JUNE

PRIMARY PRESS AUGUST EDITION

FX

FROM THE HEAD OF PRIMARY

A very big thank you to you all for your support of the PTFA Fun Day for 2015! It was a huge success due to many people, including you. We have now moved into your new office space and slowly getting things organized in between the more important business of educating your children. It’s not much further to walk from the primary gate and we still have ready access to all the primary classrooms. We need students to continue to flow in and out of the new office, like the old, showing off their terrific class work and coming in for their regular chats and catchups. Our PE staff and Ms Rosi, PYP coordinator have moved into the old space, providing additional room for primary teachers to discuss planning and curriculum with Rosi. Keep an eye out for our latest feature in the new office coming soon! Our latest focus learner profile attribute is being knowledgeable. Within this edition of the ‘Press’, we have information for parents to help with discussions at home about how we can be knowledgeable. We congratulate all of our award recipients for the previous attribute for being ‘Balanced’. We welcomed our new primary counsellor, Mrs Kate Passin last week. Kate has already started our new social skills program, ‘Stop, Think, Do’ with the year 2 and year 3 students and we hope to include all year levels by the end of the school year. You can read about what Kate is up to in primary on her page included in this edition. Year 5 students and teachers are busily preparing for their Year 5 Exhibition and assembly coming up very quickly. In fact, next Friday, August 28 at 1.45pm, is the Year 5 Exhibition Assembly of which you are all invited to come and be a part of. Our Year 5 teachers and assistant/mentors and our Year 5 students need to be congratulated for their hard work and planning/preparation for this event. Parents and community members have also played their part by transporting students to various locations around Suva for their interviews. Thank you! It wasn’t that long ago that we were conducting parent teacher interviews. In Week 10, we have our student‐led conferences of which information is provided in this edition of primary press for those families new to ISS this year. A note will be sent home in the near future to allow you to schedule your time/s for these conferences with your children. Coming up in Week 9, we have our annual Literacy Week activities. We will keep you abreast of the literacy happenings in the next couple of weeks. Keep an eye out in your emails for this special event and what it entails. We welcomed our Year 3 students and teachers back from camp last Friday. Judging by the photos and the stories students have had to tell, it was once again an awesome time for all. Thanks to teachers and parents for providing such a positive educational experience for our students. It takes much time and planning to organize these events. Great job! I’m sure there’s so much more to report to you but in the meantime enjoy the following pages and read all about what primary has been up to these past few weeks. Karen and the Primary Team

SCORE IN RECEPTION

Who would have thought that 5 year olds could learn such concepts as connecting and questioning, organizing their thinking, reading and reflecting and skimming and scanning? Ask any one of our Reception students what SCORE is and what each of the letters stand for and they should be able to tell you, with confidence. They know too that SCORE is helping them to learn to read and comprehend. It’s been a blast spending time with these intelligent little people this term each week, learning more and more about the SCORE reading strategy. This is a strategy used right across the primary school. It is a simple mnemonic that guides the reader towards independent and expert comprehension of any given text. SCORE focus teacher and student attention towards a small repertoire of strategies that effective ‘comprehenders’ use. It provides a scaffold also to attend to the development of fluency, vocabulary and world knowledge.

‘Ms. Whittaker has been teaching us all about SCORE every week. WE love her coming to our classroom! She is helping us to be good at reading.”

YEAR 4 NEWS Year 4 student Papanui Liew-Marsters expressed his opinion of our UOI, How We Express Ourselves, by saying, “I felt courageous expressing myself through Hindi Architecture in our summative assessment and performing at the whole school assembly.” Every Year 4 student should feel very proud of bringing his/her uniqueness to our learning journey these past six weeks. As we prepare for our next unit, Where We are in Place and Time, students will build on PYP Learner Outcomes to accommodate their discoveries into human migration. The intensive focus is with music and our summative will culminate in an original, student-composed song representing the challenges, risks and opportunities people face during movement from place to place.

