since September 2015
№8 (16) April 2017 @Spectrum_IS
@Spectrum.edu.kz
@spectrum_is
Spectrum hosted CIS/NEASC Team Visit Spectrum International School hosted CIS/NEASC joint Accreditation Team Visit from 15 April to 21 April, 2017 as the culmination of our selfstudy that we had conducted since September 2015. The Visit started on Saturday 15th when several of the Team Members attended our Nauryz
a reception with all the staff members. During the accreditation week, the Team Members visited classrooms to observe classes, conducted meetings with the school leadership, staff members, parents, students and Board members. The Team examined all aspects of the school in the light of
organisation and this recommendation strictly has the status of advice to the agency. Appropriate structures within both organisations will review the Visiting Team Report and consider the recommendations of the Visiting Team relative to possible accreditation of the school. These structures will
Spectrum Channel
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Жаңалықтар
• Бабалар болжамы • Армысың, әз Наурыз! • «Сен білесің бе?»
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Pre-school
• Learning Feelings and Emotions • Making a caterpillar with numbers • Dream Big. Sky is the Limit! • Creative Hands
celebration which appealed to them very much. On Sunday 16th the official part of the Visit commenced with the whole Visiting Team arriving at the premises for a school tour that was led by the Senior Management Team and Student Council Members followed by
the self-study, our Guiding Statements, and the Accreditation Standards set by both agencies above. Based on their findings, the Team will make an overall recommendation with regard to possible accreditation of the school directly to the respective
then channel recommendations to the relative Boards of Trustees which will make a final decision on the accreditation. Rinat Mautin Vice Principal Accreditation Coordinator
Cambridge Checkpoint tests As part of Cambridge exams cycle, we conducted our annual Cambridge Primary and Secondary 1 Checkpoint tests from 10 April to 14 April, 2017. Cambridge Primary and Secondary 1 Checkpoint tests have been designed to assess learners at the end of Cambridge stages. They are available in English as a second language, Mathematics and Science, and give valuable feedback on learners’ strengths and weaknesses before they progress to the next stage of education. Since 2016 these exams have been compulsory for our Grade 5 and Grade 8 students. In this year’s exam series, 37 students from Grade 5 as well as 28 students from Grade 8 took part in the tests. The tests are marked in Cambridge and provide schools with an external international benchmark for learner performance. Each learner receives
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News
• The World Scholar’s Cup • 6A Class Show • Infomatrix 2017
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Nauryz Celebration
• Nauryz is the Kazakh New Year • Welcome Nauryz • Nauryz is a holiday of spring • Upper Secondary Nauryz Celebration
8-12 a statement of achievement and a diagnostic feedback report, giving schools detailed information and parents extra trust in the feedback they receive. The results of the tests will
be available at the beginning of June 2017. Nuh Ozdin Vice Principal Exams Officer
Nauryz: On April 15, 2017, we celebrated Nauryz – a wonderful spring holiday, which symbolizes rebirth and arrival of Spring.
WSC: Spectrum International School hosted the World Scholar’s Cup, which successfully took place on March 31 and April 1, 2017.
Turn to page 5 for more details.
Turn to pages 6-7 to learn more.
News
• Talking to Your Child’s Teacher • Parent Teacher home visit • My gymnastics competition in Kazan • Greatest shape • Getting the 2nd place in «Quintessence» Intellectual Olympiad • The health and fitness benefits of sport • AS-Level preparation
Білгенге маржан
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Бабалар болжамы
Көктемде: •Сәуір болмай, тәуір болмас. •Сәуірде жауған жауының, сауып тұрған сауының. •Сәуір жақсылығына бақса алты күн, жақсылығына бақпаса
алпыс күн. •Күн ерте күркіресе, жауыншашын мол болады. •Ай қораланса, бұршақ пен жаңбыр жауады. •Қоқиқаз былтырғы ұясын
жөндемей жұмыртқаласа, құрғақшылық болады, ескі ұясын жөндеп, биіктетсе, жаңбырлы болады. •Көктемнің алғашқы жаңбырында күн күркіресе, шөп
көп болады. •Қысың қарлы болса — жер семіз. •Көктемің жаңбырлы болса — дән егіз. Интернет желісінен алынды
SPECTRUM ЖАРШЫСЫ
Армысың, әз Наурыз! Сәуірдің он бесі күні оқу ордамызда ұлыстың ұлы күні Наурыз мейрамы тойланды. Тамырын тереңнен алған айтулы мереке ауқымды көлемде ерекше салтанатпен өткізілді. Жыл басы саналатын айтулы шараның тұсауы мектеп ауласында концерттік
бағдарламамен кесілді. Жағалай тігілген ақ шаңқан киіз үйлер мен ұлттық нақышта безендірілген сыныптар мерекенің салтанатына сән қосты. Ұлттық киім киіп, әсем әшекей тағынған ата-аналар мен оқушылар да жаңа жылымыздың
жарқын өтуіне көтеріңкі көңіл күймен белсене атсалысты. Әр сынып ұжымы өздеріне бөлінген салт-дәстүрлер туралы сахналық қойылымдар дайындап, би билеп, әннен шашу шашты. Наурыз мейрамының осындай ерекше лепте өтуіне үлес қосқан барлық сыныптар
«Сен білесің бе?»
•«Beatles» әндерінде «махаббат» сөзі 613 рет кездеседі. •Тибеттік сопылар тұрып та ұйықтай алады. •Коала – тәулігіне 22 сағат ұйықтайтын тіршілік иесі. •Көптеген қылмыс түрлері сейсенбі күндері орын алады екен. •Құндыздардың тісі өсуін ешқашан тоқтатпайды. •Тарақандар бассыз 9 күнге дейін өмір сүре алады.
