vientiane international school · pdf fileinternational baccalaureate diploma as well as the...

2015-2016VIENTIANE

INTERNATIONALSCHOOL

AnnualReport

VientianeInternationalSchoolBanSaphanthongTaiVientiane,LaoPDR

VIENTIANEINTERNATIONALSCHOOLToChallenge,InspireandPrepareLearnersforLife

AnnualReport2015-2016

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TableofContents Introduction StudentDemographics MotherTongueProgram LanguageAcquisition SEN/EALPrograms StudentPerformance IBDPResults UniversityAdmissions ISA MAP ServiceintheMYPandDP ActivitiesandEvents FinancialOutcomes FacilitiesandInfrastructure StaffInformation StrategicPlan CommunityPartnerships

2 3 5 6 7 9 10 10 11



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INTRODUCTIONThe2015–2016 school yearmarkedanotheryear in which our community of learnerscontinued to aspire to the VIS MissionStatement - to challenge, inspire and preparelearnersforlife.Student results on a range of assessmentsindicatethatourstudentsarewellpreparedtotransition from VIS to their next academicenvironment. Student academic performancewasmeasured internally on anon-goingbasisby our teachers and shared through ourreporting structures with our parents.Furthermore, the MAP (Measure of AcademicProgress) tests and the ISA (InternationalSchool Assessments) were administered tostudentsthroughouttheschool.Thedatafromthese tests are used by the school tobenchmark the achievement of our studentswithsimilarlyagedstudentsaroundtheworldandtodeterminethegrowthof individualandcohortsofstudentsatVISoverthecourseofanacademicyear.Programscontinuedtogrowandthrive,guidedby the recommendations of the strategicplanning work groups from the prior year.Additional Chinese classes were offeredthroughouttheschooltosupportthegrowthofthe program, Mother Tongue parent forumswere held throughout the year, secondlanguage course offerings models wereexaminedandpresentedtoparentsandtheCo-Curricularprogramsuccessfullytransitionedtothreerotationsthroughouttheyearandanon-linesignupprocess.Furthermore,ahandbookfor our SEN (Special Educational Needs)program was developed and the initialenhancements of facilities to support diversephysicalneedsbegan.

The year marked a shift in past enrolmenttrends indicatingadeclineforthe first timeinmany years. Through a collaborative andtransparent process expenses were managedby the leadership team to ensure the yearendedonsoundfinancialground.During the past year, the Board of Trustees’workfocusedonthedevelopmentofareservefund policy and a review of the capital feestructureforthenextfiveyears.Throughout the 2015 – 2016 school year, VIScontinued on the path of its 2020 VISionStrategic Plan to prepare for the future andsimultaneously supported the growth of ourstudents in all aspects of their learning. Thereport below highlights a number of factorsthat indicate the success of the past schoolyear.STUDENTDEMOGRAPHICS–FASTFACTS

• The2015–2016schoolyearbeganwith

459studentsafteratypicalwithdrawalrateofapproximatelyofapproximately20%attheendofthepreviousyear

• Justover80newstudentswereenrolledforthefirstdayoftheschoolyear.Thiswasadecreaseof20%fromtheyearprior.

• Atotalof133newstudentsenteredVISduringtheschoolyear.

• Atotalof136studentsleftVISduringtheyear,including22attheendofDecemberand93inJune(includinggraduates).

• Staffandstudentsrepresentedatotalofover45differentnationalities.



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MotherTongueProgramTheMotherTongueProgramcontinuestobeafocusareaofourstrategicplan.Thenumberoflanguages studied by our student body andparticipation of students across the three IBPrograms has remained consistent withrespecttooverallenrollmentnumbers.

NumberofLanguagesStudied PYP MYP DP Total2011-12 5 6 7 92012-13 7 9 10 152013-14 7 12 5 142014-15 10 10 9 132015-16 10 9 9 15

StudentsStudyingaMotherTongueLanguage

PYP MYP DP Total2011-12 36 39 21 962012-13 49 64 25 1382013-14 57 81 35 1732014-15 60 82 35 1772015-16 59 69 35 163LanguageAcquisitionProgramThe student population is continuing to befairly evening distributed between the twolanguagesonofferatVIS–ChineseandFrench.

