Izindaba - 16 January 2014

American International School of Johannesburg

Vol. 4 No. 9

January 16, 2014

Together we dare to imagine, inspire to succeed, and courageously make a dif ference

What’s Inside...

School Director’s Message Dear AISJ Community, The 2014-2015 recruitment season is well underway with Search Melbourne, ISS Bangkok and Search Bangkok already complete. I am pleased to announce that we have made serious headway in recruiting new teachers for the upcoming school years. It is always a challenge to find the right combination of expertise, curriculum knowledge and enthusiasm combined with a confidence level to offer real value to our program on arrival. At this point in the process we have reviewed in excess of 2000 resumes with 800 of those being direct inquiries to our school. Because we believe it is vital to the success of our school, AISJ devotes considerable resources to the recruitment process. As the reputation of the school grows, the task for finding individuals who want to work in our school improves every year; however, finding the best people will always be a challenge.

Rachel Caldwell, our Pretoria Campus Principal, and I are off to Search London this week to continue the hiring process.

For your reference I have listed below the names of a few of our new hires with their bios, beginning with Andy Ferguson and his wife whom we hired at the end of October last year.

School Director’s Message 1 Message from the Board of Directors 2 Teaching and Learning News 3 Technology News 3 AISJ Accreditation Update: January 2014 4 AISJ Golf Facility – Eagle Creek 5 AISJ Aquatic Center 6 Service Learning @ AISJ 6 AISJ Counselors’ Corner 7 School Lunch Menu 8 Save the Date: Time Warp 8 Pretoria Summer Carnival 9 Elementary School News - Johannesburg Campus 9 Scouting at AISJ 11 Pretoria Elementary and Middle School News 11 Middle School News - Johannesburg Campus 14 High School University & Career Communicator 16 High School News 17 Activities and Sports 18 Johannesburg Parents Association News 19 Pretoria Parents Association News 19

Andrew Ferguson - appointed as the new MS Principal. Andy is currently the Middle School Principal at Cairo American Academy in Egypt. Andy is a US citizen and will be accompanied by his wife Ingrid who is originally from Trinidad and Tobago and is a physical education teacher. They have two girls Maia who is 10 and Sophie who is 7. Andy has an undergraduate degree from Kenyon College in Ohio and an MA in Education Leadership from California Polytechnic University in California, USA. Ingrid Ferguson – Elementary PE. US Citizen. Ingrid is currently the Head of Department, PreK-12 Physical Education Teacher, Physical Education and Swimming at Cairo American College. She has an undergraduate degree in Adapted Physical Education from Coppin State University, Baltimore, Maryland and Masters in Kinesiology – Human Movement and Sport from Cal Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California. Ingrid also holds a Post Graduate Certificate in ESOL and is currently studying towards a M.Ed. TESOL from the University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia.

Lisa Thom – ES Assistant Principal. Canadian Citizen. Lisa holds a Bachelor of Education degree from Simon Fraser University and various graduate courses and a Master of Educational Leadership from The College of New Jersey, Global Program. She is currently Primary Years Programme Coordinator and Learning Support Teacher at Surabaya Indonesia.

Julie Puckett – IB Chemistry and IB Biology (Grow th position). US Citizen. Julie has undergraduate degrees in Chemistry, Biology and Education from North Carolina State and a Masters in Education from SUNY Buffalo. She has taught AP and IB Biology and chemistry as well as integrated science in Jakarta, Bangkok and most recently at the American School of Doha, Qatar. She will be accompanied by her husband Todd and their two boys currently in grade 8 and 9.

Todd Puckett – IB Geography (Grow th position). Todd completed his undergraduate work in History at Appalachian State, in We are a diverse, international communit y providing a balanced and nur turing learning program that fosters personal growth, provides meaningful oppor tunities for achievement, and promotes positive contributions to societ y.

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North Carolina and his Masters in Education from SUNY Buffalo. Todd has taught a range of AP and IB History and Geography as well as earlier in his career being a MS Social Studies teacher. He has taught in US, Kuwait, Indonesia, Thailand, and most recently Qatar. Both Todd and Julie are US Citizens Kendel Leet - MS Counsellor. US Citizen. Kendel completed her undergraduate work in Psychology at the University of Vermont and her Master in Counselling at Pacific University in California. She has previously worked in Frankfurt, San Francisco, Dakar and Jakarta. She has spent the past eight years at Jakarta International School as the MS Counselor where she also worked with our incoming new MS Principal. Please note her appointment has yet to be announced to our (MS faculty) It is also anticipated that the Elementary Counsellor, Elementary Tech Integration Coach, and new Assistant Principal in Elementary will most likely be hired prior to the fairs due to the quality of applicants and the competitive nature of these positions.

Candace Taylor-Weber – Librarian/Literacy Coach (PTA) US and Dutch Citizen. Candace is currently a teacher Librarian at Nanjing International School in China, she has also worked in Mexico and the USA. She has a undergraduate degree from CSU in Long Beach and Master’s degrees from national University, USA and Charles Sturt University in Australia. Candace joins us with strong literacy and technology background. She will be accompanied by her husband Aaron and their two daughters aged 5 and 3.

Aaron Thompson – Middle School Generalist (New position-PTA) US and Canadian Citizen. Aaron is currently teaching IB MYP Math and Science in Nanjing but has also had extensive experience teaching Literacy and Social Studies at the Elementary and Middle School levels. He holds an undergraduate degree from CSU in Long Beach and a Masters in Cross Cultural Teaching form the National University in the USA. Eric Krieckhaus – IB Math/Department Chair Math (JHB) US and Swiss Citizen. Eric is currently IB Math and Head off Department at Brussels International School where he has been for six years. Previously served the same position at the Taipai American School in Taiwan. He has also taught in France, Chile and the USA. Eric holds an undergraduate degree in Mathematics from Reed College, USA and a Masters in Mathematics from the University of Texas at Austin. He will be joined by his wife Margaret and their two children aged 7 and 12 Margaret Kriekhaus – HS/IB Math/HS Technology Integration Coach (New position - JHB) US Citizen. Margaret currently teaches IB Math in Brussels and as the tech integration specialist for that department. Margaret is also an IB Math examiner and test author for the IB. She has also worked in France, Taiwan and the USA. Margaret has an undergraduate degree in Math and computer Science from Swarthmore College in the USA and a Masters in International Education from Framingham University in the USA. Mandy Dorta-Wilson – Kindergarten (PTA) British Citizen (Scottish). Mandy joins us from Nanjing International School after teaching there for six years. She has also taught in Germany, Italy Thailand and Scotland. Mandy is also a trained IB PYP trainer and has a Bachelor’s Degree in Education from Aberdeen University.

Thanking you for your continued support.

Andy

Message from the Board of Directors News from your School Board The Board closed the year with a packed meeting agenda. We met on the Pretoria campus and had a tour of the newly completed facilities as well as an update on school-wide facilities projects which are all on time and on budget. We discussed a proposed increase to the capital fee for the coming academic year. The community will be notified about the Board’s decision and rationale in a separate communication. We also had initial discussions about parameters for the 2014-2015 school budget.

The committee shared research and led a discussion on the development of a Child Protection Policy. We hope to have a set of procedures in place by the end of the academic year.

Board members gave updates on the strategic planning process, including how MAP testing data will be incorporated into the annual report and the development of new rubrics for independent, conceptual, connected and service learners. These rubrics will be detailed in the annual report in September 2014.

