Newsletter of International School Suva
The last day for our IB students
Ta l a n o a Counselors Corner
03 November, 2014
Volume 7
Do you remember your last day at school? It is such a significant event and yet the IB examinations which begin today are th e focus and for most of our Year 12 students leaving school does not seem quite real yet. It
25 May 2012
Electronic copy available at http://www.international.school.fj/docs/talanoa.pdf Electronic copy available at http://www.international.school.fj/docs/talanoa.pdf
Volume 8
Inside This Issue: * Principal’s Report * Upcoming Events * Counselor’s Corner
* Pinktober * Violin Lessons * Primary Perspective
* Fiji Day Assembly * Dance Concert * Service Club Target
Principal’s Report Dear Parents and Guardians, Welcome to the final term of 2014. I take this opportunity to wish the year 10 and year 12 students good luck as they start their final examinations. This is a very exciting time for these students and the thoughts of the ISS community are with them. Earlier this term we celebrated with Luke Fuller as he ran from Nadi to school. Mr Fuller undertook this fundraising run in conjunction with a year 9 Global Perspectives project to raise money to buy a heart monitor for CWM hospital. He is an inspiration to us all and on behalf of the school community I thank Mr Fuller for showing us how we can all raise awareness and take action. Our building project continues and the final floor is nearly up. Wandering round the site last week I could see how the building unites the secondary and primary schools and will allow for easy movement between the two. The new central library, directly accessible from both primary and secondary, will allow ready access for all our students and the much needed cafeteria will allow our students to eat in comfort. I look forward to the opening of the building in the first semester of 2015.
Looking forward we still have the dance concert later this term along with the farewell assembly where we will say goodbye to students and staff leaving at the end of the year. Please see the school calendar on the ISS website for more details. I look forward to seeing many of you at these functions. The school continues to investigate ways to promote the arts and I am delighted to inform you that we have recently heard from Zhanna Mukhametzhanova who provides after school violin lessons for students age six years and up. If you are interested she can be contacted on 9307947. Finally I welcome Lucy Otway, primary learning support, and Kathleen Seniwaitui and Livini Tuiwai, individual teacher assistants, to the school community. Anna Marsden Principal
UPCOMING EVENTS Term 4 Term 4 Week 05
Term 4 Week 07
Tuesday, November 4 Start of IB exams Last day for Tuesday activities program
Tuesday, November 18 Year 5 Graduation Evening Year 10 work experience begins
Thursday, November 6 4pm Governance
Thursday, November 20 4pm Facilities
Friday, November 7 Assembly - Year 1 Last Day for Year 12 ACT students
Friday, November 21 Primary Assembly - PSPE End of IB exams Sunday, November 23 End of IGCSE exams
Term 4 Week 06
Term 4 Week 08
Monday, November 10 Years 6 to 9 and 11 exam week
Monday, November 24 Primary Concert Practice
Thursday, November 13 4.30pm Human Resources Dance concert
Tuesday, November 25 Primary Concert
Friday, November 14 Primary Assembly - Music Primary Press YC update
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Wednesday, November 26 Year 5 Camp 2.40pm - PTFA Meeting Thursday, November 27 Meet the New Teacher Session - Primary Year 5 Camp 4pm Finance 5pm Council Blood Drive
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Bula everyone… Yes, Term 4 is now in full swing and everyone is definitely busy making every effort to make the best use of the opportunities to complete the various programs they are involved in during this fast paced term. To name just a few: assignments/tasks to be completed, studies for both external and semester examinations, transition- primary to secondary, middle school to high school and high school to tertiary studies, best subject choices, preparation for work experience, etcetera etcetera... For some helpful tips during what may seem to be the most stressful time of the academic year...... FOR STRESS Take a step back, inhale and laugh. Remember who you are and why you‟re here… You‟re never given anything in this world that you can‟t handle, Be strong, be flexible, love yourself and love others. Always remember, just keep moving forward. FOR A FEW STUDY TIPS: Don‟t try to do all your studying the night before the test. Find a comfortable and quiet place to study with good lighting and little distractions. If you choose to study in a group, only with those who are serious about the study. Listening to relaxing music such as classical or jazz on a low volume can relieve some of the boredom of studying. TEST TAKING TIPS Ensure that all you have all stationery requirements for the test. Keep a positive attitude throughout the whole test and try to stay relaxed. When you first receive your test, do a quick survey of the entire paper so that you can sufficiently budget your time. Do the easiest problems first; don‟t stay on a problem that you are stuck on, especially when time is a factor. Do the problems with the greatest point values first. Pace yourself , don‟t rush. Read the entire question and pay attention to the details. Don‟t worry if others finish before you.; focus on the test in front of you TEST PREPARATION TIPS: Eat before test. Having food in your stomach will give you energy and help you focus but avoid heavy foods that can make you groggy. Water intake is also important. Don‟t pull an all nighter, get at least 3 hours of sleep before the test (normally 8 hours of sleep is recommended). Visit the washroom before walking into the exam room. You don‟t want to waste time worrying about your bodily needs during the test. TIPS ON WHAT SUBJECTS TO CHOOSE: Your subject choices can have an impact on what you study at college or university and what careers are open to you in the future, so you probably have a lot of questions. How will English help you? Will Maths and Chemistry be important in your career? Should you take Music forward? We‟ve put together a list of things to think about before making your decision. So which subjects do you enjoy, make you happy, are interesting, boring???? Which subjects are you good at, get consistently good results that your friends struggle with? Which subjects suit your learning style? It’s important to think about your track record in a subject, your preferred learning style, your skills, interests and any career goals you have… Which subjects are going to help you in the future? There are more tips that can be shared but alas I have come to the end of my allocated page and I wish everyone well as we work towards completing the final lap of 2014. Fenella David School Counsellor fdavid@international.school.fj 3
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PINKTOBER – ISS BIGGEST MORNING TEA – School Community Initiative This October saw the school come together for PINKTOBER – Biggest Morning Tea in aid of the Cancer Awareness drive. Held on Friday the 31st of October, it raised the awareness for our loved ones and the many that have fought and are still fighting against cancer. For the ISS community it has always been a practice in the past where the school comes together to give towards a very worthy cause. The idea for this year‟s PINKTOBER was inspired by a lot of experiences and projects done by students who know of someone who has or is going through challenges in relation to this unkind illness. To read and even hear the emotion and passion behind the experiences of our young people is inspiring. We certainly have compassionate student leaders in our school community. Staff and students were asked to bring a plate of goodies for morning tea for which all proceeds will go to the Cancer Society. The students had a bake sale whilst the teachers shared in a tea with donations being collected. This Community Initiative gives the school a local humanitarian look and allows us to reflect on our roles and responsibilities as Global citizens. To all the parents, staff and students who gave in kind and supported this worthy cause a big vinaka vakalevu - thank you all very much. Tanya Vatubua, Staff Coordinator
Violin lessons available. Zhanna Mukhametzhanova from Kazakhstan is a professional violinist who is willing to give after school classes to any interested child. Ages: - 6 years and over. Please call her for more information: Zhanna on 9307947 or send an email to zh_mukhamet@mail.ru
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Primary Perspective It is end Week 4 already and we have just completed our international assessment (Years 3 – 9) and school based PAT assessments from Reception up to Year 5. Over the course of the remainder of Term 4 and into the beginning of Term 1, 2015, we will spend time analyzing our results and data. Having spent most of last weekend and this week, inputting data and results into our spreadsheets, I have witnessed a marked improvement with student results in all areas, particularly maths and reading comprehension. As to whether the same improvement will be highlighted in our ISA results, we will not know until the end of the year. Seldom it is by chance that scores rise, it is the result of a concerted effort by an entire staff – an effort that has included focused professional learning for teachers, a more frequent monitoring of student progress and other strategies employed to target student learning improvement. More work will be done with teachers in analyzing data and class/individual scores particularly in identifying students‟ specific strengths and weaknesses enabling them to set goals at a year and class level and in turn, providing students the opportunity to set their own individual learning goals. As teachers focus on analysis of individual and class scores, we do the same at a whole primary level. We look for patterns and seek to develop new strategies and methods, tailoring our professional learning needs to cater for improvement in those specific areas. We are moving away from the smile and file mode of assessment in which we get back test results, smile as we share these results with students and parents and then file them away, never to look at them again. It is also important that we avoid evaluating teachers based on what their students score in assessments. As we all know, there are many variables in the assessment equation. While we want students to improve year to year, we are also very interested in what they tell us about our curriculum and teaching. It is also important to remember that these assessments are one piece of a big assessment jigsaw puzzle for each of our students throughout the year and results should not be the „be all and end all‟ of their year‟s learning. School improvement is an evolving process that takes ongoing monitoring and constant input. This term we have continued with our focus on differentiated learning and will move into the literacy improvement agenda area of writing for 2015, term one. By looking at student writing samples and identifying areas of strength and weakness, we will be able to tailor our curriculum to 5
