Friday 7th October, 2016 THE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL … · isps weekly newsletter friday 7th october,...

Friday 7th October, 2016 THE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF PORT OF SPAIN VOLUME 24, ISSUE 7

ISPS WEEKLY NEWSLETTER CONFIDENCE EXCELLENCE INTEGRITY 1

ISPS WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

MISSION ISPS is a vibrant learning community dedicated to developing passionate learners who strive for excellence and pursue their unique potential. We encourage resilience, innovation and collaboration, preparing students to act with confidence and integrity as caring global citizens.

VISION Inspiring thinkers and doers to shape a better world.

MOTTO Difference Makers,

Future Shapers

ISPS Contact #: 633-4777

WHAT’S INSIDE

Dates for your Diary

October

12 MAP Orientation

14 Speech & Hearing Screening

14 MYP Assessment Task

18 Blood Bank (8:00 - 2:30 p.m.)

19 PSATs

19-23 CAISSA Season 1

End of Q1 (MS/ HS)

22 ACTs

24 United Nations Day

24-28 International Week

26 Parade of Nations

FROM THE DIRECTOR

Elementary Notes 2

ES Counselor’s Corner 3

Middle Matters 4-5

International Week 6-8

Save the Date: IFF 8

Reach Out/ IFF/ Tech News 9

Tech Tips 10

Nurse’s Notes/ MAP Orientation 11

Speech & Hearing Screening 12

October Calendar 13

Community Notices 14-15

Athletics 16-17

Cafeteria 18

Open Forum Minutes 19-20

Dear Parents, I hope your children had a good week at school. I would like to thank the PTO for their efforts at the school. They surprised teach-ers this week with treats and snacks on UN World Teachers Day on Wednesday. It was a very nice gesture and we, the staff of ISPS, really appreciated it. I was interviewed by several Grade 1 stu-dents earlier in the week, obviously for a project in their class about roles and re-sponsibilities of people in the school, and they asked me what I did, as the Director. I gave them the answer of "I make sure the school is a safe place to be" and "I make sure other people in the school are doing what they are supposed to do". After the interview, I thought about their question quite a bit. In last week's news-letter I gave you a snapshot of my activities and this continues to be a daily focus. However, on a larger scale I have been as-sessing the systems and structures within the school to see if the "what we do" and "how we do it" can be improved. While it is too early for me to draw any firm conclu-sions at this time, I am seeing some patterns and beginning to formulate ideas. As the year progresses, I will be having

conversations with students, teachers, par-ents and the Board regarding these ideas, and I am looking forward to putting these, and other ideas into the School Improve-ment Plan (SIP). This Plan will be a a four year plan which will guide the school's ac-tivities for the coming years, and guide us into the next AdvancEd accreditation, due to take place in 2020. It will take time to complete this document properly and I will be asking for parent volunteers to serve on committees that will held develop the plan. Stay tuned. The PTO held one of their Special Meetings on Wednesday evening and an-nounced that they are looking for a candi-date to fill the position of Alternate Parent Board Representative on the ISPS Board. I encourage you consider the position and becoming a member of a very active or-ganization in the school and submit a will-ing to serve letter to the PTO. If there is more than one parent willing, an election will be had as per the PTO By-Laws. If you missed the Open Forum held on Wednesday, after the PTO meeting, the minutes are attached. Enjoy the weekend.

Barney Latham, Interim Director

Available at the School Store! (Prices quoted in TTD)

$50 $60 $65 $65 $60

Build ISPS Spirit!!!… Come Shop in our School Store

Check the Admission Office for more information.



Primary Years Program (PYP)

Mark your calendar for Octo-ber 19th, at 7:30 a.m. in the cafeteria. All new families we would like to meet with you to further explain our pro-gramme. Students are begin-ning their second unit of study, and classroom teachers will be sending more infor-mation on the new unit.

Our PYP will be evaluated this academic year, and our teachers have started the self-study. This means that teach-ers are reviewing all aspects of the program to determine if we are meeting all the PYP standards and practices. Once the self-study is completed, and we send the documents to International Baccalaureate

Organization, a team from IBO will visit our school to deter-mine if we are effectively exe-cuting the programme. All teachers in the elementary have been placed on com-mittees to conduct the self-study. We will keep you post-ed when the team will arrive to evaluate our programme. Prior to the team’s visit we will ask for volunteers to speak to members of the team.

Words for this month: Co-operation, Tolerance and

Knowledgeable. Please do not hesitate to

contact me at: [email protected]

Angela Shahien PYP Coordinator

Elementary Notes

Dear Parents, Congratulations to all the parents and students who

took part in Health Week. We thank all the outside agencies who conducted mini-workshops for our stu-dents.

Health Week kicked off with a run and several of our students received medals. The week unfolded with varied hands-on activities for example, the students were actively engaged with the presenters learning about major organs of the body. The nutritionists were impressed with the questions the students asked about foods. We want students to think about their lifestyles. We encourage them to ask questions about their eating habits, exercise, parts of the body, and to think about the choices that can be made to promote a healthy lifestyle. Thank you to Ms. Joseph and Mr. Lue Shue who organized the events of this week.

