September 2015

The ISL Headlines

“Striving for

Excellence”

From the Head of School : Mr. Martin Gough

Welcome back to the School Year 2015-16. I hope your children are set-tled into the new school year.

Like everybody else in Zambia, students, teachers and staff at the school are being affected by the load-shedding at home and at school. This cre-ates all sorts of difficulties in school from accounting to supplying water to toilets to running the school network to teaching in class, especially if you are a Technology teacher.

We are continuing to look at a long-term solution to the power needs of the school and are looking at both a large generator (220kVa) and large-scale solar. Obviously, generating our own power is an unplanned cost and will turn out to be expensive, one way or another.

In the short-term, we have been provided with a 20kVa generator by Action Auto and Autoworld and we would like to thank them for this generous provision. The required wiring was put in place today and so we can at least power the IT and Social Studies classrooms, the Secondary Library and the Admin block. This will allow the Primary and Secondary Technology teachers to teach our students and the Finance Office to manage the accounts.

Even with the load-shedding challenges, classes got under way smoothly when school started on 19th August and it is difficult to believe we have been back for nearly 3 weeks. The new teachers and students are settling in and finding their feet. I hope you will have made use of the chance of meeting the new faculty members at the PTA Back to School Braai that was held on Friday 4th September. They are:

The new Primary Principal, Mrs. Sunita Nair, has been at ISL for over 20 years as a teacher and parent – both her children spent their entire careers at ISL before graduating and going on to university in Australia. For the last 4 years she has been the IBPYP Coordinator in Primary School, where she oversaw curriculum development and delivery.

In Primary School we have two new teachers: Mrs. Gwyn Bentley who is teaching in Early Years. She has two children already at the school, so knows ISL well. Mrs. Daniella Filice joins us from LICS, where she has been teaching for many years, and she is teaching in Upper Prima-ry.

In Secondary School, we are joined by Mr. Craig Patterson as Secondary Principal. Mr. Patter-son is Canadian and is accompanied by his wife, Moona, and two children who have joined the Secondary School. Mr. Patterson is a very experienced administrator and IBDP teacher and has carried out many IB authorisation and training visits to school throughout Asia.

In Secondary School we have six new teachers:

I would like to welcome all the new students, teachers and principals and wish them well as

they settle into life at ISL.

Important Dates

Head of School 1

IB/IGCSE Re-sults

2

Primary Principal 3

Early years 4

PYP 5

Secondary Princi-pal

6

IGCSE/IB 7

IB 1 trip 8

CAS 9

Kumon 10

Contents

Yr 7 trip to wild tracks

14th Sep

Staff day—No Students

18th Sep

Yr 6 trip to tree tops

21st Sep

Yr 11 trip to tree tops

5th Oct

Who? From Where? Teaching Other role

Nathalie Vignard French/British French IBDP Coordinator

Sharron McDuncan-Bain Australian Technology Technology Coordinator

Heather Campbell Canadian English Head of English

Vicky Campbell Irish Biology Head of Science

Reuben Christman Australian Music Head of Creative Arts

Sinead Rousseau Irish/Trinidadian Chemistry

Congratulations to ISL Students!

The International School of Lusaka congratulates the 2015 Year 11 and Year 13 students on their excellent examination results in the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) and Internation-al Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) – the Best Results Ever at ISL!

87% of IGCSE grades were A* to C, 71.6% of grades were A*-B and 83% of students gained grades A* to C in 7 or more subjects.

IB Diploma Programme students at ISL averaged 34 points (world average 29.88), with 59% achiev-

ing 34 points and above, and the top 40% students gaining an average of 39 points. Approximately $220,000 offered to ISL students in University Scholarships (including merit-based,

sports-based, and community service-related) for university places in the USA as of June 2015. ISL Class of 2015 students received and accepted offers from top universities in the United States,

Canada, United Kingdom, U.A.E., South Africa, Australia, South Korea, and Europe. Intended pro-grams of study include (but not limited to) medicine, engineering, law, liberal arts, and business.

Places still available for entry to the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) for August 2015 entry.

Please call Admissions on 0211-250351 or email ibdpcoordinator@islzambia.org asap.

School Website: www.islzambia.org

Online Admissions Website: https://islzambia.openapply.com/

ISL is a university preparatory school educating nearly 700 students from over 50 different countries. ISL stu-dents go on to study at universities across the globe with many receiving university scholarships, thanks to the internationally recognized IB Diploma Programme – the Gold standard for pre-university education.

ISL is fully accredited by Council of International Schools and the New England Association of Schools & Col-

leges, authorized by the International Baccalaureate Organisation as an IB World School offering the IB Pri-

mary Years and Diploma Programmes, and a centre for Cambridge International Examinations and United

States SAT exams for university and college entrance.

