ISL Headlines - September 2013

s e n i l d a e H L The IS 30th September 2013 Page 1

From the Head of School : Mr. Martin Gough

“Striving for Excellence”

We have been back at school for 7 weeks, had the PTA Welcome

Important Dates

Back Braai, a number of parent information evenings, our first

Carnival

on their main residential field trips. The Carnival, planned and

parent-teacher conferences and Year 13, 7 and 6 have been away

5th Oct

organised by our wonderful PTA, is just around the corner and

UN day

then it will soon be half term! And on top of all this, I hope you

18th Oct

will have noticed that your entrance to school has become

Mid semester break

21st— 25th Oct

smoother! Life at ISL is certainly busy.

One major initiative that we have been working on is developing a strategic plan. The new Strategic Plan (2013-2018) of the International School of Lusaka (ISL) is intended to address special issues and major areas of concern with the goal of school improvement. The strategic plan will be based on the structure of the CIS/NEASC accredi-

tation process and the outcomes of the accreditation visiting team mid-term report (2012)

Contents

as well as input from stakeholders in the school in order to develop an approach that will move the school in the direction required for future success.

Head of School

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As part of the process of developing the current strategic plan we are using an online

Primary Principal

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survey to get feedback from parents on what they see as priorities for the school to ad-

Early years

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have been previously raised by members of the school community. Our intention is to find

PYP

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out how significant these issues are, what timeline you would expect them to be ad-

Upper primary

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dress over the next 5 years. The survey questions are based on the issues and views that

Upper primary

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dressed in and, inevitably, in terms of expenditure, what priority should they have.

The aim of the Board of Governors is to present the ISL Strategic Plan 2013-18 at the Extraordinary General Meeting of the ISL Association in December 2013.

We really do want your feedback and suggestions as we develop the strategic plan for the

Primary Photos

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Secondary

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IGCSE/IB

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IB/News from the Board Chair

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next five years. Please help us by completing the online survey using the link which has been sent out by email to all parents.

Yours sincerely, Martin Gough PS: if you missed the email, here is the survey link: ISL Strategic Plan Parent Survey

ry Message from the Primary Principal: Mr. Bowen Prima

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This month has been a field trip month for our Primary Classes. Year 1 have visited two Farms, Fringilla and York as part of their Unit on How the World Works? They loved the different animals on show and in particular the friendly goats! Reception have been inquiring about Families and discussing how some children are brought up by parents who may not be biologically related. They saw this first hand with elephant babies at the Elephant Orphanage in Lilayi. Finally, Year 6 had the opportunity to mingle with wild elephants with their week long visit to Treetops in Kafue National Park. By the time you are reading this, Year 2 will have been on a shopping trip to Game Stores. Next month, Year 5 are exploring the wilds of Kasanka in search of the 4million bats that migrate there in November.

A very important part of my educational philosophy is that we should make the most of our field trip opportunities. There are plenty of international schools around the world who can only dream of the scope for field trips that we have in Zambia.

We as educators have a responsibility to expose our children to real life situations where the material that we learn in the classroom is put into practice. Our fieldtrips also allow our students to learn how to behave as school diplomats, to meet new people who live differently from us and above all, to have the opportunity to open their eyes and see the wonderful environment that Zambia has to offer.

I am becoming increasingly proud to call ISL my ‘work-home’ due to the excellent improvements made by our school gardening team. It takes a while to see the fruits of hard work but as I look around the Primary school I see manicured lawns, less litter, and presentable walls and car park. We have a long way to go but if you see one of the gardeners or janitors please congratulate them on their hard work, they deserve the credit.

Finally, I hope you are all enjoying the new car park surface. It does make a huge difference but please can I appeal to you and your drivers to watch our speed as we drive through. I am always worried about child safety and know that in the early morning rush an accident could always happen. Please ask your drivers to drive slowly through the car parks.

From the Early Years Coordinator: Mrs Rachel Bentley The Early Years Department has been full of activity in the last few weeks.

In our order from overseas, we received a new mobile cooking station which has been put to good use already. Year 2 is inquiring into making healthy choices and there have been delicious smells of healthy snacks being created in their classrooms. Year 1 has been looking at following an organised process and in their classrooms they have made and tasted pancakes, donuts, nshima and Stone Soup. If you would like to find out what that is, please ask one of our Year 1 students to explain the process.