Measurement for Academic Progress (MAP) scores were sent out this afternoon, please ask your child for his/her Friday Folder. Do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher for any concerns or questions regard-ing MAP.

We held our first Parent Forum on Wednesday, and the topic was on anti-bullying. If any parent was una-ble to attend and require information, please do not hesitate to contact Ms. Hyndman or me. We will be conducting workshops on other topics throughout the year. Thank you to all the parents who participated.

International Week is in another two weeks and the United Nations Theme this year: Sustainable Commu-nities. More information on the projects and events will be highlighted in the weekly newsletter.

Our teachers continue to learn with their colleagues, this week Dr. Delacruz of Kennesaw University, con-ducted two sessions on writing for our teachers. As a teaching and learning environment, we have three final year student teachers from Kennesaw University that are mentored by our master teachers.

Have a great weekend! Suzette Julien Elementary Principal

October 19 PYP Parent Meeting 7:30 a.m. in the cafete-

ria

October 24-28 International Week

November 4 International Food & Cultural Festival

October 7, 2016 Volume 14 Issue 3

Snippe t s . .



Hello Everyone: This month, according to the American School Counselor Association, is anti-bullying month. As we know, one of the strongest antidotes to bullying is empa-thy and kindness. Thus today, in the Ele-mentary School, we launched our Kind-ness Tree.

The goal is to notice and reward pro-social behaviors in an effort to increase them – much as we do sports and aca-demics. Initially we will appoint “Kindness Detectives” (5 per week) from all walks of the school who will report acts of kindness by ES students that they have noticed that week.

Each “detective” will be given a heart to record what they noticed and the “Students of Kindness” will be an-nounced in Town Meeting and published in the weekly Newsletter. Even if a member of ISPS staff is not a “detective”, but notices a moving act of kindness by any ES student, then that also qualifies for a heart! The hearts of kindness will form the leaves of the Kindness tree (bulletin board on the way

to cafeteria) so that by December – we will have at least 55 hearts – and by the end of the school year – a fully blooming tree!

The kids are very excited by this and have asked to do it in their own class-rooms where they can be detectives and notice each other!

Many thanks for reinforcing this ges-ture at home and as always, I welcome your feedback and suggestions for help-ing this to grow from strength to strength. Meanwhile let us congratulate our first two recipients of Kindness Hearts:

Isabella Marquina – Grade 3P who, without stopping to think of herself and giving up a chance of a medal in the Health Week race on Monday, turned back from a winning position to help another student who had fallen.

Kabelo Mphelane – Grade Kinder Khan – unaware of the people behind him and tired after gymnastics class and with his hands full with his schoolbag and lunch-kit, stopped to fix an overturned rug so that no one would trip and fall.

We also salute all students of ISPS who we KNOW will make their way to the Kindness Tree by the end of the school year!

Additionally, sincerest thanks to all

who participated in the “Responding to Bullying” workshop on Wednesday. Your suggestions and questions were deeply appreciated and we shall update the Community once we have posted all relevant information to the school’s website.

Kindest regards, Ms. Hyndman,

MA (Couns), MA (Ed. Psych) ES Counselor

…ES Counselor’s Corner…



Dear Parents, Being a student in Middle School can be extremely stressful; many of us look back at school with fond memories, while at the same time we remember moments where we were stressed out. We are now coming up to a time where assessment is happening in many Mid-dle School classes and deadlines are starting to kick in. So how can we best help our students? The MYP looks at the Learner Profile for guidance. The Learner Profile trait we should all aspire to, and that helps us avoid stressful situations, is balanced. We all fall in the same trap at times and realise we have focused on one thing for way too long. For us adults it is often work that is the centre of our lives, be it as a homemaker or in a company, while for others things like ‘binge-watching’ series on Netflix is what makes them less balanced. This leaves me thinking: ‘well, if it is tough for adults, how tough is it for a 12 or 14 year old boy or girl in Middle School? When it comes to deadlines and meeting the expectations of some of the open-ended tasks we do in MYP, the pressures on students are often three-fold: the teacher expectations, the stu-dent (or parent) expectations and the task at hand. So what is the teacher trying to do? Often with open-ended tasks that are like real-life projects, the teachers wants to add crucial 21st century skills such as time-management skills or collaboration skill to the assessment task. These are very difficult skills to teach, people need to practice them often and we must ac-

cept that it sometimes means that stu-dents get the timing wrong. They may even end up in a situation where the group isn’t working effectively together. So what can the student do? The MYP believes that if you are aware of your learning, you can then begin to drive it. So in the occasions that students do fall down, the teachable moment is very important to seize. It means the teach-ers who see it happen have a conversa-tion with the student to re-inforce the learning that just happened. Parents also should speak with their own child. And we should realise that learning is more than just the subject content; it focuses on non-tangible things like ‘dealing with stress' too. In fact, if a stu-

