Dragon Tales Issue 12

Dragon

Tales

The Vientiane International School Monthly Magazine

Grade 4 comm unic through Art, p ate age 5

Project l a n o s r e P 11 pages 10-

“

If you change the prospects of an adolescent girl on a big enough scale, you will transform societies.

”

The Secondary Student Council support local students in our sister school through the Girl Effect project, page 29

Director‟s Notes page 1

January - March 2013 | Issue 12

Primary News page 2

Taking A ction Thro ugh Service, p age 25

Innovation Transforms Our World Grade 5 prepare for the Exhibition, p. 3

Celebrating Language 1 La Jour Francophonie p .7

Celebrating Language 2 Mother Tongue Students share their learning, p.14-15

The Courage Of Their Convictions Secondary Students voice their opinions at MUN, p. 20-21

Secondary News page 8

Sports News page 26

VIS MISSION STATEMENT ທາ້ ທາຊ, ຋ ົນບ ັນ຋ານໃຈ ແລະ ກະກຽມ ນ ັກຮຽນເຂົ້າສຉ ີ ຋ ິ ຌ ົວຈິງ ູ່ ວ Áskorun hrífur nemendur og undirbýr þá fyrir lífið framundan.

Stawianie wyzwań, inspirowanie i przygotowywanie uczniow do życia

Paghahamon, Pagpupukaw, at Paghahanda sa mga Mag-aaral para sa Buhay

ความท้าทาย แรงบันดาลใจ และการเตรี ยมพร้อม สาหรับผูใ้ ฝ่ รู ้ที่ใคร่ คน้ คว้าในวิถีแห่งชีวติ uitdagend, inspirerend, en voorbereidend tot een levenlang leren Mencabar, Menginspirasi dan Menyediakan Pembelajaran Sepanjang Hayat चन ु ौती को सामना गनन उत्प्रेररत गदै (रेरणा दददै ) जीवन जजउने कऱाससक्ने

सिक्षाथॉऱाइ तयार पानेI Utmanande, inspirerande och förbereder lärande för livet Utfordrende, inspirerende og en forberedelse til resten av livet Herausforderung, Inspriration und Vorbereitung fuer ein lebenslanges Lernen 的使命是为学者们 提供一个具有挑战性，激励性及终身学习的 优异环境 Can’t see your language?

Please send in your translations to rachaelp@vislao.com

Director’s Notes

Page 1

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Enjoy readi ng th e y bus

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Page 2

Primary Reflection

by Jon Davidson, PRIMARY PRINCIPAL

In this edition of Dragon‟s Tales Ms. Alison talks about the Exhibition information evening we held last month. Since then the students and teachers have been hard at work pinning down the focus for each group‟s Exhibition. The issues that have been selected are as diverse as “Innovation in house design can impact the environment” to “Water security depends on natural and human-made factors.” Each group is now deeply involved in the inquiry cycle.

Many have “tuned in” by taking field trips to places of interest for their particular group. For instance groups have been interviewing personnel at UNICEF and the COPE center, whilst others have been looking at town planning around the city.

The groups may well now be moving on to the “sorting out” stage, which is taking their information and synthesizing it, evaluating it and making sense of all the sources they have utilized.

In order to take on the Exhibition the students have been closely supported by a dedicated group of mentors who have been guiding, organizing, cajoling and refocusing their groups efforts towards that April 30th deadline. This is when everyone is invited to come along and view the outcome of all this hard effort. We will be displaying the student‟s work in the “black box”, over in the new Secondary School Arts building so please come along and help celebrate the 2013 Grade 5 Exhibition.

Primary News

Primary News

Page 3

IBPYP Exhibition Information Session

by Ms Alison Francis PYP COORDINATOR On Thursday 14th February, the Grade 5 students and their parents attended an information session about the PYP Exhibition. The purpose of this session was to help develop our understanding of the PYP Exhibition.

The presentation was focused using some of the PYP concepts our students use in the programme to develop their understandings.

   

Form – What is the PYP Exhibition?

Causation – Why do we do the Exhibition?

Function – How does it work?

Perspective - How would you describe your experience when participating in the PYP Exhibition?  Connection - How is it connected to the other IB programmes?

We were very pleased with the attendance and enthusiasm the students and parents demonstrated during this session! Some feedback we have received is:

Innovation Transforms Our World

 

It was very interactive, child-focused and informative.

I could get to know the range of Exhibition themes, hear the experiences of Grade 6 students and understand how excited and nervous about the exhibition the Grade 5 students are.  I am able to know the process, action and responsibility of my child in this exhibition.  It made it much clearer – more concrete – because it linked the concepts with actual questions.

