ISS NEWS ‘You are born not for yourself, but for the world…’
Our First Choir Festival Hot on the heels of the staff choir’s success in the SBC national choir competition, ISS was very proud to host its own inter-schools choir festival on the 2nd February at the International Conference Centre Seychelles (ICCS). The aim for the evening was to bring communities together to promote choral and music education in the Seychelles. Guests were welcomed by the Mayor of Victoria, David Andre, and Margaret Pillay delivered an inspiring speech about the benefits of music education and its power to strengthen, excite and unite us. Keith Martin, History teacher at ISS, was the master
of ceremonies, introducing the acts, and a number of staff helped back stage and front of house, ensuring the smooth and successful running of the show. Opening the performance with a powerful rendition of ‘Hallelujah’ was the junior choir; they also closed the evening with two calypso hit songs of the year, ‘Amavolovolo’ and ‘Janie Mama’. We were very proud of our senior choir for their fantastic debut performance, which revealed much talent and enthusiasm. We were also pleased to hear from our staff choir again, who performed ‘The Lion Sleeps
Tonight’. The choir festival included wonderful performances from a number of guest choirs, including: Ministry of Health choir, Ministry of Environment and Climate Change choir, Choral and Music Society of Seychelles choir and the National Choir of Seychelles. Thank you to everyone who was involved in making this a wonderful and truly memorable evening. The choir festival will be an annual event and we are already excited about the music we will hear next year!
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Fundraising Bake Sale is Huge Success The prom committee, comprising of Annie Alvis, Esinu Addo, Martina Chionni, Bhavini Raghvani, Brooke Suleman, Victoria Gao, Gaelle Dubignon and Tempany Kirkpatrick, organised yet another successful bake sale this term much to the delight of our secondary school students. All the homemade cakes and tasty treats sold out in no time at all as eager (and hungry!) customers flocked to the playground stall at lunchtime. The sixth formers have worked very hard to raise money for the prom which will take place in June. The money will go towards invitations, decorations, photography, prom awards, prizes, refreshments and entertainment, as well as ensuring ticket prices are affordable.
Sixth Form Students as… Teachers! This term, our Year 12 form groups rose to the challenge of teaching their classmates a skill or a lesson. The objective was to encourage students to identify their strengths, have experience of leadership and communicate with confidence. And so, during PSD, students became teachers for an hour. Basketball techniques, devilled eggs, dance routines, cupcakes, kickboxing – even the romance behind Maths(!) – were some of the topics that have been taught this year as a result of this project. Students delivered their lessons with authority and passion, and classes were supportive and engaged. I think we can safely say that the form tutors have learnt a lot too!
Roses and Raves! Usually when I hear the word ‘Valentines’, I think of chocolate and flowers, but here at ISS, our prom committee decided to break tradition and throw a rave! During the day, our sixth formers played Cupid, delivering single stem roses, cupcakes and love notes to students around the school. But come evening and the romance was replaced with glow sticks and neon! Well done to the prom committee for yet another successful, well-attended event which raised money towards the prom which will take place later this year.
Malaysia University Fayre By Mike Cosh A number of our year 12 and 13 Sixth Form students attended the Malaysia University Fayre in the February half term. They benefited from presentations from seven different universities from Malaysia on the courses and opportunities that they offer. There were further opportunities for our students to discuss with course tutors their individual career plan on a one-to-one basis. The courses are based in Malaysia, but many are 'dual' courses which gives the opportunity for students to study part of their degree in other countries such as the UK, Australia or USA. Those students who attended explained "what a great opportunity it was to meet these university representatives and get answers to the questions that really matter."
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Annie and Friends: Get Ready for our Summer Show!
Back in October, a number of hopeful students auditioned for parts in a musical adaptation of ‘Annie’, which will be performed in May. The following week, casting decisions were made and rehearsals were in full swing just before Christmas – and now, we can’t wait to see the performance! Our budding actors have shown real commitment and dedication to ensuring an entertaining evening, rehearsing on Tuesdays and Thursdays every week. It is unusual for the lead character of a secondary school show to be played by a Year 7, but Leah Malbrook absolutely shone in her audition and will be playing the eponymous Annie, a lovable orphan who has had a ‘hard knock life’. The villainous Miss Hannigan
will be played by Alice Chionni, Year 10. Angelo PonanCharlette, Year 10 will play Will Warbucks, an original character for the ISS production, and an amalgamation of Will from the 2014 film and Daddy Warbucks from the original Broadway show. Our other leads are Nick Amelie, Year 10, who is playing Guy, and Dar’ya Klymenko, Year 11, who is playing Grace. A number of Year 7s, 8s, 9s and 10s will comprise the chorus and Annie’s friends from the orphanage. Hats off to Miss Georgie, who is directing, choreographing and conducting the show, with help from Virginia Campolucci, an aspiring actress in Year 12, who is assistant director, and Mrs Brown.
To allow for the many creative talents of our students to be seen, there will also be a Performing Arts Showcase before the musical begins. Audiences will be treated to live music, Bollywood dancing, hip hop, ballet… and a few surprises in the first act! The whole school annual show of 2017 (which includes ‘Annie’ as the second act of the show) will take place on Thursday 18th May, 5:30 – 7:30p.m, at the International Conference Centre Seychelles (ICCS). Tickets will go on sale next term for what promises to be an exciting night of drama, dance and music! Money raised from ticket sales will go towards improving current facilities and resources for the performing arts. 3
Duke of Edinburgh
Expedition Adventures In February, fourteen students, with staff, worked extremely hard for two days on Camp Craft Skills in preparation for their Practice Expedition, which contributes to their Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award. The student activities started with fire safety, before building their camp fire and cooking a variety of evening meals that included pasta, sausages and potatoes. Finishing touches to the routes were completed and rucksacks were packed ready for the morning hike. After a hot evening in tents, the students rose, before the sun, with some groups preparing a cooked breakfast before setting out on their hike at 6:00 am. They walked from school, up to the Sans Souci pass, then off road to complete the Capolia Trail and then return. The journey took over 5 hours on foot. Then in March, 19 students, with 5 staff, set out on their final expedition. They completed two days of hiking with an overnight camp. Students proved their determination and ability to work together to motivate one another over an arduous 6-9 hour hike on the first day and then another 5-6 hours the following day.
