ISL Headlines - December 2013

s e n i l d a e H L The IS From the Head of School : Mr. Martin Gough “Striving for Excellence” Important Dates School

6.1.14

IGCSE/IB

13.1.14

Trial exams Secondary reports sent

24.1.14

Contents Head of School

1

Primary Principal/Early years

2

Grandparents day/LAWS

3

PYP/ Upper primary

4

Yr 5 Kasanka Trip/ Yr 4

5

Secondary

6

Secondary Musical

7

IGCSE/IB

8

Sports

9

IB English/ Board Chair

10

30th Nov 2013

The last time I wrote for the newsletter was shortly after half term and now here we are at the end of the first semester. The time has flown since we started in mid-August and I sense that students, teachers and staff are all looking forward to a break and the chance to recharge their batteries for the start of next term.

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of watching the secondary production of ‘You’re a good man, Charlie Brown’. This very funny musical, full of teenage angst, was put on by a small group of secondary students and ably directed and produced by Ms. Courtney Shropshire with musical help from Mr. Fraser Dodd. The students gave a very funny performance and also sang very well, which is not an easy thing to do without microphones in front of an audience of family and friends.

Last night, the primary production of dance numbers throughout the last five decades gave every student in Years 3-11 the chance to take part with their classmates in a dance choreographed by the children and their teachers. The grand finale, very obviously enjoyed by the students, was the primary teachers and teaching assistants modeling the styles of the last 50 years.

Secondary exams are over, parent-teacher conferences have taken place and reports are being written, ready to be issued in January. For Year 11 and IB2, the December holiday is a chance to study in time for their trial exams in January. These are an essential preparation for the real exams in May-June. Students who study effectively for the trial exams generally go on to do well in their final examinations. Those that don’t will often claim they will work hard and study properly for the real exams, but generally students rarely raise their grade from trial exams to finals by more than one grade. The next few months are crucial to student success in IGCSE and IBDP and so I would ask that teachers and parents continue to encourage students to work steadily and prepare themselves fully for these important exams.

The culmination of the ISL school curriculum is the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. This programme gives students access to universities in many countries around the world and suits our diverse student population very well. Like many, if not most, international schools we also offer a high school diploma based on credits given for successful completion of courses taken in Years 10-13. Students complete their academic studies in Year 13 and at that point graduate from school with an ISL High School Diploma, along with an IB Diploma or Certificates. In the past, students at ISL have ‘graduated’ from Year 11 and even, a while ago, from Year 6. Whilst we may celebrate those milestones of moving from Primary to Secondary or completing IGCSE, they are not endpoints. Consequently, we will be discontinuing the ‘graduation’ ceremony that has previously happened in Year 11 and concentrating instead on the true endpoint of studies at ISL which culminates with IB DP exams in Year 13. Year 11 students may still celebrate the end of IGCSE with their traditional Last Supper.

I wish you and your family a good break from school and the daily school run; for those travelling over the next few weeks, go well, and if you are staying in Lusaka at work or on holiday, stay well.

ry

Prima

Message from the Primary Principal: Mr. Bowen

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It is difficult to comprehend that it is already December and that reports have gone out and we are preparing for 2014! The reality struck home as we rehearsed for the Primary Production of “5 Decades at ISL’’ which was held on Wednesday, 4 th December at the MPC. It was lots of fun with plenty of familiar songs. The PTA was there in force too selling snacks. Apart from supporting our children it was a great chance to meet up with the wider community to wish each other well for the new year!

Sometimes I think I have the best job in the world. Mainly because I have the privilege of working with your children who never fail to amaze me with their accomplishments. I was so moved by the poetry that was produced by our senior primary students last week that I have printed one poem below. Read it and it will take your breath away, and Amira’s is just one example of tens of equally brilliant poems.

The Fiery Graveyard by Amira in Year 6 The roaring, bright fire hungrily eating away the forest while dancing on the green blanket and terrorising the creatures below.

Great sparks fly swiftly through the hot air and land finely on trees and grass, starting new fires, growing angrier and angrier.