Another aspect of the strategic plan is focused on is professional development for school faculty and staff, around which we had discussions on how to enhance the focus on developing an environment of continuous learning. The Facilities We are a diverse, international communit y providing a balanced and nur turing learning program that fosters personal growth, provides meaningful oppor tunities for achievement, and promotes positive contributions to societ y.

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Committee briefed the Board on the ongoing environmental impact study which includes the study of the use of alternative energy and is a part of the campus development plan.

Kate Pongonis Executive Board Secretary

Teaching and Learning News Dear AISJ Families, Happy New Year and welcome to a second semester of teaching and learning at AISJ! This semester, we are happy to welcome five student teachers from The College of New Jersey. The student teachers are studying education in their final year of university and are joining classes in the elementary and middle school for their final teaching practice. Hosting student teachers is a wonderful experience for all involved - the student teachers themselves, AISJ’s teachers and AISJ’s students. It is a great way to share expertise, develop our own understandings and to hear some of the latest research coming out of teacher training facilities in the USA. It is also an opportunity to spread the word about some of the pioneering work that is taking place in international schools. The student teachers will be with us until the end of February.

The second round of Learning Institutes start at the end of January for all teachers on both campuses. The institutes are onsite based workshops that specifically target the skills and practices in the Professional Teaching Rubrics. We are adding a new format this time round that we are calling “think tanks”. A “think tank” is an inquiry or exploration of a topic or big idea. These sessions are predominantly research based where the participants and facilitators work together to build a deeper understanding of a topic and develop learner/teacher practice tools where appropriate.

The Teaching and Learning team is working closely with classroom teachers to create criteria that we will use to rate some online learning and software tools. Some of the tools we are trialing include Mathletics, IXL Maths, Explore Learning, Khan Academy and Learnzillion. Please see article by Fred Biggar, Director of Technology for further information.

Thank you for your continued support, Liz Hargreaves

Technology News Software tools in the classroom As a response to inquiries from parents and teachers, we are beginning a classroom trial of different on-line learning tools.

While individuals and families can sign up themselves for these online subscription sites, we want to evaluate what benefits they might have to improve student learning in a classroom setting.

The primary questions we are asking include “Does this tool…

• allow me to differentiate learning for my students?”

• allow for an inquiry approach to learning?”

• allow me to ‘flip’ my classroom?”

• promote independent and connected learning?”

The Teaching and Learning team is developing a set of criteria that we will use to measure the success of the trials and will be working closely with classroom teachers. Some of the pitfalls we want to avoid when these sorts of tools are used inappropriately include: • They can be used as a digital text book or digital worksheets.

• A teacher can fall into the trap of using the tool to do the teaching of the lesson or as the prime means of revision.

• While these tools are engaging for students, they can be treated solely as games where achieving the next trophy or points total is more important than understanding the concept or learning the material.

• The easy availability of statistics and numbers would seem to provide them with a measure of how their student is doing when this is not necessarily the case.

• They can be used as homework generation devices and/or busy work.

Some of the tools we are trialing include Mathletics, IXL Maths, Explore Learning, Khan Academy and Learnzillions.

We are a diverse, international communit y providing a balanced and nur turing learning program that fosters personal growth, provides meaningful oppor tunities for achievement, and promotes positive contributions to societ y.

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Tab Trial in ES Recently we mentioned the tablet trial that we are running in Grade 2 on the Johannesburg campus. Teachers and students have shown great enthusiasm for the devices and this month we a re-doubling our efforts to determine to what degree they will enhance and promote student learning. It is by no means a given that simply putting a mobile device in the hands of an elementary student will automatically improve their learning experience and so we are looking very carefully at their effectiveness.

Towards this end, several teachers and principals are heading off to Mumbai next month to attend ASB Unplugged at the American School of Bombay which is widely acknowledged as the leading ‘technology’ centered conference in the international schools circuit. Our teachers will have the opportunity to look closely at the role of technology in the elementary years and consult with colleagues from around the world.

AISJ Accreditation Update: January 2014 Dear AISJ Community, As reported in May last year, during this 2013/14 school year AISJ will be engaged in an accreditation self-study process. This is already well underway – with many parent, board and community members involved in the process.

Those of you who have been overseas, with children in international schools for some time, may well be familiar with the accreditation process. However, we are also aware that there will be others within our community who are not aware of this cyclic process of review and evaluation. In our case AISJ has been ‘accredited’ since 1989 with the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (MSA), based in the mid-Atlantic region of the USA and as such, we are now going through our seven year ‘re-accreditation’.

Today MSA is responsible for the ongoing accreditation of 3000 institutions stateside, as well as international schools in 85 countries worldwide. It is also affiliated with the Office of Overseas American Schools, as well as being a founding member of the International Alliance of Accrediting Associations which includes the major US regional, national and international accrediting agencies.

Some of you may be asking - but just what is ‘accreditation’?

Accreditation is a system of accountability that ensures quality education. It requires a school or educational institution to undergo a detailed self-study process – based on a set of standards of quality determined by the agency. The compilation of the report must have included a range of community stakeholders and when complete, it will be reviewed by an impartial, third-party validation group.

While accountability is a focus, alongside the attainment of high levels of student performance – the goal is to give others an understanding of the process undergone to achieve goals set, and to enable ongoing achievement and/or improvement through the establishment of determined, sustainable strategic planning.

As such, at the end of September, 2014, a visiting team – appointed by MSA – will join us for a week to review our self-study, and to interview stakeholders. During this visit, the team will be considering: • the degree to which the school has shown an understanding of where it currently is, and what it can/should do to continue to improve; • the extent to which the plan to improve is supported by the school and community stakeholders; • the capacity of the school to implement and sustain its plans over the next accreditation cycle.

So what stage are we up to?

Since August, we have had 12 Committees working on the standards set by MSA – overseen and supported by a Planning Team. All committees (and the Planning Team) have school-wide representation, including parent, board and faculty members, and incorporating members from our Pretoria campus and community. The first draft reports have just been submitted by each of the committees, and each of these committees will reconvene in early May to update and revise their reports before the final completed components are compiled into the self-study and forwarded to MSA.

What if I want to know more?

Updates and more detailed information will be shared with the community at two upcoming Director’s Coffee mornings: • Thursday January 23rd – Pretoria Campus, 10:00 am, Pretoria Library We are a diverse, international communit y providing a balanced and nur turing learning program that fosters personal growth, provides meaningful oppor tunities for achievement, and promotes positive contributions to societ y.

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• Thursday February 13th – Johannesburg Campus 7:30 am, Johannesburg Parent Room You can also access AISJ’s Core Beliefs, parameters, priorities and Strategic Goals on the school website: http://www.aisj-jhb.com/Community/Community_Core_Beliefs_Parameters_Priorities_&_Strategic_Goals.html We will continue to keep you informed as the process continues and we hope that you will take the time to view the documents in place – and/or to attend an informational session.

Sincerely, Dr Merris Page-Smith, mpage-smith@aisj-jhb.com Curriculum and Accreditation Coordinator

AISJ Golf Facility – Eagle Creek Having perceived a growing interest in the sport of golf and a desire to ma ximize recreation facilities within the Johannesburg campus perimeter, a golf area was designated for future development in the 2011 Johannesburg master facility plan. In 2012, work started on the southwest corner of the property adjacent to the soccer fields on the development of AISJ’s own golf facilities, which is named Eagle Creek. The facility offers a 250 m2 T-box area with artificial and natural grass, 12 available bays for practicing with 5 target greens ranging from 90 - 220 meters. Two of these greens have the option of multiple pin placements so that players can focus on the distance of their clubs. A 240 m2 chipping and 200 m2 putting green as well as bunkers have been created close to all the greens so that every aspect of a golf student’s short game can be practiced.

