Month: June 2020

Directors’ Update to Parents 30.6.2020

Posted on by Malak Fateen

Dear Parents,

We do hope all of you are well and able to get a break in these difficult times. Although we all understand the government was rightly hesitant in re-opening cafes and restaurants, their decision to allow clubs to open must make a huge difference to so many families. Although the children must be incredibly frustrated by now, we do hope and pray they will be sensible.

As we are now approaching the end of June we wanted to bring you up-to-date on two issues:

  1. The re-opening of school in September.

Sadly, there is not much to report as in fairness, whilst there is speculation, neither the Ministry nor ourselves know what situation the country will be in by that time.

The best option for all of us is of course, a full re-opening and we accept that we will have to have all sorts of precautions in hand and be very careful.

The worst option for us (and you) would be a hybrid-system where half the class comes on Sunday and Monday, everyone goes on-line on Tuesday, and the other half come on Wednesday and Thursday. In the meantime, teachers are supposed to provide on-line work for all the students as and when they are not there. We’re not sure when the teachers would find the time to sleep……….! How you as parents can help and support and manage your own lives is also difficult to imagine.

  1. School fees for 20-21.

We had hoped to have a final package completed this month but we have not been able to finalise it as we are still working with the Ministry of Education to finalise the fees. There are obviously many unknown factors and variables.

What we can say is as follows:

  • We promised in a previous letter that we would negotiate bus fees and we have fulfilled that and intend to credit bus users with EGP3500 next year. Parents should be aware however, that should schools be required to practise social distancing, the school buses would need to be split (essentially doubling the number of buses we hire) which will affect prices.
  • In terms of next year’s fees, let us firstly reassure you that the speculation that the school will price hike by 20% is simply not true. Fees will not go down, but we know in these difficult times that we have to be reasonable and moderate to cover the expenses of the school and the cost to parents.

As a business, schools are in a very strange situation. We somehow have to plan our costs and fees for at least 15 months in advance from June in the current year to August the following year and then, if something changes, like a pandemic, we are not allowed to adjust our prices as would happen in any other business. Airlines, the oil industry, retailers, suppliers and even government change prices almost on a daily basis – we can’t, so predicting what will happen without the right to adjust fees in the midst of a crisis is frankly a nightmare.

In an effort to try and support parents we have introduced on-line payments and on-line payment facilities. We are obviously sympathetic and welcome parents who may wish to talk to us to see how we can help. All International Schools are in the same dilemma, so we will publish the fees just as soon as we realistically can.

We hope this gives you at least an idea of costs next year.

With best wishes,

The Directors.

Summer Opportunities for Students

Posted on by Malak Fateen

Dear Parents,
We would like to share two summer opportunities for students; one targeting students aged 10 to 15 and another targeting students aged 3 to 15.

1. HomeHack

We’ve partnered with 7billionideas (the international award-winning entrepreneurship education company) to provide your child with discounted access to HomeHack Egypt over the summer holidays, a 4-day online digital course in which students turn a homegrown idea into a world changing product.
What is it about?
The course is for students aged between 10 and 15 and embeds an entrepreneurial skillset including curiosity, creativity, and innovation. HomeHack provides a different type of interactive and fun learning for the summer holidays and creates opportunities for the application of curriculum learning in new and unexpected ways.
How does it work?
The course is delivered online through 30+ live facilitated webinars. These are led by trained 7billionideas facilitators who will be on hand to inspire your child and explain key entrepreneurial concepts to them. Your child will always have an opportunity to ask questions and get help if needed.
During the course, your child will take part in 12 engaging activities which leads them through the development of their idea into a prototype, and a product. HomeHack covers topics such as team building, pitching, design, ideation, and more. At the end of the course, your child will have created an incredible product and plan for taking it to market!
Why should my child take part?
HomeHack teaches the skillset that best prepares your child to meet the challenges of tomorrow. Did you know that 85% of the jobs in 2030 are yet to exist? We think that developing an entrepreneurial skillset is key for students of all ages. It’s also a great way for them to take advantage of this time period by learning key skills such as time keeping and digital communication.
Online Safety
Your child’s safety is of utmost importance – the entire team is DBS certified and the facilitators are NSPCC CEOP certified to keep children safe online and be vigilant to online threats. This course is independently completed, meaning each child is safeguarded as they can only communicate with the facilitators.
When is it?
The course will run throughout the summer months with courses in Egypt starting on 6th July 2020.
How do I book my child’s ticket?
Go to 7billionideas.com/homehack to learn more and book your tickets.
To access an exclusive 50% discount on the regular £80 GBP price, enter code ‘BSME’ at checkout.
This is a challenging time for everyone, but I hope you will agree that there are plenty of reasons to stay optimistic. With initiatives such as this, we remain committed to equipping our students to face and solve the challenges of tomorrow. Whilst this course is not compulsory, we are hoping that this might provide interest for some students during the summer break.

