RoundUp
Term 1 Second Half | 2021-2022
By Agnes Frel, Year 9 2021 Christmas Card Competition Winner
Dear Parents,
Looking back to last Christmas I remember commenting on people reflecting on the priorities in life and, in particular, their families and loved ones. A year later and we are faced with the unknowns of a new Covid variant – Omicron. If we needed a reminder of what’s important in life it is being put into stark contrast by the fears for the impact of the new variant and, whilst we are hoping that vaccines and boosters will protect us all, we must still be mindful of what’s important in our lives and how fragile it can be.
That said, at this time of year, whatever this holiday means to you and your family, we should reflect on what we have rather than what we might lose and be thankful for it. Whilst at school we’ve had the knock-backs of the cancellation of Christmas events, we have tried our best to mark the time of year for the enjoyment of the children.
In the rush of daily life and the fear of what the future may bring, this holiday time will give many of us, much-needed time to come together as families and strengthen that closeness and support we need when life presents us with challenges. I hope that you are able to spend quality time with your families this holiday and once again, realise the importance of family bonds as we look forward to the new year ahead of us and all it might bring.
Ian Wells | Director
Dear Parents,
Of the many things I’m very grateful for this year it’s that we have managed to keep our school and its students almost completely free from Covid. Over the two and a bit years of the pandemic, we have had just one case in primary and one in secondary which is quite exceptional given the record of other schools locally and on the island. This can be attributed to our strict adherence to the Ministry protocols but also to your support in ensuring everyone is kept safe. We will continue our diligent approach to safety as we head into another uncertain year.
Gratitude is an often forgotten virtue but it comes to prominence at this time of year – whether it’s in the exclamation; ‘Socks! Just what I wanted for Christmas!’ or gratitude that a family member or friend has made a special journey to see you over the Christmas holidays.
My mother always told my brother and I that we should be grateful for what we have as there are a lot of people worse off that us in the world and that’s a thought we all should consider this Christmas. As a school, we are known for our work to help others and, this Christmas, the money raised from our non-uniform day will go towards helping children through a local charity.
Other things that I am grateful for is that I have the privilege to work with a wonderful group of young people who, in turn, are guided through their school years by a dedicated group of teachers with the whole supported by you, our parents. The teacher/student/parent partnership has steered us through the difficult times of the last few years and I have no doubt it will guide us again, whatever 2022 brings.
Stay safe, have a Happy Christmas and a healthy and prosperous New Year!
Kind regards,
David Lewis | Principal
We’ve reached the end of a year which has challenged us with so much change and uncertainty.
Our students have recently undergone assessments and our teaching team are now busy reviewing their work and reflecting upon progress this term in order to be able to report key achievements to you, along with next steps for their development. When you receive your child’s report at the end of January, please can I encourage you to discuss the content with your child and ensure they’re clear what they need to do next to make further progress in each subject.
Quite often I’m asked “How can I support my child at home?” For our Primary students the activity we would recommend first and foremost is to listen to your child read, and for older students, encourage regular reading of fiction, in English, and of texts related to their subjects. What is really beneficial is when you spend time talking with your child about their reading book; asking them to recall events in the story, predict what might happen next or discuss a character and their feelings.
One of the elements that students often find difficult is inference, being able to come to a conclusion based on evidence or reasoning. A writer will not always state certain facts, but we can use the information to draw our own conclusions.
In Primary, we made the transition to using White Rose Maths in September. White Rose Maths helps children work towards maths mastery. The schemes of learning ensure that topics are taught to children in a logical order to ensure they have the foundation knowledge they need before moving on to more advanced maths concepts and challenging number problems.
For students studying for examination courses, those who are successful recognise the importance of layered learning, regularly revisiting topics taught to consolidate their learning, rather than leaving revision to the final half-term at the end of their course.
