Izindaba - 17 October 2013

American International School of Johannesburg

Vol. 4 No. 5

October 17, 2013

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

School Director’s Message

What’s Inside...

To the AISJ Community This Wednesday saw the first of our Parent – Teacher conference sessions where parents checked on the progress of their high schoolers. It was great to see so many of you there ensuring you are well informed and reinforcing that critical home - school relationship. Extensive research tells us that two of the most significant factors affecting successful schooling are the quality of the relationship between parents and teachers, and the feedback between students, parents and teachers. At AISJ we are continually looking for ways to improve this relationship and enhance that feedback loop – your suggestions and thoughts are always welcome.

School Director’s Message 1 Director’s Coffee Morning 1 AISJ Experiencing Communications Issues 2 Message from the Board of Directors 2 K-12 Learning Support News 2 Service Learning @ AISJ 3 Communications @ AISJ 5 AISJ Counselors’ Corner 5 School Lunch Menu 6 JHB Eagle Shop 7 Elementary School News - Johannesburg Campus 7 Wake up & Learn! Coffee Morning 9 Pretoria Elementary and Middle School News 9 AISJ Pretoria Basketball Camp 13 Middle School News - Johannesburg Campus 14 RACO Orienteering Event 15 High School University & Career Communicator 15 High School News 16 JoMUN XI 17 Activities and Sports 18 Scouting at AISJ 22 Johannesburg Parents Association News 22 AISJ JHB Parents Association Social Co-Chairs 23 Pretoria Parents Association News 23

As the school year develops, every week seems to have an event or happening. From my perspective that is what makes a great international school. Following on from an exciting International Day we hosted another highly successful Johannesburg Model United Nations - well done to all our JoMUN students. The same weekend we hosted an elementary soccer tournament for almost 400 students. Last weekend we hosted a high school volleyball tournament which involved 52 teams and over 600 players! Congratulations to all of the organizers and coaches for these events and a special thanks to our Activities Coordinator, Kris Jettner and his helpers who run events such as this no less than 13 times throughout the year. I always feel fulfilled to join the ranks of other parents as we share the ups and downs of athletic competitions with our children. Once again I want to thank the parents who support these events by being there, showing their interest, and letting your children know that you enjoy and value their activities. In addition to more sporting events to come, we look forward to the high school play in November, the Pretoria play in December as well as school concerts on both campuses. Please plan ahead and continue to show your interest, supporting the school and supporting your children’s endeavors.

Thanking you for your continued support.

Andy

Director’s Coffee Morning Date: Thursday, 14th November 2013 Time: 7:30 am Venue: Parent Room, AISJ Johannesburg Campus 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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October 17, 2013

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Vol. 4 No. 5

AISJ Experiencing Communications Issues Dear Parents, Communications at AISJ has been impaired today due to a major lightning strike on the Johannesburg campus. This means that all of our internal communications including email and phones within the Johannesburg and Pretoria campuses are down for the moment. The October 17 issue of the Izindaba will be delayed.

If you have an emergency to report regarding your child, please be sure you have the following emergency numbers written down in a handy place. In the event our main school landline number doesn’t function, please call your respective division office.

083 627 5902 for the Elementary School office 083 628 2274 for the Middle School office 083 628 5249 for the High School office 083 628 4292 for reception on the Johannesburg campus 083 628 5262 for reception on the Pretoria campus The D6 School Communicator and the AISJ Facebook page will be updated regularly. If you do not have the D6 Communicator, you can download it here: http://www.school-communicator. com/download.php If you would like to get the mobile version, search for the D6 Communicator mobile app in your app-store.

Illustration of the D6 Icon

We apologize for any inconvenience caused.

Message from the Board of Directors News from your School Board October 14th, 2013 During the October 14th Board Meeting, our High School Guidance Counselor, Melissa Johnson-Schnyder, and Principal, Tony Mock presented a review of the college counseling process and plans for improving the process this year. The Board reviewed AISJ’s Core Values as a part of the school’s reaccreditation process, ensuring they were aligned with the new strategic goals and outcomes. Slight changes were approved by the Board together with changing their title to “beliefs” rather than “values” to more appropriately reflect what they are. These can now be viewed on the school website under Strategic Policies at http://www.aisj-jhb.com/Community/Community_School_Board_Policies.html. On the financial side the Board also approved the October revision of the 13/14 Capital and Operating Budgets.

The Board would like to thank the entire school community for the robust participation in International Day, and particularly to the Johannesburg PA for its organizational efforts! We also appreciate the community’s attendance at our Board Information Session on September 26th. It was a great chance for us to describe the important work we do in the areas of governance, finance and facilities, and the support we provide the School Director in carrying out the school’s educational mission. Andy rolled out the school’s new Annual Report which can also be viewed on the website at http://www.aisj-jhb. com/Community/Community_School_Board_Reports.html. .

Kate Pongonis AISJ Board Executive Secretary

K-12 Learning Support News Dear Families of the AISJ Community, As part of Teaching and Learning, Learning Institutes, a number of faculty attended the professional development session, Differentiation: Knowing Your Students on Wednesday, October 9 presented by Dr. Merris Page-Smith and Dr. Cheryl A. Young.

Faculty experienced what it is like to, “Walk in the Shoes” of someone with a learning difference. When asked, “What did you 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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learn today?” some responses included: • Empathy – the activities that “put us in the shoes of a student with LD” are a powerful way to develop empathy.

• I was happy to have the simulation that pointed out that motivation/laziness may have nothing to do with the ability to achieve.

• I noticed that our coping strategies in the simulations had a dramatic impact on fluency and speed of accomplishing the task.

• Differentiation is not just for students with learning differences.

• Brain research shows the positive impact of remediation on changing brain pathways.

Other comments included: • My goal for this year is differentiation and this lesson is magical to what I am trying to achieve. Thank you.

• This training should be mandatory for teachers of ALL children.

Differentiation is one of the six domains of AISJ’s Professional Teaching Rubrics. The rubrics have multiple purposes: (a) for teacher professional grow th; (b) reflection tools for goal setting; (c) part of teacher evaluations; and, (d) to articulate and define exemplary practice. The Learning Institutes are designed to run over six Professional Grow th Wednesday afternoon sessions, and are offered in both semesters of the school year.

Although a little different from what AISJ faculty experienced, you can experience what it is like to “Walk in the Shoes” of someone with a learning difference. Go to the PBS website, Misunderstood Minds: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/misunderstoodminds/intro.html.

Best Regards, Dr. Cheryl A. Young, K-12 Learning Support Coordinator

Service Learning @ AISJ Cathy Berger Kaye- Service Learning Consultant After an inspiring week with Cathy Berger Kaye, our service learning consultant, we are energized with many new ideas for service learning integration. Our themes are being articulated and mapped in each grade and division. Thank you to all our team reps working on embedding service learning into units.

We are very proud of our AISJ Service Learning Standards and Benchmarks which will be piloted around the world this year in many international schools, for more information here is a link to Cathy’s exciting article on the week at AISJ. Thanks to the Cathy Berger Kaye working with international teachers at our weekend conference parents who attended our parent coffees at both campuses last week to find out more about service learning at AISJ! We have most of our afterschool service projects with our service partners started in high school. We are extending season one due to the late start. In reflection on a few new processes we are trialling, we aim to get started much earlier next year. ALL students need to complete one season of service to be able to complete the service project. Please discuss with your child which service season they have signed up for to meet the requirements. If you have any questions or concerns regarding your child’s participation, please contact Mr. Juan Sheblak.

