2021 Talanoa Volume 2

Volume 2 April 2021

Newsletter of International School Suva

Principal’s Report Greetings, Parents, Staff, Students, and Friends of ISS,

Inside this issue: 

Primary Update



ECH2

As Term 1 closed, we were pleased with the positive progress and school climate we saw. I am optimistic about what we will achieve in the coming year to continue our positive growth and improvement. I think bright days are ahead, and  I hope we never lose our commitment to continuous improvement at ISS.  A significant milestone took place last week bringing us a step closer to putting Covid behind us. We resumed our camp program with a week-long Year 9 camp on Beqa sland in Rukua Village. I myself participated in this camp and can say with certainty that our students experienced many new and exciting things last week. In particular, they experienced the warm hospitality of the village that culminated in a celebration and lovo dinner our last night on the island. Students stayed in homestay groups along with school staff in several homes. Boat building and water activities were a theme of the camp, and students all participated in building a model drua. Students also hiked to a waterfall, visited a secondary school, and had great fun in the water. Some students went to or from camp on board sailing yachts while others took a fast power boat. See more photos inside this edition of Talanoa.

Steve Cathers—Head of International School Suva

Year 3

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Year 5 World Language

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PYP Curriculum Corner

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Library Matters

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A Guide to MAP results

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Kids 4 Kids Club

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Positive Parenting tips

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Year 6 in the Library?

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Year 8 Chinese Studies

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Year 9 Camp

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Model United Nations (MUN)

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Student Profiles —Primary Head Students

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Alumni Stories —Monal Lal Class of 2001

This two weeks’ break has been a good opportunity for all of us to have family time and to become refreshed for the  next term. Term 2 begins Tuesday, the 20th of April. When we return, the new auditorium will be finished except for the seating, and we will be planning our grand opening. That will be another milestone and completing one of our Strategic Plan goals. Next week, we should also have renewed energy for the next term and be ready to do our best!

See you all soon!

What’s happening in 1D?

Term Dates

Term 1 in Primary Rebecca Clentworth—Head of Primary We have had a fabulous start to the year in Primary. The children settled back into routines and their classes very quickly and our returning students have helped transition our new students.

Our ECH / Reception playground facilities are coming along and the ECH students have been collaborating with our Year 2 Design Class to create more play equipment and games.

We have had some exciting events and activities to engage the students this term from aliens visiting campus, looking at fish body parts, exploring human cells under a microscope, planning healthy picnics, playing survivor on Mosquito Island, sharing our learning and so much more. The students have been engaged and eager to discuss what they are learning.

Our swim program has been a success with all students between ECH2 – Year 5 taking part. Our ECH2 and Reception classes are taught by our Year 11 and Year 12 CAS (Creativity, Action, Service) students. This is a fabulous program which builds connections across the school as well as swimming confidence and skills.

WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING IN CLASS 1D? Renee Dansey Term 1 has been busy for Year 1 as we adjust to new routines, make new friends, get to know our teachers, and gain a deeper knowledge as we learn new ideas.

Who We Are – Leading Assembly – Recount Writing – Place Value Sharing the Planet - Excursion to Mosquito Island – Science Lab Experiments Alliance Française Visit – Measurement – Information Report Writing

Visit to the Science Labs to experiment with salt water.

Recycling plastic bottles and cans

Excursion to Mosquito Island to tune into our Inquiry topic—Sharing the Planet

Visit from Alliance Française.

Completing activites after listening to a story in French.

Year 5 World Language On February 24th China Cultural Centre provided the painting videos and materials for our Year 5 World Language class to let our students explore and experience the culture of the Chinese New Year. Our World Language students enjoyed painting and developed the different skills of Chinese painting.

OUR LEARNING COMMUNITY

“Education is a social or collective endeavour and a benefit to the community as a whole, as well as to the individuals within it. Everyone in the learning community has agency; they see themselves as contributors to its ongoing strength and success, and take action to bring about change.” (PYP: From principles into practice, 2018)

COLLABORATION AROUND THE SCHOOL

Year 4 students in the science lab with Secondary Science teacher Mr. Bijay using the microscope to learn about cells.

Lab technician Ms. Zeba dissecting a fish with Year 4.

