Grade 5 explored 28 languages on the annual Home Language event! Students (supported by volunteer parents and staff members) formed groups based on their native tongue and organised together a presentation about their language through storytelling. Then, they presented their story to other groups and the best part – they did so in their home language! What a great community learning opportunity for the students, some of which were able to show their confident, verbal qualities in another language other than English for the first time.
“This is a wonderful community learning opportunity for the students, some of whom were thrilled to have the opportunity to share their confident, verbal abilities in languages other than English for the first time. Language groups then shared their learning with others, speaking in their home language with a visual poster to help the audience to make connections. The adults of each group also modelled fluent and expressive reading skills in the various home languages represented across the grade.”
- Vicki Watson Assistant Head of Lower School
For over 40 years, ISA has had the privilege of cultivating a longstanding relationship with the International Baccalaureate (IB). From 6-8 Ocober, the IB hosted their Global Conference in the Hague, where thousands of educational experts from around the world share their experiences with like-minded peers and colleagues. The theme of this year’s conference is “Embracing innovation, inspiring action”.
ISA was honoured to have a number of our community members taking part in this important event. Along with six members of our faculty serving as Teacher Facilitators at the conference, we also had student representatives sharing their work and experiences at ISA with the attendees.
Our Upper School Art team prepared a presentation on their Biomimicry unit. An exhibit was on display for attendees to see the impressive work from our Alumni.
Additionally, Grade 12 students Pieter Versloot and Cezare Robles performed at the opening reception and closing ceremony of the conference. As part of their Comtemporary Music Maker project (the main component of the IB Music HL class), seniors Cezare and Pieter created a short album with four songs.
The aim of the project was to create a real-world, collaborative product which would be applicable in the contemporary music industry. While Cezare took on production, Pieter wrote the majority of the songs, but there was much overlap between the two roles. The songs were made in Ableton (a digital audio workstation used by professional producers) using a combination of acoustic recordings of our piano, guitar and vocals, as well as adding other synthesizers, sound effects and drums. The genre of the songs can best be described as indie soul or jazz pop.
We are thrilled to be part of the IB global learning community and congratulate all our community participants for representing our school.
“For our performance, we will play the songs live, with myself on keyboards and Pieter on guitar, and both singing, sticking as close as possible to the original songs we made but adding a more organic, live feel. The EP will eventually be released on streaming platforms such as Spotify.”
- Cezare
Preparation for life after graduation is a big part of the counselling services provided to high school students at ISA. Young adults are posed with difficult questions to which there is no right or wrong answer. At ISA, students are encouraged to explore the wide variety of options ahead of them: whether they want to go to university, take a gap year, join the workforce, volunteer, or even what country they want to live in, what they want to study and what passions they want to follow.
With that in mind, our high school counsellors organised a session with Doug Hartog, representing the US State Department Office of Overseas Schools. Mr. Hartog introduced students to the American college application process, and to the different types or universities, pathways and major options. He also shared practical tips about the personal essay, standardised tests and scholarship resources. Finally, he invited students to question what they are looking for in this next phase in their lives.
“I am here to help you think broadly so that you can find a college that is the right fit for you. Perhaps you haven’t even heard yet of the university that is perfect for you. Be open about your options! Reflect on what makes you feel excited about going to college and what communities you want to be a part of,”
-Mr. HartogThis session is part of a year-long plan to provide students with opportunities to learn more about their options for higher education pathways. Throughout this process, the coun sellors engage students in self-reflection activities to help them identify the types of programs, locations, and pathways that are right for them. Save the date: on 22 November our counselling team will host a university night for High School students and parents!
“Taking action means to step up and say something to help others. For example, if there is a new kid in school, we can show the way and help them get somewhere."
-Grade 3 students
Taking Action with our learning is an essential part of the PYP Framework. Recently, children in Grade 3 were prompted to Take Action with their learning in a grade level meeting. They talked about the small and large ways we can all take action inside or outside of the classroom by naming action that is already taking place. They also reflected that sometimes, taking action with our learning might mean, not only doing something, but also thinking something, feeling something, or saying something.