This week we had another two parent coffees for information regarding CW W grade 10. We concluded our training and preparation sessions with students, and will continue to train for fitness, then have the teams sorted for the first week back after break.

We will host two of our service partners- Meetse a Bophelo Primary and Sunnyside Primary for an “action day.” The U10/11 soccer tournament and our Community Garden opening will take place on Saturday, 9th November from 9:00 am - 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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Approximately 30 students from each school will attend PTA to participate with our students. Grade 2 students will be working in the garden on a range of activities, while our grade 3 students work on interviewing and report on the event for the Boabab Bulletin. Please return permission forms if you plan to attend. Special thanks to our parent association for helping out with our BBQ. CAS and Service Requirements Grades 11 and 12 - We have provided a lot of information regarding changes to CAS worldwide both last year and this year. Many we initiated last year are documented in our CAS handbook. One of the changes has been no longer counting hours. Please ask your child to share with you the CAS handbook to view the rubrics. Rather than counting hours, we encourage students to reflect thoughtfully, regularly, and in a variety of ways. This applies to students also completing IB diploma courses towards meeting the service requirement.

Pretoria Rocks with Recycling!

Recycle Tuesday is going to happen every other week in Pretoria. Please remember to send clean recycling materials to school, and flatten all big boxes and plastic bottles for us before you send them in. Remember, we don’t recycle glass at school for safety reasons but there are many glass recycle bins around the city. A few places that you can go to recycle glass are: Pick & Pay Hypermarket on Atterbury Road, Boys High School on Roper Street in Brooklyn and Monument Park Spar Shopping Centre. Please see below for the list of items we accept for recycling. We really appreciate your help in teaching our children to learn how to recycle and look after the environment.

Paper • Newspaper, magazines, brochures, mail, books, junk mail, cereal and corrugated cardboard (Bigger boxes need to be flattened.)

• Cardboard packaging and boxes • Office paper and till slips Plastic • Plastic bottles and containers - please flatten when possible.

• Cling wrap - separate from tray and remove bar code or any other paper.

• Plastic bags - place similar bags into one and make sure they are empty.

• Plastic numbered #1 to #7 including yogurt and margarine tubs. Numbers are located under or on the side in a recycling symbol.

• Take away containers free of food residues, rinsed and cleaned.

• Tetra Pack. e.g., Liqui Fruit, Long-Life Milk.

Metals • Food cans that have been cleaned. Try and open the can with the lid still attached and press it back into the can.

• Beverage cans Other • Ink cartridges • E-waste: electronic equipment.

Pretoria, JHB faculty, and many educators from nine different countries flew in and enjoyed an extremely well-organized Service Learning conference weekend under the inspiring guidance of world renowned Service Learning expert Cathy Berger Kaye. Cathy came to AISJ with a mission to’ hook’ us into engaging instructional practices as part of Stage 3 - Learning plan.

Here are some of the Service Learning themes at PTA: Environment: Ms. Nicolle organizes recycling with the ‘big 5’ every second Tuesday.

Gardening: This is a grade 2 and Kindergarten unit. Speak to MS. Karen for more information in regards to the Community Garden opening on Saturday the 9th November.

Animal Protection and Care: A special assembly on Wednesday September 25th in order to raise awareness of endangered species. The shadow puppet 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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show, an art project in collaboration with Spanish, will be ‘travelling’ soon to our Service Learning schools in Mamelodi and Sunnyside sharing our mutual concern.

We started developing two new Service Learning themes: Elders An initiative of Tammy Rauschenbach, Animal awareness puppet show in Spanish Animal awareness and protection art display motivating students to play music at a local retirement home. This theme will be stretched across the curriculum during the coming months; Cathy Berger Kaye’s visit to our campus and her meeting with Tammy gave us a lot of inspiring ideas to put into action.

Hunger, Homelessness and Poverty This theme will be explored by Grade 1 students. World Food day (Oct 16th) was the ‘kick off’ to be developed across the curriculum until World Hunger Day on May 28th. Art both ES and MS will work on a Bowl art installation based on sharing food and caring for one another.

Parents who are involved in the above please let us know if you could come as a guest speaker and talk to our students.

YOU MUST BE THE CHANGE YOU WISH TO SEE IN THE WORLD!! (Mahatma Gandhi) Feel free to contact me for any further questions in regards to service learning at AISJ. Warm Regards, Tara Barton tbarton@aisj-jhb.com http://tw.aisj-jhb.com/servicelearning/

Communications @ AISJ Last Izindaba we introduced new and old parents to the D6 Communicator (School Communicator).

We would like to update parents about issues that came to light with the mobile app of the D6 Communicator, especially when the latest ‘Director’s Coffee Morning’ was updated. It cam to our attention that the calendar in the app didn’t update, even though the Desktop version was reflecting the change. D6 support staff came back to us and suggested that the app should be removed and reinstalled. It appears that there was a communication problem with the app and the D6 server.

If you do not have the D6 Communicator, you can download it here: http://www.school-communicator.com/download.php We would like to encourage you to get the D6 Communicator in order stay informed either via the Desktop or Mobile versions.

If you have any other questions or problems downloading the Communicator please send an email to aisj-communications@ aisj-jhb.com

AISJ Counselors’ Corner My name is Joe Rauschenbach and I am in my second year as school counselor at the Pretoria campus.

My previous experience was as a school counselor in Shanghai, China and Flagstaff, Arizona. I have been a school counselor for eleven years. As a school counselor, I work to support students’ social/emotional, and academic needs through a comprehensive developmental guidance program.

In the elementary school classrooms, I work in conjunction with the classroom teachers to address developmentally appropriate needs and integrate our Big Five (respect, responsibility, cooperation, friendship, and perseverance) through guidance lessons connected to curriculum. In the middle school, I teach part of our AISJ health curriculum during our physical education classes to address the developmental needs of our middle school students.

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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Sometimes students experience social and/or emotional difficulties and need intervention in the form of individual and small group counseling. The counseling process is short-term and intended to allow students to problem solve through processing their feelings and exploring different choices toward a resolution. When longer term therapy is needed to resolve an issue, I refer parents to outside professionals for help.

I work closely with admissions from the application process, to meetings with prospective parents, tours of our campus, and helping to ease the transition to our school. At the end of their time with us, I meet with each student individually and conduct an ‘exit interview’ that is geared toward their age/stage of development and it helps them to feel more comfortable about their next move.

I am also a part of a great learning support team at AISJ-Pretoria which meets regularly and works closely together to address the academic and social/emotional needs of all students.

Finally, I consult and collaborate with parents, students, teachers, and administrators to support students. Should you ever need support from me or any of the other trained professional counselors at AISJ, please consult the contact information below.

I wish you all the best in the year ahead!

Take care, Joe Rauschenbach

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

School Lunch Menu Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

21 October

22 October

23 October

24 October

25 October

School Holiday

School Holiday

School Holiday

School Holiday

School Holiday

28 October

29 October

30 October

31 October

1 November

Chicken & Pasta Bake

Grilled Lemon & Herb Hake Fillet

Hot Dog Day

Beef Cottage Pie

Vienna’s (Pork or Chicken)

Chicken Casserole

Meat Balls in Tomato Sauce

French Fries

Chutney Glazed Steamed Mixed Vegeta- Chicken Wings bles Roast Potato (V) Spinach & Feta Pie (V) Brinjal, Tomato & Cheese Bake

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

Beef Chili (Mild) with Yellow Rice Creamy Mashed Potato Steamed Green Beans

(V) Vegetarian Soya Sausage

(V) Vegetable Stir Fry

Yellow Rice

Spaghetti

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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JHB Eagle Shop Eagle Shop open everyday from 7:30 am - 4:30 pm AISJ spirit wear available, t-shirts, golf shirts, hoodies, base ball caps and more.

