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| 10 May 08 (02:30 EAT) |
Dear Parents,Parent AssociationThe Parent Association held their first meeting of 2008 last week in Arusha. All parents are welcome to meet the members of the Parent Association for tea/coffee on Wednesday, 20th February in Room 15 in Moshi Campus from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. There will be a similar event on the Arusha Campus from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, 12th March.ISM Website - Parents' PagesSome new pages have been set up on the ISM Website at www.ismoshi.org/parents specifically to include items of direct interest to parents. The Parent Association will be making announcements and posting documents on these pages and we hope to develop the pages further as time goes on. Some documents have been posted on the website in a password-protected section so that ISM parents can access these, but they are not available globally. To access password protected documents, please use the username and password that you have been given. Amongst the most recently added documents are the December 2007 letter from CIS regarding our one-year accreditation report and minutes of Parent Association meetings.Strategic PlanningI would like to encourage all parents to read the recommendations that have been made by the Strategic Planning Committee. A number of strategic directions were identified by the committee which included improving marketing & fundraising, cultivating and communicating the school’s vision, and improving staffing structures.Amongst the recommendations made by the committee under cultivating and communicating the school's vision were the joint school parent association, identical house colours and names on both campuses, uniforms for school teams, a common school primary uniform, increased interschool sporting fixtures, joint campus sporting and social events, and parent run induction for new parents. A number of these recommendations are now in place such house colours and teams common across the school. There are other recommendations that are being considered such as a common primary school uniform. Although specific decisions have not yet been made regarding the primary uniform, we are currently working towards a plan for the two primary campuses which will be discussed at February's Parent Association meeting. These documents are available through the parents’ pages at www.ismoshi.org/parents.htm. The username and password which you have been given are required for documents on the parents’ pages. School PhotographsSchool photographs will be taken on Monday, 11th February and Tuesday, 12th February. Individual photos and class photos will be taken. The charges for photos per picture per person are:-5"x7" Tsh. 5,000/= 6"x8" Tsh. 7,000/= 8"x10" Tsh. 10,000/= 8"x12" Tsh. 12,000/=. ABRSM Music ExaminationsOnly a very small number of people have registered for the February ABRSM theory examinations and the deadline for registration has now passed.Capital Development FeesIn another move to encourage increased enrolment, the Board has now agreed to spread Capital Development Fee payments over three years. Hence, instead of a new student needing to pay $2150 in Capital Development Fees before joining the school or before moving to P1, parents can now pay $700 per year for three years.ISA TestsNext week we will be administering ISA tests to students in the P5, M1 and M3 classes on both campuses. These standardised tests are intended to help us measure our students and our teaching programmes against those of other international schools. Students are not expected to prepare for the tests in any way and we intend to make the process as simple as possible for them. If you would like to read more about the tests that we took in 2006, please go to www.ismoshi.org/isaacer.htm.Pool UseI would like to remind parents that the pool is available for use but you are required to obtain a membership card. These are available from reception. Daily passes may be bought from the lifeguards on the weekends.CHARGES (in TSh) ISM FAMILIES: Annual Family - TSh 80,000/-, Term Family - TSh 40,000/-, Annual Adult - TSh 40,000/-, Term Adult - 20,000/-, Daily Guest Rate TSh 4,000/-, Book of 10 Guest tickets TSh 30,000/- NON ISM FAMILIES: Annual Family - TSh 240,000/-, Term Family - TSh 120,000/-, Annual Adult - TSh 120,000/-, Term Adult - 60,000/- Upcoming Events
Adrian Moody Head of Campus Secondary NewsParent WorkshopOn Monday, 4 February, Stephen Brown will hold an evening presentation on the Personal Project at 5:30 p.m. in the Performance Area. All parents of M4 students, as well as any parents interested in learning more about the Personal Project, are cordially invited to attend. The Personal Project is a challenging and valuable component of the IB Middle Years Programme, designed to stretch students and have them showcase what they have learned over the course of their education in the MYP. Students begin the project in the M4 year, and work on it during the break between years and through the M5 year. Our current M4 students have already begun planning their projects and some have even begun preliminary work. Parents, come on Monday to hear about this project which promotes our mission to help our students become Accomplished and Committed.IGCSE Mock