dent reflects with a sentence like ‘I now know I need to work on my time-management skills’, that task has been an enormous success. Particularly in middle school. I wish I learned those skills back then. The last items to discuss is the task it-self. An open-ended task is …well… open-ended. As a result, some students continue working on it and trying to im-prove it. And do some more work. And even more… This is not the goal of an open-ended task, of course, and one of the skills a student needs to learn is to balance expectations with the amount of time spent. If students spend too much time on homework, the task is not effective anymore. The experience is lost and learning is not happening. Teachers have to ensure they chunk the work in manageable parts and ensure most of the work is done in class, not outside of it where the teacher cannot monitor. Teachers need to ensure tasks are struc-tured to increasing levels throughout the years; students need to learn to evaluate their own learning and know when ‘enough is enough’ or the oppo-site: they need to realise when they have not put in the effort and a result is their own doing. And parents? Parents need to pick them up, dust them off, and give confidence…without taking over and doing it for them. Or adding even more pressure. It’s hard for all in-volved. We must all be in this together. Kind regards,

Aubrey Curran

Middle School Principal

FROM THE MIDDLE SCHOOL PRINCIPAL:

MYP Assessment Task Session For Parents

with MS Principal, Aubrey Curran

Date:

Friday, October 14, 2016

Time:

7:30 to 8:30 a.m.

Location:

Cafeteria



Dear Middle School Parents, I am excited to bring you an opportunity to get together and discuss your children with me! I will be offering a parent discussion group once a week on Tuesday mornings that will focus adolescent development based on the book, “Why Do They Act That Way? A Survival Guide to The Adolescent Brain For You and Your Teen”. The group will be a forum for parents to discuss what you read, reflect on your own experiences with respect to what we have learned about the adolescent brain develop-ment, and ask questions, in a safe and structured environ-ment.

About the book:

“Why Do They Act That Way? A Survival Guide to the Ado-lescent Brain for You and Your Teen” by David Walsh, is an easy read, where the author blends humor, warmth, scien-tific substance and practical advice for parents. He thoroughly explains the growth and functioning of the adolescent brain, and how the changes of their develop-ing brain, affect teenager’s behaviors.

Every chapter tackles differ-ent issues commonly faced by teenagers and their parents, and gives examples of such issues in vignettes written by the author’s first-hand experi-ence of more than 30 years as a teacher, school counselor, and therapist. In the end of each chapter, the author includes a ‘Parent Survival Kit’ which contains the knowledge, attitudes, and skills parents need for raising teenagers. The book is to help parents build a “well stocked kit” in order to help them maintain perspective, balance, and peace of mind which better enables parents to help their

adolescent sons and daughters survive the many conflicts and con-tradictions he or she will face. In addition, at the end of each chapter, he asks a set of questions to help parents assess how well prepared they are in that category with a compre-hensive list of ‘Do’s and Don’ts’ for parents to follow. The focus on the brain’s development and func-tioning during adoles-

cents, help parents under-stand the structure of the brain and how all the parts and systems work together to perform complex functions at lightning speed, which for example, help parents under-stand why adolescents are so impulsive. The school library will be or-dering a limited number of electronic versions of the book that parents can borrow as well as ordering some hard copies for lending. The group will meet on Tues-days mornings from 7:30-8:30 a.m. in the green room begin-ning October 18. If you are a parent of an ISPS Middle School student, and

are interested in joining this discussion group, please email me, Ms. Virginia, at [email protected] to express your intent.

Thank you very much and I look forward to seeing you on October 18. Sincerely,

FROM THE MIDDLE SCHOOL COUNSELOR, MS. VIRGINIA:

Parent Group Objectives:

To help you see more clearly what your ado-lescents are going through.

To learn the “Brain Ba-sics” in order to under-stand, from a physio-logical stand point, the stages and changes of adolescent brain devel-opment.

To help you help your children navigate the common dangers and challenges in his or her life.

To help you gain confi-dence in knowing that you can keep your sani-ty and composure in the face of teenage emotional and behav-ioral upheavals.

Virginia Eggleston

Middle School Counselor

mailto:[email protected]



INTERNATIONAL WEEK OCTOBER 19TH –24TH

17 Goals to Transform the World

E ach year, around October 24th, United Nations Day, the Inter-national School of Port of Spain celebrates “International

Week”. The school welcomes the oppor-tunity to honor the diversity of our com-munity with special events that highlight the work of the United Nations. This year at ISPS, October 24th to 28th has been declared “International Week”. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), otherwise known as the Global Goals, are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and en-sure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. Here at ISPS, The UN, and the SDG will be highlighted at the Parade of Nations Assembly during our International Week celebrations on Wednesday October 26th at 1:00 p.m. in the School’s gymna-sium. The school is using this week to show our support of this global initia-tive and to encourage everyone in the community to become involved: How do we do this? What can we do? And how do we sustain what we do?