A variety of colors, styles and sizes to choose from.

Elementary School News - Johannesburg Campus Upcoming Events

Dear Parents, We have made it to the October break. We look forward to taking a deep breath and beginning the road towards Christmas break when we return. There is a lot happening after the holiday with our Halloween celebrations, the report cards due home and parent/teacher conferences in November. We have a busy and exciting time ahead. I hope you all manage to find some time to rela x during the holiday.

October 18 Early Release @ 1:30 pm October 21 - 25 School Holiday October 30 Halloween Art Competition Entries due to the ES Gazebo by 7:30 am for judging.

The winner at each grade level will be announced at assembly.

Kind regards, Ben Hart, bhart@aisj-jhb.com

Parent Coffee Mornings We held our first elementary coffee morning on October 2nd. Dr. Wootton and I collected feedback regarding future topics for Parent Coffee mornings. We have arranged the following topics for the coffee mornings leading up to the Christmas break: What is Standards Based Reporting?

Wednesday, November 13th @ 8:30 am

JHB ES 8:00 am

Assembly

Wednesday

@

Gazebo,

@

Gazebo,

JHB ES Halloween Parade November 1 1st Session ASA End

Mathematical Workshop for Parents Wednesday, December 4th @ 8:00 am Practical tips and suggestions for working with your child to develop conceptual understanding and mathematical thinking.

November 13 JHB ES Assembly 8:00 am

Parent/Teacher Conference Signups

JHB ES Parent Coffee Moring @ TBA, 8:30 am Topic: What is Standards Based Reporting?

On Friday, November 15th we will have our first formal parent/teacher conferences for the year. This is an opportunity for you as parents to learn more about your child’s progress with his/her teacher. Teachers will be prepared to talk about academic progress, areas of academic strength for your child and areas for grow th. Teachers will also discuss the social and emotional development of your child. These conferences are for parents only. We will arrange child care in the media center throughout the day for those who require it.

Parents with multiple children in the ES will be allowed to sign up for conferences early by phoning the office directly to make an appointment. This is in an effort to ensure their times are close together.

Wednesday

JHB ES Report Cards go home November 12 JHB Parents Association Event: SABC Tour Tickets: R 400.00 pp, 8:00 am - 2:00 pm November 14 Director’s Coffee Morning @ JHB Parent Room, 7:30 am

November 15 Parent/Teacher Conferences All other parents will be able to sign up for a conference time using an online link. This link will be emailed directly to parents.

Dates for “Signups” are as follows: Monday, October 28th – Wednesday, October 30th Signups open only to parents who have more than one child in the ES. Parents can phone the office on 087 809 1804 to make 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 booking with their child’s teacher.

Thursday, October 31st - Friday November 8th Electronic Signups open to all parents via an online link. This link will be sent to parents by email on Thursday, October 31st.

If you have any problems with making a booking online, please contact the ES Office and they will assist you with the process.

Halloween By now your child will have brought home information in regards to our Halloween celebration on Wednesday, October 30th. A huge thanks to our Parent Association room mothers who help to make this a special day for our children. We are excited to see the ES school come alive with Halloween costumes, parades and celebrations.

Halloween Art Contest To enter the competition, bring your Halloween creation to the tables outside the Elementary School Gazebo by 7:30 am, Wednesday, 30th October. All entries should be clearly labeled with the student’s name and grade. Winners for each grade level will be announced at the assembly and prizes will be awarded.

Halloween Parade date changed to Wednesday, 30th October • The Pre-K Halloween Parade will start after the assembly at approximately 8:45 am.

• The Pre-K Halloween Parties will start at 9:45 am.

• The K–Grade 5 Halloween Parade will start at 11:45 am and will last about 1 hour, with the parties starting immediately after.

Please check with your respective room parents to see how you can contribute to the fun!

Students are welcome to wear costumes - please remember to keep safety in mind as the parade route will take them up and down stairs while carrying a treat bag!

Any questions, please feel free to contact us: Paige Doty: pdoty5@gmail.com or Lara Kilfoil: larakilfoil@yahoo.com

MAP Testing We are busy completing our MAP testing and we anticipate some re-testing after the break. We expect to provide individual student reports to parents in the last week of November.

Elementary School StuCo News Last week the ES StuCo hosted their first event of the year - SPIRIT WEEK. It was wonderful to see all the students and teachers getting into the spirit and dressing up, the week was completed with our support of the Sun Flower Fund by selling

Pajama Day

Crazy Hair Day

Favorite Movie/ Character Day

Topsy Turv y / Mismatch Day

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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bandannas and bracelets to raise funds and awareness of the Sun Flower Fund. The Sun Flower Fund (www.sunflowerfund. org.za) is a supporter of the South African Bone Marrow Registry. We are very proud to say we sold 454 out of 500 bandannas and 115 bracelets in the elementary school. Well done to all the students, teachers, and parents, we are very proud of your spirit and support.

We have started planning for our next event, which will be the Christmas party, at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital. ES Student Council is asking for students and families to donate gifts that are wrapped and labelled (age, and gender). We will be delivering these gifts and helping at the party on Saturday the 30th of November. Gifts can be delivered to the ES Office, where we will have a box ready to receive these gifts. Thank you for your support. ES Student Council.

Wake up & Learn! Coffee Morning

Pretoria Parents Association

Come hear Judy Irving, the Pretoria Librarian, who will speak to us about finding “just right” books for our kids.

Date:

6th November 2013

Time:

7:30 am - Coffee, Tea and Snacks 8:00 am - Service Learning presentation

Venue:

Library, Pretoria Campus Pretoria PA Coffee Mornings are the 1st Wednesday of Every Month

Pretoria Elementary and Middle School News News from Pretoria Elementary and Middle School We have enjoyed some very busy, action-packed weeks. Please enjoy reading the articles included here which demonstrate this as well as the variety and richness of the learning experiences at our school.

Swimming PE Please note that swimming classes will begin for PreK-Grade 4 shortly after our return from the vacation and for MS soon after that. You will receive more detailed information from your child’s PE teacher Mr. Johan or Ms. Robyn in the near future. In the meantime, please note that female students will require a one-piece swimming costume and our males will need a speedo style. All students must have a swimming cap irrespective of hair length, a towel, sunscreen and a waterproof bag in which to keep all of this. Please ensure that all items are named. If your child is not yet confident in the water please contact Ms. Robyn who will be able to advise you on some local locations you can attend in order to support your child’s progress in this important area. We are looking forward to seeing our swimmers in action again!

MAP testing Update We are currently completing our MAP Testing. Some re-takes may be necessary following our vacation next week. Considering this, we anticipate providing individual results to parents during the last week of November.

Lunch Tickets Please purchase lunch tickets ahead of time from Ms. Hilda in the Office.

Upcoming Events October 18 Early Release @ 1:30 pm October 21 - 25 School Holiday November 1 Pretoria Halloween Carnival 1st Session ASA End November 2 Pretoria and JHB MS Basketball Tournament @ AISJ JHB, 8:00 am - 6:00 pm November 6 Pretoria PA ‘Wake up & Learn!’ Coffee Morning @ Library, 7:30 am Pretoria Big 5 Assembly @ Lapa, 1:00 pm November 9 Service Learning Day @ Pretoria, 9:00 am 12:00 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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We will always provide a school lunch for a child who has run out of tickets or who has forgotten their packed lunch. We would, all the same, appreciate your help in making these rare occurrences. We will contact you should your child have accrued credit. We politely request that you settle your account as quickly as possible.

