Talanoa Volume 8

Page 1

Ta l a n o a

Volume 8 2nd December, 2016

Newsletter of International School Suva

Principal’s Report Dear Parents and Guardians, The end of the year was as busy as always with graduations and celebration evenings. This final issue of Talanoa for 2016 is packed full of photographs and it was wonderful to be celebrating with you and the students at these events.

A highlight of our term was the WASC mid‐cycle visit. As many of you know, and taken from their website: ‘the Accrediting Commission for Schools, Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) is a world‐renowned accrediting association, a regional accrediting association in the United States, and works closely with the Office of Overseas Schools under the US Department of State. WASC provides assistance to schools located in California, Hawaii, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, American Samoa, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Fiji, Asia, and other parts of the world. WASC extends its services to over 4,600 public, independent, church‐ related, charter, online, supplementary education programs/centers, and proprietary pre‐K‐12 and adult schools; and works with 18 associations in joint accreditation processes, and collaborates with other organizations such as the California Department of Education, the Hawaii Department of Education, the Association of Christian Schools International, the Council of International Schools, and the International Baccalaureate.’

Inside this Issue  Principal’s Report  Message from ISS Interim Principal  Chair of Council’s Report

WASC is our only whole‐school accrediting body and in the words of WASC: an accredited school is focused on a mission and goals for students; it is student‐oriented and examines its students’ performance continuously; it accepts objective evaluation from a team of outside peer professionals trained by WASC; it maintains a qualified faculty within an  Primary effectively organized school; it collaboratively assesses the quality of its educational programs on a regular basis; and it plans for the future. Accreditation is a voluntary dual‐purpose process that schools (1) must be worthy of the trust placed in them to provide high‐quality learning and (2) clearly demonstrate continual self‐improvement. Having received a copy of our internal self‐study in advance, two WASC inspectors visited ISS in mid‐November for three days. During this visit they met with students, staff,  parents (through the PTFA and some parents of children receiving Learning Support) and the School Council. Both members of the team were part of our last accreditation visit in 2014 and they were here to establish if we are focused on learning and demonstrating continual self improvements as is expected by a WASC‐accredited school. After their visit  they provided the school with a report which included a number of commendations and recommendations. I copy them below for your information.

Update

ICAS Awards Chinese Excursions

Commendations: * Building curricular cohesion in PS and MS by changing the role of the PYP Coordinator to a K‐8 Coordinator, and making staffing changes so there are distinct MS teams. * Happy thriving students who feel welcome, comfortable and well‐‐supported in their learning, including students with EAL and LS needs * Developing of Scope and Sequence Documents in core academic areas, and beginning to develop mastery charts to further articulate grade level expectations * Progress made to improve IT provisions and support throughout the school, including enhanced infrastructure, hardware, and the ongoing work of ICT department facilitating the use of technology to support and enhance learning across the school. * Increasing PD opportunities for faculty aligned to School‐‐wide Action plan/goals, both on and off campus * Adapting the daily schedule to ensure all teachers teams have common planning times at least twice per week * Completing the new buildings/facilities, and plans in place for continued facility development * Revision and alignment of the Salary Scale, including the increase in minimum wage for non‐‐teaching support staff. * Commitment of the Council and Senior Leadership Team to the school mission in the realization of facility development goals, and ongoing strategic school improvement plans.

Recommendations: * Develop school‐‐wide assessment policy and practices, with continued focus on developing authentic common assessments, moderation, and using assessment data to inform instruction. * Using external and internal Math assessment data, conduct an investigation into student performance levels, curricular rigor, and instructional consistency across the school. * Select a school‐‐wide platform for documenting the written curriculum that anyone can access anytime, from anywhere. * Continue to enhance the school’s technology program, including a 1 to 2 year plan, which clearly addresses the direction the school intends to go in relation to being a 1:1 laptop, or a BYOD school, and providing ongoing IT training for faculty to effectively support the IT goals of the school.

It is with some personal sadness that I write to you for a final time and I thank everyone who has supported me during my time at International School Suva. It has been an exciting journey and extremely gratifying. That said, it is with great pleasure that I now hand over to Hector Hatch, your Interim Principal for the first six months of 2017. Having worked with him for the last three weeks I have seen his passion for education and desire to lead ISS forward.

 School Farewell  French Class Excursion  School Nurse’s Report  Orange the World  Year 8 Update  Year 12 Ball  PTFA Update  Secondary Head Students 2017  Farewell Assembly

Vinaka vakalevu and sota tale,

Kind regards,

Anna Marsden Principal

 Christmas Decorations at CWM Children’s Wards


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