Huge congratulations to everyone who took part in the practice expedition and the real thing! The students have very nearly completed their Bronze Award. All that remains now is for the activity logs to be completed and signed off and the final report to be completed. Many thanks to the staff who have been involved: Anne Rowlands, Mark Tidbull, Gerry Coiro and Kim Ward. They have given up afternoons and weekends to support our amazing students. Mr Cosh was very proud that everyone successfully completed the expeditions and looks forward to awarding the students with their Bronze level.
Year 10 Training Hard The 33 dedicated year 10 cohort are continuing with their training in preparation for their practise expedition which will be in the summer term. They are also working very hard dedicating their time, for at least one hour per week in each of the three activity areas: skill, physical and service. Here they are perfecting their map-reading skills. Keep up the excellent work! By Mike Cosh, Duke of Edinburh Co-Ordiantor
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International Women’s Day
Fregate Island Fun
Female staff members were presented with single stem roses during the regular Tuesday morning staff briefing on the 8th March to celebrate International Women’s Day. Attached to the roses was a note which read: “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. Be an inspiration to others.” As stated on its website, ‘International Women's Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity.’ This year the theme was #beboldforchange. For more information about this day, go to: www.internationalwomensday.com.
On the 13th to the 15th March our lucky Year 13 Biology class had the privilege of visiting Fregate Island. Accompanied by Mrs Rowlands, Ram, Urvashi, Mary, Michelle and Jyothika were taught all about Fregate’s incredible conservation programme, which will help them with their A Level unit, ‘Conservation and Biodiversity’. It was a very worthwhile and unique experience, which allowed the students firsthand experience with conservation. As it was the end of the turtle hatching season, the students were taught about their prints and nests. They carried out population sampling on millipedes, helped with the tortoises and they were also able to help with the ‘capture, mark and release’ of the various birds. Mrs Rowlands was very proud of how hard working the students were and pleased to report that they had ‘the time of their lives’.
World Book Day On March 3rd, ISS celebrated World Book Day, a day which focuses on the joys of reading and promotes the benefits of enjoying a wide range of books. This year, Mrs Macdonald’s Year 7 English class represented the senior school in the Book Parade, sharing their book recommendation, and they also created some fantastic display work, encouraging others to read. They designed a beautiful, enlarged front cover of ‘The Graveyard Book’, a wonderful novel by Neil Gaiman, for the parade and dressed as characters from the book. The students have really enjoyed studying the story of Bod and his unusual upbringing in this homage to ‘The Jungle Book’.
Birthday Celebrations! Staff members who had their birthdays in January and February were treated to cake and refreshments in the staffroom on Friday, 3rd March – a wonderful way to end the week and to bring everyone together! Thank you to everyone who attended our first birthday get together. A particularly big thank you to SKY Chef who donated the chocolate birthday cake, Mrs. Tennege who baked another chocolate cake, Mrs. Pillay for sponsoring the snacks, tea, sugar and milk, Miss Janice for organising the free Nespresso coffee and coffee machine from ISPC and finally those who helped organise the event. 5
Sport’s Day
Forget the Olympics! ISS Sport’s Day was the sporting event of the year! Despite sweltering temperatures, our students managed to remain cool under pressure, showing the true spirit of champions as they got stuck in to their events. Spectators followed the shade around the stadium as they supported the athletes who were performing. The atmosphere in the stands was one of excitement and goodwill. As Mr Rowlands reminded everyone in the opening ceremony, it is, after all, the taking part that counts. The field events included long jump, high jump, discus and shot putt while the track events included 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m and relay. To add to the fun, a tug of war took place at regular intervals as the houses battled for gold. Students impressed with their strength, their speed and their stamina. Individual and team records
were broken as students triumphantly strove to outshine previous record holders. Overall, Cardinal were victorious, coming first yet again after a number of outstanding performances. Fregate were second, followed closely by Desroches. Despite, finishing in fourth place, Aldabra were rewarded for their team spirit. We are so proud of everyone who participated and the support that was given to all who took part. Thank you to Mark Tidball and John Chitambo, who kept the crowd on the edge of their seats with their witty repartee, enthusiastic commentary and Dj-ing skills. Thank you also to Kirstie Kirkpatrick, who kept on top of the results all day, as students eagerly awaited updates. And, many thanks to all the staff who helped in the lead up to the day,
encouraging students to sign up for events and create banners and chants. Thank you to all the staff and the number of parents who helped on the day itself, supervising, timing, measuring, cleaning and guiding! And not forgetting the student sports leaders, who were in Mr Armitt’s words “simply awesome. Amazing!” And of course, Simon Armitt played a huge part in organising the day, which ran incredibly smoothly and was a real success. This was Mr Armitt’s last sport’s day and his favourite! He said, “Sports Day this year epitomised the strength of our community when we have a shared objective. Next year, I hope it’s even bigger and better!” For a full list of winners and runners up, as well as photographs from the day, please see the school website. 6