or stamp this passport.  In the homeroom class, you’ll hear about their progress in literacy (reading and writing), Unit of Inquiry, mathematics, and on their learning path goals).  You’ll also visit single subject classes (PE, music, German, and art).
• This is a student-led conference, rather than a traditional parent/teacher conference.  Your child will lead the conference, and teachers will not be involved in giving feedback.
• Follow this link to open our class’s sign-up sheet.  Sign up for a slot either in block 1 (8:30-10:00 AM), block 2 (10:30 AM-12:00 PM), or block 3 (12:30-2:00 PM).  On the conference day, your child will begin in either our classroom or in the single subject classrooms.  The children and I will work out their starting points together.
• Please attend during the block for which you sign up, because we want to keep the number of families in at one time to a manageable number.
• Sibling care will be offered in the library.  However, children under 2 cannot be left in the library.
• Students currently receiving Student Support Services or students who feel they might benefit from Learning Support or EAL Support in middle school can sign up here to have an informal meeting with Mrs. Steffen and Mrs. Langford to discuss the options available, along with their parents. Any family is welcome to sign up, but this is not necessary for all grade 5 students.

Here are the links to sign up (same as those embedded above):

Student Led Conference sign-up

Meet with Mrs. Langford and Mrs. Steffen to discuss elective options

Dear 5R families,

Today’s first day of ISAs went well. The students chose to set up the classroom “like an English school”, which means I suppose desks in rows. Most students had their water bottles and reading books at hand and worked diligently to complete the tasks in the given time.

Set up “just like an English Classroom” for the ISAs

Tomorrow will be the final day of this year’s testing. You will receive the results in several months. As mentioned in our grade level ISA blog post, these results give an interesting snapshot of student performance in a particular way on a particular day. They are primarily used to collect data about how we at ZIS compare in these sorts of assessments to like schools globally. Students are encouraged to sleep well the night before, and try their best, but not to stress or feel any undue anxiety. Most students find the day’s different structure novel and interesting.

On another note, we have just received notice of a case of strep throat in our class. I’ve attached a document to this post which give some detail about the condition, and suggests measures to treat and avoid infection. Please read and keep an eye on your child.

ZIS Strep Throat Guidelines