Izindaba - 7 November 2013

American International School of Johannesburg

Vol. 4 No. 6

November 7, 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, Late last year a set of strategic goals and objectives were developed in an effort to formalize a more determined grow th and enhancement plan for our school. These goals and objectives were driven by the schools’ mission to ensure that we remained true to our foundation, philosophy and purpose.

Leading into this process, the school’s mission was analyzed

by AISJ’s Board of Directors, to ensure that it did reflect the school’s purpose, that our mission is in fact reflected in the programs offered and supported by adequate resources.

School Director’s Message 1 Director’s Coffee Morning 1 Construction @ AISJ 2 Aquatic Center: New Community Times 2 Introducing Zandile Mabaso 2 Introducing Thuto Raselalome 3 AISJ takes on Movember 3 Service Learning @ AISJ 3 AISJ Counselors’ Corner 6 School Lunch Menu 8 Johannesburg Campus Eagle Shop 8 Chris Hani Baragwanath Toy Drive 8 AISJ High School Theater presents RENT 9 Elementary School News - Johannesburg Campus 10 Pretoria Elementary and Middle School News 11 Middle School News - Johannesburg Campus 15 High School University & Career Communicator 16 High School News 17 IB Diploma Program News 19 Activities and Sports 19 Scouting at AISJ 22 Johannesburg Parents Association News 23 Pretoria Parents Association News 23 AISJ JHB Parents Association Social Co-Chairs 25

A key word identified within this analysis was “balanced” and it became clear that the interpretation of this work deserved greater attention. By “balance” we refer to the offering of a varied - and yet balanced program. We have defined the four pillars of this “balanced” program as being represented by four key areas – The Arts, Athletics, Academics and Service.

We believe that a truly balanced program means that students of all ages should experience a rich program in each of these four key areas during their time at AISJ. In order to achieve this we are committed to providing the resources to refine, develop and deliver quality programs in all four of these areas, and to work towards developing structures to ensure that they ‘fit’ into our curriculum. The challenge of this task is no more evident than in the high school where we regularly have students engaged in pursuits such as traveling to sports competitions throughout Africa (as was the case last weekend), rehearsing for the upcoming theater production, and working on-going service projects while still maintaining a focus on their academic studies.

The strategic plan sets targets for us to work towards, in the quality of the programs offered, as well as determining ways through which we can ensure student exposure and engagement in these key areas.

As we work towards the targets outlined in our strategic plan, your support in embracing these initiatives will assist us in offering our students a truly “balanced” experience.

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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American International School of Johannesburg

Vol. 4 No. 6

November 7, 2013

Construction @ AISJ This year has been a busy year for us with a large number of projects started even before our winter break. Some of these have been small scale renovations, some extreme relocations and renovations and our 3 completely new buildings for Middle School, High School and of course our new gymnasium on the Johannesburg Campus and the 3 new middle school classrooms and 2 new science labs on the Pretoria Campus.

We are nearing final completion of our 2 new MS science labs and work has been frantic. These new classrooms reflect some of the new design philosophies that we have looked at for the school in the form of more aesthetically appealing ,energy efficient buildings and class rooms that can become multifunctional in a sense. The new spaces are light and airy through the construction of high ceilings that create ma ximum volume for the area.

Ceilings have received acoustic treatment and the internal and external lights have been fitted with sensors to automatically detect when there are people in the classrooms. The air conditioners installed are more energy efficient than the gas type used in previous generations and each lab has a volume of around 100 m2.

The previous unusable embankment has been transformed into a pathway with raised garden beds that will soon overflow with plants cascading over their walls. A grove of new leopard tress has been planted in the area and the Middle School identity will slowly start being defined as the landscaping progresses around Middle School. We are also busy installing our tensile shade structure around the concrete amphitheater and expect this to be complete within the next weeks which will be a welcome relief from the summer heat.

I am excited to reveal these buildings to you and I hope that our students enjoy these areas as much as we have enjoyed creating them for you.

Shane McLaren Assistant Operations Director

Aquatic Center: New Community Times Please take note of the New Community Swimming Times: Tuesday: 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm Wednesday: 3:00 pm – 5:30 pm Saturday: 8:00 am – 1:00 pm

Introducing Zandile Mabaso We are pleased to welcome Zandile Mabaso. She joined the Human Resources Office team on 28th October 2013 as the Human Resources Secretary. She has nine years of previous secretarial experience working in a law office in the areas of litigation and foreclosures.

Zandile is the proud Mom to two girls aged 7 and 2 ½, and her interests are reading, dancing, and running marathons. Please stop by the Human Resources Office to meet her.

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

November 7, 2013

Introducing Thuto Raselalome The Activities Department is excited to announce that Thuto Raselalome has joined AISJ as our new Assistant Activities Coordinator. Thuto is from Limpopo but now resides in Gauteng. After completing her High School she enrolled at Tshwane University of technology (TUT) where she completed her B-Tech in Strategic Management. Thuto has a daughter, who will be 9 months old this month. Thuto is excited to join AISJ and the Activities Department.

Thuto Raselalome, traselalome@aisj-jhb.com

AISJ takes on Movember Do not be surprised to see AISJ’s male staff members and some students looking a little less shaven this month. The moustaches are part of the charity event “Movember”, where participants are sponsored for growing a “Mo[ustache]” during November. Proceeds go to support the fight against male health diseases.

You can find the AISJ Mo-Team’s Mo-page at http://moteam.co/aisj-mo-team.

Use the links on the page to donate to this very good cause, or just to check up on the teams’ Mo’s. Any member of the AISJ community can participate: if you feel inspired to grow your Mo and support this event, then join us!

Service Learning @ AISJ Elementary School clean up Why is there so much litter on our playground?” This was a question posed by students of 2A. We decided to develop a service plan to make our playground a cleaner place. We did observations and brainstormed the different causes of the problem and how we could help.

First we met with Mr. Schuetze who is Director of Operations for AISJ. We noticed that a great deal of the trash was being blown out of the trash can and around the recess area. We requested a garbage can with a lid and for the garbage to be emptied more frequently.

Second, in collecting the trash we were aware that a great deal of it could be recycled. We requested that recycled bin be placed next to the garbage can on the playground.

Third, we were concerned that the garbage cans were only labelled in English. We created signs with pictures to assist people in understanding where to place their recycling. Once we had everything in place we took our message to our Elementary School community in an assembly where we informed them of the steps of our plan and requested their help in placing litter and recycling in the proper place. We ended our presentation with a catchy song about the importance of recycling. The students of 2A did an excellent job of caring for their community and working together to implement change.

- Ashleigh Crunican, ES Ser vice Learning Divisional Representative

Johannesburg Middle School Service Projects Our Grade 6 service learning students are in partnership with Riversands Elementary school. They work with Grade 3 students who turn into Grade 4 students during the school year due to the difference in school calendars. Our focus is on literacy and we commonly call the partnership “the reading buddy program.” Upon Each visit, our students plan an activity to engage the Riversands students. This year our over arching goal is to have the kids publish a children’s book together. Throughout the year students will explore a different facet of writing each visit, starting with character development. These mini lessons are 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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aimed at breaking the book up into workable chunks while allowing the kids to have fun while being exposed to literacy.

Grade 7 is continuing its community service project with the Philile Preschool in Diepsloot this year. We have started our visits, which occur approximately once a month. Individual students will not participate in each visit, however, we would like for each Grade 7 student to plan on participating at least twice during the year.

Philile in Zulu means “I am alive.” The Philile Foundation started with three preschools in disadvantaged areas in Johannesburg, aimed at developing and improving literacy for the South African youth. The preschool that we work with is located in Diepsloot provides education to approximately 100 children. The teachers are members of the local community and have completed their teacher certification. The Philile Foundation’s structure is such that it builds a lasting foundation within the communities it serves, and welcomes the support of others willing to work toward their vision. It is a relationship that benefits both Philile and the Grade 7 students. This year there are also 2 high school students who are going to be taking a leadership role with the Grade 7 students in our program.

