Ta l a n o a Newsletter of International School Suva
Volume 4 06 June, 2015
Principal’s Report Dear Parents and Guardians, Since the last issue of Talanoa many of us were dazzled by the wonderful performance from all students in Beauty through the Eyes of the Beast. The organization which goes into making a production of this scale is enormous and whilst much of the hard work is undertaken by the students it is not possible without the support of their mentors. I therefore take this opportunity to thank Alex Karountzos, Carol Yao, Rebekah Nabouta, Regina Mastapha, Michael Khelan, David Bennet, Jennifer Liew, Roderick Evans, Tessa Eastgate, Albert Eastgate, Kate Reimann, Linda Rushon and Neelam Raj for everything they did to make the production the success it was.
With two weeks to go the pace at school is picking up. We are nearly half way through the year and for our year 12 students they are moving into the final semester. Thinking of moving on from school, which has been a constant in most of these students’ lives for thirteen or more years, can be exciting and scary. Our High School staff are currently working with these students as they look at where they will be going next. Many students have already started thinking about their university or college applications and Fenella David and Megan Navunisaravi are on hand at school to assist. I am aware that the PTFA-initiated lunchtime careers talks have been a great success and helped students as they think about their futures, I take this opportunity Our new building is in the finishing stages and today I heard that to thank Amerika Grewal for all her work in starting this prothe library is looking to move into their new space from the end of gramme. next week. We have been watching and waiting for many months and the idea that we will all be in the building next term seems Finally parents, students and staff are invited to the inaugural both very real and also impossible. We are looking to a grand PTFA family movie night. This will take place from 6pm on Friday opening in the first week of term 3 which you will all be invited. June 12th in the Multi Purpose Hall. The PTFA will be screening This will be a very significant day in the history of International The Lion King which will be followed by Bedknobs and BroomSchool Suva. From the road you can already see that the face of sticks. Everyone is invited, please do come along and enjoy the the school has changed, and this will become even more appar- movies. ent when we are able to start using the new school entrance. Anna Marsden
Inside this Issue Chair of Council Report SPCA Donations Primary Update Field Trip - ODE Swimming Report 2015 Year 7 Exhibition Production Cast & Crew Fun Day Update Mufti Competition PTFA Corner Upcoming Events
Chair of Council Report We are eagerly anticipating the completion of our new building, with the opening tentatively scheduled for the first week of the new term. Once the library has been relocated, we’ll commence the renovation of B block, starting with the ground floor and working our way up the building. We have now commenced discussions with an architect for the redesign of the primary school. Initial concept plans are exciting with a staged development allowing school work to continue as normal during the rebuild. We hope to finalise plans over the next four months. We have struggled for many years to attract and retain top quality teachers. At the Council strategy day in January, we focused on how we recruit and retain the best teaching staff and it was acknowledged that teaching salaries need to increase so that we become an employer of choice. In order to fund increased teaching salaries, it was agreed that we will look this year at significantly increasing the current school fees, particularly the primary fees for 2016. Analysis of the school fees charged at 37 other international schools in the East Asia and Pacific region indicates we are well down the lower end of fees charged for both primary and secondary. Further analysis indicated that most schools have only minor fee differentiation between primary and secondary fees, which reflects the reality of student contact hours across the school. If you would like to access the spreadsheet of this data please click here. Over the next couple of months, we will be reviewing and updating the Articles of Association as well as designing and implementing an induction and evaluation methodology for Council members. Jacquelyn Terry
June 5, 2015
Primary Update The term is almost over, can you believe it? Our information updates from classrooms were included in the latest Primary Press of which you will find here if you haven’t yet had the chance to read it. http://issuu.com/internationalschoolsuva/docs/primary_press_may_edition It is filled to the brim with year level information and activities and curriculum discussions, and of course, loads of photos for you to look at. If you need to know anything about primary, you’ll find it on our website or in our Primary Press. We have now included lists of award winners thanks to a few parents who suggested this happen in our opinion surveys. It is a super way to celebrate the positives here at school. Please, if you have any ideas to improve our Primary Press, let us know. Happy reading! Our enrolments continue to increase and we are finding ourselves with some year levels having waiting lists. It is incredibly difficult to tell prospective parents that we have space for one student and not for their siblings. As a result, the primary leadership team, in consult with some of our parent community and staff are investigating ways to cater for the every growing enrolments for the immediate and long term future of classes here at ISS. There are exciting plans in place to develop the primary section of the school to cater for 3 streams of each year level so in the future, space will not be an issue as it is at present. We welcome any input from parents and the community in regards