ECH 2: All living

things go through a process of change.

ECH 2: All living things go through a process of

change.

As always, it has been another very busy term for the Whales and Dolphins! First of all, we would like to welcome our four new students this term: Maya Burman, Shaunak Sharma, Mary Ma and Hugo Kok. Welcome to ECH2! We are sure you will have a great time with us! We embarked on a new Unit of Inquiry this term –Storytelling. Our Central Idea is: “Stories communicate ideas which connect different cultures”. We have had many people come in and share stories from their cultures. We had Wendy and Laura come in and read stories from Australia, Mrs. Passin read stories from the United States, Ms. Inga came in and read a story to us in German, Lisa came in and read to us a story from England, and Ms. Jodee read a story to us from Canada. We have also looked at the story of Cinderella and compared the original story with stories from Germany, China and Egypt. It was really interesting to see the similarities and differences within that story! In addition to our Unit of Inquiry, we also had a very busy Week 4 – with Early Childhood Week and also Fun Day. We came on that Monday dressed as what we want to be when we grow up and we showed off our costumes to the rest of Primary. We also played parachute games, did yoga, music and movement, followed by a shared morning tea with our parents on the Friday. Thank you to our parents for sharing our special week with us! Fun Day was a huge success, and our stall was very successful and popular! Thanks to our special parent helpers for helping out at our booth that day! Your assistance was much appreciated! We thank you all for your continued support and hope to see all of you at our Father’s Day Breakfast on Friday, September 4! Ms Jodee, Ms Amanda and Ms Sai

What’s New in ECH2?

Visual Arts in Culture and Society

Year 3 have been working on their individual art pieces. They viewed and inquired into traditional art work from Africa, Japan and New Zealand. Some art pieces were African masks, Tingatinga painting from Tanzania. Origami, woodblock printing and symbol print making from Japan and Maori symbols from New Zealand. From their inquiry they were able to create and write about their work of art.

FIJIAN STUDIES

Maori Symbols Esther: I drew a koru. This picture makes me feel like I’m in England. The colours I chose make me feel warm. Blue represents water which is cold. Jordan: I have koru designs on my water-lily leaves. My artwork represents strength, confidence and determination. The water-lily plant is strong in the water. Blue and green represent life and orange represents light.

Juliana: This Japanese symbol means daughter. I chose the colours that daughters usually like. I chose this symbol because I am a daughter and I think we keep peace in the family. Devija: This sign means flower. I chose this sign because I like flowers and I also like planting. I drew happy faces because flowers make me feel happy. Yellow represent the sun. The sun helps flowers grow.

Origami Senuka folded origami boats and drew a background using pastels.

Tingatinga Painting Dan Mask

Our Music focus for the last 6 weeks was centered towards a “Heritage” journey with our Reception year level. During this unit we discovered: who we are, where we come from, what we believed in with regards to Values and Beliefs, why we are different from each other, our different cultural music, our different food that we eat, our different clothes that we wear and we also studied different musical instruments form different countries where we got to share a an instrument that identified where we come from. As we wrapped up our learning journey on this unit we have come to understand as Reception students that we are all different in so many ways and music is a form or bringing people together. Whilst out Reception drew to the end of their unit our Year 5 students have been practicing for a live Band performance to be performed in their Yr 5 exhibition coming on Friday of week 7. Our Primary choir has been sitting in and observing our Year 5 live Band students practice for this upcoming exhibition during our lunch hour jam session. As we approach the end of this term we have

discovery journey begging next week with our year 4

students with a look back through history on

migration and where we are in place and time.