The lake watches in horror waiting desperately to help. It, too, is, angry, for it copies the flames in a mocking, imitating way As for the trees, they’re helpless. There’s nothing they can do but sit patiently and blow their precious leaves to safety The smoke, like the fire’s helping hand can’t burn anything more but instead helps in another way by ruining the air, the animals breath The forest is disappearing there’s nothing left but ash. It’s turned into a graveyard for animals, grass and trees.

From the Early Years Coordinator: Mrs Rachel Bentley The Early Years department has been full of people coming in to help us with our inquiries in the last few weeks. The Year 2 classes have been looking at how events in history shape our world today and they held a “Grandparents Day”. The Primary playground was a hive of activity with small groups scattered around, listening to and questioning Grannies, Grandpas, Aunts and Uncles about the changes they have seen in their lifetimes. It was exciting to see so many people from the ISL community supporting our students.

The Pre-School classes have been inquiring into how transport systems are created to fulfill our needs. They had an exciting trip to see the fire engines and ask questions at the Lusaka Fire Station. On another day, there were flashing lights and sirens wailing as an ambulance came to school for our little ones to see at first hand what an ambulance does.

The Smoke That Thunders: By Satyaki Mukherjee (Age 5)

The waterfall sprays down super speed.

In Year 1, many parents have been into the classes to share about their home countries. They have been teaching the teachers as well as the chil- Big white strings fall down. dren more about the diversity and uniqueness of the cultural make up of The water falls crashing and booming the school. on the rocks.

We would like to say a big thank you to all those who gave up time to The waterfall does not stop forever. come into school and share with our students. It is an important part of It's awesome. learning here at ISL and we couldn’t do it without you.

It slides every day, every week, every holiday, every month.

It does not stop for ever.

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Grand Parents Day

On Friday 8th November the Year 2s held a Grand parents morning. It was very special seeing all the Grandparents dressed up in their special clothes. The children experienced learning from a primary source and they got to see many artefacts and traditional items. They also heard many stories about life in the past including stories of walking 10km to school, bathing in the safe parts of rivers as the crocodiles and hippos were in the next pool, wearing mealie meal bags as rain coats and doing chores before being allowed food. The children enjoyed watching dances, singing songs, playing games and saying rhymes. The Year 2’s would like to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who came to make this day extra special.

THANK YOU Junior Laws : Mrs. Johanna de Swardt and Mrs. Anne-Marie Phiri

As teachers at ISL we realized that it would be great if the pupils at our school could get involved in creating more awareness about animal welfare within the local community. The first place to reach these communities is through the parents of children. With the start of our new school year at ISL, August 2013, Junior LAWS was created. We could not believe that so many children were willing to join Junior LAWS. Due to security reasons we could only allow 10 pupils to participate.

Once a week we take a group of 10 pupils to LAWS. At LAWS we walk with the dogs, play with the cats and dogs, we help prepare their food and we arrange their beddings for the evening. The animals like the attention they get from our pupils and according to their keepers the animals look forward to our weekly visits.

We would like to invite the parents of ISL to get involved with LAWS as a family activity over weekends or holidays. LAWS is still in need of extra volunteers, for example people who are interested in walking with the dogs.

Each month we have a target to raise funds for certain repairs at the shelter. From November 2013 until the end of January 2014 the shelter is in need of cement and wood. Any donations will be very much appreciated. Just remember that these animals also deserve something special for Christmas.

You can give your donations to Mrs. Johanna de Swardt or you could deliver it at LAWS (just behind Levy Junction).

Message from the PYP Coordinator: Mrs Sunita Nair

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Sharing more findings from the IBO is my motive in this newsletter. So read on and reflect with happiness on the right choice you have made!