•Адам миының 80% судан тұрады. •Күнделікті қара шоколадты тұтыну - тері қартаюның алдын алады. •Күніне 7 минут уақытыңызды фитнес-жаттығуларына арнасаңыз, қандағы қант мөлшерінің көбеюінің алдын аласыз. •Еуропада алғашында қызанақты улы өсімдіктер қатарына жатқызған. Интернет желісінен алынды
алғыс хаттармен марапатталды. Біз де өз кезегімізде баршаңызды Наурыз мерекесімен құттықтай отырып, жаңа жылдың жетістік мен жақсылыққа толы болуын тілейміз! Гүлжайна Дәнеева Қазақ тілі мұғалімі
Learning Feelings and Emotions Before we begin our day, I usually ask my pupils “how are you feeling today?” and knowing their feelings is truly important to me. “Feelings and Emotions” is our topic today. On this lesson, they begin to understand more about feelings and how to react to their emotions as well. To find the topic more interesting and engaging we make an “Emoji”
bookmark of happy, sad, and angry emoji. Following that, we sing a song “The more we get together”. It is a great time for children to learn the social skills of being together and expressing their feelings. Miss Ashiela L. Machon Kindergarten Homeroom Teacher Precious Kids
Dream Big. Sky is the Limit! Dream is an integral part of an early age life. It is one of the best ways of enjoying their childhood. It is also a good way of expressing their feelings and emotions regardless of the children’s differences. They are all capable of dreaming. Every child has their own dream even how impossible it is. “I want to be a Super Hero”, “I want
to be a princess” and “I want to fly like the birds in the sky”. Those are the examples of dreams that these young minds have. No matter how different their imaginations, skills, abilities and understanding of life are, it is important to dream big and always fly high just like a kite………. Julie Ann Bacay Busy Bees Homeroom Teacher
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Group Playing
Young children need to see themselves as capable mathematicians. Child-guided and child-focused explorations and teacher-guided Maths activities help children practice and consolidate their learning. This helps them feel confident about what they know and can do. They are also natural mathematicians. They push and pull toys, stack blocks, and fill and empty cups of water in the sink. All of these activities allow young children to experience math concepts as they experiment with spatial
awareness, measurement, and problem solving. As we continue to explore more on maths, we made a caterpillar using numbers 1 to 10. They had the chance to identify numbers 1 to 10 and arranged them correctly to complete the set. They enjoyed cutting and pasting the numbers and compare their work to their classmates. It was indeed one of the interesting activities to let them embrace Maths which includes patters, sorting and counting objects. Miss Candy Abogada Sunshine Kids Homeroom Adviser
the skills needed for an individual to become a better person. In this kind of game the kids will learn to be kind, to resolve conflicts, to build friendship, to respect others, to communicate their thought and feelings, to share and take turns and a lot more. Julie Ann Bacay Busy Bees Homeroom Teacher
Numbers Are Cool! Learning about numbers is a preschooler’s step forward becoming a budding young Mathematician. And in preschool, Math learning is all about counting, numbers recognition and one-toone correspondence. Matching up of a verbal or written number with an object is very interesting for them. The children recite nursery rhymes and sing songs that include counting such as: Five Little Ducks, Five Green Speckled Frogs and There were Ten in the Bed. Kids are happy if they count things that are familiar to them, as she/he plays or helps fixing toys/
things. Playful, hands-on games are the most effective and fun activities for the way young children learn. I instructed them to get some toys/ things inside the classroom and count them. They started to count and some of them told me “ I have three blocks” or “ I got one car”.. Counting toys, crayons, books or other things will maintain their attention and have more meaning for them. This will give the kids opportunity to practice counting in a funny and playful manner. Mrs. Rowena Kabigting Rainbow Kids Homeroom Teacher
Creative Hands Creativity is a ret of skills which one can use to turn every simple thing into a wonderful one. It’s a way of putting one’s style or ideas to make a fabulous creation. The Busy Bees created
a clock out of different colors of papers. They tried to do their best to finish the craft independently and creatively. Julie Ann Bacay Busy Bees Homeroom Teacher
PRE-SCHOOL
“Making a caterpillar with numbers”
Kindergarten is all about playing. It’s all about enjoying at the same time learning at their early age. It’s the stage that will let them develop in the variety of ways. Group activities are more memorable and joyous especially if they share them with friends. It is irreplaceable gems that provide a foundation for the development of
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The World Scholar’s Cup On 31 March and 1 April, our school, Spectrum International School, was hosting one of the biggest events this year - The World Scholar’s Cup. This competition is truly one of the most interesting and challenging tournaments of this year. We are really glad to announce, that since the beginning
among the whole Central Asia. On behalf of Spectrum International School, I want to thank every Scholar from Kyrgyzstan that visited the Astana Round this year, and congratulate them on successful performance in all challenges. Students from Kyrgyzstan showed great set of
of the first ever round in Kazakhstan and whole Central Asia in 2014, the number of participants in Astana round reached almost 400 participants.Our school hosted students from all over Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, from cities like Karaganda, Bishkek, Atyrau and so on. This year’s round in Astana was my first ever participation in the Scholar’s Cup, and I only have the best memories of this amazing event. Even though the challenges were really hard, and required a really good knowledge of English language, as well as a huge factual knowledge in many different areas, such as Science, Art or History, we were really happy to see that all the participants showed great skills and knowledge which shows that the level of English language and overall studies is rapidly developing
skills in different areas and were awarded with many trophies and gold medals. These students proved, that Kyrgyzstan’s young generation is talented, hardworking and smart. In my opinion, tournaments like these are really important to both of our countries, as they help to create friendship and encourage cooperation between the two fraternal countries. I really hope, that I will have an opportunity to meet other scholars from your country in this year’s Global Round. We can not wait to meet you here again next year, and only hope that you will bring even more capable scholars. Until then, I can only wish all the best to every student from Kyrgyzstan out there, and hope that your next year will be even more amazing and interesting. Ernis Malabayev Grade 11A
