newsletter - St. Nicholas School

St. Nicholas
NEWSLETTER
www.stnicholas.com.br │ October I - 2008
Upcoming events
DATES
Wednesday 8th October
Infant and Junior Parents’ Day
13th to 17th October
Half term
Sunday 19th October
Summertime
Monday 20th October
Summer Uniform
Tuesday 21st October
Storyteller Priscilla Howe
From 23rd October
Book Week
TRIPS
Year 11 and 12 IB Biology Trip to Cananéia
ASSEMBLIES
Infants
No classroom assemblies
Juniors
Thursday 9th October – Year 5X
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Saving Paper
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could you please send an e-mail to schoolnews@
stnicholas.com.br with the following information:
name of pupil, class or form, name of parents,
e-mail address.
IN MEMORIAM
James Kirsten
We are very sorry to inform that Mrs. Alexandra Pfister
lost her two year battle with cancer and passed away on
September 29th.
Alexandra joined the school as a professora de português
in April 1996. She taught students of all ages in the Junior
School until May 2003, when she became Diretora
Brasileira and Head of Portuguese. In an International
School, the Diretora Brasileira works alongside the
Headteacher, to ensure that the school fulfils its legal
commitments. She fought hard to ensure that the school
met and surpassed its duties as a Brazilian school and that all students received a
first class education.
Under Alexandra’s leadership as Head of Portuguese the school successfully
introduced the teaching of Portuguese in year 1 and 2. Up until 2006 Alexandra
taught Portuguese to year 2 and she also briefly taught PFL in the Senior School.
Alexandra enjoyed positive relationships with puils and staff and her organisation
and support of Brazilian cultural events helped the School form its identity as an
International school with a Brazilian heart.
Alexandra will be sorely missed by the whole school community.
Sharing Our Cultures
Year 3 celebrated the end of their first Unit of Inquiry “Our Cultures” by sharing foods from
their countries and cultures at an ‘International Breakfast”. Following Year 3X’s colourful
and informative assembly, at which the children shared their knowledge of a range of
world cultures, both Year 3 classes and
their parents gathered in the Year 3
classrooms to try the wonderful variety
of delicious food that the children had
brought to share. Thank you to all who
supported Year 3 throughout this Unit,
particularly Mrs. Yu, Mr. Eagles, Zehi
Unuigbe, Ms. de Barros, Ms. Jovanovich
and Raunak Daswani who shared their
cultures with the children in class, as
well as all the parents and teachers who
joined us for the assembly and breakfast.
IBO Examiners at St. Nicholas School
Congratulations to Anderson Costa, Head
of Portuguese in Years 10,11 and 12 for
his appointment as Assistant IBO Diploma
Examiner for Portuguese AI. In his duties
Anderson will mark examination papers of
students from around the world. He joins
other IBO Examiners at the school: Fiona
Creagh-Osborne for English A2 Higher
Level and Elizabeth Moorhouse, Biology
Higher Level.
YEAR 10 VAI AO TEATRO E DECIDE SE QUER O
PARAÍSO OU O INFERNO
Anderson Costa
Após ler em português medieval, o Year 10
discutiu e analisou em aula o Auto da Barca
do Inferno, peça escrita pelo português Gil
Vicente em 1517 (leia uma análise mais
detalhada na próxima edição da nossa
Magazine). Nela, o Diabo e o Anjo são os
anfitriões de um grupo de personagens
que desfilam pelo cais onde duas barcas
os aguardam para ir para o Inferno ou para
o Paraíso. Após o espetáculo, os alunos
da St. Nicholas permaneceram no teatro
para um esclarecedor bate-papo com a
atriz e diretora da peça, Creuza Borges,
do premiado grupo Dragão 7. Todos
saíram bastante satisfeitos do passeio e
com uma dúvida existencial longe de ser
maniqueísta: será que o Inferno e o Paraíso
nos aguardam em algum outro lugar ou nós
os fazemos realidade no aqui-agora? Com
a resposta, o Year 10. Converse com eles
e veja o que eles acham.
Four Finals for St Nicholas
Peter Moss
It would not be stretching the imagination too far to suggest that St Nicholas and its
Basketball and Futsal teams were singled out for some unfair treatment at the hands of
coaches, officials and a small number of parents over the weekend. The controversies,
small though they were, added a touch of spice to a tournament that saw evident
improvements from all St Nicholas Teams.
Saturday and Sunday were not without their lighter moments and with some memorable
and fine performances both individually and collectively. Thank you to all pupils and parents
for their attitude, support and patience. The results were as follows:
Yr7, 8 &9 Boys Futsal
St Nicks 5 vs. St Francis 0
St Nicks 6 vs. E, International 1
St Nicks 10 vs. Escola Futuro 2
Final: St Nicks 3 vs. Escola International 0
Yr7, 8 &9 Girls Futsal
St Nicks 1 vs. St Francis 0
St Nicks 0 vs. E, International 3
St Nicks 6 vs. Cidade Jardim 0
Final: St Nicks 0 vs. Ecolab International 0 St Nicks won 3-2 on penalties!!
