Newsletter - Term 1 (Week 15)

Dear Parents,

It´s a BIG week at SDIS this week. We have the Trade Fair for Year 6 on Monday and Tuesday, the Junior School Concert on Wednesday and Friday is the last day of term.

Reflections – 9th – 12th December
Students finished their plans for the Trade Fair last week. They made goods to sell, prepared a ledger to record their sales, made advertising signs, price lists and even information sheets about the items they are selling. They also planned how their stall will be organised. We also had the live performance of each group’s advertisement. Teachers were impressed with the scripts and the acting ability of the students. Students had to assess the quality of each group’s advertisement: was it convincing, did it show enthusiasm and emotion and was there evidence of good expression and body language?

Weekly News: 15th – 19th December

Unit of Inquiry
This week students will continue focus on the Trade Fair which will take place on Monday and Tuesday. Teachers will assess the success of each group’s stall: choice of products, satisfactory pricing, satisfactory publicity, good planning and record keeping. Students will also be assessed on their individual contribution to their group. After the Trade Fair the children will have a chance to reflect on the success of their business and their products. They will be asked to think critically about their businesses and whether or not they could have improved different aspects, eg. pricing, advertising, product quality, location of business, etc. Ultimately, they will need to refer back to the central idea of the unit and relate it to their business – was your company successful in trading things that people need and desire?

Mathematics
This week students will consolidate most of the money and mixed number concepts taught throughout our current unit. The children will keep ledgers for their business, including all sales and expenses of the business. This will require the children to add, subtract and multiply both whole and mixed numbers to determine whether or not their business made a profit or a loss. We will examine profit margin and see how changing certain inputs, eg. the price of a product, choice of materials, etc. can impact upon the overall profit margin.

English
This week students will be writing reflections about our current unit and the success of their businesses. They will need to be good thinkers and communicate the good and bad things about running a business and the various challenges they faced as a group, eg. teamwork, quality of products, demand for products, etc. In addition to offering their opinions, they will need to offer proof and evidence to support their views. As always, we will be encouraging the students to include good detail in their reflections as well as correct punctuation, grammar and spelling.

What can I do to help?
· Reflection is an important part of learning and refining knowledge. As this is the final week of our unit, ask your child about their business and what goods and/or services they are trading in. Have them tell you about the successes and difficulties of running a businesses and what ways they could improve their business and its performance.

Upcoming Events and Reminders:
· Junior School Concert, Celebrations Around the World – 17th December, 13:30 start. Parents should be early to find a safe car park space and to be seated on time in the Old Gym.
· Christmas card delivery box in Reception. Students may leave cards here for delivery to other students in the school. Students must write the full name and class of the student on the envelope.
· Free Dress – Thursday, 18 December
· Free Dress – Friday, 19 December (holiday theme)
· End of Term 1 – 19th December (classes finish at 12:00pm)

With thanks,
David Barrett, David Gocentas and Ms Isabel Costa Pereira