On Tuesday, February 13, American High School Grades 8, 9, 11, and 12 students in World History and AP World History classes toured the Georgian National Museum with Mr. Joseph Blake and Dr. Natia Pipia. Dr. Pipia, a noted author of a scholarly published work regarding the numastic treasures of Georgia and history professor at Tbilisi State University, explained the significance of many of the ancient Roman republic and empire treasures on display, followed by a tour of the Soviet Occupation exhibition on permanent display. Exploratory understanding and comprehension of Georgia’s place and impact via the ancient Silk Road at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and the world as a whole is essential for understanding the past, present, and future.

This term our third grades are focusing their learning on how people express themselves. Through this unit of inquiry, students found out about the history of communication, and what tools have been used to exchange information during different periods of time. During the assembly students were given an opportunity to share everything they have learnt during the unit with other students from PYP. They prepared a song during music lessons, with the help of the art teachers they draw different ways of communication, in ICT they created presentations about the topic and presented these during our assembly. At the end of the assembly they sang a song using sign language to show that even in hard situations people always manage to find ways to communicate with each other. The assembly helped to share their findings with others through presentations, song and a dance.

Communications between deaf-mute and non-deaf-mute people have always been a challenging task. In the frame of the Unit of Inquiry ‘Signs & Symbols’ PYP grade 4 students invited a sign language teacher together with her 3 students with special needs. The project aimed to facilitate children by means of a hand based deaf-mute communication system. Our students were taught basic sign language. They were involved in discussions and games which made students’ learning experience fun! It was so emotional when the 4th graders found it very interesting and challenging to share their thoughts and feelings with deaf-mute students using sign language. One of the fourth graders said: “I can never forget the time when I managed to express all of my emotions and feelings without saying a word! I appreciate the abilities we have from birth, whereas, for someone else, that is only a dream.” This activity helped students to develop their tolerance and empathy as well as their non-verbal communication skills and foster further inquiry in the unit.

On February 23, 2018, the European School hosted the "Future Cyber Security Expert" Conference. The European School students together with the cyber security experts delivered speeches, focusing on practical perspectives of cyber security: personal data protection, ethical issues and maintaining teenagers' safety in cyber space, the top careers of the future,etc. Needless to say, these issues are equally relevant to all members of modern society.

Conductor Mirian Khukhunaishvili opened up the Classical Music Festival at the European School by holding conducting lessons for our students. Children got to experience the magical powers of the baton and conducting an Orchestra on stage. The orchestra performed several famous pieces of classical music. PYP grade 5 student, Niko Gersamia, emerged as an overall winner of the day. Mirian Khukhunaishvili awarded him with a baton.

PYP fifth graders celebrated the end of the third unit about migration with a Family Migration Story Night. On February 21, 2018, all fifth grade parents brought a national dish from their own culture and shared their own migration stories with the students and other families. There were a lot of different foods on display and it was a lovely evening. One of the parents commented that this was a great occasion to meet the other fifth grade parents and come together. It served as a great wrap up to what the students had been learning about animal and human migration throughout the unit, showing the students that migration isn’t just a school topic but a real-life experience. This night also coincided with the International Mother Tongue Day and wonderfully celebrated the variety of cultures and languages we currently have at our school. Students were translating for parents who didn’t speak English and there was a lot of discussion about complications with language when people move to a new country. At the end of the event, students presented some works that reflected their own perspectives about migration and the knowledge that they gained throughout the past month.

The world celebrates the International Mother Language Day on February 21. Having a very diverse student body with over 23 different nationalities represented, the European School is multilingual and our students eagerly join International Mother Language Day celebration every year. On February 21, 2018, the European School students tried to teach their peers popular phrases in their mother tongues, delivered presentations about the history of their native languages, discussed native alphabets, read poems and played fun games. At the end of the day, parents joined the celebration and brought homemade traditional dishes to embrace the cultural and linguistic diversity at the European School.

In order to improve the quality of teaching Mathematics and prepare students for mathematics competitions, conferences and Olympiads, the European School is establishing a Mathematics Club and Mathematics Saturday School. Saturday School will follow the specific program that will help students develop abstract and logical reasoning. Mathematics Club will prepare students for different competitions and olympiads.

In the framework of the “What We Know about Ilia Chavchavadze” project, Tamar Tsagareli, the European School teacher, took grade 9 students to the Museum of Rustaveli State Academic Theatre. Students acquainted themselves with the script and historical records of “Is a Man a Human?” by Ilia Chavcavadze.