Grade 8 has partnered with an organization called ‘Afrika Tikkun’ (http://afrikatikkun.org). The organization focuses on supporting and growing the social, emotional and academic development of youth in Diepsloot. Children from early childhood, right through to early adulthood are able to benefit, primarily through after school activities at the community center. Our Grade 8 will be focusing on servicing Afrika Tikkun through improving the facilities at the center. Over the next few weeks, students will be developing their ideas in assisting Afrika Tikkun through quote painting, basketball court improvement, gardening, and recycling. We are planning to spend a day servicing Afrika Tikkun on November 26th from 9:00 am – 2:00 pm.

High School Activities

After

School

Service

This week the Shumbashamba have embarked on their circle of courage project. Students will paint their own understanding of what it means to ‘Belong,’ ‘Mastery,’ ‘Independence,’ and ‘Generosity’ on a table. Students will be exploring the concepts as a group, making collaborative learning possible. Inspirational quotes will be written in Zulu and also painted on the table. The table will be used by students from Diepsloot every Friday as a place of gathering and for their meals.

Drama Connect An AISJ Afrika Tikkun partnership continues to create incredibly social dialogue through their theater. The group has created a strong social bond where dialogue about social issues are explored and broached. The continuous group learning and interaction – have created dialogue in exploring the possibility in which they would create a theatre piece.

Eat, Play, Love (Afrika Tikkun) Project leaders Kristina and Ruth with their team have worked with focus and determination on their project. The kinesthetic learning activities allow students to get in tune with their bodies while learning.

PAWS PAWS continues to work in helping homeless animals. Although we sometimes fund raise and do animal food drives, we focus a lot on physically helping. Both SPCA and ARK fall under the PAWS umbrella as they deal with animal welfare.

Students have dedicated their time in cleaning, walking, feeding and socializing the animals. PAWS is a great group of dedicated students that truly want to help animals, while having a lot of fun at the same time.

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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High School students, Eilif Ronning, Kristina Robinson and Ruth Abrahams delivered an introductory presentation about their experience to Middle School students. They shared their work they are the doing as well the partnership they have created.

- Juan Jacobs Sheblak, Global Citizens/ Mission Advisor/High School Ser vice Learning Divisional Representative

Grade 10 CWW Grade 10 Classroom Without Walls (CW W) is ready for an action packed week to the Drakensberg for our first CW W next week. 8 teams will complete alternate hiking routes to cater to all abilities while camping. We will depart school at 6:30 am on Monday and return by 5:30 pm on Saturday. A variety of service learning activities will be integrated into the CW W experience.

The service projects will be presented in a service assembly in two weeks’ time.

Meetse A. Bophilo primary school happy and blissful with Pretoria Jungle Gym! On Friday October 17th Ms. Tara and Ms. Alex visited Meetse A. Bophilo Primary school in Pretoria / Mamelodi East.

On this special occasion Director Mr. Sikhumbana and Primary School Coordinator, Ms. Ingrid Bukozinde, thanked us for the donation of Pretoria’s jungle gym and emphasized the importance of our continuous collaboration and friendship.

As Ms Ingrid expressed: ‘it’s such a pleasure to see our little ones playing in the “jungle”. They are at their happiest moments’

Director Sikhumbana and student representatives

Little ones playing in the ‘Jungle…’

Enjoying happy moments!

In the presence of student representatives, AISJ was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation.

Thank you Mr Sikhumbana! We highly appreciate your open-mindedness and your willingness to actively collaborate with AISJ.

PTA meets OMG and Joins Hands in taking a stand for all Endangered Species!

SERVICE LEARNING THEME: ANIMAL PROTECTION AND CARE On Friday November 1st, Pretoria hosted the remarkable young environmentalists Olivia (11) and Carter (12.5) Ries, founders of the One More Generation Foundation OMG, an organization which fights rhino poaching and all wildlife trafficking currently taking place. Those of you who were here last year will remember that we worked in collaboration with them to write letters to President Zuma, to help support this initiative.

During a special Friday morning Assembly in the Lapa at 8:00 am, Ms. Rachel and our StuCo representatives Genevieve and Alex introduced and welcomed Olivia and Carter. After a short explanation of the purpose of their visit, they showed our school community a 5 min OMG video (www.onemoregeneration.org) about their work. During the same session we had the pleasure to announce our special rhino ambassadors for 2013-14: Fiorella (Fifi) (Grade 6) and Alec (Grade 7).

Olivia and Carter were accompanied by “Red Sky Pictures” film company from Los Angeles USA, who are filming a documentary about their journey, to join hands with the youth of South Africa in taking a stand for all endangered species and the environment for One More Generation and beyond!

After our assembly the Grade 5 students performed the shadow puppet show ‘Safe in the Bush’ to our guests, who were highly impressed by the interdisciplinary Art/Spanish project. Grade 4 students showed Olivia and Carter the working process and their end product ‘Where’s Rhino?’ based on Zentangle patterns.

Together with Fifi, Alec and the Grade 4 students OMG did a final photo-shoot on the lawn.

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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Olivia and Carter explaining their mission

Ms Rachel opening the Assembly

November 7, 2013

Genevieve and Alex introducing our guests

As Service Learning representatives we would appreciate if you could take this opportunity to emphasize once more the importance of raising awareness amongst Shadow puppet show in order to raise awareness your students regarding rhino poaching: together we are stronger. For your information please read the National Geographic News article on Olivia and Carters visit to SA. http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/10/19/one-more-generations-carter-olivia-ries-are-helping-to-conserve-south-africas-rhinos/ OMG is working closely with South Africa’s ‘the Green Wall of Africa’ and RHINO SA. (www.rhinosa.co.za) 2012 Total loss of rhino = 668 2013 Current stats = 746!!!

2013 Poachers arrested = 228 - Pretoria Ser vice and Learning Representatives: Karen and Alex

AISJ Counselors’ Corner As a topic of interest and one that seems very relevant in today’s world, where the incidence of autism is on the rise, I thought you might be interested to explore this concept with me. Once again, Dr. Thomas Armstrong has been an unfailing source of optimism, hope and up to date research with regard to many of the so called disorders that we find within our community. The word ‘autism’ is derived from the Greek autos, which means “self”. This disorder was originally discovered by two physicians, Leo Kanner and Hans Asperger in the 1940’s but was not listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) of the American Psychiatric Association until 1980 and was not included as a disability eligible for special education services in the United States until the 1990’s. At present the DSM is undergoing a further revamp and the disorder described as Aspergers is going to be dropped as a separate disorder, and will now be included under the wider umbrella known as “Autism Spectrum Disorder” when the new DSM-5 comes out this year.

Autistic individuals tend to be described as people who experience disturbances in social relationships and communication – in short, there is an inability to perceive or even guess at the thoughts of other people, resulting in significant difficulty with one to one personal contact. These individuals also demonstrate unusual and repetitive interests and behaviors. Of course, as with many other disorders, autism can be seen as part of a spectrum of disorders, from classical autism on the one extreme end of a continuum (described as non-speaking, socially isolated, intellectually disabled, with repetitive behaviors such as rocking and hand flapping) to high functioning autism on the other end of the continuum (described as good language skills, average or above average intelligence, interest in specialized areas).

The causes of autism seem to have undergone radical changes from the 1950’s when it was thought to be environmentally caused, to the 1970’s when it was thought to be a biological disorder. In the 1990’s much research uncovered a neurological base with its roots in the dysfunction of the “mirror neurons” of these individuals in the pre-motor cortex of the frontal lobes and more recently there is speculation about an evolutionary struggle between the genes of the father and the mother which may tip brain development in a certain direction.

Having a small understanding of this interesting disorder allows us a glimpse into the immense complexity and scope within the umbrella term, autism. It is tempting indeed to negatively categorize these individuals within the confines of a narrow 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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definition, thereby closing our minds and dismissing autistic individuals, seeing them in terms of what they ‘can’t do’ (empathize) rather than what they ‘can do’ (systematize). In this highly automated and technologically sav v y world that we live in, we are in great need of the kinds of skills that ‘systematizers’ (autistic individuals) offer, such as can be seen in the work of computer programmers, mathematicians, engineers, mechanics and scientists, to name but a few.