We would like to say a heartfelt thank you to those parents who have made this kind of interactive learning possible through giving up their time to help out.

As Carnival time approaches, the Early Years department is on a mission to make this year’s tombola the best ever!

But, we need your help to make it happen. We need prizes! It can be anything from a mug to crayons to a packet of biscuits or a game. Next time you are shopping, please put something extra into your trolley for your child to bring to school.

Finally, just to remind you of our “No Hat, No Play” campaign. Please make sure your child has a hat in school to wear at break times to protect them from the sun.

Message from the PYP Coordinator: Mrs Sunita Nair

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Open House A big THANK YOU to all the parents who attended the PYP Open House evening! Open House is an annual feature of our school.

We use the evening to inform and share different aspects of our Primary Years Programme and discuss how these aspects work within our curriculum. This year we focused on the Learner Profile and what it adds to our Programme.

The Primary faculty engaged the parents and encouraged them to experience the atmosphere of a PYP classroom. They discussed and allowed parents to see how the learner profile is included in our classrooms. The engagements were active and well thought-out by our teachers and well received by our parents who came.

We hope to have more PYP (Primary Years Programme) workshops this year. The first one is scheduled for October 10th and we hope to provide an insight into how Maths fits into our Primary Years Programme. You would simply need to register with our Primary Secretary and spend an hour and a half with us. More details will be sent out through emails closer to the date.

Looking forward to seeing you for the workshops.

From the upper primary coordinator: Mrs Grace Kambeu WHAT IS HAPPENING IN UPPER PRIMARY? We continue to learn with a difference and Upper Primary has exciting events for inside and outside school. On 6th September, Zambezi came first in the House quiz with 14 points followed by Kafue who got 11 points, while Luangwa came third with 10 points.

Very close indeed!!

Year 3 classes were treated to a very informative visit by one Dr. John Bigelow, an American Accident and Emergency Specialist who is currently in Zambia doing a research programme at the UTH. A number of interesting questions about the human body systems were asked and other related issues were discussed. It was a good opportunity for the learners to share their experiences and increase their knowledge.

The Year 5 students visited Twatasha School as well as the compounds where the pupils live. It was a very interesting experience for the students to interact with the pupils and exchange ideas on children’s rights. They discovered how privileged they are and are now ready to take an action to help students at the school. They also visited SOS Children's Village, a Non-Governmental Child Welfare Organisation and Cheshire Homes for disabled children. The children learned how to be open-minded, caring and how to show respect.

The year 6 took a journey they will never forget to beautiful Tree Tops Camp, in Kafue National Park and participated in spectacular activities, some hard to believe!

The students wrote newspaper reports to explain what happened.

Take a look at this one written by Ben Thomas in 6.2: On Monday, the Year Sixes from ISL went to Treetops School Camp to learn and enjoy nature.

The first interesting thing the students did was to go on game drives, where they got to look at lions. One student had this to say, “The first thing we saw was the amazing lions but then we smelt the vile smell of the dead hippo. It was disgusting”! One child’s group even got a gruesome hippo leg and put it up in a tree and put up a hidden camera to see if a leopard would come.

At camp every day, they went on a trip like a walk. One day, they went to the lagoon. They ate lunch and started to play in the muddy water. There were big water fights, which were lots of fun. Interestingly, one child even lost his shoes. When the children got back to the bus, they were all looking around to see if they could see any animals. Slowly their bus pulled away from the lagoon and they went back to camp.

On the final night before they left, they had a great barbeque on the Busanga Plains. The first thing they did was play a game and next they had a great dinner of delicious burgers and hot dogs. After that they cooked marshmallows over a fire and enjoyed every moment of it. When they got back to camp, they were warned about the early wake up call in the morning!

-Ben Thomas, 6.2 Overall, the students had a great time but were looking forward to going home.

Look out for more upcoming events on our calendar!