Natural areas and small water retention dams have been created to invite indigenous and endemic fauna and flora to flourish.

These areas will serve a dual purpose not only for golf students but also for science students to do stream, pond and water studies as part of their learning.

Gordon Millar, a certified PGA teaching professional, has now been engaged to coach full time from this facility. He provides teaching programs to students who are interested in the game and is available for private lessons. Gordon will also work closely with the school’s golf teams and be an integral part of our after school program.

Currently AISJ students from grades 5 through 12 utilize this facility during their PE classes to learn the basics of the game of golf. Students from grade 2 through grade12 will have an opportunity to take group lessons as an after school activity. All AISJ community members will be able to take private lessons with Gordon during a scheduled time at a discounted rate. In addition to these opportunities, AISJ will be hosting its first ever International Schools of Southern and Eastern Africa (ISSEA) Golf Invitational this November. Teams from Ethiopia and Kenya plan to come to Johannesburg to participate in this exciting event.

In the coming years we will continue to grow our golf program at AISJ and hope that we field a golf team each year and that Golf becomes an official ISSEA sport.

Guidelines Proper golf etiquette must be adhered to at all times including (but not limited to): • golf or rubber soled shoes only being worn (no heels allowed); • only a putter used on the greens; • appropriate behavior (i.e., no yelling, screaming permitted); • respect the property and space of those around you.

Cost to use the facility is R 20.00 for a bucket of golf balls. Currently tokens for these can be purchased from the Business Office and then given to our Golf Coach Gordon Millar on the greens or staff at the facility. (Coming Soon: an automated ball machine that will be operated with tokens to dispense balls; the tokens will be available from the business office or Gordon.)

Hours This facility is open on the following days and times: • Monday to Friday: 8:00 am – 6:00 pm • Saturday & Sunday: 8:00 am – 5:00 pm Restrictions on this include: • Students and staff are unable to use it during school hours.

• Students using the facility must have signed and returned an indemnity form to Mr. Kris Jettner (forms located at the Activities Office, the Business Office and the High School Office).

We are a diverse, international communit y providing a balanced and nur turing learning program that fosters personal growth, provides meaningful oppor tunities for achievement, and promotes positive contributions to societ y.

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• Students can use the facility without parental supervision no later than the last bus leaving on any week day.

• Students must have parental supervision on a weekend and at all other times during the week, after the last buses have left.

For a biography on AISJ’s Golf Pro, Gordon Millar, Click Here Golf Lesson Pricing, Click Here

AISJ Aquatic Center Students and parents must sign an indemnity form prior to using the Johannesburg Campus Aquatic Center for the first time.

These will be located at the pool itself and in the Human Resources office. They can be submitted to Dee Slattery in the Gym office or to the lifeguard on duty.

For the safety and security of everyone, community members must adhere to the pool rules.

Hours

Community opening times will begin with the following days and hours, but are subject to change depending on demand. If these times/days change, we will communicate this well in advance in the Izindaba.

• Tuesday: • Wednesday: • Saturday:

4:00 pm - 6:00 pm 3:00 pm - 5:30 pm 8:00 am - 1:00 pm

Service Learning @ AISJ Welcome back after a wonderful break! This semester we will be embarking on some ambitious, groundbreaking activities and events. Our program will be focusing on student leadership development as well as working toward localizing, expanding and sharing our service knowledge and experiences.

Survival This week in middle school our grade 6 social studies students presented their research on various global issues in relation to our survival. I was enlightened by the investigation and inquiry the students had put into their project presentations. Students worked in teams to help each other in their presentations. The team I was fortunate to observe were; Alba Garcia-Tombas – Overpopulation, Maya Littlefield - Global Warming, Mandisa Mudavanhu - Weapons of Mass Destruction and Urvashi Jhala - Nuclear Warfare. These were a few of the presentations given this week to demonstrate understanding and celebrate the end of the unit on Human Survival. Thanks Mrs Jettner for allowing us to participate in the presentations!

Service Leadership Retreat to Tigerkloof On Friday the 17th of January we head out to Tigerkloof School for a service leadership retreat. It is an off-campus retreat for service orientated students to build leadership skills, knowledge and understanding. The retreat allows for a unique ‘hands on’ leadership experience in collaboration with the local community.

High School Service Festival On Tuesday the 28th of January from 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm, all Grade 9, 10 students and new students in Grades 11 and 12 are required to attend a series of workshops run by our service leaders. The festival is organized as workshops to provide student leaders opportunities to present their various service projects to the student body. The workshops do not only serve as informational sessions but allow students to sign a commitment form for the project they will be participating in this semester.

We will follow this with a parent coffee afternoon in the AISJ parent lounge at 4:00 pm for those parents who would like to know more about our service partners.

AISA GISS - Ghana We are very excited to announce the team of delegates for AISA Global Issues Service Summit in Ghana from the 12th to 17th of February. The participating students are; Simay Erciyas, Danielle Deiotte, Hadley Rose, Maryam Allam, Gabriela Mercadé, Daisy Lawrence, Eilif Ronning, Martha Acha, Connor McKee, and Sanath Jaishankar. This team will be presenting on the ‘Born Free Generation’.

We are a diverse, international communit y providing a balanced and nur turing learning program that fosters personal growth, provides meaningful oppor tunities for achievement, and promotes positive contributions to societ y.

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This is a student led conference, titled ‘If Not You, Then Who?’ and will explore students’ experiences as changes agents within their community. This is an opportune time for students at AISJ to share the meaningful service projects they have been involved in with other students from across Africa.

South African Service Summit for Youth (SASSY) Taking step closer to ‘home’ this year sees the ground-breaking local service conference SASSY (South African Service Summit) hosted by AISJ. The conference will be held on March 29th - 30th for selected local schools. The conference theme, “The Born Free Generation”, examines and brings together like-minded students to open up dialogue, create regional partnerships and focus on stainability in service.

Harvesting Community Gardens Both campuses are close to harvesting their community gardens, stay tuned for more on this in next fortnight’s Izindaba!

Tara Barton and the Service Learning Divisional Reps

AISJ Counselors’ Corner Transition The word transition comes up so often in International Schools. In the high school, we have just welcomed 13 new students, with a couple more on the way! It is exciting to watch our current students engage with the new students and to help them navigate their way around the high school. This semester we are piloting a new mentor – type program. One of our current grade 11 students (who was new just this August) has stepped forward in hopes of making that transition a bit easier for the new students. Dakota Wenberg has been working on a mentor program for one of her CAS projects at AISJ. She has met with counsellors and come up with a list of activities and goals for this transition time. Dakota has done a great job of matching up incoming students with current AISJ students to help them transition to our school. The new students are feeling a bit less anxious and more comfortable with the help they are getting regarding lockers, lunch, schedule, the school map, getting the slate and how students spend their breaks during the day. We hope to continue, adjust and expand the program in order to fit the needs of our new students. And if you see Dakota, tell her a job well started!

