Newsletter November 20– November 24, 2023

IAS Bulletin November 20 – 24, 2023 

 News 

Staff professional development – School closing at 12:30 

Our Fall staff professional development afternoon takes place on Wednesday. All lessons and activities after lunch are cancelled including swietlica. All students must be collected from school by 12:30.  

The school will remain closed on Thursday and Friday for Thanksgiving. 

D12 Diwali Celebration 

Last Wednesday at D12 we enjoyed a beautiful Diwali celebration, prepared for us by our Indian students and their parents. We learned about the origins of the holiday and how it is celebrated. Then a group of girls performed 2 dances: Bharatanatyam and a Tamil folk dance. Finally, we tried some delicious Indian treats.   

We would like to express a special thank you to Mrs. Meera Chelliah for coordinating the celebration, Mrs. Ankita Darji for delivering the presentation, and to all the parents involved in helping their daughters prepare for the dance and making and serving the delicious treats. Also, a very big shout-out to the girls who danced beautifully: Shreya and Prisha Shetty, Hyshika Innabattina, Vismaya Arunraj, Krithiga Dinesh Kumar, Rushvika Reddi, Anamika Venkatesh, Nimisha Prabhu, Thanvitha Revalla. We are so proud of your talent! Thank you for sharing your beautiful culture with us! 

National Art Museum visit – G3 & G4 

On November 16th, the 4th grade and half of the 3rd grade attended the National Museum for an art workshop organized by our art teacher, Miss Malgorzata Sypniewska.   

The students viewed an exhibit filled with ancient drawings and artifacts from African countries such as Sudan and Ethiopia. They were fascinated by the magical symbols and old techniques used in art.  

They then met with a guide who showed the students four paintings in the museum that depicted the different seasons: spring, summer, fall, and winter. The students heard stories of legends and described how the artists used certain techniques to illuminate the season they had chosen to paint.  

Finally, the students got to draw themselves in their own favorite season. The drawings were collected and will be used for a larger art project during art class at school.  

We had a fantastic day! 

Honorable mention – Tymek Suchecki (2nd Grade) 

We are proud to announce that one of our 2nd graders, Tymek Suchecki, is a very successful football player! He is very dedicated, attending football practice 5 times a week. His team has just won the Pro Future Cup – an international championship for his age group. Better yet, Tymek himself was chosen as the best player of 2023. Congratulations Tymek- we are so proud of you! Good luck at your next game! Our whole school community is rooting for you! 

ZTM cards for public transport 

Students up to and including Grade 8 are entitled to free access to public transport in Warsaw. While some students might only rarely use public transport it greatly simplifies trip planning when all students have the necessary card and do not need to buy additional tickets.  

All students up to Grade 8 should apply for this card if they have not already done so. Full details are on our website here: https://ias.edu.pl/services/ztm-student-cards/ 

D18 October Learner of the Month – Risk taker 

Upper Elementary 

G5 Daniel Fawehinmi: New to IAS this year, Daniel has ardently jumped into the educational program with both feet. Specifically in English class, Daniel is very inquisitive during classroom discussions, eager to make connections and learn from mistakes. He even gave it his all when trying out for a part in the school play. Despite not being chosen this year, he remained confident and positive, according to drama teacher Ms. Iza.  

G6 Nivarshi Shanmugapriyan: Another new student, Nivarshi has embodied the characteristics of a risk-taker on the IB learner profile. Her French teacher notes that Nivarshi frequently steps out of her comfort zone. Similarly, in English class, Nivarshi doesn’t let her doubts silence her; she is always ready to add to classroom discussions and discover new ideas. 

G7 Alexandros Dionysopoulous: Alexandros started off the school year by being almost unanimously nominated as the 7th grade president despite being new to IAS. Therefore, his determination to face unforeseen challenges in a new role is being recognized this month. His drama teacher shared how he courageously led his team during a recent review game. A game, which they ended up winning, due to Alexandros’ resilience.  

G8 Zeynep Istanbul: As she has been at IAS for many years, teachers have long noticed Zeynep’s high level of conviction and ever-present curiosity with topics. Her history teacher mentioned how she is always willing to take a stab at understanding the material and, even if it’s not always accurate, she nevertheless puts herself out there and takes risks. 

High School 

G9 Aleksandra Król: So much of Ola’s ongoing growth is due to her risk-taking spirit. She does not let anything, not even the boundaries of her own comfort zone, get in her way from understanding new material. She is an earnest and curious student willing to push herself to connect with the concepts in class. 

G10 Ines Borjon-Vallejo: Ines is always one of the first to propose an idea. She takes risks to understand the material, and this helps her on her educational path. Even when she encounters obstacles that upset her, Ines takes advantage of these opportunities to learn and find new solutions. 

G11 Aleks Szulc: Aleks always tries even when he is unsure. He participates by asking questions and answering the teacher’s questions. He is not discouraged by learning the answer he has given is wrong. In fact, he uses this opportunity to show his train of thought to the whole group in order to show others what was the wrong assumption so they can also learn from it, and then prove he understood the error he made. He does all of this with a good attitude. 

G12 Samuel Picek: While it is common for learners to stick to safer formats, most of Samuel’s learning seems to come exploration. In some circumstances, this leads to immediately stronger results, such as more advanced sentences in French or deeper analyses in paper tasks. Even when his initial ideas lead to clear mistakes, he can gain something from this experience and gain better insight from the final assessment. 

Upcoming events and holidays to note: 

November 22nd, 12:30 – 16:00: Fall Teacher Professional Development session. classes and swietlica cancelled after 12:30. 

November 23 – 24: School closed for Thanksgiving holiday 

December 20, 12:30 – 16:00: Classes and swietlica cancelled after 12:30. 

December 21 – January 1: School closed for Christmas holidays 

January 09: S1 reports published 

January 10, 13:30 – 17:00: School closed for S1 PT meetings 

January 15 – 26: School closed for winter holidays 

Class schedule: 

There have been some small changes to the schedule, primarily in 8th, 9th and 10th Grade. The newest version is ‘1.1.17_Thanksgiving’ 

As always you can view the class schedule by following the instructions below 

Link: schedule.ias.edu.pl 

No password required – just click ‘timetable’ 

Grade 11 and 12 students may view their individual schedule here also. 

Please Update your information: 

Dear parents & students, if you have changed your address, e-mail address or telephone numbers, please let the office know so that we can update our database to improve communication with you.  

Thank you,
IAS Administration