ISL Headlines! Page 2

A warm welcome to all members of the ISL family, old and new! It is great to see you all back refreshed and relaxed. We are also thrilled to see the campus come alive with vibrant and energetic children!!

We have some new faces among the teaching personnel in the Primary and I will take the opportunity to give them brief introductions. Please take the time to find them and introduce yourselves and welcome them to the PYP Programme.

Year 5 Teacher – Daniella Filice Makawa, a dynamic and versatile teacher has joined us from LICS and we look forward to working with her at ISL

Reception Teacher – Gwyneth Bentley is a long time Zambian hand and brings a superb wealth of Early Years‟ experi-ence to ISL.

Primary Counsellor/ Learning Support – Fiona Munro has lived in Zambia for a year and worked with Secondary school. She now shares her expertise with the Primary school taking over from Ms. Marit.

Zambian Studies- Ms. Georgina Hacaambwa‟s aim is to help enhance our understanding of Zambia‟s rich culture and heritage. We are looking forward to a lot of Nyanja greetings on school campus!

Column space is limited in this first edition so I will sign off with a big welcome back and a reminder not to miss our Wel-come Braai on Friday 4

th September. This is organized by the PTA and provides us with an opportunity to relax and get

to know each other better. So please do come along.

I would like to thank parents for coming along to Open House on the different mornings. We were encouraged and look

forward to working with you as a team.

ISL Headlines! Page 3

Message from the Primary Principal: Mrs Sunita Nair Primary

A warm ISL welcome to all families, new and old. I would also like to welcome four new members of staff into our Early Years Family, Mrs. G Bentley (Reception teach-er), Mrs. A Phiri (Yr. 2 teacher), Miss Nelly (teaching assistant) and Miss Gwen (teaching assistant).

The year has started off smoothly and all the children are settling in well. We look forward to a year filled with fun, learning and adventure. This week the Reception classes have been out to Lilayi to visit the elephants at the Elephant Orphanage. Their unit is about how family structures are unique and that families have things that are similar to and different from other families. They certainly observed a unique family!

I hope many of you had the opportunity to attend our Open Day and find out information about your child‟s year ahead. If you have any questions please feel free to pop in anytime and speak to your child‟s teacher.

Here are a few key points to remember:

The official starting and ending time of the school day in the Early Years is different in each Year, so please ensure you are aware of the times. We strongly encourage you to drop off and collect your children on time.

NO HAT NO PLAY – We would like to encourage all children to have a hat at school and to wear it when playing outside. Please ensure you bring in a clearly labeled hat that can remain at school.

Healthy eating – We ask that you encourage a healthy eating lifestyle and ask that no sweets, choco-lates, fizzy drinks, energy drinks etc. are packed in your children‟s lunch boxes.

Book bags – Please make sure your child has a waterproof bag for their library / reading book. This helps keep them dry and safe from a spilled lunchbox or juice bottle. We are reluctant to hand out books if a bag isn‟t provided.

As we all know „germs‟ love the Early Years. We ask that if your child is unwell, has a fever, bad tummy, bad cough or cold that you keep them at home for at least 24 hours. This helps prevent the spread of „germs‟ and gives your child a chance to rest and recover.

If someone different will be picking up your child please be sure to let the teacher know. We are still looking for a parent class rep in many classes. If you would like to help with this role, please

let the teacher know.

Thank you and good luck for the year ahead.

From the Early Years Coordinator: Mrs Karen Hedstrom

ISL Headlines! Page 4

“Welcome back to the 2015-2016 academic year! I hope that you all had a great holi-

day and that you are looking forward to another exciting year. For those of you who

are new to the school, I‟m Mrs Grace Kambeu the IBPYP Coordinator. I have been

working at ISL for a long time and I have taught year 3, 4, 5 and 6 and also served as

Upper Primary Coordinator.

PYP IN A NUTSHELL

IBPYP is an international programme for primary schools and at the heart of the programme is the belief that

young students learn best through inquiry in a „real world‟ context.. At ISL we aim to develop the intellectual,

emotional and physical potential of each child in a secure and stimulating environment. Students learn and

use knowledge, concepts, skills, and attitudes from a variety of subject areas to explore six transdisciplinary

themes of global significance with an emphasis on conceptual learning. Their actions and behaviour reflect

their learning. The entire school community works together to facilitate learning. As part of orientation for our

new parents, we had a introductory presentation on PYP. This was followed by Open House where parents

had an opportunity see how our school curriculum is delivered in the classroom. Thank you so much to all

those who attended. Please join us in creating students who will model international mindedness through the

attributes of the Learner Profile. As promised, look out for our first parent workshop on ‘Being a PYP

Parent’!