My World Scholar’s Cup 2017 (Astana Round) Experience The World Scholar’s Cup is one really big, cool and organized competition. It was hosted by Spectrum International School for the third time now. It consists of four competitions: the Team Debates, Collaborative
so difficult and mind boggling. But our efforts paid off and we are going to the Global rounds in Athens. The WSC gave me the confidence I need and the critical thinking I must always
Writing, Scholar’s Challenge and Scholar’s Ball. My team and I had prepared for this competition for six weeks and I was sick during the first two. After the long hard nerve wracking preparations and practice, we can honestly say we didn’t exactly breeze through the 11-hour competition. It was
carry. In addition, I developed a deeper friendship and respect with my teammates Amirali and Asylhan. I will always treasure the memories of this glorious day and my six medals (2 gold and 4 silver) are my source of pride and joy. Aiya Suleyeva Grade 5A
What really matters most (Looking back at WSC 2017 ) I think I learnt many things from the World Scholar’s Cup. As a worldwide event spanning different countries, we find hundreds of hopefuls vying for the various events and at the end of the twoday affair, they find themselves
oneself. Even if we win or lose, failure isn’t really that bad. FAIL means First Attempt in Learning. The competition isn’t useless if we see that we have learnt something from it and we become more complete than when we started
going home with various feelings. I really studied and practiced hard for this event every day since I joined. I think the others did the same and I am so proud of the students of my school, Spectrum IS. We all gave our best in this competition. For those who would like to join the World Scholar’s Cup events next year, my first advice for them is to remember that the main goal is not really to win BUT to enrich
out. Second advice is, to study hard and hard-arm yourself with a lot of readings and third, never give up, should you hear criticism. Always see them as constructive feedback. Some of our scholars will certainly go to the Global Round in July and we truly wish them all the best in the next round. Aim high everybody! Danial Askargaliev Grade 5A
The World Scholar’s Cup 2017 The WSC (World Scholar`s Cup) was held in our lordly school, Spectrum International School, during 31st-1st March. Almost 400 scholars (students) participated. There were so many scholars that our school was very crowded. The first day, we had lots of fun activities. They were Team Debates, Collaborative Writing and 120-question Scholar`s Challenge. Personally, our favorite part was the debate. The second day was in Kazmedia. We had the Scholar`s Bowl, Debate Showcase and the
Scholar`s Show. We really had a lot of fun. We also had closing ceremony. Some Scholars cried because they are going to Global Round! The Global Round is going to be held in Hanoi, Cape Town and Athens. A lot of students from our school will participate in the Global Round. The WSC was a great time for us to learn, enjoy and make new friends at the same time. We hope more students from our school will participate next year. Kim Min Yong, 4a
6A Class Show Last week my 6A class performed on our school’s big stage with a show called «Spectrum - one love». Almost all of my classmates took part in the show, wishing to express their love
competing with each other. Another game called «musical chairs» and parody dances really made people laugh. Some serious notes were added
& respect to the school, which is our second home, where we grow, get a lot of knowledge and skills, learn
by a moral sketch that showed how modern devices like cell phones, computers and other gadgets
to communicate, reveal personal qualities and talents. As I announced the opening of the show with a group dance, the
actually deprive us of natural communication in the family. One of the brightest and memorable thing in the program was
spectators got very excited and gave their big applause. After the dance, Mozart’s famous piano piece «Für Elise» performed by Zhanaidar reminded us of how amazing and eternal the classical music is. Ansar and Askhat played «free style» with a ball and involved our teachers Mr. Resul & Mr. Hameed as well as other students of the school in the game. So they all had fun
a parent performance by Mrs. Lyazzat who beautifully played dombra piece «Kurmangazy kuyi» . The whole show brought lots of positive vibes to all of us. And I believe if we had had a little more time for preparation, we could have done even better. So for more fun and good energy the show must go on:) Dalilkhan Kissanov Grade 6A
Infomatrix 2017 People have a certain interest in robotics and it is increasing potentially. To make the new generation more curious and passionate about robots, several
Talha) and Line Follower (6A Kenci Suleyman Kerim, Kenci Muhammed Kemal) with Lego edition. Our school participated in such on event for the first time,
competitions have been held in different countries around the globe. InfoMatrix Asia & Pacific invites the best minds from around the world to compete in Robotics category as well. It is an international computer project competition, born from a desire to bring the world’s best IT students together. The competition is not just about promoting professional excellence; it also serves to promote intercultural dialogue and cooperation, through the involvement of students and teachers from many different countries. Starting from 2013, Suleyman Demirel University organizes
despite this, students showed their best and got silver medal in Mini Sumo competition, where the main difficulty is - designing a heavy and strong robot; in Line following racing competition we got a bronze medal, where programming part is more important. Prizes and Awards in Infomatrix are awesome and valuable. The participants were awarded with 30%, 50% and 100% tuition waiver for education in the Faculty of Engineering at Suleyman Demirel University (SDU Grant) based on their absolute places in each category. After project assignment day,
Infomatrix Asia competition in Kaskelen, Almaty. This year, nearly 200 students from more than 20 countries participated in 4 main categories: Computer Programming (Algorithms and Data structures, Web and Mobile app development), Computer Graphics and Art (Short movie and Graphics), Hardware Control Systems and Robotics (Mini Sumo, Line Follower Robot). Students from Spectrum International School participated in building and programming robots like Mini Sumo (9A - Gul Emre Furkan, Gesen
all participants had opportunity to join city tour, where they went for sightseeing mountain valleyMedeu, and Kazakh National Museum, which presents collections regarding the history of art and ethnology of Kazakhstan and Central Asia. Overall, trip to Almaty and participating in InfoMatrix Asia & Pacific project competition had enormous impact on every student, like: making new friends, exchanging ideas, team working and collaboration. Uldana Mamirey ICT teacher