Dress Code As the warm weather settles we ask you to re-read the Parent-Student Handbook (page 48) for details of our dress code and to help your children to adhere to this. http://www.aisj-jhb.com/PretoriaCampus/PS_Handbook.html

October 17, 2013

November 12 JHB Parents Association Event: SABC Tour Tickets: R 400.00 pp, 8:00 am - 2:00 pm November 13 ALL Pretoria Report Cards go home November 14 Director’s Coffee Morning @ JHB Parent Room, 7:30 am

Thank you for your cooperation and my very best wishes for a pleasant vacation.

Rachel Caldwell, Pretoria Principal

Rhino Day 2013 – A Success!

Thank you to all who made Rhino Day 2013 at the Pretoria campus a success. This year students raised awareness of the endangered rhino and also highlighted other vulnerable animals in South Africa.

Art students acknowledged animals at risk through their creative work and fashioned a message of how we can help them.

• Kindergarten made colorful cut-outs of animals from a painted shape collaged paper.

• First grade focused on the plight of the elephant by making colorful 3-D sculptures.

• Second grade collaborated with middle school artists in creating “Totem Poles From the Bush”, inspired by Native American totem poles • Third and Fourth grade students painted beautiful scenes from the bush using pattern and silhouettes inspired by the Zentangle technique.

• Fifth grade Art and Spanish classes collaborated on a shadow puppet theater.

• Middle school artists painted stones with pertinent messages and images of animal awareness, which were assembled as an installation on campus.

Conducted by Ms. Tammy, Grade 3 students and staff sing the South African National Anthem at our Special Assembly.

Grade 5 students present the shadow puppet sow which was an integrated Art and Spanish project

Our guest speaker Keith Connelly

Our finale to the assembly on the 25th was a very special guest speaker. We were so excited to have game ranger and photographer, Keith Connelly, present at our event. Mr. Connelly is currently working with Motswari Game Reserve (Kruger Park), and is an experienced game ranger and supporter in the fight against rhino poaching. Mr. Connelly is also an avid and experienced wildlife photographer. Mr. Connelly explained the differences between the levels of vulnerability of our animals in South Africa and what we can do to make a positive difference. He also shared many of his extraordinary photographs. It was an enlightening and educational talk for our students and for the adults present.

Middle School Student Council Halloween Boo! It’s that time of year again - when ghosts, vampires, werewolves, zombies, and mummies, come out to haunt us! MS Pretoria will be participating in a number of fun events including, a costume parade, advisory door decorating, and a movie social to celebrate this spooky holiday. The movie social and costume parade will take place on Friday, November 1st and door decorating will take place the week leading up to Halloween. MS Student Council will be hosting the movie social with the money made

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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from our bake sale last month. We will have a pizza lunch, popcorn and a Halloween treat as we all chill and watch the movie, Monster House. Spirit points will be awarded to students who dress-up and participate in the costume parade and Halloween games. So we encourage all students to bring a costume to dress up in at school on Friday, November 1st and have fun!

Spirit Week Spirit Week was awesome! We especially enjoyed the bake sale – yum! For the bake sale middle school students brought in homemade baked goods and we sold so much good food! We raised R 1670.00! During Spirit Week we did something different every day. We had a Crazy Hair and Dress-up Day which was hilarious. We had a Nerd Day, Pajama Day and Sports Day. Friday we had a basketball tournament too! Overall, Spirit Week was a lot of fun and helped build school community at the middle school.

Middle School Students (and staff) Enjoying the spirit of Spirit Week!

Crazy Cells!

Alejandro gets started with making his cell. The rice crispy nucleus is particularly imaginative!

As a culminating learning activity in Grade 6, for their Building Blocks of Life unit, the students had to make 3D cell models. I continue to be surprised by the creativity of the students I teach. This year we had models made out of jelly, cookie dough, rice crispy cakes, play dough and even haberdashery!

Once the models were made, the students had to present them to the other middle school students as well as to Grade 4. Much fun was had by everyone in Grade 6 and a lot of learning went on!

Jonathan baked at home to make a Siebren sharing his Lego cell with other cake cytoplasm.

MS students.

Extracting Strawberry DNA

Jan and Liako making sure they follow the instructions while smashing up the strawberries to start breaking down the cells.

Arami and Dawson filtering their strawberry/extraction liquid mix.

Katie using the microscope to see what DNA looks like.

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As part of their unit on genetics and evolution, the grade 8 students had the chance to extract DNA from strawberries. This activity demonstrated to the students that all living things contain DNA. It also gave them the chance to follow instructions and to use some pieces of science equipment. We were all surprised when we saw what the DNA looked like - a grey-white clump of jelly!

Pretoria Elementary and Middle School Health Screens Dear Parents, In November I will be conducting health screenings on all elementary school and middle school students. This involves measuring height and weight, as well as dental, vision and hearing screens. Grade 4 and 5 students will also undergo a check for scoliosis.

If you do not wish your child to undergo the health screening, please send an email to avanleeuwen@aisj-jhb.com confirming this to be the case.

Should you have any queries or concerns please do not hesitate to contact me.

Thank you, Nurse Anne van Leeuwen

Soccer Tournament On Saturday the 5th of October a U/10 and U/12 soccer tournament was hosted

by AISJ JHB. Pretoria had one U/10 team participating. It was a very positive experience for all the kids. For most of them it was their first soccer tournament ever and for the rest it was only their second.

The team played 5 games and reached the quarter finals which they won 6-5 in a penalty shoot-out. In the semi-finals they had to settle for second place following an intense match.

Thank you to Coach Johan and Coach Surat for all their hard work and dedication with the team.

Pretoria’s U/10 Soccer Team and their coaches

We are all looking forward to next year’s tournament. And remember, practise makes perfect!!

Grade 5 Basketball Tournament 9th October

Orlando Magic vs. LA Lakers

The Grade 5 classes enjoyed an awesome inter-class basketball tournament in which they were able to demonstrate their basketball and team work skills to parents and teachers. The traditional 5 a-side matches were tied with one victory for each. With Grade 5A, Orlando Magic, beating Grade 5B, LA Lakers, team. However, Grade5 B, Chicago Bulls, pulled it back against the Grade 5A, NY Knicks.

NY Knicks vs. Chicago Bulls

Ping taking aim for his team’s shot

Nathalie wishing her ball in for her team

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Next up was the Shoot Out competition. First team to 10 successful shots wins. Again it came down to a tie.

Well done to all the players, everyone did a great job and played their hearts out. The games were played fairly and sportsmanship and team work shone through!

Great team spirit

Pre-game team talk

Orlando Magic and LA Lakers

NY Knicks and Chicago Bulls

AISJ Pretoria Basketball Camp Our middle school basketball teams took part in a training camp which began on the afternoon of Friday, October 11th and ended in the afternoon of Saturday October 12th. The aim of the camp was to work on basic basketball skills, fitness and team building. A solid skills session was held on Friday afternoon till 6:00 pm followed by a much deserved swim and dinner. To stay in the basketball mood, the players watched the inspirational movie Coach Carter.

Theory Sessions Swimming It was up early on Saturday morning for a fitness session, followed by a hearty breakfast made by staff and players. Our Saturday morning session focused on defensive strategies and the best way to prevent your opponents from scoring. Our 2nd session was focused on trying to outwit and outplay your opponent with attacking strategies.

Following lunch and a swim, we played games and transferred our skills into a game situation.

Basketball camp was a great success. Thank you to Coach James and Mr. Jacob for assisting me.

The team is really amped for the middle school tournament on the 2nd of November.