Turning to the top of our school, it’s the time of year when our Year 13 students look to the future and, if applying to universities in the UK, work on their applications and personal statements in readiness for submission in January. This week, Isabella Cairns (Year 13), spent a day in Primary to gain an insight into what it’s like to be a Primary Teacher before she applies to study to become a teacher. Isabella’s reflections on the day can be found later on in this edition of Round Up.
After another difficult year, I would like to close by thanking our teaching team for their tireless efforts in educating, supporting, encouraging and challenging our students. May I wish you and your families a joyful holiday.
Catherine Lewis | Head of Teacher and Learning
I am amazed at how quickly this term has passed and that Christmas is nearly upon us. It has been a very successful term with our students working very hard in the physical class room which has been a joy to see. It has also been wonderful to see students celebrating receiving their house points and their Bronze Awards being presented.
I have been very impressed by the range of year group assemblies that have been presented by our students to their younger peers on a wide variety of subjects, both educational and entertaining. I look forward to seeing more of these in the new year.
Students have had a busy second half term studying for their end of term assessments and aiming high. They have had time to reflect on their learning, strengths and areas for development. Teachers are in the process of proudly writing their reports which students will receive in January.
It has been a busy time at the entrance to the school with all students and staff being checked for Covid passes and having their temperatures taken. It has unfortunately become a routine event in all our lives and students have adapted very well. Students and teachers have needed to adapt to having the Covid tests on a twice weekly basis. It will be nice to have a break from these routines over the Christmas period.
This last Friday of the term, students celebrated the successful autumn term with a celebration assembly, form time festive cheer, best dressed room competition and fun lesson activities. A fun way to end a hard-working term.
I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Tracey Hewitt | Head of Secondary
As we reach the end of this term, it is strange to think that a year ago we went into a second lockdown and at the moment we’re still not sure what the future might bring. I’m sure you all agree that it feels like this pandemic is never going to end…
Once more, this term has been exceptionally challenging for all of us, especially for our younger students. Government restrictions are changing constantly and the implementation of mandatory masks and weekly testing for our primary pupils were definitely not what we were hoping for. I must say that I’m impressed with the adaptability of our pupils. Even with their masks on, our students are happy members of our school community and work to the best of their ability while our teachers continue to provide the highest level of education, as well as personal support for all of our students and families.
Many learning opportunities and experiences from this term have been captured in this RoundUp and students are always eager to share ‘a snapshot of a day at TLC’ with their family.
Although the restrictions forced us to cancel the end of year celebrations we had planned, our teachers came up with creative solutions so we were able to share these special moments with you at home. We are very proud of our talented TLC students!
This only leaves me to wish all pupils, parents and teachers, a restful break and I look forward to welcoming you back in January 2022!
Very best seasonal wishes,
Miranda Matthee | Head of Primary
So the end of the calendar year is fast approaching and it is the end of our first term. I am amazed at how much English the children are now speaking and the progress they have made, both in their academic learning, but, more importantly, in their personal, social and emotional skills.
We have had a fun-filled term, some of the highlights being our pyjama party, the Science Day, learning about Hanukkah and of course our Christmas celebrations. We were all very disappointed that Ministry regulations would not allow us to perform our Christmas play to the parents, but the children really enjoyed filming the play instead.
On behalf of myself and all the staff and pupils in Early Years, I would like to wish everyone a relaxing and restful holiday and a very Happy New Year!
Toni Hayden | Head of Early Years
Non Uniform Day Donation
A total of €513.00 was raised from the TLC non uniform day held on Friday, 17th December.
The amount was donated to the Margarita Liasidou Foundation, on behalf of TLC parents and students.
The foundation provides education, accommodation, protection, care, entertainment and rehabilitation to handicapped children in Paphos. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your contribution and support.
For more about the organisation, please visit https://www.margaritafoundation.net/
TLC's Online Concert & Primary Christmas Performances
For parents who missed the amazing live online concert, please clIck below to access a full recording, class recordings as well as individual performances. Please note that access is only available if you are logged in to your child’s TLC office 365 account for security reasons.
