1 of 26

NEED TO READ NEWS

Colegio

Gran Bretaña

23rd April, 2021

2 of 26

3 of 26

From the Director

The Contingency Committee met to begin working on the logistics, and have decided that we will have to delay the start of Phase 4 due to the third wave (that still has not yet arrived), the alarming number of cases every day coupled with the ICU occupancy at 90% and the potential reality of Bogotá being shut down again.

Highlights of the week

From The Head of Secondary

End of Year Assessments (Year 9, Year 10, Year 12)

From the Head

of Primary

Just a friendly reminder to all families to please make sure the daily schedule (posted on Seesaw) is checked in order to ensure your child comes to school with all the resources required for lessons that day.

From the Deputy Head of Secondary

  • Year 12 End of Year Exams.
  • Year 11 IGCSE End of Year Timeline.
  • Year 10 End of Year Assessment.
  • Year 9 End of Year Assessment.
  • Year 9 IGCSE Options.

From the Medical Center

The Mayor's Office of Bogota and the central government have decreed a strict quarantine from Thursday, April 22nd from 8pm until Monday, April 26th at 4 am.

PTA Information

Taking into account that during the PTA Assembly held in June 2020, a financial aid was approved for those families that due to the pandemic, their family income was affected, causing inconveniences to meet the school fees payments, we want to share with you the protocols to follow, in case you want to access this financial aid, that will be given only once.

4 of 26

At a glance

From the Head of Secondary: Academic Council Updates - End of Year Assessments

CGB Digital

From the Director

From the Deputy Head of Secondary: Year 12 End of Year Exams - Mónica Woodward

MENU FOR THIS MONTH

From the Contingency Committee

CONTACT US

Need to Read News - 23rd April

From the Head of Primary: RESOURCES FOR FACE TO FACE LEARNING DAYS

From the Deputy Head of Secondary: Niall O´Kane

UNCOLI and Student Activities

From the Doctor’s Office

From the Food Committee

PTA Information

From the CEG Department

From the Performing Arts Department

5 of 26

From the Director

Planned strike action this Wednesday:

It is mind blowing to think that anyone would want to organise any type of civic action that involves lots of people together when it really is not safe to do so. However, on Wednesday that is exactly what is happening. We are monitoring the situation very carefully, and with the intelligence that we receive from various contacts at CGB we will make a decision on Tuesday as to whether school will open or if everyone will learn at home virtually. As always the safety of our children and staff is of the utmost importance.

Phase 4:

Thank you to everyone who signed their children up for Phase 4. We really appreciate the fast turn around. The Contingency Committee met to begin working on the logistics, and have decided that we will have to delay the start of Phase 4 due to the third wave (that still has not yet arrived), the alarming number of cases every day coupled with the ICU occupancy at 90% and the potential reality of Bogotá being shut down again. For the moment we will continue with Phase 3 using Model A and Model B, while behind the scenes we continue preparing our school for Phase 4 just as soon as it is safe to do so. The Calendar for May has been included for your information.

6 of 26

From the Director

COVID Cases at CGB:

In order to keep our whole community safe it is VITAL that the doctor be informed immediately if anyone in your household is either suspicious of COVID, or has been confirmed as positive. Dr. Carolina will guide you as to when the PCR tests must be carried out - if tests are done too quickly we will assume it is a false negative, we will not accept the results, and your child will need to complete 14 days of isolation at home. Dr. Carolina has been (and continues to be) a HUGE support to our whole community. She goes way above and beyond to keep us healthy, or support us when we are sick.

For now, this is not the time to take any risks whatsoever as the hospitals are full to bursting. This includes socialising out of school with friends and family. ANYONE can be positive, with or without symptoms. Just because someone may be asymptomatic does not mean that if they infect you you would also be asymptomatic.

PLEASE stay safe, be responsible, and look after each other.

Kind regards,

Robert

7 of 26

From the Head of Primary

It has been great to have so many people back on campus this week!