One study of 378 Cambridge University students found that autism was seven times more likely to be found among mathematics students compared with those in other disciplines, whilst other studies show that fathers and grandfathers of children with autism are twice as likely to work in engineering, and that science students have more relatives with autism than those in the humanities. A well-known psychiatrist, Anthony Storr in his book Solitude: A Return to the Self demythologizes the idea that happiness can only come through relationships with others. He observes that many people find happiness in solitary pursuits such as playing the piano, designing aircraft, gardening, and writing history, to name but a few, and that many people’s lives are made worthwhile by such interests. As with everything, there may be a fine line between being wholly and solely immersed within such an interest, and being able to adapt to, and interact with the social world, albeit in a small way – after all, we do live in a culture where socialization is an important value. Much has been written about the extraordinary abilities of some autistic people due to their attention to details and complete absorption within their area of interest. In our everyday life, we are in dire need of individuals who are details orientated and systems based. Perhaps one of the most famous autistic persons, Dr.Temple Grandin, who although she experienced significant difficulty in learning how to relate to others, was able to make significant contributions to livestock handling facilities. She used her exceptional visual-spatial skills to design equipment for the livestock industry.

Thus, it is extremely important that we pay attention to assisting autistic children to relate to other people as early in life as possible. There are a number of adaptive early–intervention models that aim to address this difficulty, the most famous being the Applied Behavior Analysis method, which allows for specific behaviors to be targeted over time and clear progress can be documented. The Floortime model developed by Stanley Greenspan and psychologist Serena Wieder focuses on the positive behaviors and interests of the autistic child, emphasizing laughing and playing, which then creates a positive social and emotional milieu. Hans Asperger stated “a special interest enables these children to achieve quite extraordinary levels of performance in a certain area”. One study of students from seven to twenty one years of age with Autism showed that as they shared their special interests with others, their self-esteem, body language and communication skills improved. Based on this would it not be a wonderful gift if we could help our children to embrace these different and quirky individuals with understanding and kindness. The way we model our acceptance and non-judgmental approach to diversity and ‘difference’ has a lifelong impact on the way our children grow up and the types of adults they will become.

There is still a great deal about autism that we do not understand and research is continually in progress to understand this disorder better. In the words of Dr. Armstrong “knowing the strengths, talents and abilities of autistic people builds a strong case for a new level of respect and understanding for those who function along the remoter regions of the sociability continuum”.

Dr. Carol Wootton

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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American International School of Johannesburg

Vol. 4 No. 6

School Lunch Menu Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

11 November

12 November

13 November

14 November

15 November

Mac and Cheese

Chicken Lasagna

Chicken Nuggets

Grilled Lemon and Herb Hake Fillet

Lemon and Herb Roast Chicken

Chutney Glazed Chicken Beef Stir-fry Wings Chinese Noodles Roast Potato (V) Roasted Vegetable Bake Mixed Vegetable

French Fries (V) Mushroom and Pepper Stroganoff

Creamy Mashed Potato Beef Schnitzel Chicken Schnitzel

Parissene Potatoes

Steamed Broccoli

Cinnamon Pumpkin Wedges

(V) Vegetable Stir Fry

(V) Veggie Curry (Mild)

(V) Soya Sausage Casserole

18 November

19 November

20 November

21 November

22 November

Pasta Day

Spare Ribs

Hot Dog Day

Beef Lasagna

Two Different Pastas

Honey Glazed Chicken Wings

Vienna’s (Pork or Chicken)

Chicken Stir Fry

Country Cottage Pie (Beef) Egg Top

Potato Wedges

French Fries

Baked Citrus Infused Butternut

(V) Vegetarian Soya Sausage

Three Different Sauces (V) Vegetarian Option Available

Chinese Noodles (V) Vegetarian Lasagna

(V) Vegetable Moussaka

Chicken Schnitzel Potato Croquettes Creamed Spinach (V) Vegetable Cottage Pie

Johannesburg Campus Eagle Shop Eagle Shop is 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.

Chris Hani Baragwanath Toy Drive Johannesburg ES StuCo is collecting wrapped Toys for the Chris Hani Baragwanath Christmas Party. Please help us put a smile on child’s face. We need YOUR help to make a Difference.

We would like the gift to be wrapped and labelled • Boy/girl • Age Please drop these gifts off at the Johannesburg ES Media Center, before November 27th. We are going to Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital on November 30th Any donations of old clothing, shoes or towelling is most welcome!

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

November 7, 2013

AISJ High School Theater presents RENT

Tickets R 50.00

Venue Fine Arts Center, Johannesburg Campus

Showtimes Thursday, 21th November 2013 @ 7:00 pm Friday, 22nd November 2013 @ 7:00 pm Book, Music and Lyrics by Jonathon Larson Musical Arrangements by Steve Skinner Music Super vision and additional Arrangements by Tim Weil Original Concept and Additional Lyrics by Billy Aronson Dramaturgy by Lynn Thomson RENT was originally produced in New York City 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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Elementary School News - Johannesburg Campus Upcoming Events

Dear Parents, WOW!! What a fabulous week in the Elementary last week with the celebration of Halloween. A special thanks to Paige Doty and Lara Kilfoil, our Elementary Parent Association representatives, for helping to organise such a wonderful day. I would also like to thank all the amazing PA room mums who helped to set up the stations and make last Wednesday such a wonderful event for our students. It was neat to see such a strong sense of community on display. I am looking forward to putting away my costumes for another year…

Next week is an important week in the Elementary School, as it is the first point in our reporting cycle for 2013-2014. Below is some important information for next week, along with some upcoming events in the Elementary School.

November 12 JHB Parents Association Event: SABC Tour Tickets: R 400.00 pp, 8:00 am - 2:00 pm November 13 JHB ES Red Day JHB ES 8:00 am

Assembly

Wednesday

@

Gazebo,

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

JHB ES Report Cards go home

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

November 14 Director’s Coffee Morning @ JHB Parent Room, 7:30 am

Parent Conferences Parent conferences are next Friday, November 15th. The purpose of the November parent conference is to give you specific feedback about your child’s areas of academic and social emotional grow th.

Teachers will be prepared to talk to you about particular strengths your child displays as well as areas for grow th. Teachers will share with you goals for your child over the coming months at school.

This year, “Sign Ups” for parent conferences are made electronically by parents. If you have not signed up for a conference yet, please click on the following link before Monday evening, November 11th.

November 15 Parent/Teacher Conferences - NO SCHOOL for ES Students November 18 2nd Session of ASA Begin JHB Parents Association Meeting (Open) @ Parent Room, 1:00 pm Board Meeting

https://aisjelementary.schoolsoft.ca A Parent Account is required to use the Conference Manager. However, you only need to go through the registration process the first time you use the system. If you have never registered in the Conference Manager use the link above and click the “Register Now” button.

Can’t remember your password?

If you already have a Parent Account, click on the link above, select “Forgot your password” and enter the e-mail address you used to register in the system. You will then receive an e-mail containing instructions for resetting your password. If you do not receive an e-mail, you might have entered an e-mail address the system does not recognize. Please also add appointments@schoolsoft.ca to your address book in your computer mail. This will over ride any spam filters that might be blocking the e-mail. If the problem persists, please contact the office and ask them to access your Parent Account, confirm your e-mail address and reset your password.

November 20 JHB ES Blue Day November 21 JHB ES Parent Coffee Morning @ TBA, 9:45 am Topic: Reading Development in the Early Years (Kindergarten - Grade 2) November 27 JHB ES Red Day JHB ES Assembly @ Gazebo, 8:00 am Early Release @ 1:30 pm November 28 - 29 School Holiday, Thanksgiving Weekend

Step 1 - Conference Manager Opens to Parents If you used the Conference Manager in the past, your e-mail and password are still in the system. You can simply access the Conference Manager using the link above.

Step 2 – Book your Parent-Teacher interviews Select the teachers with whom you want to book interviews. You will see each teacher’s schedule. After booking your appointments you can print off your schedule. You will also receive an e-mail confirming your bookings. You can log into the system at 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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any time to view your bookings, print, cancel or re-schedule appointments.