Congratulating our Christmas Card Winners!
TLC PRIMARY WINNER
Maria Ignatieva Year 4
TLC SECONDARY WINNER
Agnes Frel – Year 9
Christmas Parties Primary
A fantastically fun-filled festive day at TLC Primary!.
On Friday, the children enjoyed having a Christmas party, played lots of fun games and ate delicious snacks in the classroom.
Students also thoroughly enjoyed a Christmas disco with festive tunes and the opportunity to show off their dance moves!
Secondary Christmas Decorations
During the last weeks of the term our Sixth Form students decorated TLC Secondary School with festive decorations.
Our students embraced the Christmas spirit with smiles and excitement.
Thanks to the students and staff involved.
Primary School Book Fair
The arrival of the first ‘Books R Us’ TLC Book Fair was welcomed by our Primary students this half term. The selection of colourful new books promoted student reading and motivated the children to engage and select their choices. Many thanks to all who supported. We would also like to thank Books R Us and Mrs Matthews, TLC School Librarian, for organising the wonderful event.
Remembrance Day
TLC’s Primary and Secondary schools held concurrent Remembrance Day assemblies . Our Sixth Form led the secondary assembly whilst Year 5 led Primary’s marking of the occasion. A guest piper opened the secondary assembly with a haunting rendition of The Unknown Warrior and Mrs Fouracre spoke about the importance of the day whilst students joined in to remind us all the importance of remembering and thanking the brave men and women who have served and continue to serve to fight injustice and bring peace to the world. Two minutes of silence was held at the 11th hour in each part of our school. The assemblies ended with songs by both Years 6 and our secondary school choir joined by some of our teachers.
Action Against Climate Change and COP26
An important element of the balanced education at TLC Private School is to encourage our students to be aware of what’s happening in the world which affects them directly and indirectly.
In late October, the eyes of the world were focused on the COP26 summit in Glasgow and our sixth form students spent part of their Global Perspectives course studying the hopes and outcomes of the conference.
Alongside this, a partnership with the Cyprus Environmental Organisation saw our students attend a peaceful protest in Paphos, one of many across Cyprus, to demand action on climate change under their Klimact campaign. Two of our students, Nikoletta Antoniou and Havana Achilleos were asked to make speeches to the crowd and the politicians who attended, whilst Havana was asked to give an interview to the national TV channels.
In the new year, we will be appointing Climate Ambassadors who will lobby politicians and further the work of the school in supporting Klimact in achieving their goals.
Key Stage 3 and 4 English Language -Writing to persuade
Creative Writing Competition
This half-term, our students in Key Stage 3 and 4 have been learning about the art of writing to persuade. Lessons began by introducing the most commonly used literary techniques used in rhetoric, most importantly, the use of what Aristotle called the three appeals: pathos, ethos and logos. Students then moved on to analysing how writers had used these techniques to influence their audience in a variety of both advertising and speeches. This learning was then applied, as each student was asked to write their own speech to persuade others of something they felt passionate about. It is always wonderful to hear the passions and values of our students and a great privilege to support them in acquiring the skills required to express themselves powerfully.
Ms Ally
Bronze Award Winners
The TLC house structure aims to further promote achievement as well as contribute to the development of our students. The house system will provide great opportunities for all students to receive these house points by demonstrating the schools core values or other achievements throughout school. Congratulations to our bronze award winners for 2021.
A day at Primary
Some young people know what they want to do when they leave academic life, others aren’t sure, but for both, the chance to experience the world of work through student work experience is invaluable. TLC’s Sixth Form student, Isabella Cairns, really enjoyed the chance to see what life will be like as a Primary school teacher. She spent a day at TLC Primary School working with the Early Years children, and Years 3, 5 and 6. Isabella was described as a ‘natural’ and the experience has convinced her she would like to work with older primary children.
