• Many of you have been worried about pollution due to the expansion of the Mignet car park. Until recently, emissions from the car park were being ejected into the school playground. Mr Laurent, Deputy Head, has informed us that these chimneys have now been destroyed and that fumes are no longer being ejected into the school grounds. Furthermore, the school administration has insisted that any future chimneys be placed elsewhere. The Conseil Général has agreed and has directed the construction company Semepa accordingly. The situation is being followed closely by the parents’ associations and we will keep you informed of any developments.

• There will be an orientation meeting for parents of children in 3ème 1 to 3ème 4 on Tuesday 20^th January at 5pm.

           C. Symonds

Welcome to the latest of our Monthly updates.

·        Annual General Meeting- Voting for the Board members was unanimous in favour of keeping Daniele Blake as President, Claude Symonds as Vice President and in confirming Sarah Meyronnet as Treasurer and Sophie Guegano as Secretary.

Voted unanimously to accept members who have previously had children in the International sections and wish to continue supporting the association.

·        Beaujolais Nouveau evening- The evening was an opportunity for parents of both the Lycee and the College to get together over a glass of wine and an aperitif. There was a presentation by CISV which organises worldwide summer camps for children of 11 and over.

Turnout was quite good despite being on the same night as American Thanksgiving!

·        Thanksgiving Lunch- A great time was had by all 49 children and 6 adults who participated in this traditional meal held at Les Agapes restaurant. A big thank you to all our helpers who assisted in making this event a success. Darrin Jones was a fabulous speaker and brought home the true meaning of Thanksgiving to everyone. How many of your kids still have 3 kernels of corn in their pockets?

Lycee News

·  Mrs Hackenheimer would like to express her heartfelt thanks for the incredible support you have shown the International project.

She says “In this situation, you could have easily chosen to sit on your ‘legal rights’ and allow the International Section to diminish. I salute your vision!”

It is nice to know that we are helping to keep the Section alive for future children to have the same opportunities as our children benefit from.

·        Students are requesting parental assistance to help with the Comité Parliament Européen des Jeunes. This is due to take place on 30^th/31^st Jan and 1st Feb. An email will be sent with more details shortly.

·        APELEVIA and PEEP will be working together to help find work placements for students in Seconde for 2 weeks in June. The Rectorat has now given permission for the project to go ahead. As a result, if any parents know of a company who could provide the students with a 2 week non-paid observational placement (2^nd and 3^rd week in June), please contact Caroline Lecomte .

·        There will be a presentation of exam certificates for those students who were successful in both the IGCSE and Cambridge EFL exams. The ceremony will take place on Friday 12^th December at 4pm. Refreshments and music are planned for the occasion.

College News

·        Conseils de classe take place during the first 2 weeks of December. If you would like to give your opinion on general school subjects, please complete the questionnaire that came home with your child, or contact one of the parent reps in your child’s class.

·        Following the subsidence around the science block and its subsequent closure, a specially designed prefabricated classroom is to be delivered on 1^st December and will be installed as quickly as possible. This will be a building allowing a child with special needs access to the school.

·        Independent tests have been carried out on the safety of the existing Science block and the results are due by the end of December.

·        A new evacuation plan has had to be put in place due to the threatened collapse of a staircase in the old building. The staircase is now out of bounds and children have to use an alternative route to lessons in that part of the building.

Until next month…

Hello all,

Welcome to our latest newsletter, keeping you up to date with APELEVIA events and actions which have taken place during the past month.

OCTOBER 2008

APELEVIA bureau meeting on 13 October (roles of individual members of the committee were defined  for the year 2008/2009). Isabelle Bernard was welcomed as a new bureau member and will be assisting the Treasurer.
Meeting with the CESC (comité d’éducation à la santé et citoyenneté) a report from this meeting is available on demand from Valerie Le Den

Meeting with the Health and Safety Committee.

Preparations for the 2nd Congres of International Sections in France which will take place in Sophia Antipolis in March 2009.

Elections took place on the 17th. Thank you to all those who voted. It is important that international parents are represented in the Parent Associations in the schools. It is important to note that the number of parents who voted at the Lycée was relatively small, we would like to know if this is caused through indifference or confusion, some feed-back would be helpful.