Yr7, 8 &9 Boys Basketball
St Nicks 12 vs. St Francis 2; St Nicks 14 vs. Escola International 7
Final: St Nicks 9 vs. Escola International 12
Senior Girls Basketball (Yr 9, 10, 11)
Final: St Nicks 14 vs. Escola International 6
ADAPTAÇÃO TEATRAL
DE OBRA LITERÁRIA
SURPREENDE YEAR 11
Anderson Costa
Na quinta-feira, 25 de setembro, o Year
11 foi ao teatro para conferir como ficou
a adaptação da obra Memórias de um
Sargento de Milícias, escrita no século XIX,
que leram em aula. A leitura de uma obra
nos oferece a possibilidade de “ criarmos”
em nossas mentes as personagens de
acordo com a nossa imaginação. Os
alunos comentaram que o protagonista,
Leonardinho, no teatro, se aproximou
bastante do que imaginaram. Porém, muitos
dos outros personagens ‘ apareceram”
no palco com uma imagem distinta da
que tiveram os alunos durante a leitura.
Leonardo Pataca, no teatro, ficou muito
ingênuo; Luizinha, extremamente feia. Já
o personagem José Manuel surpreendeu à
turma, pois o grupo teatral retratou-o como
homossexual.
No entanto, assistir à peça após ler em
aula a obra que a inspirou só amplificou as
possibilidades de entendimento e discussão
de um livro que se mantém incrivelmente
atual no século XXI.
Year 4 Trip to Campo dos Sonhos
To begin the new unit “What’s in the Bin”,
Year 4 students went on a residential
trip to Campo dos Sonhos, a beautiful,
environmentally friendly hotel in Socorro.
Although the weather forecast was rain,
they were really lucky and had lovely,
sunny weather!
The students had lots of hands on activities
and learnt about the importance of looking
after our planet and all the different ways
we can do so. They saw how a water wheel
can generate electricity, followed step-bystep the process of how to make the purest
coffee and learnt how organic fertilizers are
made and how much healthier they are than
the chemical fertilizers! They also saw how
to separate different objects according to
their materials and how they can be reused.
The owners of the hotel were very kind and
let the children bring loads of big tins to use
in the music lessons to make instruments.
The students also learnt all about making
plastic bottles during their visit to the plastic
bottle factory and how they can be recycled
afterwards into something else.
After all their hard work the children
could enjoy their free time which included
swimming in hot and cold pools, lazing
around in a Jacuzzi, riding horses, racing
on bicycles, pedaling in boats and of course
going down the exciting “tirolesa”. The food
was delicious and they seemed to eat all
the time! There was also time for feeding
all the farm animals, milking cows and a
night walk in the middle of the forest using
lanterns made of reused tins and candles
to shine the way!
On Thursday night there was a surprise
cake for Luiza and Carol and what a
surprise it was…
To finish off such a wonderful trip, students
and teacher planted a tree with a beautiful
sentence: “Uma árvore para ajudar a salvar
o mundo!” created by the year 4 girls. T he
teachers were extremely pleased to see
how independent and enthusiastic the
children were throughout the whole trip!
Well done year 4!
Quiz
HOW DO YOU SAY...?
English X Portuguenglish
Here is your chance to get an R.O.A.! Fill in this quiz with the correct English phrases and sentences that correspond to the ones in
Portuguese and hand it in to Mrs. Toffoli (ESL) or Mr. Harrison (Year 5Y). The answer to this quiz will be published in the next issue of
the school Newsletter. This quiz is open for Infants, Juniors and Seniors.
1. St. Nicholas ganhou do St. Paul’s por 2 X 0.____________________________________________________________________
2. Obrigada por carregar meus livros. __________________________________________________________________________
3. Não se esqueça de passar protetor solar. ____________________________________________________________________
Answers to last issue’s quiz:
1.I voted for William to be/ for House Captain. 2.My father’s brother and my mother’s sister are married (to each other). 3.He doesn’t know/ he can’t ride horses.
Congratulations to Benaisha (Y4), Pedro and Maryleim (Y5)
CAS AND GRAACC
The Year 11 CAS students thank the Junior
School for making beautiful key holders to
give to patients at GRAACC hospital. They
really enjoyed them!
É com grande satisfação que
recebemos sua contribuição
para a Campanha
McDia Feliz 2008.
Marcelo Jannuzzi, CAS project leader for
GRAACC Year 12
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 Non-Violence
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.
5th October – 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.
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.
28th 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 .
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.