A very special thank to you to the following Grade 6 students who came as guest speakers to share their perspective and reflection from last year‟s Exhibition:

  

Dragon Douangsavanh Joji Namura Leonie Fischer

Some important dates to add to your calendar:  April 29th – Exhibition preparation/set-up  April 30th – Presentation of the VIS Exhibition

Page 4

.The Primary School students have been creating in many different ways over the past weeks and one opportunity they have to do this is during their visual arts lessons. Grade 3 have been looking at how “interpreting artifacts provides insights into people’s histories�.

Taking images and symbols from their own lives they produced their own artifacts. The bowls that resulted from this inquiry are displayed in the corridor next to the Grade 3 classrooms.

Creativity

Page 5

At the same time, Grade 4 have been inquiring into Central Idea “Throughout history, people have interacted with each other and communicated using arts.�

They have been finding out how people communicate through arts by making their own masks that portray an emotion.

When you are next in school why not look at the display and see if you can interpret their masks?

Page 6

GRADE 3 INVESTIGATE STRUCTURES Field trips are a marvelous way of bringing a Unit of Inquiry to life. Grade 3 have recently been looking at how “Many factors influence the design and building of structures.� So that they could put this central idea into context they traveled into Vientiane and looked at different structures. They visited vehicle and foot bridges, a fountain, Patuxay Park and a water tower. They took the opportunity to consider what shapes occurred in the structures, the purpose of each structure and the materials used in their construction.

Of course field trips can be taken even closer to home. A quick walk over to the new swimming pool can be an enriching experience and the class then had the chance to talk to our very own construction expert, Mr. Greg. He could tell the Grade 3 all about the factors he had to take into account when commissioning the building of our new fitness centre and pool area. They discovered the main purpose of the structure is to build a safe learning environment for students. Being safe around water and having hours of fun is a laudable vision for what our school should provide. Grade 3 can hardly wait to dive in.

IBPYP Field Trips

Languages

Page 7

FRANCOPHONIE DAY

by Mr Jon Davidson PRIMARY PRINCIPAL

Travelling in the car the other week with my daughter, who is in our Primary Preparation class, we were talking to her about the games she plays with our neighbours. We asked her what the Lao word for “pink” was. After a moment‟s thought she said “I don‟t know, but I know What could be more French? what it is in French”.

As a confirmed monoglot I am deeply impressed with the ability that young children have to pick up new languages. The International Baccalaureate‟s Primary Years Programme requires us to provide an additional language and the students in our school are certainly given wonderful opportunities to learn them. They are also encouraged to appreciate the culture that interplays with these languages.

On Wednesday 20th March the French department put on a wonderful demonstration of how communication and culture are linked. The Francophonie day was much appreciated by all those who took part.

The range of activities was truly impressive and gave us an insight into French in all its forms and the rich cultural heritage that goes along with this beautiful language.

What do you think about Francophonie day?

"They need more cheese that smells good " Koen "First I didn't like cheese but after tasting some of them, I realized that French cheese is really tasty ! " Yuri “I enjoyed doing the research on Senegal and I was happy when people were watching my video" Konstantin “I liked playing "ballon prisonnier" and "l'épervier" with middle school students”. JT

Le petit déjèuner de pique -nique

“I enjoyed looking at the posters.” Kim "I loved helping grade1 students and seeing them learning" Louis

Les élèves jouent un jeu français

Page 8

Secondary News

Secondary Reflection

by Kim Green, SECONDARY PRINCIPAL

At VIS our teachers have been working alongside our learners to facilitate and guide their process of learning and to provide many opportunities for our students to celebrate their learning with the community.

Therefore, over the last quarter, we have celebrated our students‟ learning outcomes in various forms from the Personal Project Exhibition, to Mother Tongue celebrations, Francophonie Day celebrations, the DP Art Exhibition, the Vientiane Schools Sports Leagues, MRISA tournaments, the MRISA Cultural Exchange and MUN, Three Way Conferences and through the recent careers assembly.

As we continue to move forward and maintain our focus on continuous improvement I am constantly excited to see our school‟s mission alive.

In preparation for life our Grade 10 learners have had the opportunity to undertake work experience within the community this quarter and have also begun to consider courses for the IB Diploma programme. We are offering a wide range of subject choices within the diploma and are excited by the introduction of new taught courses for next year such as Sports, Exercise and Heath Science, Business and Management in This edition of Dragon Tales aims to share with addition to an English Literature option that will you the wide variety of learning our students are provide an alternative to the current English Language engaging with, how they are extending their learning into and Literature course for some learners. the community through service and the extent that their approaches to learning (ATL ) attitudes and skills are A culture of excellence in student achievement enabling them to achieve their goals. can be recognized and celebrated in many different forms. Our role as parents and educators is to continue Our teachers have also continued their learning to foster the culture of excellence among our students this quarter with VIS being represented at the IB across all areas of school life; personal, social, physical Regional Conference and a team being trained and and academic. Through service activities and our strong prepared for the upcoming changes in the IB MYP Co-curricular programme our learners have taken framework. Other learning opportunities have also opportunities to demonstrate excellence in connection occurred through in-school inquiry facilitators that with the curriculum and in connection with our worked with all of the secondary teams to explore how community. Enjoy reading about some of the learning inquiry-based learning can be further developed in the adventures in the secondary school. classroom, a primary colleague who helped us understand a learning and teaching strategy called „Philosophy for Children‟ and the re-establishment of ESL in the Mainstream workshops for teachers. When our VIS teachers attend learning opportunities they are inspired by their colleagues in other IB schools and their colleagues here at VIS. The secondary school at VIS is well respected within the region and there are many practices that are in place that other schools are inspired by.