In the Lycée International George Duby the results for the Conseil Administration were:
APELEVIA 1 seat; FCPE 3 seats; PEEP 1 seat
For the Conseil International: Apelevia 2 seats, FCPE 1 seat

In THE COLLEGE Mignet the results were: PEEP 4 seats ; FCPE 3 seats

COLLEGE NEWS

Preparations have started on the organisation of a Thanksgiving lunch organised by APELEVIA for 6eme and 5eme on 27th November 2008.

APELEVIA took part in a meeting together with representatives of local international companies and Mr Cadis to discuss possibilities of increasing numbers in the International Section.

As you will have been informed, the Science block is out of action until further notice due to the ground collapsing. Science classes have been cancelled on 6th and 7th November. Meetings have been arranged with Semepa who are carrying out the work..
For more info go to  www.peep.asso.fr/aix

LYCEE NEWS

CA meeting took place on 6th October.

The Cricket Club has started training on Wednesdays.

Georges Duby  is now a Regional Examination Centre for a variety of pre-entrance exams for top UK Universities.
Students can take:
-BMAT Bio-Medical Assessment Test for those wishing to study Medicine or Veterinary Medicine at 6 universities including Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial College, London.
-TSA Thinking Skills Assessment, necessary for those wishing to study Economics, Management, Politics, or Philosophy at Oxford.
-ELAT English Literature Admissions Test for those wishing to study English at Oxford.
This year the tests will take place on 5th November
A small test centre fee of 12 euros is to be charged.

APELEVIA is working on a project with the PEEP to help  students in Seconde to find a work placement (this is obligatory for students). Anyone interested in this project should contact Christine Roncalez or CaroIine Lecomte.

NEXT MONTH’S DIARY…

Our association’s AGM will take place at the lycée on Monday the 17th of November at 12:30.

- You are invited to a Beaujolais Nouveau evening on 27th November .
During the evening there will be a presentation by the association CIVS which organises International summer camps for children.

- Thanksgiving 27th November. Don’t forget to order your Turkeys !

Look out for the consent forms for the Thanksgiving Lunch if your child is in 5eme or 6eme at Mignet. Children will not be able to leave school for this event without prior permission or payment (before November 21st).

Welcome to the APELEVIA Monthly Newsletter. Throughout the school year we will be keeping you up to date with APELEVIA actions and events in both Collège Mignet and Lycée Georges Duby.

SEPTEMBER 2008

We hope that ‘la rentrée’ went smoothly and that your children are now settling into their new classes and getting to grips with their new timetables.

APELEVIA has been helping new families to the sections by organising various meetings this month.

On 4^th September, the committee organised a coffee morning for the parents of children going into 6eme. It was an opportunity for new parents to ask questions about life in college and to find out more about APELEVIA and the International Section as a whole.

More formal information meetings for parents were held at both the college (on 18^th September) and the Lycee (on 19^th September). All new parents were invited to attend. The International Section teachers were present to explain how the section works and to answer any questions.

The week culminated with a Garden Party held at Vice-President, Claude Symonds’s home on 21^st September. This event gave members’ families the chance to get to know each other better in a more relaxed environment, and proved to be a great success with around 85 people taking advantage of the great weather. Many of the children enjoyed a swim and were able to play in the lovely big garden. The sale of drinks raised 78 euros.

If you were unable to attend the Garden Party, don’t worry, more social events are planned for the near future.

COLLEGE NEWS

1) A donation of books chosen by Mrs Fady for her library has been given by APELEVIA.

2) Elections take place on 17^th October. APELEVIA members will be helping to organise this important event. If you have any time to help with the envelopes on 3^rd October from 8am-12pm, please contact Claude.

LYCEE NEWS

1) 61 students travelled to Marseille to see a Chekov play thanks to APELEVIA who sponsored transport to the theatre. (467 euros). The play is part of the English syllabus.

2) A visit from the University of British Colombia was organised on 23^rd September. A talk was given to potential students about studying in Canada.

3) The popular Debating Club run by APELEVIA has started again. This term selected students will be participating in the Model United Nations Conference in Paris from December 5^th-7^th 2008.

4) Elections take place on 17^th October.

EVENTS TO LOOK OUT FOR NEXT MONTH

1) Don’t forget to vote in the elections on 17^th October. Each parent is entitled to vote.

2) A Beaujolais Nouveau evening is planned for November, dates to be confirmed next month.

SEPTEMBER 2007

● Debate club was presented at the “foire aux clubs” of the Lycée. The meetings took place every Thursday evening and the students were prepared for the United Nations Conference in Genoa, Italy (GeMUN) which took place in February.