2.Kids and Corona

Kids & Corona is a project focused on worldwide children’s participation in a painting project to express their feelings and thoughts on Corona. We aim to collect, document and exhibit visual content -drawings- to hearing children’s voice which is usually heard less during the crisis.
This project is divided into three steps:
i.    First, we would like to invite all young people to make a drawing about the current corona situation and in this way share with us their feelings and experiences.
ii.    Second, we will collect and document all paintings as a historical report of corona crisis from children’s point of view.
iii.    Third, the vast collection of children’s paintings will be exhibited online and will also be presented to museums for public exhibition.

By hoping to inspire thousands of children around the world we do this with the extensive collaboration with parents, teachers, pedagogists, scholars, schools, municipalities, NGOs, charities and every organizations and authorities related to children.

How to participate?
Ask your own children, students or children around you from 3 to 15 years old to draw a painting about corona.
1.     On the drawing, write:

  • First name of the child (optional)
  • Age
  • Gender
  • Name of your country.
  • What your child has created (in a short sentence)

2.     Participation is free of charge.
3.     Send the drawing to us via:
info@ArtisticEducation.org
https://artisticeducation.org/upload/
WhatsApp: † 31642420235

Kind Regards
Ms Allison Fleet and Mr Matt Topliss
School Principals

Grade 9’s Best Pieces for the End of Year

Posted on by Malak Fateen

This is a selection of “best work” pieces completed online in G9 World History course. Featuring amazing pieces of writing that compares how the modern nations of 19th century Germany and Italy were formed. It also includes creative and original WWI propaganda posters designed by the students. In addition to some Illustrated timelines featuring and analyzing the key events of the Russian Revolution and finally some original speeches of country delegations attending the renowned Paris Peace Conference in 1919.

 

Propaganda Poster The theme of this poster is “Entering the War”. It is told from the perspective of the British after the Schlieffen Plan was put into place. The message is to convince Britain to enter the war to help Belgium after it was invaded by Germany. There are several design elements that compliment each other in the poster. The proud lion standing and roaring in the water represents Britain, and the roar shows Britain’s outrage at what happened to Belgium. The wounded lion represents Belgium, as one of Belgium’s symbols is a weak lion. The lion has been shot and is cowering from the German soldiers led by general Schlieffen. The colors in the poster are also important. Belgium is colored white because white is the color of surrender, and Belgium has been defeated. Germany is colored red to show its bloodthirstiness and aggression. In contrast, Britain is colored green to show its fertility and strength. The countries not involved in this specific conflict, France and the Netherlands, are shown in gray. There are two slogans written on the poster, and both encourage joining the war. The slogans are “Stop the Schlieffen Plan!” and “Save Belgium, join the war.” Both slogans encourage action. The illustrations are all on a map of Europe. The poster is to convince Britain to join the war against Germany. Hussein Mosharafa G9 World History

 

 

