Ta l a n o a Newsletter of International School Suva
Volume 6 04 September, 2015
Principal’s Report Dear Parents and Guardians, Welcome to the final issue of Talanoa for term three. I am delighted to have seen so many parents in and around the school over the last few weeks be this at the Year 5 Exhibition assembly, ECH Father’s Day breakfast, Year 7 Poetry Slam, Year 1 Day Camp or Year 6 Habitat Preservation exposition to name but a few. At all events the focus is, as always, on the students sharing what they have leant with you and with their teachers. Unfailingly they make us proud. The Year 10s and Year 12s have been sharing what they have learnt with us in a very different way. I congratulate them on completing their mock IGCSE and IB examinations and, for Year 12, their final AST, ACT Scaling Test. Whilst it is only a small portion of what we do at ISS, these final High School examinations are often cause for celebration and I wish both our Year 12 and Year 10 students good luck as they move into the final few weeks of their courses. If you would like more information on the High School curriculum at International School Suva you can find details inside this issue of Talanoa. It is with sadness that I report that Amanda Vateitei left ISS and Fiji at the end of last week and returned to the US. We enjoyed having her at school and are sorry that she had to leave before the end of the year. We are lucky, however, that we were able to replace her so quickly and welcome Mere Faletono to the ECH staff. Ms Faletono has 20 years experience in Early Childhood Education of which 11 years have been in the IB PYP programme at International School Nadi. Since leaving ISN in 2011, Ms Faletono has been teaching in New Zealand and at CMF Primary School in Suva. I know we all look forward to working with Mere.
Principal Anna Marsden
Inside this Issue High School News Year 8 Article ISS Basketball Invitation to Parents Primary Update
\
Alumni Visit School Photograph Year 7 Articles French Examination ISS Holiday Sports PTFA Acknowledgment Library Funday Gallery Upcoming Events
FROM THE HIGH SCHOOL: Curriculum and results
International School Suva IBDP Statistics 2010-14
International School Suva runs the ACT and IB Diploma programmes in Years 11 and 12 and the IGCSE programme in Years 9 and 10. Whilst the following gives an overview of achievement from 2010 it is noted that cohorts vary from year to year and therefore year to year comparisons are not always meaningful. Australian Capital Territories Year 12 Certificate, the ACT The ACT courses offered at ISS are accredited by the Board of Senior Secondary Studies, in Canberra, Australia. ISS, who has been offering the ACT since 2004, is one of 33 schools in Canberra and regionally offering this programme and every year over 4000 students matriculate with an ACT Year 12 Certificate. Students who also sit the ACT Scaling TEST, the AST, receive an Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank, ATAR. Every December 50,000 students across Australia, and few outside, receive their ATAR and it is this ranking, out of a maximum 99.95, along with other data on which universities base their admissions. The ATAR gives a percentile ranking which means that an ATAR of 99 denotes that the student achieved in the top 1% of the cohort receiving an ATAR that year. International School Suva ATAR Statistics 2010-14 Number of students
Range
2010
19
2011
Year
% of student achieving an ATAR
ISS Median
All Schools Median
Year
Number of students
Range
Mean score
Diploma awarded %
ISS
Global
ISS
Global
2010
9
43 - 28
34
31
100
80
2011
16
37 - 21
31
31
94
80
2012
6
36 - 25
30
30
100
79
2013
8
40 - 23
30
30
87
80
2014
13
38 - 23
31
31
92
79
Up to and including students completing Year 12 in 2015, all students sitting for IB examinations are also part of the BSSS ACT cohort. In response to concerns raised by students, parents and teachers about the heavy workload experienced by students taking both the ACT and IBDP students starting Year 11 in January 2015 were asked to choose which course they wished to take and then focus on this.
≥ 90
≥ 80
≥ 70
≥ 60
99.50 53.25
37
63
68
89
87.50
77.34
23
95.90 51.20
30
56
69
82
82.45
76.97
2012
18
96.85 45.50
33
44
66
77
77.35
76.93
2013
27
99.70 45.70
11
33
70
89
75.45
76.80
Year
Total entries
A*
A
B
C
Total percentage A*-C grades
2014
29
99.30 44.65
28
45
62
83
78.55
76.07
2010
74
5
11
23
15
73
2011
73
2
13
27
26
93
2012
133
7
14
32
41
71
2013
228
5
25
58
77
72
2014
233
11
32
47
61
65
2015
20
7
8
4
0
95
From the five years under consideration only two students did not receive an ATAR, one did not sit the scaling test and one was deemed by the Board of Senior Secondary Studies to have not undertaken a serious attempt at the AST. International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, IBDP ISS was initially authorised to offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme in 1990 and has been reauthorised every five years since then. Between 2010 and 2014 forty-two students have sat for the IB Diploma examinations and all bar four have been awarded a full diploma.