to this. My door is always open for a quick chat or if email is more convenient for you working parents, please send an email with your ideas. Next term we embark on ‘Our Kids Matter’ campaign across the school where we will focus on the wellbeing of students through many activities and projects. The campaign is an adaptation of a very successful mental health and wellbeing framework being utilised across schools in Australia that has proven to make a positive difference in the lives of children. Proven methods and tools, such as our new ‘Stop, Think, Do’ behaviour and social skills program in conjunction with our Learner Profile/Tavola Tree of Inquiry model will help us to work with parents, carers, and the wider community to nurture happy, balanced kids. We already do much in this regard but it will be fantastic to place a greater focus on what we are already doing and enhance that with research based activities and projects proven to be a success elsewhere. If you wish to know more about this framework, come in and see me or check it out on their website. www.kidsmatter.edu.au/ primary. Remember thought, it will be an adaptation to suit our ISS community and our ISS students. As the projects are revealed, please feel free to join an action team to help. For example, playground action team, to be more creative with our play space and develop ways to use what we have more effectively. The Tavola Tree area, of which we would like to convert into a useable outdoor learning area to stimulate senses and incorporate social and emotional development. Wouldn’t it be terrific to have a place where students can go to ‘sit and think’, reflect and share ideas. A whispering wishing well to set goals and engage in positive thinking. How about a garden club to help look after our sensory garden? If you have never read ‘I Grow in Grandad’s Garden’, please do. It talks about this concept beautifully and talks about gardens that growing minds can thrive in. A dream table features in this story. We also hope to link this campaign to our annual literacy festival at the end of term. Once again, if you can think of anything that we can do for the betterment of our student mental health and wellbeing, please let us know. A reminder that school photographs will be taken on Tuesday, June 9 in primary and for those wishing to have sibling shots taken, you still have time to email me and be included. Monday, at the latest please. Please ensure on school photo day, that children come to school in correct bula uniform. Sports uniforms can be brought to school if they have PE on that day. It always looks so much better when the children are all dressed in the same attire. Thanks for your cooperation with this. All students will be having an individual shot taken too and will be available for order and purchase, along with class photos from the VCreative website. Details coming for this in the very near future. Karen and the Primary Team
WAINADIRO VILLAGE FIELD TRIP Last week I had the opportunity to join Mr Mario and a group of Year 11 and 12 Outdoor Education students on a 2 day field trip as part of the River and Sustainability unit they are studying. Mr Mario and the fantastic guys at Rivers Fiji in Pacific Harbour had organized a trip to Wainadiro, a village on the upper Navua River about 1 hour inland. We left very early on Wednesday morning and drove to Wainadiro, where we were met by the extremely welcoming villagers, who first took us out to catch prawns and eels in the local streams or to join in working in the fields near the village where they grow or harvest dalo, banana, kava, Fijian asparagus and pineapple. It was interesting to observe that even the young village kids, who were then home on school holidays, are very skilled at these aspects of village life, whereas for most of us ISS students and staff our way of obtaining food is to drive to the local supermarket. That afternoon the villagers and Rivers Fiji guys took us up river and showed us how to make a‘bilibili’ - the traditional Fijian rafts used to transport goods along the rivers- which were not so long ago the only means of access for many villagers. We floated these back down to the village, accompanied by many of the young children who swam and ducked and dived like fish alongside the rafts. By this stage we all had worked up quite an appetite and the Rivers Fiji team prepared a delicious meal of chicken with many local vegetables and produce. After dinner we then went to a Talanoa ceremony and received a traditional welcome. Our students had prepared questions for the elders asking about the history of the village and the impact of the river in their lives, and the elders were very happy to share their history and knowledge with us. Later the women of the village demonstrated how to create some of their traditional handcrafts, and we finished the night with some good fun and some energetic if not always skilled communal dancing.
On Thursday after another hearty meal, we set off on individual kayaks down the Navua River, travelling through some absolutely breathtaking and pristine scenery. After 2 hours of kayaking we stopped for a 30 minute trek into a stunning waterfall for a well earned swim, then back for a picnic on the banks of the river before heading off again. We were a wet and exhausted group who finally arrived back at Pacific Harbour at about 3pm. It was an amazing trip and I learnt so much about village life in Fiji, and the importance of the river for many villages. For me some of the other highlights were also getting to know the students; Emily and her unorthodox medical experiences, watching Louis' encounters with wildlife (stray cows in the river and savage prawns) Eddy's smooth dance moves with the ladies of Wainadiro, and Seraphina's impressive fan making skills. And once again observing the mysteries of the Fijian eyebrow and head movement language - which Mr Mario and the villagers and a lot of our students seem to speak fluently.
