The ISL Headlines February 2014

es n i l d a e H L S The I From the Head of School : Mr. Martin Gough “Striving for Excellence” Important Dates 9th-12th Holidays March 11th March

ISAZ U 14 & 16 Soccer

13th March

Final Oral Exams for IGCSE/IB begin

24th to 28th March

Yr 10 work experience week

Contents Head of School

1

Board Chair

2

Primary Principal

3

Early years/PYP

4

100 days—Yr 2

5

Primary news/LAWS

6

Upper Primary

7

IGCSE/IB

8

Spirit week

9

February 2014

February is the busiest month in terms of planning for next year. The budget for school year 2014-15 is nearing completion, we are getting quotes from consolidators for the school resources order, most recruitment has been done, and the calendar has been approved by the Board of Governors.

For those of you who are ready to book holidays or flights for JuneAugust, please note that the last day of school for students this school year is Thursday 19th June 2014 and the first day of school next year is Wednesday 20th August 2014. Further details of holiday dates can be seen in the table. Every few years we have to skip a week forward as the first day of school will otherwise get earlier each year. This is one such year; hence the school year and December vacation both are starting a week later, which will inevitably suit some people but not others.

Those of you who have been in school may have noticed the huge new stand at the swimming pool that was organized and paid for by the Parent Teacher Association using money raised from the Carnival. We would like to express our huge thanks to the PTA for this long -awaited stand which will make the viewing of swimming galas far more comfortable for parents, students and visitors. The PTA had their AGM this week to review this last year and look forward to the next. They are always looking for new members to help out with the established activities but also bring in new ideas. Please contact the PTA Chair Juliette Emilie on cfj@zamnet.zm if you would like to get involved.

Further to my article in the last newsletter regarding school redevelopment, we have now advertised for a team Calendar Event Day Date of architect consultFarmer's Day - Offices Closed Monday 4-Aug-14 ants to do a prelimiMondayTeacher Work Days 18-19 Aug 2014 nary study of the Tuesday school’s facilities as First Day of School Wednesday 20-Aug-14 part of our plans to Teacher Work Day/Student HoliFriday 19-Sep-14 start upgrading the day school infrastructure. Mid-Term Break One week 20-24 Oct 2014 The closing date for Independence Day -Offices Friday 24-Oct-14 expressions of interClosed th est is Monday 18 Four 13 Dec 2014 - 11 Semester Break weeks Jan 2015 March and we will Including keep you updated on Women's Day - Offices Closed 8 - 9 Mar 2015 Monday progress. If you want Youth Day Holiday - Offices Thursdayto see a copy of the 12 - 13 Mar 2015 Closed Friday advert, it is displayed 10 days 3 - 12 Apr 2015 on the school carpark Easter Break Good Friday Offices Closed Friday 3-Apr-15 noticeboards.

Easter Monday - Offices Closed Labour Day - Offices Closed Africa Freedom Day - Offices Closed Last Day of School Teacher Work Days/Winter Vacation starts Heroes Day - Offices Closed Unity Day Offices Closed

Monday Friday

6-Apr-15 1-May-15

Monday

25-May-15

Thursday

19-Jun-15

Friday

20-Jun-15

Monday Tuesday

7-Jul-15 8-Jul-15

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Hello from the Board!

Do you ever wonder “who are these Board members, and what exactly are they doing?” According to the school board by-laws, the Board of Governors has “the authority to develop and to make regulations for the transaction of school business and for the orderly administration of the School system. The Board determines policy, delegates executive, supervisory and instructional authority to its employees and appraises the results achieved in light of the aims of the School.” In practice, this year’s Board has held five formal meetings since August 2013, where we monitored spending against the budget (which was approved by last year’s Board), provided strategic direction for the new Strategic Plan, discussed real estate usage, and debated policy changes, amongst other issues. The Board also held an annual half-day orientation meeting to review the unique governance responsibilities for an educational board, discuss the terms of reference for our multiple sub-committees, and identify Board priorities for the remainder of the year.

The Board consists of nine parents, elected by the Association (parents), who serve three-year terms. Senior school management and a teacher representative are standing non-voting Board members. At the end of a three-year term, the Board member may run for a second three-year term, but must compete for their position against any other parents who submit their nomination. While there are no minimal qualifications for parents who wish to be Board members, we recommend that interested persons have an interest in education, have the time and motivation to commit to meetings (regular and sub-committee), and are willing to work as a team.

Board elections are held by secret ballot at the Annual General Meeting, which will be held on a Saturday morning in early June. The AGM has no quorum requirement, so voting of Board members is done by however many (or few) parents attend the AGM. As in most years, there will be a few openings for new Board Members at the 2014 AGM. Nomination forms will be circulated in advance of the AGM, and if nominations meet/exceed the number of openings, open nominations will not be accepted at the AGM. We encourage all families to send a representative to this year’s AGM so that Board elections are truly representative of the Association.