Team Building Activities

Early morning

Fitness Sessions

Boys and Coach James making breakfast

Basketball Sessions

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 News - Johannesburg Campus Parent-Counselor Workshop – November 5th 8:00 am to 9:00 am Topic: Third Culture Kids: What is it that your child and the President of the United States have in common? Did you know Barack Obama grew up in a family that lived overseas, during part of his childhood?

Like many children at AISJ, he was a Third Culture Kid (TCK). These “global nomads” have spent their childhoods traveling to different parts of the world, exposed to a variety of cultures, and have grown with a perspective uniquely different than those of any single place in the world. They become prolific global leaders or return to their home countries to become contributing members of their communities. Yet they also experience difficulties with transition, a sense of self, friends, and belonging.

Join Dr. Walker on November 5th, 2013 from 8:00 am in the middle school to process these issues. This workshop is open to all parents of AISJ students. Everyone will have a unique experience and everyone something to share. We will explore the traits of TCKs, both positive and negative, as well as discuss experiences and present considerations when moving schools or returning home.

MS Music Café – November 7th – 3:15 pm to 4:45 pm

Upcoming Events October 18 Early Release @ 1:30 pm October 21 - 25 School Holiday November 2 JHB and Pretoria MS Basketball Tournament @ AISJ JHB, 8:00 am - 6:00 pm November 5 JHB MS Parent-Counselor Workshop @ MS Computer Lab, 8:00 am - 9:00 am November 7 JHB MS Music Café @ TBA, 3:15 pm - 4:45 pm November 8 JHB MS Social @ Kgoro, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm November 12 JHB Parents Association Event: SABC Tour Tickets: R 400.00 pp, 8:00 am - 2:00 pm

On Thursday, November 7th, at 3:15 pm, the AISJ Middle School will November 14 be having our annual Music Café. The Music Café is a celebration Director’s Coffee Morning @ JHB Parent Room, of solo and small ensemble music. Students perform self-selected 7:30 pm pieces in an informal concert setting after school. The venue will be the music and drama rooms on the middle school campus. Performances will take place from 3:15 pm until 4:45 pm. All parents, students, and friends are invited to come, enjoy the music, and support AISJ’s middle school talent.

Middle School Social – October 8th The first MS STUCO social is coming up on Friday, November 8th from 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm. This year the theme is ‘Light Up the Night’ and promises to be an evening of color and fun! Students should keep an eye on the Middle School News after the October break to find out more details about the event.

MAP Testing Results We are completing our regular sessions of MAP testing with our 6th grade this week. After the break we will complete both make up tests for students who were absent and re-testing for a small number of students where problems were detected in the original test. We anticipate having individual student reports to parents in the last week of November.

Spirit Week Spirit week was a great success!

Whether dressing up in a gown and slippers, as James Bond or Superman, great fun was had by all. Students showed excellent support for leukaemia awareness by buying a bandanna or bracelet from the Sunflower Fund, (www.sunflowerfund. org.za) which is a supporter of the South African Bone Marrow Registry.

We ended the week by celebrating ‘Wacky House Day’ with 3 events: water balloon throwing, make your

Pyjama Day!

Superhero teachers!

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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house name with your bodies, and an egg and spoon race with a difference. Thank-you to all MS students and teachers for making this a truly memorable week!

Character Day!

Egg and Spoon race!

Water balloon race!

RACO Orienteering Event AISJ Johannesburg Campus Sunday November 3th, 2013 Registration 8:30 am – 9:30 am (arrive a bit early to allow for security gate procedures) Course start times from 9:00 am Wraps up about 12:00 pm Open to all levels of experience Non-club member entry fee: Adult R 60.00, Junior R 40.00 Further Information: www.racorienteers.co.za or email rogerb@ilc.co.za View the Event Sheet What is orienteering?

Orienteering is an outdoor adventure activity, which involves finding your way through unfamiliar terrain using a specially prepared map and your own common sense. It can be compared to a treasure hunt. In orienteering, you learn to read the map, measure distances, use a compass and find your way in cross-country surroundings and at the same time have fun.

Participants leave the starting point at regular intervals and must find their way to several checkpoints that are located at various places in the orienteering area then return to the finish after visiting each checkpoint. The competitor with the shortest elapsed time on each course is declared the winner.

High School University & Career Communicator Greetings from the High School Counselling Team, On Wednesday, October 18th nearly 100 AISJ grade 10 and 11 students took the PSAT (Practice for the Scholastic Achievement Test). This was an excellent opportunity not only to prepare students for the SAT but also to prepare them for a formal test environment. We would like to use this corner of Izindaba as an opportunity to introduce some options your son or daughter has to prepare for the SAT. The SAT is a standardized test used by North American Universities for admissions.

• Prep Me on Naviance - AISJ has recently purchased SAT Prep Me on Naviance. This is a free service. Grade 10 students will be provided with log in information in November. Grade 11 students should have this log in information; if not, they need to see their counselor.

• SAT Prep Course given at AISJ (Information Attached) through Academic Services International that offers SAT prep on the campus Jan 11/12 and 18/19, 2014. Please note registration will take place through ASI (link); contact your child’s counselor if you need more information to determine if this course can benefit your child. Priority is given to grade 11 students.

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• SAT Question a Day – When your child signs up for the SAT – www.collegeboard.com –He/She will receive a daily question.

• Josh Stevens - Online preparation that many international students use (quite costly) www.arborbridge.com • The United States Consulate in Sandton houses Education USA. All students at AISJ are allowed to check out: SAT, ACT, TOEFL and SAT Subject Tests preparation books from the library.

Please note: Currently, the SAT is taken by a majority of AISJ students. Please visit the University Counselor’s Blog for more information on all standardized testing options and suggestions that may help your child to organize his/her own individual plan.

CIS

university tour

connecting students to higher education

2013 College/University Tour to Africa

Come meet admission representatives from the following institutions:

Melissa Johnson-Schnyder & Ann Ireland

Columbia, Dartmouth and Princeton Visit to AISJ Monday 28th October (after Fall Break) 11:00 am – 12:00 pm Parents in Teaching and Learning 2 12:30 pm - 1:00 pm Students (Admission Reps will be meeting with interested students in TL2) Some common questions…

• How do Admission officers process applications?

• How important is my child’s passport?

• What is a match school?

Some important topics…

• Standardized Test Scores and Admissions • Hot Tips from Admission Officers • The Realities of Admission at Highly Competitive Universities in USA

Agnes Scott College

Michigan State University

University of South Florida

Carleton University

St. Francis Xavier University

The University of Tampa

Foothill & De Anza Colleges

State University of New York at Plattsburgh

University of Victoria

Los Altos Hills, California | USA

Plattsburgh, New York | USA

IE University

Stony Brook University

Segovia | Spain

Stony Brook, New York | USA

Kansas State University

Swarthmore College

McGill University

University of California, Davis York University

Decatur, Georgia | USA

East Lansing, Michigan | USA

Ottawa, Ontario | Canada

Manhattan, Kansas | USA

Montreal, Quebec | Canada

Tampa, Florida | USA

Antigonish, Nova Scotia | Canada

Swarthmore, Pennsylvania | USA Davis, California | USA

Tampa, Florida | USA

Victoria, British Columbia | Canada

University of Waterloo Waterloo, Ontario | Canada

Yale-NUS College, National University of Singapore Singapore | Singapore

Toronto, Ontario | Canada

College & University Fair Date:

THURSDAY - NOVEMBER 7th 2014

Time: Location:

www.cois.org

High School News Dear Parents,

Upcoming Events

If you happened by the school on Saturday last you would have witnessed what at first glance looked like some kind of circus festival.

