s e n i l d a e H L The IS 30th August 2013
From the Head of School-: Mr. Martin Gough
“Striving for Excellence”
Whether you are a new or returning student, teacher or parent, I would like to welcome you to the new school year. As I sit at my desk writing this, I realize that I have been here just 3 weeks and yet so much has happened in that time.
What’s happening at ISL? PTA Welcome Braai
30th Aug
IB2 Trip to Kasanka
31st Aug
Yr 6 Trip to Tree Tops Staff development day
2nd Sep 20th Sep
Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.
Contents Head of School
1
Primary Principal
2
Early Years Coordinator
2
PYP Coordinator
3
Upper-Primary Coor- 3 dinator Secondary Principal
The start of the year is a time of change and opportunity for those who are returning to a school they know, but even more so to those newly arrived. The first few days and weeks can be quite stressful for new students and teachers as they learn the culture of a new place and try to fit into established groups and make friends. I hope that we will all take the time to help new people settle in so that they soon reach a point where they feel at home at ISL. Even for returning students, a new school year is a time of change with different teachers, possibly different subjects or even a whole new programme to cope with. I know that Year 1, Year 7, Year 10 and Year 12 will particularly notice the changes as they move up into the next stage of school life. Change is inevitable and it involves risk for all of us but as T. S. Eliot said:
Each year at schools offering any of the International Baccalaureate programmes, as ISL does, students and teachers will be reminded of the IB Learner Profile and the attributes we seek to develop in ourselves and our students. At the Primary School Start of Year Assembly, Mr. Bowen asked the new teachers and some students which of the Learner Profile attributes they would pick as being particularly important to them. It was interesting to hear their choices from the attributes below: Inquirer
Open-Minded
Knowledgeable
Caring
Thinker
Risk-Taker
Communicators
Balanced
Principled
Reflective
4
Junior Secondary Coordinator
4
IGCSE Coordinator
5
IB Corner
5
Board Chairperson
6
A number of the characteristics are relevant to the idea that change is inevitable and we need to learn to not just cope with it but embrace the opportunities change brings by, for example, being an open-minded, reflective risk-taker. Whether you are new to ISL or have been here for a while, I hope to meet you over the next few weeks. Best wishes for a happy but challenging school year. Martin Gough Head of School PS: Read the full IB learner profile
ry Prima
ISL Headlines! Page 2
Message from the Primary Principal: Mr. Bowen
The Primary School is already in full flow with the annual Year 6 Treetops trip about to set off next week. We have some new faces among the teaching personnel in the Primary school and I will take the opportunity to give them brief introductions. Please take the time to find them and introduce yourselves and welcome them to the PYP Programme. Year 3 Teacher – Gerald Chibwana (Zambia) has joined us and apart from his many talents, he is helping us redress the gender imbalance among Primary teachers. Men power! Reception Teacher – Amanda Garraway (Zambia), is a long time Zambian hand who has taught in several Lusaka schools. She brings a superb wealth of Early Years’ experience to ISL. Primary Counsellor – Marit Roeper (Germany) has lived in Zambia for three years with her family and her daughters have attended the school for over a year now. Learning Support – Luo Zacks (Zambia) rejoins ISL after an 8 year break. No-one knows ISL better than Luo being an alumnus as well as a former teacher. Welcome back! Column space is limited in this first edition so I will sign off with a big welcome back and a reminder not to miss our Welcome Braaii on Friday 30th August and our Open House for all PYP parents on 11th September. There will be more from me in future editions but for now, read on and hear what Mrs Nair (PYP Co-ordinator), Mrs Kambeu (Upper Primary) and Mrs Bentley (Early Years) have to say.
From the Early Years Coordinator: Mrs Bentley It has been lovely to welcome back so many familiar faces at the start of this new school year. We are also privileged to have new faces among us. Our Nursery classes are busy with little ones who are starting their school journey with us as well as older children joining from different schools and countries. We would like to warmly welcome you all to our ISL family. A new face on the teaching staff is Mrs. Amanda Garraway, who will be teaching Reception this year. She has been teaching in Lusaka for many years and we are pleased to have her join the Early Years team. As we enter into the hot season, we are making a concerted effort to make sure our students are wearing hats to protect their eyes and skin from the sun. For this reason, we are starting a “No Hat, No Play” policy which means that unless your child is wearing a hat they will not be able to play outside at break times. Please make sure that you send in a hat for your child that can be kept at school at all times. We are all looking forward to a busy and productive year of learning and fun in Early Years!