For the love of music,

Mr Tim

Counselor’s Corner

I would like to take a moment to introduce myself as the primary school counselor. I will be at the school every Thursday from 7:30 to 4:00. I am thrilled to be a part of the ISS team! Prior to our move to Fiji, I was a primary school counselor for 12 years in the United States. I also have my LPC (License for Professional Counseling) which has only helped me to be a better school counselor. I am passionate about school counseling and helping all children. The role of the school counselor is to help students achieve in school by helping to remove obstacles to learning. The counselor assists in the personal, social, academic and career growth of all students. This is done in many ways such as classroom guidance, small group counseling, individual counseling, teacher consultation, and whole school programs. In order to target the most students, I will be in the classrooms regularly delivering the social skills curriculum, Stop, Think, Do. The value and aim of this educational and preventive program is to develop emotional-social intelligence and skills in students, such as pro- social skills, cognitive and behavioral skills. I will be starting in years 2 and 3 and then moving on to other grades when the lessons are complete. Students who need a more targeted intervention will also be referred to meet in small groups or individually with me. Currently, all referrals will come from the classroom teachers. If you think your student would benefit from meeting with me, please contact the classroom teacher. Also, be on the lookout for our new student ambassadors! This is a program which will be implemented soon to help welcome new students to ISS Primary. I look forward to working with you and your students! Sincerely, Kate Passin

Year 3 in Art and Camp

YEAR THREE – ART AND CAMPING

As we come to the conclusion of this unit on Expression (Art) we can clearly see in the students’ art work, creativity, application of learning with the art teacher and love for the aesthetics. We were fortunate to have Mrs Ruff as guest speaker from Australia to teach us dot and line art from the Aboriginal culture. Year 3 students have thoroughly enjoyed and learned a great deal from the role of cultural art in Fijian Studies, the different types of Art and how artists are inspired. The application of this knowledge is evident in their artwork for the assessments in Fijian studies and

through their summative tasks. In the midst of our art unit, the group went to Nataleira Eco lodge for yet another year 3 Camp. 39 students, 8 staff members and 4 parents attended. We all had a super time; the

highlight of it which was of course the dolphins watch.

What’s New in Year 2?

ECH1 and Discovery News from the little Green Cottage

Arigatou, Chee Chee Nee, Vinaka Saka Vaka Levu, Korabwa and Merci Beaucoup to all parents and children of the Green Cottage for your support, time, contributions, dancing feet, and the fun we shared together with the children on Fun Day. Thank you to our parent liaisons, Katherine Starr, Shirin Ludher and Mike Leahy for coordinating our beautiful creative coconut basket and our groovy Disco Stall for Fun Day. Also, we send a big thank you to Aarush Abhimannu for the huge donation towards our Disco Stall. In week four we celebrated Early Childhood Week, the theme this year, being ‘Sustainability’. The children came dressed up as what they wanted to be in the future. We had business women, builders, pilots, football players and mothers, to name a few. The Primary School came out to support the Early Childhood children as they strolled around the Primary Green. We had Perceptual Motor Skills with Ms Emele, parachute games, indoor yoga, music and movement and they designed their own t-shirts to wear at the end of the week and they looked smart. Devansh Pal and family supplied us all with a healthy bowl of fruits to begin our week. We finished off the week with Yoga on the sand and a shared healthy morning tea.

Thank you again parents for your continuous support for our events. Parents and teachers hand in hand, equal happy, healthy, confident children. Our next event will be on Friday, September 4, when we celebrate our Fathers.

