ISF Waterloo FINAL Newsletter January 2023

Newsletter

NEWS FROM THE EXECUTIVE HEAD

January 2023

Happy New Year! I want to extend my best wishes to our ISF Community for 2023!

Planning for thefutureat ISF

This term ISF school leadership will be busy planning for our new 3 year Strategic Plan. Strategic Plans are important because they ensure that all members of the community, including students, parents, staff, leadership and the school board all have the opportunity to make suggestions on the priorities and improvements to ensure our school achieves our school mission and values. The plan looks at 4 aspects of the organisation, shown in this Diagram.

Weask ourselves 3 questions:

1. Whereis theschool now in this area?

2. Wheredoes theschool want to be?

3. What do weneed to do to get there?

Your ideas and suggestions are important, and all get discussed. The final plan, including budgets and resources, is created and shared with the community at the beginning of the new academic year. However great our plan is, it is always important to be able to adapt and be flexible if there are changing circumstances. This is one of the advantages of our school. This is why our strategic plan is also reviewed internally every year.

Welook forward to hearing your ideas!

Belinda Yates

ExecutiveHead

FROM OURLEADERS -DEPUTY EXECUTIVEHEAD

What exactly is thegamification of education?

Well, what it is not is using a computer game to learn. Although some games, such as the Assassin's Creed franchise, have learning elements. It is not designed to be a tool for teaching and learning beyond superficial explorations or information nuggets. However, a game can be used somewhere along the learning path, at a critical point or multiple points, to act as a learning platform. This is Game-Based Learning.

Certain game elements can be applied to the classroom setting. The normative mechanics usually associated with games (experience points, levels, bonuses, loginbonuses, max level, special avatars etc.) can easily be applied by creative teachers to really engage students and help them take ownership of the learning journey. This is thegamification of education. The benefits of gamification and game-based learning are immense as it increases students' engagement in their learning, encourage exploratory behaviours and curiosity, and develop authentic communication

regarding the learning process, of which students now take ownership. Because teachers set clear goals and the "promotion" or "skill points" are balanced between challenging and repetitive tasks and skills, students havea greater senseof control over their learning.

There are also applications which have been specifically created to aid with the gamification of education. Google's Read Along is an app which helps young readers improve their engagement with reading by allocating points or stars as they progress. TheApp can track if young readers struggle with a word and offer

FROM OURLEADERS -DEPUTY EXECUTIVEHEAD

help. Ask any older student about Kahoot! and they will almost certainly say that they love playing them in class. Kahoot! is a fun and interactive way to assess for learning by gamifying quizzes. Students receive points for being the first to answer correctly, and each correct answer gets the point. The app creates a leaderboard after each round to show progress, and feedback is instant as the correct answer is displayed after each question.

A practical example:

Gamification

If we replace the word "grades" with experience points and allocate a certain number of experience points to denote a level, then we are starting to incorporate gamification in the classroom. We can then add increased benefits for each level.

Teachers create a balance between skills and knowledge and set assignments and tasks to be used as learning (assessment as learning) to enable students to gain experience points. Powerful bonus points can be "won"

for challenging tasks. This could be the application of knowledge and new skills to solve problems. However, students can still make progress in "routine" tasks, such as regular completion of homework or research or active engagement ("logging in" each day).

Add to this that students can attempt tasks or assignments many times or a specified number (limited lives). The learning experience has been gamified with the ultimate goal of enabling students to reach "max level" (mastery of thetopic being studied).

Cobus Steyn ExecutiveDeputy Head

FROM OURLEADERS-HEAD OF PRIMARY

Do you know we have a little secret in our Primary School?

Positive Discipline is a motivating and effective method in which carers are encouraged to guide children in finding solutions to misbehaviour by giving them clear expectations for what needs to be accomplished and offering guidelines that focus on encouragement and problem-solving. This approach was developed by Dr Jane Nelsen based on thework of Alfred Adler, an Austrian medical doctor and psychotherapist, and Rudolf Dreikurs, an Austrian psychiatrist and educator. Dr Nelsen aimed to design a way to teach young people to become responsible, respectful and resourceful members of their communities.

Positive Discipline is based on five principles:

- It is kind and firm at thesametime.

- It helps children feel a sense of

belonging and significance.

- It is effectivelong-term.

- It teaches valuable social and life skills for good character.

- It invites children to discover how capable they are and to use their personal power in constructiveways.

Although this method relies on a high level of communication, behaviours and consequences are discussed in an empathic and understanding way; we cannot deny the importance of modelling what we want our children to develop.

