School News

From Primary School:

Information letter from Mr. Paul, Head of Primary School

Dear parents,

The final Friday Bulletin of 2021, and what a week we have enjoyed!  At this time of year, winter concerts dominate events in schools, and this was very much the case at CIS Gorki.  Everyone thoroughly enjoyed our two Primary-led concerts on Wednesday and Thursday - Lower Primary's 'The Toys Left Behind', directed by Ms Kalyn and Ms Valerie, and Upper Primary's 'Peter Pan', directed by Mr Simon.  The amount of effort both children and staff put into making these shows so successful was staggering, and I am immensely proud of everyone who contributed in any way at all.  The video of both shows will be sent to parents in due course.

Today, we enjoyed letting our hair down with some festive parties and fun activities across both buildings.  The children enjoyed dressing up and playing with their friends in games and dancing.  It is always a lovely way to say goodbye to the old year, and welcome in the new one in just over three weeks' time, when we all return to school on January 10.  

Mr. Paul Curry

Head of Primary
 

As usual, here is some news from two of our classes - firstly let's find out what Year 2 have been doing:

Dear parents and guardians,

Mr Paul took over the class again following Ms Pauline's return to Skolkovo, and we enjoyed a mix of curriculum-based learning in English, Maths and Science, together with some fun activities in afternoons whilst children also rehearsed for the concerts.  The English focus was on poetry, and the children investigated different rhyme schemes, created Japanese haiku poems, acrostic poems on their own name, and shape poems.  Maths was centred on using money and working out the remainder from ten pounds after buying fictional books.  In Science we completed our studies of changing materials, and introduced the next top of 'light and dark' by discussing natural and artificial light sources.  The remainder of our reduced classroom time was spent being artsy and crafty in making different types of Christmas decorations for our rooms and the reception area.

I have enjoyed working for many weeks with Year 2.  They are a lovely bunch of kids with a range of engaging personalities, and I am sure I will still see them a great deal after their new incoming teaching Mr Alex joins the school in January.  I wish you all a great winter holiday - Mr Paul.

Mr Paul Curry

Year 2 Teacher and Head of Secondary

 

Mr Marcin also has a few words about his Year 4 students:

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Our first term is nearly over! How quick has this term gone, and how nice it is to see many happy settled children, enjoying everything they have been doing in Year 4. It has been a very busy term!  The children have all worked really hard and shown great resilience throughout the term.

In Literacy we have had exploring dragon poetry and how to use adverbs to enhance our sentences. The children really liked creating own mythical creatures and working on the invention aspect of our Talk for Writing.

In Mathematics we have been exploring measurement and have revisited 3-digit subtraction.

In the last two weeks we have been busy rehearsing for the Winter Concert . They all deserve the end of term party we will be having on Friday and the children are in for a real treat and will meet Santa! They will be able to bring their own treats but do make sure that everything is nut-free.

I am looking forward to another fun term

Mr Marcin

Year 4 Teacher

 

From Secondary School:

 

Information letter from Mr. Christopher, Head of Secondary School

Dear Parent, Guardians and Students,

Our Secondary performance of Mamma Mia was a great success, and I cannot wait to share with you the video of these performances so that you can see for yourself. The performance was highly entertaining, and I appreciate the hard work that our children put into their roles. The Year 10 and 11 students recorded a New Years message for you all that we will also share.

We also had our end of term awards assembly, where we celebrated the achievements of many of our students. Photos of this event are attached, and I hope that the children enjoyed the book gifts for them that our English teachers helped to pick out.

This Tuesday, several students will deliver the presents and fulfil the Christmas wishes of those less fortunate than ourselves. We will share details of this visit.

Please remember that from the beginning of Term 3, we would like all of our students to be wearing our branded school uniform.

I wish every one of you a well deserved holiday, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

 

Christopher Kingshott

Head of Secondary

 

Message from Mr. Marius Harmse (P.E. Teacher )

Dear Parents, Students and Guardians,

As term 2 is at its end, we can congratulate each student on their hard work during this term.

 

In PE, the primary classes have been busy this term improving their ball skills and we played some volleyball. For term 3 they will be able to enjoy some football and take part in various exercises designed to improve core strength and become fitter.

In the secondary PE classes, we have been focusing on a new sport for most learners, Netball, and was very satisfying to see their commitment in learning and developing in skills sets necessary to compete. They have also competed in our athletic section of the term with long jump.