Since its inception 16 years ago, 1997, to be precise, the PYP programme has moved forward and developed. 1,099 schools in 100 countries are currently authorized to teach the Primary Years Programme (IBO website) and we are indeed fortunate to be one amongst them. A global study investigated the performance of 23,575 PYP and MYP students at international schools on the 2007-2009 International Schools’ Assessments(ISA), relative to non-IB students (n=14,317). The ISA assesses four domains: math, reading, narrative writing and expository writing. On the whole, the results indicate that IB students outperformed their non-IB peers on the ISA across all four domains in a majority of grade levels (Tan, Bibby, 2010) Figure 1. Effect size of difference in performance between IB and non-IB students by grade. Bars to the right of the vertical zero axis indicate higher scores by the IB cohort. On 10 of 12 measures the IB students had higher mean scores. ( November 8, IB Global news) In addition, PYP educators across the world are currently reviewing the programme and considering ways to develop and improve it further through educational research, planning and implementation of new strategies. This review is expected to be completed by 2017. I will keep you posted as and when I learn of new developments.

On a much lighter note, the holidays are about to begin and let me take this opportunity to wish you all a very good break!! So much has happened this semester, that all of us - students and teachers alike have EARNED our time out!!

Rest assured that we relax, satisfied and content on having done a great job so far. “The proof of the pudding is in the pie” as they say, and your children, in this instance, are the pies!! Enjoy them during the break and send them back safely to us in January!!

Happy holidays!!

UPPER PRIMARY: Mrs. Grace Kambeu The upper primary students presented a breathtaking performance of ‘5 Decades at ISL’. As always our children looked wonderful and amazed the house with their incredible moves. ISL really has great talent! What a way to end the show with our very own members of staff walking majestically and swinging from side to side as they stepped on the cat walk.

Well done teachers for a magnificent grand finale.

For those of you who would like a personal copy for your library, DVDs will be on sale soon.

The year 6 students have decided what their central idea for the exhibition this year will be: ‘The impact of drugs on our local and global communities is loud yet ignored.’

It will fit under the organizing theme ‘Who we are’. You can tell the children picked it!!! However, it opens up lots of great inquiry opportunities and we have started planning research areas including: the history of drugs, effects of drugs on people’s social, physical and mental wellbeing, how drugs are made, medicinal and herbal drugs, how it is decided whether drugs are illegal, why people become addicted/ start taking drugs, the influence of peer pressure on drug taking and the interaction between drugs and poverty.

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Year 5 School Trip to Kasanka On Monday the 18th of November 2013 year 5 went to Kasanka Conservation Camp to see the world’s largest bat migration. We were 40 pupils accompanied by 7 adults. We went by bus and it took 7 ½ hours to reach Kasanka. We went there because our Unit of Inquiry is ‘How we share the planet’.

We started off at 7am. We made four stops before we reached Kasanka. When we arrived we unpacked and helped to set up the tents. Some of us slept in a dorm. We played for a while, had dinner and went to sleep early as we were very tired.

The next day we had an elaborate breakfast and then we learned more about bats and the other animals in Kasanka in the learning centre. After that we listened to a presentation on bats. Next we went for a short guided walk to see the tree nursery. After lunch we had some time to play with the children from Kasanka Community School. Later that afternoon we went for a game drive to see the bats. There were over eight million bats. It was a unique sight! To have a clearer view we climbed up a tree house ladder.

On Wednesday morning we visited two villages to learn more about Conservation Farming (e.g. beekeeping and fish farming). After lunch we worked in our bats booklets, created poems and presented some sketches about our time in Kasanka. Before dinner we had play time. In the evening we had a braai, campfire and we even roasted marsmallows and had them with hot chocolate. It was yummy! We said thank you to the staff from Kasanka.

The next morning we woke up early to take down our tents, we packed our luggage, cleaned the dorms and had breakfast. After breakfast we left Kasanka. I enjoyed our stay at Kasanka and would like to go again, although the trip was too long.

No it is not a Bicycle Sale!

Recently and as part of the Unit of Inquiry on Simple Machines, Year 4 students had a Bicycle Day. During one PE lesson students were encouraged to bring in their bicycles and they used the lesson to ride on the field, under the instruction of the PE teacher, Mrs Anna Tembo. The aim of the day was for students to try and connect their studies to the workings of the bicycle. The day was a huge success. A big thank you to all the parents for bringing in the bicycles.