Young boys and girls dressed in colorful uniforms bounced around the football field smacking white balls into the air and leaping at nets in an attempt to strike the balls sharply into the ground. Yes, it was organized chaos across the pitch and into the gym. In total there were about 52 teams from South Africa and abroad involved in the massive one day tournament. A true celebration of sport and sportsmanship, the competition was intense and memorable for all participants. Congratulations to our activities coordinator for the wonderful job done in putting this “huge” volley ball tournament together.

October 18 Early Release @ 1:30 pm October 21 - 25 School Holiday October 26 HS ACTs October 28 Columbia, Dartmouth

&

Princeton

Visit

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On Friday afternoon last week you will have received notification that updated PowerSchool marks were posted. These “quarter” grades are not recorded or filed, they are for the purpose of letting you know how your child is faring so far this term. If your child received a mark of 3 or below you should have received a written comment in addition to the mark. Hopefully this comment will promote a team effort, involving student, parent, and teacher, to support increased learning and achievement for your child.

Wednesday was our parent/teacher conference day. I hope you were able to see the teachers you felt you needed to see and that the conversations were educationally and personally productive. If you felt you needed more time, I invite you to arrange a further meeting with the teacher if you have not done so already. It is important that communication remain on-going and positive in order to achieve the desired learning results.

MAP testing is nearly over for our 9th grade students. There are a few students who need to sit make-up tests as they were absent on the test day, but we will be finished by the October break. Results of the MAP assessments will be provided to you the last week of November and will include valuable information on how to understand the data produced.

The most welcome and well deserved October break is upon us.

Students, teachers, and parents need a break from the educational “grind”. On behalf of the high school, I can tell you all that we have truly enjoyed working with your students over the past nine weeks and look forward to resuming the effort after the break. AISJ school spirit is strong and this is exemplified in the behaviors and attitudes our students display every day. We are very fortunate.

Upon our return we are looking at ISSEA tournaments for volleyball and football, First Semester Sports Banquet, 10th grade CW W, Rent (Upcoming HS Play), and much more. We do keep ourselves and our students busy. Have a safe and happy October break.

October 17, 2013

Parent Session @ T&L 2, 11:00 am - 12:00 pm Student Session, 12:30 pm - 1:00 pm October 30 - November 3 HS ISSEA Volleyball @ Lusaka, Zambia HS ISSEA Soccer @ Addis Ababa, Ethiopia November 1 1st Session ASA End November 2 HS SATs November 6 1st Semester HS Sports Banquet @ Kgoro, 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm November 7 HS CIS University Workshop @ FAC, 9:00 am - 10:00 am HS CIS University Fair @ Kgoro, 9:00 am - 11:00 am November 9 HS Play Rehearsal @ FAC, 8:30 am - 2:30 pm November 11 - 16 HS Grade 10 CW W November 12 JHB Parents Association Event: SABC Tour Tickets: R 400.00 pp, 8:00 am - 2:00 pm November 14 Director’s Coffee Morning @ JHB Parent Room, 7:30 am

Sincerely, Tony Mock High School Principal

JoMUN XI For the middle and high school students who participated in this year’s JOMUN XI conference, it was without a doubt the best one to date. From nervous first year delegates to veteran committee chairs, everyone involved had a great time during the weekend conference.

JoMUN kicked off with an opening ceremony hosted by the Secretary General, Nikhil Dominic, and General Assembly President, Zoe Macias, where students were inspired to go into their committee rooms with the drive to achieve great things over the course of the three day event. Throughout the various sessions of debate in each room, resolutions were submitted, amendments made, and points were argued. Not only did JoMUN offer great opportunities for new academic experiences, it also provided a meeting place for students from many Alex Keltjens, Deputy Secretary General, and Nikhil Dominic, Secretary General, JOMUN XI other international schools to meet with AISJ students and form new friendships. Many students got to know each other in their committee rooms and created brilliant resolutions together in order to solve the issues related to this year’s conference theme: “Promoting sustainable solutions in Africa.”

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The calibre of debate in all rooms was exceptional, as delegates argued strong points, and were passionate about their causes. The International Court of Justice tried a very interesting case about whaling in the Antarctic, with advocates representing Australia and Japan both making very good cases for themselves. In all committees, many resolutions were passed, showing the power of teamwork, as students All the student officers of JOMUN XI collaborated with each other towards a common goal. With the conference being run smoothly and efficiently by a very competent Secretariat team, the conference was a resounding success.

As the Deputy Secretary General, Alex Keltjens, declared JoMUN XI officially closed, many students were already looking forward to the excitement next year promises to bring.

Delegates in session

Written by: Claire Pettit JOMUN Press Chair

Activities and Sports AISJ’s SR Track 2013 Season The senior track and field team recently completed a very successful 2013 season. It was a quick, fast and furious season where the team saw a lot of grow th and achievement. This year the team doubled in size since last season, and was made up of 27 students from grade 8 to grade 11.

Monique Receives a Award

Lize Finish

Chao Jump

Over the course of the season, the senior track and field athletes tackled various challenges, from learning new events, finishing hard workouts, and competing against other schools. With a larger team, AISJ was able to branch out and learn more events, leading to more success at weekly meets. Throughout the season, every athlete improved their personal bests both in track events and field events.

The senior track and field season culminated with the league championship meet, Interhighs, held at Germiston Stadium on 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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October 2nd. AISJ performed very well, and earned many first place finishes. To note, Monique Day won all three of her throws, including breaking the meet record in the discus, and was subsequently awarded the ‘Junior Best in Field’ award for the entire meet. Both Lize Dreyer and Lauren Williams also won every event they were entered in. Every athlete entered in the 400m earned one of the top 3 places. For the season as a whole, Chao Peng performed very well, now holding 5 school records for track and field.

All of the coaches – Mrs. Dissa, Mr. Bellamy, Mr. Faulkner, and Ms. Weis – were proud to see the athletes all come together to have a successful season. There were definitely a few speed bumps and challenges, but the team persevered to end the season on a very high note. Well done to all the athletes, and we look forward to being even bigger and better next year!

AISJ’s JR Track 2013 Season This year over 30 students from Grade 3 through to Grade 7 made up the Junior Track & Field team. The team began a short but very intensive season just after the start of the school year in August and finished with the last competition at the beginning of October. The enthusiasm and willingness to improve of all members was very welcomed by the team coaches, Mr. Stephen Faulkner, Ms. Chelsea Weis, Ms. Chloe Tennyson and Mr. John Bellamy.

Most of the team members had never participated in organized track and field events before so most of the coaching began at a basic level of teaching athletes how to perform all of the events. Although challenging for both coaches and athletes, this was made much easier by the attitudes and effort of the students. They were all regular attendees at training and always tried their best to improve and do well. As well as there being some outstanding results from several individuals, all team members were able to consistently improve in their personal best performances in the events they participated in. Students were not only an inspiration to each other but also very supportive of one another through both disappointing and winning performances. It was so wonderful to see the positive interactions and grow th in friendships between the students from such a broad range of age groups. By the time our last competition was completed in October all athletes had grown and developed incredibly and had lots of fun in doing so. This year has set a very strong foundation for the success of the Junior Track & field team in future years.

Well done to all athletes on your effort and performances during the year but also a big thank you must go to the coaches for a job well done and to the parents for the fantastic support they have given to the team during the season.

