talanoa - volume 8 (2014)
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Talanoa - Volume 8 (2014)TRANSCRIPT
The last day for our IB students
Do you remember your last day at school? It is such a significant event and yet the IB examinations which begin today are the focus and for most of our Year 12 students leaving school does not seem quite real yet. It
25 May 2012
Electronic copy available at http://www.international.school.fj/docs/talanoa.pdf
Volume 8
Counselors Corner The last day for our IB students
Do you remember your last day at school? It is such a significant event and yet the IB examinations which begin today are the focus and for most of our Year 12 students leaving school does not seem quite real yet. It
28 November, 2014
Electronic copy available at http://www.international.school.fj/docs/talanoa.pdf
Volume 8
Inside This Issue:
* Principal’s Report * Primary Final Assembly * PTFA Article * Upcoming Events * ICT Students Field Trip * Habitat for Humanity * Chair of Council * Integrated Units - Environment * Careers for 2015 * New School Logo * Year 7 Field Trip * All Start Sports Academy
Talanoa
Newsletter of International School Suva
Principal’s ReportPrincipal’s ReportPrincipal’s Report Dear Parents and Guardians, As we approach the end of the year I have been reflecting on my time at ISS. Many of you have heard me say that the school is in a good place, Fiji is buoyant and therefore the school is buoyant. This is all true but is not the only story. I thought I would use this last issue of Talanoa for 2014 to share with you some of my thoughts. I have been thinking a lot about a comment made by a teacher during an interview recently. We were talking about mathematics. She told me how she would often tell her students that „maths was not invented simply to make their lives difficult‟. She was passionate about mathematics and teaching and wanted others to understand why she felt this way. I have been likening this to my feelings about becoming a teacher and later an administrator. I, and all other teachers I know, did not go into teaching in order to make schools and education worse for the students. Like so many teachers, heads and principals I went into teaching because I had a vision that what I could do was good, it was important and it was an opportunity to make a positive difference to individuals and societies. Of course, idealism takes you so far and then quickly you learn that people do not always feel the same way as you do. Even though this is expected and part of the fun of working and living in a diverse community, it brings challenges. To ask for opinion and feedback invariably leads to someone feeling disappointed or worse when their opinion is not heeded. Naturally this is not the intention. Whilst as an individual, and an institution, I try to explain why we chose the other course or did not jump at every suggestion, I also understand that everyone suggests what they feel to be the solution. It would not be suggested if they did not think it was the „right‟ course of action. Disappointment therefore seems to be an inevitable consequence of asking opinion. What I, and all other staff at ISS, have to then do is weigh up all the suggestions and select the one which is in the best interest of all students at the school. The students are the first priority of the school and will remain so. That said, these are not just the students who are in ISS now but those who came before and those who will come after. I feel that the school is at a turning point. Enrolments are high and more and more parents are choosing ISS for their children. However, it is not just parents, children are choosing for themselves to attend ISS. It is now not uncommon to hear a prospective parent explain how their child wants to come to ISS and they, the parents, are trying to find out more about the school in order to understand their child‟s wishes. I talk of choice deliberately. We need to embrace the choice we made to be part of the ISS community, we make a choice to be or remain in Fiji and we make a choice to be at ISS. I am glad that you have all made this choice. As a school we have chosen to embark on a major building project and our new building will take ISS into the future. The new library and cafeteria facilities will enhance student life considerably, whilst the careful design of the building ensures that the primary and secondary sections of the school will be forever linked. I believe it is a good project and it marks the beginning of a new phase for the school. I thank you all for the support you have shown the school throughout 2014. We are grateful for the time and effort so many parents put into improving the educational experience for our students and I look forward to working with many of you again next year as we continue to move the school forward together. Have a good break. Anna Marsden Principal
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UPCOMING EVENTS
Term 4
Term 4 Week 09
Monday, December 1 Yr 10 work experience ends
Tuesday, December 2
Primary Reports to go home Middle School Celebration Evening
Wednesday, December 3
High School Celebration Evening
Thursday, December 4 Secondary Reports god home
FAREWELL ASSEMBLY - students last day
Friday, December 5 Teacher Only Day