● APELEVIA represented the Lycée International Georges Duby at the Congress des Sections Internationales organised by the F.D.E.I. (www.FDEI.org)

● Garden Party to welcome all new and existing families who wished to ask questions and meet other parents – always a friendly and successful event in the beautiful garden of Aban MacAndrew.

OCTOBER 2007

● Informative Coffee Morning for new and existing parents absent from the garden party.

● Elections at the Collège and Lycée. Organisation of representatives for the conseils de classe.

NOVEMBER 2007

● Beaujolais Nouveau evening for parents at the Mairie in Luynes, this popular function is a good occasion for all parents to mix from both the Lycée and Collège and to exchange ideas.

● Thanksgiving lunch for the 5ème and 6ème of Collège Mignet at the restaurant NEXT

JANUARY 2008

● Preparation for the 10 year celebrations, meetings were held every two weeks until May.

● Galette des Rois function for families of both schools, this was held at the ‘Set Club’ in Les Granettes, Aix en Provence. It’s the first time we have held an event at this venue and on a Sunday afternoon. The aim was that the families who lived further away and who came to Aix to bring their children to the boarding school would be able to attend one of our functions.

FEBRUARY 2008

● GeMUN - 16 debate club members attended the Genoa International United Nations Conference, ( http://www.gemun.it/). This event was a huge success once again. To ensure a place for our “debaters” in this rich and rewarding environment during the next school year, we have already signed up for PAMUN, December 2008. (www.asparis.net/pamun/)

● APELEVIA was invited to attend a meeting with some of the local multinational enterprises such as EUROCOPTER, Provence Promotions, STMicroelectronics. This was organised by CMA/CGM.. The idea was to discuss the options for international education available in the region. These companies are experiencing real difficulties in obtaining personnel for their key posts due to the lack of educational back-up.

MARCH 2008

● APELEVIA represented Lycée Georges Duby at a presentation given in Paris for CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY (Kings College). We particularly needed to be present at this meeting in order to discuss the problem we are having with obtaining entrance to both Oxford and Cambridge Universities. In spite of some of our students finishing in the top 2% of the French league tables, we have never had anyone accepted into either of these Universities. We had an extremely positive meeting with the Admissions Tutor for Kings College, Professor Fenlon, which resulted in him accepting an invitation to visit us in Aix-en Provence and to give a presentation for Cambridge University at the Lycée in May.

Professor Fenlon was very sorry to have to cancel his visit at the last moment due to extenuating circumstances. The event is rescheduled for September in order for us to reach next years’ Terminal students as the closing date for applications is in October. In the meantime if you would like information about this subject please contact Mme. Le Den on j.leden@wanadoo.fr

APRIL 2008

● For the 10^th anniversary of the Lycée, we organised, in coordination with the International Section, a “round table “ event. The theme was “International Education, Professional Mobility”. Speakers from the multinational enterprises EUROCOPTER and CMA/CGM , Professors from IUP and the University of Provence, parents and former students responded to our invitation. A report of the event can be found on our web site.

MAY 2008

● Informative and welcome get together, with parents of students sitting for the Collège Mignet entrance exam.

● This month was disrupted by the strike movement in the Lycée. We did our best to keep families informed on a day to day basis.

● APELEVIA was asked at the last moment to help the students in Terminal to organise the Bal du BAC. They needed an Association to step in after the Lycée found to their regret that they had run out of the time needed to organise this event. The students pulled out all the stops to get this event up and running in record time. Our Association helped financially and legally.

JUNE 2008

● Students from Collège Mignet (3ème) organised, with APELEVIA’s supervision, a function to mark the ‘end of their Collège years’.

——————————————————-

The above activities are supplementary to our attendance at all necessary meetings that are held to ensure the welfare and interest of your children such as: « Conseils d’Administration », « Comité de la vie lycéenne », “Comité hygiene et securité », « Comite education,santé et citoyenneté » at the Lycée and « Conseil d’Administration de la Section Internationale” at the Collège and Lycée.

We also provide an administrative service to the International Section so that we can ensure the continuation of the extracurricular exams ie. GCSE’s, Cambridge, TOEFL etc. We regularly meet with the Heads of Section from the two schools in order to keep up to date.

Last year we tripled the membership of our Association which enabled us to give this necessary support. We have re-designed our website which is regularly up-dated: www.apelevia.org