Just a friendly reminder to all families to please make sure the daily schedule (posted on Seesaw) is checked in order to ensure your child comes to school with all the resources required for lessons that day.

We also ask for your cooperation in ensuring that students do not bring additional toys or personal items to school. The presence of these can make it difficult for us to maintain health and safety protocols as the children often like to share their toys with friends and we need to minimise the opportunities where cross contamination can happen.

Thank you for your understanding and support.

RESOURCES FOR FACE TO FACE LEARNING DAYS

8 of 26

From the Head of Secondary

Academic Council Updates - End of Year Assessments

Year 9

Yesterday, the Academic Council met to approve the End of Year (EOY) assessments in Secondary. The Academic Council agreed that the YR9 EOY exams can be cancelled.

Although our Assessment Policy indicates YR9 are to have an EOY exam, the Academic Council felt Secondary could cancel the EOY exams this year for the YR9 students. This decision was approved by the Academic Council after several weeks of discussions with the Heads of Departments, Deputy Heads, and teachers.

YR10 & YR12

Yesterday, the Academic Council agreed that YR10 and YR12 students will have EOY exams because these 2 groups will possibly be sitting final, externally assessed exams next academic year, and the results of these exams may be required as evidence towards their predicted grade.

In addition, for YR12 students, the results of these assessments may be requested by universities for those applying for early admissions at universities next academic year.

Although we will not cancel the exams for Year 10 and Year 12, these exams will be modified for the students. We are doing everything to alleviate exam stress, yet still ensuring academic rigour in the event the examination boards require evidence OR conduct the final examinations in person next academic year.

We cannot disadvantage our students by not giving them the practice and opportunity to have the formal experience with what the examination boards will possibly ask of them.

Thank you for your support and understanding.

9 of 26

From The Deputy Head of Secondary

Mónica Woodward

Dear year 12 families,

Yesterday the Academic Council approved the format for the Year 12 EOY Exams.

Please note:

  • This assessment is a stand alone assessment and does not count as one of the Term 3 assessments.
  • The EOY exam is worth 20% of the YR12 final grade.
  • This exam grade will be used towards the first predicted grade checkpoint in YR12.
  • Students will present ONE exam paper per subject. Teachers can combine different components, but ONE paper only will be issued.
  • The timetable will be collapsed and students will be on study leave.
  • Students will have 2 assessments per day.
  • Exams will be virtual.
  • Only students with stated needs will be allowed to attend school to complete the exams.
  • Only content covered over YR12 can be examined.
  • Revision guides for all subjects will be shared with all.

Further details concerning these will be shared with you all via Phidias tomorrow afternoon.

Best wishes,

Monica Woodward

Year 12 End of Year Exams

10 of 26

From The Deputy Head of Secondary

Year 11 IGCSE End of Year Timeline

Niall O’Kane

11 of 26

From The Deputy Head of Secondary

Year 10 End of Year Assessments

Niall O’Kane

Dear Year 10 Parents,

Please note the following:

  • The End of Year assessments will take place between Tuesday, May 18th and Friday, May 28th during timetabled lessons.
  • We will try not to have more than 2 assessments per day
  • Each subject has chosen their own format in order to assess our Year 10 students

  • Some assessments will be projects
  • Some assessments will be exams
  • All assessments will be academically rigorous and prepare our Year 10s for their IGCSE exams next year
  • The End of Year assessments will count for 20% of the Year 10 GPAs
  • The exams can be done virtually or face-to-face at CGB.

Further details concerning these will be shared with you all via Phidias.

Warmest regards,

Mr O'Kane

12 of 26

From The Deputy Head of Secondary

Year 9 End of Year Assessments

Niall O’Kane

Dear Year 9 Parents,

Please note the following:

  • There will be no End of Year Assessments for Year 9 this year
  • The Year 9 GPA will be calculated using the grades from Terms 1, 2 and 3.(33.3% each)
  • The Year 9 students will undertake a Media Project at the end of next week

Year 9 IGCSE Options

This weekend our Year 9 students will complete an IGCSE options survey to choose their optional subjects they will undertake in Years 10 and 11.