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From your Chair of Council, Jacquelyn Terry The International School Suva School council is a body of parents, staff and alumni who serve the school as volunteers. They meet regularly throughout the year both as committees and as a full Council. Your current Council members are: Christian Adams, Nicholas Barnes, Bole Digitaki, Mark Halabe, Indira Sharma (Deputy Chair), Siobhan Sinclair, Lydia Sprankle, Kris Stice, Jacquelyn Terry (Chair), Sikeli Tuinamuana, Neisau Tuidraki and Rosi Uluiviti. Anna Marsden serves in an ex officio capacity. Update from Council committees Facilities Committee The new building remains a major focus of the Facilities Committee. The project is progressing well and as the roof is being erected, plastering and painting are taking place on the lower floors. In addition to this major capital project the committee also oversees the large-scale maintenance taking place at the school. Finance Committee The Finance Committee spent the early part of this term setting the school‟s budget for 2015 and this process is now complete. In addition the committee continued to monitor spending on the building project along with receiving and reviewing the school accounts on a monthly basis. Governance Committee The Governance Committee continues to explore ways for the Council to drive the school‟s Mission and Vision. They are currently leading a review of the school‟s strategic objectives and how to articulate these in practice. Human Resources Committee The Human resources Committee continues to support the school in addressing the HR needs of its employees. A major review of HR policy is currently underway and this remains a primary focus of the committee. Marketing Committee Whilst, the Marketing Committee continues to look at ways to market the school both from without and within Fiji, they are also focused on managing the school brand and producing a strong, easily-recognisable image for ISS.
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PTFA Request for Proposals for major or minor expenditures that will benefit the school
grounds and students.
PTFA funds have in the past purchased;
Middle primary play equipment, large sound system, upgrade of the secondary hard court,
serving trolley, green screen for drama dept., disco ball and many marquees.
Details can be found at:
www.international.school.fj/3.0.0/index.php/about-us/ptfa/where-does-the-money-go
Forward your proposals to the PTFA [email protected] or
to the President, Patricia Evers at [email protected] / 9364802.
Have your say.
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We are proud to announce the new school logo as part of the ongoing evolution of the ISS brand. The launch proper will be held in March of 2015 to coincide with the opening of the new administration building. Turning 40 years in 2013 was the perfect time to evaluate our school‟s brand and logo to ensure it was in sync with who we are and where we are going. Students were given the opportunity to submit designs of their choice and after careful consideration, the school Council chose a new logo that represents our International community. We thank all those students who took part in the logo competition and proudly announce the winner, Shanya Patel of year 7. The icon graphically depicts the world map in which ISS stands out boldly and the word Fiji on the bottom right is written on an arrow which points to the Pacific region specifically to where Fiji is. The task in the upcoming months will be to update all our collaterals, uniforms, business cards, etc with the new logo. We realize that changing a logo is a process that can involve many steps and take some time, so we will finalize it gradually as we phase it in for 2015. We appreciate your kind support. If there are any questions, please don‟t hesitate to contact the office. Salote Narayan Marketing Officer
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PTFA Request for proposals of Charitable Organisations.
Annually the PTFA donates 10% of its annual profit to charitable organisations.
In 2013, we donated to the Mobile Kindy projects, Na I nuinui community project, and CWM Hospital
(through students taking Global Perspectives).
To obtain a Funds Request Form please visit:
www.international.school.fj/3.0.0/index.php/about-us/ptfa/where-does-the-money-go
Have your say.
For further information contact the PTFA [email protected] or
the President, Patricia Evers at [email protected] / 9364802.
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IT Students industry visit to Vodafone Fiji The year 9 Information Technology students went on an inspiring industry visit to one of the largest organisations in Fiji‟s communication industry, Vodafone Fiji Limited. They were given a detailed tour of the premises and were briefed by Seamus Chang who is the Corporate Security, and AML staff. The students were able to visit the actual server rooms and explore the technologies used. They saw equipment such as firewall, servers, backup tapes, hard drives, routers, switches, network cables including fibre optics, and CAT6 cables. Whilst in the server room, disaster recovery procedures were discussed, giving students insight as to what might happen should there be an event such as a fire. The students also had a chance to see the use of a biometric security system which is used to gain access into individual departments. Vodafone staff explained the mobile communication process from call initiator to base stations and database verification process to the call receiver. It was quite interesting to see the industry standard backup systems such as UPS (uninterrupted power supply) and generators that are used during electricity outages in order to maintain the services. Students had the opportunity to ask questions at the end of presentations and during the tour. The Vodafone staff members also very kindly organised some snacks and soft drinks for the students. The aim of the tour was for students to explore and understand the use of ICT in a practical industry setting. This tour certainly enabled them to achieve this aim; they really enjoyed the visit and learnt a lot. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their time and welcome and in particular, thanks go to Ashneel Kumar (System Engineer – IT), Neelu Nand (Senior Engineer - Core Network) and Seamus Chang (Corporate Security and AML).
