World Book Day: 2 March 2017

We had a range of book and film characters in school today to celebrate the 20th annual World Book Day including Harry Potter, Darth Vader, Gingerbread Man, Red Riding Hood, Peter Pan, Rainbow Fish and Mary Poppins. At break time, we paraded around for everyone to see the colourful and fantastic array of costumes.  Other characters seen were: Smurf, Chewbacca, Stormtrooper, Puss in Boots, Alice in Wonderland, a Doctor and a Spy. This beloved event often generates difficult decision-making for teachers, parents and students as to which character do they want to be? In addition, where to buy or how to make the props and costumes. It was a fun activity and we look forward to the next one in 2018.

SES Assembly Year 4 & 5: 9 February 2017

Year 4 & 5 Share the Love

This month’s assembly given by the Year 4 & 5 class was based around Valentine’s Day. 

The classes joined forces to share a brief history of how Valentine’s Day came about. The children also shared a couple of traditions from Japan and Scotland and how they have been celebrated throughout the years. 

At the conclusion of the assembly both classes took the stage to share a short poem about love and friendship. 1 last treat from the classes was to hand out their ‘hearts’ to members of the audience to show their friendship and love for everyone.

Well done Year 4 & 5! 

Science Week, 25th – 29th September 2017

This year the theme for Science Week was Light. This actually covered many different interesting branches of Science. How light behaves (reflection, refraction and colour), the human eye and optical illusions, cameras and photography, solar power, and ultra-violet light.

Throughout the week each Primary class focussed on an aspect of light that was relevant to their curriculum.

Then for one lesson they came to the science lab to see some experiments and demonstrations of light. We made some photographic paper by painting silver nitrate solution onto paper and then we put stencils over the paper while exposing it to uv light. This gave us silhouettes of the objects on the paper. We also looked at how different objects glow (fluoresce is the scientific word) under uv light, including our fingernails and teeth. Even scorpions glow under uv light!

We also looked at how we can make glass objects appear invisible if we put them in the right liquid, in this case vegetable oil. Because both substances bend light in similar ways (a property called refraction), the glass will be invisible in the oil.

There were several other cool experiments that showed different properties of light, but I always like to go out with a bang so I used a laser to burst a balloon. The science here is interesting because a white balloon won’t burst as the light is reflected off the surface, but if you paint a black spot on the balloon and aim the laser at that, then it absorbs the light, heats up, and BANG! The balloon explodes.

I really look forward to Science Week each year as I get to play with cool new science toys and discover new experiments to show the students. It’s a great way to get them interested in Science and to feed their curiosity about the world around them.

International Day: 3 February 2017

On Friday, February 3, SES celebrated diversity during our 2017 International Day. Students, teachers and staff came to school dressed in clothing that reflected their cultures. As children entered the school, they were greeted by the sound of national anthems from around the world. Flags were also on display throughout the school to represent some of the many home countries of SES families. Parents were gracious enough to prepare food from their home countries, and many parents came to the school to serve the food they had prepared. Students thoroughly enjoyed the delicious variety of snacks and were most grateful for this opportunity to have fun and celebrate together.
Thank you, SES families, for preparing and serving amazing delicacies from your homelands and for allowing us to borrow your flags!

Chinese New Year 2017

For Chinese New Year activities we made a colouring competition for Years 2 and 3 and the other primary children practiced writing spring couplets such as ” 恭喜发财”，“万事如意“etc. Our secondary students made clay models of New Year foods including spring roll, noodle and dumplings. Many students wore traditional clothes to celebrate the year of the rooster. 

SES Assembly Year 6: 20 January 2017

On Friday, January 20, Year Six students provided learning and entertainment through the first assembly of the new year! As people entered, Year Six iMovie presentations about home and host countries were played. Students performed three poems that challenged us to make this year the best we’ve ever had. They sang two songs to emphasize mathematics concepts, including one about prime numbers and another that taught geometric translations. Their drama, based on a Javanese cultural story that was presented by Raditya, was also entertaining. To close the show, each audience member received an ang pao envelope that held a list of gifts we have been given, including special abilities (art, music, sports, mathematics, etc.) and traits (kindness, compassion, honesty, humility, etc.). Audience members were challenged to think of ways they could use gifts that they have received to make the world a better place.
Following the Year Six performance, Ayumi and Wenny did a great job sharing about cooperation in both Mandarin and English. Several students received awards for great effort and work in their classes. Finally, Mr. Nick performed a few magic tricks to close the show.