There are two option groups and they must choose one subject from each.

Option Group A

  • Global Perspectives
  • History
  • Sociales (Colombian citizens only)

Option Group B

  • Geography
  • Art and Design
  • Music
  • French
  • Computer Science

The surveys must be completed by 9am on Monday, the 26th of April.

Warmest regards,

Mr O’Kane

13 of 26

Niall O’Kane

Dear CGB Community,

Here are two announcements from the Secondary Student Council.

Warmest regards,

Mr O'Kane

From The Deputy Head of Secondary

14 of 26

From The Deputy Head of Secondary

Niall O’Kane

Dear Year 7, 8 and 9 Parents,

Next Friday, the 30th of April, the Key Stage 3 Form Tutors, the Sociales Department and the Humanities Department will be hosting our IMYC Media Projects. The Media Projects will begin at 8:30am and finish at 11:20am, with a break lasting from 10:10 to 10:30am.

The IMYC themes and Google Meeting codes are as follows:

Please take the time to drop in and support our fantastic students!

Warmest regards,

Mr O’Kane

15 of 26

From The Deputy Head of Secondary

Extracurricular Opportunities

Niall O’Kane

1. Cambridge and Oxford Summer Schools

Designed for exceptional students, participate in leading academic enrichment programmes in Cambridge University or Oxford University colleges this July / August 2021. All programmes are designed and taught by actual university tutors from Oxbridge. For students aged 13-15 and 16-18.

Visit the website to learn more.

2. The Oxbridge Online Research Programme

Personalised, one-to-one programme with your own personal Oxford or Cambridge University tutor. Develop a university-level academic research project in any specialist subject field over 2, 4, or 8 weeks. Ages 13-18.

Visit the website to learn more.

Summer Opportunities offered by Immerse Education

3. Essay Competition for 2022 programmes

Win a scholarship to participate in the Cambridge 2021 academic programmes. Round 1 of the 2022 Essay Competition is now open, with entries closing on 31st August 2021. Ages 13-18.

Visit the website to learn more.

Warmest regards,

Mr O’Kane

16 of 26

UNCOLI and Student Activities

17 of 26

From the Doctor’s Office

The Mayor's Office of Bogota and the central government have decreed a strict quarantine from Thursday, April 22nd from 8 pm until Monday, April 26th at 4 am.

The idea of these closures is to lower the number of cases and reduce the risk of contagion as well as the occupancy of ICU beds, which is currently at 81%.

If we do not take into account the biosecurity measures, if we do not respect the quarantines and continue to go out with friends and family, the cases of severe COVID and deaths will continue to increase.

The virus has undergone multiple mutations and new variants have been confirmed in the country, such as the Brazilian and UK variants, which are twice as contagious. The virus in this third peak is affecting young people, from 20 to 40 years old, ICUs are full of young people and there is a significant increase of infected children.

I ask you, as the doctor of the School, to please stay at home, that we do not continue to go for trips or to have parties and meetings because this is an attack against the health of our entire community. COVID-19 IS NOT A DISEASE OF OLDER AND SICK PEOPLE! I ask you to be aware and act according to the seriousness of the situation.

The idea of lockdowns during the 3rd peak of the Pandemic

CONFIRM COVID CASES OR SUSPECT CASES MUST BE INFORMED TO THE SCHOOL DOCTOR, NOT ONLY TO TEACHERS.

TEACHERS CAN NOT ASSUME THE RESPONSIBILITY OF A HEALTH ISSUE. THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION.