CREATING A BETTER WORLD THROUGH EDUCATION. Taking Action–Understanding the connection between the Learner Profile and International Minded

Dragon Shao of Year 2 distributing treats he helped to make during the Chinese New Year celebrations at the Old Peoples Home this year. Dragon also distributed Christmas presents over the holidays at the Father Law home.

Aahil Muhammed in Year 3 responded to an article regarding this family’s plight to send their children to school. He also donated to a Nadi Special School Student’s education after reading about both in the Fiji Sun with his grandfather.

HOW WE INVOLVE THE COMMUNITY Design teacher Ms. Hannah and Year 4 students listening to Reception explain the type of food they would like at their Teddy Bears Picnic. They were fortunate to have a parent, Catherine Rose, a Food Technician to assist them in their learning.

KIDS 4 KIDS CLUB 2021 We would like to say a big VINAKA VAKALEVU to everyone for supporting us with our bake sale. We managed to raise $824.45.

Who We Are - Kids 4 Kids is a student led service action group where students work together to make a difference in the lives of other students in their local community We mean during lunch-time. It started in Suzhou Singapore International School, China in 2008. Since then the club has spread its wings to other schools around the world. Besides Suzhou, China, the Kids 4 Kids club International now has chapters in Dongguang, China; Tokyo, Japan; Rotterdam, The Netherlands, Rabat, Morocco and Cebu in the Philippines.

The Kids 4 Kids at International School Suva started in 2018 and it was initiated by Anahira Denzler, a Year 6 student who was part of the Suzhou, China branch of Kids 4 Kids.

This year, the club is under the leadership of Selai Nawai, Srikala Raghuraman, Vosita Williams and Taraivini Watikini. We believe in giving back to the community in whatever way possible and empowering students by providing them the opportunity to actively participate in activities that will not only shape their lives but the lives of other students less fortunate than themselves. We believe that when students have the right knowledge, skills and support, what they can produce is simply amazing What we have done so far: 2018  Book and Toy Drive- With the tremendous support from the ISS community, the items were donated to schools in the West that were affected by the flood.  WOW Kids- Kids for Kids organized a craft stall during their annual Fun Run event. With extra donation and money raised from the stall, we were able to donate towards WOWS kids.

Fun Run Sale

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Children’s Hospital - Each year, just before Christmas, Ms Lorna and a few staff members, organise gifts and decorate the Children’s Ward at the CWM hospital. Kids 4 Kids donated towards this worthy cause.

2019  Book and Toy Drive- The items were donated to a kindergarten in the Veiquwawa Squatter Settlement. The kindergarten is run by Ms Litia, a Year 1 teacher assistant.  Children’s Hospital donation - . Kids 4 Kids donated towards this worthy cause again in 2019.

2020 

Book Drive- We organized a book drive to support Cicia District School, Lau who were in need of books for their library.

Donation of books & toysVeiquwawa Squatter Settlement

2021 

Hands of Hope- With the help of all the students in Primary, we drew/ painted handprints and wrote messages of hope for cancer children supported by WOWS Kids.

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WOWS Kids donation Looking forward We are looking for exciting opportunities to reach out to other kids so if you know of individuals or groups that we can help, please let us know.

Vinaka, Kids 4 Kids Club

Year 8 Chinese Studies On the last day of Term 1, Year 8 Chinese Studies students made sweet potatoes to celebrate finishing the first unit “Festivals and Celebrations”.

Year 9 Camp Rukua Village, Beqa

28 March—1 April, 2021

Students worked in teams to build their model druas.

Students enjoying a refreshing waterfall hike.

ISS Model United Nations (MUN) 2021

We are excited to be hosting our 2021 ISS Model UN on the 6th and 7th May and our Secretary General Lahaiba Saud and Deputy Secretary General Arieta Rubuti, together with the executive team have finalized the committees and agendas. Student delegates will be assigned countries to debate the agenda and resolutions in four committees which is as follows:

General Assembly:  Establishment of a nuclear weapon free zone in the region of the Middle East.  Empowering conflict affected children and youth.

Security Council:  Addressing the situation in Yemen  Establishing measures to de-escalate tensions between India and Pakistan.

Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC):  Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage in Post-Conflict Areas  Improving Accessibility and the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Urban areas.

Status of Women:  Protecting Women in migration from Human trafficking, sexual slavery and sexual exploitation.  Promoting the involvement of women in governance and decision making.

Invitations have been sent to local schools and we are pleased to have received confirmations from International School Nadi, Yat Sen Secondary School, Adi Cakobau School, Jai Narayan College, and Natabua High School.

Two training sessions will be held on the 17th April and 1st May to prepare our students for the two day conference.

More information on the conference can be found on this website address: https://13012404.wixsite.com/mysite

Mrs Milika Waqainabete Model UN Coordinator

Student Profiles—Primary Head Students 2021 Last edition, we met the Head Students of ISS for 2021. They are only part of a bigger leadership team at our school. This edition, we spotlight two of our four Primary Head Students for 2021.

Hi, my name is Jenah Stice, and I am one of the Head Students of ISS Primary. I am 10 years old, turning 11 on 16 May 2021. I was born in Fiji, along with 4 out of 5 of my siblings.

My parents are originally from the U.S, so sometimes I’m identified as American. But I’m mostly from Fiji.

I don’t really have a favorite food, mostly because I think that if I do, people will see me as only liking one food. So I try to be open minded and try different foods.

Same thing with colors. I do really like gold and pastel colors, though. I really like meeting new people and making new friends, and I do think that saying ‘Hi’ or even a simple smile can create a new, everlasting friendship.

One of the major things I am passionate about is children's right to education. Even though I go to an amazing school and have an awesome education, I still think about kids in different countries who have either poor education or no education. I really love animals. All animals. Some of my hobbies are reading, writing, playing sports like netball and handball, and stuff like that.

Thanks!

Hi everybody. My name is Fardeen Sheik Mohammed and I am in Year 5N. I have been here at ISS since ECH1 when I was 4 years old.

ISS is a great school. During my years here, I’ve had to say goodbye to some friends and make new friends along the way. I love many things about ISS but the ones that stand out for me are: 

We get to attend specialist classes like World Languages, Music, Art, PE and not just learn Maths and English.  We go to school with students from other cultures.

I'm proud of myself for being selected as one of the Deputy head students for Primary.

A fun fact about me is: I love to play the guitar!

Where Are They Now? Alumni Stories By: Monal Lal—Class of 2001 Bula everyone, I was at ISS for the entire duration of my Primary and Secondary school education, graduating in 2001. I continued on to the University of the South Pacific (USP) where I completed a Bachelor of Science and then Master of Science in Marine Science degrees.

The research focus of my Master's degree was a native species of freshwater prawn locally known as uradina or the Monkey River Prawn which inhabits mountain streams in inland Fiji. At the time, this prawn was being assessed for its suitability to be farmed, however a bottleneck in the research was that we were not able to produce young prawns in a hatchery to grow out. Over the course of the research, we were able to successfully produce baby Monkey River Prawns in the laboratory for the first time in the world. We learned that the young of this species develop far out at sea after being washed downstream as eggs or early larvae, and after about 6 months of growth, migrate several hundreds of kilometres back to the inland streams they were hatched from. This is an impressive feat for an animal which only measures about 14cm when fully grown.

Following my MSc, I decided to complete a PhD at James Cook University in Queensland, Australia. The focus of my PhD research was the Fijian black-lip pearl oyster, which is the most valuable farmed marine animal in Fiji, and is used for producing iconic Fiji pearls. Using research tools involving molecular genetics, oceanography and marine biology, this work looked at understanding how many stocks of black-lip pearl oysters are present in Fiji, so that the Ministry of Fisheries is able to ensure that harvests of wild oysters for pearl production is carried out sustainably.

I completed my PhD, I took up a research position at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia.

I am currently a Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the Australian Centre for Pacific Islands Research at the university, where I work on fisheries research on sea cucumbers, pearl oysters and other marine organisms in Fiji, the Philippines, Vietnam and Australia. I have a strong passion for the marine environment and its resources that many Pacific islanders rely on, and am grateful to be able to contribute in a small way towards its sustainable use and conservation efforts through my work.

Vinaka vakalevu, Monal