One thread of thought : We already have in place various recycling projects, paper, glass and plastic. Is it possible that we might move forward now with composting; turn our perishable waste into useful fertilizer? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to then use this compost to enrich a garden, or two or even three particularly themed gar-dens, each one conceived, created and sustained by a section of the school? How can we make this happen? How could you contribute to this venture?

We welcome anyone knowledgeable in various aspects of composting and or gardening to communicate and collabo-rate with us to bring this thought into reality. In addition for our “International Week”, our students, our staff and our community are invited to join us in mak-ing a statement by adopting our dress themes for that week. We all look for-ward to the Parade of ISPS Nations As-sembly, and all of our parents and guardians are invited to attend. “National Dress” is the theme wear for that day. We will be inviting representa-tives from the Diplomatic Missions in Trinidad. Do not miss the culminating event, The International Food Festival (IFF), spear-headed by our hard working PTO. We thank our parents who have stepped forward to coordinate a booth, assist with decorating and helping in many other ways to highlight our diverse community. This event will be held on Friday November 4th, from 6:00pm - 9:00pm. It promises to be once again, an event to remember!

ISPS Highlights Goal 11 — Sustainable Communities

“Be a global citizen. Act with passion and compassion. Help us make this world safer and more sustainable today and for the generations that will follow us. That is our moral responsibility.”

UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon



Dress Code for International Week

International Week: Oct 24th—28th I International Food Festival: Nov 4th

NOTE: Mon – Fri “Full National Dress” of a country may be worn any day all week. This may be one’s own birthplace, a parent’s, a place visited, etc. However, “bits and pieces” of national dress may not be worn separately.

MON Oct 24th: United Nations Day — Turn the World UN Blue

Dress in UN Blue or your National Dress or ISPS uniform.

TUES Oct 25th: Host Country Day Trinidad and Tobago colors – red, black, white (whole outfit must be one or a combination of the colors) or a country’s full national dress, or ISPS uniform.

WED Oct 26th: Parade of Nations & Flag Ceremony Full National Dress… or ISPS school uniform.

THURS Oct 27th: Divali Day East Indian Dress, National Dress or ISPS uniform.

FRI Oct 28th: Sustainability Wear Green to make a statement that you care and are committed to sustaining our community, or wear National Dress or ISPS uniform.

FRI Nov 4th International Food Festival/ Member State T-Shirt Day UN Member State T-Shirt — T-Shirt must have the name of a UN Member State country or the flag of one of the Member States.

Full National Dress or the ISPS uniform may be worn as well.

To help celebrate the UN's 70th anniversary, more than 350 iconic monuments, buildings, statues, bridges, and other landmarks in more than 90 countries across the globe were lit in blue - the official color of the UN, on 24 October, 2015 (UN Day). We are inviting all to continue this tradition by wearing UN blue as part of an exciting new global campaign which helps unite global citizens and promote the message of peace, development and human rights.



On October 21, Reach Out is hosting the Rock Out with Reach Out Festival on the ISPS South Field from 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. The event is to raise money for the Petit Valley Community Center — to buy new school supplies and fully equip an office space. A variety of local rock acts will be performing for your delectation along with former and current students and teachers. Reach Out is an ISPS community service project that has been running for the last five years. Every Saturday morning between 10 and 12, we hold classes at the Petit Valley Community Center to prepare the young local students primarily for SEA examinations, but also to help them with homework assignments and generally provide them with a place of study. Over the last five years we have raised monies in a variety of ways to provide the students with educational materials, trips to the Cascade Waterpark and to repair and refurbish the Community Center. Bring a blanket and come enjoy the ambience. Anthony Blackburn Reach Out Coordinator

Rock Out with

Reach Out IFF Countries

Argentina Australia

Brazil Canada China

Colombia England

France Germany

India Indonesia

Italy Japan Korea

Lebanon Mexico

New Zealand Pakistan

Persia Peru

Scotland

Switzerland Syria

Trinidad & Tobago USA

Venezuela Wales

Countries being represented so far at the IFF:

There is an open position on the ISPS Board of Directors for an Alternate Parent Director. Interested candidates need to submit a

“ Willingness to Serve” letter to the Nominating Committee. This letter should include a synopsis of their credentials and activities highlighting their relevant experience. “Willingness to Serve” letters must be submitted to the Nominating Committee by Monday 24thOctober at 2:15pm. These will be published in the ISPS Newsletter for community review. Please send your letters to the Nominating Committee c/o the PTO President, Rosie Ramsingh, at [email protected]




Teenagers 'checking mobile phones in night'

(BBC, Oct. 6, 2016) This article references U.K. teens but the behaviors are the same anywhere. Pre-teens (or young-er) and teens don't want to miss anything. Read about ways to limit the impact and how to gear-down for healthier sleep and promote healthier tech use habits.