The IGCSE classes have hit the ground running, missing the first term, we started of the second term where we had a lot of work to catch up on. The students worked very hard and finished all the work that needed to be done. In term 3 they will have more practical lessons where we will see the effect of exercise on breathing patterns and heart rates.

I am very excited for term 3 and to see all the progress that they have made.

Mr Marius Harmse (P.E. Teacher)

From Primary School:

Information letter from Mr. Paul, Head of Primary School

Dear parents,

The winter holidays are now just around the corner and next week's final days of the calendar year will be dominated by winter concert full rehearsals and then videoing the concerts themselves. It remains a great pity that parents cannot attend but Covid restrictions must be adhered to. Let's just hope that 2022 will see this pandemic finally under control, and everything (and everyone) can return to normal.

Next Friday, on the final day of term, we will be having some fun activities across the school, and children are invited to attend in non-uniform, which also includes costumes. Early next week I will send more detailed information about how we want to celebrate the end of term - but it will include presents for all children, and maybe even a visit from Father Christmas...

Mr. Paul Curry

Head of Primary
 

Two more teachers want to chat about recent events in their classes. Firstly, Mr Mat from Year 3:

Dear parents and guardians,

The students have been very busy at school learning their lines and rehearsing for the Winter Concert. They have been able to demonstrate their skating skills by attending ice skating lessons. They have been learning valuable lessons by participating in three different charities and have been preparing for the International Month Gallery. We have been on a trip to Kidzania where the students were able to learn through realistic role-play.

In English, we have been learning about the features of an instruction text. We had a look at the purpose, the language and the layout of the text. We have also learned about compound words and prefixes. Next week, the students may be writing an instruction text on how to organize a fun party.

In Mathematics, the students have been using bar charts and pictographs to compare things between groups. We have also been using a problem-solving method to understand and solve mathematical problems.

In Science, the Year 3 pupils have been learning about living things and understanding what the seven life processes are. They have been discussing what similarities and differences humans have between them. They have also learned how to create different groups to sort animal based on their similarities.

In Global Perspectives, the students have cooperated in groups to create posters about different ways to save water and have presented them to the class.

With the winter holiday fast approaching, I wish you all a lot of fun in the snow, and Happy New Year 

Mr Mat

Year 3 Teacher 

In addition, here is some information about Pre-Nursery from Ms Anna:

Dear Parents and Guardians,

It has been a wonderful term with Pre-Nursery! I have really enjoyed getting to know all the children and having great fun together with our main topics of clothing and food! The children have loved the song, “Put On Your Boots” and this is a song we continue to sing whilst in the cloakroom getting changed. The children especially seemed to enjoy looking at different patterns and sorting, for example, clothes on small scale laundry lines. Later in the term, we had fun role playing in our classroom food shop, and then café.

It has been lovely singing various songs and nursery rhymes together, and finding out which ones the children like best and ask to do again. It is also great to hear a child singing one of the songs later in the day whilst playing or outside the classroom.

We have had fun exploring different colours and rainbows. The colour game, ‘Little Mouse, Little Mouse, Where Are You Hiding?’ has also been a success and we have enjoyed playing on nearly a daily basis.

Next term, I look forward to us exploring the topics of ‘places and animals'

Have a lovely, snowy weekend

Ms Anna

Pre-Nursery Teacher

 

From Secondary School:

 

Information letter from Mr. Christopher, Head of Secondary School

Dear Parent, Guardians and Students, 

I hope you are all well, and I hope you are excited about the holidays ahead.

Thank you so much to everyone who has made donations to our charities over charity month. We have raised a significant amount for the children's hospice and the dog shelter, and we will share shortly the amount raised. We have also collected all the presents needed, in collaboration with the Skolkovo campus, to fulfil the wishes of those less fortunate than ourselves over the holiday period. We will share details and information, in regards to delivering the presents.

For the last week, we will have several things going on, and most of the lessons in Secondary will run as the norm. Students will be busy rehearsing for the Christmas concert. Furthermore, students will be finalising the International gallery, which celebrates cultural diversity. On the final day of school, there will be a Christmas party for the students and an awards ceremony celebrating the achievements of our students.

I wish you a wonderful week.

 

Christopher Kingshott

Head of Secondary

 

Message from the Mr. Simon Hubbard (Drama / Year 7 Form Tutor)

Dear Parents, Students and Guardians,

Second star to the right and straight on till morning, we will be in Neverland soon.