Children need to be taught how to manage and regulate their emotions. Instead of controlling their behaviour and temporarily stopping problems, weaccompany them in developing ways to behave through self-control and making positive choices by showing them how we regulateour emotions.

I would like to invite you to give positive discipline

FROM OURLEADERS-HEAD OF PRIMARY

a try and see problem behaviour as an opportunity for teaching and helping our children make better future choices. Remember that although discipline is a challenging task, all behaviour carries a message that can teach us something important about what a child needs or is trying to communicate. Let?s try to enjoy and learn from theinteresting journey of developing self-esteem, responsibility, and resourcefulness in our children!

Analida Anguizola

Head of Primary

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

Mathematical Kangaroo competition

ISF Waterloo is proud to announce that Vaishnav from Year 6 achieved the Silver Medal in the International Mathematical Kangaroo competition. Silver medals are awareded to students who achieve in the top 10% of all students who entered the competition. Well doneVaishnav!

Wild Wisdom Challege

All students in Middle Years participated in the Wild Wisdom Challenge from ITZA. Due to their hardwork and enthusiam our school came 9th on the World Leaderboard.

Sara and Anayah were commended for their excellent scores, achieving over 25 000 points!

FROM OURLEADERS-HEAD OF SECONDARY

The last Monday of December marked the closing session of the Monday Activities for the first term. During this term, the students engaged in varied interests. MUN stands for Model United Nation. In an MUN event students work to recreate a simulation of the United Nations. They are assigned different roles and they must negotiate, debate and collaborate just as a UN delegate would. The students in the MUN club are preparing to attend an MUN conference in spring. In the Entrepreneurship and innovation activity, students looked at what it takes to be an entrepreneur and the qualities needed to succeed as one. They were divided in groups of three where they had to come up with an idea for either a new product or an improvement on an existing one. Futsal was popular this term and many students enjoyed playing it every Monday in the school?s Sports Hall while on the

Football Pitch the Girls?Football club practised similar, though different rules of the game. Every Monday the Cross Country Running Club completed a 6K run around the school area. They are to be commended for their persistence regardless of the meteorological conditions and the temperature, having to interrupt their run only once this term because of heavy rain.

The robotics and coding club spent the term learning to code and program. Chemistry Club met in the lab on Mondays and had a go at a number of fun Chemistry experiments that are not usually part of the curriculum. The Book Club met in the library to spend a part of their Monday with what some consider man?s best friend, the

FROM OURLEADERS-HEAD OF SECONDARY

book, reading and discussing different books over the course of the term. The students in the Chess Club and the Card & Dice Club used the time on Monday to improve their skills and learn gameplay.

The Cooking Club used the school?s kitchen to cook a number of dishes from around the world learning about each other?s culture while enjoying a tasty treat at the end. The smell was enticing to whomever was around. The Gardening, Harvesting & Winter preparation club often collaborated with the Eco School Club working in the school?s playground to make our school a safe haven for nature.

In January a new set of activities will be launched. These will continue to allow the students to benefit from the skills and knowledge of their teachers outside of the classroom.

Nadim Bayeh

Head of Secondary

SCHOOL COUNSELOR

Parenting Styleand Children?s Stress

Over the last few decades, parenting is a trading stressful business, along with the highest levels of depression and anxiety for kids and parents in recorded history.

It seems that modern parents are putting in more energy and work than ever before, but can it be translated into more happiness for children? Research has shown that this may have a detrimental effect. According to some psychologists, this can be translated into high expectations that might causestress in children.

Nowadays, the term 'helicopter parent' has been replaced by 'lawn mower parent.' This concept claims that parents now are'mowing' any potential problem for their children, depriving them to be in contact with stressful situations (as long as they are safe) to gain coping strategies, is detrimental for children since it is crucial to learn how to deal with stressful moments (part of life) and lower the levels of anxiety and frustration when it happens.

Moreover, assigning house chores and responsibility tasks (according to their age) may help them to develop a higher threshold for stress and coping strategies for eventful days.

Juan Francisco Betancourt School Counselor

EARLY YEARSAND FOUNDATION STAGE

EARLY YEARSAND FOUNDATION STAGE

important than the friendships you build in school.