SOS Training Secondary: 11 January 2017

On Wednesday 11th of Jaunary seventeen secondary pupils participated in a morning training session led by SOS International to learn some essential first aid skills. Most of the students are completing their bronze Duke of Edinburgh award so the training will come in handy when they are completing the expedition aspect of the award, and others came along because they were interested in learning some useful skills.

The morning was jam packed with theory, quizzes and practical sessions that taught students CPR; how to use a defibrillator; what to do in a chocking situation and the recovery position.

Students worked together to understand how to cope with an emergency situation and not panic, but take control and do their best to help while keeping safe themselves. These skills were then tested in a practical examination, which everyone passed with flying colours.

Overall it was a very enjoyable experience and one that the students found challenging and useful.

Christmas 2016

This year our Christmas Show was outstanding and we received many positive comments from all those who attended this event. We had a range of acts which involved all the primary and secondary students and included music, dance, hip hop, singing, magic, drama and sketches.

Year 2 gave a great performance of an Australian version of Jingle Bells and then played Jingle Bells on the reorder.

Year 3 & 4 sang ‘The 12 Days of SES’ which was amusing and enjoyable. A fantastic square dance was done by Years 5 & 6. All the primary children sang ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’.

The Year 7s and Mr Lawrie Christmas Café (Stomp) presented a dramatic and musical piece which was very well received. Our Year 8s performed a rhyming Cinderella pantomime which was funny and entertaining. The Year 9 students amused us with some Christmas-themed offbeat short sketches throughout the show. We concluded with everyone singing ‘Holly Jolly Christmas’. A fantastic festive event that was a great end to the term. An enjoyable evening that concluded with food and drinks.

Movember 2016

Movember 2016 was our first Movember in Surabaya European school.  Despite having only a few male staff, we decided to give it a go and make a target of £500.  So we looked at various styles of moustache on the Movember website and made a start.  The first job was to explain exactly what the aims of the charity were.  Once that was achieved, the team all contributed to get things started.  Having convinced various people that it was for a good cause; Mr Nick, Mr Neil, Mr Phillip and myself began the task of cultivating our facial hair.  For some it was a challenge, for others it was difficult!

However, the bristles soon began to appear and the team were well on the way.  At first we were greeted with curiosity, disbelief until finally acceptance.  The money from charitable parents and children began to build up. As the month drew to a close, we had reached our target!! Thank you all for all your donations and to the team for their perseverance.  We plan to do this again next November with lots more fun events to participate in.

Happy Diwali 2016

Diwali, also known as the Festival of Lights, was brought to SES during the week of October 3-7.  Students had the opportunity to join in the celebrations by having their hands painted with intricate hennah patterns and by sampling delicious Indian treats brought in by mums throughout the week.

Maths Week

Primary students thoroughly enjoyed this year’s Maths Week entitled, Maths Magic! Playing cards were used throughout the week to teach various mathematical concepts, including number and colour patterns, greater than and less than, adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing and place value. Each year group learned a variety of games that were specifically geared toward student understanding at that age level. After morning break, Mr. Nick entertained students with fun Mathematics based magic tricks. Mr. Lawrie from secondary also stopped by primary classrooms in order to teach a fun Mathematics lesson. Each class designed a building project made of cards that incorporated Maths concepts. Year 2 created an amazing clock to correspond to their unit about time, Year 3 designed several buildings in small groups, Year 4 created a strong triangular tower, Year 5 built three famous towers of Europe and Year 6 made the Taipei 101 building. On Friday, to end this year’s Maths week, students enjoyed popcorn while playing some of the Maths games they learned during the week.