Page 9

MYP In Action

by Jonathan Smedes MYP COORDINATOR A strong emphasis within the MYP is placed on

These are just some examples of the many ways in

learning that extends beyond the intellectual to include

which students in the MYP take action, many more

not only socially responsible attitudes but also

examples are on display every day throughout the

thoughtful and appropriate action, often initiated by the

school.

student as a result of the learning process. There are many examples of how MYP students take action at VIS,

some

of

which

have

been

demonstrated

throughout the past few months.

A number of Community and Service initiatives have been developed and consolidated during this time.

The action component of the MYP can involve service to fellow students and to the wider community, which is reflected at VIS in the variety of service initiatives that our MYP students regularly engage in. These activities take place both inside and outside the school and meet an authentic need to become meaningful service, where students work with people rather than for them.

Grade 10 students have recently demonstrated their ability to take action through the process they have undertaken in their Personal Project. The project encourages students to make connections with their learning inside and outside the classroom by using knowledge, understandings and skills across subjects to create products or solutions and it challenges students to apply skills and knowledge in unfamiliar situations.

This action culminates with students presenting evidence of their learning journey through the Personal Project Exhibition, which took place at VIS on Monday 25th March. More details about the exhibition can be found on the next pages.

Grade 10 students demonstrate the action they undertook in the Personal Project by presenting to PYP and MYP students in the lead up to the exhibition.

Page 10

Personal Project Exhibition

The Personal Project is a significant student-directed inquiry produced over an extended period during year five (Grade 10) of the IBMYP. The exhibition is a celebration of the 8 month journey that the students have been on whilst undertaking the project and it is an opportunity for all members of the VIS community to formally congratulate the Grade 10 students.

VIS students in Grade 10 had the opportunity to present their projects to the school community at Personal Project Exhibition, which took place on Monday 25th February 2013.

Utilizing the space afforded by new black box theatre, the day began with the Grade 10 students presenting their projects to students in both Primary and Secondary at VIS. Later in the evening, the students formally presented their projects to the wider school community. This year 33 high quality projects were presented in the exhibition, almost double the number from the previous year, with all students happy, proud and a little bit relieved to have finally completed their project. Congratulations to all students who completed the Personal Project in 2013!

Jonathan Smedes IBMYP Coordinator

“Through the Personal Project, I was able to improve my communication skills�

Samuel Vitikainen

Page 10 Page 11

“It has brought me worthy experiences that connects me more to what I am interested in” Jaiaree Corwin

“It was nice sharing 9 months of my work at the exhibition” Rupina Baek

“Thanks to the personal project, I have become more of a risk-taker as I had to make connections to the people during the exhibition” Wana Shamsudin

Page 12

Language B English

Connections to systems

by Tan Huynh LANGUAGE B TEACHER

The 6th graders were learning about the agriculture system.

We were studying how each individual part of the system connects and works together to produce the food we eat.

2 1

The students went back to school to apply what they learned about farming to create their own mung seed farm.

We went to a farmer outside of Vientiane to learn about farming. The students helped the farmer put down the husk of rice to better absorb water.

4 Our last visit was to Xao Ban yogurt company.

We wanted to learn how a processor turns the crops and animal products from farms into the food we eat.

3 The following week, we visited an organic fish farm on the Mekong. Each small fishing “house� can hold up to 600 fish.

Page 13

Connections to service

by Mme. Julia Lachet LANGUAGE COORDINATOR

Mesdames et Messieurs, Le cours de Français langue maternelle a dédié quelques heures de cours à la création d’un projet en lien avec le Lycée Français Hoffet. Ce projet a pour but de créer un panneau qui sera affiché dans cet établissement. Ce panneau décrit les actions qui ont déjà été prises à VIS par les élèves du groupe extra-scolaire et comment chacun peut les aider à résoudre les inégalités que subissent les filles au Laos.

French Mother Tongue Grade 9 students created posters in French to invite the students of Ecole Hoffet to participate in the Girl Effect Community and Service activity. This is a great example of connections that can be made between subjects (interdisciplinary connections) and also to the real world.