Cambridge International Examinations: International General Certificate of Secondary Education, IGCSE ISS has been authorised to offer IGCSE examinations since the late 1980s. Prior to 2012 Year 10 students chose which examinations they would like to sit with the majority of students sitting for none. However from 2012 all students, bar a few exceptions and with parental agreement, have sat IGCSE examinations in all subjects.
Whilst the 2015 results are included above these represent only Foreign Language Mandarin (there is no October/November session for this course) and the results from the accelerated Cambridge International Mathematics class. The remaining subjects will be sat during October and November. Megan Navunisaravi
YEAR 8 STUDENTS GET INVOLVED IN THE YOUTH AWARENESS WASTE-TO-ART INITIATIVE Ten year 8 students attended a workshop and created artwork at the Lami Town Council last May as part of a Waste-to-Art initiative for conservation and waste management practices. More information here: https://www.iucn.org/news_homepage/ all_news_by_region/?21425/Youth-Awareness-Waste-to-Art-Workshop-launches-inLamiFiji These students are invited to attend the art installation day in October. All photos courtesy of IUCN.org
ISS Basketball The Fiji Secondary Schools Basketball Championships have been taking place at the Vodafone Arena from the 24th - 26th August. We have had three teams competing and representing the school, an U17 girls’ team, an U17 and U19 boys’ teams. Unfortunately, none of the teams have made the semi-finals despite playing some great games. Some highlights *The majority of the U17 girls’ team is new to the finer points of Basketball having had very little competition experience. However, as the competition progressed, they began to gel as a team and the potential for a very strong team next year is definite. They were ably captained by Itziar Lavina Gonzalez. *The U19 boys had only three teams in their pool and each game challenged their finer skills. If they have learnt one thing it would be that the finer finishes were lacking in their game. It was really great to see them fully gel as a cooperative and thinking team against Yat Sen school, unfortunately, losing to them in a very close and exciting match. This team was captained by Inigo Lavina Gonzalez who provided that level headed support that allowed the individuals to combine their skills effectively in some very impressive moves in later games. *The U17 boys had mixed success with winning two games and losing two. If Suva Grammar had lost to Marist they would have been in the semi-finals on a count back by goals for and against. The team was captained by Muhammad Akhtar who along with Jose Santos worked hard to mould the boys into a team to be wary of. The more games they played the more efficient they became. All three teams have a lot of work ahead of them to improve on their skill. Please congratulate them for the effort they have put into this tournament and for representing the school in a fair and very sporting manner. This was one of the focuses of the tournament this year.
Invitation to High School Parents and Students! The Chief Executive Officer, John Stenhouse and the Technical Advisor, Lyn Mernagh of the office of the Board of Senior Secondary Studies in Canberra are visiting ISS next week on Tuesday and Wednesday (8 – 9 September). As part of their visit, the school has scheduled an opportunity for them to meet with interested parents and students. At this meeting, they will discuss the Australian Capital Territory and the Australian Curriculum packages and will be on hand to answer questions you may have regarding the Australian Curriculum and its implementation. This session is open to all interested students in Year 9 -12 and their parents. The meeting will be held from 6 pm to 7 pm at ISS in the Amphitheatre on Tuesday the 8 th of September. Jeshneel Chandra ACT Coordinator jchandra@international.school.fj
Primary Update September 4, 2015 With only two weeks remaining until our September break, we have much to reflect on with regards to learning in primary for Term 3. In between camps, excursions, exhibition and assemblies, all classes have been busy in the classrooms with their units of inquiry in collaboration with the specialist subject areas. This is where our transdisciplinary approach to teaching and learning comes into play. This approach refers to learning that is authentic and relevant to the real world. Teachers, when effectively using this approach do not compartmentalize learning, but rather explore content within the context of inquiry. Rather than take a 40 minute lesson on data handling with tally marks and graphs as a stand-alone lesson, children in a PYP context would explore the same content but within their theme, for example, „Who we are‟, students may notice that they all come from different countries. Teachers would then teach to that moment and investigate data handling by helping the students create a survey in order to observe, collect and record data about the nationalities represented within their own classroom and school. Our year ones are currently focusing on human rights through the lens of multidisciplines, including Hindi Studies with Ms Subadra. Our Reception students are currently focusing on imagination alongside Ms. Kasatoka in Fijian Studies. The inquiry topics should always be meaningful and relevant to the student and have