In secondary, Mr Lawrie ran an online stock market competition which was great fun and gave them a real taste of trading stocks and shares. http://stockwatch.com.au/

Remembrance Day 11 November

Students and staff took time to remember all of those who have lost their lives in war and conflict across the world. At 11.00 am we had a one-minute silence to pay respect. It is also a time of silent reflection, meditation or prayer for those who were killed in World War I and all other conflicts. We wore poppies as sign of remembrance. Many thanks to Mrs Gemma Cook for organising this memorial event.

Halloween 2016

The whole school enjoyed a spooktacular day starting with the Montessori fancy dress parade where they also enjoyed some treats. Our primary students also showed off their amazing costumes in their parade. The school was transformed over night by staff and some parents and we were treated to healthy snacks throughout the week.
We appreciated the generosity of our community in providing finger foods for the Halloween Party. In the evening, our secondary students did a great job organising this event for the Year 2 – Year 8 students. During the party we played a variety of fun games and watched Frankenweenie too.

Welcome Back to School

We celebrated the first days of school with some team building games to provide a warm welcome to all our new students and teachers and welcome back to our students and teachers at Surabaya European School. More photos are available in our portal.

Holi Celebration

Holi, the  Hindu celebration signifying the victory of good over evil was celebrated by all at SES.  Laughter abounded while colored powder and water was thrown amidst loud Indian music and cheerful play. More photos are available in our school portal.

Literacy Week and it’s dress up day: 22 – 26 February 2016

Another exciting and entertaining theme week organised by Miss Chris and Mr Neil and able assisted by many of our talented Teaching Assistants. As part of this celebration of language, novels and books students made board games, swapped books and participated in daily quizzes including solving word puzzles. Primary and secondary students took part in ‘buddy reading’ and it was great to see old and younger students sharing their love of reading.

Students dressed up as fictional characters from books and films on Friday 26. During a special literacy week assembly students did some performance poetry and awards were issued from competitions which were held throughout the week.

Chinese New Year celebration and it’s dress up day: 9 February 2016

Mr Seraya organised activities for students to celebrate the year of the monkey which included making a Chinese opera mask, cooking spring rolls and making a greetings card. Our generous parents provided a range of festive foods for students to enjoy at both break and lunch times we had noodles, chocolate, tangerines, cookies and Chinese tea. Students also dressed up in Chinese clothes.

Christmas Concert: 4 December 2015

Our Christmas Show this year included a wonderful mix of singing, dancing, acting, acrobatics, and magic. The theme was ‘Christmas around the world’ and our performances from primary included a play about Antarctica, salsa dancing from Latin America and Scottish Highland dancing. Secondary and primary students performed plays, sang and danced. We also had hip-hop dancing and Christmas carols sung in French!

Global Focus Week and it’s dress up day: 16 – 20 November 2015

We had celebration of cultures and countries from around the world by sharing different foods kindly supplied by the parents and families, speaking different languages and children wore clothes / costumes from their countries of heritage. Students also did a project on recycled materials.

Health and Well-being is one of the 17 Global Goals which world leaders have signed up to and so SES had a morning aerobics session on the football field lead by Mrs Petra Schurr. For more information about Globval Goals see: http://www.globalgoals.org/

We also had a presentation from Mr Roni from the green local organisation ‘Tunas Hijau’ concerning environmental issues such as recycling and making compost. Students asked questions following the video and slideshow and we discussed various environmental matters.

Athletics Day: 13 November 2015

Our sports day was held at UNISA Stadium on a very warm and sunny day. The level of competition from all houses was high and a close-fought thing. Our sincere thanks to parents who came to support the children and for very kindly donating food and drinks. Also, we would like to thank parents who assisted with some of the events. It was an enjoyable and warm day! We would also like to thanks Mrs Cecile, teaching assistants, office staff, teachers and other members of the SES community who made everything run smoothly.

Results           

1st   Baya       423

2nd Garuda   414

3rd   Sura       394

4th   Komodo 382