If you do not have Internet access, you are welcome to contact the office and we will schedule your conferences on your behalf.

Please note that the conferences are for parents only. We will have child care available in the media center for parents who require this.

Report Cards Reports are being sent home in student’s back packs this coming Wednesday, November 13th. If you have questions about your child’s report card, please take the time to discuss this with your child’s teacher during parent conferences. They will be happy to talk through any aspects that are unclear. Also note that I will be giving a parent presentation on Wednesday November 13th on Standards Based Reporting, which all parents are welcome to attend.

Parent Coffee Mornings We are excited to offer a series of three Parent Coffee sessions held in the Parent Room between now and Christmas as follows: • What is Standards Based Reporting? - November 13th, 8:30 am.

Led by Ben Hart • Reading Development in the Early Years (Kindergarten - Grade 2) - November 21st, 9:45 am Led by Teaching and Learning Coach Jill Bellamy and Ben Hart • Building Conceptual Understanding in Math. Supporting your child in math at home - December 4th, 8:30 am Led by Teaching and Learning Coach Jill Bellamy

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

Upcoming Events

We returned for our October vacation refreshed and energized and enjoyed an action packed first week back. This culminated on Friday November 1st with an exciting visit from OMG (see article in the Service Learning Section) and our Halloween fun.

November 9 Service Learning Action Day @ Pretoria, 9:00 am - 12:00 pm

There are also many special dates to add to your diaries as we journey towards the December Break.

November 12 JHB Parents Association Event: SABC Tour Tickets: R 400.00 pp, 8:00 am - 2:00 pm

Swimming Trials 4th, 5th and 7th November are the dates for our Pretoria swimming assessments and team trials. These will take place from 3:10 pm – 4:30 pm. All families have received information about this. Please contact Ms Robyn, for further details rhall@aisj-jhb.com.

Action Day We are looking forward to this special service learning event to be held at the Pretoria Campus on Saturday November 9th from 9:00 am – 12:30 pm. We will be happy to host both our Service Learning partners Meetse A. Bophilo and Sunnyside primary school for ACTION day 2013. Approximately 30 students from each school will attend Pretoria to participate with our students in a u10/11 soccer tournament. During the official Community Garden opening, Grade 2 students will be working with our guests in the garden on a range of activities.

Reports 13th November is the day when reports will be sent home to you. Enjoy reading about your child’s progress and goals. Please be sure to read the accompanying legends and descriptors which help you to interpret your child’s outcomes.

November 13 ALL Pretoria Report Cards go home November 14 Director’s Coffee Morning @ JHB Parent Room, 7:30 am November 15 Pretoria ES & MS Parent-Teacher Conferences (No School for students) November 18 2nd Session of ASA Begin Board Meeting November 18 - December 6 Pretoria Parents Association Coin Competition

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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ASA Martial Arts Display On 13th November those students who took part in the martial arts after school activity will present a special display of their newly acquired skills for family and friends. This is an invitation only event. For further information please contact Ms. Robyn rhall@aisj-jhb.com.

November 19 Pretoria Traveling Book Shop, 8:00 am - 4:00 pm

Parent Teacher Conferences We will be welcoming parents to school on Friday November 15th for our first formal round of parent-teacher conferences for 2013-2014. Teachers will be prepared to share information about your child’s academic and social and emotional development.

Pretoria Parents Association Meeting @ Band Room, 7:00 pm

November 20 Pretoria Traveling Book Shop, 8:00 am - 2:00 pm

November 22 Pretoria Spring Concert @ Pretoria Campus, 3:30 pm

There are similarities but also necessary differences in the organization and look of the Elementary School (ES) and Middle School (MS) events. In the Elementary School these conferences are for parents only. We will organize child-care for students who come to school with their parents in the Library throughout the day.

Since space is limited we request that only those with no alternative make use of this service. In the Middle School, we strongly encourage parents to have their children attend the conference with them. For more information please refer to the email sent to all families on October 28th. Elementary parents need to remember that the on-line booking system will close at 2:30 pm on Friday November 8th. We urge you to refer to the communication sent on 31st October which explained the booking process step by step.

School Play Our Pretoria school play will be presented to the community of Friday 6th December and Saturday 7th December at 6:30 pm.

Prior this the thespians and their directors and producers will enjoy a Friday night Drama Camp on November 15th.

After School Activities: second session The second round of ASAs will begin on November 18th. Information will be sent home during the course of this week so that thoughtful selections can be made. Enjoy!

Book Fair We are pleased to be hosting The Traveling Bookshop. This established company, which has worked with the school on numerous occasions, will set up a special Book Fair for our students, parents and staff. Books will be on display and for sale from 8:00 am until 4:00 pm on Tuesday November 19th and from 8:00 am until 2:00 pm on Wednesday November 20th. Prior to the event a flyer and additional details will be sent home for your perusal. Parents are welcome to browse and make purchases.

Pretoria Parents Association Meeting Our next meeting will take place at 7:00 pm in the Band Room. We look forward to seeing you there.

Spring Concert On Friday, 22nd November 2013, at 3:30 pm The Choir and Band students will delight us with a special Spring Concert. More information will follow shortly.

Star Show 2013 We are now planning for our 2013 Star Show which will involve staff, students and parents. This will take place on Friday December 13th from 11:30 am until early closure at 1:30 pm. Join us if you can.

Kind regards, Rachel Caldwell, Pretoria Campus Principal: rcaldwell@aisj-jhb.com

Learning Support at AISJ Pretoria On 17th October the Learning Support Team along with students currently receiving support services presented to the parents. The title of the presentation was, Inclusion at AISJ Pretoria, What’s Included?

This was a very successful afternoon where parents got to learn about the programs on offer; ELL, Counseling and Learning support.

The different models of support were discussed as well as the additional support programs such as Homework Club, Sensory Group and most recently Decoding Classes. Tips from the ELL teacher were presented to parents about providing language support for students at 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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home as well as testimonials from students.

One big focus for the team this year has been developing the students’ self-advocacy skills. As such, the students from grades 5-8 were able to stand before the parents and talk openly about their particular learning difficulties, they also spoke about what helps them learn and shared some of the strategies and tools they use.

This was a big moment for our students and we are very proud of all the time and effort they put into making the experience from beginning to end a great success for all.

- Clare Michelsen, Learning Suppor t Campus Coordinator and the Learning Suppor t Team in Pretoria

AISJ Pretoria’s own Golf Star!

Nathalie, in Grade 5, only started golf a year ago when she began lessons at Silver Lakes Golf as part of our ASAs. Nathalie is a natural talent and has already won her first 9 hole Junior Tournament . Nathalie is enthusiastic about golf and understands that it takes a lot of practice and dedication to keep improving in this technical sport. We wish Nathalie well and will be watching her progress closely.

- Ms. Robyn, PE Teacher and ASA Coordinator, Pretoria

Grade 6 Trip to Pretoria Botanical Gardens On Tuesday 5th November, the Grade 6 students excitedly set off to the Pretoria Botanical Gardens where they took a guided tour called ‘Weird and Wonderful’. This trip was to support the unit ‘Building Blocks of Life’ where Morgane, Victoria and Alan observing Alex observing fern spores with a hand The Grade 6 students were fascinated the students have been the scientific and common name of an lens with the tadpoles in one of the many indigenous plant ponds! learning about cells and how those cells work together in plants. Whilst at the gardens the students had the opportunity to learn about algae, ferns and mosses- all those plants that they wouldn’t normally encounter. However, they were particularly interested in the tadpoles! We finished up with a walk around the gardens visiting the succulent gardens and learning how they protect themselves against predators and a lack of water.

- Ms. Erica, Middle School Science Teacher

Grade 6 Trip to Maropeng and Sterkfontein Caves On Tuesday, October 29th, both Grade 6 classes went on a fieldtrip to Maropeng and Sterkfontein Caves also known as the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site. We visited the museum, learned more about early humans, and went on a boat ride back in time to the creation of our universe! We also undertook some “spelunking” as we explored the caves where “Mrs. Ples” and “Little Foot” were discovered. It was a full day of fun, adventure, learning and bonding as a grade level.