Upper Primary are in full swing of rehearsals for the famous children’s story ‘Peter Pan’, we have been learning our dance routines, preparing the props, and dusting down the stage.

Over this period the students have experience what it would be like to perform in a large musical, this gives them confidence on stage and the ability to work with older and younger groups, all together.

There are no such thing as small parts, only small actors, the students each have text to say and have exceled in the English language over coming nervous energy and channelling it into a positive experience.

This is one musical concert you will sit down with your popcorn and watch over and over again. Fly us to Neverland Peter and Tinkerbell.

A hot Greek island in summertime, young romance, and a few surprises.

Secondary are putting the final touches to the Russian School premiere of the world-famous musical based on ABBAs songs, ‘Mamma Mia’

Lines are learnt, costumes are pressed, and the lights will be on in the Trevena soon,

Working on this show the students have created dances routines (With a little help), learnt 1970’s disco songs and built up their memories on the CIS Gorki stage. Working as a team the whole of secondary have helped put this concert together, as its going to be performed for the first time EVER in a Russian school the students have grabbed the responsibility with both hands. To be filmed over two concerts we are sure that all the dance moves, emotional scenes and the fun loving energy will be caught on film for your to enjoy for many years to come.

Regards,

Mr Simon Hubbard (Drama Teacher / Year 7 Form Tutor)

From Primary School

Information letter from Mr. Paul, Head of Primary School

Dear parents,

Dear parents and students,It has been such a busy week at Gorki! So much going on across both buildings, and a lot of fun too!

It has been Charity Week this, culminating in our annual 'Dress Down' day on Friday. In the Lower Building, children (and teachers) were invited to come to school in their pyjamas, whilst in the Upper Building it was a 'dress festive' day. This was all in aid of one of our chosen charities for this year, the CIS-associated Dog and Cat Shelter. The students had a great day showing off their winter nightclothes and Christmassy-themed jumpers, and many of the teachers joined in too!

Also during Charity Week, two decorated boxes were installed in the two reception areas of our campus. These are for donations of small gifts such as sweets, chocolates, socks, hats, gloves, scarves etc for another of the charities we have supported for several years now, Constanta Fund, which supports children who come from underprivileged backgrounds. These boxes will stay in place until the end of term, so it would be great if as many students could bring in small gifts to be donated to children who may not receive any gifts at all this holiday.

Finally, we have also teamed up with other CIS campuses in Moscow to support a company-wise charity Pushkino and each class has been asked to provide two presents that children in the hospital have directly requested. Please contact your child's class teacher for further information on this, if desired.

This week we held our first Upper Primary Student Council meeting. Most of the representatives were available (Stephaniya Y6, Anastasia Y5, Konstantin Y4, Ekaterina Y3) and I was hugely impressed with the depth of thought all students had put in pre-meeting, arriving with their own list of points to make and suggest. We spoke at length about food, excursions, special days, the library, talent show, indoor breaktime, form time activities, the house system, and Edupage. I will send a full summary of the meeting via Edupage, and many congratulations for a very positive meeting to all who attended.

Preparations for the Winter Concerts continue in both buildings, with Mr Simon leading rehearsals for Mamma Mia and Peter Pan along with our new dance teacher Ms Shushan, and in the Lower Building, Toys Left Behind is being led by Ms Kalyn and Ms Valerie. The students are very enthusiastic towards the three concerts and we are sure they will look and sound superb on the day.

This week, we said goodbye to Ms Pauline, who has been temporarily leading Year 2 for the past few weeks. Ms Pauline has enjoyed her time at Gorki, and will miss the students, but it is time for her to take up her permanent position elsewhere at CIS. We wish her all the best, and she will be welcome back here any time. Mr Paul will take over from Ms Pauline in Year 2 until the end of term, and we look forward to our two new teachers arriving in January.

Mr. Paul Curry

Head of Primary
 

This week's Upper Primary class teacher giving the lowdown on events in the classroom is Year 3's Mr Bronek:

Dear parents and carers,

How time flies!! We are nearly at the end of the second half-term, the spirits remain high and the good learning continues. The most exciting part of the term is ahead of us.In Mathematics we are continuing with embedding various topics and skills and in Science we are continuing with grouping living things and identifying various categories. In English, we have finished writing our instruction texts and we shall start our persuasive writing next week. Children will use their persuading skills to convince Santa Claus to deliver to them the present that they really want.