The Green Cottage Crew (GCC) Ms Jacqui, Ms Litia and Ms Sala

Enjoy reading some of our sizzling starts we have written with Ms. Whittaker during our Seven Steps to Writing Success lessons each week. Aren’t we sizzling writers! Year 2 classes continue this term, with Year 1 restarting again in Term 4. Year 1S and Year 2C will feature next edition. Some of Year 2B…… Jone lost the first round in his team. Jone’s team had scored 2 and the other team scored 10. (Robyn) I was screaming. I almost cried. It went sizzle, sizzle and round and round. (Shailesh) “Oh no! Fire is coming!” I ran outside and kept running. The fire was in the bushes. ‘Help! Help!” I yelled. (Cecily) Boom! I was running as fast I could but the lava was faster than me! (Laura) When I went to drink from the lake, there was a tiger! I was lost in the jungle. (Basmah) Help! I’m lost in the jungle! Please someone help! (Haleh) This is so much fun and I feel scared at the same time! (Samira) Kaboom! The volcano is exploding and the lava is chasing us. Run! Run! (Alex) Fire! Fire! Our house is on fire! I heard by neighbours also screaming. (Mathis) It was my first time. I couldn’t believe it. When I got on I closed my eyes because it was fast! I was on a rollercoaster. (Khushi) Aaaah! Fire! Help! Help! Please. (Qusai) It’s getting dark. I’m so scared. I saw a wild bear! Ahhhhh! (Amy) Roar! I heard a lion. Roar! I got scared and started to run. Someone save me! (Tiana) Help! Tigers are chasing me. (Rowdy) Boom! The lava is chasing me. I am running as fast as I can. Help! Help! (Aileen) Help! It smells creepy. Boo! Whack! I am scared! (Yejoon) Aaaah! I’m falling. I’ll try……Aaah! Not again! (Chuchu) Help me! I’m lost in a chocolate river. (Isaac) We were winning. There were a few seconds before the game ended. The ref blew his whistle to stop the game. We won! (Boaz) Some of Year 1W…… Boom! Its red orange and running down the side of the hill. Run! Run! (Shashank) Mum was running and screaming. Running behind her was a hungry fox. (Mwaaka) Roar! The lion ran after me! (Noa) Help! Help! I cried as I fell into a dark hole! (Uini) I looked up! Wow! Smoke everywhere. Then rumble. Out came fire. I ran for my life. (Heilala) I took two steps forward. “Boo!” said a ghost. A mummy appeared and pulled my arm. Ouch! (Fana) Suddenly a lion came running after me. It almost bit my leg off, but I ran up a huge tree. (Roviana) Where am I? It was scaring with lions roaring around me. (Jade) Bam! The volcano was breathing like a dragon. I was scared and ran for my life. (Amalie) I was tied to a tick, cooking like a spit roast over a roaring fire. (Will) I heard Chch! I smelt smoke and I felt heat. Lava was running down the top of the volcano. I ran back to my boat and rowed away. (Kaelan) Roar! Roar! I ducked behind a huge tree and tiptoed away. (Grace)

IT ONLY TAKES 7 STEPS!

News from Year 2 Ecosystems Our inquiry into ‘Sharing the Planet’ has filled us with awe and wonder at the amazing ecosystems that surround us. It has also made us think about the responsibilities we have to help our local ecosystems to survive. We made posters to go up around the Primary school to inform others of things they can do to help conserve energy and prevent global warming. What action can you take to ensure a greener and healthier planet?

Looking through the garden while on our nature Sorting into ‘living’ and ‘nonliving’ things. Researching information on ecosystems in the library walk.

Seven Steps to Writing Success Ms. Whittaker has been sharing her knowledge on how to be the best writer you can be by teaching us the ‘Seven Steps to Being a Successful Writer’ programme. We have loved learning how to start our stories off with a BANG! by creating a Sizzling Start. We are now learning how to Tighten Tension by describing events using our senses. We look forward to a new lesson with Ms. Whittaker every week.

Advertising - Can you help? Our next unit of inquiry is based on the Transdisciplinary Theme of ‘How We Organise Ourselves’. We will be learning about the power of persuasion through advertising. We request the assistance of any parents who may have access to posters, brochures or magazines that we can use in class to study advertisements in the coming weeks. Also, if you are able to talk to our Year 2s about how your business markets and advertises its products, please speak to the Year 2 teachers who would appreciate any assistance in helping our students to understand advertising from a professional perspecti

Pulling apart the Transdisciplinary Theme and sharing ideas about what it means to ‘share the planet’.

Discussing, sorting and grouping our ‘Nature Walk’ findings.

Primary Visual Arts

Paper! It’s essential to art-making. This term

Year 2 students are exploring how we can

express ourselves with this versatile medium.