- Ms. Moore, Ms. Buzan and Mr. Jacob, MS Teachers, Pretoria Campus

The Ever After – A Musical I am Sally Lizzie Jesse Donatello Griffin. My show “Totally live with Sal” airs on December 6th and 7th at AISJ’s Pretoria Campus.

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We have a special theme for our show – reconciliation. We will try and reunite the two ugly…um…beauty- impaired stepsisters and Cinderella, as well as the evil queen and Snow White.

For animal lovers we even have a frog prince joining us. Plus we have a special deal on offer – you can join us for absolutely free. So please come along for “Totally live with Sal”. We look forward to seeing you there!

- The ar ticle was written by Piper Hattenbach (grade 5 student) better known as Sally Lizzie Jesse Donatello Grif fin – the host The cast of “The Ever After – A Musical”

Middle School “Book Tasting”

During the week of November 4th, the Pretoria Middle School students came to the library to get a taste of some new books.

For a starter students mingled around the tables of new books, looking at covers, reading blurbs, patiently waiting to “dig in”.

The main course began with students choosing the most appealing books to tickle their taste buds! After sampling six different books and reviewing those, students made a list of books they felt were the most delicious and would want to read in the near future.

Ms. Ir ving, Pretoria Librarian and Literacy Coach

Pretoria Middle School Basketball Our Middle School Basketball season finished off on a high note at the AISJ Basketball tournament. Both our boys’ and mixed teams made it through to the quarter finals in the B division where unfortunately they had to play against each other.

The boys’ side won and advanced through to the semi-finals where we played against AISJ B, Johannesburg Action Shots from the quarter finals Campus. The game was extremely tight, with neither team pulling away with more than 3 points at a time. In the end the team from Johannesburg prevailed in the final 4 seconds of the game. Congratulations to them. Coach James and I are extremely proud of both our teams for a fantastic season.

Basketball Awards: Eagle Awards Sportsmanship Most Improved Player Most Valuable Player Defensive Player Attacking Player Coaches Choice

– Fausto Grinspun and Gabriela Macomber – Themba Chirwa and Siebren de Vries – Jan Bock and Jonathan Kasongo – Christopher Kelevedjiev – Titus Waibale and Sharlene Broekman – Luke Foster and Gabriella Macomber – Jan Bock, Titus Waibale, Gabriella Macomber and Genevieve Belanger

- Robyn Hall, PE Teacher Pretoria Campus

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Middle School News - Johannesburg Campus MS Report Cards Go Home

Upcoming Events

On Friday, November 15th students will receive their report cards.

Report cards should come home that afternoon. As middle school students can be “forgetful” at passing on information to their parents you may want to ask them to see their report. This report includes indicators based on our 1-7 scale for learning outcomes, performance indicators on Approaches to Learning, and teacher comments.

Middle School Social – October 8th The first MS social of the school year will take place on Friday, 8th November from 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm. Students will dress up in neon colors to help “Light Up the Night” as they dance the night away. MS students are looking forward to this fun night of food, music, dancing, and games.

Middle School - Parent/Teacher Conferences Wednesday, November 20th (2:00 pm to 4:00 pm) and Thursday, November 21st (7:30 am to 3:30 pm) Venue: Gymnasium - Timings: based on surname - see below Our parent teacher conference day is highly attended and we are so pleased that our parent community is involved in their child’s education and values the importance of parent-teacher conferences. As we did last year, we have expanded our time by 90 minutes to ensure that parents have ample time to visit with their child’s teachers. Parent teacher conferences will start the afternoon of November 20th and continue on November 21st.

All teachers will be set up in the gymnasium and parents are invited to the school during a block of time based on surname (listed below.) In order to assure that all parents have an opportunity to meet with their child’s teachers it is imperative that parents adhere to the timings provided. Arriving with less than 30 minutes left in the allotted time will greatly restrict the number of teachers that you will be able to visit. If you have more than one child in the middle school please arrive at the beginning of the allotted time to ensure time to visit all the teachers.

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, 8:00 am - 2:00 pm November 14 Director’s Coffee Morning @ JHB Parent Room, 7:30 pm November 15 JHB MS report cards go home November 18 2nd Session ASA Begin JHB Parents Association Meeting (Open) @ Parent Room, 1:00 pm Board Meeting November 20 JHB MS Parent-Teacher Conference’s @ Gould’s Gym, 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm November 21 JHB MS Parent-Teacher Conference’s @ Gould’s Gym (No school for JHB MS students) November 26 JHB MS Service Learning Afrika Tikkun Day, 9:00 am - 2:00 pm

This year we are hosting one parent teacher conference (in November) and student led conferences (in March). Student led conferences is a widely researched and used practice in education that involves students presenting portfolios to their parents in a celebration of their learning, and to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding. Based on our experience with student-led conferences last year, we will be reviewing our format for March. The exact format of these conferences will be determined and shared with you closer to the date. To help our students become familiar with discussing their learning with parents and teachers we would like students to attend the conferences in November with their parents.

Block

Date

Timing

Surname

Block one

November 20th

2:00 pm to 4:00 pm

S through Z

Block two

November 21

7:30 am to 10:00 am

D through L

Block three

November 21st

10:00 am to 12:30 pm M through R

Lunch

November 21st

12:30 pm to 1:30 pm

Lunch (teachers not available)

Block four

November 21

1:30 pm to 3:30 pm

A through C

st

st

It is our hope that you will have the opportunity to meet and conference with many of your child’s teachers; however, do not 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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feel you must visit all of them. Each conference should be approximately 5-7 minutes long. Our goal is to have excellent communication regarding your child’s performance and progress in school, and to learn from you.

During your visit you will meet teachers with whom you wish to speak. If a teacher you wish to see is conferencing with another parent when you arrive, you may decide to: • wait in the seating area near that teacher until the teacher becomes available • leave that teacher and go to another teacher who is free • leave that teacher and go to a teacher who has a shorter line, returning to the original teacher once that line has shortened • send the teacher an e-mail to set up an appointment to see the them at another time We look forward to seeing you and to sharing your child’s progress.

Please e-mail MS-Office@aisj-jhb.com if you have any questions

MAP Testing Results We are completing our make-up sessions of MAP testing this week. We had more tests to do after the break than we anticipated due to the internet connections being down just before the break. We anticipate having individual student reports to parents in the last week of November.

International Master Chef Club by Thomas Chopty and Nathan Bebow International Master Chef is an excellent after school activity for anyone who loves to cook and eat. It will teach you all the tactics for cooking and all the Spanish delights that are so good that your mouth will water at all times. You will be eating at the end of all the classes. Some of the dishes you will be cooking are delicious nachos, mouth-watering lamingtons, and many more dishes.

At the end of the term, you will be battling all your fellow cooks in a final Master Chef cook off. You must cook the best dishes for the panel of judges. This year we had Dr. Robinson, Mr. Jettner, Dr. Walker, the previous winner of Master Chef Anna Pettit and Señora Neagos tasting our food. This competition was very fun. Some of the amazing dishes included classics like brownies, rice balls, and meat lasagne. I am happy to announce that I won this year competition with a classic French dish, Chocolate Mousse with butter cookies.

Moreover, we are publishing a book with all of our recipes and the book will include all the recipes from the dishes in the competition. If you like International food, such as Thai and Korean food, go ahead and cook it for yourself and your friends. The recipes are easy to cook and fun to eat.

All 2013-2014 Master Chef Participants

Winning dish Mousse au Chocolat with Sablé cookies

Thomas Chopty in the center with Ms. Neagos and former winner Anna Pettit

Judges Dr. Robinson, Mr. Jettner and Anna Pettit tasting the dishes of the final competition

High School University & Career Communicator Princeton, Dartmouth and Columbia, OH MY! We had a successful visit from these Iv y League powerhouses last week and it was an honor to introduce our students to the admissions officers from these schools.

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20 parents and 45 students attended their respective presentation.

Some of the information discussed included: • School specific admissions information as well as some important statistics and general admissions information.