Pre-School have been learning about Diwali, the Hindu festival of light. After watching a video explaining what Diwali is and how it is celebrated worldwide, the children participated in various activities, designing Mehndi, bhangra dancing, and making salt dough diva lamps to put our tealights in. The children enjoyed the day and were so proud of their creations and couldn't wait to show their parents at theend of theday. An author that once gave a bear a voice said, ?A friend is someone who helps you up when you?re down, and if they can?t, they lay down beside you and listen.? (Winnie the Pooh). Nothing is more

The children of Pre-Primary have been making solid friendships with each other during the IPC Unit 'Family and Friends'. We have discovered what it means to be a good friend and how to make new friends! During this Unit, we have had a visit from our friends in ISF Tervuren; we have been writing kind letters to each other, we have collaborated to make our storybook, and so much more! Our Unit came to an end with a fun Autumn party together with Preschool and Year 1. We had lots of fun singing, dancing and eating delicious snacks together! The children have worked hard during this Unit to be good friends with everyone. Well done, Pre-Primary!

YEAR1

This month, as part of our I.P.C unit ?Seeing the Light? students in Year 1 have been learning about what plants need to grow and survive. Light is a very important part of this process and we wanted to study what would happen if we removed light. They had great fun investigating how to properly plant seeds and identified what conditions are needed for the seeds to grow and flourish. We experimented with different growing conditions making sure to leave seeds in total darkness, natural and artificial light. The students closely observed how each growing condition affected how successfully the seeds developed. Everyone really enjoyed the experiment and all students have become eager gardeners and are enthusiastic to plant their own seeds at home in the spring. Well done Year 1!

YEAR3

Over the past two months, the Year 3 students have been learning about rainforests in the IPC unit ?Vanishing Rainforests? .

The students have explored the different rainforests around the world through stories, pictures and videos. They researched and wroteabout thedifferent products that come from the rainforest. It really surprised them to learn how many of the products they use themselves every day come from the rainforest! They learned about the different layers of the rainforest and the animals that live there. Year 3 had a great class trip to Planckendael Zoo, where they explored the rainforest exhibit and saw some of the animals and plants they had been learning about in person. For many of the students, this was the first time they had seen these animals in person and it was a very special experience. Year 3 learned a lot in unit and had fun as well!

YEAR5

During the Primary Assembly, the Year 5 students gave a fantastic Maths presentation about ?Roman Numerals? . Roman numerals are the numerical system used in ancient Rome. They use a combination of letters from the Latin alphabet to represent different values. We can find Roman numerals on monuments, clock faces and stamps. The students worked hard over the past month to identify, write and prepare to explain the topic to their audience, which included students, teachers and parents. They enthusiastically practised their song, dance and speech. They also dressed up like Roman soldiers. It was a great learning experience and a lot of fun for all of them!

ART AND DESIGN

In Key Stage 3 Art and Design, students have been doing plenty of drawing, mainly focusing on improving their eye-hand coordination and studying various pencil techniques.

Year 8 students have worked diligently to further develop their drawing skills in the ?Portrait?unit. They have spent a lot of time in class working on drawing facial features in their right proportions and applying toneand shadow. By studying individual facial features, they have learned to pay close attention to size, shape and details, and have also understood the importance of regularly reflecting on their work, finding areas they can improveon.

A subunit of the ?Portrait?unit was ?Abstract Portrait? , which had Year 8 students explore elements of abstract art. It challenged them to think more creatively and outside of the box, applying different techniques and using a variety of tools and mediums to create an abstract portrait.

GEOGRAPHY

This term our Middle Years students have been busy geographers, creating presentations, carrying out fieldwork studies, studying countries and timelines in their lessons.

Year 7 completed a fieldwork study of the school?s environment. They carried out a bipolar survey of the school, completed a radial graph to show their findings and wrote a short report. Some of their work is on display in the Bonaparete building where they created some3D versions of their graphs.

Year 8 have been busy looking at the environment as a part of their studies about Biomes. Each student created a short ArcGIS Story Map about Antarctica. Each one includes information about theclimate, animal life, plant lifeand theAntarctic Treaty.

Year 9 did a great job researching and sharing information about their own country as part of their studies for Population. What was interesting is that students learned new things about their own countries as well as each other?s. They have also created some lovely diagrams of the water cycle for their recent work about the importance of rivers. Our I GCSE students have been studying development, industry and population. Each class has produced some well researched presentations and practiced their geographical maths skills when studying data. It was interesting to look at some of the countries of our students when analysing thedata.

All classes have also been busy preparing for their end of term exams, using various retrieval activities to review and prepare. The final outcomes for many being very successful indeed.

GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

The ?Global Perspective?

teachers have been preparing and encouraging learners to engage confidently with contemporary world affairs by developing skills in researching, processing, using and evaluating information and arguments about issues that inevitably have a global impact. Students in Key Stage 3 have been learning about the world they live in by exploring current and significant local, national and international events and have investigated a range of perspectives on theseissues.