AISJ’s 1st JR Swim Gala @ St Martins On Friday October 11th 2013, the junior swim team participated in their first gala at St Martin’s Preparatory School, competing against St Dunstans, Summit and St Martins. It was very exciting and the team showed great spirit for their fellow team mates and AISJ. Although the gala is very early for our swimming season, the swimmers did their best and the coaches (Olivia Bradley, Karen Passier, Heather Kissack and Riedwaan Kader) are very proud of them. Well done Eagles!

Elementary School Soccer Tournament Hosted @ AISJ On Saturday, October 5th AISJ hosted its annual U10/U12 Soccer Tournament. The Johannesburg campus entered one U10 team and one U12 team and the Pretoria campus entered one U10 team. It was an exciting day of soccer with over 300 students from around the Johannesburg area coming to our campus to play soccer. It was a great day for our ES soccer players and although the tournament is over the teams will continue to play games until the end of the 1st Session of ASAs which ends on Friday, November 1st.

ES Soccer Recall the image of hordes of vultures cramming around a carcass. Have you ever seen a soccer game looking similar? Where the players are the vultures and the ball the carcass?

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‘Our mission is position’ was a slogan the team created, adopted, and chanted over and over again at practices and before matches. Soccer concepts of space and spreading out must be learned at an early age, and the awareness and efforts the team made in this area led to noticeable improvements. The boys should be proud of themselves. It is not easy to curb your craving for that ball but it is gratifying to report that, at times, the ES Eagles looked like a first division club!

ES Soccer PTA Team

The next rhyme was ‘Four before you score’. ‘Four’ refers to how many passes the team needs to complete before the ultimate assault on goal and kicking it in the net. Again, learning the art and efficiency of passing is important and the younger that players learn this the better. Again, improvements emerged and some ES Eagles’ goals in games resulted from a string of great passes. Far beyond winning or losing, accomplishing a series of passes at this age is a worthy feat and again, the boys should be proud of themselves.

That final exceptional element from the soccer tournament was the behavior and attitude of the team. Numbering at times 14, and only playing seven in matches means a lot of shared playing time. No complaints, no whining; overall the team enjoyed and established a camaraderie and support system which made everyone feel an integral part of the season’s success. The coaches take their hat off to all the ES Eagles who fully deserve the Sportsmanship award at the tournament.

HS Volleyball Tournament Hosted @ AISJ On Saturday, October 12th AISJ hosted its annual HS Volleyball Tournament. AISJ entered a total of five teams in the tournament, one U19 Boys team, one U19 Girls team, one U16 Girls team, and two U16 Boys teams. This year there were 52 teams entered into the four divisions. As a result, there were approximately 600 volleyball players from the Johannesburg area, Mozambique, Botswana, and Swaziland that came to AISJ’s campus on Saturday for a day of competition and volleyball. It was quite a spectacle!

Varsity Boys Volleyball Tournament Results The Varsity boys represented AISJ well in the tournament this past weekend.

There were 10 teams in the pool with each team playing 3 matches to determine seeding. AISJ took the 4th seed and played an old rival, Waterford in a tightly contested match in the quarter finals. Waterford took the first set and AISJ took the second set. In the third set AISJ was leading 14-13 and looked like they scored the winning point to take the match; however the official call was a net violation resulting in a 14-14 tie. The set went back and forth; one for them, one for us until Waterford finally put two points together to take match. It was a tremendous opportunity to play volleyball at a high level and gain valuable experience going into the weeks before ISSEA. Thanks to all the parents and fans for your continued support and encouragement.

Varsity Girls Volleyball Tournament Results Last Saturday’s volleyball tournament was a day of high emotions for the AISJ Girls Varsity Volleyball team.

In the first game of round robin, the team played Jeppe School, and had the fortunate result of two victorious sets. The second game of the round robin, however, did not bring such positive news. The team lost both sets. Determined to get their game back, they proceeded to defeat Waterford, with a score of 15 to 6 for the first set and 15 to 9 in the second set.

After all the results were tabulated, the team advanced to the Championship Knockout Bracket as a 7th seed.

The Knockout Bracket brought higher challenges to the varsity girls. The first game against Kattlelhong found the girls competing against not only a challenging opponent but also the environmental obstacles of the hot sun and overwhelming wind. The

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team then advanced to what became a thrilling match against Tembisa. AISJ managed to win the first set in its final moments, turning the game around when Tembisa’s victory seemed eminent. AISJ won with a score of 21 to 18.

The next set tied the match when Tembisa won 21 to 11. When Tembisa won the third set, with a score of 16 to 14, AISJ was eliminated from the tournament.

Although the AISJ Girls Varsity team did not win a medal for their efforts, the games played that day improved team spirit and provided a great opportunity for a day of fun and sportsmanship.

AISJ Girls’ Junior Varsity Volleyball Season and Tournament The JV girls’ volleyball team had an outstanding season, especially considering there were all new players on the team! It was a building year where the team and players made great strides and improved immensely. The girls started off the season playing Cathula, Troy ville and Midrand. Unfortunately all three of those matches ended in 2-game losses. However, the girls were consistently showing grow th in their individual and team abilities. The final game of the regular season was against HeronBridge.

This match went three games and ended with the first team win of the season for the JV girls!

The girls came into the end of season tournament fired-up and ready to play. The last game of the season proved to be a confidence builder and the girls were really playing well as a team.

Saturday’s tournament started with pool play, which consisted of 3 matches against Fourways, Sandown, and Waterford. The girls played well in pool play, but ended up with a 3 win-3 loss record. It came down to the point differential to determine if the girls would be placed in the championship bracket or the consolation bracket. After the final tabulations were in, the girls were placed as the top seed in the consolation bracket.

The girls played hard throughout the knock-out round with solid support from their bench. The first two matches of the consolation bracket went three games each! After a long, hard day of playing volleyball, the girls were headed to the championship match! After losing the first game, the girls were determined to come back and win! They worked hard in the second game to win 21-13 and with some good serving in the third game they jumped to a 7-2 lead. With continued good serving and good communication, the girls won the third game and the championship match! Congratulations to the AISJ JV Girls Volleyball team for winning AISJ’s U16 Girls consolation bracket final AISJ Boys’ Junior Varsity Volleyball Season and Tournament On Saturday, October 12th, two JV Boys Volleyball teams competed with 50 other teams at AISJ’s Annual HS Volleyball Tournament. With almost 600 young athletes participating it was more than a volleyball tournament, it was a celebration of competition, friendship and fun. Both JV Boys teams showed outstanding improvement throughout the tournament and season. This was evidenced by a hard fought split by AISJ’s Boys “A” team against Cathula, a team that earlier this season had beaten the eagles quite convincingly. AISJ’s Boys JV “B” team had an easy game to start the tournament by defeating Midrand Primary 2 sets to 0 (15-13 and 15-11). However, the next two opponents, Troy ville and Waterford, had outstanding teams and the “B” team lost both games. Both teams advanced to the knock out stage of the tournament, but were eliminated after hard fought first round matches. Congratulations to all of the players for a job well done in the tournament and on a successful season.

ISSEA Volleyball & Soccer Tournaments On Wednesday October 30th our Varsity Soccer teams will travel to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to compete in this year’s International Schools of Southern and Eastern Africa (ISSEA) Soccer tournament being hosted by the International Community School (ICS). On this same day our Varsity Volleyball teams will be traveling to Lusaka, Zambia to compete in this year’s ISSEA Volleyball tournament being hosted by the American International School of Lusaka (AISL). These teams are looking forward to three intense days of competition and interactions with other International School students. In the next Izindaba we will have a summary of the two tournaments with pictures.