Meeta Khatri
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Respect Fiji and Protect its Beauty – Don’t Litter!
During Week 8 International School Suva piloted a new array of Integrated Study Units. Here is a look at how the process evolved for one group – Year 702. For five days the students in class 702 explored their topic – the Environment. The focus was on the need to respect it and to protect it. The theme for this unit centered on the collective responsibility of citizens, in the sense that people need to cooperate and be accountable as a group, not merely as individuals. Guiding their study were teachers Ashniel Bijay, Fenella David, Angela Mahoney, Anna Marsden, Linda Rushon, and Milika Waqainabete. Teachers planned five days of interactive learning where no two days were alike. Team building exercises, community service experiences, researching and reporting segments, guest speaker visits, flash mob dance sessions, and field trip excursions provided the incentive for students to create and design their own persuasive slogans to encourage all citizens of Fiji to reduce the amount of litter which works against everything that is good about this beautiful country surrounded by glorious ocean. You are invited to join all of the students in Years 6 to 9 on Monday, December 1
st at
10:20 in the Multi Purpose Hall as they showcase their week long activities and accomplishments. The various units include Kinetics, Nutrition, Forensics, Environment, Media, and Local History. Presentations will continue after lunch as well.
by Linda Rushon
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Year 7 French students visit the Alliance Française
de Suva
“I can‟t wait” we all said when we were only a few seconds away from
leaving the main school gate in taxies. When the taxies had arrived at the
gate, Ms. Amandine put us in groups of four and there were also four tax-
ies. Some of us were competing to see who would reach the Alliance Française first. “We are
here” we all said as we pulled over in front of the Alliance Française and when we all got off
the taxies to see the very well designed walls of the Alliance Française. As we walked
through the door, we were greeted by Mr. Cédric in French and were later amazed the fluent
French language that Ms. Amandine was using to speak to the Alliance Française staff
members.
After a while, we were introduced to all the staff members and then we were divided into three groups and went to different sections of the building: the Library, the French classroom, the Fijian classroom and the outside area. In the Library, Ms Sophie introduced us to the different sections: DVD‟s, French, English and Fijian books, comics, magazines and even Music! In the French classroom, we were told about the French examination called the DELF (Diplôme d‟Etudes en Langue Française), a long-life certificate for French students. In the Fijian classroom, we have been warmly welcomed by Mrs.Savaira, Fijian teacher. We went over some Fijian vocabulary words and played games together. After this we went to the outside area for our last class visit. In this class we did a kind of treasure hunt activity in which we had to look for posters and match them with descriptions given in French by Ms Sylvie. After all of these activities, the Alliance staff members generously invited us for having food and drinks and we thank them for the great time we have had there. It has been an I interesting morning and most of us were actually surprised to discover that there was a French cultural and language centre in Suva! Brady and Patresio “I really enjoyed the excursion to the Alliance! It was not as big as I expected but I liked that because it felt like everyone knew each other well. It seems like a great place to learn about French language and culture!” Maia “I enjoyed the field trip and wouldn’t mind going to the movie nights there. This place is a pretty cool and unique way for French language and culture to be known around the world.” Thomas
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Thank you Parents, Teachers and Students for your input in 2014.
We have many new ideas for 2015 and appreciate your assistance again.
VINAKA to the Parents who took on the important Coordinator roles and thank you to
their children and partners for sharing them with our PTFA activities!
Wendy Robertson - Year Level Parent Liaison Coordinator
Deborah Singh - Primary Book Orders from NZ
Patricia Evers - List of Kids Activities outside ISS
Lydia Sprankle - PTFA Representative to Executive Council
Cristina Gonzalez – Rep. to the Marketing subcommittee
Patricia Evers – Rep. to Canteen & Facilities subcommittees
Salote Narayan, ISS Events & Marketing Manager - our Anchor within ISS!
Lydia Sprankle – Social Committee Coordinator-Extraordinaire!
Christine Canton & Laura Lejeune assistant coordinators
Soni Mathews-Artists Craft & Food Market.