Tech Tips by Adrienne DeBoucher, Ed. Tech. Coordinator

http://www.bbc.com/news/education-37562259






VANDA GIBBINGS-GOMES

School Nurse, R.N. R.M.

Understanding MAP MAP Orientation for Parents with Pamela Hyndman & Principals

(Grades K-8) If you are new to MAP testing or wish to

understand it better.... Measurement of Academic Progress (MAP) testing is

conducted three times a year at ISPS.

It is a computerized adaptive test which helps teachers, parents, and administrators improve

learning for students and make informed decisions to promote students'

academic growth.

Wednesday October 12, 2016 7:30-8:30 a.m.

Cafeteria Looking forward to seeing you there.

The Blood Bank will be here on Tuesday 18th October, 2016. Donors start preparing yourselves, eat green leafy vegetables and other foods high in iron so that you can donate.

Speech and hearing screening will take place on Friday 14th October, 2016 in the conference room.

The cost is $70.00 and the screening will be conducted by Wendy Senior Gomez a speech-language clinician.

Please complete and submit the attached form (see Page 7) with the money by Monday 10th October, 2016. Cheques are to be written to Wendy Senior Gomez.

There has been an increase in flu-like symptoms recently. We are offering flu shots to all our families. The cost is $85.00 per person.

Pay for the number of shots you require in the Business Office and I will let you know when it arrives so we can arrange for you to get it. The deadline for the flu shot payments is Wednesday, October 12, 2016.

Time slots are half hourly from 8am to 2:30pm. Let me know if you would like to donate and I will slot you in.

Have a safe and enjoyable weekend.

Forgotten passwords: http://bit.ly/ispsskywardnewpassword

Please follow the link above to help with forgotten passwords.

http://bit.ly/ispsskywardnewpassword



Please return the completed form and payment by

Monday 10th October.

Please make cheques payable to:

Wendy Senior Gomez

Speech & Hearing Screening Friday 14th October, 2016

TTD70.00 per student

I want my child/children to have Speech & Hearing Screening

Name/Grade __________________________________

Name/Grade __________________________________

Name/Grade __________________________________

Name/Grade __________________________________

--------------------------------------------------Parent/Guardian

Following the notice about a student in school who contracted chickenpox in middle school no one has reported to my office that they have any symptoms or were diagnosed with chickenpox. If your child has fever and a rash please take them to get checked by your doctor. It is important that we know about any member of our community with an infectious disease.

VANDA GIBBINGS-GOMES, School Nurse, R.N. R.M.

UPDATE



Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

25 26 27 28 1

PTO IFF Meeting SAT

7:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

2 3 4 5 UN World Teachers

Day 6 7 8

ES Health Week

Responding to School

Bullying Forum

PTO Special Meeting, 6:30 p.m. (Cafeteria)

Open Forum,

7:00 - 9:00 p.m.

Yearbook Photos (Students must dress in proper attire)

9 10 11 12 13 14 15

MAP Orientation

for Parents With Pam Hyndman

& Principals 7:30 - 8:30 a.m.

Speech & Hearing

Screening 8:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.

Conf Room

MYP Assessment

Task with Aubrey Curran

(7:30 - 8:30 a.m.)

16 17 18 19 20 21 22

. Blood Bank

8:00 a.m.-2:30 p.m PSATs End of Q1 (MS/HS)

ACTs 7:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

CAISSA Season 1 -

ISPS CAISSA Season 1 -



ISPS

23 24 United Nations

Day 25 26 27 28 29

Parade of Nations

Ceremony Divali Celebration Divali

1:00 p.m. - GYM 5:00-7:00 p.m. (National Holiday)

CAISSA Season 1 - ISPS

INTERNATIONAL WEEK

30 31

NO SCHOOL

(School Holiday)

International School of Port of Spain OCTOBER 2016 2016 - 2017 Events Calendar



If your son or daughter would like to participate please contact Jamie Shearer

Date: Sunday October 30, 2016

Time 8:00 a.m. - noon Age Groups & Races

Venue Flying Fish Pool, Federation Park Individuals

7 & Under -200M Run 25M Swim 100M Run 8 to 9 -1 loop Run 50M Swim 200M Run 10 to 11 - 2 loops Run 100M Swim 1 loop Run 12 to 13 - 3 loops Run 200M Swim 2 loop Run

Cost TT$30 (non-refundable fee) Due October 21

Relays Primary - 2 loops Run 100M Swim 1 loop Run

What: Run, Swim, Run

Amoi Dunbar & Adriana Housty



AVAILABLE MONDAY!!!

Shivaa Persad-Coosal

“ISPS Dads” polo jerseys will be on sale by Ms. Hazel - $100

Call INTERESTED MODELS WITH DIVALI OUTFITS PLEASE SUBMIT: NAME, GRADE, TEACHER,

PARENT CONTACT AND PICTURE OF CLOTHING ARTICLE SEND TO: [email protected]

Divali Celebration Fashion Show

M O D E L Come out and be part of the fashion show

OCTOBER 27, 2016 from 5:00-7:00 p.m.