AISJ’s MS Basketball Tournament On Saturday November 2nd AISJ will host its annual MS Basketball Tournament. The AISJ Joburg campus will enter four teams into the tournament while the AISJ Pretoria campus will enter two teams. It promises to be a fantastic day of basketball. We will have a recap of the tournament in the next Izindaba!

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Kris Jettner K-12 Activities Coordinator Mobile: +27 (0)81 018 3803 aisj-activities@aisj-jhb.com www.aisj-jhb.com

Work: +27 (0)87 809 1813

Fa x:

+27 (0)86 265 7353

Scouting at AISJ Johannesburg Campus Cub Scouts Pack 2010 The Cub Scouts have been very busy. This year we have 28 Scouts as well as new and returning leaders. Our first community service project was a bake sale. The proceeds of this sale will go to Teboho Trust. Thank you to all who participated in this successful event. This past Saturday, the Scouts had a wonderful time at Footloose Trout Farm and some boys even caught a fish. It was great to see so many Scouts and parents attend.

The organizers of this event did an excellent job.

The next event will be at the American Embassy in December when our new Scouts will receive their Bobcat badge. This is the first rank earned for new Scouts. The boys and leaders are looking forward to a full calendar of exciting events to come.

Johannesburg Parents Association News Wow, Halloween is just around the corner! We hope you have received the notices that the elementary art contest and parade will be held on Wednesday, October 30th, not Friday November 1st. Please read the announcement detailing everything you need to know about the art contest and itinerary for the day.

Our social coordinator, Debbie Pearce, has planned a day out at SABC studios with lunch, on Tuesday, November 12th. There are four spaces left! If you are interested please email her at Debbiepearce@btopenworld.com. The cost is R 200.00. The outing is from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm.

Many of you may not know that you can find all of your AISJ spirit wear at the Eagle Shop. We have t-shirts, golf shirts, hoodies, hats and much more. Many colors, sizes and styles to choose from, come in and check out our selection. The eagle shop is open for your convenience, every day from 7:30 am - 4:30 pm.

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

October 21 - 25 School Holiday November 12 JHB Parents Association Event: SABC Tour 8:00 am - 2:00 pm November 14 Director’s Coffee Morning @ JHB Parent Room, 7:30 am

Our room moms are so important to our elementary community. Thank you to all who have volunteered their time to helping out their teachers and classes. Some of our moms would like a bit of help. If you have a child in Ms. Olivia Bradley 1A, Ms. Bronwen Robertson 2B, Ms. Angela Langland, or Nikki Kaplan 5A class, and you have the time and desire to help out the room mom of these classes, please contact one of our elementary coordinators, Paige Doty or Lara Kilfoil. pdoty5@gmail.com or larakilfoil@yahoo.com.

The “My School” card is a wonderful way to put money back into the school, when you are out shopping, lunching or running errands. You may be unaware of all the stores accepting the card, for example: Engen gas station, Waltons Stationery, Toys R Us, and kalahari.com, all accept the card. Check the back of your card, and website, www.myschool.co.za, to find out all the stores welcoming the “My School” card.

Our October break is almost here. The PA board would like to wish you a wonderful holiday, whether you are taking it easy in Johannesburg or going on adventurous travels! Please stay safe, and we look forward to seeing you after the holiday.

Sincerely Sharla Rittershaus, PA President 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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October 17, 2013

American International School of Johannesburg

Vol. 4 No. 5

Save the Dates!

AISJ JHB Parents Association Social Co-Chairs

The AISJ Johannesburg Parents Association Social Committee aims to present a myriad of activities which will immerse you into your life in South Africa through its arts, handicrafts, history, travels and more importantly meeting and developing a cascade of new friendships for you and your family.

Tuesday November 12 SABC Studio Tour and lunch Tuesday December 3 Mistletoe Marketplace!

Debbie Pearce - AISJ PA Social Chair debbiejpearce@btopenworld.com 079 733 3021 Kathy Ustas - AISJ PA Special Events Chair jsustas@yahoo.com 072 350 3428

For tickets and sign ups contact PA Social Chair Debbie Pearce.

Day tours meet at the Parent Room and use AISJ transport.

Payment is required at sign up and there are NO refunds.

SABC!Tour

LE B 8:00 am - 2:00 pm A AIL

Tuesday November 12th

AV S E AC

Get a glimpse of SABC television production and radio stations on a guided insight into one of South Africa largest broadcasting giants. Lunch to follow. R 400.00 per person includes Studio Tour, Lunch and AISJ Transport.

4 SP

Mistletoe Marketplace Tuesday December 3rd, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm The AISJ community is invited to the annual Mistletoe Marketplace hosted by the Joburg Parents Association. Come shop til you drop and get all your holiday shopping done with over 50 Vendors. Contact PA Special Event Chair Kathy Ustas (jsustas@yahoo.com) for more info.

Pretoria Parents Association News Upcoming Events

Hi fellow parents!

Summer is in the air, which of course makes me think of Halloween and pumpkins. Just kidding, but such is life for us North Americans living south of the equator. Lots to report from the PA. • Thanks to all of you who volunteered to be ES Room Parents.

We have all the classrooms covered except for Ms. Nadia’s Kindergarten class. (Please email Bodil Michelsen, our Elementary School Coordinator, at bodilmichelsen@hotmail.com, if you’re interested in taking on the role. We’ll help you get up to speed and you’ll get to work with Room Parents from the other two Kinder classes.) The Room Parents are organizing parent socials to help us get to know each other, and I for one had a great time at Tribeca last Friday.

• Boo! As Ms. Rachel wrote us, planning for the Halloween Cel-

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

October 21 - 25 School Holiday November 6 Pretoria PA ‘Wake up and Learn!’ Coffee Morning @ Library, 7:30 am November 9 Service Learning Day @ Pretoria, 9:00 am - 12:00 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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American International School of Johannesburg

Vol. 4 No. 5

October 17, 2013

ebration is underway for Friday, 1st Nov. We understand that for November 14 many of you (particularly the Americans and Canadians) HallowDirector’s Coffee Morning @ JHB Parent Room, een is a special holiday, and we want to make sure the festivities 7:30 am on campus are special too, even if they’re not quite what you did when you were a kid. ES Parents, you should be hearing from your Room Parents about how you can get involved. Please pitch in and definitely consider attending the Costume Parade. It’s always a lot of fun.

Mark your calendar for two early November events of interest: • Our November “Wake Up & Learn!” coffee talk will be given by Judy Irving, the Pretoria Librarian, who will speak to us about finding “just right” books for our kids. Stop by the library porch for tea, coffee & treats on Wed, 6th Nov. at 7:30 am and the talk will begin at 8:00. In addition, her Joburg colleague, Andrea Staples, will teach us how to access the school’s collection of e-books on tablet devices. Bring your iPad or other tablet! (No Kindle support just yet).

• On Sat, 9th November, there will be a Service Learning Day on the Pretoria campus, with kids from our partner schools, Sunnyside Primary and Meetse a Bophelo Primary schools, from 9:00 am – 12:00 pm. There are going to be soccer matches with the Pretoria and Joburg Under 10 and Under 12 teams, and lots of activity at the Grade 2 community gardens. We need parent volunteers to help with the braai and to serve food, so if you’re interested, please email Hendrikje at h.h.schievink@gmail.com. Look for more details from Tara Barton, the AISJ Service Learning Coordinator.

Thanks to everyone who came out for our October “Wake Up & Learn” coffee talk with Tara Barton. We had a great turnout and I think it helped us better understand the framework and philosophy behind the school’s service learning efforts.

Have a great break from school and we’ll see you around campus!

Glenn Frankel Pretoria Parents Association Pretoria-PA@aisj-jhb.com

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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