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Nauryz Celebration Interestingly enough this year Nauryz Celebration took place right before CIS/NEASC Accreditation, which on the other hand demonstrated our rich culture to 8 international educators from all over the planet. This was the opportunity for them as well to get to know Kazakh culture and the spirit of Nauryz Celebration. According to them, Nauryz was a great success and Spectrum Internation School classes showed an amazing first impression. Grade 4A had their own village. We were supposed to demonstrate Kazakh Traditional Greetings. In our
culture, greetings differ from elderly people to younger generation, from men and women, from khans to average citizens. When school guests consisting of 6 staff members visited our village, class of 4A demonstrated Cultural Greetings of men and women, elderly people and youth, and ancient khans and general people. The certificate for «The Best Dastarkhan» was given to us for great traditional food we had in our village. These all happened with the help of our parents, with their great support and presence on this special event. Akerke Andagul Grade 4A Teacher Assistant
Nauryz is the Kazakh New Year Nauryz is a special celebration for Kazakh people. Nauryz is the Kazakh New Year. During the celebration, we had lots of fantastic moments and we really enjoyed it. There were more than 10 yurts outside the school. There was also Nauryz-kozhe which is one of the special and delicious dishes in Kazakhstan. We ate lots of tasty baursaks. We had a big concert outside, grandmas and grandpas recited beautiful poems and sang songs on stage. Many people wore traditional Kazakh costumes. After watching the concert outside we went to our classroom. We decorated our
classroom with Kazakh traditional yurt. We laid dastarkhan with our national food. All of us wore Kazakh national costumes. Next, we had our great concert. At the beginning of the concert our girls did shashu. Candies from shashu were delicious we ate them all up! After that Abylay`s father played the role of an aksakal, (respectable old person) gave blessings (Bata) to everyone. Then we showed performances such as dancing, singing, karate show and meaningful poems. It was a fun and an amazing day in our life! Grade 3B
Welcome Nauryz
Nauryz means abundance for the coming spring time. Nauryz is the best day for Kazakhs! The men built many yurts outside the school. On Nauryz we had dastarkhan full of national food like shubat, kymyz, plov, manty, baursaks and Beket’s mom baked a special cake for us.
We recifed bata, poems and sang a song called “Mereke”. All my friends and school teachers put on Kazakh national dresses and shapan. We had an unforgettable Nauryz Celebration! Futtu Demir Mehmet Grade 2A
Happy Nauryz Celebration of Grade 8s
Nauryz resembles the beginning of new year and new season, and formerly being a nomadic country it is a very important holiday for Kazakhstan. As the school is located on Kazakh land, this holiday gives a good opportunity to share and demonstrate Kazakh culture, customs, national food and spirit of ‘’Nauryz toi” (the process of celebration of Nauryz) not only among local stakeholders, but among foreign students, parents and staff as well. This year, a combined celebration was held for 8a and 8b classes. Parents and students decorated the classroom similar to
ancient nomadic houses along with traditional furniture, which led to positive atmosphere. Furthermore, a rich table with delicious national dishes and drinks was served for the participants and guests. Our grade was assigned to demonstrate ‘At koyu’ (naming a newborn child) and ‘Shildehana’ (baby shower) customs, and during the celebration time parents, students and guests enjoyed the process of performance. Everyone appreciated Nauryz and had a nice time, and even late celebration of Nauryz was not an obstacle to enjoy the holiday. Aikorkem Zhapparova Homeroom Teacher
Nauryz feast Nauryz is a lovely holiday, there are lots of activities to do. For example, picking up things from the ground while sitting on a horse or swinging on a special swing. In our class we did it differently. We gave a concert for our parents and teachers. We also got to eat traditional foods and have drinks such as bayrsak and kimiz. I also really enjoyed looking around the playground area. There were some fantastic yurts and dombra players to listen to. Aiganym Salken, 4B
Last Saturday we celebrated Nauryz. We practiced a lot for the concert. We did a concert about Nauryz. I was so excited. My mother and my little sister watched me. We sang a song and danced. First we helped our teacher to decorate our class. There were lots of traditional foods that our mothers brought. We watched outside other grades concert. Then we came to our class and showed our performances. I think everybody liked. Zeynep Karaca, 5B
Nauryz!
Nauryz is here! Nauryz is a very important holiday for Kazakhs, which marks the beginning of a new year. It is celebrated several days starting
time are shown to public. Mother already recovers by this time from childbirth and is restored physically. The child completes the
from 21st of March, the day of the spring equinox. Nauryz means ‘new day’, it is celebrated in the Great Steppes from ancient times. Nauryz symbolizes goodness
most difficult period of adaptation to life in new house conditions, there is a strengthening and formation of all systems of his organism. Besides the fact of the birth, «kyrkynan shygaru» is a
and wealth, happiness and love and a great friendship day, since this holiday is common for many nations. Spectrum International School celebrated it on 15th of April. 3A grade and other classes decorated the class in Kazakh national style, made traditional nomad houses, that is called “yurt” and rich dastarkhan (table). Also the guests came to us. Parents of 3A showed them the Kazakh tradition which is named “kyrkynan shygaru” 40 days of the child life. Kyrkynan shygaru is the first boundary which a child passes adapting to independent life. It is most often the first time when a mother and a child for the first
joyful holiday when for the kid and his parents the new light way with the kindest, pure and important wishes open. The parents cooked Nauryz kozhe. Besides, other traditional Kazakh meals, such as beshbarmak, kuyrdak, baursak, and many types of meals made from milk (kurt, cream, butter, cheese, etc) are also offered. Our school was full of yurts, and many performances took place there. All parents and children ware beautiful national clothes, listened to and sang Kazakh songs and played musical instruments, etc. The atmosphere was very happy and patriotic. Liyalana Kazangapova Teacher assistant
Nauryz is a holiday of spring Nauryz is a holiday of spring and the renewed life of the Earth. As it was our first Nauryz holiday with grade 1A, it was relaxed and everyone seemed to enjoy this occasion. I`m really amazed at Grade 1A parents as they helped with decoration and brought lots of items for the coming event. We had a huge amount of food and traditional items (literally HUGE) with traditional dressing such as obviously were: «Beshbarmak», «Palau», «Nauryz kozhe»,«kymyz »and so on. First of all we welcomed guests from entrance with «Shashu» – kazakh greeting with candies.