Great informational bits for all the high school families: Visit our Counselor’s website for information on • Summer program opportunities • Country specific university information • Standardized test information • Get connected through Naviance

Contact the Counselors’ Please contact the counselors’ if we can help in any way: Johannesburg Elementary School Counselor Dr. Carol Wootton cwootton@aisj-jhb.com 087 809 1842

Johannesburg Middle School Counselor Dr. Justin Walker mscounselor@aisj-jhb.com 087 809 1819

High School Counselor High School Counselor Ms. Ann Ireland Mrs. Melissa Johnson-Schnyder High School Counselor High School Counselor All Grade 9 - Grade 11 Students with the last All Grade 10 and 11 Students with last name J - Z and the Class of 2013 name A – I (Grade 12 Students) aireland@aisj-jhb.com mjohnson-schnyder@aisj-jhb.com 087 809 1833 087 809 1841 Pretoria Campus Counselor Joe Rauschenbach jrauschenbach@aisj-jhb.com 087 803 0455 We are a diverse, international communit y providing a balanced and nur turing learning program that fosters personal growth, provides meaningful oppor tunities for achievement, and promotes positive contributions to societ y.

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School Lunch Menu Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

20 January

21 January

22 January

23 January

24 January

Mac & Cheese

Home Made Frikkadels

Chicken Strips

Beef Cottage Pie

Beef Lasagna

Chicken Casserole

Chicken Stir Fry

Yellow Rice

Chinese Noodles

Peas & Corn

(V) Vegetarian Lasagna

French Fries Chutney Glazed Chicken Chicken Cordon Bleu Wings Fluffy Mashed potatoes (V) Butternut & Sweet Potato Bake Roast Potatoes Broccoli au Gratin Mixed Vegetable (V) Vegetarian Soya Sausage (V) Veggie Curry (Mild)

(V) Spinach & Feta Pie

27 January

28 January

29 January

30 January

31 January

Chicken & Pasta Bake

Grilled Lemon & Herb Hake Fillet

Burger Day

Meat Balls in Tomato Sauce

Lemon & Herb Roast Chicken

Spaghetti

Beef Schnitzel

Honey Glazed Chicken Wings

Parissene Potatoes

Beef Short rib & Veg Casserole Herbed White Rice Broccoli au Gratin (V) Bean & Vegetable Casserole

Beef Chili (Mild) with Yellow Rice

Beef Burger Chicken Burger

Creamy Mashed Potato French Fries Steamed Green Beans

(V) Vegetarian Burger

(V) Vegetable Stir Fry

Roast Potato

Cinnamon Pumpkin Wedges

(V) Brinjal, Tomato & Cheese Bake

(V) Soya Sausage Casserole

Save the Date: Time Warp

Tickets

R 250

Saturday, February 8th, 2014 Barnyard Theatre in Rivonia Do not miss an unforgettable evening of friendship, food and drinks topped with brilliant entertainment at Barnyard Theatre in Rivonia Time Warp - a unique experience with songs and dance from the best of Broadway and Holly wood!

Adults only and AISJ transport will be available at an additional R 50.00 per person. Bus reservations must be booked by February 3rd.

Buses will leave at 6:30 pm from Dainfern Valley Shopping Centre. Show starts at 8:00 pm.

(Food and Drink are for own expense) For tickets and bus reservations contact Kathy Ustas (jsustas@yahoo.com) Fundraising for the Class of 2014

We are a diverse, international communit y providing a balanced and nur turing learning program that fosters personal growth, provides meaningful oppor tunities for achievement, and promotes positive contributions to societ y.

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Hosted by the AISJ Pretoria Parents Association

Pretoria Summer Carnival

Saturday, 1 February @ Pretoria Campus 3:00 pm - 7:00 pm R 100.00 per person entrance fee, includes 10 tickets (Family Cap R 500.00 +50 tickets) R 5.00 per ticket GAMES, ACTIVITY BOOTHS, AND CRAZY CONTESTS Cupcake Walk, airbrush tattoos, dunk tank, water balls, bean bag toss, penny hunt, sponge throw, duck tub, ring toss, teacher raffles, free inflatable water play Meal Deals from Subway and Roman’s Pizza Proceeds go toward PA sponsored school events Prizes for all!

FOR MORE INFORMATION Contact Rebecca Alderman 0789410793 or email: alderman.tx@gmail.com

Elementary School News - Johannesburg Campus Dear Parents, Happy New Year!! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and spent some quality time with family and friends. It is great to be back in Johannesburg this week after returning from the Bangkok recruitment fairs. Our school’s reputation is growing rapidly in the international scene and we have had an overwhelming interest in our school from teachers all over the world wanting to come and work at AISJ. Recruiting and retaining high quality elementary teachers is a huge priority for our school and it has pleasing to have found exceptionally strong and reputable teachers for our school.

Ben Hart, bhart@aisj-jhb.com

Upcoming Events January 19 JHB Cub Scouts: Ice Cream Social/Swim Party @ AISJ Aquatic Center January 21 JHB and Pretoria Individual Staff and Student Photo Day January 22 JHB ES Blue Day

Welcome to New Families A warm welcome to the 37 new families who have arrived at the elementary school for semester 2. It has been neat to see the new faces of

Building Bus Communities, 12:30 pm

We are a diverse, international communit y providing a balanced and nur turing learning program that fosters personal growth, provides meaningful oppor tunities for achievement, and promotes positive contributions to societ y.

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students in classes who already look like they have been here all year. I look forward to meeting those of you who are new to AISJ in the coming weeks.

January 23 Director’s Coffee Morning @ Pretoria Library, 10:00 am

UBUNTU

January 27 Board Meeting

Lots has been happening in these first two weeks of school. Coming back to this week, it was amazing to see bulletin boards and posters around the school dedicated to the word UBUNTU. Our entire elementary school is using UBUNTU as a way to uphold the values in which we want to live: respect, human kindness, dignity and goodness. Riedwaan Kader, our grade 4 teacher, has written an Izindaba article about UBUNTU. Please talk with your child about this word at home. Our aim is to have this drive our beliefs and behaviours in our school. During our upcoming assemblies, we will be discussing UBUNTU.

January 29 JHB ES Red Day JHB Cub Scouts: Blue and Gold Celebration February 1 Pretoria Parents Association Summer Carnival @ Pretoria Campus, 3:00 pm - 7:00 pm

UBUNTU - Riedwaan Kader “I am because we are…”

Teachers in the elementary school have evaluated the intrinsic education in our school, particularly looking at values. We came together and decided upon a common language that will be used throughout the elementary school. The answer was clear; we decided on the South African word UBUNTU, which is an Nguni-Bantu philosophy meaning “humanness” and translated as “Humanity towards others”. We chose the word UBUNTU as an umbrella that encompasses the four pillars of dignity, respect, human kindness and goodness. These are the values that we hope to instill in our students as a way of desirable conduct and personal discipline. The underlying message of Ubuntu is the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity.

The idea is that we would teach students to enable the community around them to be able to improve, whether it is socially, behavioral, and or emotional.

UBUNUTU: • Is the opposite of vengeance.

• Places a high importance on the life of being a human being, and how we treat other human beings.

• Linked with the values: dignity, human kindness, respect and goodness.

• Dictates good attitudes and shared concern.

• Promotes mutual understanding rather than punishment.

We are excited about using this philosophy in the elementary school and we feel confident that our school community will benefit from the values taught through this one word - UBUNTU.