Here’s a glimpse of the artists at work, and

their works-in-progress. These sculptures are

little paper wonderlands that invite the viewer

to take a closer look.

ECH 2 students have begun to

think about how artists can tell

stories. Sometimes this is

through supporting written

stories or dramas, and other

times the art speaks for itself.

For many cultures, storytelling

and traditions are preserved

through art making,

particularly in the absence of

written language. We, too,

can tell stories with our art!

Year 5 students are putting finishing touches on

their PYP Exhibition art pieces. The planning and

creating of art assists students in their group and

individual inquiries, and happens concurrently with

the inquiry cycle. Students express and

communicate original ideas and concepts using

techniques and media of their choice, drawing

upon prior learning in Visual Arts as well as new

understandings achieved during this inquiry. I am

certainly anticipating the upcoming PYP Exhibition

assembly and display with great excitement, and

hope to see you all there!

Thank you as always for your continued support!

Mrs Lindy Stice

Why is attendance important? All students at ISS are expected to attend school every school day unless there is a reasonable excuse. While parents and caregivers are responsible for ensuring children attend school, ISS can play a role in helping maximise attendance and promoting benefits of regular school attendance. Low school attendance is not good for students or schools. It has been linked with many negative outcomes for students. Persistent non-attendance requires additional resources to re-engage students in schooling and to catch up on missed learning. This can involve learning and student support staff, and interagency collaborations. Supporting students and families to deal with barriers to school attendance can be part of improving attendance. Schools can be most effective when they understand the needs of their students, contemporary research into school attendance and effective practices that help to maximise attendance.

Reasons for absences Low attendance may be impacted directly or indirectly by a range of school, family/home, individual student, economic and cultural factors. Reasons for absence are complex and inter-related. Having a better understanding of these reasons is central to schools implementing strategies to help maximize student attendance; acknowledging parents/caregivers have primary responsibility for ensuring their children attend school on every school day.

Reasons for student absences from school

If your child

misses ...

That equals ... Which is ... And over 13 years of

schooling

that’s ...

Which means the

best your child may

achieve is ...

1 day a

fortnight

20 days a year 4 weeks a year Nearly 1.5 years Equal to

finishing in Year 11

1 day a week 40 days a year 8 weeks a year Over 2.5 years Equal to

finishing in Year 10

2 days a week 80 days a year 16 weeks a year Over 5 years Equal to

finishing in Year 7

3 days a week 120 Days a year 24 weeks a year Nearly 8 years Equal to

finishing in Year 4

Student absences from school School factors Family factors Student factors Economic and

cultural factors

School policy and procedures about attendance

Parental attitudes to schooling

Lack of incentive, learning problems

Affordability of transport

Teaching quality Students’ caring responsibilities

Conflict with other students

Sorry business

Student behaviour management

Differing views about the value of education

Ill health Family with high mobility

Relationship between teachers and students

Competing family priorities

Lower literacy and numeracy levels

Affordability of child care

Levels of bullying Holidays Students’ health and wellbeing

Need for student employment

Learning Support Corner-Primary

Does your Child have a chance of being successful?

Being away from school for 1 or 2 days a week doesn’t seem much BUT ...

Every day counts!

Library Update

Bula! Our library skills class focuses on our children being able to locate resources in our brand new library, to know how and where to locate it. All classes have a 45 minute library lesson each week. All classrooms UOI (unit of inquiry) are integrated into library skills lessons through story time and research skills lessons. Our students are exposed to a wide range of genre and resources in all formats, including print, non print, electronic based and online subscription database information. Ye

Year 5 being great Inquirers asking thought provoking questions to Madam Speaker!

Check out these new books in the library! Barrington Stoke Books

We have moved! Yes we are now in our brand new library and it is wonderful! Have a look at our new space.