Rosane Sousa Hoesjkov - Primary Athletics healthy food sales
Gina Bartlett, Michael Masonis- Quiz & Curry Night
Lydia Sprankle, Patricia Evers, Liz Hall- Fun Day
Diane Adams & Jennifer Dodson – Halloween
Lydia Sprankle – Garage Sale
On behalf of PTFA Office Bearers we wish you an exciting long holiday and great 2015!
Patricia Evers, President / Mary Bythell,Vice-President / Nigel Dowdeswell, Secretary
Our AGM will be held in January 2015.
all positions will become vacant.
Will you take up a role?
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Contact person: Michelle Unwin Contact details: [email protected] Youth building a brighter future for Fiji’s marginalized families 24 November, 2014 Sukuna Park will be a hive of activity in the middle of December. The sound of hammers and power saws will fill the air as Habitat for Humanity Fiji and 200 local youth build and dismantle two homes over a three day period from 16-18 December. This event is part of an annual regional campaign Habitat Youth BUILD that runs from December to March 2015. Sixteen countries in the Asia Pacific region will participate. The homes will be built on the first day, one will be open for inspection on the second and they will be dismantled on the last day. They are a sample of the houses Habitat for Humanity Fiji builds for marginalised families throughout Fiji. Youth are encouraged to not only build with us but to spread the word. Follow us on facebook or twitter and share our messages with others. We accept donations which go towards building materials and we also encourage international volunteers. For more information on our Youth BUILD campaign or if you want to be involved in helping marginalised families call Sokimi on 707 3037 or our office on 331 2012.
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109 Domain Road, Suva, Fiji Islands P +679 331-2012 F +679 330-0836 [email protected] http://hfhfiji.wix.com/hfh-fiji
ISS PTFA Parent Workshop:
LinkedIn (Registration Link at http://goo.gl/SLDFvf ) Learn the basics of LinkedIn. Build your own profile while learning how to help your children develop their own. 3 December 2014 from 14:45 - 15:45 - ISS Computer Room. Please note that space is limited to 20 attendees. To register go to http://goo.gl/SLDFvf and complete the form. This workshop is sponsored by the Parents Teachers and Friends Association of Interna-tional School Suva. This workshop is one in a series of family-school-community activities developing our students' college and career readiness.
Already on LinkedIn? Join our PTFA LinkedIn group at http://bit.ly/ptfaissli
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CAREERS FOR 2015 The ISS PTFA is planning 2015 college and career readiness events and WE NEED SPEAKERS. We try to plan as far in advance as possible and are pleased to accept speaker proposals on an ongoing basis. This is your chance to share your professional interests and introduce young minds to your field. In addition, as a speaker you will have the chance to work one on one with a current secondary school student interested in your profession. This is a unique and time effective way to promote your own expertise as well as showcase your organization's capabilities and enhance brand awareness. Plus, it's just fun to talk to the students at ISS. Presentations are related to college and career readiness. Following are a list of suggested subject areas, but if your area of expertise is not listed and you would still like to present, please contact Amerika Grewal at [email protected]. We'll confirm if your subject matter is a good fit for our campus community or discuss alternate topics and options for your presentation. Career Areas:
Business Administration (Accounting, Management, Marketing, Finance)
Psychology
Healthcare (Medicine, Nursing, Dentistry, Physical therapy, Pharmacists, Radiologists, Dieticians)
Biological Sciences
Economics
Education
English Language & Literature
Communication Studies / Speech & Rhetoric
Political Science and Government
Computer and Information Sciences
College Readiness:
Choosing what college to apply to -- and where
Getting the most out of a college visit
Researching schools using online tools
Applying to American Colleges and Universities
Applying to Australian Universities
Applying to Asian Universities
Requesting Letters of Recommendation
Writing your Personal Statement
Getting the most out of a college fair
Doing the right things for college admissions
How to recover from high school mistakes
How to spend your summer vacation
Networking for high school students If your preferred presentation topic or area of expertise is not listed please email [email protected] for consideration. The ISS PTFA will market you and your organization in a variety of ways: Email invitations to the ISS campus community Recurring postings to our social media outlets Event invitations to targeted members of the campus community and Suva Online event calendar on the ISS website
Join our PTFA LinkedIn group at http://bit.ly/ptfaissli
====================================== [email protected] • FJ 679.920.0885 • skype amerika.grewal • US 646.450.5898
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