Message from the IBPYP Coordinator: Mrs Grace Kambeu

ISL Headlines! Page 5

From the Secondary Principal: Mr. Craig Patterson

I‟m extremely happy to be able to contribute to the first edition of the 2015 – 2016 ISL News-letter as the incoming Secondary Principal. It‟s certainly been a whirlwind of activity for myself and my family over the past few weeks as we settle into Lusaka and the rhythm of life in Zam-bia.

My wife, Moona, who is a dentist, our two children Zak (Year 9) and Munita (Year 7) and If have been a bit overwhelmed at times getting used to the way things work, and how some-times they don‟t work. As much as our time in India and Vietnam has prepared us for living a life full of challenges, Zambia and Lusaka will offer new ones which we have yet to experi-ence. Of course, as life-long learners, we are coming here ready to accept and learn from our new experiences. What has made that so easy is how friendly and accommodating everyone has been. Our many thanks to the school and Zambian hospitality for that.

Over the past 20 years, I have taught and/or been part of administrative teams in a variety of international schools in France, the Yemen, India and Vietnam, in both the Primary and Sec-ondary sections of schools. Although I have also worked in Canadian, American and Indian curriculum schools, my pref-erence is to work in schools with international curricula, such as the IB or Cambridge, as I have found these pro-grammes best reflect the attitudes and values of the staff, students and parents associated with international schools. Being part of a multicultural environment, our students have the opportunity to interact with others who may not share the same set of beliefs and values which they do. Learning to live together in spite of these difference helps prepare them for the world outside the school gates.

As a former PE teacher and (aging) sports enthusiast, I believe strongly hard work, commitment, and teamwork. We all

have something to contribute and something to learn. I look forward to contributing to the ISL community, and learning

from the many talented students, parents and teachers around me.

Each year the secondary section sets goals, within a larger strategic plan, so that it continues to grow and improve.

Some of these are internal goals and relate to teaching and learning and organisation, while others will be more appar-

ent to the wider community and, in order to be as successful as possible, need support from home.

One of our goals this year is to improve the quality and frequency of communication between the secondary school and home. We aim to do this by:

Further developing the Tutor programme; the Tutor being the parents‟ first point of contact should they have any questions, concerns, comments or suggestions about their child‟s education.

Increasing emails and/or information on the website regarding upcoming events and activities

Increasing opportunities for parents to come in to school and talk with teachers or tutors after reports are issued

Initiating a number of “coffee mornings” when parents, teachers and the administration can meet informally to

dicuss topical issues in education, from effective teaching and learning and supporting your child at home, to safe access on the internet and the positives-negatives of social media.

Another tangible goal that requires the parents‟ help is to support students in developing and implementing increased organisational strategies. We will be working with students on a variety of ways which they can become more organ-ised. If these strategies are reinforced at home, then any gains made will not be short-lived. For instance, parents might support their children by talking to them about homework and due dates and ensuring work is complete, looking at their schedules and helping them to be prepared for the next day, ensuring they leave the house with appropriate clothes and with all they need for the day, checking ManageBac for major tests and assignments and helping to make sure they arrive before 0705. Many of these organisation skills will be supported by the Student Planner, which will be distributed shortly. More information about ManageBac will be forthcoming when the system is fully operational. I look forward to an exciting year in the secondary school. There is a lot to do, but I am sure that with support from all our stakeholders, we‟ll make the ISL secondary programme even better.

Secondary ISL Headlines! Page 6

SL Headlines! Page 7

The new school year has started with the good news of some excellent IGCSE results. They were the best ISL had in the last 7 years and maybe ever: more than 87 % of the grades were A* to C grades or 72 % of the grades were A* to B grades. I wish to congratulate the 2015 IGCSE year group, their parents and their teachers for a job extremely well done !

The number of students in year 10 also looks healthy with 45 and some of the option subjects are already full. Soon more information will go out about the upcoming camping trips: the Year 11‟s to Treetops in early Octo-ber and Y10 to Wildtracks in mid-October.I hope your daughter/son will be eager to join these trips. The parents of the Year 10‟s will have the opportunity to meet the IGCSE teachers on Wednesday 23rd of September 2015. More details about the time and venue will be communicated later. Hope to meet you all then !

From the IGCSE coordinator: Mr R Van de Velde

As a new IBDP Coordinator at ISL, it is with great pleasure that I make my first contri-bution to the ISL Newsletter. Having worked internationally for the past 14 years first in Africa then in Europe, it is exciting to be back in this part of the world, and to find out the last IBDP cohort‟s fantastic results: with an average of 34 points, compared to the 29 points world average, these were the best IB Diploma results obtained at ISL so far. The former IB2 students and their teachers should be proud of their achievement!

This academic year‟s IB2 students have started what is probably going to be the most challenging term of the IB Diploma course, with many Internal Assessment (IA) deadlines around the corner, as well as their univer-sity application to complete. It is therefore very important that they remain organized both at school and at home.