Bon travail les enfants!

Languages

Page 14

Mother Tongue Languages Day: a celebration of language and cultural 今日は diversities (konnichiwa)

by Mme. Julia Lachet CURRICULUM COORDINATOR FOR LANGUAGES Last February 21, for the first time, VIS celebrated the Mother Tongue languages. The theme of the day was about sharing and understanding our cultural diversities. Twelve Mother Tongue languages taught at VIS were represented; Chinese, Dutch, Filipino, French, German, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Spanish, Thai and Vietnamese.

Together, students from Prep to grade 12 and their Mother Tongue teachers presented a show where they shared with the school community various aspects Japanese Mother Tongue of their cultures through dance, music, songs, poetry, etc. They also organized workshops for the whole school to participate in. During these workshops students taught the basics of their Mother Tongue languages, dance, songs, history and other particular traits of their languages and cultures. Moreover, there were opportunities for degustation of food from different countries.

The response from the school community was very positive; the children clearly enjoyed participating in the activities and the Mother Tongue students took great pride in sharing parts of their cultural identity. It was a delight to witness the glow of confidence emanating from the Mother Tongue students as they performed throughout the day.

This day reminded us about the importance of maintaining Mother Tongue languages. Encouraging Mother Tongue languages at school is leading children to shape and affirm their identity.

VIS would like to thank the Mother Tongue teachers, parents and colleagues for their support.

We are looking forward to celebrating our Mother Tongue languages next year again.

¡Ho

la!

สวัสดี (sà-wàt-dee)

Thai Mother Tongue

Spanish Mother Tongue

Page 15

French Mother Tongue Chinese Mother Tongue

Hall

o!

ur! o j on

B

你好 (nǐ hǎo)

German Mother Tongue

Guten Norwegian Mother Tongue

Hei

at m a l Se

!

!

ay! h u ab

M

Korean Mother Tongue Vietnamese Mother Tongue ô!

안녕하세요 (annyeonghaseyo)

l Á-

Filipino Mother Tongue

IBDP News

Page 16

Real World Connections Functionality is Designed in Design Technology Awareness and understanding: appreciation of the

by Ryan Evans SECONDARY TEACHER

responsibility of designers for the uses of their products

Reflection on how sometimes the use dictates the form, sometimes the form is adopted through habit, not design.

Taking action to think creatively.

Stop

n o i t o m

STOP MOTION Film

By Sariny and Thip (Grade 8) Click here to watch ...

Stop motion (also known as stop frame) is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence.

Dolls with movable joints or clay figures are often used in stop motion for their ease of repositioning.

Stop motion animation using plasticine is called clay animation or "clay-mation". Not all stop motion requires figures or models; many stop motion films can involve using humans, household appliances and other things for comedic effect. Stop motion using objects is sometimes referred to as object animation.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

STOP MOTION Film

By Hamzi, Sam and Alex (Grade 8) Click here to watch ...

IBDP In ACTION

Page 17

The Extended Essay In the IB Continuum

by Todd Richer DP COORDINATOR The extended essay is the Diploma Programmeâ€&#x;s culminating project. It is an independent, self-directed in-depth study of a topic of interest within a chosen subject. Emphasis is placed on the research process in order for students to develop their capacity to analyse, synthesize and evaluate knowledge.

VIS grade 11 students started the year long extended essay process in December 2012. They have selected subjects and topics of interest. Students are beginning the research phase of the extended essay.

Students are doing preparatory reading of scholarly articles and books that will help them determine the significance of topic and formulate an arguable research question. March in grade 11is a significant time period for the extended essay as students are expected to formulate well-focused, arguable research questions under the direction of supervisors.

After formulating research questions, students access and read information from a wide variety of academic sources: scholarly journals, books, databases, and primary source documents when appropriate. It is essential that students avoid Internet search engines as their sole access point for locating information. Students have been encouraged to use VIS Library online resources and contact experts in our community as appropriate. Your assistance in supporting our students is greatly appreciated.

http://www.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk

Grade 12 students all finished their extended essay process in February. The students completed essays in the following subjects: English, Economics, Geography, History, World Religions, Chemistry, Visual Arts, Dance and World Studies.

Congratulations to grade 12 for successfully navigating the process of the extended essay. Students have further developed attributes of the IB Learner Profile which supports engagement in learning beyond the IB programmes.

The extended essay concludes with exiting interviews between the student and her or his supervisor.

Thank you to VIS teachers who supported students through this process.

www.ibo.org/

Field Trips

Page 18

Geography Field Trip

By Claire Butler-Walker SECONDARY TEACHER

The Grade 11 Geography students are inquiring into freshwater processes as part of their studies. The Geography class teamed up with BORDA-SEA, a NGO here in Vientiane, and gathered data to respond to the two fieldwork questions: How does water quality change in the That Luang wetland waterway, with distance from the CBD? How does stream channel shape change within the That Luang wetland river profile?

