School News

From Primary School:

Information letter from Mr. Paul, Head of Primary School

Dear parents and students,

I have really enjoyed being outside during breaktimes this week to listen to students communicating socially in English.  Lots of children were very excited about being rewarded with a small prize for impressing me with their use of spoken English - there were so many winners that I had to go back to the shops on Wednesday for more prizes!  The enthusiasm to impress was lovely to see, but I did remind them that I will bankrupt myself if I do this every day - next week I still want to see that enthusiasm and hear that social English use but because they truly want to rather than for a owl-shaped pencil sharpener.  

This week we began our initiative to improve attendance and the importance of all lessons each week called 'Every Day Counts'.  Just think...if you miss just one week of school, that is FORTY lessons of education lost.  Every day absolutely does count, and we will be promoting this in lots of different ways throughout the rest of the academic year.

Also this week, members of the Upper Primary School Council helped with Zoom interviews for prospective new staff members at CIS Gorki.  Ekaterina (Y3M), Konstantin (Y4M), Anastasia (Y5) and Stephaniya (Y6) asked excellent questions and conducted themselves extremely maturely and professionally, and the candidates both said they were incredibly impressed with our students.  Very well done to all four of them!

Mr. Paul Curry

Head of Primary
 

Now, here are some words from Mr Mat and his Year 3 class: 

Dear parents and guardians,

Deep into this third term, the students are hanging on and have been kept busy by constantly challenging themselves to learn more.

In English, the students have been learning about myths, legends and fables. They have finished writing their fables and they were proud to share it with their classmates. They will start learning about the features of letters and postcards. They will also look at the differences between scanning and reading carefully and understand when to use which method.

In Mathematics, the students had been rounding numbers to the nearest 10 or 100. They also counted money and became familiar with the pounds and the pence of the pound sterling. They are now learning how to divide by certain numbers to find remainders.

In Science, the students have finished the unit about human and animal senses and have now started a unit called, “Looking After Ourselves”. In this unit, the students will sort food into different food groups and discuss why healthy eating is important. The students will also learn how exercise and sleep can have an impact on our school.

In Global Perspectives, the students have been researching information about an animal on the internet. They have been learning how to take notes of the important information. 

 

Thanks 

Mr Mat

Year 3 Teacher

 

And what have out youngest students been up to?  Let's find out from Ms Anna in Pre-Nursery:

This term, in Pre-Nursery, we have been learning about different types of animals; ones that you might keep as a pet at home, have on a farm or find inside a forest. Next week, we should have lots of fun talking about all the animals you might see at the zoo!

We have all been enjoying reading our new books at storytime each day. The current favourites are ‘Dear Zoo’ and ‘Where’s Spot?’. We have also been learning some new nursery rhymes, with ‘Humpty Dumpty’ and ‘Horsey, Horsey’ being requested the most often! It has been so wonderful to see the children not only doing the gestures for the nursery rhymes but beginning to sing along as well, and then asking to do it again!

These past couple of weeks, we have been exploring ‘floating’ and ‘sinking’ in Understanding The World. The children especially enjoyed deciding which objects around the classroom to test out! Next, we should have lots of fun investigating the properties of various materials, with the words ‘hard and soft’, ‘rough and smooth’ etc.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! 

 

Ms Anna (Pre-nursery Teacher)

 

Finally, enjoy a few photographs of our Upper Primary students playing in the snow - an icy 'hill fort' and an ingenious 'ice laptop' - and also some of our Pre-Nursery students!

 

From Secondary School:

Information letter from Mr. Christopher, Head of Secondary School

Dear Parent, Guardians and Students,

I hope that you're all well.

Across Secondary, we have been busy this week.

Our Year 11's have finished their IGCSE and Russian Curriculum mock assessments, which have taken place over the last two weeks. Although a challenging experience, sometimes having taken multiple examinations in one day, the experience will continue to prepare them for the real-examinations later this year. We will share the results with them shortly and then work with them to help them achieve their best selves.