They recifed Kazakh poems on this occasion, girls were dancing a traditional Kazakh dance. Afterwards, children sang «Here comes the sun» song by Beatles. In the end, I would like to say how grateful I`m for all grade 1A parents and have special message addressed to our grade 1A parents. Once again you set the tone for the year by helping us run a successful Nauryz celebration. Ms Lorena and I appreciate your help and support. With all the last minute snags, we worried that something would fall through the cracks, but you anticipated every contingency. Several comments
Grateful words for 1 A Parents Thank you for being in good spirits . Thank you for you eagerness to help and to take part . Thank you for your time consuming. Thank you very much for the extra help you gave me. Thank you for your collaboration . Thank you for all you advice .
Before the beginning of concert all guests and parents gave a big hug to each other and wished good fortune and happiness . And than our concert started, first of all we demonstrated traditional games such as: “Akshamshyk” and “Takuya alu” with a few parents involvement.
on how well you had organized the event. We are fortunate to have you donate your time on occasions like this. On behalf first of all Ms Lorena me, we express heartfelt thanks for all you do. Alua Shahmetova Grade 1A Teacher Assistant
Upper Secondary Nauryz Celebration On 15 April we celebrated Kazakh traditional day - Nauryz. Nauryz is actually a Turkic New Year and the official Nauryz day is 22th of March, when the day and the night equalize in terms of time. However, our school always celebrates Nauryz in April due to the weather conditions. This year, the celebration was just fabulous, we would penetrate into 16th century Kazakh land. Kazakh
national houses called «Kiyiz Uy» were everywhere around us and all guests could taste different Kazakh national dishes such as «Bauyrsak», «Beshparmak» and some drinks as well, for instance «Kumyz» and «Shubat». Moreover, every class was in charge of organization of its own performance, thus 11th grade organized the performance of «Betashar», which is a tradition
that makes a young bride introduce herself to the new family. Furthermore, our lower grades had a chance to enjoy Kazakh national games such as «Arkan tartu» that was organized at the playground. Everything was accompanied Kazakh national music. What also made us happy was that the weather was just perfect for organizing such a great event. We appreciate our
teachers that helped us to organize our performances and we would like to say special thank you to Mrs Meruert and Miss Banu, who were in charge of organizing this incredible event. We also appreciate all parents who participated in our performances and just came to enjoy this day with us. Alizhan Askargaliyev Grade 11A
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Talking to Your Child’s Teacher Main points: • Meet the teacher with an aim in mind • Having a purpose and being prepared for a discussion with your child’s teacher will help achieve the desired outcome. • Working together with the school can benefit your child’s learning in the classroom and at home. Raising an issue There are two types of conversations you could have with your child’s teacher: a short discussion over a simple, minor matter or an in-depth discussion over an ongoing issue or something more serious, which usually requires an appointment with the teacher. Some common issues that are raised with teachers include: • How well my child is doing with their school work • Improving my child’s reading • Identifying my child’s strengths • Improving subjects that my child is not strong in
• How my child gets on with other children • Concerns about things going on in your family.
should: • Be clear about what they want to discuss • Have an idea of what
Some things you can do to prepare for these discussions include finding the right time to talk to your child’s teacher and being prepared ahead of time for these discussions. We suggest that you keep the following in mind and that you
you would like to happen or what outcome you would like to achieve • Talk about current issues and try not to bring up things that happened in the past or are not relevant to what is happening now
• Come with a positive attitude with the understanding that you and the school will work together in a way that benefits your child’s learning • Make a plan and decide together what the teacher will work on in the classroom and how you can help at home • Decide how you will keep in touch with your child’s teacher – by phone, email or follow-up meetings. Finding the right time To find the right time for having a discussion, you could start by asking your child’s teacher if they have time to talk or when it might be convenient for them to do so. It may not be practical to have an extended conversation lasting more than a couple of minutes during drop-off and pick-up times at school. It is probably best if you arrange a time when you and your child’s teacher could sit down and discuss the issue in detail without distractions. David Key Primary Vice Principal
Parent Teacher home visit to share their own jobs with their everyday work about the house and children make all of them forget about simple and at the same time important things as little attention to children’s school lives. That is why the policy of school visiting students’ homes helps first of all our children to be in the centre of this event, to show their hospitality and to be the key of comprehension between parents and teachers. These warm meetings help parents and teachers to reveal new qualities of their children as preparation to the meeting, cooking, baking, helping parents and showing simple respect and kindness to their guests. Dinara Abdrahmanova Mother of Tamila Abdrahmanova (Grade 9 student)