The group headed out equipped with an array of measuring apparatus, including testing kits sponsored by BORDA. The students were able to measure turbidity, oxygen levels, temperature, velocity and stream channel shape. The highlights were getting to put our knowledge into action in our local environment and being able to get a little bit dirty, or in Brianâ€&#x;s case a lot dirty, while learning. Our preliminary analysis has led us to conclude that water quality improves the further away from the CBD the stream is and that the channel shape changes from deep V to a shallower, wider stream with distance downstream.

A special thank you to Tobias Moeller from BORDA-SEA, for working with us and providing information and test kits.

Thank you, Mr Todd for giving up his time to come on the field trip and encouraging us.

Thank you to Ms Kim, for being our guest speaker on fluvial processes prior to the field trip.

Thank you to Mr Santi and Mr Bee, our superstar drivers.

Analysing samples

Measuring the temperature of the water

Theory of Knowledge

Page 19

http://www.tokresource.org/ Andrew Brown (2006) Blue War (detail). Oil on canvas.

By Kim Green SECONDARY PRINCIPAL The Grade 12 students completed their final Theory of Knowledge presentations. These presentations required them to develop a Knowledge Issue from a real life situation.

The presentation required the students to make connections to ToK concepts, different ways of knowing and draw on a range of examples from different areas of knowledge.

All of the presentations were completed to a very high standard and reflected the planning and forethought that the students had put into the preparation.

www.ibo.org/

Rica’s TOK Presentation

Arnold’s TOK Presentation

Click here to watch ...

Click here to watch ...

Page 20

Model United Nations

United Nations International School MUN

By Claire Butler-Walker SECONDARY TEACHER

The Vientiane International School Model United Nations team were honoured to be invited to the 5th Annual United Nations International School, Hanoi Invitational Model United Nations. VIS took a team of twelve students to the event; the team consisted of a mix of experienced MUNers and newbies. The theme for this year‟s conference was the „rapprochement of cultures‟ and the delegates engaged with themes and issues that connected to this. The team represented three countries, Laos, United States of America and Ukraine. We were very lucky to be awarded a place on the Security Council as the delegate of the USA, as this is a prestigious post for any MUN. All of the delegates gained new skills and confidence, with many delegates submitting and passing resolutions. There was lively and fruitful debate and on day three, all delegates were extremely sad that the event was drawing to a close. All of the delegates made new friends and are excited about their next opportunity with MUN. As coach of the team, I am very proud of the delegates‟ confidence and willingness to participate that I encountered when visiting all of the assemblies. The opening speeches and speeches during the assemblies were eloquent and thought provoking. The passion that many of the delegates displayed during the conference was inspiring, especially to see the confidence with which the passion was communicated. A special mention must go to Terry Kwag and Aseem Kumar, both newbies, who spoke at the Plenary Session. These two gentlemen gave impromptu speeches in front of an assembly of over 200 delegates, and Aseem spoke several times in this forum.

A special thank you to Mr Lucas Clarkson for volunteering his time to help the delegates before and during the event, especially providing insight to the delegates of the USA. Also, thank you to the parents and families who hosted our team while we were away and the families of the delegates in supporting their children in this experience.

A very special mention to Arnold Adji - This conference was Arnold‟s last as a member of VIS, he has been a committed and passionate person whose confidence in unfamiliar situations has remained unshaken. To Arnold, from the MUN team and coaches both past and present, we hope that you will continue with MUN at University and that you continue to pass resolutions that make a difference and speak up against issues that are troubling the world.

To the honourable delegates, thank you for your contribution to another successful and exciting MUN. You should all should be extremely pleased with yourselves. I would certainly vote for all of you as best-dressed and most passionate delegates!

Page 21

THE MUN TEAM Billy Chamnongphanij, Delegate of USA, Human Rights Council Aseem Kumar, Delegate of USA, General Assembly 1 Joey Keophonexay, Delegate of USA, General Assembly 2 Anthony Goffin, Delegate of USA, General Assembly 3 James Moon, Delegate of Laos, General Assembly 3 Tony Mongkhoune, Delegate of Laos, General Assembly 2 Arnold Adji, Delegate of Laos, Human Rights Council Terry Kwag, Delegate of Ukraine, General Assembly 1 Beautrice Soo, Delegate of Ukraine, General Assembly 2 Danny Park, Delegate of Ukraine, Human Rights Council Wesley Wan, Delegate of Laos, General Assembly 1 Rupina Baek, Delegate of USA, Security Council MUN Coaches: Claire Butler-Walker and Lucas Clarkson.

