ISY Elementary Blog

Elementary Update – January 24th, 2020

Sandy Sheppard, Elementary School Principal

Dear all,

We have had a wonderful week at ISY. Please read this blog for important updates, events, reminders and information celebrating our many events.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Sandy Sheppard

 

We rise by lifting others – Robert Ingersoll

AFTER SCHOOL 

Students not accompanied by an adult should wait on the teak steps after their after school activities are finished.

PLEASE NOTE

After 4pm all calls to the elementary office are diverted to the security office.

 

New Staff Directory on Power School

Following a number of requests over the last year we have now created a Staff Directory for all staff at ISY which can be found as a menu item on your Power School homepage after logging in.  The information can be filtered by staff division or department or you can also simply type anything into the search field and if those words appear in their profile, the staff member will be shown.  This includes all faculty and staff so if there’s a security guard you see everyday but don’t know the name of, this is the place to go.  We hope you find it a useful resource.
ASSEMBLY
We had a fantastic assembly today led by Grade 5T. See pictures throughout this blog. Below you can see students from 2W who shared some wonderful stories.

 

 UPCOMING DATES

25th January – Nay Pyi Taw Open House

25th January – Color Run – 8:00 am

30th January – Chinese New Year celebration assembly

30th January – Parent presentation – Child Protection & How to Raise a Child in a Stressfree World – 7:00 PM – Cafeteria

3st January – Movie Night – 6:00 PM – organized by the Elementary Student Council

7th February – Reports go home

12th February – No school

15th February – International Day

SWIMMING
Please Note:

We have an increasing number of students who are not taking part in swimming. Swimming is part of the curriculum and children are expected to take part. A student requires a medical certificate from their doctor if they are not to take part in swimming.

MOVIE NIGHT

Elementary Student Council will host a Movie Night on Friday, January 31, 2020.  All families and friends are welcome to join our showing of “Abominable.”  The show begins at 6:00 PM.  Attendance is free but snacks will be sold for fundraising purposes.  We hope to see you there!

 

COMPASSION

We are seeing more and more examples of our students indpendently making a difference in the world. This week I would like to share the following:

Our young students are making a difference. This is Sophie below from KG who raised a total of 600 USD, and made a donation to World Wildlife Federation (WWF) to help the animals in Australia. She asked her friends to donate money for her birthday rather than buy her a present.
This is an example that one small action can trigger change . We are very proud of Sophie, her sister Emma in Grade 3 and all the KGB students who contributed .

 

 

CORONAVIRUS

You have probably heard about the emerging virus in South China called the Coronavirus. It affects the respiratory system and is being spread from human to human. There are reported cases in Japan, South Korea, and Thailand. Currently there are no cases reported in Myanmar. However, due to our proximity with China, it would not be surprising if we start seeing cases here in the near future. 

The following recommendation has been shared with our clinic from the Bureau of Medical Services, US Department of State:

Recommendations for the community regarding 2019-nCoV?

 Encourage staff to rely on trusted sources for information and not the media hyperbole.  Both WHO and CDC have excellent up to date information regarding 2029-nCoV.  (For you as a provider CIDRAP and ProMED are excellent sites for the latest data)

Avoid live or dead animals and animal markets and persons exhibiting signs of respiratory illness

Report fever and lower respiratory tract symptoms (cough, shortness of breath)

Practice frequent good hand washing  and cough etiquette  (maintain distance, cover coughs and sneezes with disposable tissues or clothing, and wash hands)

Ensure you have had an influenza immunization this season to minimize the chances of getting the flu that may mimic coronavirus infection

 Preventive Measures Taken by ISY

  • The ISY Clinic is educating the ISY staff and community about this new virus

  • ISY is promoting, encouraging and teaching students correct hand washing techniques as well as respiratory hygiene. 

  • ISY has hand sanitizer dispensers around campus 

  • ISY emphasizes environmental cleaning and disinfecting of school supplies and school work surfaces are sanitized every day.

  • ISY encourages the community to have an annual flu vaccine and stay current with immunizations

  • The ISY Clinic Instructs teachers to be vigilant for the signs and symptoms of respiratory illness among students and report them to the clinic immediately

  • The ISY Clinic keeps the community informed with updated information regarding the status of this new virus

To stay healthy parents should:

  • Keep your children home if they are sick. ISY policy indicates that a child must be fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medication (paracetamol, ibuprofen) 

  • Teach your children how to wash their hands and practice good respiratory hygiene

Please see some links to useful posters about hygiene below.

Hand washing:

https://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/pdf/wash-your-hands-steps-8×11.pdf

When to wash our hands:

https://www.health.state.mn.us/people/handhygiene/why/whenwash.pdf

Correct respiratory hygiene:

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pdf/protect/cdc_cough.pdf

Please contact the clinic if you have any questions or concerns. 

INTERNATIONAL DAY INFORMATION

International day takes place on the 15th of February. Each country has a country coordinator that will be sharing information. 

There will be a cultural show on the day with performances by students.  Each act should be no longer than 3 minutes in length and ideally be a group piece involving several students.  To participate in the cultural show, please sign-up here by Friday, January 24.

There are a limited number of spaces and signing up does not automatically mean your child will be performing. You will get an email notice after January 24 if the act has been approved. 

There is a mandatory dress rehearsal the day before the cultural show, Fri, Feb 14 for all participating groups. It will be after school.

There will also be a Parade of Nations where students will walk with their flags. If a student would like to walk with a country other than their noted nationality in Powerschool,  please email Communications Associate, Ivy Kuhn by Friday, January 24. Her email is ikuhn@isyedu.org

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