The winter visited us this week in her full glory, and children are very, very excited for breaktimes now and playing in the snow. Please continue to be aware of children's needs with regards to winter clothing, consider the warmth of the clothing for your child as well as how quickly they can change back into their indoor clothes.

Thank you for your help, have a nice weekend.

Mr Bronek

Year 3 Teacher

And from Lower Primary it is Miss Kalyn in Reception:

Dear Parents,

Reception have been learning so many wonderful things this term. In particular, this week, they have mastered Talk 4 Writing. We learned to tell the story of The Little Red Hen through reading pictures on a story map. As a class, we then changed the story to make it our own. Some of the children really enjoyed this and wanted to make their very own stories. Talk 4 Writing is a wonderful literacy method that teaches children correct grammar and vocabulary, and the ability to tell their own stories – even if they cannot read or write yet.

In numeracy we have been learning about numbers to 20. It has been very tricky to learn 11-20, however we have persevered and included this concept in our play. We made a shop where everything costs between 11p and 20p. The shop has been a very popular area this week.Have a wonderful weekend!I wish everyone a pleasant and frosty winter weekend!

Ms. Kalyn

Reception Teacher and Phase Leader

 

From Secondary School:

 

Information letter from Mr. Christopher, Head of Secondary School

Dear Parents and Guardians,

This week has been a big week for CIS Gorki Secondary.

Key Stage 3 went on their first school trip of the year to visit the facilities of the modern-day pentathlon. Feedback from the children in regards to this trip has been positive. Great fun was had by staff and students, and a positive experience was gained. Please see some of the attached photos.

This week has also been the school's charity week, where we have continued to raise money for the dog shelter and a children's hospital.  Thank you to everyone that contributed, and wore their festive clothes to school. The donations will be put to good use.

We are also collaborating with our Skolkovo campus to fulfil the Christmas wishes of those from low-income backgrounds with Special Educational Needs in Moscow. Every class in Gorki is purchasing at least two presents requested by such individuals, which will be donated in person. On this list of wishes, there are items that many of us take for granted in Moscow, such as a warm coat. 

We appreciate any support that you can give, and with this, some joy can be bought into the lives of those less fortunate than ourselves. 

Have a nice weekend.

 

Christopher Kingshott

Head of Secondary

 

From the Russian Curriculum department:

 

 

Уважаемые родители и ученики кампуса СIS Горки!

 

Невероятно быстро бежит время. Казалось бы, только сейчас вернулись с осенних каникул и вот уже первый снег за окном, и мы с нетерпением ждём наступления новогодних праздников и зимних каникул. Мы уже почти добрались до середины учебного года, и хочу с радостью отметить, что очень приятно наблюдать, как ученики вовлечены в школьную жизнь. За несколько месяцев совместной работы учеников и учителей в российской образовательной программе произошло много событий.

 

Начальная школа

 

Для первоклассников, учащихся Y3 класса, первое полугодие учебного года — это время новых знакомств, адаптации, привыкания к одноклассникам и учителям, время первых творческих успехов и познания неизвестного. Мы уже научились уверенно различать понятия «гласные и согласные» «звук и буква», правильно делить слово на слоги и устно составлять связный текст из 2-4 предложений по сюжетным картинкам и наблюдениям, определять последовательность событий в произведении, характеризовать поступки героя, давать им положительную или отрицательную оценку. Умеем не только свободно считать до 20 и больше, но и решать текстовые задачи в одно действие на сложение и вычитание, грамотно записывая условие и решение. В ближайшем будущем нам предстоит попробовать свои силы в международном математическом конкурсе-игре «Смартик» — это как первая предметная олимпиада! Каждый урок окружающего мира – это открытие и знакомство новыми культурными объектами родного края, традициями, объектами живой и неживой природы, правилами безопасности.

 

Для учащихся Y4-Y6 классов начальной школы учебный год начался с независимой предметной диагностики от Московского центра качества образования. Работы помогли оценить знания учащихся и определить точки роста каждого ученика, во втором полугодии посмотрим на изменения.  А совсем недавно учащиеся Y4-Y6 приняли участие во всероссийском международном конкурсе «Русский медвежонок», с нетерпением ждём результатов.