PHOTOGRAPHS Top: Arnold gives his opening speech Middle: Billy, Arnold and Rupina Bottom: The VIS team

Page 22

MRISA Cultural Exchange MRISA CX 2012 came and went

so fast, it was a blur of new friendships, experiences and lots of laughter and fun. As a VIS group of 15 students we had met four times before the trip to plan, prepare and practice our opening performance around the central idea of „Motion.‟ We were asked to represent Laos in 2012 between the times of 6am – 9am in three minutes!

The other International School groups were taking other timings of the 24 hour clock for their performances and we were all going to come together connected in an opening ceremony displaying a day in SE ASIA! It was a welcome challenge and after the Christmas break it was time for MRISA CX! Were we ready to rock?

Yes we were, and then some! The students were also excited for the awesome specialist and creative workshops that were going to be offered this year. Not to mention the amazing performances from other schools.

There was so much to do, see and experience, MRISA CX 2012-2013 guaranteed an artistic overload. It was fantastic. Students were inspired by teachers and peers and were asked to make sure to inspire someone else during the three days in return.

One of the strongest messages throughout the Arts Festival was for students not to be afraid to take risks. Scott Adams once said, “Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.” So they made plenty of mistakes, created lots of art, met new friends along the way and had fun participating in everything available at MRISA CX 2012-2013.

Some other highlights were playing basketball in some of our chill time together as a group and having the Sunday afternoon to relax at the shopping mall before flying home was very much welcomed by students!

A huge thank you to Miss Merrilee Mills who helped facilitate our performance and trip. But the largest thanks go to the students who were a credit to themselves and to our VIS community.

Check out the website www.mrisacx2013.cu.cc to see videos, text and images of the various performances and workshops over the cultural exchange. I hope to see you on the next cultural exchange, don’t miss out!

by Miss Nicky Shaw SECONDARY TEACHER

"I would recommend MRISA CX to anyone who is willing to engage and participate. My favourite workshop was "Art In Motion", the best thing about it was to show me how I could apply this technique back into my work in the classroom. I practiced techniques of drawing and painting and used new materials such as enamel which I worked into my finished canvas. The trip was fun, the teamwork, our performance; but also what I got out of the experience for myself."

Mitsuki Mori Grade 8

Honor Roll

Page 23

Congratulations to the following students on their academic achievements over semester one and congratulations to our learners who have been recognized for being consistently diligent with their learning.

Honor Roll is awarded for Academics and Diligence each semester .

Academic Honor Roll recognises students who have received four 6's (or three 6â€&#x;s in Grade 11-12), no other grade below a 3 along with and their approaches to learning are all within the grade level expectation bands.

Academic Honor Rolls S1

Grade

Nya Gnaegi

7S

Jung-won (Michelle) Nam

7S

Bethan Henderson

7S

Antonia Lang

7S

Laura Berdaga

9J

Jungmin (Danny) Park

9J

Laura Berdaga

9J

Anthony Goffin

9J

Diligence Honor Roll

Aseem Kumar

9M

S1

Grade

Wesley Wan

9M

Noni Flint

7S

Alisha Mudbhary

10R

Ken Fortin

7S

Santisouk (Joey) Keophonexay

10M

Daria Laroy

7S

Sengthida (Rosy) Lathanavong

10M

Sophia Vergara-Pinheiro

9M

Rupina Baek

10M

Lauren Williams

10R

Rebekah Marsh

10M

Beatrice Soo

10R

Youbeen (Rachael) Oh

8J

Valentina Thammavong

10R

Souknilanh (Anakin) Chantharath

8J

Alice Everard

10M

Monica Fennema

8J

Eaknarong (Tony) Mongkhoune

10M

Lisa Grages

8J

Emmanuel (EJ) Barte

10R

Antonia Fischer

8J

Soya Kanemaru

10M

Souphaphone (Jennifer) Banyadith

8A

Mitsuki Mori

8J

Josiah Marsh

8A

Jisung Baek

8J

Hannah Boyes

6C

Adeeba Bajwa

8A

Hannah Muziol

6C

Kanchita Rattanaprateepthong

6C

Isabella Chapman

6C

Vivie Chamberlain

6L

Maria Fennema

6L

Praneer Shrestha

7D

Jimin (Anna) Park

6L

Daniel Bobocel

7D

Leonie Fischer

6L

Saehyun (Stella) Park

7D

Linh Nguyen

6L

Daniel Vitikainen

7D

Dalita Xaysoulivong

11GN

Ki Han Kim

7D

Dieu (Huong) Do Le

11GN

Samuel Vitikainen

10R

Nga Linh Tran

11GN

Seung Yup (Terry) Kwag

10R

Kevin Nam

11GN

Anna Miehlau

11GN

Cassian Herbon

12JP

Effie (Darren) Low

11GN

Blake Gardiner

12JP

Ju Hui Lee

11GN

Oda Karlsen

12JP

Jonas Grimm

12JP

Honor Roll for diligence recognises students who have demonstrated excellent and very good approaches to learning across all subject areas. This is indicated by the majority of the approaches to learning criteria being in the top level of the grade level expectation bands.

