Talanoa Volume 3

Volume 3 Newsletter of International School Suva Dear Parents and Guardians,

19 May, 2017

Principal’s Report

As the term races past the halfway mark, the school is a hive of activity with students preparing for exams, productions, trips overseas, and a special harmony day celebration. We also continue to celebrate outstanding achievements in both curricular and co-curricular events.

Inside this Issue

Many of you will be aware of the recent success of Maia Ramsden at the National Coke games. Maia broke one of the longest standing records in the Junior  Principal’s Report Girls 1500m event. Her time of 4 minutes 43 seconds broke the previous record by 12 seconds. She also went on to win the Junior Girls 800m in a time of  AST Exam 2 minutes and 16 seconds.

Whilst many of us will rightly admire a record breaking athlete’s ability to run faster, jump higher and throw further than others before them, it is the hidden  EARCOS Tri-annual work and ambition that is often worthy of greater respect. An achievement of this nature requires intelligence in planning, sacrifice of lesser pursuits, a Journal single-mindedness to pursue even higher honors and recognition that it requires the support of special people – in this case her coach of 3 years Mr Mario Fesaitu and family who I imagine must be extremely proud of her achievement as we are at ISS.  Primary Article Congratulations Maia and we look forward to following your progress both in Fiji and abroad as you prepare for your upcoming participation in the New Zealand Cross Country competition on 18 June.  Junior Cooking Class A couple of weeks ago as we were celebrating achievements in sports I received a letter from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges congratulating us on the successful accreditation of ISS.  Counsellor’s Report An excerpt from them follows: “ Dear Dr. Marsden: We are pleased to inform you that the six-year accreditation status for International School Suva (PK - 12) has been reaffirmed. This accreditation status is based on all of the information provided by the school, including the school’s progress report, and the satisfactory completion of the on-site mid-cycle accreditation visit. The report indicated that your school has made significant progress on the schoolwide critical areas for follow-up that are part of your overall schoolwide action plan. We commend you as you continue to address your schoolwide initiatives and look forward to learning about additional progress in the interim report that will be submitted to ACS WASC in June of next year. Accreditation status is conditioned upon International School Suva’s continued adherence with the ACS WASC policies, procedures, and criteria for accreditation. This includes a requirement that an accredited school annually contribute members to participate on visiting committees. Failure to maintain compliance with said policies, procedures, and standards is grounds for modification and/or withdrawal of the accreditation. We want to express our appreciation on behalf of the Commission for your efforts and congratulate you for continuing to provide quality education for the students at your school.

 Physical Education

Sincerely, Fred Van Leuven, Ed.D. President ; Marilyn George, Ed.D. Vice President “

 Science

 Blood Drive  EU Amazing Race  Library  Nurse Update

As I alluded to earlier the accreditation is a public acknowledgement of the ongoing commitment, competence, sacrifice and vision of staff, council and the  Jazz Workshop parent body to pursue greatness.

As a community dedicated to preparing citizens of the world it is not enough to simply be a good school trying to do our best. Neither is it enough to compare  ISS Craft ourselves with other International Schools globally. To do so would be to limit our imagination and we would fail to recognise the unique challenges that our community must face together here in Fiji. With a new Council, a new incoming Principal and Head of Primary School, a new PTFA and new families  Outdoor Education continuing to join us on a daily basis ISS finds itself at an exciting juncture where the work and achievements of our predecessors can be recognised and  Language Policy built upon to create a truly great school.

However, this will require a greater coming together of all stakeholders working to provide solutions, an understanding and committed pursuit of longer term  Francophonie Day goals whilst at the same time ensuring our children are able to enjoy today. It will mean a letting go of past grievances that hinder our growth both individually and as a community. It will require a greater acceptance of the underlying attributes of International – mindedness, risk-taking (courage) and being principled  Social Club Trivia as we work together towards the prize.

Night I would therefore encourage all members of the ISS Association (parents and guardians) to “come on board”, to commit to some part of the school that best fits your skills, time commitments and interests. This could be as a member of the PTFA, contributing to the senior career lunches, Fun day, assisting in the  Upcoming Events on-going development of the school’s language policy – particularly as a speaker of a language other than English, and harmony week amongst other things.

If you are able to become more involved feel free to contact your Heads of Schools or PTFA representatives to discuss this further.

Meanwhile have a safe weekend.

