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Report from Primary
The Primary PACT Committee met every month with the Primary Principal, the Deputy Principal, and one of the two Vice-Principals.
When the children started school this year, there were new CleverBoards linked to networked PCs in every classroom across the Primary School. The majority of the teachers feel that these whiteboards have had an enormous effect on teaching and say that as soon as the children get an opportunity to use them the whole lesson acquires an entirely new dynamic. All children become enthusiastic about learning when it comes to CleverBoards; plus the fact that this tool has opened a huge field for teachers in terms of resources.
The playgrounds also underwent some changes. And after a whole year, it's really great to say for the better. A new shed was built on the KS2 playground which houses a variety of games and toys, including toys for the sand pit. The toys and games were gradually introduced and the children were taught how to play with them. So now, and compared to previous years, one can see children interacting in different play stations as opposed to only playing catch or football. The KS1 playground has also two new additions: a Wendy House, which is located in what the children call the 'forest' and a new climbing frame which raised some concern amongst the parents. Therefore, Mr. Bienkowski and Mrs. Correia implemented a set of rules and guidelines for safe usage of the climbing frame, just like what had been done on the KS2 playground the previous year, when their climbing frame first arrived. The children responded beautifully to the guidelines and there have been no problems. However, and since it would be difficult to supervise the KS1 and Foundation children after 3:15pm, Mr. Bienkowski introduced a new end-of-the-day procedure for the Foundation which has worked out perfectly and turned out to be even more practical than what we had before.
Following parents' requests, teachers were kind enough to offer parents an excellent and illuminating Numeracy Workshop. They provided parents with an insight into what happens during class and also tips on how to help our children at home. Parents had the chance to see the types of materials/resources, activities and methodologies used for the different age groups. In our view, this scheme worked better than the workshops we had in the past because it involved all the teaching staff and was very interactive. Those who did attend were positively surprised and obtained considerable benefit from this initiative. We all know that these workshops are time consuming for staff and imply additional work but they are extremely welcome and we were hoping to see more of these initiatives in the future and maybe in more diverse fields.
Towards the end of January, Xana Bastos Sousa, Development Director for Portuguese, attended one of our PACT meetings and presented the Portuguese Department's Handbook which we believe will prove to be an extremely useful aid for parents. It covers the teaching and learning of Portuguese across Primary and Secondary School and enables parents to follow the Portuguese syllabus from year 2 through to year 13. It also contains a detailed description of all the department policies, materials and resources used. It is available on the school website and upon request from the Primary and Secondary School offices.
Additionally, and in order to avoid the lagging that was sometimes observed in the Portuguese as an Additional Language classes, we will now have a teacher who will be hired for a third group, enabling more effective progress for all students. This teacher will also help in the bridging between Primary and Secondary since s/he will be teaching in both schools, therefore allowing vertical articulation.
There are two other projects we are working on with the school, one of them is a Portuguese Club and the other one is a Homework Club. We are hoping to have both of them running in September. The Portuguese Club will be a fun afternoon club with games and role play to help boost the learning of Portuguese amongst the non-native children in a relaxed and fun environment. We are currently liaising with Catarina Coelho regarding the Homework Club, and we are going to try to use the template used by the Portuguese Section and adapt it to our side of the school. This homework Club would be aimed for KS2 children.
We all considered this year to have been a very productive one and hope next year will be as productive as this year, if not more.
I would like to thank Mr. Bienkowski, in particular, and Miss Harris for all their support in my first year as coordinator. All of us in PACT wish Mr. Bienkowski all the best in his new venture.
I would also like to thank the Vice Principals, Mrs. Correia and Mrs. Garcez, and all the staff with whom we liaised at one point or another.
We also appreciate all the help and support we had from the parents who participated and contributed in all the school community events.
Last of all, I would like to thank the Primary School Reps for the time they committed.
Thank you all!
Cristina Fonseca