The Bicycle Day was followed by a trip to Zambikes where Mr Paul Mulenga talked them through the bicycle making process. Students were able to see first hand how bicycles are put together.

B. Matthias/J. Nyirenda Year 4 Teachers

Secondary From the Secondary Principal: Mr. Mwanza

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The first semester has ended and we are older and wiser. Let me take this opportunity to thank and congratulate our students on a semester of endeavor and achievement both in and outside the classroom. We are all looking forward to a refreshing December break. For the Y11 and IB2 students, the forthcoming holiday will be taken up with a planned revision programme in preparation for the trial examinations in January. A consistent and methodical programme containing revision and relaxation is far better than last minute cramming.

My admiration, respect and gratitude continue to be extended to the faculty at ISL who have worked tirelessly throughout this semester to make it such an enjoyable education experience for our students.

In particular, the sporting events have been excellent; a special thank you to the PE department and all teachers who made the secondary Swimming Gala and other inter house sports competitive and fun events. Thank you Ms. Shropshire, Mr. Dodd and the six members of the cast of the play “Charlie Brown” for staging a really fantastic performance on the night of Friday the 22nd of November, 2013.

Thank you parents for your time and the support you have given your children and the school throughout this semester. Our school will be richer and stronger every time that students, teachers and parents combine their efforts towards school programmes.

Finally I offer everyone in the ISL family my sincere best wishes for an enjoyable and relaxing holiday wherever you will be in the world and wish you also a New Year filled with opportunity and prosperity.

May the Mighty One bless you all. School reopens on Monday 6th of January 2014.

From Junior Secondary School : Mrs.Dodd Last week I read an article called Art

for our sake by Ellen Winner a professor of psychology at Boston College. I found this article fascinating and went to speak to Kevin Hopkins our excellent Art teacher to see what our talented Middle school students were doing in Visual Art at the moment. This article is documenting and describing the sorts of thinking that can take place in high quality arts programs; the authors remind us of what a true education should contain, despite the teach-to-thestandardized-test momentum in many secondary schools which don’t have an Art program like ours.

Did you know that:

 SAT scores for students who studied the arts for 4 years were 103 points higher than students with no coursework or experience in the arts. (Arts Education Partnership).  9th grade students in the Chicago Arts Partnership in Education (CAPE) program, which integrates arts education with more traditional academic studies, were reading one full grade level ahead of their peers who were not involved in the program. (Deasy & Catterall)  79.2% of 8th graders involved in the arts reported earning mostly As and Bs compared to 64.2% of students with no artistic involvement. (Deasy & Catterall).

“The schools that produced the highest academic achievement in the United States today are spending 20% to 30% of the day on the arts.” (IAEEA test) At least Art is a subject where we can really be ourselves. I love to launch myself in a project and use my creativity to the max. School would be so boring without Art! A Year 8 student

‘You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown’

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On Friday 22nd November, the Fine Arts stage was taken over by the cartoon character Charlie Brown and his zany collection of friends. The appreciative audience was treated to an evening of laughter, philosophical insights and music from the cast of ISL secondary school students as they explored the universal themes of love and interpersonal relationships intertwined by life’s undulations.

With a cast of just 6 characters, each and every member was integral to the story and the actors were truly superb as they delightfully encapsulated the essence of each character and brought them to life in a thoroughly professional manner.

Ms Shrophire’s expert direction was evident throughout the performance as the cast demonstrated a fine understanding of stage craft, confident control of their lines as well as terrific timing. Being a musical, there was also much singing to be enjoyed and the cast again proved their worth rising to the challenge of wide vocal ranges, awkward melodic shifts and frequent modulations.

The cast, shining as the multi-talented individuals they are, were as follows: Vision Kim – Charlie Brown Mifaly Andriamady – Lucy Kalusha Graf – Schroeder Sian Alekseyev– Linus Marije Kern – Patty Nadia Sheikh – Snoopy Since beginning the production at the end of August, the cast has committed a significant amount of time to rehearsals, demonstrating an enthusiasm and energy that has been a true pleasure to be a part of. Special mention should also be made of Sian, who only joined the cast at the end of October.