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Service

SISTER SCHOOL DENTAL PROGRAMME

By Amy Ki GRADE 11 STUDENT On the 18th of December a group of VIS girls were given the opportunity to visit our Sister School as the VIS Nurse Miss Moe Moe had organised for the children at the Sister School to get a dental check-up and our job was to go there and pass out little goodie dental bags and spend time with the students. We were first introduced to this Community and Service activity from two teachers during class, we thought it would be a great idea and decided to join. Some of the girls who joined hadn‟t been to the School before and were interested in visiting the Sister School as we often associated with them through many Community and Service activities as well as a student based charity called The Girl Effect that raises and donates money to the School to help pay for students school fee‟s . One afternoon after school we helped Miss Moe Moe fill individual bags with items such as tooth brushes, soaps, toys and biscuits, we were making the bags for Prep to Grade 5 so each bag contained different items for each grade.

Filling the bags didn‟t take very long as we had many willing helpers. Then at 1:15pm on Tuesday afternoon we travelled to the Sister School, we were welcomed and greeted by the teachers and student‟s faces were full of smiles. We started by playing games with the students, afterwards we gathered in a room and sang songs and listened to the students sing to us and thanked us for coming. The visit was concluded with cake for the students and enjoying each other‟s company and distributing the bags to the students who were delighted to receive their dental bag. We were all happy that we got the opportunity to experience this and help out at the school and I feel we all came away with a feeling of fulfilment for helping out with the Sister School.

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Po Nowan Village Kindergarten & Elementary School Construction Project Completed

By Kim Green SECONDARY PRINCIPAL Whist on the Grade 7 SALSA trip the students contributed to the Po Nowan Village Kindergarten & Elementary School Construction Project. Over the 5 days that they were away they  carried sand up from the river bucket by bucket. This sand helped to reduce the costs of the construction as it could be used to make the cement for the building  mixed cement to be used in the bricking of the walls of the school,  helped to lay the up the brick walls of the school  excavated the land in front of the school to create a flat open space for the students.

On the 1 March Grahame from Buffalo Tours, who helped to organise our time in the Seaung River each year, sent us notification that the project has now been completed and that the opening ceremony was held on the 17 December.

We are proud as Grade 7 students to have been able to contribute to the village of Po Nowan and pleased to see the students with new facilities for their learning.

Sports News

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PRIMARY PLACES 1st Gibbons 2nd Catfish 3rd Nagas 4th Geckos

SECONDARY PLACES 1st Nagas 2nd Gibbons 3rd Geckos 4th Catfish

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SWIM MEET

By Rick Reece PARENT

Twenty-seven VIS students, known as the Mekong River Dolphins, competed in a swimming competition against swimmers from Hoffet and the Vientiane Sharks on Sunday at a 25 meter pool in Dong Palaep Village. The VIS swimmers range in age from 1st to 8th grades and swam with enthusiasm and skill. While many of the VIS students took away honors from the competition, standouts like Vivie Chamberlain, Maria Fennema, Ritchie Oh, Matthew Fennema and Ritco Oh won at least 2 gold medals each.

The swimmers and their families would like to express appreciation for the organizers of the event, especially coaches Simon Vaslet and Soulamphone Keudla who give their time and energy each week to build skill and confidence. With the opening of the new VIS swimming and fitness complex only months away, the future of the VIS swimming program is bright!

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Student Council News

Valentine’s Dance

by Lisa Grages GRADE 8 STUDENT

The bass speakers drummed. Pop and dance music flooded the entire dimly lit room. White and pink balloons bounced up and down in different corners. The simulated smoke and the neon-colored lights flashing around added to the atmosphere of the spacious room, also known as the “Black box”. The Valentine‟s Dance.

The boys and especially the girls have anticipated the Dance which was held at VIS in a time period of 7 to 10 in the evening on Friday the 15th of February, right after the actual Valentine‟s Day. When the Dance started, the first few couples arrived, semi-formally dressed and a few others came too who were either still waiting for their dates or bringing their group of friends along. More and more people came afterwards, some from other schools too. The dance was, as hoped for, a success and most people seemed to be having a great time and enjoying the night. Many were dancing away on the dance floor whilst others took a break outside of the room, talking with their friends and drinking a can of soft drink.

Improvements have been suggested to the committee organizing the Dance, the VIS Secondary Student Council in general, but there were mainly positive feedbacks from parents and teachers and even students. A big thanks to all the people who attended the dance, the Student Council and last but not least the parents and teachers who have volunteered to stay and watch over the students. Without all of you, the Dance wouldn‟t have been successful at all.

