American International School of Johannesburg
Vol. 4 No. 2
September 5, 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 week I have been in Abuja, Nigeria helping the American school there manage grow th and consolidate its strategic direction. While doing so I found myself constantly reminding them that planning is the first part of this process, enacting and measuring your progress are also of critical importance. Putting this into the context of our school I thought it was important to share where we are our in our strategic work and to literally ‘walk the talk’ – so to speak!
School Director’s Message 1 Community Awareness Notice 1 Teaching and Learning News 2 nd K-12 Learning Support Week of September 2 , 2013 3 Service Learning @ AISJ 4 School Nurses hosts the SASNA Conference 4 AISJ Counselors’ Corner 5 School Lunch Menu 6 Elementary School News - Johannesburg Campus 6 Pretoria Elementary and Middle School News 8 Back to School Picnic 8 Middle School News - Johannesburg Campus 12 High School News 14 Activities and Sports 15 Johannesburg Parents Association News 18 Director’s Coffee Morning 18 AISJ JHB Parents Association Social Co-Chairs 19 Pretoria Parents Association News 19
Last year the School Board of Directors and the School’s Leadership team undertook extensive work to review our school’s vision, mission and core values, to ensure they were still relevant and spoke to our core beliefs about what the school was about and valued. After confirming this and agreeing to retain them, the group then set about the task of developing a series of strategic goals and then taking this further to develop measurable and time-bound objectives, which would guide our work for the next four years. These goals and objectives can be viewed by clicking on the following link:
http://www.aisj-jhb.com/Community/Community_Core_Values_Parameters_Priorities_&_Strategic_Goals.html Work has started on these goals in earnest and a considerable part of teacher orientation was devoted to helping teachers understand these goals and starting to plan how they are going to be achieved. The school’s Board has also made a firm commitment to report on our progress on these goals and objectives. As a result, in connection with the first Parent Board information evening to be held on September 26th, we hope to publish the Annual Report for 2012/13 that will focus on our strategic goals, our progress thus far and the work we have planned for this year. It is an ambitious plan with, in many cases, seemingly audacious aspirations; however, we believe this is true to our mission and certainly in the spirit of our vision that “Together we dare to imagine, inspire to succeed, and courageously make a difference.” Please take the time to review our goals and objectives and I look forward to keeping you posted on our progress. Thanking you for your continued support. Andy
Community Awareness Notice Dear AISJ Community, In May, last school year, we were made aware by outside authorities that the availability of marijuana within Gauteng has markedly increased. While we remain diligent in a school context, we feel it is important to remind you once again that this substance is easily available. Data collected in the last climate survey conducted with our students suggested that the vast 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. Page 1