Welcome to all of you!
We are very happy to be back in touch at the end of this first term. As we approach the festive season, we would like to take the opportunity to inform you of our latest actions and give you news concerning the International Section.
In this newsletter we present all the activities that APELEVIA has been involved in, both in Collège MIGNET and Lycée DUBY since the start of this school year.
Please make a note of upcoming important dates and look out for news of AGESSIA at the Lycée.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Garden Party: On the 9th October we once again gathered at Claude Symonds’ house for the annual garden party. You came in large numbers, new parents from the Collège and the Lycée, allowing all the chance to meet in a relaxed atmosphere, and to share a nice afternoon indulging in tasty treats, kindly provided by our members.The bottle raffle was a great success, from young to old. We were pleased to welcome new Australian and American friends who had just arrived at the Lycée for a long exchange with our pupils. Thanks to all of you who came and especially to Claude for her warm welcome as always!
Annual General Meeting:In accordance with APELEVIA’s statutes, the Annual General Meeting took place in the Lycée on 8th November. The different moral and financial reports were presented and unanimously agreed. The following appointments were confirmed:
President: Claude Symonds
Vice-President: Sylvie Molinari
Secretary: Nina Hibbert
Treasurer: Frédérique Chabran
COLLEGE NEWS
Results of the International Brevet taken in June 2010:
Overall the success rate was 96.66%
Out of a total of 30 candidates, 7 mentions Très Bien
7 mentions Bien
8 mentions Assez Bien
The level of English was very high this year. The success rate in the Brevet in Mignet as a whole (including the International Section) was 75%.
Congratulations to the children of the International Section who finished their Collège years on a high!
Class Numbers: In the entrance tests in May this year, 25 children out of 50 candidates were accepted into 6°; a further 4 children entered the Section in September after the second session of tests.
Regarding the other levels:
- 2 places were available for 7 candidates in 5ème
- 5 places for 12 candidates in 4ème
- 3 places for 8 candidates in 3ème
Meeting with the new Headmaster Mr Natali: Frédérique Chabran and Claude Symonds met with Mr Natali in order to introduce themselves and APELEVIA and to talk about the International Section. The Headmaster showed great enthusiasm for the Section and also interest in expanding and developing the Section in the future. Welcome to Mr. Natali!
Citizen Kids: On 1st October, Claude Symonds was present on behalf of APELEVIA at the turning on of the lights in the belfry of the clock tower in Aix en Provence. This was the culmination of a project initiated by the Technology teacher Mrs Courtine in partnership with EDF. Last year’s 4ièmetook part in this project which also involved creating a model of the clock tower, now on display in the Salle du Conseil. Well done to everyone who participated in this project!
Election Results: Just a reminder: at Collège Mignet, APELEVIA only takes part in the elections for the Conseil International (CI). This year we managed to win 94 votes (against 81 last year) meaning 3 seats in the CI. To our great satisfaction Mr Natali intends to organise 3 x CIs per year, which should create greater dynamism.
Report from the first C.I. (9/11/2010): The teachers’ report was very positive. Mrs Fady is working on opening our Section up more widely, notably with pen-pal correspondence with other international schools, one in Romania and the other in Italy. Following the reform of the Brevet, and the introduction of a new test in History of Art, the teachers would like the assessment to be done in English. In addition, Mrs Fady , in partnership with AGESSIA,will offer the possiblity of taking the Cambridge Exam First Certificate to all students who wish to.
For FLE there are 12 students involved. The team wishes to offer personal support, particularly in the scientific subjects, the aim being to prevent foreign students becoming discouraged during their pursuit of studies in French schools. Mme Cadis has a project to put some of the pupils forward for the DELF ( Diplome d’Enseignement en Langue Francaise).
The next C.I has been scheduled for the 28th January 2011.
Thanksgiving Meal Thursday 25th November: The traditional Thanksgiving meal organised each year by APELEVIA once again was a great success according to the pupils from 5eme and 6eme years. 50 students replied to our invitation, sent out before the All Saints holiday. We were very warmly welcomed by Les Agapes restaurant which specially lays out its luncheon room for us each year. Next to a roaring fire the meal was quite delicious with turkey and all the trimmings, followed by chocolate pudding accompanied by a little piece of the famous pumpkin pie, made by us, just so they could have a little taste of this typical pudding. The father of a child in 5th year, Brandon Spackman, came to explain with enthusiasm to the children the history and importance of Thanksgiving for the American people. He accompanied his speech with a little quiz and rewarded the highest scores with sweets. So we returned to school feeling very happy, making sure that we counted all the children back in! Luckily the headcount was right; we hadn’t lost anyone along the way ! Thanks to our spouses for coming to strengthen the escort of this happy troupe of children and seeing them safely across the streets of Aix en Provence.
