M4 Drama
On Thursday evening, our M4 Drama students present seven short Japanese plays. It was a very entertaining evening that had the audience laughing out loud throughout the plays. We were also treated to two wonderful musical performances to bookend the evening.

As well as being a fun night, it also illustrated the interdisciplinary nature of the IB MYP. Drama, Music, and Japanese Language A students all benefited from such an approach, and it provided an excellent opportunity for all of them to extend their learning.

IB MYP e-assessments
We have now completed the trial run throughs of the e-assessments, and the week after next, along with other IB MYP schools around the world, will be hosting the first set of e-assessments. As a reminder I include again the schedule of assessments.

10th May - afternoon - Integrated Humanities
11th May - morning - French - one student only
12th May - afternoon - Maths
13th May - morning - English
19th May - morning - Science
20th May - afternoon - Interdisciplinary

Students coped very well with the trial papers and they now have a complete picture of what to expect. We did have a number of students who decided that they had completed all that they could do, with about 30 minutes of the assessment still to run. Obviously this is not best practice and I ask that you help us encourage your child to use the time available to the best effect.

As with the IB Diploma exams, students are able to bring water with them into the assessments but no other food or drinks.

As I mentioned last week, during these two weeks the students will only be expected to attend school on the day of the assessments. They then have one week of school before half-term, and after the break they will sit internal assessments. These are needed to enable us to complete a school report for the term. After these assessments, M5 students have two weeks of pre-IB DP courses and one week of work experience.

Work Experience
We hope that M5 students have been working on finding placements already. If they have not done so already they will need to start soon. They are working on their CVs at school and will need to approach potential placements themselves. Ms. McCaffrey will be monitoring this process and will be sending further details in due course.

Spanish
Last week all students from M1-M4 had an interactive workshop in Spanish about Don Quixote, the famous novel by Miguel de Cervantes. The students were introduced to the main characters of the story; Don Quijote de la Mancha and his faithful sidekick Sancho Panza. The rest of the characters were played by the students themselves. We had some very keen volunteers, and it was wonderful to see them wearing costumes and props. They were also given a few lines to say in Spanish and the afternoon was really enjoyable.

This week the M3 Spanish students went on a trip to the British Library and the Instituto Cervantes as part of our school commemoration of the 400 Anniversary of Miguel de Cervantes. We visited the British Library to see the current exhibition, “Imagining Don Quixote”, and looked at different illustrations of this book from the 17th century to the present, from early printed editions to the graphic novel.

After lunch, we visited another exhibition, “Don Quixotes Around the World” at the Instituto Cervantes. We had the opportunity to appreciate a wide collection of translations into many languages over the period of 400 years.

Studying these activities is a unique opportunity to learn more and appreciate one of the best books of all time. Furthermore, the visit is strongly linked to the M3 Spanish curriculum since the students have been studying Miguel de Cervantes and his masterpiece, “Don Quijote”, in class as well.

Indulgence Evening
A reminder that the Upper School Parent Association are hosting an Indulgence Evening this evening, all money raised will go to the Student Parliament nominated charity, The Children's Society.