Here At ISPS

Children of all ages are welcomed. All participants must have their own garments.

Ms. Samantha Gooljar



By Ashmir Ali

Please call (620 6866) or email ([email protected] or [email protected] ) if you are interested in assisting.

AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES There will be no activities on Wednesday 18th, Thursday 20th and Friday 21st October ASA 1 ends on November 25th Registration Forms for ASA 2 will be available from November 21st

CAISSA NEWS: The stage is set for what should be a great CAISSA. CAISSA Volleyball (All Eyes on You) starts on Wednesday 19th October. The teams arrive on Wednesday evening. Our teams have been se-lected and the coaches are confident that our players have what it takes to make us proud. Our four teams (Boys’ Varsity, Boys’ JV, Girls’ Varsity and Girls’ JV) are very competitive. Our senior girls have won this tour-nament for the last four years. The Caiman boys look incredibly talent-ed. It should be a great tournament. We have not found homes for all our visiting students. If you would like to assist with housing please contact me. All parents and members of the community who would like to sup-port the event by supplying sports drinks, fruits and other food items, or in any other way can also contact Physical Education Department or Ms Carmen Low. Your assistance is vital to hosting a successful event for the entire school community.

Housing Request Form

The organising committee is requesting housing for the 80 students and 20 coaches from the three participating schools, The Carol Morgan School, Academia Cotopaxi and Escuela Campo Alegre. Two new schools will be joining the association: Balboa Academy from Panama and Cayman International School from the Grand Cayman Islands. These schools will be staying at hotels.

Please call (620 6866) or email ([email protected] or [email protected] ) if you are interested in assisting.

Thank you for your support,

Ashmir Ali

Athletic Director

International School of Port of Spain

Please indicate if you would be willing to house students from the visiting

schools.

Name: _____________________________Ph. Number: ___________________

Amount of students you are willing to House: _______________

Comments: _________________________________________________________

Address: ___________________________________________________________

Please return to Ashmir Ali

✂





TIME Day 1 Boys (Court 1) Time Day 1 Girls (Court 2)

2:30-3:30 Game 1 ISPS vs JV

3:30-4:30 Game 2 JV vs ECA

Day 2 BOYS/Girls Day 2 GIRLS

8:00-9:00 Opening Ceremony 8:00-9:00 Opening Ceremony

9:00-10:00 Game 1 ISPS vs AC 9:00-10:00 Game 3 JV vs CIS

10:00-11:00 Game 2 ECA vs JV 10:00-11:00 Game 4 ISPS vs ECA

11:00-12:00 Game 3 ISPS vs CMS 11:00-12:00 Game 5 AC vs CMS

12:00-1:00 Game 4 AC vs ECA 12:00-1:00 Game 6 ECA vs CIS

1:00-2:00 Game 5 CMS vs JV 1:00-2:00 Game 7 ISPS vs AC

2:00-3:00 Game 6 ECA vs ISPS 2:00-3:00 Game 8 CIS vs CMS

3:00-4:00 Game 7 CMS vs AC

AC vs CIS 4:00-5:00 Game 9/10 CMS vs JV

AC vs JV 5:00-6:00 Game 11/12 CMS vs ISPS

Day 3 BOYS Day 3 GIRLS

8:00-9:00 Game 8 JV vs ISPS Game 13 CMS vs ECA

9:00-10:00 Game 9 ECA vs CMS Game 14 ISPS vs CIS

10:00-11:00 Game 10 AC vs JV Game 15 AC vs ECA

12:00 Depart for Cultural Trip

Day 4 BOYS Day 4 GIRLS

9:00-10:00 Play-Off 4th vs 5th 8:00-9:00 Play-Off 1 5th vs 6th

10:00-11:30 Semi Final 1 2nd vs. 3rd 9:00-10:00 Play-Off 2 3rd vs 4th

11:30-1:00 Semi Final 2 1st vs Winner of Play-Off 10:00-11:30 Semi Final 1 1st vs Winner of Play-Off 1

11:30-1:00 Semi Final 2 2nd vs Winner of Play-Off 2

1:00-2:30 Bronze Medal

L –S1 vs. L-S2 1:00-2:30 Bronze Medal L –S1 vs. L-S2

2:30-4:00 Gold Medal W-S1 vs. W-S2

4:00-5:30 Gold Medal W-S1 vs. W-S2

Please call (620 6866) or email ([email protected] or [email protected] ) if you are interested in assisting. This promises to be a very spectacular event. The Opening Ceremony will be held on Thursday 20th October at 8:00am to 9:00am in the ISPS Theatre. All are invited. Season 2 (Boys’ Basketball/Girls’ Soccer) begins on Monday 24th October. This CAISSA Tournament will be hosted by Aca-demic Cotopaxi in Ecuador from January 25th to 29th, 2016. Boys’ Basketball/Girls’ Soccer Team Training starts on Monday 24th October at 3:30pm.