Lapalala - Grade 5 Camp In two weeks’ time our grade 5 students head off to Lapalala Camp for 3 nights. This is one of the major highlights of our grade 5 experience and something our senior students all look forward to every year. We wish them well as they set off and look forward to many stories fun and friendship on their return.

Swimming It has been neat to watch our swimming programme in action. All students in the elementary are participating in swimming in our new aquatics centre as part of our PE curriculum. It is neat to see children enjoying the water with their peers and making use of such a wonderful facility.

Building Bus Communities We continue to work hard at addressing and monitoring behaviour on our buses. On January 22nd we will be meeting again with all the HS bus monitors as well as elementary bus riders to reiterate our expected behaviours on the bus.

As always, please feel free to come by my office and talk with me or introduce yourself around the campus. I always enjoy meeting parents and talking about your children and our school.

We are a diverse, international communit y providing a balanced and nur turing learning program that fosters personal growth, provides meaningful oppor tunities for achievement, and promotes positive contributions to societ y.

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Scouting at AISJ Johannesburg Campus Cub Scouts Pack 2010 Pack 2010 recently visited the United States Embassy were they listened to presentations from representatives of the Army and Marines. The boys were able to see up close equipment used by the soldiers.

Additionally, the new scouts were presented their first rank of Bobcat.

Upcoming Events January 19th- Ice cream social/swim party at AISJ pool from 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm. During this event, Scouts will work towards their aquanaut requirements.

January 29th – Cub Scout Blue and Gold celebration. This is the annual Scout birthday party to be held during the regularly scheduled meeting.

Pretoria Elementary and Middle School News News from Pretoria Elementary and Middle School

Rachel Caldwell, Pretoria Campus Principal: rcaldwell@ aisj-jhb.com Welcome Back I returned from the Bangkok recruitment fairs on Monday January 13th and was struck by the high level of energy on our campus. I was delighted to meet the large group of new students who were proudly introduced to me by their enthusiastic peers and look forward to a lively, action-packed semester. I will be out of school on Friday January 17th returning at midday on Monday 20th since I shall attend the London recruitment fair with Dr. Andy. I am particularly sorry to miss the evening performance of the Elementary School Play which is outstanding.

However, I am sure that you will all agree that finding first class educators for our great campus is extremely important.

Upcoming Events January 17 Pretoria Play: The Ever After - A Musical @ Lapa, 6:30 pm January 21 JHB and Pretoria Individual Staff and Student Photo Day January 22 Building Bus Communities January 23 Director’s Coffee Morning @ Pretoria Library, 10:00 am

Re-scheduled ES Play AISJ PRETORIA presents their Annual ES school play: THE EVER AFTER – A MUSICAL When: Friday 17th January Time: 6:30 pm & When: Tuesday 21st January Time: 3:00 pm Where: AISJ Pretoria LAPA Cost: Absolutely free

January 24 AISJ Pretoria Fun Gala @ Pretoria Campus, 9:00 am - 11:50 am

Wake Up and Learn: PA hosted morning presentations Mr. Joe’s presentation on the role of counselling which took place on Wednesday January 8th was very well received.

February 5 Pretoria Wake Up & Learn Parent Coffee Morning @ Library, 7:30 am

On February 5th at 8:00 am Jill Bellamy, one of our Teaching and Learning coaches, will present on Building Conceptual Understanding in Math. The focus will be supporting your child in math at home.

February 6 Pretoria Grade 4 CW W Parent Info Session @ ES10, 3:00 pm

January 27 Board Meeting February 1 Pretoria Parents Association Summer Carnival @ Pretoria Campus, 3:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Classroom without Walls Our Grade 4, 5 and 6-8 students are all involved in exciting camp opportunities during the course of the academic year; We are a diverse, international communit y providing a balanced and nur turing learning program that fosters personal growth, provides meaningful oppor tunities for achievement, and promotes positive contributions to societ y.

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Classroom without Walls. Please see the reminders below for the upcoming 4th Grade and Middle School opportunities. Grade 5 news will be forthcoming in the near future.

Pretoria MS students will be going to Camp Discovery from the 4th – 7th February. A parent information session about this is scheduled for 7:45 am on Thursday January 16th. The camp’s website is www.campdiscovery.co.za.

4th Grade camp will be coming up on Monday March 10th through to Wednesday March 12th. We will be running an information/Q&A session th on Monday, February 6 at 3:00 pm in ES10. If you have any questions or if you would just like to know a little more about this camp and what to expect then please come along. We will provide you with a list of things your child will need to bring along, and also provide other important information.

In the meantime you can check out Ukutula’s website at www.ukutula.com.

Important Dates for After School Activities Please make a note of the following ASA dates in your diaries and remember to get in touch, through your child’s planner or by email, if you need to inform us of any attendance or transportation changes.

6th January ASA re-commences immediately following the December break.

3rd – 6th of February Last week of school sponsored ASA activities with the exception of Swim Team which continues 10th – 27th February Swim Team and parent funded activities continue, i.e. Hip Hop, Drama, Ballet, Tennis, Golf, Martial Arts and Little Lab Coats 17th February NO ASA due to no school for students (see Community Events Calendar)

Ionic Bonding in Chemistry; Fun with Jelly Tots!

Grade 8 are currently learning about chemical reactions. In order to comprehend how two or more substances chemically react together, they need an understanding of how those substances bond. The first form of bonding they looked at was ionic; the bonding of metals and non-metals.

After practicing on paper, the grade 8 students had to produce Jelly Tot Lewis Dot diagram models showing the final product of a range of ionic bonds. Temptation was high but all the Jelly Tots went into the making of the models!

Making Lewis Dot diagrams of the first ten elements

Making Lewis Dot diagrams of ionic bonds

Erica Roets - Middle School Pretoria Science Teacher

Memories of a Great Man, Nelson Mandela In Grade 6 the students have been working on a unit entitled ‘Memoirs’. One of the enduring understandings was, ‘By analyzing universal themes we can gain understanding of our own experiences.’

With the passing of Nelson Mandela, we felt an authentic connection with this conceptual understanding and, as such, the students reflected upon their own emotions and feelings when they heard the sad news for the first time.

A big focus for the Grade 6’s is to develop self and peer editing skills. The students worked toWe are a diverse, international communit y providing a balanced and nur turing learning program that fosters personal growth, provides meaningful oppor tunities for achievement, and promotes positive contributions to societ y.

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gether to peer edit this work with at least two other students in the class. The students then self-edited their work by reading it aloud to themselves and making use of word processing applications to correct conventions. Here are some excerpts from this project.

Jacob Growe - Language Arts, Pretoria Nelson Mandela: A Memory by Caleb Tesfaye Grade 6A ….I thought about him on the bus ride to school. I was very sad, I felt weird in my stomach like the whole world turned upside down… I had my usual classes, in French Class we watched a CNN news report on him and how he changed South Africa.

The fact that he was jail for 27 years and how he grew up made me feel even weirder…

Nelson Mandela’s Death by Victoria Pachero Friday December 6th was the day I heard about Mandela’s death. I was on my way to school, and my dad was driving me.

I always look out the window but that day I was just listening to music. I decided to pull out my ear plugs and start talking to my dad. That’s when he told me about Nelson Mandela’s death. I was sad at first but I tried to make it a little more positive, by thinking “not many people get to their mid 70’s!” He was 95 though, just 5 years away from being a century! He really made a difference, not only to South Africa but the whole world…Rest in Peace Madiba.