Congratulations to the 25 students in Key Stage 4 who completed the HULT International Business school Entrepreneurship course. We have now received the certificates and will give them out during our end of term assembly. Three young ladies of these students also won a scholarship and some free mentoring from the Harvard professor who facilitated the classes.

Our student council are aiming to reduce plastic wastage in school. To do this, they have removed plastic cups and are encouraging students to bring in their reusable water bottles. Ultimately, we want all to be globally-minded, helping take care of the environment. 

This week we have been finalising our next trips, and soon we will announce these to all of the students. I cannot wait.

I will you all a restful weekend.

Christopher Kingshott

Head of Secondary

 

Message from the ESL Department
 

Dear Parents, Students and Guardians,

Our ESL Department have been working really hard since the beginning of the school year. Our main goal is to improve the students’ level of English, letting them return to their classrooms as soon as possible and become very confident English speakers. Moreover, we are honoured and happy to announce that some of our ESL students have already come back to their classrooms and are making quite impressive progress at the moment. 

ESL teachers do their best to help those students who are temporarily struggling with the English language. We don’t want our lessons to be old-fashioned, we want our lessons to be informative, interacting and beneficial. That’s why we always try to find new modern ways of teaching our subject. At the moment our team is working on integrating some school subjects into ESL sessions, so that the students have an opportunity to understand the school material better.

This term, KS1 students have started to receive ESL lessons to their full potential. We started by assessing the student's English level and then created individually tailored learning maps that follow the Cambridge English framework based on those results. We are proud to mention that the student's listening skills are improving rapidly and they can now independently understand basic information in English. Nevertheless, a systematic approach yields the best results in language acquisition. That is why our lessons follow a logical sequence of vocabulary expansion and grammar constructions to help students with their oral communications. Already, the students have learnt how to ask questions, follow class instructions, communicate their feelings, and introduce themselves and their friends in English. More importantly, we encourage the students to use their critical thinking skills and apply their knowledge to analyse, infer, draw conclusions, express their opinions and give a personal response to texts. Students also practised phonics daily in order to become confident writers and fluent readers. Overall, we do our best to make sure that our ESL students are engaged during their lessons and are enjoying themselves learning English.

This term KS2 students are actively working on their speaking skills. Nevertheless, we do not forget to concentrate on listening, reading and writing skills. Every lesson has a well-defined structure, so each skill is worked on thoroughly. The students are aimed at becoming better English speakers and are keen on learning new things with their teachers. They are learning how to tell the time, talk about past events, fashion and weather. Besides, some of our ESL students are even capable of discussing soluble and insoluble substances. They also love English games that help them repeat the new information in an entertaining way. We also integrate Maths and Science into some of our ESL sessions and learn specific vocabulary that helps the students to be actively engaged during the lessons with their form teachers.

Y8 ESL students have been working very hard. This term has brought many new language challenges and opportunities. Tenses are used in communication, both verbal and written, to indicate the time at which something happened. We have just finished practicing to talk about actions or events that happened at some unspecified time before now, and that have some effect or influence on the present.  English is the language of our international communication in all areas, such as politics, science, media or art and it is often the language of entertainment as well as socializing. So, this term we have discussed fashion, style and trade.  Also,the students have made their own investigation what is ethical trade nowadays, what are sweatshops and how popular brands are involved in this trade processes.

Year 9 ESL class has achieved writing-related goal this term! Unsurprisingly, the best writers in any class are always readers. In Year 9 class students read fiction stories and get them modelled with multiple opportunities to retell them before being expected to write them. How does it work? Imitation – Innovation – Invention! 1) Students orally recite the story. 2) Then, they map out the story. 3) Finally, they use the underlying structure of the original text to create their own version on a different topic. Over time, they move towards independent writing as they create texts about their own topics. This methodology is called ‘Talk for Writing’ which is working great to dramatically improve students’ writing. This approach has been highly effective in Year 9 as grammar objectives such as use of adjectives, sequencing words, question words, past simple tense revision, sentence structure etc. are always embedded in the modeled texts. Therefore, Year 9 students have improved their reading, speaking, listening and writing skills significantly!