Day 1: October 19 Day 2: October 20 Day 3: October 21 Day 4: October 22





Easy

Print

Page

October

12 MAP Orientation

14 Speech & Hearing Screening

15 MYP Assessment Task

18 Blood Bank (8:00 - 2:30 p.m.)

19 PSATs

19-23 CAISSA Season 1

End of Q1 (MS/ HS)

22 ACTs

24 United Nations Day

24-28 International Week

26 Parade of Nations

29 Divali (National Holiday)

31 School Holiday (No School)

November

2 MS/ HS Reports

4 International Food & Cultural Festival (TBC) 7:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

5 SATs

6 Daylight Saving

11 Teacher P.D. Day

(NO SCHOOL)

11 ES end of Term 1 (55 days)

19 PTO Garage Sale

23 ES Reports

25 ASA Session 1 ends

Menu: October 10th to October 14th, 2016 Everyday there will be a set menu at a fixed cost (Table d’hôte) and some days may have an À la carte menu where

items are priced individually

Elementary Options: Any Sandwich served with a small salad, milk, water or juice and fruit: $15.00

Prices for Lunch: VAT INCLUSIVE (Table d’hôte)- Fixed Menu:

Elementary Lunch: $23.00 Medium Lunch: $28.00 Large Lunch: $32.00

Prices for (A la Carte Menu):

6 in. Subs (Tuna, Ham and Cheese, Turkey, Ham): $10.00 Chicken Sub: $12.00

Vegan Delight (Cheese, Vegetables): $10.00 Fruit Bowl served Monday and Tuesday: $10.00

Baked French Fries: $10.00 Fresh Juices: $6.00(s) $7.00(m) $8.00(l) Milk (normal/soy): $6.00

Note: Vegetarian meals are available upon request. Students & Staff who suffer from allergies or have dietary requirements, please let

the café know in advance so that they can try to facilitate you.

Monday 10th

Breakfast:

Lunch:

Toasted Bread, Scrambled Eggs, Jam, Cheese Salad.

Grilled Quesadillas Or Chicken Tacos, Three Bean Salad topped with Mozzarella Cheese.

Tuesday 11th

Breakfast:

Lunch:

American Scrambled Eggs (A simple fresh tasting Scrambled Eggs with Tomatoes, Onions,

Bell peppers & Cheese), Banana Muffin, Sausages.

Chicken Alfredo, Mac & Cheese, Baked Chicken, Fresh Salad

Wednesday 12th

Breakfast:

Lunch:

Pancakes, Donuts, Eggs, sausages.

Roti Day- Buss-Up-Shut ONLY, Channa & Potato, Dasheen Leaves, Curry Chicken OR Curry

Goat, Mango, Pumpkin.

Thursday 13th

Breakfast:

Lunch:

Hops & Chow Mein, Cheese, Ham.

Vegetable Rice, Lentils, Rosemary Chicken, Fresh Salad.

Friday 14th

Breakfast:

Lunch:

Bagels & Cream Cheese, Sausages, Sada & Bodi or Tomato.

Pizza, Ham Hawaiian, Garden Fresh, Pepperoni.



The meeting started at 7:00 p.m. The Forum began with an introduction of the concept of the Open Forum and some ground rules for the kinds of topics that could be discussed (school wide concerns/questions, not personal issues about your child’s classes). Then the floor was open for questions.

Question: Last Open Forum you mentioned you would respond to the items raised in the report from the American Embassy. Where are you with that?

One of my responsibilities this year is to assess the recommendations made in the US Embassy Report and give a status report to the Board. The status reports will be given to the Board as I conclude research on each item.

I can then present those same results in subsequent Open Forums.

As an example; The report stated that the Board should ensure that the director is following policies adopted by the Board, and they stated as an example, staff evaluation. I reported to the Board last month that the teacher evaluation process is in place and is being used. I reviewed some of the evaluation documents person-ally, yet HR did an analysis and confirmed that all teachers had been evaluated last year and all but 3 of the Administrative support staff had been evaluated.

Is there any opportunity for students to have input in the teacher evaluation process?

The Teacher evaluation process in place includes an opportunity for students to do that. However, it seems that this was not practice last year, yet I am not sure. A Middle School member of staff confirmed that this did not happen in MS. This will be re-introduced, at all levels, to the teacher evaluation system this year.

Is it possible to ask the US Embassy to publish the report?

I have been asked by the US Embassy to read a statement when asked about this, yet I do not have that state-ment with me, but in a nutshell, all institutions the US Embassy deals with have been given a copy of the report and it might be accessible through your company. Alternatively all requests for a copy of the report should go to John McIntyre, at the US Embassy.

What is your take on the report?

I believe the report was scathing. I was here at the same time as the other consultants. The report was written based on a visit during the last week of school, which is not a normal week of school, and I am not so sure that was reflected in the report. In defense of the school, the end of last school year was a very difficult time; many people were unhappy and so I believe that some of the report was spot on. However, I do not think, as report-ed, that the school was in chaos.