Hector Hatch Interim Principal

The Australian Scaling Test and University Entrance A number of parents have asked about the AST exam that is coming up for our Year 12 students who are completing the Australian Capital Territories Senior Secondary Certificate. This is particularly as the students have received their Student Information Bulletin this week.

The AST (ACT Scaling Test) is sat in September by all students doing a T package (getting ready for university entrance next year). It is a means of comparison between schools as all schools sit the same examinations and allows the students to attain an ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admission Rank) which is used for entrance cut-offs by many universities around the world.

The students will sit three tests which are set by ACER (the Australian Council for Educational Research).

There is the Multiple Choice Test (2 hours and 15 minutes), the Short Response Test (1 hour and 45 minutes) and the Writing Task (2 hours and 30 minutes). The tests are designed to be accessible to all students and students must make what is deemed a ‘serious attempt’ for all three tests. Should you wish to sight an example of the types of questions, please go to http://www.bsss.act.edu.au/__data/ assets/pdf_file/0008/313874/ACT_Scaling_Test_Sample_Questions_2013.pdf Once you have a look at some of the questions, I am sure you will join me in deciding that this is not an easy test!

At ISS students start to prepare for this exam in Year 11 and continue in Year 12 by completing a number of mock AST exams (held at the start of term or, in some cases, where extra practice may be deemed necessary, during term-time). We also dedicate class time each week to reviewing questions and have recently sent Year 12 Mock Writing Task scripts to Canberra for external marking. Teachers are also incorporating tasks into classroom learning and assessment that are very similar to the types of questions found in the AST exams which help to build student skills. This process is proving to be invaluable.

It isn’t easy to prepare for this examination as we are not allowed to supply students with past papers except as Mock Examinations. The best preparation is for students to read Australian newspapers online, ensure that they keep abreast with World news and key topical events or ideas. Discussing such issues with your child is really important as students are expected to think critically, formulate their own opinions and effectively express their ideas in the exams. Similarly, being able to write logically with clear arguments is a skill that helps with the writing task.

Should you need any further information the BSSS website is the best source, this is http://www.bsss.act.edu.au/information_for_students/act_scaling_test. Once students have an ATAR they can then use this ranking to apply for universities around the world. Just so you are aware, if a student gets an ATAR of 88 then this means they are in the top 12% compared to students eligible to be in Year 12. Many university websites will cite a cut-off rank for entrance for a program and in some cases universities also allow ‘bonus points’ which can build ATARs as well. Normally this would be published on the university’s website under admissions. Often parents question how universal the ATAR is and in answer, ISS students have entered undergraduate degree programs at Edinburgh University, Oxford University, New York University, McMasters University and of course, universities across Australia and New Zealand to name a few. In 2015, a student obtained a scholarship to a nursing program in Norway based on her ATAR. It is a universally recognized means of tertiary entrance!

Megan Navunisaravi

Article in the EARCOS TRI-ANNUAL JOURNAL

After School Activity Green Team is a new after school activity running in the Primary School this term for students in Years 3-5. We have had some excellent discussions on how to help keep our school clean and green. We made our own Green Award, complete with our own Green Team Logo:

Our Green Team members will be watching for students who are helping to keep the Front Steps area clean after morning tea and lunch times, and awarding certificates to those who make that effort.

Now, we are making our own scrap books from recycled paper and cardboard and have plans to make our own mats from old T-shirts, garden sculptures from recycled materials and some gardening. If you would like to join us on Wednesday afternoons, please sign-up at the Primary Office and help us to make ISS Primary Greener!

Mothers’ Day Celebrations in Primary

We enjoyed a Primary School Mothers’ Day assembly on Friday 12th May, thanks to Year 3A. It was lovely to see so many children celebrating their mums by wearing pink or floral clothes to school on Friday as well. The Primary School students had lots of fun trying to guess who was featured in the baby photos posted in the Primary School. Several children managed to guess correctly which teachers they were. Different classes got creative for their mums and made cards to take home to their mum on the weekend.

Early childhood celebrated Mothers’ Day as well with a fun set of activities for the children to share with their Mums (and Dads), some singing and a delicious morning tea, complete with fresh fruit, sandwiches, tea and chocolate cake!

National Swimming Championships Squad There are 45 primary students preparing for the annual Inter Schools swimming National competition that will be held on Friday May 26th – Saturday 27th May, 2017 at the Aquatic Centre. We are having three training sessions per week down at the Aquatic Centre in the lead up to this event. This includes two after school sessions and one morning session each week.