If you have any questions or concerns about the Board, feel free to contact us in writing or via email at islboardchair@gmail.com

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Message from the Primary Principal: Mr. Bowen I have been away for the past two weekends scouting for an appropriate venue for our Year 4 fieldtrip. A few years ago the School, with the support of the PTA, made a commitment to ensure that all students from Year 1 to Year 13 were given the opportunity to join a residential fieldtrip. Each of these fieldtrips should have close and meaningful links to our curriculum but should present an opportunity for an outdoor application to learning. Central to our PYP philosophy is that learning should be relevant to real-life issues and our field trips give us this opportunity. In addition, our accrediting body, the Council of International Schools, has repeatedly advocated investment in a rigorous field trip programme with the rationale that in Zambia we are placed at a distinct advantage when it comes to the wealth of safe, interesting and educational field trip destinations on offer. Please support our field trip programme by ensuring your child attends their annual residential trip. It is perfectly natural to have concerns as a parent, so please share them with me or your teacher and we can listen to them and try and resolve them so that everyone can join in the trip.

Friday 14th February was, of course, St Valentine‟s Day and in the Primary School we used the day to remind each other how important our friends and loved ones are to us. With everyone dressed up in pink, red or white we were able to select fourteen lucky winners of the dressing up competition. Their prize? To be served a special St Valentine‟s dinner by their waiters for the day, Mrs Kambeu and Mr Bowen!

The following Friday we celebrated world Mother Tongue Day. The teachers split up into four groups and presented assemblies in the languages of Tonga, Bemba, Nyanja and Mambwe. Great fun was had by all with some very funny pronunciations of difficult words by the non-Zambian language speakers. At least they tried and I would like to congratulate everyone for being such super risk takers on the day.

In sports we have had a super run recently. Our performance at the recent friendly swimming gala was nothing short of spectacular in front of a packed brand new swimming stand. Our swimmers were terrific, winning most of their races and more importantly demonstrating the most technically correct stroke work. Mr Meyer must be exceedingly proud of his team of swimming coaches, Mr Adrian, Mrs Bentley, Mrs Hedstrom and Mr Ngosa. They have done a terrific job and should feel very pleased with themselves for the tangible progress made over the past two years or so.

As I tell the students, winning is easy but we also have to learn to lose like champions. We won‟t always win and if you can come second, third or even last but still remember to be sporting, shake hands with your opponents and congratulate them on a fine performance, then we are well on our way to attaining the attributes of true champions.

ry

Prima

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Early Years Coordinator: Mrs Rachel Bentley There have been lots of interesting things happening in the Early Years classes in the last month. On February 7 th the Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 classes celebrated the 100th day of school. We have been counting the days since the beginning of the school year and took the opportunity to celebrate the 100 th day with a day of numbers, games, counting and eating some very delicious snacks. It was a wonderful way to make numbers come alive for our students and we would like to thank all those parents who took the time to make our number themed snacks.

February 21st was another day of celebration as it was “Mother Tongue Day”. This year we wanted to make our students aware of the rich variety of languages in Zambia so we had a special assembly time where there were songs learned and sung in Bemba and Mambwe as well as Nyanja and Tonga stories acted out by our intrepid teaching staff.

By the end of our time, our little people were doing well at greeting each other in different Zambian languages.

PYP Coordinator: Mrs Sunita Nair A big THANK YOU to all the parents who took the time out to attend our second PYP Parent workshop on 18 th February. Such workshops does provide opportunities for us to work together as a team, and share ideas and concerns. I would also like to say a huge” Thank you” to the PTA committee for organizing the Coffee Morning and a big “ Thank you” to our teachers who tirelessly prepared for the workshop. I am sure you will agree this was a great experience! We do have another PYP Parent workshop planned for later in the year. We will keep you posted closer to the date. If you do not receive our emails kindly notify our Primary Secretary as you do not want to miss out on any information sent from school.

Moving on, this year the Primary School embark on a Self - Study to evaluate our Primary Years Program (PYP). This means, we (the ISL Community) critically and honestly evaluate our program ; highlight our achievements and recognize areas we can build on. The teachers, teaching assistants, administration, parents and students all contribute to the study. You can expect to hear from us as we move on in the school year with possible surveys, questionnaires or maybe your presence at meetings. We will email you as we make progress with the Self - Study.

This study helps represent our commitment to the program. It is also service and a requirement from the IBO. The study helps us to create an Action Plan, which the school then endeavors to complete in the given specified time. Our school will work on the review during the year 2014 and expect visitors from the IBO in March 2015.

We are looking forward to your continued support and ideas.

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Yr 2 celebrate 100 days at school…………

One Hundred Days of School Acrostic Poem

How many hundreds in a thousand?

Units can make any number.

Numbers are all over the world.

Dollars are everywhere.

Rich people have lots of money.

Elephants have long trunks.

Diamonds are a type of money.