Grade Chinese FrenchPrep 10 121 12 162 10 93 9 154 7 95 10 136 2 97 7 128 7 99 2 210 5 1211* 4 312* 1 11

*NooptionforLanguageB

SENandEALProgramVIS can admit students with mild learningdifficulties and follows a non-selectiveacademic admissions policy. Furthermore, weadmit students whose first language is alanguage other than English. The schoolemploystwofull-timeSEN(SpecialEducationalNeeds) teachers and three full-time EAL(EnglishasanAdditionalLanguage)teacherstoprovide support for these students to accessthe curriculum.The following tables show thenumberofstudentsinreceiptofservicesfromourstudentsupportservicesteam.

SENServicesAreaofService Primary SecondarySENServices 15 4(24*)Monitoring(SEN) 29 45Extensions 9 2Monitoring(Ext.) 0 31In-SchoolTherapy

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ExternalTherapy 1 0OtherSupport 5 0*SENServicesthroughStudentSupportServicesMeetingstructure.

EALServicesSupport Primary SecondaryHigherLevel 30(3*) 13(4*)LowLevel 38(9*) 31(7*)*NumberofstudentswhotransferredfromHLStoLLSandfromLLStonosupport.

STUDENTPERFORMANCEIBDPResultsAllstudentsenteringgrade11areencouragedto attempt the IBDP and graduate with anInternationalBaccalaureateDiplomaaswellasthe VIS High School Diploma. For somestudents, the IBDP is not necessary to gainadmission to their preferred university,howeveritisaprestigiouscertificatethathelps



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tosupportanyapplication.Therewere22VISDP candidates who attempted the full IBdiploma in 2015 - 16. Of these, 86% weresuccessful in gaining a full diploma. Thiscompareswithaglobalrateof80%.The diversity of the VIS community, and thesupport forMother Tongue at VISwas shownin 68% of successful candidates receiving abilingualdiploma.Thisrequiresthestudenttocomplete a literature course in their mothertongue language. The global average forbilingualdiplomasislessthan30%,sotheVISresultsareoutstanding.The following table shows the comparison fortheVISIBDiplomaresults(totalpoints)forthepastfouryears.Eachsubjectisscoredoutofapossible7points.WithExtendedEssay,Theoryof Knowledge, and Creativity, Action andService component contributing to the overallgraduation, the best possible score for astudentis45points.

IBDPResultsYear Highest

ScoreAverageTotalPoints

GlobalAverageTotal

2011-12 40 31.5 29.62012-13 40 31 29.82013-14 36 31 29.82014-15 37 31 29.82015-16 35 31 30UniversityAdmissionsThirty-one students met the graduationrequirements for VIS last year and wereoffered places at the colleges and universitieslisted below. Colleges and universities thatstudentshavechosentoattendarestarred(*).

Australia SingaporeMaquarieUniversity*MonashUniversity*

NationalUniversitySingapore

RMITUniversityof

NanyanUniversitySingapore

Melbourne UniversityofNewSouthWales*

TaiwanNationalTaiwan

UniversityofTechnologySydney

University*

ThailandCanada StamfordUniversity

BrockUniversity CarletonUniversity UnitedKingdomDalhousieUniversity* BrunelUniversityMemorialUniversity CityUniversityLondonOntarioCollegeofArt CoventryUniversity

&Design* EssexUniversity*McGillUniversity ExeterUniversity*QuestUniversity LoughbouroughThompsonRivers

UniversityUniversity

GlasgowCaledonianUniversityofBritish

Columbia*University

NorthEastScotlandUniversityofFraser

ValleyCollege*

NapierUniversityUniversityofToronto NorwichUniversity*

RobertGordonUniversity,Europe Scotland*

IEUniversitySpain* TeesideUniversityAmsterdamUniversity UniversityofAberdeen*LeidenUniversity