More from Primary

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Year Two’s gallery night………The story continues: On May the 17th 2012 the Year 2s (current year 3s) held a quite memorable gallery night where they raised close to K10, 000 through the auctioning of their art work to their parents. As part of their action plan, the money was used to purchase 2 cookers and some soft toys for the children’s wing at the University Teaching Hospital. These items were bought and together with some of the beautiful paintings the children made, were delivered at the cancer ward. The joy and emotions expressed by both the parents and children in the ward was beyond words. Unfortunately hospital policy does not allow taking photos with the patients.

A big THANK YOU to all the Year two parents of 2012-13 for your generosity. Your giving made a huge difference to many lives….

Young Poet, Christine Lungu Year 5.2 gave an inspiring poem entitled “Dream” at the American Embassy during the commemoration of Martin Luther King Junior.

I HAVE A DREAM!!!!!!

Martin Luther King Junior was a great dreamer.

If I were to dream I would dream of being a ruler of all nations and all people would have equal rights.

If I were to dream I would dream of being a person who believes in all natures’ pride.

If I were to dream I would dream of changing all laws of the government and make new and fair laws.

If I were to dream I would dream that there would not be any pollution of the air and environment.

If I were to dream I would dream of all these countries to end war and child labor.

If I were to dream I would dream just like Martin Luther King did.

On the 5th of October 2013 Junior LAWS will have their own stand at the Carnival. There will be a variety of products on sale. Please come and support us.

Chesire Homes

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Pictures upper secondary!

Yr 5—Debate Child Protection

Community Service-Twatasha School

Year 3: Doctor’s visit

Trip Yr 6 ‘s @ Tree Tops

From the secondary Principal: Mr Mwanza

Secondary

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No organization can ever sit back and declare perfection in its daily routine. That is why here at ISL we live by our motto – striving for excellence. In a collection of 800 human beings working together for more than eight hours a day, there are bound to be moments of happiness, upsets, disagreements and mistakes. However, as we approach the mid-semester break, I would like to place on record my sincere appreciation for the commitment and industry of the professional staff at ISL in creating such a happy and purposeful working environment.

We have a very good International School which is functioning well – but we can always get better. So, please contact us if you have any thoughts on improving our educational provision. I also invite you to take some of your time to fill in the online parent questionnaire recently sent out to you all.

If you have any parental concerns, please do not hesitate to notify Mrs. Dodd if your child is in Junior Secondary, Mr. Van de Velde if the child is doing IGCSE and Mr. Hearsum, for the IB Diploma Programme student. It is human nature to take things for granted. Why not also take the time to write a note or make a phone call to a teacher to say thank you for the care and attention she/ he has given to your child. It would mean so much! Thank you parents for your support of the school and your role as partners in the education of our children. And the ISL students? They are just great!

From Junior Secondary School The Amazing Experience at Wildtracks On the 15th of September the Year Sevens went to an amazing place named Wildtracks in Lower Zambezi across from Zimbabwe. We did so many fun and exciting activities. We learnt a lot about the wildlife.

Some of the activities were thrilling. We did obstacle courses which looked easy but it was a real challenge. (Especially climbing the rope.) We went fishing but only one group caught fish. We also climbed the baobab tree which was really tall and it was an amazing experience. Lastly we went on a bush walk and saw many amazing plants such as the Python Creeper which kills other trees, the Mopani Tree which can survive without water, and The Paper Bark Tree which peels off its skin that looks like paper.

The other astonishing things we did at Wildtracks was going to the sand bar that looked like a beach and we played soccer which was really fun and we swam twice a day and we even cooked our own supper on our last night - We also had a bonfire.

Our experience in Wildtracks was sensational and not like any other trip. Even though the road to get there was very bumpy and long it was really worth it.

By Chaiwe Sakala and Piranesi Chiumyajj

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From the IGCSE coordinator: Mr R Van de Velde We are working on a new handbook for the IGCSE curriculum section of the ISL website and aim at finishing it before half term.

The option groups in year 10 are nearly written in stone, any further change can only be done in the last week of September.....

The year 10 parents/guardians can expect a consent letter soon about the 4 day trip to Nsobe Camp in early November. The final booking requires a down payment of 25% of the total cost, so we need the number of participants and payment early on. I am again expressing the hope that as many year 10 students as possible will be able to go on the trip as its objective is to provide an environment for the students to learn about team building, problem solving, environmental awareness and our community. The cost is expected to be around 1500 ZMK.