 

За первое полугодие учащиеся Y4 и Y5 классов проявили себя, как ответственные и заинтересованные в учебном процессе. На уроках русского языка ребята с удовольствием продолжают работать над формированием грамотного письма, учатся подчеркивать главные члены предложения, определять части речи. Ребята обожают уроки литературного чтения, погружаясь в мир волшебства, учатся фантазировать и мечтать. Уроки чтения становятся еще интереснее, когда в роли учителя выступают ученики. Изучая поэзию, дети учатся составлять картину настроения стихотворений, тонко чувствовать замысел писателя, тренируются чувствовать ритм стихотворений. Каждый урок окружающего мира, открывает для учащихся новые знания о животных и растениях. В процессе познания природы и социального мира происходит совершенствование сенсорных процессов, мышления, речи, развивается любознательность. Каждый ученик с удовольствием презентует свои проекты и делится впечатлениями.

 

Работа в команде очень важна. Учащиеся Y6 класса знают об этом и с удовольствием занимаются исследовательской и проектной деятельностью. Так, например, на уроке русского языка, объединив свои силы обучающиеся Y6 класса выясняли одинаковые ли падежные окончания имеют имена существительные при склонении. На уроках математики учащиеся изучают умножение на числа, деление, нахождение показателей скорости, времени, площади. Также активно ведётся подготовка к написанию очень важной работы в конце 4 класса - Всероссийской проверочной работе.

 

Творческие и непохожие друг на друга проекты, презентуют учащиеся на уроках окружающего мира. Ребята проводят самостоятельные исследования на разнообразные тематики окружающего нас мира: история и экономика родного края, моя школа и моя семья, изучение родословной и создание генеалогического древа, семейные традиции, история родного языка.

 

Мс Алёна - учитель начальных классов Y3B, Y3M

Мс Дарья – учитель начальных классов Y4M, Y6

Мр Анатолий – учитель начальных классов Y4J, Y5

 

 

Средняя и старшая школа

 

Совсем недавно ученики средних и старших классов написали первые аттестационные диагностические работы по всем изученным темам предметов Российской программы. У учащихся Y11 класса полным ходом идёт подготовки к Основному Государственному Экзамену, учащиеся уже определились с выбором предметов по выбору для сдачи и усиленно повторяют весь пройденный за время обучения по российской программе материал. Также активно тренируются выполнять экзаменационные задания и заполнять экзаменационные бланки ответов.

 

На уроках русского языка и литературы учащиеся средней и старшей школы Y7- Y10 классов продолжают отрабатывать навыки грамотной устной и письменной речи, выступают с подготовленными проектами, учатся представлять и защищать свои работы. Основным разделом первого полугодия является одна из самых интересных тем в курсе русского языка - «Лексика». Она включает в себя знакомство с такими понятиями, как общеупотребительная лексика, лексика, ограниченная в употреблении (профессиональные слова, диалектизмы, жаргонизмы), эмоционально окрашенная лексика, изобразительно-выразительные средства языка. В ходе изучения этой темы, знакомясь со словами, ограниченными в употреблении, ребята Y8 класса даже составили профессиональные словарики своих родителей. Ребята на уроке удивляли учителя жаргонизмами, которые употребляют в своей речи, общаясь в своих небольших группах. Но особенно они удивляли своими знаниями неологизмов (новых слов, появляющихся в языке сегодня). Дети, стараясь опередить друг друга, объясняли значение таких слов, как «твиттер», «хэштег», «геймер», «дайвер», «лайфхак».

 

Важно помнить, что легко запоминается та информация, которая интересна! Поэтому, на уроках русского языка и литературы ученики усваивают материал при помощи обучающих игр, коммуникативных викторин и познавательных заданий.  «Умная доска» помогает закрепить и повторить изученный материал. Она и проверит, и подскажет, и поможет. Учащиеся средней школы Y7-Y9 также приняли участие во всероссийском международном конкурсе «Русский медвежонок».  

 

Мс Елена – учитель русского языка и литературы Y7

Мс Вера – учитель русского языка и литератур Y8-Y11

 

Математика — это серьезный фундаментальный предмет, который развивает логическое мышление и помогает системно подходить к решению любого вопроса. Но наш мозг устроен так, что лучше запоминает информацию, окрашенную положительными эмоциями. Поэтому уроки математики оживлены с помощью различных  учебно-наглядных комплексов-презентаций со слайдами и видеофрагментами, приложениями с дополнительным материалом и игровыми элементами.  Материал преподносится простым понятным языком. Не каждому легко дается математика, но ребята стараются справиться со всеми возникающими трудностями, посещая наш математический клуб, выполняя дополнительные индивидуальные работы, тесты и домашние задания.