Rendez-vous next year to celebrate once again this fine American tradition!
The organisers – Maria de Mena and Sylvie Molinari.
Other Information:
1. Modification of School Rules. At the last Administrative Council (CA) it was agreed that a detention of 2-hours could be awarded, on Wednesday afternoons, in case of serious or repeated breaking of school rules.
2. Joint evaluations 3eme & 4eme students. At the end of January, 3eme & 4eme students will be convened in order to perform a common test in French, Maths, History/Geography and English. These evaluations are aimed at showing students how to revise, how to manage their time during an exam, and thus improving Collège Brevet results.
This will take place one more time in the year (March/April?).
3. Experimental evaluation in Science for 5th Year. Students are invited to experiment individually during this evaluation.
4. CESC Action Plan. The Committee for Health Education and Citizenship (CESC) is leading several initiatives: introducing a troupe of tight-rope walkers to warn about violence (Year 6); Anti-drugs training (Year 5); Waste Prevention (Year 5); Drug Prevention & risk taking behaviour (Year 4); AIDS Prevention, Sexually Transmitted Diseases and Contraception (Year 3).
5. Introduction of KELLIA software. This software will allow parents to make appointments with their children’s teacher(s). Hopefully this will result in more fluency during Parent-Teacher meetings.
LYCEE NEWS
OIB Results June 2010: As with last year, our pupils obtained a 100% success rate at OIB, with, as usual, an impressive amount of mentions.
Out of 87 candidates:
13 Très Bien
23 Bien
34 Assez Bien
This represents more than 80% of pupils obtaining a mention which is remarkable!
For your information, 40 students out of the 87 went off to study at overseas universities, the favourite destinations being Great Britain, Canada and the United States.
Congratulations also to our first laureate at the Concours Général, Florian Da Silva, who won the English 1st prize!
Class Numbers: Think back to 1997, at the beginning of the International Section when there were just 50 pupils…. There are now more than 500 candidates sitting the entrance exam, which represents a significant workload for the teachers in the Section.
This year the intake is 350 students, divided up as follows:
134 students (split into 5 groups) in 2nde
137 students (split into 5 groups) in 1ere
89 students (split into 4 groups) in Terminale
Election Results: APELEVIA is present in both the Administrative Council (CA) and the International Council (CI). We’ve been able to obtain one seat in the CA and 2 seats in the CI. Thanks once again for your active participation !
First C.E.S.C. of the year (23/09): The priority actions are:
- Preparation for the Health Day (stands and information exchange points
with different themes: organ donation; tobacco; AIDS, STDs, recycling; suicidal tendencies). This day, initially planned for the 19th October, has been postponed to 11th January.
- Prevention of addiction
- Dangers of the Internet
First C.V.L. (Conseil Vie Lycéene): We remind you that the CVL always meets before the CA and has to present to the CA its plans for tutorials, school timetables, sporting and cultural activities: a concert (probably in January), the carnival, Prom evening, lottery… in short, everything that makes up daily Lycée life.
This year, in the context of tutorials, students from Terminale presented their subject of TPE to the 2nde students.
For information, Mr Bard reminds you that, this year, exchanges are given priority over trips, due to budgetary reasons.
In order to put in place a timely and regular tutorial programme, 128 students are involved. A more detailed programme will be presented in February.
Mrs Régnault wishes to encourage the Lycée’s musicians to make themselves known and to use the piano which is at their disposal, music mellows the mood, it’s well known…
C.A. (11/11 & 2/12): The two first C.A. meetings have allowed the putting into place of the school’s plan for the year, the establishment of the different Councils and Commissions, the vote on the 2011 budget, the lunch fees etc…
Mr Ciretti, school Bursar, reaffirms that our financial condition is very stable. The targets are the same as last year, with just the introduction of European Projects for the BTS students (Erasmus and Comenius).
Priorities go towards education; the lycée devotes 15% of its budget to teaching in the form of educational credits, which is double the 2009 allocation.
“Accompagnement personnalisé”: it’s still a bit early to give results on this new measure.
A series of conferences about the orientation of lycéens will take place over several months (see the Quoi de Neuf)). Students from 1ere and Terminale wishing to contribute may obtain an invitation from Mrs Régnault.
C.I. (23/11): The International Section Council had the pleasure of welcoming, apart from its usual members, the Head & Deputy-head of Collège Mignet, as well as Mrs Fady.
Mrs Hackenheimer points out that the aims remain the same, that is to say a bilingual and bicultural education, the aim being to make each pupil realise his/her full potential and to develop their mental flexibility. The International Section in Lycée George Duby makes up 1/8 of all the candidates for the OIB (we therefore have the biggest section in France).