MaastrichtUniversityUniv.ofBirminghamUniversityofBristol

ULCTheHague UniversityofDundeeUniversityCollege UniversityofEdinburgh

Utrecht* UniversityofLiverpool Univ,oftheCreative

IndiaSymbiosisLawSchool,

ArtsUniversityofStAndrew

Pune* UniversityofSterling Univ.ofWestScotland

KoreaUniversityCollege

Univ.ofWestminster

Seoul*Univ.ofMaryland*

USAEmmersonCollege

FullSailUniversity*Malaysia

MonashUniversity*UCLA

UniversityofIllinois Urbana-Champaign Univ.ofWashington



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InternationalSchools’Assessment(ISA)TheInternationalSchools’Assessment(ISA) iscompleted in February of each year forstudents in grades 3 – 10. This assessmentcompares the overall results of students in agrade levelwith theirpeers inmore than300schools across the world. More than 70,000studentsareassessedbyISAannually.Overall, the results this year show that theperformance of VIS students improved fromlastyeartothisyearandthattheperformanceof VIS students is statistically the same asstudents in international schools around theworld.MeasureofAcademicProgress(MAP)TheMeasureofAcademicProgress(MAP)testsareacomputer-basedassessmentforLanguageUsage, Mathematics and Reading. Thestandardsused in theMAP tests arebasedonUS standards including theCommonCore andAmericanEducationReachesOut(AERO).Thesethreetestsarecompletedbystudentsingrades2–9twiceperyearandareusedbytheteaching staff to identify specific goals forindividual students and groupswithin a class.Theassessmentsactasadiagnostictoolatthebeginning of the year, identifying areas ofstrengthandareasofgrowth forstudentsandat the end of the year, measure progressthroughouttheyear.Overall the results this year indicate that theperformanceofVISstudentsisstatisticallythesame as the average for students around theworld.The charts below together withmore specificdataonindividualstudents/groupsofstudentsaresomeofthemanydatapiecesweconsider

inplanningourgoalsforteachingandlearningonanannualbasis.ISAResults2015–2016(Grades3–10)

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10Math = = = = = = + =Reading + + + + = = = =Narrative + = + = = = = =Expository + + + = = = = =ISAResults2014–2015(forComparison)

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10Math – = = = = = = –Reading = + = = = = = =Narrative = + = = = = = –Expository = = = – = = = =MAPResults2015–2016(Grades2–9)

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9Math – = – = = + + +Reading – + = + – + + +

Lang.Usage – + = + = + + +“+”indicateswhereweareabovetheworldaverage(statisticallysignificant);“=”indicateswhereweareattheworldaverage;“–“indicateswherewearebelowtheworldaverage

SERVICE(MYPANDDP)

Community service in the secondary sectioncontinues to be a vibrant and essential aspectof the educational experience at VIS. Being arequirement forachievingboththeVISandIBdiplomas, the institutional value placed uponcommunity service permeates our programsandisanintegralpartofwhatwedo.At the IB Diploma level, each 11th and 12thgrade student is required to maintain a“balance”ofcommunityserviceintheirlivesasan aspect of their Creativity, Activity, Service(CAS)programs. Thispastyearstudentshaveinitiated and contributed to a broad range ofservice activities, engaging with both the VIS



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community and with the world outside ourschool walls. In school, our year 11 and 12students served the community through theirrolesasclub leaders,eventorganizers,serviceeventvolunteers,mediacreators,developersofawareness campaigns for the community, andactivity organizers for younger students,amongotherprojects.Projectssuchashouse-building, working with less advantagedstudentsinLaoschools,volunteeringtheirtimein numerous capacities, fund-raising forvarious projects, and providing ongoingeducational opportunities to students of oursister school through the Youth EducatingYouth Saturday school program (YEYS) arenotableexamplesofstudentcontributions.Astestamenttotheimportanceofthepersonaldevelopment provided through serviceprojects at VIS, a number of our year 12studentsreportedintheirfinalCASinterviewsthat their community service experiencesserved as one of the greatest character-buildingelementoftheirVISeducation.AttheMYPlevel,studentsarealsoinvolvedinabroadrangeof community serviceactivities,ranging from their active participation inservice clubs such as the Green Team, GlobalIssues Network, Student Council, CulturalActivitiesCommitteeandtheveryactiveYouthEducating Youth Service group (YEYS). Manystudents volunteered their time in support ofschool events such as OneWorld Day, MRISAsport tournaments, shows and theaterperformances. Beyond the numerous studentselectedserviceopportunities,theeighthgrade“Design a Carnival Game” project for theParents and Friends Spring fundraiser, alongwith a number of our One World Day gradelevel projects demonstrate how our MYPteachers are striving to create greater MYP

curricular links to service projects andexperientiallearning.