You are welcome to visit if you haven’t done so already. Our opening hours:

Monday – Friday 7.30 am – 4.00 pm

Closed on Weekends and Public Holidays

Upcoming events Week 9 Library and Literacy Week Calling for authors, story tellers, and illustrators who can take part in our celebration! Please contact Ms Salu in the library or email us at the email address given below. Week 10 Year 5 Exhibition in our brand new Library exhibition foyer.

Library Website: http://issfijilibrary.weebly.com/ Email: library@international.school.fj

Ms Salu Vaciloa - Teacher Librarian ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SCHOOL PHOTO ORDER REMINDER Parents, please be reminded that school photo orders will be closed as of next Friday, August 29. After this date, you will no longer be able to order. For those of you who missed the original email sent home by Dr. Marsden, here are the details below for ordering your photos online. Click on http://vcreativegallery.shootproof.com/event/1645632 and enter the password: iss2015photos. Choose the correct class from the album view and then select the school photograph/individual portrait and click ‘add to cart’ found at the top right hand corner of the photograph. If you have any questions or further queries regarding the school photographs, please contact them directly and they will only too happy to help. Their email contact is: Sitiveni Tawakevou – sitiveni.tawakevou@gmail.com or call him on his mobile – 7437381.

PRIMARY ATHLETICS CARNIVAL 2015

ANZ STADIUM Thursday, September 3

rd

9.00am - 1.45pm

Dear Parents and Caregivers, On Thursday, September 3

rd, Year Reception - Year 5 students will take part in our House athletics

carnival. Each student in year 1 - 5 will participate in all events which will consist of 100m sprint, shot put, discus, high jump, long jump and triple jump. Reception students will compete in 50m sprint, sack race, egg and spoon race and coconut throw.

From the results of this carnival, a team of athletes will be chosen to work towards the primary inter-school zone competitions during the Term 3/4 holiday period.

Parent Helpers Welcome As this is a new format this year with many events taking place we are hoping to get as many parents involved as possible; especially those who helped out at the swimming carnival as you all did an amazing job. We would very much appreciate your help on the day. Parent volunteers please note that we will allocate a task to you as place judges, event supervisors or marshalls as needed on the day of the carnival. If you would like to help out with these tasks, please call me on 8660522 or email jhedditch@international.school.fj. To note, we are currently still looking for some parents to assist with Reception events (Approx. 9.00am – Midday).

Timing and Transport The ISS competition will start at 9am and each child will participate in all of the events according to their age group and house colours. Students are expected to come to school as usual and will be transported by bus to the stadium. They will leave school at 8.15 am and will return by 2pm. Reception students will return to ISS at 12-1230pm. All students, wearing their house T-shirts will need to bring their morning tea, lunch and a drink with them. Hats and sunscreen are also needed. What to Bring Each ISS student participating will need to bring the following items:

Morning tea One or two bottles of water Lunch Appropriate running gear (flat soled shoes, shorts, house colour tshirt) School PE uniform shorts and house Tshirts Sunscreen lotion A hat

We are looking forward to a great day. We hope to see you there, either as spectators or helping with duties. Should you have any queries or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me. Kind regards, Joe Hedditch PSPE Teacher jhedditch@international.school.fj

And from Suva Junior Football…

Dear football parents We are trying to revive football for U14/12 (and perhaps later also for U10 on Saturdays). If we get sufficient interest from players and parents we may be able to organize regular games. Please let us know if your daughter or son (under 14 but over 10 years old) has interest to play. Please also let us know if you are interested to assist and make this a regular happening.

If each player can bring one dollar we can cover the ground hire and invest in proper match balls.

Please let us know if your daughter or son (under 14 but over 10 years old) has interest to play. Please also let us know if you are interested to assist and make this a regular happening.

suvajuniorfootball@gmail.com

Year 5 …is right into their preparation for the PYP Exhibition. They have put into practice many skills and

attitudes and are making deeper learning connections through learning experiences such as script writing, choreography and drama performances. We look forward to seeing everyone at our Assembly next Friday. Please see our flyer for details.