Reception Class - Fun in Early Years
One of the highlights of this half term was our Early Years Science Day where the children conducted a range of experiments and investigations to explore magnetism. We completed various exciting activities such as, ‘Strong Man Pick Up’, ‘Magic Rings’, ‘Bumper Cars’, ‘Tug of War’, ‘Magnetic Fishing’, ‘Challenge Ant’ and ‘Can You Stick It?’
All of this was over shadowed last week though, when the elves snuck into Early Years at night and transformed our classrooms! The children were so surprised the next day to find decorations, trees, snowflakes, tinsel and fairy lights everywhere. Even their paintings were wearing Christmas hats. The children have been practising their fine motor control (scissor skills and pencil control) by making some of their own decorations too, like patterned stockings to hang, as well as working very hard on their Christmas performance.
Several children in the class celebrated the festival of Hanukkah this half term and really enjoyed teaching us about the different games, foods and traditions associated with this. They even sang us their Happy Hanukkah song.
The Early Years class, staff and children, would like to wish everyone very happy holidays!
Ms Toni
Reception + and Year 1- Puppet Masters
As part of our Toys topic, we have been learning about puppets. We watched examples of puppet shows and then we looked at some amazing professional and hand made puppets. We then designed and created our own. We are really proud of our creations, we made everything from dragons to clowns! Afterwards, we had fun making up our own puppet shows.
Ms Louise
Year 2 -The Circus is Coming to Town
This term, the Year 2 students have studied the topic ‘The Circus is Coming to Town’.
Laughing and having fun are so important in our lives, especially under the current measures and restrictions. We all love being entertained and enjoy ourselves. For a very long time, the circus has been a place where people like to go to be entertained and that’s why we brought a bit of circus into our classroom.
In History, students found out what circuses were like in the past and how they have changed over the years. In science they learnt which materials would make a waterproof tent, which balls bounce the highest and which materials are the stretchiest. In Geography, they found out how to draw a map of the circus and how to use their mapping skills. In Art, they developed their painting skills and made clown faces with different materials.
Because our end of term trip got cancelled last minute, students had a fun day instead and were given the opportunity to practise their juggling, balancing, hula hooping and stilt-walking skills .
Ms Miranda
Year 3 - Friends, Romans and Countrymen
This term, Year 3 have been developing their map reading and map making skills. We have been learning how to create sketch maps using symbols to show significant features. We took a short trip to the church at Agios Georgios to locate some of the natural and man-made features around out school. As we studied the environment, we added symbols to our sketch map to show the different features. We later added a key to explain the meaning of the symbols. Field work is an interactive way to develop geography skills and the children enjoyed learning outside of the classroom.
Mr Lines
Year 2,3 & 4 - Science Day
Students in KS2 enjoyed experimenting with oil, liquid soap, milk and food colouring and swirled the chemicals together and then transferred the effects onto watercolour paper by dipping the paper onto the plate of chemical mix. Some wonderfully creative effects were produced and the students learnt about how oils, milk and soap react to each other. Well done!
Ms Debbie
Year 4 - Art and History Lesson - About Ancient Egypt
Students in After School Art Clubs on Thursdays and Fridays have been enjoying experimenting with straws, lollipop sticks, papier-mache, paint, glitter and ribbons whilst making Christmas decorations of Christmas trees, baubles and angels using recycled materials. Well done in creating lovely decorations that are kind to the environment!
Ms Debbie
KS1 and KS2 - Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells...
Students in After-Club School Art Clubs on Thursdays and Fridays have been enjoying experimenting with straws, lolli-pop sticks, papier-mache, paint, glitter, ribbons whilst making Christmas decorations of Christmas trees, baubles, angels using recycled materials. Well done in creating lovely decorations that are kind to the environment!