• They stressed the importance that students know the type of campus and environment they want to be on and to live in • The highly competitive nature of their schools (they take the top students from every region) • What it is like to be a student on their campus

Common terminology used in the University application process It is important to understand these terms in order to successfully organize the best list of universities with your son/daughter.

This ma ximizes your child’s opportunities to attend a university that will best suit them.

A match or target school is one where your academic credentials fall well within (or even exceed) the school’s range for the average freshman. There are no guarantees, but it’s not unreasonable to be accepted to several of your match schools.

A reach school is one where your academic credentials fall below the school’s range for the average freshman. Reach schools are long–shots, but they should still be possible. If you have a 4 average on our 7 point scale, Harvard is not a reach school–it’s an unrealistic dream.

A safety school is one where your academic credentials fall above the school’s range for the average freshman. You can be reasonably certain that you will be admitted to your safety schools.

We encourage students to apply to a few schools from each category (many applicants apply to around three reach schools, three match schools and two safety schools). Separating them will help you manage your expectations throughout the admissions process. And it will ensure that you set ambitious goals and give yourself some back–up options. Don’t include a school on your list that you are not willing to attend.

Visitors coming in the next few weeks Trinity College Dublin November 11th at 2:15 pm Lynn University (Florida, USA) November 18th at 2:20 pm Lafayette College (Pennsylvania, USA) November 20th at 12:00 pm These are our last scheduled visitors for 2013. More to come after the December break!

High School News Dear High School Parents,

Upcoming Events

With the introduction of a Service Learning Coordinator last year, along with the Global Citizens curriculum becoming part of Grade 9 and 10 Mission Program, the high school took its first steps towards becoming a truly service oriented institution. We learned important lessons from last year and we made changes to the program based on our experiences. We will continue to learn and change as we move forward to achieve our objectives.

November 8 HS IB2 final TOK essays DUE

In talking to many of you at our parent/teacher conferences, it is apparent that despite our best efforts to communicate the changes and their impact on the program, further clarification is needed. I will attempt to provide you with a clearer picture of where we are in our efforts and who you should contact should you have questions regarding CAS, Service Learning, Service Projects, or Global Citizenship.

HS Play Rehearsal @ FAC, 8:30 am - 2:30 pm

It is important to distinguish between CAS, required of IB students,

HS Running Club Overnights for Irene 10 km November 9 HS Running Club Irene 10 km Race

November 11 - 16 HS Grade 10 CW W November 11 HS CEM IB Testing for all Grade 11 Students during Mission Class

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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and service projects, required of Grade 9 and 10 students as well as non-IB diploma students in Grades 11 and 12. Equally important is to understand the difference between “service learning” and “service projects”.

November 7, 2013

HS Trinity College Dublin @ TBC, 2:15 pm November 12 HS CEM IB Testing for all Grade 11 Students during Mission Class

• Tara Barton is our Service Learning Coordinator and her main responsibility is to work towards the integration of service JHB Parents Association Event: SABC Tour into our curriculum, where practical and appropriate. Tara also Tickets: R 400.00 pp, 8:00 am - 2:00 pm took the lead this year in organizing our first Grade 9 and 10 CW W trips. As we move forward, responsibility for the plan- November 14 ning and organizing of these trips will move in the direction of Director’s Coffee Morning @ JHB Parent Room, grade level teams composed of a grade level advisor, Global 7:30 am Citizenship Advisors, and the newly created Divisional Service Representative. We will use what we learn from this years’ November 15 CW Ws to help us improve future programs.

HS IB1 Biology & SEHS field trip to ‘Body world’ • Will Hurtado, IB coordinator, Brenda Goldberg and Dee Slattery, CAS coordinators: CAS stands for creativity, ac- November 16 tion and service and is an integral component of the IB Pro- HS hiking Club Hike gram. CAS only applies to Grades 11 and 12 students and is managed and coordinated by our CAS Coordinators, Brenda November 16 - 20 Goldberg and Dee Slattery. Ms. Goldberg, along with two col- HS International Golf Invitational @ AISJ JHB leagues, see all our Grade 11 and 12 students in their mission block and this provides them with the opportunity to work with November 18 students towards completion of the IB CAS requirements. This 2nd Session of ASA Begin is a new structure this year and it is proving highly successful as students record all pertinent information on Managebac JHB Parents Association Meeting (Open) @ Parent and the CAS coordinators are able to monitor their progress, Room, 1:00 pm intervene when needed, and provide important guidance to all their students. Any question you may have concerning CAS HS Lynn University (Florida, USA) @ TBC, 2:20 pm should be directed to either the CAS coordinators or to Will Hurtado, our IB coordinator.

Board Meeting • Brenda Goldberg, Funky Ralethe and Shahnaz Malik: All students in Grades 11 and 12 will be assigned to a mission November 19 block led by one of the above teachers. Students in Grades HS Play Dress Rehearsal @ FAC, 3:00 pm - 7:00 pm 11 and 12 who are not full diploma students are still must meet the service requirements for graduation. These students will November 20 be guided and supervised by a member of the mission team. HS Lafayette College (Pennsylvania, USA) TBA, 12:00 pm • Juan Sheblak: The position of Divisional Service Representative was created last year after reviewing the program and November 21 determining needs. Juan Sheblak is the high school repreHS Play ‘RENT’ @ FAC, 7:00 pm sentative and he is responsible for the coordination of service projects and service learning efforts. He works directly with November 22 the service learning coordinator as well as with service project HS Play ‘RENT’ @ FAC, 7:00 pm advisors to ensure that the logistical challenges related to the projects are met. Should you have questions about service November 23 projects in the high school they should be directed to Mr. HS Homecoming Dance Sheblak or the teacher advisor of a particular service project.

• Juan Sheblak, Janice James, and Christelle Gamet: All students in Grades 9 and 10 are required to complete a service project each year. The organization, guidance, reflection and recording of the students’ experience takes place in mission block, under the direction of one of the three teachers listed above. All students are trained in the use of Managebac, and this allows the students and their teachers to follow closely as service projects move from proposal stage to completion. Mission block at this level also provides the opportunities for students to take the “Global Citizens” course, designed to reinforce the meaning of service and good citizenship. The course is taught by the mission teacher, or “Global Citizen Advisor”.

I hope this has helped clarify any misunderstandings or confusion you might have regarding what we are trying to do in the high school to develop caring and service oriented students. I strongly encourage you to contact the above mentioned teachers and advisors as well as Sandy van Nooten, Will Hurtado, or me if you should have questions. It is clearly a valuable proWe 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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gram that is moving in a positive direction and becoming more effective as we all learn.

All best wishes, Tony Mock Principal, High School

IB Diploma Program News Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring IB Evaluation (CEM IBE) CABT and feedback Students in Grade 11 will take the CEM IBE Computer adaptive baseline tests (CABT) to ascertain their skills and developed abilities during Mission block next week (beginning 11th November).

It is important to emphasize that the CABT is a test that indicates a student’s raw ability based on their responses to the ‘adaptive’ questions. In this regard whilst students may not be able to revise or prepare for the test they should be focused during it and make use of all the time available to ensure that their answers are truly indicative of their ability.

These baselines (measures) once processed provide confidential assessment and monitoring information. This data is used internally by teachers (but not limited) to inform instructional change, track performance and for target-setting. It can also be used as a supplementary piece of evidence used in formulating grade predictions and projections.

The feedback in the form of ‘Individual Pupil Records’ (how they performed in the test) and ‘Predictions/chances Graphs’ (a prediction of IB performance in relation to student ability) will be issued to each Grade 11 student and parent.

In order to make sense of this feedback, I have created a page on my ‘The IB @ AISJ’ site dedicated to providing you with: 1. What is CEM IBE? 2. Why do we use it?

3. How do I interpret the information it provides about my child?

The link to the site is: http://tw.aisj-jhb.com/hs-ib/cem-ibe/ (password: aisj23) Thank you for your support and please get in touch if you have any questions.

