31St May 2019 Important Dates
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31st May 2019 Important Dates June 1 SAT 1 Graduation, 2:00pm in The QET 3 PTO Meeting, 9:30am in the Crathes Meeting Room 5-11 HS Semester 2 Exams 5 Pre-School Sports Day 5 MS “An Evening of the Arts”, 6:00 for 6:30pm in The QET 7 Spirit Wear Day 7 Grades 3-5 Sports Day, 1:00-2:55pm 11 MS House Challenge 11 Pre-School End of Year Celebration, 10:00am in The QET 11 Last Day for Pre-School – Dismissal at 11:00am 12 ES Closing Ceremony & Slide Show, 8:45am in The QET 12 MS/HS Assembly, 10:15am 12 EARLY DISMISSAL AT 11:00AM – End of 2018-2019 School Year From the Head of School Dear Parents, You may not have heard of Jadev Payeng. He is not a Head of Government, nor the director of a multinational company; nor is he a performer or celebrated academic. He is not rich, nor has powerful friends. Nevertheless, he has done something quite remarkable with his life. He was inspired by a dead, dried out snake he happened across when he was a teenager. Javed took the simple action to plant a tree to provide shade for other reptiles. Then another, and another – and every day for 35 years. There is now a forest where there was wasteland. The local government had been concerned about coastal erosion in the area and had attempted their own re-forestation campaign. Which failed. While Javed pretty much planted a forest by himself: now home to several endangered species including tigers, rhinos and elephants as well as many species of reptiles, birds, deer and monkeys. Without realising exactly what he had started, Javed’s simple act of planting, and his persistence in continuing to plant, now not only helps preserve a diverse range of life but also begins to address global issues such as biodiversity and greenhouse gases. Yesterday, ISA hosted the 3rd Annual Sustainability Conference. 12 schools from around the area took part in workshops run by local charities and listened to a talk given by Professor Colin Moffat, chief government advisor for Marine Conservation. Students also had opportunities to Page 1 of 6 think about fair trade, climate action, sustainable food practices, upcycling, recycling and re- greening. Opportunities to happen across their own ‘dead snake’. Awareness is important, but it is only a starting point; ISA’s mission is to develop students into active global citizens – for them to plant saplings as well. Javed’s story reminds us that we do not need to be rich, famous or powerful to take meaningful action; nor do we have to wait until we are a certain age. It is also a reminder that global issues aren’t out there somewhere; we don’t have to get on a plane to find them; that doing something big starts with something small, and is an accumulation of many small but significant actions. When we embark on a worthwhile project, we have no idea what other good things may follow. Two Elementary teachers, both fairly new to ISA, put a lot of effort into making this Sustainability Conference the biggest and most diverse so far. I would like to give a big thank you to Lucy Thompson, Lulu Davies for all their hard work and commitment. Also many thanks to Fabiana Pereira, Kent Walter, and Ian Williamson for their extra support in making sure that everything ran smoothly, and to ISA’s Parent Teacher Organisation for sponsoring all the food costs (£250) and CNOOC who provided £1000 for many of the other costs. Kind regards, Nicholas Little Head of School From the MS/HS Principal Dear Middle/High School Parents, Last week closed with a busy couple of days at ISA with a Mile Run, HS Awards and then Prom on Saturday. The sunshine and positive attitudes of students and faculty made for a series of fun events that brought together many different parts of our community. It was great to be able to recognise so many gifted students at our HS Awards ceremony and listen to their teachers describing the children’s achievements. The MS Awards are aligned to our ISA Values and these will be presented on the penultimate day of term. Between now and then, there is also the MS Fine Arts Night to look forward to, where artistic talents are showcased and celebrated. The big event this weekend is Graduation, and I am looking forward to the occasion. It will be a time of mixed emotions for our graduates as they reflect fondly on their time at ISA, but also look forward with excitement to the next stage of their lives. I would like to take this opportunity to wish them well for the future. I also wish to thank the many people that have worked hard to create a memorable final few days for them, especially Anna Tolstyko. After a successful HS Trip Week, plans are already taking place for 2019/20. Information on the trips available and approximate costs will be shared with parents when we return in August. For both MS and HS Activity Weeks there will be a locally based option, and we will be looking to establish student preferences early in the semester. Exams start on Wednesday for Grades 9 to 11, and I have attached the schedule for reference. Students need only come onto campus when they have an exam but are welcome to use the Library any time for revision or meet with teachers. They should remember to sign in and out with reception, though. Page 2 of 6 Angus Carmichael MS/HS Principal From the Elementary Principal Dear Parents, Classes for Next Year In an International School, population changes are common each year. It’s always difficult to predict precisely the exact enrolment of students from June to the start of the new school term in August. At the moment, we have as many new students arriving for August as are leaving in June. We will continue to have two teachers at each level from Kindergarten through fifth grade. At each grade level, a team approach is adopted so that students feel part of one class with at least two distinct physical classrooms. Within those classrooms students are assigned to one section. This grouping is decided by the teachers of the current grade in an attempt to establish two balanced groups of students in terms of academic and social ability, gender, personality, friendships, and English proficiency. Because there are so many issues to consider, this is a complex and time-consuming process and not an exact science. In fact, next year we may not be pre-determining class lists in some classes until after the school year starts. This will give our teachers maximum flexibility to adjust to sudden changes in enrolment and to take into consideration the new students who have just joined ISA. The teachers here do a thorough job of making student transitions as smooth as possible through class visits for the students and formal and informal exchanges of information amongst the teachers. (The senior Pre-School children just had a great visit with the Kindergarten.) Next year, we will have several new teachers, so student information will continue to be exchanged in Page 3 of 6 August just before the first day of classes. If you have any questions about the transition process, please ask the current classroom teacher and, of course, you are welcome to visit with me. A Few More Events On Monday, we enjoyed a lovely concert with the fourth and fifth grade Band and Choir. I hope parents can join us for one or more end-of-year events. • Monday, 3rd June - PS Sports Day in the big gym at 1:30pm • Friday, 7th June – 3-5 Sports Day, 12:30 – 2:50pm • Monday, 10th June – Fifth Grade Leavers Assembly • Tuesday, 11th June – PS End of Year Celebration, 10:00am • Wednesday, 12th June – 8:45 am Closing Assembly and Slide Show In addition to our all-Elementary events, grade levels are continuing to take exciting trips in the last few weeks. Look out for more news in class newsletters. Best regards, Don Newbury, Elementary Principal Student Pick-up / Drop-off Procedure Recently, we have been reviewing our procedures surrounding student pick-up / drop-off between the hours of 8:15am and 3:00pm. We would kindly request that if your child is under 16 years of age and you are dropping off or collecting your child during the school day, that you come into the school to sign your child in / out at reception. Maintaining the safety and wellbeing of our students is our top priority. From the Fine Arts Department An ENORMOUS ‘BRAVO!’ To the Elementary School Band & Choir for an outstanding Spring Concert!!! EXCELLENT WORK!! The lunch periods were not the same this week with the beautiful jazz music in the background! WELL DONE to the HS Jazz Band for an incredible lunch recital! What a great way to say farewell to our graduating musicians! Mark your calendars for a beautiful evening of art, music and drama… “An Evening of The Arts” Middle School Fine & Performing Arts Wednesday, 5th June 2019 6:00pm for 6:30pm The Upper Corridor & The Queen Elizabeth Theatre The Fine Arts Department Page 4 of 6 From the Library It’s been a busy year in the library – we’ve had over 19,000 items borrowed, with still a few weeks to go! If your children are continuing at ISA in August, they are very welcome to borrow library books for the holiday.