From the point of view of the parents, school is the second home for their children and every supportive parent tries to know as much as possible how his or her child studies and coexists at school. At the same time the policy of those schools that placed the utmost importance to their students ordinary out-ofschool lives and their interests, their parents and homes also deserve great attention. This policy of school helps teachers, parents and students establish close relations with each other for achieving educational and pedagogic objectives. Nowadays living in such extreme life conditions when students’ parents are always busy with their own jobs and even those mothers - housewives who have
Momo’s story, a continuation (Inspired by Momo by Michael Ende) The months quickly passed. Momo’s home in the ruins became more comfortable than before. She had a big messy mattress with a small pillow and a table with some money she got from her neighbors. She became taller and bigger due to eating some food. She however remained always hungry. One day, a tourist who visited the ruins noticed the neighborhood and decided to visit out of curiosity. Not everybody was happy for the visit, especially Momo. She was scared with her eyes opened widely. The woman spoke, ”I’m sorry to interrupt but I heard that there is a girl who lives here.” Momo became more terrified, she was so scared her heart raced rapidly. She couldn’t speak and tell the woman that this is her home, the ruins. “Hello there, Little Girl. I heard that you don’t have a home, I can help you!” said the woman as she held her hand. Momo hit the woman’s hand and said. “Don’t hold my hand! I don’t need
anyone!” The woman calmly spoke, “You may act like an inedependent little person but you are a child and I know that you are beate…” But before the lady could finish Momo ran away from the Amphitheater and ran, ran, ran far away. Wait! Momo! Everybody started to run after her. “I won’t let anybody hurt me again!”, Momo screamed. A few minutes passed and they lost sight of her. In the deeper part of the forest, she found herself resting on a tree branch. She quietly thought about what took place. She was tired and wanted to sleep. She fell asleep very fast. Hours passed and she woke up as it was dark. She opened her eyes to see a bird lying on the ground. She climbed down the tree and held the bird which was blue and so tiny. The bird went, “Chirp, chirp” so weakly. Momo thought it needed something to eat. Seeing a worm nearby, she gave it to the bird. The bird happily ate it. “He he he, I will name you Chirpy! You will be my friend!” And Momo was happy. Almina Chimbayeva Grade 5A
My gymnastics competition in Kazan I recently joined a Gymnastics competition in Kazan. We flew from Almaty and my group travelled for three hours. We arrived in Kazan in the evening. The following day, the smallest or should I say the youngest in our group performed first. While they were performing, we spent the next two days exercising. From our team, two girls landed 3rd place.
On our third day in Kazan, we who were in the ten-year old bracket performed. I felt so nervous because there were 1000 people in the audience and there were twenty places. I was able to get in the top 20, I got the 14th place to be exact. I was so happy and this inspires me to continue gymnastics, my beloved sport. Jasmin Kasimova, Grade 5
Jiu-Jitsu There was real excitement in the primary school this month when two of our pupils returned home from The World Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Junior Championships in Abu Dhabi with medals. Samikhan Assylkhan, 2B , returned home with a silver medal in the 28kg category. Meanwhile
his older brother, Yerasyl, in 4A, managed a bronze in the 34kg weight division. Well done to both boys and let’s hope that there are more medals on the way!! Robert Jenkins Grade 4A Homeroom Teacher
Cooking club Food is an extremely pleasurable, nourishing part of life, and we get to share it with people: that’s amazing. But food is also a very normal, everyday thing, like sleeping, reading, and taking a walk. So, baking and cooking or even making salads with children is not only a lovely bonding experience, but it can give them the confidence they need to be self-sufficient, creative cooks as they grow older, however you should take everything under your control. First time in cooking club we made cookies with boys. I took
charge of rolling out the dough, and then the boys went to work with their chosen cookie cutters. Finally, we had baked heart, flower and some “donut” shaped cookies for mothers and girls. But second time my little chefs were our grade 2A girls. We made fruit salad which is full of vitamins and very healthy during springtime. Now I know that my girls can wash dishes and can cut up soft fruits. In general, my sweet girls showed all their cooking abilities and were delightful. Altynai Kosherbayeva Grade 2A Teacher Assistant
Greatest shape The students will have a very good work in the end result of the activity. Where both imagination and group work were at the forefront.
Changing Shape
They have made the greatest shape ever made. We congratulate our students for their good work.
Changing Shape Every day, you push and pull many things. Push and pulls are example of force. Forces can start and stop things moving. They can also make things get faster, slow down and change direction. Forces can change the shape of things. Grade 3A explored how some
materials can change shapes when a force is exerted on them. These practical activities helped them to find out what happens when materials were stretched, bent, twisted, squashed or carved. Eleanor Guno Primary Teacher
Reading First class is reading now. The learning of letters is over. From now on they will read the books themselves. They will tell their stories.
We congratulate all of our students for their diligent work. Mustafa Aksoy Turkish Language Teacher
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What College Should You Go To? How to Choose a College? As a Secondary school student, you might be overwhelmed and scared by the college search process. You’re probably asking yourself, «What college should I go to? What college is right for me?»