Many thanks to our incredible students for their hard work! Have a lovely weekend!

 

Kind regards,

Ms Valerie, ESL Coordinator, KS2 ESL Teacher

Ms Valeriya, KS1 ESL Teacher

Ms Anastasia, KS3 ESL Teacher

Ms Tamara, KS3 ESL Teacher

From Primary School:

Information letter from Mr. Paul, Head of Primary School

Dear parents and students,

This week I have had the pleasure of visiting all Primary teachers' lessons to formally observe the teaching and learning as part of individual professional development, but also to closely and accurately assess the progress our school is making on many levels.  I have been really delighted with what I have witnessed - teachers planning and delivering interesting, varied and interactive lessons across a range of subjects and topics, and enthusiastic students enjoying a wide range of different tasks and activities.  Variety, as they say, is the spice of life, and that is absolutely the key in education too.  Students love a variety of things to do in their lessons, and our teachers certainly provide that.  It has been such a great experience!

The main language of communication in our school is English - the vast majority of our staff and students speak it to at a conversational level, and most of that majority are fluent.  We continue to make a real push to hear our students use English not only in their lessons but socially too, and we reward with praise those who we here in the lunch room, or in the corridors, or outside at breaktime.  Being immersed in a foreign language is easily the best way to learn it quick and with accuracy, so next week I am going to give spot prizes to students I hear using English around school - this has been relayed to them in assembly - so it would be great if you could encourage and remind your child at home that using English has rewards not just for life and the opportunities it can create, but also in a prize form next week!  

Mr. Paul Curry

Head of Primary
 

This week, our Reception class teacher Ms Kalyn would like to tell you all about what's been going in their classroom:

Dear parents and guardians,

It has been a very interesting term for Reception. We have embraced the snowy weather wholeheartedly, and have brought the topic into our classroom. This week we have specifically been learning about Polar animals. The children were very excited to learn about Penguins. We read a story called The Runaway Iceberg. We were very surprised to receive a letter from Rossi and Gaspar (the penguins we met in the story). We ready their letter and replied to it, pretending we were a different polar animal who could help them. It was very fun revealing maps for the penguins by painting paper with blue ice – we all had blue hands afterwards!

In Numeracy we have been learning about number bonds (pairs) to 5 and 10. We made a number rainbow to help us. We even learnt how to whisper count in 2s to 20!

It has been wonderful learning about polar animals and discovering where on the map they may live. Most children can now point out Antarctica on the map and understand why some animals live there, rather than in Moscow. They were interested in learning about protecting our oceans, so that the animals they have loved learning about are kept safe. 

Next week, we will have a surprise visitor in our class! There are many exciting activities ahead.  Miss Kalyn

Miss Kalyn

Reception Teacher and Phase Leader

 

Also, we have some information from the Russian curriculum classes in Year 4 and Year 5 from Mr Anatoliy:

Письмо Year 4 and Year 5. 

Здравствуйте уважаемые родители и учащиеся, настало время для подведения небольших итогов перед окончанием третьей четверти! На протяжении данного периода, дети демонстрировали вовлеченность в образовательный процесс, усердие при изучении нового материала и сознательность в решении возникающих трудностей. Как ученики Year 4, так и учащиеся Year 5 показали высокую мотивацию и интерес к учебе. 

На уроках русского языка мы продолжаем закреплять наши знания по темам: «части речи», «члены предложений», «типы предложений», «фонетический разбор слова», «состав слова» и многим другим. Навыки необходимые нам в этом: грамотное письмо, умение определять орфограмму и проверять ее, находить и обозначать главные и второстепенные члены предложения, задавать к ним вопросы. 

Уроки литературного чтения, всегда, вызывают неподдельный интерес учащихся. Мы изучаем творчество великих русских писателей: Л. Н Толстого, А. Н. Некрасова, И. А Бунина, Н. Н. Носова. На примере их биографий мы знакомимся с историей и бытом прошлого. Ребята учатся определять главную мысль текста, задавать вопросы по тексту, составлять план для пересказа. 