The students are really looking forward to the training and especially to the big event next weekend. Come and cheer them on if you can!

Junior Cooking Class C- Care of the body O- On every day's life O- Over eating can be bad K - Keep I - It N - Nice and simple G - Good food for all.

Junior Cooking Class.

Ms. Mere: “What is cooking class like everyone”?

Everyone: “F U N”.

Ms. Mere: “Why is it FUN? Everyone: “Because we get to eat what we make” Ms. Mere: “mmmmmm…

That’s nice to know.”

Maya: “Ms. Sala, I have never done this in my whole life”.

Ms. Sala: “Done what Maya?”

Maya: “Rolling roti.”

Ms Sala: It is okay, this is where you learn.

From the Counsellor Careers at ISS ISS Careers Expo 2017 was held on Wednesday 15 March at the school from 1pm to 3pm. This year we decided to run the program a little differently from previous years. We only accommodated for our own high school students and took the afternoon periods off so students could listen to presenters, have informal chats with work professionals and representatives from two of our local universities. It was indeed a privilege to have the parents of our students and ex-students conducting presentations and small informal chat sessions.

The afternoon program began with an assembly in the amphitheater. Mr. Stice welcomed everyone to the event and challenged the students, “No matter which career path you take in life, you have to ‘Make a Difference’ in the world”. This was followed by a video ‘Big Brother Talk’ by a former student, Aninda Saha, who left us in 2015 and now attends University of Queensland, following an Electrical Engineering Program. Next up, were the teams from the Fiji National University and the University of Fiji who presented students with the programs of study and prerequisites for entry.

Straight after the formal talks in the amphitheater, the students broke out into two sets of three presentation sessions and twelve small informal chat groups with various work professionals. The students were allowed to choose to attend at least one of the presentation sessions and then were free to wander around to the different chat groups and find out more about the work of the professionals who were in attendance.

A Big Vinaka Vakalevu to all the parents, professionals, ex-students, universities and guardians who contributed to the success of this program. We wish to acknowledge the contribution and presence of the following individuals and organizations: The Fiji National University Shane Harris- Presenter for Engineering Nicholas Barnes- Presenter for Law Lisa Apted & Jioji Konusi- Presenter for Business, Management, Administration &Finance Mere Sigabalavu Schuster- Study in A ustralia & New Zealand

The University of the south Pacific Elizabeth Sims- Presenter for Travel, Tourism & Hospitality Benjamin Gibson- Presenter for Performing/Theater Arts Sanjay Patel & Dilawar Grewal- Presenters for Architecture & Information Technology Mark Cumberbatch-Dentistry

Rakhee & Subhash Yadav- Medical Doctors

Ana Manoa- Pharmacology

Paul Collins- IT Specialist

Richard Phelps- Civil Engineering

Peter Sinclair- Hydrogeology

Neeeta Ramkumar- Counseling Psychologist

Ronald Schultz- Psychologist

Rusiate Rokilibau & Team VOU - Creative A rts

Litia Baleilevuka & Ernest Gibson- A fter High School & Into Tertiary

Amerika Grewal- Overseas Study Options

Immediate feedback from both students and teachers indicate that students enjoyed the new format, giving them time to engage with the presenters, even though they would have liked a little more time. The wide variety of professional parents chosen for informal chats was appreciated as this allowed for easier conversations.

Aninda Saha ‘Big Brother’ Video Chat……..

(The main points of Aninda chat) Aninda graduated in 2015 and now attends the University of Queensland. He is pursuing a Bachelors in Electrical & Computer Engineering.

The Need for Career Planning- this crucial for students to get on top of right away because there are so many career paths out there and it can be a very overwhelming process to decide which is the correct path for you. The earlier you get started on it, the better idea you will have and in the end will make a more informed decision about which career path is best for you.

Recommended- that you get top of it right way.

For Application to tertiary Education- another process that creates a lot of dilemmas because there are so many universities out there and deciding which is the perfect university for you can be quite confusing.

Recommended- keep a few safety schools and apply to as many places as possible and do not be dishear tened if you do not get into your first preference. You can come out doing just as well via your second or third preference university. It is good to be flexible.