FIJI NATIONAL SCHOOLS SWIMMING REPORT 2015 SECONDARY SCHOOL This year we initially registered 54 swimmers doing 163 events. Altogether at the meet there were 37 schools, both Primary and Secondary competing. There were 627 swimmers and 1,880 individual entries registered with 181 relay team entries. We also had Sports Studies students assisting in the running of the event. Siobhan Williams did all the data entry of results for the Primary School events and Selenia Tukutukulevu and Sylvia Fusimalohi worked as timekeepers. Assisting the team in the tent were Matthew Cole and Jun Han. Other support staff included Lai, Eddy, Mr. Dona, Jonathan Uluiviti, Fesaitu Mario and Jennifer Liew. They were responsible for keeping the water out of the tents, having an endless supply of bananas, apples and mandarins. With the kind of weather we had they primarily ensured that everyone had access to juice and hot chocolate when they completed their races. The results from our swimmers were excellent with ISS coming second overall in the Secondary division. The Boys came third to Marist High School in the boys division. The overall winner of the competition was Swami Vivekananda College of Nadi.
ISS Secondary swimming Team 2015 The following students represented the school at the Fiji Schools National Swimming Championships on Friday May 29th and May 30th at the Damodar Aquatic Centre. Ornchisa Kalinta
Rishal Patel
Louis Morrell
Katherine Hobgood
Maxime Pons
Moimoi Baleilevuka
Sheldon Chow
Maia Ramsden
Talei Meleisea
Jose Santos
Leilani Patterson
Max Collingwood
Tyrone Punja
Forster Evers
Jeremaia Tuinamuana
Symone Chow
Congratulations to Samantha Heuss and Ella Morrell both of whom broke National Records in the 50m Butterfly events in their respective age groups. This year’s Schools Swimming Championships was also the trial for the selection of swimmers from Fiji Schools to represent Fiji Schools at the Pacific School Games which are to be held in Adelaide, Australia in November of this year. The selection criteria was for any swimmer who won a medal (first, second or third) in an event to be invited onto the Fiji Schools Team Squad. Letters inviting those swimmers to the team will be sent out in the next few weeks. The trip is totally self- funded and invitees will be asked to express their interest within 7 – 10 days of receiving the letter.
Mateo Savou
Beatrice Santos
Hannah Harness
Ella Sinclair
Clara Canton
Samuela Bola
Masimeke Latianara Samantha Heuss Rani Fairfax
Laura Drakeford
Ella Morrell
Darcy Keenan
Representation of Fiji at the Pacific School Games is not restricted to citizenship. As long as a swimmer is a registered student of a school in Fiji registered with the Education Department they are eligible to be a member of the Fiji Schools Team.
Eseta-Claire Navunisaravi
Elian Nervale
Alexandra Marshall
Samuel Cook
Staff Team: Dona Baledravu…..First Aid J Liew and F Mario Coaching and Management Jonathan Uluiviti… Marshalling liaison Lai and Eddy…….security guards.
Stella Keenan
Puana Puana
Vasiti Rokuru
Oliver Sinclair
Hannah Keteca
Thomas Ryan
Tamena Evers
Zion Seeman
The following students were officiating at the event: Selenia Tukutukulevu…time keeper Slyvia Fusimalohi……. time keeper Siobhan Williams……..Primary Results Data Input for the entire event. Matthew Cole…………team Jun Han………………. team
Melini Navunisaravi Talei Seeman Keith Meleisea Litia Baleilevuka
Celeste Kado
CELL – A – Bration Time for Year 7 Science Year 7 Rooms were a hive of activity on Tuesday morning 19th May. The Edible model of a cell Project was due and students were still putting on their finishing touches. All types of cell models appeared, Banana cakes, fruit cakes, Chocolate cakes, large cookies, pizzas, jelly, watermelon, pies. The classroom was full of colors. The students were marked for the correct labeling of each organelle and the creativity in the choice of foods representing the different parts of the cells. They also had to include fresh fruits and foods in their models. Students from year 6 to year 12 came in to view the display and to get a little science lesson on cells from the proud Year 7 Cell Biologists. This is what some students had to say about the project.