 

Второй период обучения проходит очень динамично. Все ученики Y7-Y11 классов прошли первую аттестацию по математике и отлично справились с этим, не получив ни одного отрицательного результата. Теперь мы начинаем подготовку ко второй аттестации, которая пройдет в феврале. Ученики Y7-Y8 классов продолжают изучение различных видов чисел и занимаются отработкой навыков арифметических операций с ними. Учащиеся Y9 класса познакомились с системой функциональных понятий и продолжают делать свои первые шаги в геометрии. Ученики Y10-Y11 классов совершенствуют свои знания по математике, уже ставя перед собой целью успешную сдачу экзамена в форме ОГЭ. Поэтому освоение материала школьной программы у них проходит в параллели с подготовкой к ОГЭ и отработкой навыков решения тренировочных тестов.

 

Впереди у нас много работы, но и много интересного. Уже в начале следующего года все ребята примут участие в международном конкурсе по математике «Кенгуру». Задания это конкурса составлены так, чтобы каждый ученик нашел для себя интересные и доступные вопросы и задания, поэтому, я надеюсь, это соревнование заинтересует ребят и вселит в них уверенность в своих возможностях, что является одной из основных целей нашего обучения.

 

Мс Ольга – учитель математики Y7-Y11

 

Мотивация детей и подростков к обучению — один из ключевых вопросов всех методик и подходов современной педагогики. Мы поддерживаем желания учащихся развиваться и добиваться поставленных целей!

 

Большой труд учителей и учеников стоит за всеми образовательными процессами.  Школа – это живой организм, мы всегда должны двигаться и развиваться, стоять на месте – это не для нас! Сейчас наши учителя активно проходят курсы повышения квалификации. Учеников уже в феврале вторая аттестация, Всероссийская проверочная работа (ВПР) и, конечно, пробные экзамены ОГЭ. Подробная информация будет в рассылках.

 

Мы желаем вам отличного зимнего настроения и в скором времени прекрасных дней на новогодних каникулах, незабываемого и бесценного времени с семьёй.

 

Мс Анастасия – Координатор Российской программы

Команда учителей Российской программы

 

Dear parents and students of the CIS Gorki campus!

 

Time is going incredibly quickly! It would seem like we have just returned from the autumn holidays and now the first snow is already falling outside the window. We are looking forward to the Christmas and winter holidays. We have almost reached the middle of the school year, and with great pleasure I have been watching how students are involved in school life. During several months of students and teachers’ collaboration, many events have happened in the Russian educational program.

 

Primary School

 

For our first-graders, Year 3 students, this first half of the school academic year is the time for new acquaintances, adaptation, getting used to classmates and teachers, the time for the first educational successes, and new knowledge. We have already learned confidently to distinguish the concepts of "vowels and consonants", "sound and letter", correctly divide a word into syllables and verbally make up a coherent text of 2-4 sentences based on pictures and our observations, determine the sequence of events in the text, characterise a hero’s actions and give them a positive or negative evaluation. We can not only freely count up to 20 and more, but also solve text maths problems in one action for addition and subtraction, correctly writing down the condition and solution of the problem. In the nearest future we will try our hand at the international mathematical game "Smartik" - it's like the first subject of Olympiad! Each Russian Science lesson is a discovery and acquaintance with new cultural motherland objects, traditions, living and non-living things, and safety rules.

 

For Y4-Y6 students this academic year has begun with an independent subject diagnosis from the Moscow Center of Educational Quality. The assignments helped to evaluate the students' knowledge and determine the growth points of each student, and in the second half of the year we will have a look at the changes. Not long ago, Y4-Y6 students took part in the all-Russian international competition called "Russian Bear", so we are looking forward to getting the results.

 

The first half of the academic year has showed that Y4 and Y5 students are very responsible and interested in the educational process of learners. During Russian language lessons the children continue to work on their writing skills, learn how to find the main parts of the sentence and to identify parts of speech. Children adore reading lessons, immersing themselves into the world of magic as they learn how to dream big. Reading lessons are even more interesting when students become teachers for a while.

 

By studying poetry children learn to understand the writer's intentions and train to feel the rhythm of poems. Each Russian Science lesson students learn some facts about animals and plants. In the process of cognition of nature and the social world, critical thinking and speaking skills are improved, and curiosity develops. Each student is extremely happy to present their project.