ACTIVITIESANDEVENTS

VientianeInternationalSchoolisproudtobeafounding member of the Mekong RiverInternational Schools Association (MRISA).This association of schools meets for regularsporting,artisticand leadershipactivities.Thesporting tournaments include volleyball,basketball and football (soccer) for girls andboys at junior and senior secondary levels. In2015 – 16, VIS was represented in alltournaments with results shown in the tablebelow.

Tournament Girls BoysSeniorFootball 4 6JuniorFootball 1 8SeniorBasketball 3 5JuniorBasketball 2 5SeniorVolleyball 8 7JuniorVolleyball 8 6TheMRISA Junior basketball tournament washostedbyVISinNovember2015.Thisrequireda massive effort by the whole community tohost all the competitors from participatingschools. The support of the community inproviding housing for visiting athletes allowsforourcontinuedinvolvementinMRISAeventsand isamajorattraction for thestudentswhoare part of travelling teams. Students andteachers volunteered their time to help withofficiating,media,setupandmanyothertasks.The community atmosphere throughout thetournament was showcased with a packedfront court and loud cheering for both thehomeandvisitingteams.VISreceivedpositive



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feedbackfromourcommunityandthevisitingschools.Students also participated in the MRISALeadership Summit, Arts Exchange andModelUnitedNationsFootball, volleyball and basketballcompetitionsforU12’s(under12’s),juniorandsenior squads were also held within theVientiane Schools Sports Association (VSSA),an organization that has been stronglysupportedbyVIS.The school swim team, the Mekong Dolphinsmaintainedamembershipofover78studentsthroughouttheyear.VIShostedswimmeetsinNovember and April with invited guests fromlocal schools. These were great opportunitiesto create awareness of our swim program. Arepresentative team participated in swimmeets in UNIS in November and in Phuket inMay.During the 2015 – 2016 school year, the Co-Curricular Program changed to a rotation ofthreesessionsofapproximately10weekseach.All activity and athletic programs across theschool are now aligned. The program alsopiloted on-line sign up for both the primaryand secondary program. The pilot was asuccess and will continue to be used in thefuture.Othersignificanteventsarrangedbytheschoolduring the year that parents and studentssupportedstronglyincluded:

• Secondaryperformingartsmusicalandtheatreshows

• Grade12ArtExhibition• Grade10PersonalProjectExhibition• PYPExhibition

• PiMaiLaoAssembly• VIS’GotTalent• FrancophoneDay• CelebrateMotherTongueDay• AthleticsandSwimmingcarnivals• Grade12Graduation

FINANCIALOUTCOMESThe2015–2016yearresultedinaUS$71,431deficit.Theschoolexperienceda3%reductionin student’s growth compared to last schoolyearand fell5%belowtheenrollmentbudgetfor the year. Simultaneously, we experiencedwaitlistsinEYandGrade1.Total Tuition Income for the year wasUS$7,098,886. For the past few years, theschool has experienced an average of 11%growthinincome;however,withthereductionin students, the average has been reduced to9%.

The school continues to invest in programexpansion and the educational materials andfacilitiesrequiredtothesesupportprograms.

$-$10,00,000$20,00,000$30,00,000$40,00,000$50,00,000$60,00,000$70,00,000$80,00,000

IncomeReceived

Tutionfee Totalincome



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TotalOperationalExpenditure fortheyearwasUS$7,439,277. Operational expense categoriesaredescribedbelow:InstructionalExpensesThis includes teacher salaries and benefits,teachingmaterials,programresourcesandanyother student activities such as MRISA andSALSAtrips.

ApproximatelyUS$5,569,288in2015-2016AdministrativeExpensesThis includes administration staff salaries andbenefits, accreditation memberships,accounting and auditing, printing, softwarelicensesandotheradministrativecosts.

ApproximatelyUS$1,027,335in2015-16SupportExpensesThisincludesgroundstaffsalariesandbenefits,premises leasehold, loan interest, profit taxes,utilities, transport, ICT and schoolmaintenance.

ApproximatelyUS$842,658in2015-16Capital income from theAnnual Capital Fee isdirected to the development of the facilitiesandsignificantcapitalinvestments.ThesectiononFacilitiesandInfrastructuregivesdetailsontheprojectswithinthisfinancialarea.