Youth Educating Youth Saturday School This semester the Youth Educating Youth Saturday School increased in size to include 28 secondary students. The students involved meet on Wednesday and Friday afternoons from 4-5.00pm to plan lessons in preparation for teaching every second Saturday.

All of the lessons created by the students are driven by key concepts and enable the 50 BSST students to engage in learning experiences on the VIS campus.

The lessons help the BSST students develop skills in English language, music, visual art, physical education and have fun with their learning.

The VIS students have developed skills of lesson planning, behavior management and are consistently surprised at the abilities of the learners at BSST and their eagerness to participate.

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Scholarships for BSST Students

By Kim Green SECONDARY PRINCIPAL

On the 2nd March the Student Council awarded ten scholarships to students from Ban Saphanthong Primary School. “If you change the prospects of an adolescent girl on a big enough scale, you will transform societies.�

Mark Lowcock, DfID permanent secretary

The Girl Effect believes that when a girl knows her own potential, she becomes a catalyst for change. Hence they raised funds to support girls in Laos gain and maintain access to education. Go to http:// www.girleffect.org/why-girls/ to find out more about the importance of this community and service group at VIS. As a result of the commitment from the student initiated and student led community and service activity The Girl Effect awarded these students with scholarships to Ban Saphanthong Tai School.

The Lighting Up the Future campaign is a Student Council initiative to remove all of your gift giving dilemmas whilst helping the students from Ban Saphanthong Tai Primary School. By choosing a gift from the Lighting Up the Future catalogue you can make your friends, loved ones or colleagues smile and help change the lives of children, families and a community in Laos.

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Counsellor’s News

CAREER TASTING

by Lauren Williams GRADE 10 STUDENT

During the last lessons of the day grade nine and ten were involved in career tasting. We spent an afternoon talking to professionals of various careers and learnt a little about what they do. We talked to professionals about their backgrounds, challenges, likes and dislikes of their jobs. We used this to help us get an idea about what we want to choose for our work experience.

The most interesting jobs for me were the veterinarian and the physical therapist. The veterinarian was interesting because he talked about how he had to study different animals and their illnesses. He said that he sometimes treated animals himself in many different locations. He has traveled to many countries to help treat diseases that can sometimes affect people.

The physical therapist had lots of information to offer us. She explained the type of studies you have to take to become a therapist and most of the things that they are involved in working with different injuries. She showed us images of muscles and bones of the human body and showed how they treat someone with an injury.

This experience probably helped most of us to think about the areas or jobs we are interested in for the future. We also get to be involved in a work experience with some of the professionals.

I enjoyed meeting with the different kinds of people and learning about how they got to where they are now.

Community News

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Fun Fair JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT FUN FAIR COULDN’T GET ANY BETTER!

By Rachael Phiasanaxay PARENT

Like most people, the topic of fun fair starts early on in my household. For my children it is the highlight of Semester 2!

So when on Saturday 23 March, the VIS Community came together to enjoy a few hours of organised fun, food and games, my children were not disappointed!

The Parents and Friends Fun Fair Committee once again provided us with a great family day out! This dedicated group of parents and all of the parent and student volunteers who helped out on the day put a great deal of effort and thought into the games and layout of the event, which was very impressive this year!

Iâ€&#x;m sure that the community will join me in saying thank you to everyone who made this day so much fun!

Board News

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Diving in at the Deep End!

by Greg Smith DIRECTOR The first quarter of the year has been a busy time for the Board of Trustees. The usual work has been underway with the school administration and Trustees working together to formulate the Budget, and at the same time we have commenced the new building project for the Swimming Pool and Fitness Centre, and we said farewell to two very valuable members.

David Boyes was at the front of the work on the Development Committee and the Finance Committee. His drive, professional knowledge and commitment helped the school to develop the two major building projects of the past three years. He should always be remembered for his great work in preparing for the swimming pool and the photo below shows David at his final Board meeting in December, celebrating his work on the Pool project by standing in a paddling pool.

Lucy Oâ€&#x;Connor left in March after a great contribution to the school over many years. Lucy, in her familyâ€&#x;s second stay in Vientiane, was Vice Chair and gave particular support to

the development of policy for the school. She leaves the Board Policy File in a much better place and has helped to clarify many of the processes for the school.

The preparation of the 2013-14 school budget is well underway. This process takes many months and involve three meetings with the community to gain feedback. The March Board meeting is where the fees for the following school year are decided based on all available information. The aim of the Board is to create a balanced budget which provides the services required and maintains reasonable fees.

The Swimming Pool and Fitness Centre is the major development project for the year. The project will see a 25 metre pool with 8 lanes and a 12 x 12 metre non-swimmers pool constructed. The buildings will include large fitness training areas, a new PE staff office, classrooms and first aid area. The Board will soon be seeking the views of the community on what access, if any, should be available to families outside of school hours.

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