 

Teamwork is very important. Y6 students know a lot about teamwork and are happy to be engaged in some research and project activities. For example, during Russian language the Y6 students worked together to find out whether the endings of nouns are the same in declension process. In maths lessons students study multiplication of numbers, division, indicators of speed, time and area. We are also preparing to write a very important assessment at the end of the year - All-Russian assessment test.

 

Various highly creative Russian science projects have been presented by students. They are making independent world-around-us research: the history and economy of motherland, school and family, the creation of a family tree, family traditions, and the history of the native language.

 

Ms Alena – Russian Primary school teacher (Y3B, Y3M)

Ms Daria – Russian Primary school teacher (Y4M, Y6)

Mr Anatoly – Russian Primary school teacher (Y4J, Y5)

 

Secondary school

 

Secondary school students have recently written the first diagnostic assessments, of which the purpose is to test students’ knowledge of all the Russian program subjects. The Y11 students are preparing for the Main State Exam with high levels of concentration. Students have already made their choices of subjects to pass and strenuously repeat all the material they have gone through in their Russian program subjects. They are also actively preparing to mock exams and fill in exam answer forms.

 

During Russian language and literature time Y7- Y10 secondary students are working hard to develop their written and oral skills. They are presenting projects and developing their interpersonal skills. One of the main sections of Russian Language of the first half term is "Vocabulary". It includes common vocabulary and limited vocabulary in use (professional words, dialectics, jargon, etc.) Studying this topic, Y8 students has created their own professional dictionaries of their parents. Even the teacher was surprised with some words they used working in small groups. But the teacher was especially surprised by students’ knowledge of neologisms (new words appearing in the language today). The children were trying to be the first to explain the meaning of words such as "twitter", "hashtag", "gamer", "diver", "life hack".

 

It is always good to remember that interesting information is easy to remember! Therefore, in the Russian language and literature lessons students learn the material with the help of educational games, communicative quizzes and cognitive tasks. The smartboard is also helpful in consolidating, repeating and checking the studied material. Secondary school Y7-Y9 students also took part in the all-Russian international competition called "Russian Bear".

 

Ms Elena – Russian language and literature teacher (Y7)

Ms Vera – Russian language and literature teacher (Y8-Y11)

 

Mathematics is a fundamental subject that develops logical thinking and helps to find the systematical solution of any issue. But our mind is better remembering information based on positive emotions. Therefore, maths lessons are taught with the help of various educational and visual presentations, video clips and applications with additional material and game elements. The material is presented in a simple way to be fully understood. Maths is not the easiest subject to everyone, but our secondary students are trying their best to cope with all the difficulties. They are attending extra Maths club to doing additional individual work, tests and homework.

 

The second term is very dynamic. All secondary students passed their first mathematics assessment perfectly, with no negative results. Now we are starting preparations for the second assessment which will be in February. Y7-Y8 students continue to study different types of numbers and practice arithmetic operations with them. Y9 students are getting acquainted with the system of functional concepts and continue to take their first steps in geometry. Y10-Y11 students are improving their knowledge of mathematics, and they have already set a goal to pass OGE exams successfully.  They are also studying new maths curriculum topics in parallel with the preparation for the State Exam and the develop exam skills by completing OGE tests.

 

We have a lot of work to do ahead but also a lot of interesting things to do too. At the beginning of next year all secondary students will take part in the international mathematics competition "Kangaroo". The tasks of this competition are designed to make each student find interesting solutions to questions and tasks, so I hope this competition will motivate students and help them to feel more confident about their abilities, which is one of the main goals of teaching.

 

Ms Olga – Russian Maths teacher (Y7-Y11)

 

An educational motivation is one of the key issues of all teaching methods and approaches of modern pedagogy. We always support our students' passion to develop and achieve their goals!

 

The great collaboration work of teachers and students is the basis of educational processes. School is a social developing system; we always have to move quickly and learn new things fast. No progress in life is not our motto! Our school teachers are actively passing professional development courses. In February the second assignment will take place, as well as the All-Russian Verification Work (VPR) and, of course, the mock exams. Detailed information will be posted in our newsletters.

 

We wish you a great winter and wonderful Christmas holidays. Enjoy this priceless time with your family!

 

Ms Anastasia – Russian Curriculum Coordinator

Russian teachers team