The breakdown of nationalities is 55% French, 28% dual-nationality and 17% foreigners.
Mr Bard acknowledges the difficulty in integrating the newly-arrived into this system, considering they must succeed in the BAC after only 3 years.
Mrs Hackenheimer underlined the evolution of the OIB. She reminded everyone of the importance of the English subjects in this exam, the scores representing 40% of the whole mark for L and ES BACs, and 30% for the BAC S, all this representing a lot of hard work.
For English, the students have 6 works to study, 3 in 1ere and 3 in Terminale. This year a “synoptic topic” was further added, which deals with the Victorian era. 7 poems and 2 novels will be studied in class; the student will be verbally questioned on this theme.
Another novelty: a comparative analysis of documents not known to the student.
Mrs Hackenheimer cannot encourage the students enough to do their own research into the Victorians.
She reminds us that from the 1ere year, the groups A and B are put together and that there are no differences then, between the pupils.
The students will take an oral history and geography test ( 2 hours of history, 2 hours of geography). They must therefore work on both subjects equally.
Mr Gibbs reminds us that certain part of the 2nde and 1ere curriculum can be useful for the BAC. He therefore encourages the students to keep their books from 2nde work regularly .
Mr Bard brought up the problem created by the reform of the Lycée: in Terminale, in S, history and geography become optional. What will happen to the OIB students? The subject will be discussed at a later date. For the English examinations, the GCEs are disappearing to be replaced by GCSEs and IGCSEs.
The year 2010 has been the best, at an academic level; the students obtained many A grades in their exams.
AGESSIA NEWS
Since the start of the school Agessia has been working to its full capacity as usual. During the summer months, work continued on the organization of cultural and linguistic exchanges between the USA, Australia and Canada. We have hosted 10 immersion students from Australia and the USA during the first term, they will be returning home on the 20th December. We are sure that they have had a unique experience and that it has been great success, thanks to the combined attention of the parents who have received them, the parent volunteers from Agessia who have coordinated the whole project with devotion and professionalism, and the teachers who have welcomed them into their classes, our heartfelt praise goes to them. As for the upcoming short term exchanges, we were very pleased to announce in October that thanks to a contact made through one of our Parents, we were able to offer exchange possibilities with Ireland in addition to Australia, Canada and the USA. We will be sending our students there in February for the first time. A total of thirty-one students will benefit from an exchange this school year through Agessia. Please visit our Agessia online photo albums!
The Debate Club opened its doors in September, welcoming between 30 and 40 students, the organizing team Thelma Griggs, Caroline Bretelle and David Lewis, have been holding sessions regularly every Thursday evening between 17h00 – 18h00, leading to the PAMUN weekend on the 9th – 12th December, we wish them good luck again this year and hope that they have the same challenging and stimulating event that they always do. For those of you who are interested, and wish to know more about these events, we invite you to look at the Model United Nations website, you will find PAMUN (Paris Model United Nations) it is held as usual, in the UNESCO building in Paris and is run by the American School of Paris. We hope to find other debating events to attend in 2011, the debate club team will continue to research this possibility. College Mignet will be visiting our school to observe our Debate Club with a view to starting a Debating Club themselves, we will do all we can to help them.
We continue to provide the possibility for our students to sit for external examinations, IGCSE’s, in six subjects, Cambridge, English as a Foreign Language Examination (ESOL), Cambridge Assessment Examinations: ELAT, STA, BMAT etc. We provide an important back-up service to the Lycée by handling the administration duties for example, on-line enrolment, liaising with examination boards, organization, supervision and invigilation of exam sessions, accountancy, mailing through secure courier service and diploma distribution, are part of these services, we also provide the possibility for students to test their progress as they advance towards their goals, with practice tests. In 2011, we will be working with Mrs. Fady in College Mignet, to enable her, to allow students to sit for the Cambridge First Certificate (FCE).
We would like to add, that Mde. Blake has taken a well earned retirement this school year, she will be accompanying our students to PAMUN as usual, but has resigned from the post of President which has now been filled by Mde. Le Den. We would like to thank her very much for all her hard work and effort that she has put into the Associations over the years, she was a founder of Agessia and without her efforts we could not have achieved our present status, we hope to continue to build in order to provide a solid and complete section for our students, for that, we thank you for your continued support and confidence. It remains to wish you all our most sincere Seasons Greetings, see you all in 2011.
AGESSIA - Lycée Georges Duby
FOR YOUR DIARIES
We invite you to come and join us on Wednesday, 12th January 2011 for the first ‘Coffee Morning’ of the year during which you can meet and talk with other parents from the International Section. Please come along (the invitation has been sent separately).
We would like to wish you and your families a merry Christmas and a healthy & happy New Year!