Ms Debbie
PSHE Students Become International Cultural Teachers
As part of their current PSHE topic ‘Thinking Positively’, students thought carefully about attitudes to prejudice including race, gender, disabilities, religion and culture. Students are each presenting information about their country of origin and its culture. Students are also looking at icons from a range of skin colours and other cultures to convert negative prejudiced perception to positive awareness and acceptance, tolerance and respect for each other.
Designed to build on what the children have already learnt about feelings, both comfortable and uncomfortable, and how our attitude towards life can affect our mental health, body image and acceptance of our differences, we hope that our lessons will encourage togetherness.
Ms Debbie
Year 4 - Anglo-Saxon Runes in Clay
Students enjoyed rolling out clay and learning about Anglo-Saxon runes and how to make debossed runes in the clay. They learnt about the why, how and when of the origin of runes and its links to Harald Bluetooth Gormsson who was king of Denmark and Norway. His initial in runes are still used today in the famous Bluetooth logo. Students had much fun working in the medium of clay.
Ms Debbie
Year 5L Projects
Students enjoyed rolling out clay and learning about Anglo-Saxon runes and how to make debossed runes into the clay. They learnt about the why, how, when of the origin of runes and its links to Harald "Bluetooth" Gormsson who was king of Denmark and Norway. His initial in runes are still used today in the infamous Bluetooth logo. Students had much fun working in the medium of clay.
Ms Debbie
Year 5T - Living Things and their Habitats
This term, a cross-curricular approach was applied to the lessons based on our science topic; Living Things and their Habitats. A trip to Paphos Zoo further broadened and developed the students’ knowledge on topics learnt this term, not only in science, but in statistics covered in maths, identifying animals native to Eastern Europe, which tied into our geography module and writing a recount of their trip which has been the central focus in English over the past few weeks.
The science unit included plant reproduction and the students were tasked with dissecting a flower to identify the features indicative to pollination and reproduction. To further increase their understanding of the lifecycles of plants, the students created a propagator from recycled water bottles to grow their own cucumbers.
Year 5T showed their artistic talents in history, using clay to replicate Oracle Bones from the Shang Dynasty. Their clay skills were again put to test by making their own Christmas decorations which now adorn the class Christmas tree. We are currently working on a class art project of a painting 3D peacock which will be completed by the end of the term. Selecting such a vibrant and unique bird for this mammoth project is in keeping with our theme in science and our current class reading book, The Firebird. This will be on display in the school for all students to see.
A memorable event in the latter part of this term was the writing of pen-pal letters to a class at Whitestone Primary School in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Each student wrote a letter about themselves, what it is like living in Paphos and being a student at TLC. The letters have been greatly received by the students at Whitestone and we are due a reply before the end of the term. Active learning has been evident throughout this term, applying what we have learnt in a classroom setting to real-life experiences. This has made our learning relevant, challenging and most importantly, fun.
This past term has stretched the students’ learning abilities in all aspects of school life. It is not only new knowledge that has been acquired, in addition, friendships have been strengthened and new memories continue to be made in 5T.
Have an enjoyable Christmas and stay safe!
Ms Wendy
Trip to the Zoo
Year 5 trip to the zoo. An amazing day out with so many great experiences. What was once taken for granted has been greatly appreciated by the students today, as it has been their first school trip in a very long time due to covid restrictions. A chance for the class to socialise together in addition to extending their knowledge of the animals.
Ms Sam
Year 6 - English, Science and History Classes
The latter half of the Autumn term seems to have passed by quite quickly. It has been a very busy term in all. The Year 6 pupils have, once again, demonstrated how resilient they are.
English
Year Six pupils were given the opportunity to develop their descriptive writing by focusing on setting the scene for their story ‘The Strangest Shop in the World’. The challenge was to add as much detail to the description of the setting of their store, using descriptive devices explored over the course of the term. The results were some highly imaginative and engaging pieces of writing that were most entertaining to read.