Transitioning into University Life- this may be one of the most difficult and challenging things that you will face in your life because it is a major shift from high school in the sense that everything is self-directed, nothing is controlled or teacher driven and it will be up to you whether you are going to pass or fail. We need to be serious about taking up some challenges in life and succeeding.

Recommended- Stay Organized, stay Responsible because lots of freedom will be offered at University and while that is a good thing, you also need to be mindful of priorities, Work Experience- is one of the most crucial things for employment. This will also depend on what you want to do in your field of interest. If you want a job in research, then your academic GPA is most important but if your interest is industry work then the more exposure you have to the tools and equipment of a particular industry, the better chance you will stand at landing a job. I now realize that I did not focus on work experience while at high school and if I could redo high school, I would engage in work experience, even voluntary work in my field of interest.

We are indeed thankful to all those who have contributed to the success of the ISS Careers Expo 2017.

‘A DREAM DOESN’T BECOME REALITY THROUGH MAGIC, IT TAKES SWEAT, DETERMINATION & HARD WORK’ -Colin Powell Fenella David (School Counsellor) fdavid@international.school.fj

Middle School Physical Education: Term 2 Swimming unit All this term, the brave students of Middle School have been improving their swimming abilities at the pool. All students have been grouped according to ability and pushed to improve this vital life skill. From the advanced group that is run by Mrs Liew (Junior Pan Pacs Hawaii Coach, Fiji Pacific School games 2000-2015 Head Coach) students are selected to compete in the National Schools Swimming Championship. This provides a great chance for our students to qualify for the Pacific School Games to be held in Adelaide at the end of the year. All students will be well prepared to swim in the Inter-house swimming carnival to be held at Damodar Aquatics Centre on Thursday 22nd June. We would encourage all parents to come and enjoy watching their children compete and push themselves to achieve their very best.

Brett Barons/Physical Education MS

ISS SECONDARY DIVISION SWIM TEAM 2017 48 SWIMMERS Typhaine Nervale Y7

Esther Tuinamoala Y10

Taniela Tora Y10

Rokoseru Nabalarua Y6

Anqi Wang Y7

Stella Keenan Y11

Hugo Landrey Y10

Papanui Liew-Marsters Y6

Candelaria Clemente Y6

Vasiti Rokuru Y8

Puana Puana Y11

Keani Larsen Y6

Emily Gibson Y11

Jose Santos Y11

Nicholas Heuss Y6

Tamena Evers Y11

Shou Izumi Y11

Tom Landrey Y6

Ella Sinclair Y12

Christopher Gibson Y12

Tabbai Soko Y6

Lucy Chane Y6

Maia Ramsden Y10

Jeremaia Tuinamuana Y12

Laura Drakeford Y8

Leilani Patterson Y11

Theodore Strobel Y7

Estelle Collingwood Y8

Nylla Young Y8

Kier Barnes Y7

Hiona Takimoana Y7

Eseta-Claire Navunisaravi Y8

George Siddell Y10

Samantha Heuss Y8

Audrea ValletteY8

Elian Nervale Y9

Talei Meleisea Y11

Breea Kaba Y8

Vincent Collingwood Y9

Madison Todd Y6

Unaisi Seniloli Y9

Santiago Clemente Y10

Ornchisa Kalinta Y8

Antonia Sabass Y10

Sheldon Chow Y10

Leona Douglas Y6

Leamalie Jensen Y6

Above is the list of students who will be representing the school in next week’s National Schools Swimming Championships. This will take place on the 26th and 27th of May. The selection of swimmers has been based on level of skill and ability from PE classes and not from an Interhouse Competition. This year the Interhouse competition will take place in Week 10 at the end of the PE course of study on swimming. The proficient swimmers identified in our school Interhouse competition will then form the squad for next year’s team. This change in the course has already seen an increased improvement in the skill abilities of all students in class.

Continued...

This year’s National Schools Swimming Championships will also be the selection event to pick a Fiji Team to compete at the Pacific Schools Games in Adelaide Australia this year. We had 20 students selected in the squad in 2015 of which 12 made the final team. Selection to the 2017 squad will depend on the swimmers achieving a first or second place in a minimum of two events. Those identified will receive a letter of invitation through their schools.

Congratulations to our swimmers. Training days are Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays at 5.15am to 6.30am at the Damodar Aquatic Centre with Mrs Liew. If swimmers belong to a club they must be training with their club coaches. If they do not belong to a swimming club they may attend the Babale Club training sessions from 4.00pm to 5.30pm at the Damodar Aquatic Centre on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

There is an additional session on Saturday morning which is from 7.00 to 9.30am with Mrs Liew and the Babale Swim Club.