She learnt her lines in a staggeringly short space of time and ultimately made it possible for the show to continue through to performance night.

This evening again showcased the depth and quality of ISL creative talent. Many thanks must go to all those staff, parents and students who made the effort to come and support this production. Mr Hopkins and his own cast of brush wielding visual artists are also in need of applause for creating wonderful props and original advertisements. Finally, thanks to our Student Council for providing drinks and facilitating ticket sales and Kiruthikka for designing the programme.

Fraser Dodd Head of Creative Arts

From the IGCSE coordinator: Mr R Van de Velde

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Year 10 had a very enjoyable 4-day trip to Nsobe Game camp. There was a wide variety of activities, ranging from pig/fish farming , shack building and a scavenger hunt to a game drive and nature walk. Most activities had a team building element in them apart from being informative and/or adventurous. I wish to convey a big thank you to the staff of Nsobe for initiating and organising many of the games/activities and providing excellent meals; to Mrs. Marga Martin for being the second teacher on duty and taking some fantastic photos and, last but not least, to the year 10 students on the trip for behaving very well and for being always enthusiastic and keen to participate despite the busy schedule.

The Yr 11 students have been given their trial exam timetable (13/01-24/01) so they can start planning their December holiday…..They will receive more info about these exams in the first week of January. Year 11 parents will also get a timetable with an attached letter on the changes taking place during these 2 weeks.

The students will need all the support they can get in order to prepare for their exams in the middle of the festive season.

Wishing you all a great ending of 2013 !

IB Corner! From Mr. Hearsum For the IB2’s deadlines are coming thick and fast. The Extended Essay has been completed. The ToK essay first draft has been written and university applications are imminent. Mock examinations start on the 13th January for two weeks. IB 1 students are currently sitting end of semester examinations. Below are some effective revision tips.

Exam preparation hours are limited. Your workload is considerable. Strategy is therefore essential if you are to be as effective as possible.

Planning out revision time is a key element to gaining confidence with a strong sense of being fully prepared. When planning, it is good to be as specific as possible with allocation of time to task. For example, rather than assign “all day Monday” to “Maths”, divide up the day into 40-45 minute blocks and assign blocks of time to specific topics within Maths. If you’re good with maintaining concentration, then you may be able to push your focus to being effective for two consecutive time blocks before taking a short break. However, human concentration span tends to start to peter out after 40 minutes – and there’s no point in sitting there reading the same material three times without actually absorbing it. Give yourself a short (five to ten minute) break where you re-hydrate (water is fine) and think about things other than algorithms or vectors.

If you start this process sufficiently early, you’ll also have the ability to vary subject material throughout the day – perhaps Maths in the morning and Biology in the afternoon. Brains love variety for refreshment purposes. Draw up a study schedule with all of this detail and display it in full view. It will assure you that you’ll cover all the material as you will have clearly assigned time to each topic, and help to reduce your stress levels as you will have broken up that huge, looming “whole subject” into manageable parts.

After you’ve completed each of your topics within your time blocks, tick them off on your schedule to emphasise that sense of achievement. Remember, at the end of each day, to relax and unwind effectively – you’ll need to be fully recovered to be top of your game to get back into it tomorrow.

Adapted from: http://www.examconfidence.co.uk (25th November 2013) Parents of prospective IB students should contact me at ibcoordinator@islzambia.org if they would like to arrange an appointment to discuss the programme.

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From the Sports field : Mr. Todd Meyer Swimming

The swimming teams have just finished a busy term of galas, ending with the Nhkwazi gala on Wednesday 20 th November. It has been a hard fought time for our swimmers as we have many new members on the squad, who are experiencing the noise and excitement of galas for the first time. At the end of the season, we ranked 5 th and we saw many personal best times gained and students taking risks to try new strokes and events. Swimming takes commitment to improve technique and stamina and we would like to thank all those students who have made the effort to be part of the team. Swimming will continue in January and we hope to see renewed energy as we strive to improve our standards Junior Volleyball

On Saturday 9th November, several of our young sports men and women represented ISL at an ISAZ volleyball tournament at Baobab School. The girls and boys put in an amazing group effort and came home with some brilliant results!