Science
The children in Year 6 have been enjoying their science topic on electricity. The children have been learning how to create an electrical circuit with a buzzer, switch, bulb and motor.
We know that electricity is a type of energy. We’ve worked hard to construct our own simple circuits with different components and compiling circuit diagrams depicting our own circuits. Using this knowledge, we’ve investigated the effect of adding different numbers of components to circuits. We used this knowledge in a STEM class, where we make our own drawing machine using electicity.
History
Our Ancient Greece Project Based Learning was completed this term. Pupils planned a trip, back in time, with stops in different Ancient Greek city-states. The teams were asked to create a budget to ensure profit, figure out the total upkeep for their agency and hire a Greek god/goddess as a travel guide. They also had to build a model of a hotel using Greek columns and tradition style building for that time. Pupils also had to create a dining menu for a hotel restaurant using only traditional food, eaten by the ancient civilization.
Groups then created an advert and a marketing presentation to sell the trip to potential clients.
Ms Evie
KS3 - A Round the World Trip Through Music
Throughout KS3 pupils have been learning about the different musical cultures and styles found around the world.
Here is a Y7 African Drumming composition based on the traditional polyrhythmic techniques used throughout West Africa.
A Fusion from Y8 that features traditional Indian styles as well as western pop compositional techniques having learnt about Bhangra.
Y9 travelled to Indonesia, composed their own traditional Gamelan piece and performed a shadow puppet theatre to accompany it.
Ms Clare
Year 2,3,4 - Science Day
A touch of Christmas from the Music Department
Towards the end of the term pupils were invited to send in their own Christmas performances to include in our online concert on Friday 10th December. Here is Nicholas Singh in Y10 as well as a festive treat from Y8 playing the Ukuleles!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Ms Clare
TLC student success in National Dance Competition
Nika Spekhova from Year 7 took part in the Cyprus Federation of Social and Sport Dance competition. Nika’s speciality is Latin and traditional Russian Folk dances and she took two first place prizes (Solo Waltz and Duo Latin Show) a second place for Waltz Cha-Cha and third place for Solo Cha-Cha. Well done Nika!
Anti-Bullying Week
Bully is commonplace in most schools across the world despite efforts to stamp it out. During Anti-Bullying Week, Year 8 performed an assembly to the Year 7 to explain the emotional and physical damage that bullying can cause. Between the two classes, pupils have agreed never to accept bullying and to report it if they see it or suffer it.
Year 8 - Pantomime
The Year 8s have been having some fun and laughter this half term in their Drama lessons. They have been studying the art of the pantomime that dates back to early 16th Century Italian street theatre.
The students have enjoyed learning about how this type of theatre developed using dance, music, acrobatics and a cast of mischievous stock characters that used slapstick and tomfoolery.
They have been rehearsing and performing various extracts and really enjoyed playing the mischievous stock characters!
Students rehearsing for their assessment in Aladdin enjoyed the joke:
Twankey: I’d like a fur coat.
Genie: What Fur?
Ms Sarah
KS3 - Ethos, Pathos and Logos
KS3 pupils had to create their own ads using the persuasive techniques: Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. These are modes of persuasion used to convince audiences. Pathos, or the appeal to emotion, means to persuade an audience by purposely evoking certain emotions to make them feel the way the author wants them to feel. Logos, or the appeal to logic, means to appeal to the audiences’ sense of reason or logic and Ethos is used to convey the writer’s credibility and authority.
Ms Valentina
Year 8 - Diary Entries
The Year 8 students learnt all about figurative language and the features of a diary entry. They had to write a diary entry as if they were a soldier during WWI.
Ms Valentina
Year 8 Art creations-Christmas Paper Birds
17th Annual Mediterranean Model United Nations Debating
TLC Students who will be representing the school at the Mediterranean Model United Nations in February, attended a preliminary workshop in Nicosia in November.
The students loved the experience to practice their skills and learn what the main event will be like when it opens in the new year.