relevance across subject areas. Learning that transcends their confines and connects with the real world! If you would like to know more about our transdisciplinary learning and teaching, come and see us. Ms. Rosi, our PYP coordinator and I are always willing to discuss curriculum with our parents and caregivers. Next week we celebrate literacy week once more, this time with a focus on writing. There are many literacy activities on offer as sent home via email earlier this week to all parents and caregivers. You are all very welcome to attend any of our sessions at any time during the week. The book character parade is always lots of fun! The Year 5 PYP exhibition is also fast approaching. It‟s busy times in the year 5 classrooms as they prepare for their exhibition displays in the final week of term. All Year 5 students have been working hard to prepare their transdisciplinary inquiries for display. We wish them every success for exhibition week! Being an inquirer is our last focus attribute of the Learner Profile for Term 3. “We nurture our curiosity, developing skills for inquiry and research. We know how to learn independently and with others. We learn with enthusiasm and sustain our love of learning throughout life.” (IB) Inquiring is a way of approaching learning. An inquiry teacher asks herself, “How will my students discover new knowledge today? What experiences can I provide them so that they formulate new understandings? “ Teachers listen carefully to their students and document where they are in their learning. It is an essential part of the process that assists teachers plan and prepare for the next chapter. Students in our schools discover the curriculum. It is not delivered solely to them by their teachers. Learning in this way becomes meaningful to students and we know that when there is meaning or understanding, the learning is embedded. Inquiry classrooms foster creative and critical thinking skills where students make and test theories. Explicit teaching of skills is done ‟just in time‟ and are taught exactly when students need them, there and then. This is in essence our PYP curriculum. We are all inquirers each and every day! Keep an eye out in the last week of school for our last edition of the Primary Press for Term 3. Karen and the Primary Team
Visiting Alumni - Jonathan Brown (86 - 88) Director Forensics, London, UK “My education provided me with a strong basis for the future. I met children from many nationalities, helping me to understand other cultures.”
SCHOOL PHOTOGRAPHS Photo orders have been extended until Thursday, 10th September for all those who are still interested and had missed out on the deadline. Parents with more than one child can contact Siti directly on viticreative@gmail.com and he will create a private gallery to view sibling photographs.
Year 7 News There has been a buzz of learning around the Year 7 classrooms this term with lots of innovative learning experiences happening in different curriculum areas. In Social Science and English the Year 7 students have been exploring the concepts of culture and migration through the following themes: HOW WE EXPRESS OURSELVES An inquiry into the ways in which we discover and express ideas, feelings, nature, culture, beliefs and values; the ways in which we reflect on, extend and enjoy our creativity; our appreciation of the aesthetic. WHERE WE ARE IN TIME AND PLACE This is an inquiry into orientation in place and time; personal histories; homes and journeys; the discoveries, explorations and migrations of humankind; the relationships between and the interconnectedness of individuals and civilizations, from local and global perspectives. Our guiding statement was – groups of people move into and out of areas causing change in the cultural makeup of a society. Our learning focused on the reasons for migration, the causes and effect of emigration and immigration, the impact migration has on culture and the global perspectives of this type of human movement. Although students did some extensive research, they also spent much of their time in Social Science and English learning about culture (home country and host country) and migration through poetry. They have explored these concepts through photographs, illustrations, picture books, videos, personal experiences and research and applied our knowledge and understanding through the use of different poetry elements in a range of poetry formats. This culminated in our very successful Poetry Slam last Tuesday evening in which each student recited a poem that was self-authored. The purpose of our Poetry Slam evening is threefold, firstly to provide the Year 7 students an opportunity to share their learning with their parents, secondly to enable our parents to become more involved in their child‟s/children‟s learning and thirdly, to have fun. Parents and guardians were invited to provide feedback on their own child‟s/children‟s presentation by completing a rubric. In Science, the Year 7 students have been learning about crystallization as it occurs in nature. They have also been learning how to test the hardness of rocks and have created their crystals in a recent science experiment. While in Mathematics, they have been learning about 3D nets and how they form different complex shapes. They have also been exploring different units of measurement and how important these are in forming accurate calculations when measuring space for a purpose.