The implementation of Managebac, the IB software designed for assessment and planning, will help them to stay on top of things, as well as the IB Clinic.

Indeed, the IB Clinic is another novelty this year and will take place every Tuesday from 2pm to 4pm in the IBDP Coordinator‟s office. The teachers will sign up students who are behind with their Internal Assessment, Extended Essay or Managebac update, to attend the clinic, which will take priory over their activities‟ pro-gramme.

Finally, after only a few days back at school, this year‟s IB1 got to enjoy a weekend of camping at Pioneer Camp to complete some team building activities with their form tutors, Ms Duvivier and Ms Meredith, Mr Pow-ell and myself. What a great way to get to know them and to introduce a couple of the new students to ISL!

I am looking forward to working with the students during this new academic year.

IB Corner! From Nathalie Vignard

ISL Headlines! Page 7

On The 22nd

of August 2015 the IB1 class departed for Pioneer Camp at 9AM. This trip enabled the class to get to know each other and some of their teachers. The induction camp was great to gain some team-building skills as well as great for us to practice some attributes in the IB learner profile such as being communi-cators and risk takers.

We picked our campsite and pitched our tents. Throughout the rest of the day we had various fun activities set up by our teachers such as: The web – this involved members passing through the gaps in the string for various points awarded ac-cording to the difficulty, it was an exciting experience as some teams managed to carry members over the top for extra points. The paper island involved all mem-bers trying to step on one piece of paper, the size of the paper was reduced each round thus making it a very fun and challenging activity.

There was another activity called the knot where we had to untangle ourselves without letting go of each others hands, it was quite hard and the sweaty palms did not help the situation but with the help of the „knot doctor‟ the teams complet-ed the task well.

During our free time we got to bond with our classmates & explore the campsite, which was very enjoyable! We finished of the fun filled day with a hearty braai. While we shared our food we enjoyed the sounds of the African countryside. Overall it was an enjoyable experience; sadly it was only one night and we returned to Lusaka the following day.

Report by Srivatsan & Shruti Rajagopalan

IB 1 trip to Pioneer Camp

ISL Headlines! Page 8

You may know that ISL has had a strong CAS programme over many years. CAS, which used to be called Creativity, Action and Service has now been renamed by the IB Organisation as Creativity, Activity and Ser-vice and is the extra-curricular programme which is an integral part of the IB Diploma. Students have to par-ticipate for 18 months of their 2 year IB studies in all three strands of the programme, selecting their activities from a wide range of opportunities including our after school activities and sports teams, out of school sport and creative opportunities they identify themselves and in-school and community service.

We have a very good programme, developed over a number of years of supporting a group of community schools by going out to teach and do activities with the children. This year, our students are also looking be-yond the traditional classroom by offering football training and hands-on creative activities. As you can imag-ine, delivering this type of activity to a large class of excited children in a school with very limited resources takes considerable planning and effort. We are grateful to our supervisors – our teachers - who accompany the students and support their planning.

Traditionally, all our IBDP students have participated in the community schools for the whole 18 months of their CAS programme. However, a significant part of CAS is for students to develop independent service. Community service can also be a way to develop experience in a field which a student might like to pursue as a career. I am therefor looking for safe opportunities for students to do meaningful service - activities with people – especially in the areas of health and medicine. I would be delighted to hear from anyone who has contacts with organisations which might be able to offer service opportunities for 1-2 students on a regular basis, ideally, but not exclusively, at weekends.

We also have a new CAS noticeboard in the amphitheatre area, where we plan to showcase pictures of stu-dents engaged in all three strands of CAS. You can see some of the current photos of a sports project at Needs Care Community School, Ngombe, below.

I can be contacted at: cgough@islzambia.org Skipping for boys and girls

Playing four squares

ISL Headlines! Page 9

CAS News from Mrs Cherry Gough

CONTACT US The International School of Lusaka

6945 Nangwenya Road

Lusaka, Zambia

Phone: +260 211 252291

Fax: +260 211 252865

E-mail: info@islzambia.org

www.islzambia.org

http://www.cois.org/ http://www.cie.org.uk/

http://www.neasc.org/ http://www.ibo.org/ http://www.pamojaeducation.com/

ISL Headlines! Page 10

KUMON

MATHS & ENGLISH

Kumon is a back to basics approach whereby funda-

mental concepts need to be mastered and internal-

ized before progression and successful learning can

take place.

We ensure excellence in confidence, concentration,

attitude to learning, speed, accuracy and memory.

It is an individualized program which is complemen-

tary to school.

Shelly

Tel: +260 955 776171

Email: shalinakumoncentre@gmail.com

Operational at ISL since 2004