Nelson Mandela Memoir by Alex Wang In the morning of December the 6th, my mom called me to get up as usual, but the unusual part was that she said: “Nelson Mandela is dead.” I was really shocked, because I heard in the news a few months ago that he was clinging to life by his finger nails but he made it pass that time. I ask my mom: “How did he die?” She said: “His liver, heart and lungs all had problems.” To me it meant that the world and South Africa both lost a giant pillar. I also felt relived for Mandela. Because he suffer a lot when he was alive. (My mom said that he was practically living on the machines) When I arrived at school. It seemed like everyone knew this news. People were not laughing and smiling. We watched CNN student news and saw Mandela’s life. Mandela admitted that he wasn’t a perfect person. But he was a great man and he gave up much and gained much to try and fight for freedom. He was in jail for 27 years. But after that he lived a great life.

I know that the whole world wants him to live forever, but everyone dies.

Reading Buddies: A Literacy Adventure Since the beginning of the school year, the grade 1 and grade 5 classes at the Pretoria campus have been meeting once a week to buddy read together. This has been a great learning opportunity for students of both grade levels. The younger students have the opportunity to hear fluent readers and extend their comprehension when they discuss their books. Their older peers are able to show what they know and help guide the grade 1’s on their literacy journey. Seeing the confidence grow in both grade levels has been great to experience, especially in first grade when they know they have a fifth grade friend. You can feel the excitement right before the students meet as they prepare to share their books and their reading skills with one another. The students share library books with one another and are very much looking forward to sharing their own published books with their buddies.

By Callie Growe, Nozizwe Ndebele, and Janet Feddish

STARSHOW 2013: an event to remember!

“Together we dare to imagine, inspire to succeed, and courageously make a difference” We are internationally-minded!

Deeply saddened by the death of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela on December 5th, Pretoria campus dedicated its Star Show 2013 to him; our internationally minded hero. Grade 8 performed a wonderful, touching dedication and tribute to Madiba which was followed the entire community singing the South-African national Anthem. The eclectic program was created with an emphasis on our diversity as world citizens. Video presentations, songs, poetry, music, skits and a fashion show were all highly appreciated by students, parents and staff alike. The Grand finale, “Hot Gates” sung by the school choir and directed by Ms Marchelle couldn’t have been more meaningful. All the cities quoted in the lyrics were written on brightly colour stars distributed among the audience members. A wonderful atmosphere of togetherness was created making this a very special event to remember!

Alex Blauuw and Rita Kriel, Starshow 2013 Coordinators We are a diverse, international communit y providing a balanced and nur turing learning program that fosters personal growth, provides meaningful oppor tunities for achievement, and promotes positive contributions to societ y.

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Middle School Health Our Middle School students in Pretoria have been exploring the theme of hydration and the importance of drinking enough water and fluids before, during and after physical activity. We will also be looking at the effects of sports drinks on our athletic ability and performance levels.

Robyn Hall, Pretoria PE Teacher

AISJ Pretoria Swim Squad After a few weeks of rain and bad weather at the end of 2013, the swim squad is raring to go. The 55 member squad, all swim a minimum of 2 times per week during ASA. We are looking forward to an awesome season where we will be taking part in 6 galas with other Pretoria schools as well as an inter-school gala against the Johannesburg campus swimmers. Good luck to everyone!

Robyn Hall, Pretoria PE Teacher and ASA Coordinator

AISJ Pretoria Campus Fun Gala, Pre-K to Grade 4 DATE: 24th January 2014 TIME:

9:00 am – 9:30 am: 9:30 am – 10:00 am: 10:00 am - 10:30 am: 10:30 am - 11:10 am: 11:15 am - 11:50 am:

Gr 4 Gr 3 Gr 2 Gr 1 Kindergarten and Pre K

Friends and family members are welcome to attend and to support all of our swimmers.

Middle School News - Johannesburg Campus CLASSROOM WITHOUT WALLS (CWW) is fast approaching!

Details regarding the CW W trip locations, activities, expectations, and how to prepare, and permission slips will be sent home with your child by the end of the week of January 20th – 24th. Each CW W team will hold an information session for parents on January 30th from 3:15 pm to 4:15 pm. Parent meetings will be held in the following rooms. CW W6 - MS14; CW W7 - MS15; CW W8 - MS7. All forms must be completed and returned by January 30th. One thing to keep in mind when filling out the forms; we need every line filled

Upcoming Events January 21 JHB and Pretoria Individual Staff and Student Photo Day January 22 Building Bus Communities

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out including your family doctor information as well as you insurance company and number.

Brief descriptions of each trip are listed below. Departure for CW W 7 and 8 is Monday morning, February 10th. Departure for CW W6 is Tuesday morning, February 11th. Students come to school as they would on a regular school day, but they should leave their luggage in the foyer of the gym to be loaded on the busses for the trip. All CW W trips return Friday afternoon to AISJ in time for bus riders to take either the regular or late busses home. Students who do not normally take the school busses must arrange for their own transport home.

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January 23 Director’s Coffee Morning @ Pretoria Library, 10:00 am January 27 Board Meeting January 30 Grade 8 Parent HS Information Session @ HS Lecture Hall, 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm JHB MS CW W Parent Info Meeting, 3:15 pm - 4:15pm CW W6 @ MS14 CW W7 @ MS15 CW W8 @ MS7

CWW6 This year’s grade 6 adventure will take place February 11th – 14th at Goodland Estates (www.goodland.co.za) 1½ hours from AISJ. We will be under the skilled and dedicated care of Chameleon February 1 Adventure Academy counselors (chameleon-adventures.co.za) Pretoria Parents Association Summer Carnival @ Prewho have designed a fun-filled learning experience for us. This trip toria Campus, 3:00 pm - 7:00 pm features environmental, cultural, and team building activities. Students will be swimming, hiking, and being challenged to work together through experiences such as personal challenges and leadership games. They will be learning firsthand about the geology and biology of the region and in the process becoming stewards of the earth.

CWW7 This year’s grade 7 adventure will take place February 10th – 14th at Entabeni Environmental Centre (www.enviroed.co.za) which is approximately 470 km from Johannesburg and 35 km from Mooi River. We will be under the skilled and dedicated care of Entabeni Environmental Centre (www.enviroed.co.za) counselors who have designed a fun-filled learning experience for the class. They have a unique, powerful and effective way of teaching. This outdoor experience provides students with the time and opportunity to reflect on values, relationships with self, others and the environment. CW W is a chance to learn some life skills through outdoor experiential learning CWW8 On Monday, February 10th, our entire grade 8 will be departing for their annual Classroom Without Walls (CW W) trip to the Sugar Bay Camp in Zinkwazi Beach, Kwa-Zulu Natal (www.sugarbay.co.za). This trip emphasizes experiences on or near the coast, including marine and aquatic ecology, numerous water sports and land based activities. This trip is a long standing institution for grade 8’s at AISJ as the students work on Social/Emotional Learning focused on self-awareness, management and awareness of others and relationship management.

Grade 8 parent meeting, Questions about IB Diploma and grade 9 Your grade 8 student is moving into grade 9 and with this move comes many questions and concerns, of which the International Baccalaureate (IB) is one of the highest. To provide a solution, Sandy van Nooten, HS Assistant Principal, will be hosting a presentation on what your family needs to know about the IB process as your child enters high school. She will provide a brief overview of the program, as well as highlight the important considerations for course selection and prerequisite classes, particularly in the areas of Math and World Languages. Also making an appearance will be Will Hurtado, (IB Coordinator), Melissa Johnson and Ann Ireland (HS Counselors), and Carla Guedes, Learner Support/Resource Coordinator, so you can put a name with a face. Justin Walker, MS Counselor, will be on hand help to answer any questions about the transition process.