YEAR 7 - DRAMA The Drama unit portrayed the Roles of Production with an excerpt from "Little Shop of Horrors"
YEAR 7 - Visual Art Year 7 working with watercolours and acrylic and the images show them experimenting with geometric painting techniques.
The ISS PTFA wishes to acknowledge and thank their sponsors for Fun Day : Dominion Insurance/Capital Insurance
BSP - Bank of the South Pacific
Bronze Sponsor for FUN DAY - 2015 Southtex Fiji Ltd.
Fish Partner
Retail Partner
Celebrate ISS Library & Literacy Week 7th - 11th, September. 2015 Monday I know where to find resources in my library—SCAVENGER HUNT CHALLENGE! Tuesday TONGUE TWISTER CHALLENGE PASS-IT-ALONG STORY WRITING Wednesday MATCH AUTHORS TO BOOKS ALL POETRY SLAM ENTRIES DUE! DOOR VOTING DAY! DRESS UP AS YOUR FAVORITE BOOK CHARACTER Thursday JIGSAW PUZZLE CHALLENGE DESIGN A BOOK MARK CHALLENGE DOOR JUDGING DAY! Friday POETRY SLAM CHALLENGE!
UNLIMITED POSSIBILITIES @ YOUR LIBRARY Take part in our library activities to win great prizes! AMNESTY WEEK Return all your OVERDUE library fiction books and go into the draw to win great prizes
Decorate your classroom door to win a $100 Scholastic Book club voucher
Take part in our Poetry Slam Challenge to win 2 movie pass to VMAX Damodar City
Primary Book Character Parade Dress up as your favorite book character
Be a RISK TAKER and go on a blind date with a book!
Teachers Read Come view a 3D printer Too! Match teachdemonstration by the US ers to the books Embassy Resource Room they read Staff on Wednesday To win great prizes
Post a selfie with your favorite Make a craft in the library to win a prize book
FUNDAY 2015
Upcoming Events (Term 3 Week 9 - Week 10)(Term 4 Week 1 - Week 4) Term 3
Term 4
Week 9 Tuesday, September 8 ACT Visit
Week 1 Monday, October 5 10:00am - PTFA Workshop (tentative) 11:00am - PTFA Appreciation Tea
Wednesday, September 9 ACT Visit 5:00pm ISS PTFA Social Hour
Tuesday, October 6 All students begin
Week 3 Monday, October 19 PAT Assessment - Reading & Spelling Head Student Voting Tuesday, October 20 PAT Assessment - Reading & Spelling Wednesday, October 21 PAT Assessment - Reading & Spelling
Friday, September 11 Primary Assembly - Year 4 (8.15 - 9.00)
Friday, October 9 Whole School Fiji Day Assembly - Year 1
Reception USP Cultural Art Excursion
Fiji Day Assembly Y10
Week 10 Monday, September 14 T3 Week 10
Week 2 Monday, October 12 ISA ASSESSMENT - Years 3 - 5
8:00am Bookclub: The Opposite of Spoiled
ISA Assessment Y6-10
Friday, October 23 PAT Assessment - Reading & Spelling
Wednesday, September 16 2:40pm ISS PTFA Monthly Meeting
Tuesday, October 13 ISA ASSESSMENT - Years 3 - 5
Last day Y12 IB, Y10 Exam leave
Friday, September 18 Primary Press Whole School International Literacy Day Assembly - Reception
YC Update Term ends
Thursday, October 22 PAT Assessment - Reading & Spelling Year 8 into 9 Parent Info evening
Primary Assembly (8.15 - 9.00)
ISA Assessment Y6-10 Wednesday, October 14 ISA ASSESSMENT - Years 3 - 5
Week 4 Monday, October 26 PAT Assessment - Mathematics & Vocabulary
ISA Assessment Y6-10 5:00pm - ISS PTFA Social Hour Thursday, October 15 Secondary Parent-Teacher interviews Council / Finance Meeting Friday, October 16 Primary Assembly - Fijian Studies (8.15 - 9.00)
Tuesday, October 27 PAT Assessment - Mathematics & Vocabulary Wednesday, October 28 PAT Assessment - Mathematics & Vocabulary - 2:40pm ISS PTFA Monthly Meeting
Head student speeches
Thursday, October 29 PAT Assessment - Mathematics & Vocabulary
YC Update
Primary Halloween at Primary Hardcourt (4pm - 6pm)
Family Sports Day
6:00pm - Year 10 into 11 Parent Info evening Friday, October 30 PAT Assessment - Maths Primary Assembly - Reception (8.15 - 9.00) Halloween social Talanoa