TotalCapital IncomefortheyearamountedtoUS$1,080,000.

Themajorcost for individual itemswithin thecapitalexpenditurewere:

• Furniture,air-conditionersandICTforcurriculumuse:US$485,000.

• Finalpaymentforthelanguagebuilding:US$102,000

• Renovationworkonexistingbuildings:US$148,000

• Principalpaymentofbankloan:US$200,000.

14%Admin.

76%Instruct.

10%Support

DISTRIBUTIONOFEXPENSESSY15-16

52%

11%

16%

21%

CapitalExpenditureSY15-16

FurnitureandITequipmentforcurriculum

NewFaclities-LanguageBuilding

Renovationandairconwholeschool

Bankloan

$0$20,00,000$40,00,000$60,00,000$80,00,000

OperationalIncomeandExpenditure

Tutionfee

Totalincome

OperationalExpenditure



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Laolawhasnocategoryforinternational,non-profit organizations and therefore ‘ownership’of VIS is vested in the Director of the school,whichisregisteredasabusiness.EachDirectortransfers this ownership to the Board ofTrustees as a condition of their employment.Parentsactas‘shareholders’duringtheperiodthat theirchildrenareenrolledatVIS throughtheelectionofTrustees.ThisstructureenablesVIS to operatewith a parent-elected Board ofTrustees holding strategic and fiduciaryresponsibility while the Director holdsoperationalresponsibility.Registration as a business has a financialimpactontheschoolintermsofprofittaxandvalueaddedtax(VAT).TuitionfeesareexemptfromVATbuteverythingtheschoolpurchasesissubjectto10%VAT.TheAnnualCapitalFeeisnotsubjecttoprofittax.The school undertakes one official Agreementupon Procedures through Lao Accountingmethods by KPMG. They have just completedtheirfirstAUPfortheLaocalendaryear2015.

FACILITIESANDINFRASTRUCTUREIn2014-2015theschoolinitiatedtheSciencelabrefurbishment insecondarywith fournewlabs /classrooms on two floors. The labs areconnectedwithasmallelevatortosafelymovechemicals between the four classrooms. Thisprojectwascompletedinschoolyear2015-16.The school designed and built a newwing tothe school – the language building. Thebuilding is locatedbehindprimary school andhastwofloorswithninededicatedclassroomsforourlanguageandmothertongueprogram,aworkroom formother tongue teachers and an

office for the Japanese school. The school hasmadeallpaymentsforthisbuilding.During the year VIS installed a ventilationsysteminthefrontcourtthatincludes8water-blowingfansoneachsideofthebleachers.Thissystem will reduce the temperature on thefrontcourt during sporting events, PE classesandschoolwideassembliesandhasproventobeamajor success.The front court alsohas anew sound system with a dedicated soundroom in the old PE building to protect theequipmentfromtheheatandhumidity.The schoolhas finished the replacementof allold air conditioning units and continues toinstallenvironmentallyfriendlyceilingunitstoimproveefficiencyandspacemanagement.Theschool has also invested in a solar panellightingsystemforalloutsidecorridorsAroomintheprimarywingwasrefurbishedasadesigntechnologylearningspace.Thisspaceisusedby individual classes, the co-curricularprogramandasaMakerSpace.All secondary classroom furniture wasupgradedandincludednewstudenttablesandspecialergonomicchairs.Numerous traditional Salas for both Primaryand Secondary student were built and placedon the school’s ground for students to useduringschoolhoursforspecialprojects,breaksandlunchhours.Over the winter break, additional wheelchairramps were added to the campus that meetspecifications required by our accreditingorganizations for health and safety. Anoutcomeofourstrategicplanningprocesswastoconsiderwaysinwhichtoincreasediversityofourstudentbody.Thesechangesallowusto



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enroll children who use wheelchairs formobility.Aone-to-one laptopprogramwas initiated for2013/14andhascontinuedwithstudentsfromgrade5throughgrade12beingprovidedwitha leased laptop with Microsoft Office suite.Students also have the option of selecting anApple Macbook Air or Pro, or providing theirown device which meets the school’sspecifications. Prep through Grade 5 have atwo to one ratio of ipads in the classroom. Afurther investment in technology has takenplace in the Library with numerous ipadsavailabletostudents,teachersandparents.Theinvestment in technology has allowed forseamless integrationof technologythroughoutthe campus to support and enhance studentlearning.