This meeting will take place on Thursday, January 30th, from 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm in the HS Lecture Hall. This meeting is specifically for grade 8 parents and will target the information relevant to the pre-IB process (grade 8-10). Please contact Dr. Walker (mscounselor@aisj-jhb.com) with any questions. See you there!

Middle School Health Screens Dear Middle School Parent, In February we will be conducting health screenings on all Grade 7 students. This involves measuring height and weight, as well as a dental, vision and hearing screen.

If you do not wish your child to undergo the health screening, please send an email to mmyburgh@aisj-jhb.com confirming We are a diverse, international communit y providing a balanced and nur turing learning program that fosters personal growth, provides meaningful oppor tunities for achievement, and promotes positive contributions to societ y.

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so. Should you have any queries or concerns, please contact the nurse’s office.

Nurse Mary and Nurse Sabine

Middle School Skating Party on January 11th Thank you to Sabeina Taneja and Mireille Dijkstra, our Middle School Parent Association representatives, for organizing a back to school skating party on January 11th. This fun filled event was a great way to start the second half of the school year. More than 100 MS students came out to join the party.

Congratulations FIRE Fire was the winning house for the first half of the year! They celebrated with a pizza party and a house trophy. The points are reset to zero and each house has the opportunity to be crowned the new house winner in May!

High School University & Career Communicator NEW MANUAL: PLEASE BE INFORMED THAT YOUR HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELORS ARE PUTTING THE FINAL TOUCHES ON A UNIVERISTY HANDBOOK – PLEASE WATCH FOR LINKS TO THIS IMPORTANT DOCUMENT IN THE EARLY FEBRUARY ISSUE OF IZINDABA - Thanks for your patience!

Greetings from the High School Counseling Office; We hope this message finds you happy and healthy in 2014. We are very proud to make additions to our list of students conditional offers to study at University of Bath, Bristol, Nottingham, Warwick, Exeter, Kings College,Southampton, Sussex, Sheffield, Kent, Glasgow, Richmond and a confirmed offer at Cambridge! Please note these offers are based on conditions set by individual universities – such as obtaining an IB diploma with a prescribed number of points. The offers above were for students interested in studying Sociology, International Business, Engineering, PPE ,Law and English Literature.

We also have acceptances at IE University in Madrid and University of Utrecht in the Netherlands. Across the pond we have acceptances for Amherst College, American University, Loyola Chicago, New York University, Queens in Charlotte, Southern Methodist University, Texas Christian University and the University of Tampa.

In this edition on the Izindaba I would like to introduce you to Naviance Family Connection a service that AISJ technology department provides the counselors to keep track of students applications, send out electronic documents and guide your child through a 4 year plan of career and university planning. Term 2 is the time when we introduce Naviance to our Grade 10 students by introducing career interest inventories. In Grade 11 we encourage students to enter a long list of colleges they are considering. Finally, it is essential that Grade 12 students use Naviance to complete the final list of colleges they are applying to and thus we are able to submit electronic documents on behalf of each of your students.

So What really is Naviance Family Connection?

Naviance Family Connection (Naviance) is a web based data management system and powerful research tool used by the counseling department to keep track of counseling department student data including student standardized test scores, college choices, college applications information and a personality and career assessment.

Naviance helps you better prepare for applying to university and it is a communication tool between the students, parents, and the counselors. By Grade 12, you will have an important collection of information in one place ready to help guide you choices later on in the application process regardless of which country you are planning to apply to. Therefore, all AISJ high school students are registered on Naviance. You will learn how to access and use Naviance to organize your university planning and search process.

Using Naviance, students can store a personal ‘game plan’, and develop: • a list of personal goals and their plans to attain them • lists of possible careers and majors We are a diverse, international communit y providing a balanced and nur turing learning program that fosters personal growth, provides meaningful oppor tunities for achievement, and promotes positive contributions to societ y.

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a resume SAT Reasoning Test preparation graphs that you the likelihood of getting accepted to the most popular universities for AISJ students a list of colleges/universities a student is considering a list of colleges/universities to which he/she is applying college/university application tasks application results a list of university visits

This is private information that can only be accessed by the student, parents or the counseling department. Students can also be contacted by e-mail about college/university visits, deadlines, surveys and other pertinent college/university information from the counseling department.

The data in Naviance also allows a student to research US colleges and universities. It also provides access to analytical tools that give you the ability to compare your date with the profile of a match student at many universities. This provides assistance in determining what schools would be a good fit you.

In order to access Naviance, students must have been registered. It is a rather simple system and many people feel comfortable using it straight away; other people have asked for some support in using the system and for that reason counselors also offer short training workshops during mission classes.

It is a very important part of the counselling process, so every AISJ High School student will be taught how to use this program.

It is briefly introduced to students in grade 9, and each year the students will be required to use it more frequently. In grade 12 students will be using Naviance weekly.

Thanks for your interest and please if you have any questions or concerns about your child and their educational future don’t hesitate to contact your counsellor.

High School News Dear High School Parents,

Upcoming Events

Bringing this particular first semester to closure is something that I will remember for a long time. In addition to the normal end of semester conditions, the passing of exams, saying goodbye to departing friends and celebrating the successful completion of a tough term, we had the weight of President Mandela’s death to process. I was incredibly proud and pleased with the high school students and faculty for the manner in which they organized and carried out our culminating end of first-half event in the Kgoro on Friday afternoon.

To begin the afternoon the traditional “Open-mic” session, a time set aside for students to perform for their peers, was focused on recognizing the many valuable lessons Mandela left the world.

Singing and playing was followed by two very touching student speeches delivered in a way that truly captured the bitter-sweet feelings that permeated the gathering. To end, teachers and staff came together to sing the national anthem of South Africa and invited everyone present to take part, which they did. It was, in the opinion of a very experienced educator, a meaningful and memorable way to express our admiration, gratitude, respect and sadness. I was very moved by how our community dealt with a confusing and difficult time.

January 17 - 19 Service Learning Leadership Retreat @ Tigerkloof January 18 - 19 HS SAT Prep Course January 21 JHB and Pretoria Individual Staff and Student Photo Day January 22 Building Bus Communities January 22 - 26 HS ISSEA Band Festival @ HIS, Harare, Zimbabwe January 23 Director’s Coffee Morning @ Pretoria Library, 10:00 am January 25 HS SAT January 27 Board Meeting

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We are into the second and final term of the school year and the pace increases. Typical of this time of year, we greet students from past years and we meet new students joining the school.

Just this morning a student who graduated last year came to visit, and what he had to say was important and needs to be shared.

When asked how things were going at college in the US, he said things were going well, but that he could do even better…..a comment I hear regularly from first year university students…… He also said that because of his success in the IB program he received 22 college credits and did not have to take introductory courses in several of the subjects he is studying. I also hear this regularly but have not shared it enough with our school community. It always pleases me and it also helps to reconfirm that a heav y investment of effort to meet the challenges of the IB program can pay healthy dividends!