It’s not easy to choose a college that’s right for you, especially when you have over 2,000 options in the US alone! To find a school that will truly make you happy, you have to be honest with yourself about what components will make up the most fulfilling college experience based on your interests and personality. This article will give you the tools you need to choose a college that’s
the right fit for your goals. Here Are Some More Questions to Ask about Your Academic Preferences: What are your greatest academic strengths and weaknesses? •Do you prefer learning in a small discussion group or in a large lecture class environment? •What was your favorite class in high school? •How do you do with academic struggles and pressure? •Do you take a lot of advanced classes? What’s your GPA and how does it compare to other students at your school? •Do you have any learning disabilities or concerns that might impact your academics? Here Some Non-Academic Questions to Ask about What You Want Out of Your College Experience: •Are you kind of a hermit or do you plan to party it up? •Do you like quiet, natural
settings or an exciting city life with tons of stuff to do (or something in between)? •Are you ready to be far from home? •What values are most important to you? What are your political leanings? •Is cost a factor that you need to take into account? •What are your favorite activities, and which ones do you want to continue pursuing in college? •Are sports important to you? •What are you proud of about yourself, and what makes you unique? Based on your answers to these questions, you can create more focused search criteria. If you know you want to be close to home, for example, just look at schools in your state. If you have a unique passion or talent, find schools that have organizations to help nourish that talent. It’s important to have access to
creative outlets and a pleasant living environment that lends itself to learning and having fun at the same time. The academic offerings at a school may be excellent, but that doesn’t mean you should go there without considering how you’ll feel about the social scene or the surrounding area. The most important question to ask yourself is «What makes me happiest?» Even if you feel like you “have” to go to a certain school or your parents are pushing you in a particular direction, try to focus on what YOU really want. If prestige is a priority for you, that’s fine, but make sure it’s actually valuable to you and not just to your parents or others who might influence you. College is four years of your life, and that’s not something to take lightly. You’re the one who will be having this experience - not your parents, not your friends, and not your teachers. Nuh Ozdin Career Councelor
Getting the 2nd place in «Quintessence» Intellectual Olympiad The movement for the development of creative and intellectual abilities of young generation is one of the most promising and significant means on the way to the innovative future of Kazakhstan. Therefore, we try to get our school community to wholeheartedly engage in various activities and events in order to foster a wholeschool climate and promote collaborative culture among the school community. In the framework of partnership and its desire to have the most educated youth in Kazakhstan «KAZGUU University» JSC held the first intellectual Olympiad «Quintessence» among pupils and students, which was organised on the 14th of April, 2017. The purpose of the Olympiad was to create the conditions for creativity, professional development interests and reveal intellectual potential among youthes. Thus gifted students of the most famous schools of Astana including “Bilim”Innovation Schools, Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools, Nurorda
school-lyceum and Republic Physicist-Mathematician school participated in this Olympiad. Working languages were Kazakh, Russian and English. Students of Spectrum IS had successfully
oratorical skills of Kuantkhan Margulan, a 10th-grade student, who showed his amazing resourcefulness, ingenuity and critical thinking ability. While content of program was
participated in this competiton and got second place. It should be emphasized that team of our school received a prize of audience sympathy. Especially teachers, students and guest were impressed by the brilliant
focusing on the 21st century skills, social studies, history and culture, most of the tasks were based on a сompetence-oriented style. Moreover students of KAZGUU had prepared amazing role plays, which provided mental pabulum
for participants and motivated them to demonstrate their problem solving, analyzing and summarising skills. The olympiad was carried out in three stages: The 1st stage «Intellectual warm-up» The 2nd stage «Getting to know yourself» The 3rd stage «Erudite». Undoubtedly all participants possessed their sense of humour, creativity, amiability, sociability, opennes to the dialogue. Consequently all this was mentioned by Mr. Rakhimbek Zholayev, Director of the General Education School of «KAZGUU University» JSC, when he was awarding winners of the contest. Carrying out the results of the Olympiad the adjudicators revealed the winners as in the individual and as the team competition. Panel of judges was formed of teachers, special guests and the most advanced students. Participants were awarded with certificates and memorable prizes. Satanov Arstan Teacher of History of Kazakhstan
Alumni voices Spectrum International School gave a great foundation to start build my college knowledge on. I am a true believer that with hard work nothing is impossible. Spectrum allows you to study in a very diverse environment, you could find students and teachers from all over the world. During my last year I was stressing out a lot about getting into college. At school there where counselors that would help you with your applications and exam preparation for the universities you want to apply to. It was nice to know that my school got my back. For my application essays
I would write about the lifechanging events I participated in Spectrum, like MUN and World Scholar’s Cup (great competitions, highly recommend them). Spectrum and the teachers there gave me all the resources and knowledge for me to grow both as a student and as a human being. I succesfully finished my SATs, IELTS and essay applications and got into University of Wisconsin Madison, which is recognized as one of the most prestigious universities in America. Aida Ramanculova Class of 2016
Gatebox: robots as your friend and family What if technology has already started replacing people? In Japan, for instance, a lot of people are interested in virtual reality with its
unique wonders. Let’s consider their incredible innovation - Virtual Home Robot from Vinclu company. You might be shocked, but holographic ‘waifu’ can keep house for lonely people, or salarymen, to be precise. To begin with, term waifu is also understood as anime character in Japanese culture. Holographic waifu, Azuma Hikari, can respond to your words, wish you a good day,
wait for your coming after work and put an end to loneliness. Devcie is connected to the house, so that when it is time for person to return from work, home light is turned on, showing that there is someone waiting for you. This is a wonderful idea not only for anime-lovers, otakus, but for everyone who wants to experience something absolutely new and breathtaking. Undoubtedly its price is quite high due to being the only one of its kind, ¥321,840 (about $2,700 US). Despite this, it can be bought online and its demand in Japan is constantly increasing. Surely, this is another huge step forwards for humans. Along with other robots created in Japan, such as Asimo, QRIO, Actroid, the number of intelligent technoloigy rises rapidly. With this speed, can you imagine what will be invented tomorrow? Zhuldyz Kapysh Grade 11A
The health and fitness benefits of sport
How sport can enrich your life, whatever your age or ability
satisfaction of developing your fitness and skills. • Sports can help you fight depression and anxiety. •Sports allow you to challenge yourself and set goals. •Playing sports helps strengthen bones. •Sports help aid coordination, balance and flexibility. •Many sports can help improves stamina and concentration. •If you are sporty then you are more likely to have a healthy lifestyle. •Sports allow you to experience the highs and lows of both winning and losing! •If you are tempted to take up a new sport why not check out our sports section and find a sport to suit you. {PAIN IS TEMPORARY GREATNESS IS FOREVER….} Rodolfo Fuentes Physical Education Teacher
Let’s face it, can we live without our mobile phones? It is quite apparent that mobile phone technology has brought us a long way. It is more than just mobile phones and smartphones nowadays. Their very existence has improved our lives in many different aspects. Mobile technology brings people closer together through social media by allowing us to send private messages, audio messages, take high quality pictures and videos and more so, make video calls. Furthermore, it provides us with various ways to entertain ourselves, letting us choose the most comfortable ways to relax in our
spare time. Proof is the existence of numerous applications to choose from.