IB Corner! From Mr. Charles Hearsum Prospective students and parents regularly ask about the difference of studying for A-levels or the IB Diploma. The statement sometimes offered is that one system is ‘easier’ than the other. That statement is perhaps too simplistic.

The IB Diploma is the perfect preparation for university as it provides a broad curriculum which helps produce well-rounded individuals who have the necessary skills for the twenty-first century. But don’t just take my word for it…

“Diploma Programme students are well-rounded, multifaceted, multiskilled and have studied in depth. They have good time-management skills. They score higher than students in other national systems, and the IB score is worldwide the same measure.”

Hrilina Lock, Undergraduate admissions manager, London School of Economics, UK “IB is well known to us as excellent preparation. Success in an IB programme correlates well with success at Harvard. We are pleased to see the credential of the IB Diploma Programme on the transcript.”

Marlyn McGrath Lewis, Assistant dean of admissions, Harvard University, USA Should you wish to know more about the IB Diploma programme, lots of information can be found on the ISL website http://www.islzambia.org/ibdiploma.html, or the IBO website http://www.ibo.org, or contact me at ibcoordinator@islzambia.org

From the Counsellor: Mrs Kehl University visits at ISL: Parents are invited to join. Please email me at lkehl@islzambia.org in order to RSVP. * Monday, Sept 30th at 10:35 with Kaplan International Colleges (UK) in Ms. Dodd’s room * Tuesday, Oct 1st, Ken Affolder – Study in Canada at 8:55-9:45. Come to hear about opportunities for studying in Canada at 8:55. Parents can make individual appointments with Ken by emailing him at kaffolder5@gmail.com. * Tuesday, Oct 1st, bus for students departing ISL at 2:15, presentation at AIS beginning at 3 o'clock with University of California Berkeley, Michigan State University, and EducationUSA. Please RSVP with me, so that I can be sure to put you on the bus/security list. * Tuesday, October 8th Stenden, South Africa (Hotel Management and Business Administration) will visit IB2 students at 11:50-12:40. * Tuesday, Nov 5th at 9:15 the CIS UNIVERSITY AFRICA TOUR will begin in the MPC. The College Fair will go until 11:30 hours. Participants this year include Swarthmore College, Yale-NUS College, Waterloo, SUNY Plattsburgh, University of Victoria, and many more. * Friday, Nov 22nd from 10:30-11:15 in the Fine Arts at ISL with Lafayette College -- one of the top Liberal Arts schools in the US. GREAT Business Programs.

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IB2 Biology Field Trip to Kasanka National Park!

During the first week of September the IB Biology students went to Kasanka for their residential field trip. They studied the effect of the fruit bats on Mushitu Forest by the use of indicator species, carried out a biodiversity study on comparative woodlands and also did a mark release recapture technique to estimate a population of butterflies. We all enjoyed the peace and beauty of the park and were well looked after by the staff. All students have handed in three full field reports which will be used as part of their internal assessment coursework for their IB Biology. We were very fortunate that the Kasanka camp manager and ecologist came into school a week after our return to give a excellent presentation on active management in conservation. This rounded off a most enjoyable and worthwhile experience.

Steve Luke

Hello from the Board!

News from the Board Are there things about ISL that you wish the school would change? What parts of ISL do you hope the school will continue in the coming years? What should be the school’s biggest priorities?

I am sure each one of us can think of answers to these questions! Your ideas are needed as part of the school’s Strategic Planning process. The Head of School has outlined a strategic plan template based on the international accreditation standards. Now we need add the details from staff, parents and students to guide ISL in the right direction in the next 5 years.

The school is circulating an online questionnaire to all parents (here is the link). There are also discussions taking place this month within school departments and across the Board committees (planning, finance, marketing, human resources, IT and projects/real estate). All these ideas will fit into the draft Strategic Plan, which will be presented to parents before the close of term.

We look forward to seeing your answers to the questionnaire. We also welcome parent participation on the Planning Committee, which is supporting the Strategic Planning process. If you have additional ideas or want to join a committee, please email me at islboardchair@gmail.com.

Elizabeth Jere Chair of Board of Governors

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/