Namaste - Hindi Studies

Year 3’s and Year 5’s are learning to make sentences using the words that they have learnt in Hindi class.

Year 4’s Unit of Inquiry focus for last six weeks was on PERCEPTION, ‘Anubhava’ and SELF-

EXPRESSION, ‘Atmabhivyakti’. Through a Hindi perspective the students researched different forms of expression and completed presentations as their summative assessment. Presentations included Indian Architecture, Clothing, Leaf Printing, Cooking making sweets, Myths and Legends, Festivals, Drama and Music.

Our next UOI intensive is with Year 1’s ‘WHO WE ARE’. We will be inquiring about children’s roles, rights and wellbeing for the next 6 weeks.

Dhanyavaad Namaste

We feel very proud and happy learning about Indian art ’Leaf Printing. We are amazed that we could even print on the Leaf ourselves.

Indians express themselves in dressing, performing their rituals, through their joy in sharing sweets and playing with fireworks during DEEPAWALI- Festival of Lights.

Sweets are very important to Indians. Sweets are offered at “Pooja”, welcoming visitors and on all occasions. We are very proud to show how to make Peda (Indian sweet). Yummy!

Sari is traditional wear for Indian women. A sari is 6 meters of beautiful cloth draped around the body in a special way. A Salwaar Kameez is for girls and a Sherwaani, for men and boys.

Primary Student‐Led Conferences Week 10 – Thursday, September 17, 2015

The time has come for our whole primary ECH 2 – Year 4 student‐led conferences for our students and their parents. Student‐led conferences are a celebration of our student’s learning and the day is regarded as a special day across the whole school. The student‐led conference process is an ongoing part of the school assessment process in many national and international schools around the world. We look forward to seeing you in on this day. There is however no school for all children ECH 2 to Year 4 on this day.

Year 5 students will this year take part in their student‐led conference as a part of their PYP Exhibition in week 10. This day will be an ordinary school day for them.

Why have student‐led conferences?

Students take more responsibility for their own part in the learning process and it makes the

process itself more transparent to them as learners.

The student‐led conference helps to develop qualities from our student profile and give chance

for students to show their work to their parents.

Our students are involved in the selection of work to show their parents. They will also identify

points of strength and areas for further growth in their chosen work.

It gives parents a clear insight into the kind of work their child is doing. It will be an opportunity

for discussion between parents, caregivers and their children.

How does the student‐led conference work?

The student‐led conference day is a special day where normal classes are suspended and students do not come to school at the normal time.

The proposal is that each student will invite their parents to come and take part in the student‐led conference and classroom visit in their classroom on a designated time and day. i.e. Thursday, September 17 for a 20 minute session from 8.00am – 4.00pm

The students come to school accompanied by their parents or family members for their conference time and return home afterwards to allow another family to visit.

Usually up to 2‐3 families will be in any one room at any one time.

During the course of the conference students will use the opportunity to lead their parents through a tour of the classroom and present, discuss and explain all the activities that happen in their classroom.

The parents and students have the opportunity to sit down together to specifically discuss and show their work which has been done across the year so far.

The day is not a teacher ‐ parent interview day. Parents who wish to consult the teacher following the student led conference may make a time on another day that is convenient to them.

The teacher is in the room throughout the conference but will stay in the background to allow for the student to do his/her own individual presentation. The teacher and the students will have prepared and practiced the preparation so the student and the parents

know the procedure to follow. There will be an opportunity for parents and students to collaboratively write their comments following the conference.

Organization

The classrooms will be ready to receive visitors with a range of children’s work on display and learning areas and organization charts and procedures ready to be discussed. The teachers and students will prepare their work so that there is a range of samples of work for the parents to see and discuss. These will include: Centers of interest and activities set up in the classrooms and specialist rooms for students to show and discuss, a range of classwork‐ writing, spelling, maths, science, social studies, samples of art and craft work and portfolios which include an overview of progress made through samples of the student’s own inquiry work, draft writing, published writing, from research and creative thinking. What are the roles of the participants?