If you are attending training with Mrs Liew and Babale Swim Club your pool entry fee is $1.00.

All team swimmers need to have goggles and swimming cap,( there are only 19 ISS swimming caps left in the Uniform shop) and proper racing togs. Good quality racers are available at the Na CafĂŠ at the Aquatic Centre.

Jenny Liew

ISS Blood Drive Monday, 5th June Start: 9.30am Venue: TBA

European Union Amazing Race The European Union Amazing race took place at the University of South Pacific from 9:00am to -1:00pm. This is to celebrate Europe day on the 9th of May, when the Schumann declaration was presented by Robert Schumann in 1950. International School Suva took part in this event, where five of the Year 8 French students represented ISS and accomplished a great achievement. ISS stood 3rd place in this event, as part of the top three out of seven schools, and was rewarded with a trophy and other goodies donated by the Delegation of the European Union for the Pacific.

At the start of the event, we had a basic orientation in which we were given our complimentary gear: a shirt, a hat, and bag of refreshments. There was a quick briefing and a speech given by Mr Pampaloni Deputy Head of Delegation, before we set out on the race itself. There were 12 pit stops, each carrying multiple questions about Europe and Fiji which we had to answer in order to get points for our team. Team ISS went slowly but surely through the stops and then returned to the USP Oceania Centre. We had lunch provided by the EU and then the prize giving ceremony. We were happy to find that we had earned third place, even though we came last in time.

ISS also had the joint-highest points total. Two schools were able to beat us: Jai Narayan and Vashist Muni.

Nevertheless, we brought the 3rd place trophy back to ISS and presented it to Ms Fong. Below are some comments and reflections made by the students who represented ISS in the European Amazing race.

‘I really enjoyed the EU Amazing Race 2017. I found it an interesting and fun way to test our knowledge on the European Union. We started preparing the day before this event, so when we were about to start this event, our hopes weren’t that high. This whole event was very entertaining and very well organised. I also learned a lot about Fijian culture and history, which I am not very familiar with. One of the reasons we did not come first was because other teams got a head start and they were running throughout the event. I think we had the potential to come first, if we had increased our speed. Overall, I think we strived hard and ultimately we did get third place.’ Gautam Makheja ‘The EU Amazing Race was a fun and interesting experience for me. I found it great to get involved with my home continent with which I have a personal connection. The whole event was almost perfectly organised and ran smoothly. I think people in Fiji don’t know enough about Europe and European culture, so this annual event is a superb idea. I believe our team could have done better though. We had the potential to win first prize, but weren’t quick enough. Overall though, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.’ Connor Mclean ‘I think that this experience with the team was very enjoyable and it was very nice to be spending time with each other outside of school. It was very pleasing to know the information to the questions though we got a few questions wrong. Becoming third place was a relief and was worth studying for this event with the team. I think this team worked together very well although the walk to each pit stop was challenging.’ Joy Kami ‘I really enjoyed this day. On the part of the organizers, it was run quite well and there were no difficulties or errors in the program. It was a great way to learn outside and beyond the classroom, and things like this should be more commonly occurring in Suva. I learned things I never knew about Fiji and Europe, as well as gaining knowledge about USP itself. The experience was incredible, and I would definitely do it again!’ Josiah Stice ‘To me this was a great experience, knowing that I got this amazing opportunity to know more about culture and my home country. I replaced one of the students who was supposed to take part, but they couldn’t due to personal health matters, and this opportunity was given to me the day before the actual event, during the last class of the day. Despite this being a last minute exchange, I was delighted to represent the school in this event, and as mentioned before, gain more knowledge of my own culture. It was also nice to interact and socialize with students from other schools, where we had many fun experiences and created great memories together, even to my own team members.

Despite the challenges we faced, I acknowledge my team members and my teacher Ms Neirinck for the great effort we put in as a team where we accomplished a great achievement.’ Arieta Rubuti Credit Photo: Delegation of the European Union for the Pacific Josiah Stice, Gautam Makheja, Joy Kami, Mr Pampaloni – Deputy Head of Delegation, Connor McLean and Arieta Rubuti

Library Book buzz!

New in the Library

In this Talanoa issue, we feature World Book online reference and research tool designed for diverse ages, reading levels, and styles, and offer teacher resources, standards, correlations, and useful classroom research tools.