Will Hurtado

Activities and Sports Please note the following When e-mailing the Activities Department please use the following e-mail address aisj-activities@aisj-jhb.com unless you are sending an e-mail that should only go to either Thuto or Kris. If you send it to the address above it automatically goes to both of us, no need to cc either one of us. This will enable the Activities Department to correspond with you more quickly and bring Thuto up to speed with everything that is going on in the department. Also please note that Kris Jettner’s cell phone number has changed to the following, 081 018 3803.

ISSEA Golf Invitational – Hosted by AISJ AISJ is hosting the 1st ever ISSEA Golf Invitational from November 16th – 20th, 2013. The International Community School (ICS) of Ethiopia and the International School of Kenya (ISK) will be flying in for the Invitational. Teams will fly in on the Saturday and fly out on the Wednesday, with competition happening on the Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Visiting teams will be hosted by students of AISJ. The Invitational will take place at three courses around the area. In future years Golf will become an official ISSEA sport with all ISSEA schools participating. We look forward to hosting the 1st ever ISSEA Golf Invitational and for it to grow in future years. * ISSEA – International Schools of Southern and Eastern Africa

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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ISSEA Soccer Tournament Girls Soccer Team The ISSEA varsity girls’ soccer team was in Ethiopia from October 31st to November 2nd to take part in the ISSEA tournament, hosted by the American Community School of Addis Ababa.

The Eagles came in first in pool A after beating The International School of Kenya, The American School of Uganda and The International School of Tanganyika. The team played outstanding soccer through the round robin phase of the tournament scoring eight goals and conceding only one. Unfortunately, after the first game of the tournament against Kenya Georgie Wager was out of the tournament, due to an injury.

In the knock out game, the team kept playing well and made it through to the semifinals beating The American International School of Mozambique 6 to 0. Again, luck was not on our side as Jenna Allen got injured.

In the semifinals we faced a solid International School of Kenya team. Our team was down two players and were very nervous, yet had high expectations and confidence. After we dominated the entire game and created many chances, the rival team seized the only opportunity they had, and scored in the last minute of the second half. Despite the defeat, the team came together to play in the consolation semifinal.

The same story repeated itself in the game against The American International School of Lusaka. We deserved the victory, we created chances and played better than the rival, but during a messy play on both sides, Lusaka ended up scoring. The team fought until the final whistle but luck turned its back again.

Overall the Eagles came fourth. The team preformed really well, represented AISJ outstandingly and showed good sportsmanship on and outside the pitch.

Congratulations to all the girls for a great season and lots of good memories. The team is looking forward to March for the second season of soccer.

I would like to thank you the parents for your support and help, especially Mr. Jeff Lepore. I would also like to thank Ms. Slattery for a great job during the ISSEA tournament, Coach Funky and Mr. Jettner for their continuous support of the soccer program, and especially the players for making it possible. - Coach Rey Boys Soccer Team If I were to sum up the past few days we have spent in Ethiopia as a team, there would not be a single word to encapsulate the experiences, fun, ecstasy and emotional roller-coaster of the time we had. From the moment we departed school, in formal wear- to look the part of a professional soccer player- there was an undeniable mood of enthusiasm and excitement in both the girls and boys teams. Having learned that we would be playing the first game against the host team, the ICS Eagles, we did not take kindly as we thought this was some sort of taunt/insult to us, we left Oliver Tambo on a mission.

From the beginning we were being tested mentally, our first test was the duration of the flight to Addis Ababa. Being in the air for six hours really knocked the wind out of us as when we arrived in the capital city of Ethiopia, we were fatigued and lethargic. To add to our problems, we had to wait a further hour for a couple members of the squad to receive their visas. Once we all had entered, we were taken to the host school, The International Community School of Addis Ababa to be introduced to our hosts and subsequently go home. Having said all of that, it’s important to note that the time was close to eleven thirty at night.

Enough of the boring logistics and back to the main action. Rested and feeling confident, the team met at seven to prepare for the introduction parade of all the schools participating in the tournament. As soon as it was over, the real business was about to begin – the first match between the most successful side in ISSEA history vs. a side that had only won it on a few occasions; this set up an interesting opening game. With the home fans cheering for ICS and the girls’ soccer team cheering at the top of their voices, the atmosphere was electrifying. In the end it fell to a lapse of concentration on our side which allowed the hosts to snatch the game 4 – 3 at the very end. Although disheartened from the loss, we had sent shock waves throughout the tournament. We were labelled as one of the favorites to win the tournament.

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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Unfortunately we failed to live up to our expectations as too often we would lose concentration and allow sloppy goals to be scored against us on a regular basis. Added to this, we could not find the back of the net in most of our games. Having scored three in our first game, it seems as if the tap then went dry after that as we only went on to score 3 more goals in the rest of our other games.

Did we win gold? No, but we grew closer and stronger as a team playing through numerous injuries, drama and frustration.

- Cabumuzi Dlamini (AISJ Boys Soccer Captain)

ISSEA Volleyball Tournament The ISSEA Boys and Girls Volleyball teams travelled to Lusaka, Zambia for an exciting tournament from October 31st - November 2nd, 2013. This is THE event of the season that our teams began training for in the middle of August. The ISSEA 2013 competition builds from the excitement of renewing friendships, facing new opponents and challenging old rivalries. The opening ceremony preparations started with the AISL Grade 2 students partner with our players to learn cheers to show their support throughout the tournament. Some of our players actually said it was the “cheer squad” who lead us to victory in one match.

It was super cute!

The tournament format changed this season with the addition of AIS Mozambique making two pools of four. Therefore teams would play three matches against the teams in their pool and this would determine seeding in the knockout portion of the tournament. Our AISJ Boys found themselves in a very competitive pool but managed a three-way tie with AISL, ICS and ourselves with 2 wins and 1 loss. The tie-breaker became a point differential resulting in a seeding of AISL 1st, ICS 2nd and AISJ 3rd. AISJ handled the International School of Uganda (last year’s reigning champions) with ease in the quarter-final 2-0. The semi-final found AISJ playing AISL which was a battle in pool play and proved to be an intense match resulting in a 23-25 and 26-24 loss. It was the type of battle you would expect to watch in the finals and was considered by coaches, parents, and other players as the match of the tournament. Despite the loss, AISJ Boys gained a tremendous amount of respect for their technical expertise, system of play, and composure on and off the court. It is a real tribute to them for picking themselves up from that heartbreaking loss and getting right back on the court for a 3rd place final against ICS. The boys sent a clear message that they are “players” with a decisive win to claim the Bronze Medal. Benjamin Keltjens and Reyhan Taneja were selected for the ISSEA Boys All-Tournament team.

The AISJ Girls also claimed a third place finish in their pool. To their credit, they started with tournament jitters but gained confidence with every game. The quarter-final match against ISK was exciting to watch with an extremely close AISJ win 26-24 in the first set. ISK came back to take the second set resulting in a battle in the third set, with ISK narrowly taking the match win.

This sent AISJ to the Consolation Finals where they played their best match of the tournament against HIS advancing them to the Consolation final match against AISM. Their confidence in their ability to win carried them to an exciting three set match solidifying their Consolation Championship (an overall 5th place finish). Ekedi Fausther-Keeys was selected to the ISSEA Girls All-Tournament team.

AISJ’s MS Basketball Tournament Middle School Boys’ Basketball Another successful season of middle school basketball just concluded for AISJ’s Boys “B”team. At this level it is all about skill development and the boys shined as they worked on the fundamentals of the sport. We had some success in every game we played and although wins during the regular season were few and far between we came together as a team and gained important lessons about basketball and about life as well. The boys peaked at the right time and the AISJ basketball tournament was a showcase of how we’ve grown as a team. We won four games in a row, were the top seed in the knock-out bracket and made it to the tournament finals only to be beaten by St. Stithians by just a few points, a team we had beaten twice this season. It was a heart-breaking loss but the boys knew there were more important things learned and quickly relished in the fact that they exceedWe 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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ed their expectations for the day. We couldn’t have asked for a better way to end the season.

- Coach Monson On Saturday November 2nd, 2013, AISJ hosted its annual Middle School Boys and Girls Basketball Tournament. The tournament consisted of teams from around the Johannesburg area as well as a couple of teams from Pretoria.

