Leopard's Tale |
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Open Doors to ParentsPlease don't forget that the library is open for parents to come check out books or sit and work during school hours Monday through Friday. We are also open the first and third Saturday of each month from 9:00-12:00 for parents and students.  Upcoming Event - Book SwapAt the next Friday market on 31 March, we will have a table set up for you to bring a used book in reasonable condition and swap it out for another used book that someone else brings. For every book that you give, you will get a book coupon and for every coupon that you have, you can take 2 books of your choosing home. The library reserves the right to first choice so if any donated books could enrich our collection, we will keep those books for everyone to borrow from our collection. We are asking the PTA to help us find a parent volunteer to run this event from 12:30 to 13:15 so if you would be willing to sit at the book swap table for those 45 minutes on 31 March to hand out and collect coupons, please contact a member of the PTA or Kim at kshumlansky@aislusaka.org. Upcoming Event - Week of CodingG6-12 students are welcome and encouraged to come to the secondary library with their iPads or laptops to do some fun STEM activities from 3-6 April from 14:30-15:30 when there are no CCAs running. Students can program our DJI robots to complete a challenge or try their hand at a dozen different Hour of Code apps which will help them use and practice different coding skills. During the school hours, teachers can sign up their class to come down as well.
Please come to the opening or drop by to view the show throughout the week. All welcome.   Hope everyone had a good break and got some relaxation with family and friends, and hopefully some outdoor time. Update on Strategy The conversation held in the Protea Room just before the break was very well attended and a great conversation was had with parents, following a brief presentation. If you missed it, here is the Strategy Slide Presentation. One of the four domains in our strategy is the Environment and it is in this area that we seek help from parents and the wider community. Mark James is leading the Green Campus initiative as part of the environment domain with a group of enthusiastic teachers. Our next step is to involve students, who we would like to see driving projects in this area. Parent expertise is critical too! Here is the Environment's Team working document that Mark presented to the parents. Green Campus Group Slides This too sparked a lot of conversation about how we need to prepare our students in our world of exponential change. AI Continues to Expand Our Capacities Indeed this week, the Fourth Iteration of Chat GPT was launched. The parameters for GPT- 3 was 175,000,000,000 GPT- 4 is now 100,000,000,000,000 Also this week Google announced A new era for AI and Google Workspace coming soon to the Google Suite. Fee Letter The annual Fee Letter and explanation went out yesterday. Friday Market Tomorrow is the Friday market. Here is the selection of vendors. (Please consider bringing your own containers to help save on plastic) Hilda - Bagels Ethnix - Crafts Krupa’s Kreations - Baked goods Millie - Baked goods fundraising for GRI Wim Pics - Artwork/photography Mrs Tarney - Fresh fruit juices Rin’s Kitchen - Thai food Joyce/Mary - Burritos Mr. Banda - Wooden carvings Minal - Resin products Baobab Swirls - Soaps/creams Mr Luhila - Roasted chickens Catherine - Fresh fruit/vegetables Yuka - Hana Saku Sushi Shen Jing - Stationery Three Way Conferences Are Upon Us! Next Wednesday and Thursday sees our second round of Three Way Conferences for the school year. Please check the primary and secondary updates for the details. Looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible on campus. Re-Enrollment Reminder Thank you to those who have responded about re-enrollment for the next school year. If you have not yet done so, please consider doing this as soon as you are able, as it helps greatly in our planning. If you have any questions, please contact our Admissions Director, Natasha Chalikulima on: nchalikulima@aislusaka.org And to those who celebrate, Happy St. Patrick’s Day for tomorrow. And to ponder: A Traditional Gaelic Poem May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face; the rains fall soft upon your fields until we meet again… With kind regards,
Dr. Oli Tooher-Hancock Director Dear Parents,
Welcome back from the break. I hope everyone had a restful, or adventurous, break, and that it wasn’t too hard to remember that we came back on Tuesday rather than Monday. I am still operating as if it is Wednesday. A lot of the following is carried over from the last Secondary Update, but that is ok, it is still relevant. I want to take this opportunity though to recognize the work of the Experience Zambia team, and particularly Ms. Fiona Moss. Fiona has been a huge addition to the AISL team, and has worked tirelessly on this initiative. If you see her, let her know how appreciated she truly is in this community. Today we hosted both a parent and student information session (SLIDE DECK) on this initiative and look forward to having our Gr 5 - 10 students out Experiencing Zambia at the end of May. Conferences: Conferences are coming up March 22-23, please see the section in this week’s LT for more detailed information. In brief, these conferences are an opportunity for the students to demonstrate agency and ownership of their education by leading the conversation about their learning. Please note that these conferences are meant to be:
New Rest: This past Monday I had a meeting with representatives from New Rest to discuss some of the issues that have been brought to my attention in the past few weeks. In terms of some of the ordering issues, they asked me to remind parents that they need to: order before 10 PM the day before the delivery date, 2. Make sure that the selected date is the date the food is delivered, and 3. Make sure that, after you order, you receive a confirmation email. This last point is, I understand, extremely important as the confirmation emails confirm that the order has been received. Additionally, we spoke about account information. New Rest informs me that presently accounts are calculated manually, and that account statements go out every 15 days. They assured me however, that they are working on software that will allow parents to access their accounts in real time with automatic updates. Lastly, they agreed to fully open the Secondary tuck shop by the gym to both food deliveries and sales and to properly staff and stock it for the kids. They let me know that they will not be selling to Secondary kids in the Primary tuck shop. So, if Secondary kids want snacks or food, starting Monday, they will be fully stocked in the Tuck shop next to the gym. Lastly, New Rest has appointed a liaison to work with the school gathering feedback from Parents, Students and Staff. So, if you have any questions or issues, please reach out to the New Rest Retail Manager, Francis at 0973259785. The rains seem done, the cooler weather is rolling in, Baseball Spring Training is back. It’s a great time of the year, and we anticipate great things for the rest of Semester 2. Have a great holiday, Rick Odum  Dear AISL Community,
The Gr 6-8 Community Connections Flex Time Team is organizing a clothing/recreational equipment drive for young migrant boys ages 14-18 starting March 20th and ending March 31st. These boys are from Ethiopia and were caught in transit on their way to South Africa looking for a better life. They are going through desperate times. Until recently, they were held in a prison, and are now staying in a correctional facility. There are currently 70+ kids in the Lusaka area. They are the ones who survived. Others have died along the way due to being smuggled in inhumane ways. UpZambia is a local NGO who provides legal representation to these migrant boys. UpZambia has contacted us for support in supplying these boys with the following items:
We are going to collect as many items as we can, but the minimum goal is 200 clothing items (around a couple of things for each boy), 20 sports items, and 20 art supplies. For the hygiene items, we need around 50 bars of soap, 50 toothpaste tubes, and around 90 toothbrushes. Items can be donated any time of the day (while the school is open, of course), from March 20th to March 31st in designated boxes outside the Secondary Office. During the student-parent-teacher conferences on Wednesday, March 22nd, and Thursday, March 23rd, we will be available under the dome to answer any further questions. We count on the spirit and kindness of the AISL community to help these boys! Have a wonderful rest of your week, Community Connections Flex Time Team LINK TO CONFERENCE SIGN UP (instructions at top of sheet)  Final Logistics for students:
 Because the Diploma Programme conducts cumulative exams, we at AISL feel strongly that in order to align with them, students in the MYP need to practice exam skills. For this reason, we will be holding cumulative tests for Grades 9 and 10 from April 3rd to April 6th. Students have received information about how to learn during advisory. Here are the slides that Grade 10 worked through and here are the slides that Grade 9 worked through. Teachers in each subject support students in developing these study skills. The top two study skills which have been emphasised are active recall and spaced repetition. Below is the schedule for Grade 9/10 cumulative tests. Please note that some classes will be disrupted but on the whole students will be in regular classes. The tests are 60 minutes in length to allow for accommodation times for the students that need that. All tests will be held in the Pavilion under aligned DP provisions so students experience an ‘exam’ situation. The cumulative tests allow students to review past knowledge, skills, and concepts and practise ATL skills such as:
In line with the MYP, these tests are not weighted. They form just one more data point for teachers and students about learning and progress. As a parent, you can support in making sure your child is eating and sleeping well and that they have an area in the house where they can study constructively. It might be an idea to come to an agreement about cell phone use during this time. Here is an article about how you can help as a parent during exam times.  Koch, Alexandra. “Boy Studying Calculator.” Pixabay,
pixabay.com/photos/student-study-boy-test-calculator-6972899/. Accessed 16 Mar. 2023. Dear Parents of G9 and G10 students:
Our next unit during G9 and G10 Advisory class will be discussing Identity and Sexuality. We will discuss topics such as identity, stereotypes, harassment, violence, and decision making. Being a diverse and inclusive community we welcome a variety of different perspectives and there will be the opportunity to engage in respectful and productive dialogue. Our counselor, Ms. Driekie Smith, will be helping us create the content and will lead some of the discussions. We also hope to invite guest speakers from local organizations to add varied perspectives. As we go into greater depth on various topics, student interest will be taken into account, and we will adjust as necessary. All G9 and G10 students will participate in these lessons as it is a part of our Advisory curriculum. If you would NOT like your child to participate in any of these lessons, please email Kim Shumlansky (kshumlansky@aislusaka.org), the G9/10 Grade Level Leader. She will ensure that your child has another safe place to go during the 45-minute Advisory lessons.  A huge congratulations to the Class of 2023 for completing their mock exams! These ran the week before Spring Break, and were a great opportunity for Seniors to know what it looks, feels, and sounds like to be in a DP Exam. To help the Seniors let off steam, the Senior Spirit Committee organized an amazing Holi celebration. Students received a white t-shirt, and then had a massive paint/water fight that lasted an hour - and was only made more fun by a torrential downpour!
We’re always looking to evaluate and improve our programme, so students were surveyed about their mock exam experiences. Results included the following: Successes
Areas for growth
With only six weeks to go before the real exams, our Seniors are finally in the home stretch. Good luck to all students, parents, and teachers as we work towards graduation! |
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