Unlike the mobile phones of yesterday, we can do more than just make a phone call now with our phones. We have access to the
internet, allowing us to browse the net ,play games and read e-books too. But here’s the catch, the development of mobile technology really has its disadvantages. Although it brings a lot of convenience in our lives, it also influences us negatively both physically and mentally. We know that we overuse social media. As mobile phones have many convenient and entertaining features, a lot of people become less active, and do less social activities on their own such as visiting friends, buy things in a real store, talk about
Interesting facts
problems face to face amongst family members, etc. In time, many of us suffer from health issues due to lack of exercise and poor eyesight due to radiation from these electrical devices. To sum it all up, the most important issue is, how should we use mobile technology properly? As people get addicted to it, reality bites: we won’t be able to live without our mobile phones. Let us take a long hard look at using them properly and not to rely on it completely. Mira El Mostafa Grade 9A
FUN PAGE
Playing sports generally is good for your health. We’ve compiled a quick fire list of the many health and fitness benefits from being involved in playing sports. For most people, taking part in sport improves your general health and wellbeing. There are plenty of reasons why you should become involved in sport with reduced body fat, bone strengthening, improved stamina and flexibility being some of the reasons why you should take up a sport. The following are just some of the many health and fitness benefits of starting out in a new sport... • Playing sports helps reduce body fat or controls your bodyweight. • Through sports you will meet people with a similar interest to yourself and are likely to gain many new friends. • Sports allow you to gain the
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AS-Level preparation Exams dates are getting closer and closer, which means that scholars need to collect themselves and prepare, morally and academically. Surely, there are different ways to approach this interesting challenge. Some students love to create a special schedule; others just work on the areas they feel they have to prepare for. Therefore, we decided to have an interview to find out what 11 grade students do and feel about the upcoming AS-level. ‘While IGCSE was a preparation for the syllabus we have now, this year we feel more pressure because AS-level is very important for universities and for building our knowledge base. I have high expectations, but also realise that having good grades is not the
only thing that determines our success. To reduce the stress I use meditation. For studying, podcasts
‘Because I rely on self-studying, I do not have any stress. School is a part of our life, but life is a long
help me a lot to learn and memorize everything.’
road; so I think not only the grades, but knowledge overall is important.’
‘To be honest, we feel terrified and stressful because of the ASlevel. [We are] being under pressure and trying best by ourselves. For this, summaries and videos help us the most.’ ‘It is very hard, but hopefully will worth the effort we give. Actually, even being fully prepared does not guarantee a good mark, making me really stressed.’ ‘We have AS-level exams, as well as our own homework and midterms. I cannot say that this affects the quality of our preparation, but it makes me think that now is a moment to be careful with good and strict time-management. This way, I hope everything will be organized and we will do our best.’ Zhuldyz Kapysh Grade 11A
Student-Teacher Interview Was adapting to the Kazakh environment difficult for you when you first moved here? Sometimes when I’m here, I feel like it’s an Australian summer inside, because you guys like to keep the classrooms very toasty. I find your summers here very similar to Australia, but the winters can be very challenging. What’s the culture in Australia like? We are very relaxed. We like to describe ourselves as easy-going, so maybe it has something to do with the climate; we don’t like to get worked up and stressed, but we like to tackle every problem in
the most relaxed, easy-going way possible. Do you think there are any similarities between Kazakh and Australian cultures? Definitely. I find that the Kazakh people, that I’ve worked with, very friendly, and I like to think that Australians are just as friendly. What kind of national holidays do you celebrate? Most of our holidays fall in the summertime, like Australia Day. We also have a lot of holidays, which come from the British background, like we still celebrate the Queen’s birthday. What was it exactly that
made you want to relocate to Kazakhstan? Previously I’d lived in Georgia, Kyrgyzstan and Russia for work and study, and I was interested in exploring another place in this region and practicing Russian. What’s the thing you love most about your home country? The beach. Always the beach. If you go to my house, on the refrigerator I have a photograph of the beach I’ve taken, and so every morning I see that when I wake up. I’ve really loved all my time in Kazakhstan, but I do very much miss the beach. Mira El Mostafa, 9A
Fire Drill at Spectrum International School On Wednesday, April 12, another fire drill successfully took place at our school. We regularly have fire drills, which help us practice what to do in an event of fire and the ways to stay safe.
Monthly newspaper of Spectrum International School. Published in English and Kazakh since September 2015. Sole proprietor: Spectrum International School
At around 2:30 PM, the alarm blurted out, alerting everyone. While still blaring, the students, led by their respectable teachers, headed to the designated area: the school’s backyard. We followed
Head: Mr Muharrem Ustun Editor-in-chief: Ms Banu Abutalip Editorial Board: Mr Rinat Mautin Ms Jennifer Singson Zhuldyz Kapysh, Mira El Mostafa Designer: Zhandos Tursynaliyev Videographer, photographer: Sungat Izmakhan
our teachers, in a calm, orderly manner outside, where most of the students where already safely evacuated, waiting until it was safe to go back inside. Once everyone was present, our teachers took the
Newspaper office address: Spectrum International School 010000 Astana Kasym Amanzholov street Building 34 Tel: +77172427832 Fax: +77172427831 newspaper@spectrum.edu.kz spectrum.edu.kz
roll call to make sure no one was missing, while we were lining up. The fire drill, yet again, went along smoothly and safely. Mira El Mostafa Grade 9A
The views and opinions expressed in this newspaper are solely those of the authors and do not in any way represent the views of editorial office or Spectrum International School. Author works are not returned. Editorial Board may not be held accountable for the opinions and views of the authors. When citing a piece of information from this newspaper, please include a reference.