STAFFINFORMATIONThequalityofstaffisthenumberonefactorinmaintaining a high quality educationalprogramtosupportthelearningandgrowthofour students. Staffing policies continued tofocusonattractingandretainingstaffwiththeteachingphilosophyandpedagogicalexpertisealigned with our mission, objectives and theInternationalBaccalaureateprograms.In 2015 – 2016 staffing was increased toprovide additional time for middle levelleadershipinthesecondaryandtosupporttheexpansion of programs including secondaryschoolcounseling.Leavingstaffpatternsthisyeararereflectiveofthoseinpastyears.

LeavingStaff2015-2016

MichaelAndreas InformationTechnology

KatieBerry SecondaryTeacher

VongvilayDaoheuang Cleaner

AlainDelsahut SecondaryTeacher

AlexFontainas SecondaryTeacher

Jo-AnneFranks PrimaryTeacher

JannaGibson PrimaryTeacher

GarretHotrich SecondaryTeacher

LorenJacobson PrimaryTeacher

KhaiKhaimala Cleaner

DirkKoolmees SecondaryTeacher

ChrisLister SecondaryTeacherPhanovanhLouangaphay LanguageAssistant

SuzanneMasi SecondaryTeacher

AmeliaO'Brien PrimaryTeacher

MimiSivongsay BusMonitor

MoneVolazina Gardener

PhilipWilliams Librarian

KatherineWilliams PYPCoordinatorYaexiongXaikhueyeatuoa GuardSupervisor

STRATEGICPLANLast year, the Strategic Plan moved into theoperational phase of the plan based onrecommendations from the work groups of2014–2015.Recommendations for the 2016 – 2017 yearwere shared and approved by the board inMay.The work that took place in 2015 – 2016 isoutlinedbelow.



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EnrichedCurricularChoices

• Primarydesignroomwasrefurbishedandisregularlyusedbyteachersintheprimarydivision.Theroomhasalsobeenopenedupasa“MakerSpace”forstudents.

• Asecondclassroominthesecondarybuildinghasbeenconvertedintoaroomthatcanbeusedfor“DesignTechnology”classes.

• AfeasibilitystudyonincreasingtheIBDPoptionstoinclude“DesignTechnology”wascompleted.

StrongLanguagePrograms• Parentforumswereheldthroughoutthe

yearforparentswithchildrenenrolledintheMotherTongueprogram.

• MotherTonguetutorsattendedanMYPLanguageworkshopinNovember.

• Afeasibilitystudyon3languageofferingsintheMYPandDP(additionallanguageofferingsintheLanguageAcquisitionprogramandthepossiblepathwaysforstudentstoengageinmorethantwolanguages)wascompletedandpresentedtoparents.

ComprehensiveCo-CurricularPrograms• TheCo-CurricularProgrammovedtoa

trimesterrotationmodel.• On-linesignupswereintroducedforboth

theprimaryandsecondaryCCPprogram.• AnevaluationmodelfortheCCPwas

developedandimplementedwhichincludessurveyingbothparentsandprovidersattheendofeachrotation.

• AfinancialauditoftheCCPwasconducted.

RecognizingNeedsandTalents.• A“RecognizingNeedsandTalents”

handbookwascompleted.• Toimproveaccesstothecampusfor

studentswithphysicaldisabilities,wheelchairaccesswasimprovedthroughthebuildingoframpsthatmeetappropriatespecificationsforsafety.

COMMUNITYPARTNERSHIPS

The Parents and Friends Association (P&F)continued to be a strong contributor to theculture and enrichment of the school for bothour students and the wider community. TheP&Forganizedanumberofeventsthroughouttheyear,providedfundstostudentgroupsforserviceinitiativesandworkedcloselywithourtechnologyandfacilitiesdepartmenttoensurethat technological hardware and classroomequipment and furniture no longer in use atVIS was refurbished and allocated to the Laocommunity.Someof thehighlightsof theyearincluded:

• OneWorldDay• Classparents• FunFair• Halloween• On-going support of cultural activities and

events• Garagesale

vientiane international school · pdf fileinternational baccalaureate diploma as well as the...

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