By Eliana Yalenga Year 2.2

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Salonee Kharkar Foundation—Mobile Library The Primary School was given a terrific boost recently by the offer of a mobile library from the Salonee Kharkar Memorial Foundation. The foundation aims to improve literacy for the children of Zambia and has a supply of mobile libraries whose books are replaced every few weeks. The Foundation identified ISL as one of the lucky beneficiaries and on July 20 2013 the initiative began. ISL received their library early in 2014.

A photo appears below of some Year Six students enjoying the library.

Salonee was an ISL student who graduated from ISL in 2001 and attained a Geology degree from Colorado State University. Tragically, she died in 2012 but her memory lives on in our wonderful book collections courtesy of the foundation set up in her name.

Junior Laws Junior LAWS would like to thank everybody who supported the Junior LAWS Valentine's Day. With your help we raised almost K2,000. The money will be used to upgrade the shelter for the dogs and cats.

BUDDING ENTREPRENEURS! As part of our Unit of Inquiry “How we organize ourselves”, Year 5 students are working on setting up their own business stalls on Wednesday 5th March, 2014 between 17:30 and 19:00 hours. This will take place in and around Year 5 classrooms. All proceeds from the sales will go to charitable organizations identified by the students, like LAWS and WWF. Everybody is welcome.

Upper Primary news from Mrs. Grace Kambeu

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Our journey to the Year 6 exhibition is now underway. This year the exhibition is on the theme of drugs and the central idea is, “The impact of drugs in our local and global community is loud yet ignored.” The eight inquiry points that the children have come up with to assist in their investigation are: Types of drugs, How and why people take drugs, The effects of drugs, Trade and distribution of drugs, The history of drugs, Laws on drugs, Manufacturing of drugs and Recovery from drugs.

We have already visited the Drug Enforcement Commission and this turned out to be a worthwhile field trip which truly added depth to our Exhibition. It was a fun and well organised trip. At the D.E.C., the children got an opportunity to listen and ask questions about the impact of drugs on people‟s lives. They were also excited to see what drugs look like, all wrapped up securely in glass cases. Later in the afternoon, they had the chance to see some of the sniffer dogs in action, as they navigated obstacle courses to find drugs hidden in different bags.

A big thank you to the staff at the Drug Enforcement Commission!

The Exhibition is the culmination of a student‟s time in the PYP and provides an opportunity for them to show what they have learnt during their Primary school career, it is an end of Primary assessment and a celebration before they move on to Secondary.

In an attempt to involve more of the community, we appeal to you to encourage anyone you may know who has knowledge or expertise on the above issue to visit the Year 6 classrooms to discuss things further.

Our exhibition will start in full on Thursday 13th March and we do invite you to come and see our final gala evening on Wednesday 7th May. Mrs. G. Kambeu and Mrs. A. Waldock (Year 6 Teachers)

Inter House Events Wednesday 12th February was a morning to remember when Luangwa emerged victor in our inter house cross country with 190 points. They were followed very closely by Zambezi with 180 points and Kafue finished third with 170 points.

Overall House Points: In third place is Kafue with 2,218 points, in second place Zambezi with 2,346 and in the lead is Luangwa with 2,484.

SL Headlines! Page 8

From the IGCSE coordinator: Mr R Van de Velde

The Year 11 trial exams and the parent- teacher consultations on their final entries for the May/June examinations are over.

Now it is time to focus more on the current and future Year 10 students. The Year 10 Workweek will take place from 24/03 till 28/03. All Year 10 students will be out of school that week in order to get a feel of the atmosphere in different working environments around Lusaka.

In the same week, the Year 9 students will get a taste of the IGCSE world by attending Year 10 classes on Wednesday 27/03 for every optional subject offered at this level by ISL. The next day (Thursday 27/03) Year 9 students and their parents, as well as any interested outsiders, are invited for the IGCSE info evening in the Fine Arts building from 18.00 till 19.00. The purpose of this evening is to explain to parents and students the advantages and details of the IGCSE program. Parents will have the opportunity to meet the teachers that will be instructing your children next year and ask them questions about each of the courses. At the end of the evening option forms will be handed out where parents, with their children‟s input, can indicate the preferred subjects‟ choices for their children at IGCSE level. I am looking forward to a full house that day!

IB Corner! From Mr. Hearsum Many thanks to all of the parents and year 11 students who attended the IB information evening held in February. Parents who did not attend can make individual appointments to see me by emailing me at ibcoordinator@islzambia.org. Alternatively the IB booklet is available on the website at http:// www.islzambia.org/ibdiploma.html.

IB2 students will have a „Last Supper‟ on April 24th. This is an opportunity for the students and faculty to enjoy a meal together and celebrate the end of their IB courses. April 25th will be the last formal day of lessons before examinations start on May 5th .

Charles Hearsum IB Coordinator

Exam Tip Revise well, time yourself while practicing past papers

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Spirit week

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/