The boys team’ was drawn in Experienced Pool B which consisted of St. Johns College, Mamelodi, from Pretoria, and The Dominican Convent. The MS boys “A Team” had a great start with a comprehensive win against Mamelodi in the morning fixture. Up next was Dominican Convent, and after a very competitive match, the boys narrowly won by five points. Later that day and in the early afternoon, the team faced St. Johns in the last pool fixture with a first place seed on the line for the final pool standings. The boys also needed to respond to the earlier loss to St. Johns in Mafikeng at the ISSA Tournament. The team lost a hard fought match but still secured second place in the pool. We then faced St. Stithians in the first knock out and quarterfinal match on Saturday afternoon, and after a slow start we won to set up a rematch in the semi-finals against Michael Mount Waldorf School. It is always tough to compete against a team that you have lost to twice in the season as we had done with Michael Mount but it set probably the most exciting game and atmosphere of the tournament. Behind much of the game, our team came back at the end but could not survive the final push by the opposition. As a result our team narrowly missed a trip to the finals. The MS boys “A Team”met many big challenges this season and responded well to all of them. They challenged every team they played and were very competitive along with being model sportsmen. They bonded well as a team and will take this season of experiences with them well after this season.

The boys finished the season with fourteen wins and five losses and two semi-final appearances in the two tournaments they participated in. I would like to thank all of the players for their hard work, commitment and sportsmanship during the entire tournament. Thank you also to the students and parents who supported AISJ throughout this great season.

- Coach Hunt

Middle School Girls’ Basketball Although we started the season with a 0-2 record, our young Eagles got better with every practice and became one of the best U14 girl’s teams in Johannesburg. After defeating schools from Zimbabwe and Zambia in the ISSA tournament in late September our girls finished tied for third out of eight teams. The experiences from that tournament carried the team in the next six weeks and made them stronger and very competitive.

Here are some highlights of our season. Our team won 12 out of 17 games played. We scored almost 17 points per game (our games are short and we play running time). We scored 286 points and our opponents scored 189 on us. We grabbed 269 rebounds for the season. Our top scorer was Maeve with 148 points (almost 9 points per game) and she was also our top rebounder with 105 boards. Our team finished tied for third in both the ISSA and AISJ Invitational last weekend here in our school.

I would like to thank all my players for a great season. I would like to thank our parents who came and watched our games and Mr. Kris Jettner and our school for giving me the opportunity to coach such a great group of kids. Go EAGLES!!!!

- Coach Gabriel

Jill Miller and Ross McGlothlin – MS Basketball Tournament Directors I need to give a huge public thank you to Jill and Ross who ran AISJ’s MS Basketball Tournament this past weekend with the assistance of Thuto Raselalome. I was at the ISSEA Volleyball Tournament and therefore could not be there on the day to run the tournament. As they quickly found out, it can be a challenging endeavor but they handled every situation that arose with grace and made it a very successful tournament as a result. If you see them please congratulate them on a successful tournament!

Scouting at AISJ Cub Scout Pack 2010 The Cub Scouts have been busy working toward their rank requirements. They will visit the American Embassy in Pretoria on December 4th. During this visit, the new Scouts will receive their first rank of Bobcat. An e-mail will be sent to parents with details. No Scout will be allowed on the trip without a signed permission form. Parents are invited to attend. Contact your son’s 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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leader for requirements for entrance into the Embassy.

On December 7th, our annual Pack hike will take place at Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens. An interest form will be sent via e-mail. RSVP to let your leader know if you will be in attendance. This year we are honored to have the AISJ Troop 8 Boy Scouts join us. The Boy Scouts are great role models for the younger boys.

Finally, the uniforms are in and have been distributed. Do not forget to proudly wear your Cub Scout uniform to your den meetings.

Johannesburg Parents Association News I trust everyone had a great Halloween celebration last week! Thank you to all of our room parents for their assistance. A big thank you to Paige Doty and Lara Kilfoil, (Elementary School Coordinators) for the organization of the whole event. The students really showcased their creativity in the art contest; it was great to see what they came up with!

If you have not seen the newest addition to the Parent Room, please stop by and admire the painting and art work. The dramatic colors on the wall are stunning and we hope it makes your time spent in there even more enjoyable. It looks absolutely fabulous! We will be displaying art work from the different schools on the walls of the PA room soon as well.

Our Eagle Shop is the place to get all of your AISJ spirit wear, and uniforms. We have coffee and refreshments on sale, while you enjoy the new ambiance of the PA room. The Eagle Shop is open daily from 7:15 am – 4:00 pm.

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

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 November 18 JHB Parents Association Meeting (Open) @ Parent Room, 1:00 pm

I am looking forward to the SABC Studios Tour on November 12th. Our next event will be the Mistletoe Market, Tuesday December 3rd. You do not want to miss this excellent opportunity to get some Christmas shopping done. Check the Izindaba for more details.

Thanks again for the huge effort of everyone involved in the Halloween parade, parties and art contest! Everyone’s participation and enthusiasm are what make these events so special and strengthen our school community!

Sharla Rittershaus, PA President

Pretoria Parents Association News Upcoming Events

Hi fellow parents, Hope everyone had a fun and restful break and enjoyed seeing their kids return to school, I mean spending quality time with them.

Some PA news, fresh from the oven: • Zombie Alert! Thanks to all of the parents, particularly the Room Parents, for helping the school produce a fun Halloween celebration.

We hope your kids enjoyed

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

November 9 Service Learning Day @ Pretoria, 9:00 am - 12:00 pm November 14 Director’s Coffee Morning @ JHB Parent Room, 7:30 am

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it and please do complete the feedback form from Ms. Petro (for parents and students both!) so we can reflect on the event and learn how to improve it next year.

November 7, 2013

November 18 - December 6 Pretoria Parents Association Coin Competition November 20 Pretoria Parents Association Meeting @ Band Room, 7:00 pm

View more Photos from Halloween! - click here • Action Day! This Saturday is a service learning day on the Pretoria Campus from 9:00 am – 12:30 pm, with students from our partner school, Meetse Primary School. There’s going to be soccer matches with the Pretoria and Johannesburg “Under 10” and “Under 12” teams, gardening activities with the Grade 2 students, and good ol’fashioned braai. For more info, contact Tara Barton, the AISJ Service Learning Coordinator, at tbarton@aisj-jhb.com.

• Heads up! We are starting a program to welcome new students and parents to our campus. Jennifer E is heading up this effort. We will be inviting parents to volunteer to be a point of contact for new families. Stay tuned for more information!

• Splash! Planning is commencing for our Summer Carnival to take place on 1st February. Rebecca Alderman, our VP, is leading this effort and will be reaching out to everyone who showed interest in the Parent Online Survey. If you would like to help out with the event planning, please contact her at alderman.tx@gmail.com.

And last but not least…

• Join us! Our next Pretoria Parents Association meeting is Wednesday, 20th November, at 7:00 pm in the Band Room.

This is a completely open meeting and all parents are invited to attend and contribute. (All parents are automatically members of the Parents Association. But you knew that, right?)

Thanks to everyone who came out to yesterday’s “Wake Up & Learn” coffee talk with the school librarians, Judy Irving and Andrea Staples. We’ll be sending out information about how to access the school’s collection of e-books. What’s next? In December, we will talk about Homework.

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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American International School of Johannesburg

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.

AISJ JHB Parents Association Social Co-Chairs

Save the Dates!

Tuesday November 12th SABC Studio Tour and lunch Tuesday December 3rd 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.

E SABC Tour C A P S November 12 8:00 am - 2:00 pm I F Tuesday E R I Q Uof SABC television B L E !and radio stations on a guided insight into one of South EaNglimpse A Get production L I AVA giants. Lunch to follow. R 400.00 per person includes Studio Tour, Lunch at Africa largest I S broadcasting Frenzi in Cedar Square (Italian Restaurant) and AISJ Transport. th

Mistletoe Marketplace Tuesday December 3rd, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm The AISJ community is invited to the annual Mistletoe Marketplace hosted by the Johannesburg 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.

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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