На каждом уроке окружающего миры мы узнаем что-то новое о нашей планете, а также о животных и растениях, которые ее населяют. Все ученики с удовольствием принимают участие в исследовательской деятельности. Задают вопросы по интересующим их темам.
 

Thank you to Mr Anatoliy for his comments.

As the snow continues to fall heavily on Gorki, I hope you all enjoy your weekend, and I'm sure green grass can't be too far away, surely?

 

From Secondary School:

Information letter from Mr. Christopher, Head of Secondary School

Dear Parent, Guardians and Students,

I hope that you are all well and that you are staying safe.

This week has been Safer Internet week, where our students have been learning how to stay safe when using the internet. With developing technologies, such a topic becomes increasingly apt and forms an integral part of our curriculum. I would also like to thank all the students concerning their matureness throughout the projects that they have been doing in school.

In terms of the education that we provide, every day counts, and students should be attending school and, whilst arriving at school on time every day. Doing this allows them to receive the best educational experience.

Our Student Council has introduced a scheme, which aims to eliminate single-use plastic cups at school. Soon students will be expected to bring their reusable water bottles to school, allowing everyone to contribute to a worthy cause.

I hope that everyone has a restful weekend.

Christopher Kingshott

Head of Secondary

 

Message from Mr Bruce Courtin (Science Teacher and Year 8 Form Tutor)

Dear CIS Community.

The new year has brought many new challenges and opportunities for our Gorki secondary students in science class. They have had the chance to discover new worlds, imagine matter at its smallest scale, and to understand our physical world in practical ways.

The Year 11’s have been hard at work putting the finishing touches on their learning and are gearing up for a tough next few months of studying, revision, and test taking. They show high spirits and, in class, have wrestled with some existential questions surrounding fossil fuel use and developed a greater understanding of our dependency on organic molecules. They also looked at how radiation is produced from radioactive elements and will hopefully know what to do in the event of some nuclear disaster.

The Year 10’s have been putting their mathematical minds to work by looking at how work, energy and power are used every day and how to calculate these values in some basic situations. They will be getting their scientist badges soon as they pivot to chemistry and study how bonding happens and try out experiments involving acids and bases in the laboratory.

The Year 9s have completed their physics unit that involved them building circuits, using Archimedes’ principle to calculate densities of unknown metals, and reasoning why high heels are probably not the best footwear for a snow day.

The Year 8s recently calculated the speed of sound to within about 10% of the actual value! That’s what I call accuracy. They have been able to combine some musical theory with technology and have seen how sounds and musical notes can be seen electronically in waveform. When summer rolls around, they will even have the skills to quickly calculate how close a thunderstorm is using their knowledge of sound.

Lastly, the Year 7s have been on an interstellar journey through our universe and have allowed their imagination and curiosity to bring them to far away galaxies, black holes, and to the lesser known moons and planets in our solar system. This unit culminated in a research project about moons and planets and their work is on display outside the science room. If you have a chance, take a look at their creativity!

The rest of the year is shaping up to be full of great experiences! Have a fantastic weekend,

Mr Bruce Courtin (Science Teacher and Year 8 Form Teacher)

Message from Mr Scofield (ICT / Computer Science Teacher)

Dear parents and guardians,

The ICT lessons for secondary students has been focusing on building essential skills for 21st century. Students have been working in different projects and the outcomes are very impressive. It’s easy to see the dedication and progress of the classes.

For year 7, we are working with robotics and 3D design. Students are working in a project to create their own robot to solve a personal or more broad world issue. The project goes from opening a business (start-up) up to the designing of a robot using CAD. Right now, we are using an online web application called TinkerCad where students are designing their own robot in a 3D environment.

For year 8, students have been working on a fantastic web application for app development. The MIT App inventor, an application from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, provides an easy but powerful application for app development. Students have finished all beginning tutorials and the results were outstanding. Students were able to see their own app running on a phone. Right now, and we are moving to a more advanced part of the project.

For year 9 we are already on a second assignment using iMovie for video editing. In the first assignment we worked with music, lyrics and video editing. For this second assignment, we are working on a Cooking Masterclass, where students show the cooking steps using online footage. Once again, the final videos were outstanding.