Message from the: PYP Coordinator: Mrs Sunita Nair
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The excitement has begun! A new academic year with new families, new teachers, new resources, new ideas and a new Head of School! WELCOME TO ISL everyone! The holidays flew by quickly giving us ample time to relax and refresh ourselves, but it also gave us time to reflect on the past year and devise ways to further strengthen the programmes we offer. The PYP is the programme where our primary students embark on their lifelong journey using “inquiry” as an approach to learning. We believe PARENTS are a very integral part of our team. This academic year we will continue with parent workshops as in the last two years and look forward to seeing as many parents as possible for them. The dates for these workshops will be published in our newsletters and sent out through emails. Please look out for them and note them down in your diaries. These provide us a platform to work together and help build a brighter future for our children. We also will carry on having in-school workshops for teachers and teacher assistants where we can share ideas and discuss strategies with each other. This is part of our process to be “lifelong learners.” Our team is now back in full strength with Mr. Bowen back in his role as Primary Principal and we look forward to a stimulating new year!
From the upper primary coordinator: Mrs Grace Kambeu Welcome back to this academic year! We have two teachers that have joined Upper Primary: an old face from Early Years, Mrs. A. Waldock is now in Year 6.2 and Mr. Gerald Chibwana is our new Year 3.1 teacher. We wish them an excellent and successful year! We have great plans this year including lots of interesting Units of Inquiry and we look forward to an exciting program. We also have incredible assemblies and field trips planned in all year groups so that children can relate what is taught in class to real life situations. A quick glance into September shows a Year 3 visit by a doctor, while Year 4 zoom to MUVI TV/ Lowdown. The Year 5 will visit Cheshire Homes / Twatasha School and the Year 6s are off to Treetops. Watch out for House Captains Presentations and Year 4.2 Assemblies! Last week, students participated in the House Captain elections process. Congratulations to the many students who ran wonderful campaigns and presented thoughtful and creative speeches to their houses. Although not all campaigns were successful, I hope the experience was a positive learning experience for everyone. Congratulations to our new house captains! Zambezi House Captains - Boys – Christo Christofi, Manoli Kypreos – Girls: Aoife McNulty, Seoyun Jung. Luangwa House Captains- Boys – Ben Thomas, Kieran Horn – Girls: Mwaka Machila, Elina Platts Kafue House Captains – Boys – Sherman Findlay, Tamir Dalal – Girls: Mwango Kondolo, Tanya Van Heerden. We look forward to sharing this academic year with you and hope to make it meaningful.
CONGRATULATIONS
Secondary
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From the secondary Principal: Mr Mwanza It is with pleasure and excitement that I offer all new and returning secondary students and their families a warm welcome back to the joys of secondary education. We have clocked two weeks into the first semester; it is gratifying to see the energy of students and faculty alike, which has created such a wonderful and business-like ethos on the school campus. A special welcome is extended to the little ones in Y7 who have just moved up into the secondary sector. We also welcome the following new teachers who collectively bring to ISL a wide range of experiences and expertise: Mr. Rene Van de Velde: - IGCSE Coordinator and Biology teacher; Ms. Phoebe Nyawa: - CAS Coordinator and Head of ICT Department; Ms. Margarita Martin: - Spanish teacher and Ms. Marit Roeper: - Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) teacher. There are details and comments elsewhere in this Newsletter concerning the Secondary School afternoon Activities, Middle School programme, and the examination results of our senior students on the IGCSE and IB Diploma programmes. The staff of the International School of Lusaka takes great pride in congratulating all the IB students from the class of 2013. We wish them the very best as they take on the challenges of University education. The IGCSE examination results for the Y11 group were, to put it mildly, excellent! As a school we are so very proud of their achievement that has given them a good foundation for the IB Diploma Programme and other pre-University studies. The volume of traffic on our roads is reaching alarming levels. To ensure that your child arrives for school on time at 07 00 in time for registration at 07 05, please allow sufficient driving time to school. Note that a child who reports late for school does not only disrupt his/her good start to the school day but also that of other students in the classes he/she belongs. The warm/hot season is here. You are advised to give your child sufficient drinking water for the day or cash to buy the same from our school tuck-shop. Once again it is a big welcome to ISL to all of you and we hope to see you at our PTA/50th anniversary welcome Braai on Friday the 30th of August.