18 of 26

UPDATE FOR FAMILIES

TOTAL CASES

Confirmed Cases

21

Active Cases

2

Recovered Cases

19

Confirmed Cases

2

Close Contact

4

Students

Suspected Cases

1

Confirmed Cases

2

Close Contact

0

Parents

Suspected Cases

0

Confirmed Cases

2

Close Contact

4

Teachers

Suspected Cases

3

Confirmed Cases

0

Close Contact

0

Administrative Staff

Suspected Cases

1

Confirmed Cases

0

Close Contact

0

General Services

Suspected Cases

0

Students

7

Parents

2

Teachers

9

Administrative Staff

1

General Services

0

People in isolation

Closed Case: 19

* Close contact refers to people (students and / or employees) who have been less than 2 meters away for more than 15 consecutive minutes with a person with symptoms suggestive of Covid-19 or who has tested positive for Covid-19, even if a mask was being worn.

Weekly cases

19 of 26

From the Food Committee

Reminder…

We value your feedback!!

It is very important for us to have your feedback on the provided food service in order to keep meeting our community needs and preferences.

Please take a couple of minutes to fill out the survey on the following link https://es.surveymonkey.com/r/AldimarkCGB21

20 of 26

PTA Information

  • The family will have to be part of the PTA. This means that the family has payed the PTA fee.
  • The family should write a letter asking for aid, explaining the situation, attaching any proof of reduced income or job loss and specifying how much money is needed.
  • The PTA can offer help up to the amount of one monthly tuition per family. Recurrent cases will be evaluated taking into account, how many “new” families are asking for aid. The aid will be given until the Budget runs out.
  • The petition would be analysed by the PTA board and would be approved by these parameters:
  • The family is a PTA member.
  • The letter has proof that income of the family has been reduced and/or have lost their job(s).
  • The son or daughter has a good behaviour and academic results at school.
  • If the family has asked for financial aid before, during the academic year.
  • If the petition of aid is approved, the PTA will pay the amount approved; directly to the school. No money will be given to families.

Taking into account that during the PTA Assembly held in June 2020, a financial aid was approved for those families that due to the pandemic, their family income was affected, causing inconveniences to meet the school fees payments, we want to share with you the protocols to follow, in case you want to access this financial aid, that will be given only once. We remind you that this financial aid has a maximum amount approved by the assembly, and we want to support as many families as possible. If you wish to apply for this financial aid, please send us your petition by May 15th to our e-mail: pta@cgb.edu.co.

21 of 26

From the Performing Arts Department

Dear CGB community, I hope you are all well.

As you know, in May we held our end of the year concert. In this event, we show part of the Performing Arts process through artistic samples that are the result of the work of our students during their classes.

We want to recognize and congratulate the commitment of our students, who despite having to connect always from their classes virtually, have continued attending their classes or at least fulfilling the assigned work, in those cases in which they can not attend synchronously.

We have entered the final part of this school year and we would like to have as many of our students as possible for the final concert. Therefore, we invite those students who are not attending classes or who have not caught up with the work that is being done for the presentation, to approach their teachers during class time, to guide them and accompany them in the final samples, otherwise, they will not be able to participate in the concert and, obviously, their grades will be affected.

The fulfillment of the assignments and class attendance are indispensable requirements for the presentation in the concert.

The specificity of each of the samples can be obtained from each of the teachers of the department. Please direct your questions to them or me.

We look forward to seeing you at our closing event and hope that we can come together as a community around the performing arts.

Jorge Tabares

Head of Performing Arts

22 of 26

From the CEG Department

Today’s topic to think through: Positive Discipline (Punishment? Consequences? Solutions? What to do?)

Punishing may “function” for the moment if you want to stop the misbehaviour. However, it might not be useful if you aim to have positive long-term results. Recurrent punishment can impact their self-esteem by creating a negative image of themselves: they can start “getting attention” for displaying negative behaviours as they think “wrong” is all they can do “right”. They can also feel resentful, defiant and inclined to seek revenge.

Think it through with the

23 of 26

From the CEG

Think it through with the

What to do?

