ESOL International Lunch February 2014

The International Lunch is held to welcome families to the new term at Ilam School.   Two International Ambassadors, a House Captain and a School Council member welcomed the parents.  It was an opportunity for parents to meet other parents and to share ethnic food from countries including Korea, China, Maldives, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Samoa, Belgium, Malaysia, Saudia Arabia, The Philippines, the USA, Japan and Nepal.  Thank you to the parents for attending and providing such a feast!

ESOL Orientation Trip 2014

A group of our new International students caught a bus to a local park and visited the Waimairi Road shops.  Here we practised using our new English by purchasing an iceblock from the dairy.  Next we walked to the park to eat our iceblocks and play on the play equipment. Everyone enjoyed playing together in the park and connecting with other new children.  Thank you very much to the parents who came with us. It was such a hot day but we all had a great time!

International Lunch August 2013

For our second International Lunch of 2013 we welcomed new international families to Ilam School.  It was great to see some new (and old!) faces join with us to share food and conversation.  Sadly, it was the last time we will see some families, as they will be returning to their home countries soon. They will be greatly missed, and we would like to thank both the parents and the children for their contribution to the Ilam School community. 


The International Ambassadors did a wonderful job welcoming us in their first languages.  The teachers would like to thank our Ambassadors for always making such a great effort at these events, they make us very proud to be a part of our school!

Mrs Brooker and Mr Dolan also welcomed everyone, and spoke about the benefits of being part of a multicultural community such as ours.  
Then it was time for the food!  The children chose from the amazing selection of multicultural dishes first, followed by the parents.  There was so much to choose from, including sushi, noodles, dumplings, quiche, pasta, taro, kimchi, baklava and brownies!  Thank you parents for your contributions towards our lunch.

 After our lunch, the children went out to play. The adults remained to listen to Mrs Brooker discuss how teachers teach writing at school. She showed the parents the 'describing wheel' which is often used in the classroom, and how it is essential that students are able to describe themselves. Several of the parents had some very relevant questions which prompted some interesting discussion.

Thank you again to all the parents who attended our International Lunch. It was a great success thanks to your participation.  We hope to see you again at our next lunch in 2014!

Ilam School Cultural Day 2013

March 27th was our whole school Cultural Day, which we hold every second year. 
At the beginning of the day the school lined up behind their country flags, and we marched out of the front of the school, down Kirkwood Ave, then in the back entrance of the school.  It was fantastic to see so many of our ex-Ilam School children lined up to watch us march past.  Thank you Kirkwood Intermediate for your fantastic support - we loved the cheering!
After morning tea we enjoyed a wonderful concert.  Our great presenters Dora (Jessie) and Diego (Darius) guided us through items from all over the world. 
When the concert finished the children went outside to find a magnificent cultural feast waiting for them. There was food from so many different countries! 
After lunch children worked in their teams and tried out some new cultural activities as they travelled around several classes. 
Our 2013 Cultural Day was a huge success. Thank you so much to the parents for their support and contribution towards this. The children looked amazing and had a wonderful time.

International Lunch

It was wonderful to see so many people from our international community attend our international lunch.  We enjoyed some fantastic food which we ate outside underneath the trees, as it was such a lovely day!  It was interesting to see the number of cultures represented, as everyone introduced themselves to the group.  We are truly lucky at Ilam School to be part of such a diverse community.

Testing and Parent Interviews

The last three weeks of term 2 are busy for the ESOL team, as we are in the middle of testing the children we teach.  We test reading words, listening, speaking and writing.  When we have completed our testing, we will be holding parent interviews in the last week of the term to report back on the results of the testing and each child's progress this year.  Please ensure you have an interview time - the exact time and day will be sent home with your child.  If you don't get this notice please come and see one of the ESOL team.  We will be happy tell you your interview time or to make you a new time.  We are really looking forward to talking to you about your child and the positive learning they are participating in at Ilam School.  Don't forget Mrs Hong is available to translate in Korean, Chinese and Japanese, and Mrs Brunell is available to translate in Samoan.  Thank you for sharing in your child's learning!

Farm Park Visit

Many of the senior and junior children who attend ESOL lessons visited the Arion Farm Park as a conclusion to our school-wide Inquiry. We travelled by bus to McLeans Island where the park is located. When we got there we had our lunch in the play area, surrounded by animals and farm machinery. It was funny when the pig came over to try to eat Anotida's lunch!

After that we were allowed to feed the animals such as pigs, sheep, goats, horses, llamas, chickens and geese.  Many of the children were nervous about feeding the animals at first, but by the end they were happy to hold their hand out for the animals to feed from. We then took turns having a miniature pony ride which was one of the highlights of the day!  By then it was time to head back home on the bus.  Most of us felt quite tired after all the excitement we had experienced!