cater for this and continue improvement in all disciplines. By teachers sharing success stories and frustrations about the value of some strategies, we will then be able to adopt best practice across the school, at the same time learning from each other. It is important to also note that good teaching is simply good teaching; and that is what motivates students to improve. With school based assessments and the school year coming to a close, teachers are currently busy preparing to write report cards for students. Student report cards will be available only in the last week of term, being sent home with students on Tuesday, December 2. If your child is not going to be here in the final week of school, reports will be made available for collection from the primary office at the beginning of the 2015 school year unless prior arrangements have been made with Lorna, Viri or I. Please ensure your child comes to school in the correct school uniform (please see below). The school dress code is also in place for health and safety purposes. Thongs and slip on shoes are not appropriate footwear for our students. Girls: green Bula dress or navy blue shorts with green Bula shirt Boys: navy shorts or sulu with green Bula shirt Shoes: black leather sandals or black leather lace up shoes with white socks. A sports uniform of a school green polo shirt with navy blue shorts and sports shoes will also be required (or the school house t-shirt) A school sunhat is required as part of our Sun smart policy. The school sunhat is available at the uniform shop. We do have a „No Hat, No Play‟ (outside) policy in place. A reminder note will be sent home with students if inappropriate clothing or school wear is worn to school. Additionally, please ensure your child brings a bottle of water to school. Drink bottles can be re-filled with water from our filtered water bubblers. Of late, we have seen many students at school before even staff arrive, close to 7am or just after. Please, this is far too early to send your children to school. We encourage all students to attend school no earlier than 7.40am as there is no supervision for students until this time. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. Finally, we send out a huge thank you to our PTFA Halloween organizing committee, primary staff and students for contributing to our very successful Halloween evening on Thursday. Until we meet again in our Primary Press in Week 6, Karen (Head of Primary)
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Fiji Day Assembly The year 1 and year 11 students hosted the Fiji Day Assembly in week 2 of this term. This assembly turned out to be a great success as it managed to bring the whole school together and it showed what it is like to be a Fijian. The Fijian Meke was the most popular item on the program as Year 1 students, Year 5 students and After School Activity students showed their respective talents. The Year 11 students danced on a Bollywood song. Most exciting event in the assembly was the Fashion Parade in which students show cased their Bula wears and „Kalavata‟ (Same colored attire). This made the stage full of colour, style and excitement. The Chief Guest for the assembly, Mr Navi Fong also performed one item on the stage. The assembly concluded with the schools Plugged-in band performing live the song “We are Fiji”.
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Dance Concert 2014 Presents Part 1 ‘Dance classes’ 1. 2.
Yr7 Dance: ‘Hairspray’ Musical Dance
3.
Yr9 Dance: Cup’s song Performing
4.
Lin – Paquita Variation (Solo Ballet)
5. 6.
Yr6 dance: Mexican Dance
Ashleigh – Sylvia Variation (Solo Ballet) Yr6 Dance: ‘Dutch Dance’ from Netherland
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Jade – Jealousy Demi Character (Solo Ballet) 8. 9.
Hannah – Lilac Fairy (Solo Ballet) Malia – Cupid Variation (Solo Ballet)
10. Yr7 Dance: Cat’s Musical Dance 11. Yr9 Dance: 42nd Street Opening Part2 ‘Cinderella Ballet’ 1. 2. 3.
Invitation to the ball The old beggar woman 4.
5.
Prologue
Godmother
Fairy (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter) 6.
Mice Dance (Grade 1) 7. 8.
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Frogs Dance At the Ball
The Prince’s Search
10. Cinderella and The Prince’s Variations 11. Finale Free Admission 13th November 2014. At the MPH 6:30pm.
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Service Club targets the SPCA The Tuesday afternoon activity Service Club has decided to fundraise for the SPCA. We targeted this organization because its operation relies totally on donations. This is the only organization that takes responsibility for abandoned cats and dogs around the Southeast Coast of Viti Levu, therefore we feel that they are in great need of our aid. So far, we have had two fundraising activities towards this project by holding a gold coin mufti at ISS on the 22 nd of August and holding a small bake sale at Pure Fiji Factory Outlet on the 30 th of August. We have raised about $568 from these activities therefore we appreciate the assistance. Also, we were able to receive donations from two individuals worth $40. So far, our Service Club has raised a total of $608. PUT THE SPCA ON YOUR CHRISTMAS LIST Christmas is the main occasion when SPCA will be short on our help. The dogs and cats may suffer more due to a lack of attention. The helpers at the SPCA need your assistance to prepare for the holiday season. You can help by donating these items as a small Christmas gift for our SPCA donation box which is located at the Secondary Gate, or directly to the SPCA. These items may include:
Blankets Liquid bleach/ Janola Soap powder Towels Steel wool Axion Dog and cat food You can also go to the SPCA webpage for more information: www.fijispca.com .
THIS IS NOT A DRIVE FOR THESE ESSENTIAL ITEMS! THE NEED IS CONSTANT AND ONGOING. Sylvia Gubon
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