Displays in the Library

Our school subscription allows access to World Book Online Kids, Student, Advanced, Timelines, Discover and Encyclopedia Estudiantil Hallazgos.

World Book online is accessible from home and school at any time. Log in details available from the library webpage.

From books to movies

Mother’s day display & card making activity

Every year, popular books are turned into movies.

Here are some books available in our library that will come out in movie theatres this year.

Before I fall. By Lauren Oliver

Beauty and the beast (released in March)

Jeff Kinney’s popular “Diary of the wimpy kid: Long haul

Recently added to our collection and now showing in cinemas: “Freedom at midnight by Dominique Lapierre.

Visit your library to check out books!

Primary Library bookbags available from ISS uniform shop for $12.00.

Ms Salu & the library team Library Webpage: http://issfijilibrary.weebly.com/ Email: library@international.school.fj

Year 5 displayed their Art work in the library for the past 2 weeks. The art pieces were created in connection to their classroom unit of inquiry “Where we are in place and time.”

Last Friday, we put up on display the winning pieces from an art competition for 8-11 year old Chinese children.

The pieces are on loan from the Chinese Cultural Centre.

Science Fiction Childhood –Children’s Painting of China Exhibition held in Y602 The Chinese Studies students of Year 602 enjoyed a wonderful experience as they learned more about the Chinese Culture in the classroom on 11th May. There were 30 children's paintings on display from the Children's Library of Henan Province, China. Work covered the environment, life, science and technology and other different themes. Through their scientific imagination, children used the language of painting, human social life, social development, science and technology for creative, artistic expression.

The students showed great interest in the works of their peers from China and gave great praise to the colorful children's paintings.

The 30th April was designated by UNESCO General Conference as International Jazz day. We’re grateful that the American Embassy organized a presentation to introduce our students to Jazz Music, enhance that our students’ learning and have a better understanding of the roots of Jazz Music, and also for the future and its impact Jazz Music is a unique musical style that was popular in the southern part of the United States of America.

It originated from Africa and merged with European music traditions. The modern Jazz Music has been influenced by other kinds of music and is spreading over the world with no distinction to race, religion or culture.

Carol Yao High School Music Teacher

JAZZ WORSHOP The US Embassy very kindly recently facilitated a jazz workshop at the school. ‘Jazz’ is one of the areas of Music about which students probably have least exposure in Fiji, yet it is in our syllabi. This workshop was a unique opportunity for students to hear it played and participate in discussions around this genre. What follows are reflections of the students’ collective experience.

The Jazz Presentation was very informative. The Guest speakers from the American Embassy talked about the origin of Jazz. We learnt about the different styles of Jazz and how it evolved over time. Some of the styles include: Cool Jazz; Swing and Bebop. They broadened our knowledge on the different styles of jazz by using examples from audio files and the exceptional piano skills of one of the speakers. They also taught us about the different musicians and how they changed the sound of Jazz. And we were also made aware of the places in Fiji where live Jazz can be found. The presentation was quite interesting, especially the piano skills of one of the guest speakers. The pianist played two different styles of music, classical and Jazz. Jazz is more unexpected, it isn’t easy to tell what’s going to be played next because jazz is about improvisation. He played the piano to teach how to distinguish between the two styles of music. The other guest speaker talked the styles of jazz and how to differentiate the different styles. The quiz at the end of the presentation, it was really entertaining. .

- Year 11 Music students We really enjoyed learning about the history of jazz and how it came to be the genre that it is today. We were blown away by piano skills and again, the different sub-genres of jazz were also fascinating. The atmosphere was friendly and we could tell the speakers really enjoyed jazz and were passionate about it, which was relayed over to us as an audience. The time put aside to talk to us about something close to their hearts is also inspiring and heartfelt. Thank you for letting us into the private parts of your lives that connect to jazz. Thank you for engaging with us through the quiz (and prizes!), we feel that we left the room having learnt something new and interesting. Lastly, the language of music is one that everyone is capable of speaking, thanks again for sharing your passion for just one of its vast dialects. - Year 10 Music students The workshop two weeks ago was very useful. It helped give us a better understanding and appreciation of the different styles of Jazz. Even though the origins of Jazz and Definition of Jazz were a bit of a mystery, the information presented helped us gauge a firmer grasp on Jazz and how jazz is important to the artistic history of America. The J.A.M (Jazz appreciation month) achieved its goal well and helped us understand how a great genre of music came to be from mainly the improvisation of instruments. The only thing that would have made the workshop better would be if we would get to see some Jazz played live, even a saxophone, but we understand that would have been difficult to coordinate. Overall it was a joyous experience and found a way to be both informative and entertaining at the same time.