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January 27 - February 1 HS THIMUN Qatar January 28 Grade 9 and 10 Service Learning Launch @ HS Classrooms, 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm Followed by a parent service learning coffee @ Parent Room January 29 - February 1 HS Limpopo Students visit AISJ JHB February 1 Pretoria Parents Association Summer Carnival @ Pretoria Campus, 3:00 pm - 7:00 pm

As we move into the second semester it is important to bring the subject of “balance” to the forefront or our thinking once again.

We speak of this concept repeatedly and we understand intellectually what it means, and yet it continues to be problematic and something that needs our constant attention.

We believe strongly that all students should experience and engage in a wide variety of activities while in school and our program clearly supports this belief. Our strategic plan has this achievement of a “balanced program” as one of our goals as it provides students with such a rich spectrum of learning opportunities. There is no doubt in the value of a balanced program for students. The challenge for all of us is to ensure that a student’s plate is not too full. Once an “overload” occurs, a student’s productivity and learning decreases and emotional stress increases.

I invite you to work closely with us over the coming months to ensure that all our students “keep their balance”. If you as a parent see that there is simply too much on your child’s plate please let us know and together we can remove what is needed in order to ensure an ideal serving.

Best wishes for a prosperous, healthy and very Happy New Year.

Tony Mock, Principal High School

Activities and Sports AISJ MS Soccer Tournament – Saturday February 8th!

On Saturday February 8th AISJ is hosting its annual MS Soccer Tournament which will consist of a U14 Boys and Girls division as well as a U13 Boys and Girls division. This tournament is a long standing tradition and will be very exciting to watch. This year we are hosting our largest MS Soccer Tournament ever. AISJ will have 10 teams from the Johannesburg campus and 2 teams from the Pretoria campus participating in the tournament. In total there will be approximately 50 teams playing in the tournament involving between 400 – 500 soccer players. This event normally attracts lots of fans in the stands and we hope that this tradition continues. This tournament is a fantastic day for our Middle School soccer players and for AISJ in general. We hope to see lots of AISJ Community members checking out the action on Saturday.

ISSEA Basketball @ AISJ! On February 26th 140 basketball players from seven different countries will arrive in Johannesburg to compete in this year’s ISSEA* Basketball Championship being hosted by AISJ. This is a wonderful opportunity for ASIJ to show off their school, community, and our wonderful hospitality but we need YOUR HELP!!! These 140 basketball players need to be hosted by AISJ students for the four nights that they are in South Africa for the tournament. Regardless if you are a Pre-K student or a grade 12 student who is about to graduate, you can host players from these visiting schools. If you are interested in hosting please follow the link below to access the We are a diverse, international communit y providing a balanced and nur turing learning program that fosters personal growth, provides meaningful oppor tunities for achievement, and promotes positive contributions to societ y.

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form that explains everything that you need to know about hosting. In order to pull off what promises to be a wonderful event we need AISJ families to open up your homes for these visiting students. If you have any questions at all please do not hesitate to contact the Activities Department! *ISSEA – International Schools of Southern and Eastern Africa

Johannesburg Parents Association News Happy New Year, 2014! It was so nice to see returning parents and all the new ones who’ve just arrived at our welcome coffee on Wednesday!

If you’re looking to get involved this semester, we are already starting to plan the biggest event of the year, Family Fun Day. We have many volunteer positions that need filling, so please come to one of the PA meetings to find out if something suits you. The meetings are listed in the school calendar. You can also contact any of the PA board members at any time. It is a great way to get integrated into the school and meet people.

Keep an eye out for upcoming excursions and events advertised in the Izindaba. These are always fun and memorable, you won’t want to miss what we’ve got planned for you!

Upcoming Events For more information on all these events click on the Johannesburg Parents Association button on the AISJ website.

January 23 Director’s Coffee Morning @ Pretoria Library, 10:00 am January 27 Board Meeting February 1 Pretoria Parents Association Summer Carnival @ Pretoria Campus, 3:00 pm - 7:00 pm

If you are new to the school and weren’t able to come to the welcome coffee, we would like to inform you that we have an ambassador system in place. That means, many of the countries have a person who has volunteered to represent them and are here to help you integrate and settle as smoothly as possible in your home language and perhaps help smooth cultural differences you may be experiencing.

For the elementary grades, we have room moms for each class that can help you become more familiar with what is happening.

Middle school and high school have two PA board representatives to help facilitate any questions you may have.

If you haven’t been in contact with any of your liaison people and would like to be, please contact Annabel Newell for your ambassador, Paige Doty or Lara Kilfoil for your room mom, Sabiene Taneja or Mireille Dijkstra for middle school and Nancy Nemeth or Jeanine Schutte for high school. Their information is on the school website under PA. I am really looking forward to this next semester with excitement and energy!

Welcome everyone!

Sincerely, Sharla Rittershaus, PA President

Pretoria Parents Association News Upcoming Events

Dear fellow parents, First off, I would like to welcome all the new families that have joined us recently at AISJ Pretoria. We hope your kids are settling in smoothly.

You should have all been contacted by a current parent (or will be very soon!) as part of our new “Welcome to School” program, headed up

by Jennifer E. Also, please join us at our “New Family Get Together” lunch – more information will come by email soon.

As for all you “old timers,” we hope you had a great break and feel refreshed as our kids start back at school. Remember those days when you did not know the difference between biltong, a bakkie and

For more information on all these events click on the Pretoria Parents Association button on the AISJ website.

January 23 Director’s Coffee Morning @ Pretoria Library, 10:00 am

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a braai? Help a new family get settled at AISJ Pretoria by being a new-family sponsor! We are looking for more parents of a variety of nationalities and child grade levels. Email Jennifer at Pretoria-PA@ aisj-jhb.com to sign up or learn more.

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January 27 Board Meeting February 1 Pretoria Parents Association Summer Carnival @ Pretoria Campus, 3:00 pm - 7:00 pm

It appears that summer has arrived in full force. Perfect time for our Summer Carnival! Please join us on campus on Saturday, 1st of February from 3:00 pm – 7:00 pm for second-annual Pretoria PA fundraiser. The Carnival team, led by Rebecca Alderman, Krisha DeCoursey and Amy Killoran, has been working hard to make this is a fun, community-wide event. From gigantic “Water Balls” and water slides to airbrush tattoos and sponge throwing, it promises to be a great time for kids (and adults) of all ages. Be on the lookout for more information, including the very important ticket and food pre-order forms, which will be going home with our kids shortly. Also, we need lots of parents to volunteer to help make this a success. Please sign up for a shift – it is a great way to meet other parents and help our parent association. (The online volunteer signup link will be emailed out soon.)

We continue to have our “Wake Up & Learn” coffee mornings on the first Wednesday of each month. In January, Mr. Joe did a wonderful job explaining the role of the school counselor and helping us understand the powerful ways that transitions and connections play in our kids’ (often itinerant) lives. Please join us on the 5th Feb (7:30 am, library porch) where we will learn about new ways that math is being taught at school.

A quick reminder that the school play is tomorrow at 6:30 pm. Hope to see you there! (No tickets required.) As always, reach out to the PA anytime at Pretoria-PA@aisj-jhb.com.

Glenn Frankel Pretoria Parents Association Pretoria-PA@aisj-jhb.com P.S. As you update your calendar for the rest of the year, please pen in Friday, 14th March (the day before the “Fall” break) for our rescheduled International Food Festival in the new Middle School wing. Yum!

We are a diverse, international communit y providing a balanced and nur turing learning program that fosters personal growth, provides meaningful oppor tunities for achievement, and promotes positive contributions to societ y.

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