From the Junior Secondary Coordinator: Katell Dodd Dear Parents and Students, Welcome back to ISL! I am extremely excited to get our new school year underway and I have enjoyed seeing the school come alive with refreshed and smiling students. At this time I would like to extend a warm welcome to the new staff, students and parents who have joined ISL recently and I hope their settling-in process is a smooth one. Welcome also to our Year 7’s who have graduated from Primary school. It might take a few days for our new students to adapt but all the junior secondary classes have wonderful tutors who are ready to help them settle. Please remember that I am there to facilitate the transition for students from Y6 to Y7 and am available in ML2 should anyone have questions or concerns. On the 4th of September, 18:00hrs in the Fine Arts, I will host an introduction meeting where parents of Y7 students as well as new Y8 and 9 students can come, meet the teachers and ask questions. The ISL trip programme is among the best in the world and this year we will begin in September with our Year 7’s embarking on an exciting school trip to Wildtracks on the Zambezi River with their tutors. Our Y8’s will enjoy an educational trip to Livingstone in May and our Y9’s will have the pleasure of participating in the Ndubaluba outdoor survival camp in February. In the meantime, many events and activities will be offered in the Secondary School so read the news letters to stay in the loop.
From the new IGCSE coordinator: Mr R Van de Velde
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I started my teaching career at Kabulonga Girls Secondary School, Lusaka, in 1988 and never really left this beautiful continent since: 3 years Kenya, 12 years Uganda, 2 years Ethiopia, 1 year Uganda again and now back in Zambia. The welcome at ISL reminded me of my first arrival in Lusaka all those years ago: utterly warm and friendly. As IGCSE coordinator I have the pleasure to announce the excellent IGCSE results of the June 2013 session: 81% A-C grades overall with 21% A*’s and 24% A’s. Top of the list is Adithan Ganesh with 7 A*’s and one A; second is Riddhi Kumar with 6A*’s and 2 A’s; third best performer is Fabiha Fairooz with 6 A*’s, 1 A and 1 B. Massive congratulations to these and the other year 11’s, their teachers and their parents/guardians for a very successful 2 years. Hopefully, the current year 10’s and 11’s will continue this high level of achievement. On a practical note, the year 10’s can still make changes concerning their options up to the end of September, but ideally, the sooner the better. If a student is not comfortable with a particular subject, she/he should come and see me to get a form that needs to be signed by the parents/guardians. After returning the form to me, the option change will be implemented. Best wishes for a great year to come!!!!!. P.S — Parents/guardians of last year 11’s can pick up their IGCSE certificates from the coordinator’s office.
IB Corner! In other news Congratulations to everyone who won the student council elections: President—Steven Msalu (IB2) Vice President– Pola Kimena (IB2) Secretary– Sreyashi Chowdury (IB2) Treasurer– Gaurav Menon (10)
The new IB 1 students went to Pioneer Camp to learn about the programme, team build and problem solve. All of the elements of the learner profile were in evidence and a great deal of fun was had by all. Now is the next stage as subject choices and HL/SL options are made. It is important to make an appointment with our counsellor Ms. Kehl to discuss university requirements. Currently IB 2 are in the process of handing in first drafts of their extended essays. They are at a critical stage of the programme as deadlines for internal assessments are approaching. Keep working hard! Charles Hearsum
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!! To Charles and Jennifer on becoming Mr and Mrs Hearsum
Hello from the Board! We are excited to welcome Mr. Martin Gough as our new Head of School. The Board is committed to developing a productive relationship between the new Head and the Board to ensure that the school’s governance and management platforms support continued quality education for our children.
Green Tip for August!
In June the Board elected chairpersons and debriefed on some of the issues raised at the AGM. The Board entrusted me as Chairperson, with Martin Pikira voted as Vice-Chairperson. Committee Chairs are as follows: Planning (chaired by Musapenda Phiri), Human Resources (chaired by Anitha Menon), Finance (chaired by Ken Simwaba), Marketing (chaired by Michael Bentley), Projects/Estates (chaired by Matthew Snell), and IT (chaired by Anthony Seno). We’ll share more about these committees’ activities throughout the year.
Combine all your errands for the week in one trip to save fuel.
At our second meeting, the Board identified the following top priorities: Partnering with management to lead our stakeholders through the school’s Strategic Planning process, with a working draft ready by the end of October Reviewing and updating the school’s Conditions of Service for staff, ready for review by the end of October We also aim to open communication between the Board and the Association. Any suggestions or comments on governance or strategy can be directed in writing through the Board email (islboardchair@gmail.com) or a letter delivered to the school. The Board welcomes participation from parents and staff in our Board Committees. If you want to grab me for a quick chat on any issues, I can be found outside the Year 5 classrooms around 13:30. Here’s to a great year! Elizabeth Jere Chairperson ISL Board of Governors
CONTACT US
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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
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