Propaganda Poster Information and Details This Propaganda poster is about a mythical beast called “Cerberus” which is basically a hell dog with 3 heads. In this poster each country in the triple entente represents a head. This publication is from a German one clearly as the title and the message are written in German. The main topic is that Germany is claiming that the triple entente are terrorists and that they want to take away their land, the goal is to make the reader believe that actually the entente are wanting to attack the alliance, and to join the army. In German on the side the message is “Stop the Beast!” and “Join the Army.” The art is to show the interest and devour that each country of the triple entente is willing to take control of Germany and the rest of its allies. Lastly, the title is “The Terrorizers By: Hussein Shaaban”
WWI War Propaganda Poster Project Explanation: By Marwan Sultan 9G This poster is from Germany’s point of view. The poster is made to show that America is really the main enemy in Germany’s point of view. The theme/topic of the poster is the U.S involvement in WW1. The poster is as if the Kaiser of Germany wants to raise awareness to the citizens of Germany. The main message behind the poster is that the U.S might be a bigger enemy than the Allies and that they are liars and shouldn’t be trusted. The poster was also made to make the Germans hate the U.S and think of them as an enemy. The poster’s design elements make it more legible, eye grabbing and effective. Some of the elements of effective design that was used in the poster are pattern, color, line, balance, value, space and size. For example, in the poster, value is used on the globe. The opacity of the globe is lowered down to make the eagle and the note that is held by the eagle to show and stand out more. Another example is space. Since it is a little bit crowded in the bottom part of the poster, the top part is mainly blank. The top part is considered negative space and therefore makes contrast and balances the poster. Color is the most important element in the poster. In the poster, the U.S is colored in yellow and grey. Yellow symbolizes being a traitor and grey symbolizes lying. The U.K however is colored in red and black. Red and black together usually refer to an enemy or something you are against or is against you. The background is filled in with red. The red in the background symbolizes danger, anger and is also there to grab the reader’s attention because Red is the color that attracts the most attention. There are symbols in the poster that represent different things. For example, the Bald Eagle in the poster is used to describe the U.S because this type of Eagle is always associated with the U.S. Pigeons are known for delivering messages but since the Bald Eagle is always associated with the U.S, it seemed like a cool idea to make the Eagle send the message as if it was a Pigeon. Another example is the message in the Eagle’s hands. It is supposed to symbolize the president of the U.S contacting the king of Britain and telling him the ship is on the way. A third example is that Eagles represent power. The U.S at the time were starting to be the world’s central power. Lastly, the text in the poster is written in German. This is to make it more effective and to actually show that it was a German poster. All of the text is written in a bold font so it may stand out from the poster a little. The first statement in the poster translates to: ‘does neutrality mean secretly helping out?’ The second statement in the poster translates to: ‘America is secretly sending weapons to Britain’ The third statement in the poster translates to: ‘we will not let this happen’
WW1 Propaganda Poster Charles De Gaulle, former President of France once stated, “Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first.” This is especially evident in present day American society. In which there is a gorging divide between patriotism and nationalism as Charles describes it. However, during the times of WW1, it didn’t matter whether your motivation was your love for your country or hate for others, what mattered was survival. Or so the story goes. When it came to recruitment, in this case specifically female recruitment, propaganda specialists needed to understand the inner workings of an American woman in order to provide a piece convincing enough for them to put their livelihoods on the line. In order to provide an effective piece that encourages women to join the fight as medics and nurses, I’ve attempted to work it from all angles. There are elements throughout that pertain to a wide variety of ideologies up to and including; patriotism, female empowerment, survival instinct, and natural maternal instinct. Pictures may speak volumes louder than words. Using an American flag or even just those blaring red and blue tones, the poster may gage or trigger a side of people that they may not have even been aware of. The need to stand up for your land and make the people of it proud is seeded deep within all of us. Another critical element is female empowerment. Using the three bruised hands was a testament to how far women are willing to go and to fight, alongside their fellow Americans. They wanted a chance to prove their strength and this was their chance to get out there on the front lines and do it. Atlas America’s fate would lay in their hands. Lastly, and most importantly, maternal instinct can be a major driving force in a woman’s day to day decisions. That natural need to protect the people around you, may not be strong enough to drive a person to risk their life, however, when it’s your child or parent, there is no greater reason to put everything you have on the line. This was reflected in the main slogan, “HEAL YOUR SONS, HEAL AMERICA.”
War Propaganda Poster Project By Sarah Mostafa G9 In my poster, for the topic i chose women’s role during the war and for the theme it was women encouraging all the men to join the war. I drew Rosie the Riveter because she is a symbol of women’s strength and I changed the color of her bandana to the colors of the German flag to symbolize the country. I added the gender sign of females with a fist in the middle to represent power and strength, I also drew both the gender signs of males and females interlocked to show them standing together through the war. In the quotes I made up, I put the colors of the flag of Germany to represent the word country. I added the explosions drawing in one of the quotes to represent war. I wrote one of the quotes that said we are stronger together in German to make people want to stick up for their country and fight for it. I added a silhouette of two soldiers standing next to a female to represent them standing together as one. Finally, I made up some inspirational quotes like “small role played but big impacts made” and “be a hero and play a part” to show women that even though the part they play is small, it still has a big impact.

 

 

Grade 8’s Best Pieces

Posted on by Malak Fateen

Here is a selection of very interesting “best pieces” produced by our students in grade 8 SS-Geography class. Featuring a live video presentation based on a parent interview to explore patterns of economic activity, a pair project where partners have researched, analyzed and plotted pie charts that visually represent how key events in the history of the UK impacted the UK’s workforce distribution over time, and finally a selection of some amazing audio-visual presentations where students collaborated to research problems associated with international global trade and come up with “ethical” and “reasonable” solutions for a selected country of choice.

 

Reminder of April Down-Payment Due Tomorrow 15.06.2020

Posted on by Malak Fateen

Dear Parents,

This is to remind you that the April down-payment deposit is due tomorrow 15.06.2020. Thank you to those who have paid on time. If you wish to pay through the Online Payment program (PayFort), or by bank transfer or bank deposit, please email fees@alsson.com requesting an invoice/fees form from us which will give you all the payment details. The school’s Finance department is open daily from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm for other payments methods: by cash or by onsite credit card payment.

2019-2020 Bus Users.

Please note that the school has finally been able to reach an agreement with the various bus companies we use enabling us to refund you the sum of EGP3,500 which will be credited to the next academic year (2020-2021) for Bus users.

Best Regards,

Finance Department – Fees Section