By Helle Kirstein, Nathalie Morrissey, and Kim Tyo-Dickerson
ISA welcomed back librarian and author John Schu this fall for a week of celebrating the beginning of our new school year through the power of Story. To start the week off with reading and reflection on what #StoryIs and the ways stories can bring communities together, John led a workshop at the CDLT with ISA colleagues and librarians from other international schools where he presented lessons from his new book The Gift of Story: Exploring the Affective Side of the Reading Life. Here teachers, librarians, and administrators learned about the five affective elements of story: healer, inspiration, clarifier, compassion, and connector, exploring how “truths found in stories can change us, inspire us, connect us to others, answer our deepest questions, and help us heal.”
This inspirational day was followed by a full-day International Teacher Librarians Lead (#inTLlead) job-alike on Tuesday where visiting colleagues from international school libraries from Berlin, Budapest, Frankfurt, Prague and Zürich joined the ISA Libraries Team to participate in Mr. Schu’s student presentations with Pre-Kindergarten and Grade 4, a librarians’ lunch with John and library lessons with Lower School Librarian Helle Kirstein and Head of Libraries Kim Tyo-Dickerson. Then Mr Schu presented throughout the rest of the week to students from Pre-Kindergarten all the way to Grade 7.
Bookmarks, letters, and, most importantly, books were gifted to many of our students, teachers, and administrators. How lucky we were to meet and listen to Mr Schu talk about the importance of Story, to share his heart with us and to help us connect to books that will keep the excitement of reading going throughout the school year! John's books This is a School and The Gift of Story are available to borrow from our ISA Libraries and Sora Digital Library.
- John Schu
“Stories affirm our experiences. They challenge our comfort zones. They give us spaces to hibernate and pull us out of our isolation when we need to be reminded we aren’t alone.”
ISA is committed to supporting students on their individual journeys to self-discovery, as well as sharing experiences and ideas from diverse perspectives, giving context to content in all that we learn. As an inquiry-driven community, we teach students to ask “why” and not just “how”. To start the new school year with this in mind, Debbie O’Hara, our Adult Learning Coordinator, organised a wellbeing week for our community to highlight the importance of staying aware of our mental health and overall wellbeing. She invited Natasha Devon, a mental health, inclusion and diversity campaigner, to engage with and educate the community about wellbeing through various sessions over the course of the week.
Natasha held workshops for students in grades 5-12 on a variety of topics, including stress and anxiety, social media and regulating our relationship with technology and exam preparation and study skills that nurture our mental health. In addition, Natasha also discussed body image with the parent community and hosted a staff session on wellbeing, self-care and the importance of setting boundaries.
Wellbeing week was an opportunity for our community to learn more about mental health, as well as reflect on and reevaluate their own wellbeing and self-care practices. Debbie said: “Inviting Natasha Devon to speak to our ISA student, staff and parent communities started important conversations about wellbeing and mental health. We help build a community of care when we engage in shared experiences on topics that speak to our values and beliefs. We also deepen our commitment to creating a culture of thinking when these engagements enlighten us collectively.”
“All the audiences I spoke to were really engaged and enthusiastic. I’m really happy to have been invited to the school and hope the messages resonated. I’ll be sending follow-up resources to ISA staff so key themes can be reiterated throughout the academic year.”
-Natasha Devon
#IamISA #ISAstories
Meet Faraz, joining ISA this year as the new Individuals and Societies teacher in High School.
"I'm hoping to have experiences to build joyful connections with the people in the community. To me, 'building minds' means giving students the skills to succeed and thrive in the real world."
Meet Pernille, joining ISA this year as a new parent!
"I am looking forward to my 3 children developing positively and being well integrated at ISA. As a family, we are very happy to be able to offer the children an international environment where they will be able to form new friendships."
Meet Pepijn, joining ISA this year as a new grade 11 student!
"What I'm looking forward to most is probably getting to know new people. But I'm also excited about English Literature and Theatre as I'm hoping to study either of those or History in university. Although I'm Dutch, I've only lived here for a few years when I was younger, so moving to the Netherlands is a new chapter."