The U14 girls’ team proudly claimed the ISAZ title after several superb wins. We put in two teams in the U12 girls division; the A team lost in the final to claim 2 nd place, whilst the B team lost in the small final and came in 4 th. The boys U12 team did not come among the winners, but put in a super effort considering that most of those playing were actually U10! Well done to all those who played and coached!

As the first term comes to a close I would like to thank everybody that had a hand in any sporting activity at ISL. It is due to the willingness of teachers, parents and student-athletes that the athletics program exists. During the August to December term the main sports are basketball, volleyball and swimming. ISL students were taught these sports during the physical education lessons and competed in inter-house and interschool competitions.

Below you can find an overview of the results of this terms sport competitions.

Primary Inter-House Relay Festival (Year 2 and 3)

Zambezi

Mini-Volleyball (Year 4, 5 & 6)

Zambezi

Secondary Inter-House Volleyball

Zambezi

Basketball

Luangwa

Swimming

Kafue Inter-Schools Competitions (ISAZ)

U12 Girls Mini-Volleyball

2nd and 4th place

U12 Boys Mini-Volleyball

did not qualify for semi-finals

U14 Girls Volleyball

ISAZ Champions

U16 Girls Volleyball

did not qualify for semi-finals

U16 Boys Volleyball

ISAZ Champions

U19 Boys Volleyball

2nd place

U12 Boys Basketball

ISAZ Champions

U14 Girls Basketball

2nd place

U14 Boys Basketball

2nd place

U16 Girls Basketball

did not qualify for semi-finals

U16 Boys Basketball

did not qualify for semi-finals

U19 Girls Basketball

4th place

Junior Swim League

5th place

Senior Swim League

3rd place

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Year 12 (IB1) are currently studying poetry. They wrote their own poems using kennings* : MYSELF…

Bubble-blower Music-Player Chocolate-giver Teddy-hugger Bead-Maker

By Sheena Dass

Hello from the Board!

I think 2014 could end up being a groundbreaking year at ISL. Quite literally, in fact. For several years, the Board and school management have been discussing the need for renovation, refurbishment and redevelopment of school infrastructure. In 2014, with the launch of the new strategic plan, the school will start a phased plan for upgrading the school’s buildings and properties with a goal of improving the learning environment, ensuring safety and hygiene standards and modernizing the general appearance.

To finance this upgrade, one or more school properties located around the city will be put up for sale. The majority of properties are houses or flats for teachers, many of which are quite old but sit on valuable land. As part of the redevelopment strategy, the school plans to improve the quality of teacher housing to increase the school’s ability to attract and retain teachers.

Summer Sea Wish-washer, subtly grand ship-finisher, God’s hand, smoother of beaches, gravel-maker, fish-flipper, servant of the moon.

By Sydney Alekseyev *[ KENNINGS… are words / phrases which identify an object or thing without naming it directly.

They are often used in poetry because they are concise and create strong visual images. ]

The Board will be presenting the highlights of the Strategic Plan as well as providing an update on the plan to sell land and/or property (ies) at an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) on Wednesday 29th January at 18:30. At the EGM, the financial statements for the school year that ended July 2013 will also be presented, which were usually shared at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) in past years but have been moved up this year at the Association’s request. A packet of information for the EGM will be sent home to families in mid-January. We hope to see you there!

Elizabeth Jere Chair of the Board

CONTACT US

http://www.cois.org/

http://www.ibo.org/

The International School of Lusaka 6945 Nangwenya Road Lusaka, Zambia Phone: +260 211 252291 Fax: +260 211 252865 E-mail: info@islzambia.org www.islzambia.org

http://www.pamojaeducation.com/

http://www.cie.org.uk/

http://www.neasc.org/