For year 10, we are about to finish a unit on Hardware including CPU and storage. Students are working more on exam style questions to give them an idea to what expect on a real exam and avoid surprises. Students are showing a great commitment to IGCSE Computer science lessons.

And one last update…

The Safer Internet Day takes place every February 8 around the world. As it didn’t go unnoticed at CIS, we have decided to run an assembly to rise awareness of how to be Safe online and to show students some actions to take to avoid any issues while using internet.

That’s all from me.

Warm regards

Mr. Scofield (ICT and Computer Science Teacher)

From Primary School:

Information letter from Mr. Paul, Head of Primary School

Dear parents and students,

We are now exactly half way through the academic year!  June might still seem a long way off, especially with the mountains of snow continuing to pile up around here, but in my experience the second half of the year always goes far faster the first half.  We will have green grass, birds singing, and the sun beating down (a bit) before we all know it - so there is to time to waste regarding the teaching and learning here at CIS Gorki!

We have a new monthly value - 'Empathy'.  To be empathetic means to understand and share the feelings of others or, in other words, to imagine how someone must be feeling at a given time.  Empathetic people are able to challenge prejudices, entertain new ideas, and deeply understand the thoughts of others.  We want our young learners at CIS Gorki to develop their empathetic skills over the coming month.

This week, I have been closely monitoring the cloakrooms in Upper Primary, and how the students both take care of their personal items, and how maturely and efficiently the change after break for their next lessons.  Our staff have been vigilant in ensuring the cloakrooms look as smart as the rest of the school, and this helps to instil independent skills and encourages students to take responsibility for their own actions.  Even something as straightforward as hanging up your coat, and putting your shoes in the correct place, is an important part of the school day and is a simple cameo of a responsible young learner.

 

Mr. Paul Curry

Head of Primary
 

This week, we have some information from another of a new teachers in the Lower Building, Mr Alex, who is now leading Year 2 on their educational odyssey.  He writes:

 

Dear Parents and Guardians

It has been another busy week for Y2 at CIS Gorki! In English we have been learning how to turn verbs into their past forms so that students can start to more accurately describe their past experiences. At the start of every week from now on, I will be asking students about their weekends, and hope to see progress in the accuracy of their responses!

In Maths, we have been developing our geometrical skills by identifying 2D and 3D shapes. The class have made excellent progress in calculating the number of edges and faces that these shapes have. It has been great to see some of the class attempting this with some pretty complex shapes! In Science and Topic, we have explored animal vocabulary and started to look at basic food chains, securing new vocabulary around words such as ‘carnivore’, ‘herbivore’, ‘predator’ and ‘prey’. Throughout all of these lessons, students have been encouraged to use language developed in previous weeks.

Perhaps the highlight however was during our Wednesday Project session, when we explored the nature of sound as a wave of movement through the air. Using online software, the class were able to create and design their own soundwaves made by playing musical instruments and making noises.

After a few days of remote learning at the end of the week, I am very excited to welcome the class back into school on Monday morning for another week of exciting – face to face! – learning! 

Mr Alex

Year 2 Teacher 

 

It sounds like Year 2 are having some amazing experiences across all their lessons.

Now onto one of our old guard, Mr Bronek and Year 3B.  What have his students been up to, I wonder?  

Dear Parents and Guardians,

I hope that the beginning of the new term is finding you well. The winter persists with cold temperatures and snow, much to enjoyment of our children. At times it is as difficult to get the children to play outside as to bring them back in as soon as they experienced the joy of playing in the snow.

In our class children continue to do very well and they work very hard. In English classes we are working on our non-chronological reports, they will be ready soon. In Maths we have covered basic operations and now we are focusing on column method and in Science we are exploring various senses; children thoroughly enjoy themselves when discovering this topic.

Have a lovely weekend!

Regards,

Mr Bronek

Year 3B Teacher

So, onwards we march from Monday, and into the second half of the year - what will we learn, discover and enjoy?  Let's find out together.

Have a great weekend!