In Year 8, students have done research into different conflicts, past and present in our unit ?Conflict and Peace? . They have been learning to work collaboratively in groups and how to research. While applying the skills they have learnt and continue to develop, they have also expanded their knowledge of how conflicts around the world impact them directly or indirectly. The students

have demonstrated their empathy and compassion towards others, and haveenthusiastically engaged in group and class discussions, considering how they can affect positive change. To conclude the unit, students created Google Slides presentation on a conflict they researched and also presented their ideas of how theconflict could beresolved.

The AS students have been working hard on their coursework, putting in many hours towards their research. In pairs, they have been tasked with using the internet to visit websites and research the work of several pressure groups working for change and the eradication of human trafficking. The aim is to find out how pressure groups campaign for change and to consider different types of action to reduce the incidence of trafficking worldwide. Our students have tackled this assignment with maturity and determination, developing their ability to reflect on their own learning and judgements and on their work with others.

ENGLISH AND BUSINESS

The A-Level English students haveactively been busy studying theprocess of languagechangewith specific emphasis on the various ´theories of languagechange.´ Learners wererequired to research specific examples of lexis that spread quickly, and assessed whether therewas a pattern to therateof change. Learners then presented the´theories of language change´ and delivered a presentation of thetheories focusing on their key points, strengths, and weaknesses.

Based on solid market research of their target customers and suppliers, they worked out theexact product features, thepricing and promotion strategies, as well as the distribution channel, and even designed their own brand nameand logos. Themost interesting customer wish for topping for thepizza was surprisingly not pineapplebut pistachios!

IG2 Business Studies students developed and presented a full Marketing Plan for their own business ideas: The ?GTTY Pizza?and the?BReady?, both Lunch-Pop-Ups.

BIOLOGY

AS-Level Biologists haveto learn someorganic chemistry as part of theBiology syllabus. They need to memorisethestructureof glucoseand then beableto draw thechemical bonds that are formed when glucoseforms a chain to makestarch or glycogen. As well as drawing these molecules out from memory on theboard and on paper, wealso made3D models to help students visualisethemolecule.

A-Level Biology students are learning about cellular respiration. Weset up a respirometer to measurethe rateof respiration and respiratory quotient of organisms. Therateof respiration is measured in volumeof oxygen consumed per second. Therespiratory quotient gives an indication of whether an organism is using carbohydrates, proteins or fats to respire. Wecarried out this investigation with lentils and also with woodlicewe found on school grounds. No woodlicewereharmed during this investigation, and they wereall thanked and returned to their treestump as soon as wehad taken our measurements.

CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS

Having completed the Chemistry practical test during the November 2022 series of the Cambridge Exams does not mean that we stop working in the lab in Year

13. For the Unit on ?Organic Chemistry? , we did a number of experiments to test the theory. Chromatography can take different forms, but the principle remains the same, and a simple paper chromatography can help make these principles concrete. On the other hand the electrophoresis analysis of amino acids can bevery complex. The principles of that analysis technique can be illustrated using a glass slide electrophoresis model with different types of ions that then migrate either to the positive or the negative electrode. We have also looked at the dehydrating effect of concentrated sulfuric acid on sucrose. When concentrated

sulfuric acid is added on table sugar, it triggers a reaction where all the water is taken away and only carbon left.

For IGCSE as well as AS Physics, the first term is mainly focused on Kinematics and Dynamics, that is the study of movement and forces. One of the topics related to forces is the application of a force around a pivot point, which is called torque or moment. This is something we unconsciously useeveryday for examplewhen opening doors by turning the handle. Another application that students experienced practically in class is the use of a crowbar to extract a nail. Applying and experiencing the theory is an essential part of the learning process in Physics.

FRENCH

In Pre-Primary French class, weread thetale of ?Little Red Riding Hood.?

We studied the vocabulary of the fairy tale, and then the pupils played several spelling games and put the story together in the right order. We had a lot of fun re-enacting the tale with the puppets! Finally, we made the3D-characters from thefairy tale.

December was a month of creativity for French students.

The 7-9 Advanced French class had fun creating Haïkus, little Japanese poems. The students gave free rein to their imagination and emotions. Very beautiful haiku sprang from their reflection. It was very interesting to see my students letting go and playing with words.

In Year 5 and 6 Advanced French class, we learned what a calligram is. Wethen made one on the theme of winter. So the students first wrote a poem and then formatted it . They were very inspired and the poems werebeautiful! Wehavea class of artists!

The students of IGCSE L2, meanwhile, learned to talk about their neighborhood and their hobbies. They even drew a map of their neighborhood, presented the different businesses there and showed us around the places they frequent daily. We were able to virtually walk through each of their daily surroundings, which allowed us to get to know each other better.