Student: Be on time, focus on talking about the prepared work, and speak clearly. Parent: Be on time for the conference, be positive, be concerned, be interested, ask questions, listen and be prepared to give a brief comment to encourage your child at the conclusion of the conference. Teacher: Manage the time, facilitate the conference, provide probing questions and highlight achievements, clarify only where necessary. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gender Inequality Awareness Week – Jade Cave

My name is Jade Cuba Cave. I am in year 5M and am in the midst of my PYP exhibition. As part of my PYP exhibition I must take action. For my action I have organized a gender inequality awareness week in week seven which is next week! (I apologize for the short notice) I have organized a speaker from the United Nations women fund and the speech will be happening during this awareness week! What does gender equality mean to all of you? Take a moment to think about it. The goal of the awareness week is to ensure the students of ISS have an adequate understanding of gender inequality and its effects on women and the global community. Students and young people are the future. If the future doesn’t have an understanding of the issues in the world, it is impossible to ensure a better tomorrow where there are equal rights for men and women.

Resources will be provided to all year levels from Year 2 to Year 5. There will be a video on the impact of gender inequality and what it entails, a PowerPoint for use, music to sing, Ms. Emma Watson, special guest speaker from the UN, a word search with definitions, write a story template. For the younger grades of Reception to Year 2, there will be a colouring page and video.

This term we have been inquiring into our personal histories. We have been

focusing on our physical and geographical history, our family history and changes

over time. We worked with Mr Tim and explored differences in food, music,

clothing, and language across different locations around the world.

We have really enjoyed learning from teachers and parents within the ISS

community who have given up their time to assist in our learning. This week we

have been trying our best to practice for our oral presentation where we are

discussing and comparing our personal histories.

In week seven we start our new UOI. Our new unit will involves using our

iMaGinaTioNs to create stories, plays, artwork, songs and dances. If your child has

a favourite author or story book, please encourage them to bring it in and share

with the class.

AT ISS WE ARE KNOWLEDGEABLE! “But how do you know?” children often ask. As we mature and grow, we begin to question the idea of knowing. We want to know not only who possesses knowledge and how people show others how we know. This knowledge includes the notion of intelligence and awareness of this intelligence. It begins when students can say of themselves or others, “Wow, am I smart!” or, “Wow, are they smart!” We use the following statements with students to explain the IB-PYP Profile of Knowledgeable: “I explore big ideas that are important. I know and can do a lot of important things,” or this version, “I have learned many things. I can tell you about /show you these things. I can use this information to solve problems in life.” According to the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program (IB-PYP), KNOWLEDGEABLE people have spent time in our schools exploring themes, which have global relevance and importance. In doing so, they have acquired a critical mass of significant knowledge (IBO, 2000). The Learner’s Profile provides powerful goals in all areas of learning, which serve, in the broadest sense, as aims of the curriculum. Students who are knowledgeable have explored relevant and significant concepts and can remember what they have learned. They can draw on this knowledge and apply it in new situations. How can parents help to develop students who are knowledgeable? • Encourage your child to read books at home that correspond with the topics being covered in school. In particular, books in their mother tongue will help your child make more meaningful, lasting connections to what is being taught in their classroom in English. • Ask your child about what they are learning in school and engage them in conversations about it by asking questions such as, “Why do you think that is an important thing to know about?” or, “Can you think of anything happening in the world today that might be similar to that aspect of History?” or, “You’re learning about pulleys and gears at school? This reminds me of your simple machines unit in grade 2… have you noticed any similarities? How is what you’re learning different?” • Foster any area that your child expresses an interest in with books and activities, but also be sure to encourage them to explore other areas. • Encourage your child to become familiar with current events and to read the newspaper and watch the news when appropriate. • Catch your child being knowledgeable. Make sure your child knows he/she has done something good. Expressing your approval is a powerful way to reinforce the profiles.

“As knowledge increases, wonder deepens!” Charles Morgan, English Novelist