We learned a lot from the workshop about Jazz and how it came to be and the type of musical scales that Jazz incorporates. What interested us the most was when Billy pointed out that if you concentrate on a single instrument for the duration of a song and then listen to the same song and concentrate on a different instrument, the song sounds like a whole new song. We really enjoyed this workshop. - Year 12 Music students

Outdoor Education Camp

22nd to 24th April As part of the Rivers and Risk Unit, our intrepid explorers from Yr 12 Outdoor Education set of to tame the mighty Wainimala River on Bilibili (bamboo raft). After making the Bilibili, the students set off to Naivucini 13km downstream.

Day two the students made their way to Pacific Harbor where they cruised in style aboard a glass bottom boat. Along the way, the students compared the man-made canals to the natural wonder of the Wainimala.

Students wrote up their experiences in a Journal and answered questions such as: What happened? How did I feel? What have I learnt? Student self-reflection and analysis of who they are as people is an integral part of the Outdoor Education course. Assessment is tied directly to their personal experience gained from the Rivers and Risk component of the course and the practical application of theoretical components.

The students rose early on day three for the trip of their life with Rivers Fiji. Whitewater rafting the Upper Navua Gorge. The students have gained a greater appreciation for the natural wonders of Fiji’s vast interior, the risks incorporated and further developed their skills of critical thinking and analysis.

The students displayed an outstanding sense of togetherness and teamwork.

Mr Barons

INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE LANGUAGE POLICY Every school that offers International Baccalaureate programs is required to have a Language Policy, which outlines how the school acknowledges and provides support to the various languages used within the school community , the mother tongues of the students, as well as the languages taught at the institution.

ISS has recently started a process of reviewing our current language policy, creating a committee of teachers, staff and students who will meet to evaluate, update and improve the ISS Language Policy. We will start by establishing the language status of ISS with a survey of students and the languages they speak, which will be conducted at school this term. We would also like to have interested parents join this committee in order to have a more authentic representation of our ISS community. If any parent is interested in becoming part of this committee, please contact either the PTFA at ptfa@international.school.fj or Maria Dunbar at mdunbar@international.school.fj

Fêtons la francophonie!

The International Francophonie Day also known as La Journée internationale de la Francophonie celebrates French culture and language around the world. Events take place each year on the 20th March.

There are over 274 million French speakers on Earth.

On Friday 24th March, ISS students got the chance to take part in a karaoke session, a crepes baking workshop and a movie night in French (Le petit Prince).

High school French students performing songs such as A ux Champs-Elysées

by Joe Dassin, Ta fête by Stromae, La banane by Philippe Katerine or Parlez-moi de lui by Chimène Badi, just to name a few.

Crèpes workshop

Le Petit Prince A little girl lives in a very grown-up world with her mother, who tries to prepare her for this adult world. Her neighbour, the Aviator, introduces the girl to an extraordinary world where anything is possible, the world of the Little Prince.

Language Department

Upcoming Event Term Two - Week 6 - Week 10 T2 Week 6 Monday, May 22 ISS HARMONY WEEK

T2 Week 9 Monday, June 12 Production all day rehearsal

Tuesday, May 23 ICAS Digital Technologies Sec activities program last day

Wednesday, June 14 School production

Thursday, May 25 HARMONY ASSEMBLY (Whole school) Friday, May 26 Chinese IGCSE Exam

Thursday, June 15 School production T2 Week 10 Monday, June 19 Year 12 Camp Mon-Wed

T2 Week 7 Monday, May 29 Exams Year 9-12

Tuesday, June 20 Secondary Swimming Carnival

Tuesday, May 30 ICAS Science

End of Semester 1 - Sec reports released Term Ends Humanitarian day assembly (Whole School)

Wednesday, May 31 Parent session: internet safety T2 Week 8 Friday, June 9 Talanoa issued

Friday, June 23

Friday, June 30 National Sports & Wellness Day - Public Holiday

Sunday, July 16 Year 11/12 Arts Sydney Trip (16-20th)