ExamsBravo to the S5 students for taking on the challenge of a heavy week of examinations. The students have worked hard and pushed themselves and are no doubt exhausted and in need of a rest. Unfortunately, their work is not finished! Next week, students in the English as a 2nd Language class, as well as those in French, will have further examinations in listening and oral communication! Also, all students will be given their information about their Art examinations, which they will prepare for over the next few weeks and take towards the end of this month. And, of course, the students now have to use their experience this past week to prepare themselves for the actual IGCSE examinations, which start in early May. The S5 year requires perseverance and determination, and our students have to be committed to keeping up the pace and effort through June! Hang in there, S5!International Students’ Assessments: M1 & M3The M1 and M3 students (along with P5 in primary) will have their own tests next week. They will be taking a standardized test designed for international students created by the Australian Council for Education Research. These tests are designed to assess what students know in accordance with internationally recognized standards, and are not tied to the students’ coursework. The students, therefore, do not need to study for the tests but should prepare to do their best. ISM, along with over a hundred other international schools, uses these tests to compare our students’ knowledge and skills with similar students around the world.Looking aheadParents, please mark your calendars:
John Iglar Head of Secondary Primary NewsReading workshop - "Learning to read - Reading to learn"This is a reminder that next Wednesday 6th January we will be holding a reading workshop in the Drama room at 8.10am. This workshop will be facilitated by Mr. Marcello Mongardi. During the workshop we will model different strategies you can use at home to support your children with developing a ‘love of reading’ We will explore how reading development allows students to move from "Learning to read to Reading to learn". Immediately following this workshop you are invited to spend some time in our classrooms participating in reading in action.We are very excited about sharing this workshop with you and look forward to seeing you on Wednesday morning. PPTV - An Evening's ViewingPPTV programme omission: Our deepest and sincerest apologies to Ms. Ishbel Brydon whose name was accidentally omitted from the programme. Ishbel is a very valued member of the Primary Team and I am sorry that this oversight was not detected in the editing process. An updated copy of the programme is available from the school office if you would like one.A special thank you from all the students is extended to our ISMAC social committee who provided the students with doughnuts and parents with refreshments last Friday night. Proceeds of which will be going towards student directed initiatives as decided in their up coming Student Council Meeting this week. Proceeds from the door will be going towards paying for our new stage curtains. Students and teachers will also be making decisions in collaboration with The Arts department on how we can use the remainder of our proceeds to further enhance our performing arts department. Suggestions so far are: A follow spot, Make up, tiered seating, lighting, sound equipment. We will keep you up to date of any outcomes that are decided upon. P5/6 EOTC Parents MeetingAll P5/6 parents are invited to come to a meeting next Wednesday 6th January at 2pm in Ms. Natalie Croome's classroom. The purpose of this meeting is to share with you planning that has taken place in preparation for our up-coming P5/6 Education outside the classroom fieldtrip to take place on the 18th - 22nd February.Primary Student CouncilCongratulations to the following students who have been elected to the primary student council for this semester.
Make a difference! Betty Brown Head of Primary Standardised Testing at ISMInternational Student Assessment (I.S.A)As a part of our ongoing development of curriculum and assessment procedures at ISM we are continuing with the implementation of the ISA standardised testing program. Standardised testing can provide data required for educational decisions ranging from the formulation of a student's individualised plan to the evaluation of curriculum effectiveness within the School. Standardised testing is one of the ways, among many others, to assess and compare our students' progress with students of the same age in other countries.ISM will use the International School Assessment (I.S.A.). ISA is an assessment created by the Australian Council for Education Research (A.C.E.R.) designed especially for students in international schools and will be given to students in classes P5, M1 and M3 at ISM in February. The ISA tests are based on the internationally endorsed reading and mathematical literacy frameworks of the OECDs Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Presently 128 international schools use the ISA ACER tests. What does the ISA Measure? Reading
The purposes of standardised testing and/or assessment are to help:
Please contact us if you have any further questions. Warm Regards Betty Brown & John Iglar |
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