  • Focus on solutions rather than consequences. Sometimes both parents and teachers try to disguise punishment by calling it a logical consequence. It's important to invite children to participate in finding solutions that are: related to what happened, respectful, within reason and useful.
  • Make sure you deliver the message in a respectful, caring and loving way. Try to start your conversation with a “You are important to me. I am worried about this situation, ¿Would you work with me to find a solution?”
  • Adults need to teach children the importance of being assertive in handling emotions. When there is a conflict, children should be taught not to act impulsively. They need to understand that if they take a deep breath, they leave the situation that gives them stress for a while and take a moment to think about what happened, they will most likely be able to cope with that situation in an appropriate and respectful way.
  • It is important to always remember that parent-child relationships should always be respectful. Firmness and warmth should always prevail when correcting, guiding and setting limits to children. The best way to teach is with love, calmness and lots of intelligence.
  • Have fun! Bring joy to your home or classroom setting!

24 of 26

Department

Contact

E-mail

Phone extension

Head of the Spanish Department KS2 & KS3

Beatriz Vergara

b.vergara@cgb.edu.co

Head of the Spanish Department KS4 & KS5

Bocanegra Martha Lucia

m.bocanegra@cgb.edu.co

Director of Student Activities

Cancino Margarita

dirstudentact@cgb.edu.co

Deputy Head of Primary

Carfrae Sara

s.carfrae@cgb.edu.co

Educational Achievement Department

Chadwick Elizabeth

e.chadwick@cgb.edu.co

PTA

Contact the PTA via Phidias

Contact the PTA vía Phidias

University Guidance Counsellor

Echeverry Angela María

universityguidance@cgb.edu.co

Counseling and Emotional Guidance

Gómez Claudia

emotionalguidance@cgb.edu.co

Director's office

Gómez Grace

dirassist@cgb.edu.co

Head of Secondary

Henriksen Shaun

headofsecondary@cgb.edu.co

Transport

Margoliner Liliana

transporte@cgb.edu.co

Whatsapp

310 7711575

Vice-Rector

Mayorga Nidya

vicerectorcgb@cgb.edu.co

Director

Robert Tomalin

director@cgb.edu.co

Whatsapp

3194276286

Contact Us

25 of 26

Department

Contact

E-mail

Phone extension

Head of Primary

McLean Suzanne

headofprimary@cgb.edu.co

Reception

Moreno Angie

reception@cgb.edu.co

3158873788

Deputy Head of Secondary Curriculum

O'Kane Niall

n.okane@cgb.edu.co

Deputy Head of Secondary. Pastoral Leadership

Regan Jamie

j.regan@cgb.edu.co

Deputy Head of FS/KS1

Register Kristen

k.register@cgb.edu.co

Additional Language Dept

Rhea Natalia (Primary)

Tinoco Katya (Secondary)

n.rhea@cgb.edu.co

k.tinoco@cgb.edu.co

Marketing & Community Relations

Rocha Fiorella

admissions@cgb.edu.co

3156013709

Academic Secretary / Phidias issues

Romero Mariana

cgb@cgb.edu.co

Accountancy

Romero Maryoly

accountancy@cgb.edu.co

3158873788

Academic Assistant

Strochia Sara

hosassistant@cgb.edu.co

Medical Centre

Tapias Carolina

doctor@cgb.edu.co

Whatsapp

315 5439757

Administrative Director / Food issues / General services / Security

Verswyvel Cristina

administrativedirector@cgb.edu.co

Contact Us

26 of 26

We have a CGB Classified Ads Group on Facebook for those of you interested in Selling, Buying or Renting Second-hand items or furniture, vehicles, properties, amongst others.

We want to reiterate that it is a closed Facebook Group for our CGB community. In a closed group, administrators must approve members and only group members can see posted content.

This group will only accept CGB parents, CGB staff, and CGB alumni. If you are interested in joining please follow the link above.

MENU FOR THIS MONTH CLICK HERE

CGB Digital

Follow us on social media for updates, exclusive photos and event streaming!