“It was fun, engaging and educational……I could remember a lot of things!.........Ella Morell “It was creative and tasty…Everyone enjoyed it!....Helped me with the different functions!...Moimoi “It was a lot of fun and interesting!...Had some challenges but so much fun!........Nonney Needless to say there was a sweet celebration afterwards with a very hyperactive year seven!
SET DESIGN TEAM Mentor - Kate Reimann & Roderick MeurigMeurig-Evans Leader - Itziar Gonzalez & Vikrant Singh
MAKE UP TEAM Mentors - Neelam Raj & Linda Rushon Leader - Silifina Paelate
Hanah Patel
Rhea Dass
Yingxue Zhu
Sahil Kumar
Shanya Patel
Youngkyu Hwang
Duaa Awais
Celest Cado
Sallyanne Gubon
Jade Matthews
Zhiyue Pan
Chuan Yuan Liu
Xue Zhang
Devlin Grewal
Na Eun Yoo
Talei Semaan
Helen Leslie
HeeHee-Jun Jang
Selenia Tukutukulevu
Masimeke Latianara
Min Soo Lim
Rusila Roqica
Sikyung Paek
Shayan Saberi Rosemary Mario Kelvin Liao Aaryan Kumar Alejandro Clement.
COSTUME DESIGN TEAM MentorMentor- Jennifer Liew Leader - Renee Carthew
Talii Cornish, Hannah Harness Jennifer Peng Sayinah Ali Alex Draper Antonia Sabass
CAST & CREW Beauty
Maia Ramsden
Beast
Gareth Wekina
Maurice
Inigo Gonzalez
Gaston
Joseph Bennion
Le Fan
Samuela Bola
Prince
Vikrant Singh
Mrs. Potts
Amelia Kami
Chip
Zion Semaan
Cogsworth
Shayan Saberi
Lumier
Mercy Neal
Feather Duster
Lilieta Soakai
Wardrobe
Manon Boivert
D’arque
Debanjan Dhar
Footstool
Luke Meurig-Evans
Coat Hanger
Sienna Harper
Baker
Tom Ryan
Towns person/Baker/Customer Oliver
Sinclair
Book Seller/Towns person
Ethan Wright
Towns person
Talisa Cumberbatch
Bartender
Camelia Ionascu
Bimbettes
Hannah Wright, Kaysha StrattonAdams & Mira Mishra
Shoe Shiner
Alyssa Mjaskalo
Towns Kid
Katie McLean
Town Kid’s friend
Leilani Sprankle
Director - Ernest Gibson Stage Manager - Siobhan Williams Mentor - Alex Karountzos
AUDIO VISUAL
MAKE UP TEAM
Leader– Leader– Damien Raju
Mentors - Neelam Raj & Linda Rushon
LIGHTING TEAM Mentor - Albert Eastgate Leader - Nicole Karountzos. Karountzos.
Hanna Macpherson
Leader - Silifina Paelate
Hanah Patel Yingxue Zhu Shanya Patel
BACKSTAGE CREW
Duaa Awais
Mentor - Regina Mastapha
Sallyanne Gubon
Leader - Arjun Bhugra.
Zhiyue Pan
Etuate Kasami Cooper Jackson
Leaders - Malcolm Narayan
& Aurora Sami
Lena Adams
Hena Dass
Ashleigh Singh
Claire Sonnek
Jasmine Colling
Emily Cook
Nell Jenney
Sophie Wright
Aurora Sinclair
PHYSICAL THEATRE Donna Rwabuhemba
Shikha Singh
Sebastian Espinosa
Marcus Narayan
Abbas Jiwanji
Zane Elias
Mentor - Alex Karountzos
Nelle Leenders
Binal Patel
Sikyung Paek
SPECIAL EFFECTS
Eloise Ryan
Helen Leslie
Leader - Tyrone Punja
Winnie Zhang
Kaia Whitfield
Clara CantonCanton-Lamousse
Min Soo Lim
Hana FujiFuji-Bennet
Ornchisa Kalinta
Qian Li (Leader)
Mentor - Carol Yao
Nirro Salva
Rani Fairfax
Na Eun Yoo Selenia Tukutukulevu
Tasuku Azuma
Natasha Weleilake- Marie EngellEngell-Hansen ba (Leader)
Xue Zhang
MUSICIANS
Juni Il Lee
DANCERS
Viliami Payne
COSTUME DESIGN TEAM
SINGERS
Mentor - Bex Nabouta & Tessa Eastgate Litia Baleilevuka (Leader)
Alena Waqainabete
Beatrice Santos
Jean Gubon
Emily Gibson
Olivia Lum
Joy Kami
Moimoi Baleilevuka
Sayinah Ali
Jade Cave
Papanui LiewLiew-Marsters
Alex Draper
Maryanne Gubon
Vasiti Rokuru
MentorMentor- Jennifer Liew Leader - Renee Carthew
Talii Cornish, Hannah Harness Jennifer Peng
Antonia Sabass
Jianuo Liu
FUN DAY update... Fun Day is not too far away (Saturday 8 August) and all of our preparations are underway - the international food stalls are putting together their menus, Mr Tim is auditioning entertainers, and now our classes are choosing their Fun Day activities and theme baskets for the raffle. Soon you will be hearing from your teachers about what activity your year level will run on Fun Day and what support students and parents can provide. You will also be hearing from your Parent Liaison about the theme basket your class is preparing and what your family can contribute. In the meantime, we have some exciting Fun Day competition news:
Poster Competition The response to the poster competition was amazing with nearly 100 entries! The quality of the designs was also outstanding across all year levels, which made judging a tough job, but we have found some very deserving winners. Our primary school winner is Leamalie Jensen in class 4J, whose design was also judged overall winner just ahead of our middle school winner Eseta-Claire Navunisaravi in year 601. With so many entries coming from the early primary classes, we have also decided to give an Encouragement Award to a younger designer, which goes to Khushi Patel in year 2B. Congratulations to our winners who will each receive a certificate and movie tickets, and to everyone who entered the competition. Because of the high standard of work, we will be displaying all of your designs at primary school from this week.
Fun Day Mufti Competion When one competition closes, another one opens! Our Mufti competition begins on Friday 12 June when students will be allowed to wear mufti (also known as casual clothes or free dress) and will be asked to contribute items for the Fun Day book and white elephant stalls to earn points for their class. All the relevant details are provided on the poster below. Thanks to everyone for their support, Myke Leahy Fun Day Coordinator
MUFTI SCHEDULE Friday 12 June, Friday 19 June Our Fun Day Mufti Competition starts on Friday12 June. To participate we ask that you bring the following unwanted used or new items (in usable condition) from home: Books / magazines Clothes / footwear Toys / bric-a-brac Each item will count as a point for your class so bring as many items as you can! The class that has the most points in Primary and Secondary wins a Super Fun Breakfast Party!!! Fun Day Mufti is not compulsory.
Friday 17 July, Friday 24 July, Friday 31 July Some important things to remember: 1. Please dress appropriately and wear sensible shoes. 2. Mark each donation clearly with your name and class. 3. Drop off your donation at Primary or Secondary office.
Upcoming Events T2 Week 9 Wednesday, June 10 5:00pm ISS PTFA Social Hour Friday, June 12 Primary Assembly - Year 3 (8.15 - 9.00) 5:00am Fun day mufti day 6:00am Fun day mufti day 6:00pm Screen on the Green T2 Week 10 Monday, June 15 Y11 12 Arts Trip Year 10 camp Tuesday, June 16 Y11 12 Arts Trip Year 10 Camp Wednesday, June 17 Y11 12 Arts Trip Year 10 Camp 2:40pm ISS PTFA Monthly Meeting Friday, June 19 Primary Press Reception Lovo Lunch (12pm - 1pm) Whole School World Oceans Day Assembly - Year 2 YC update Term ends
Wednesday, July 1 Scholarship applications open Wednesday, July 8 5:00pm ISS PTFA Social Hour T3 Week 1 Wednesday, July 15 Year 11 Camp All students begin Thursday, July 16 Year 1 100th Day of School Celebration Year 11 Camp Friday, July 17 Primary Assembly (8.15 - 9.00) Year 11 Camp
T3 Week 3 Tuesday, July 28 Secondary Activity Program begins ICAS English Wednesday, July 29 12:20pm (Tentative) ISS PTFA Lunch Talk: Elise Huffer, SPC 2:40pm ISS PTFA Monthly Meeting Friday, July 31 Primary Assembly (8.15 - 9.00) MS Social Scholarship applications close Monday, August 3 Early Childhood Week T3 Week 4
T3 Week 2 Thursday, July 23 Secondary Parent-Teacher interviews Council Finance Friday, July 24 Primary Assembly (8.15 - 9.00) Year 3 Art Excursion
Tuesday, August 4 Early Childhood Week Wednesday, August 5 Early Childhood Week Thursday, August 6 Early Childhood Week Friday, August 7 Early Childhood Week Primary Assembly - Year 2 (8.15 - 9.00) Talanoa