Now, after six weeks, I can say that we have not always been following some of the policies and procedures that were in place. This year, we will be sticking to our policies and procedures and I have the full support of staff. The school is “change-fatigued” and we are going to slow down, ensure that the many changes imple-mented last year are properly understood and implemented. For instance, I don’t believe the MYP introduction was handled well, and there is still work to be done in properly understanding the MYP. Now, let me clarify here, the MYP is a framework in how the curriculum is taught. The IB comes with a philosophy on how teaching & learning happens. The standards & benchmarks we developed, our curriculum, still exists and are still in place. Aubrey has done a lot of work with teachers looking at MYP, particularly assessment.

Minutes from the Open Forum held on October 5, 2016



As an interim, would you be able to develop the benchmarks that would ensure the future of the school is safeguarded?

Part of the Professional Development focus in August was an emphasis on sustainability and confirming who we are and where we want to go.. The idea is to ensure the school is safeguarded from the changes of adminis-trators coming in. This can be done through sticking to our policies, and focusing on the School Improvement Plan.

How long is your tenure?

Currently I have a contract through February. The board and I are in discussions to lengthen the tenure until June. By the end of October or the beginning of November, a decision on a longer-term tenure may be made.

Can you update us on the withdrawal of the embassy? What are the implications to ISPS?

The embassy has stated they are pulling out as a shareholder (there are four shareholders EOG, BG/Shell, BP & US Embassy). The embassy has decided to pull out, purely as a business decision. They have also stated that they will still have children here, they will still support the school, e.g. hopefully on issues such as security, spe-cial projects such as grants. The decision to pull out as a shareholder gives their families more schooling op-tions. The ramifications are unknown, however there are rumours that the US Embassy will be starting a new school, and that may affect us in the future.

Are we interviewing / or have we started the process to look for a new Director?

We have advertised the position on Search Associates, the recruitment firm that ISPS will be using. The school fact-sheet was circulated to the board to give feedback. When asked about launching the search, the firm asked if I were going to stay longer? I told them I was undecided and asked about suspending the process in Oct/Nov if things changed. They explained to me that it happens all the time and suspending the search can easily be done.

Thank you to the board for getting you back here and I want to congratulate you, the principals and the teachers. I think it is tremendous for you as a school to come together and to come back, in such a short time, from where we were in June.

Thank you for your vote of confidence. My approach is to ‘slow down’. One focus this year must the PYP self-study, in preparation for the IB’s visit in March or April. The school improvement plan is incomplete, but we are working on getting it in place. We have a lot of projects on our plate this year and the last thing we need is an-other change or another project. We need to focus on re-building relationships and getting back to where we once were.

Emotional stability of the school / how do you define it? And how do you fix it?

I can’t define it but I would say it is the feel good factor. How happy are people coming to work? How happy are the kids, how happy are the parents. How stressed are people?

It is about building relationships. Having fun together, getting to know each other so that we can work better together. We have had a couple of staff limes which has helped.




There were going to be some significant changes in G9 & G10? How are we going there?

I would not say that there are going to be significant changes. We will still be teaching the same thing that we have been teaching for years, we just need to learn how to deliver it in in an MYP fashion and philosophy.

There have been several MYP workshops already this year, given by Mr Curran, and I think we are making pro-gress.

Can you outline your findings on MYP specifically?

On an individual level teachers are displaying a normal spread of MYP teaching. There are those who really un-derstand it and are embracing the philosophy, and there are those who are still learning.

What do you need from us?

Thanks you for coming, it shows support, which is exactly what we need from the parent body. We need to re-build the relationships within our community. We need to be positive and we need to congratulate the school (teachers and admin) when things are going well.

A calendar question - August to December, it’s too long, can we change that.

The 16-17 school calendar will not change. However, I agree with you and I will be proposing a calendar for the 17-18 school year which will be different. With this current calendar we will see a change in the energy levels of our students and staff in November and I think that will affect teaching and learning. We will address this for next year’s calendar.

Why is there a no-hat policy?

To my knowledge there has never been a hat policy in the school. However if you would like to adopt one, we will need to gather support from the community and form a proposal.

Do International Schools have benchmarks / or rankings that happens? What is the vision of the global positioning of the school?

There is no such thing as a global ranking for International Schools. However, informal conversations between universities and our school happen and they then get a sense of how good we are. AdvanceEd is our guarantee.

How about the AP? How do we rank?

We have been tracking that for ten or fifteen years and the school does generally perform above the global average. This was the case last academic year where the average grade was above the international norm, except within Chemistry and Psychology. Last year ISPS had the greatest number of AP Scholars, recognised by the US CollegeBoard.

The meeting adjourned at 8:20 p.m.


Friday 7th October, 2016 THE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL … · isps weekly newsletter friday 7th october,...

Documents

Transcript of Friday 7th October, 2016 THE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL … · isps weekly newsletter friday 7th october,...