On Friday, 15 September, our ELC and Kindergarten students celebrated International Dot Day. International Dot Day is inspired by the book, 'The Dot, by Peter H. Reynolds. This is a global collaborative day that focuses on celebrating creativity, collaboration, and connecting with others. Thank you to Jill Daley, our Librarian, for facilitating this fun event. Below are some photos from the day. Thank you to Claire Potts for capturing these great moments. (image: www.thedotclub.org)

The kids have two days off of school.  Why???  Is it worth it when you have to arrange for extra child care, transportation to a friend's house or play date, and extra food in the fridge, not to mention the worries of whether siblings have survived the day at home together?  Despite these headaches, teacher professional development days (PD) are essential to the growth and improvement of our school.  During the Monday PD, the Secondary Teachers spent the day collaborating and planning to make our Advisory Program something to make our school stand out.  Built around the IB Learner Profile, the Secondary Advisory Program

Please note that this is an early notice to mark the dates of October 11 and 12 from 1300-1700 on your calendar to visit your child's teachers and learn more about their progress during the Secondary Parent-Teacher Conferences in the library.  We encourage all of our families to attend.  

A message from the PTA:

Looking ahead we will begin planning our annual Halloween Trunk or Treat and Santa's Grotto events. For these events to be pulled off we are looking for parents to get involved and help us organize these fun events. Volunteering will not take a lot of your time but will rather make the organization process easier. 

We encourage everyone to get involved! if you are willing to assist us contact pta@aislusaka.org

Thursday, September 21st, meet at school at 7:30am and retuning by 12pm. 

We will explore different community centers and charities in the community. 

Spots limited contact pta@aislusaka.org 

What do you think of when you think of scientists? A
re they all old men with crazy hair, equipped with test tubes and goggles, dressed in white lab coats?
Or
is a scientist more diverse and interesting than that?
Would you ever want to be a scientist?

The students chose a career in which science is an integral part and investigated this career. They complete their posters and will dress-up and present their career as “Scientists of the Day”, to the parents on Thursday September 21st, from 18:00 - 19:00  in the Batoka Science Building.

The students have to be at school at 17:45 to allow them to settle in and be ready for the presentation.
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If you have any questions please feel free to contact me – Mrs. Van Rensburg: evanrensburg@aislusaka.org​

 What I am excited about this week…
 

1. ISSEA Hosting! ISSEA stands for International Schools of Southern and Eastern Africa and is our international high school sports and cultural events league. ISSEA is comprised of seven other schools: AIS Johannesburg, AIS Mozambique, Harare International School, International School of Uganda, International School of Kenya, International School of Tanganyika, and the International Community School of Addis Ababa. Each year our students participate in eleven ISSEA events, each one hosted by an ISSEA school. On 25-29 October, AISL will be honored to host one of ISSEA’s oldest and largest tournaments: volleyball. As we have done in the past, we plan on offering a top notch ISSEA experience for the 140 or so visiting scholar-athletes from the schools around the region. In order to do that, we need your help. We are asking all secondary school families to open their home to two or more visiting students. Please help AISL show to our guests the same hospitality that will be shown to our own students when they travel to other schools for ISSEA events. Please email isseahosting@aislusaka.org for more details or complete the Volleyball Hosting form here. 
2. Professional Development Days! There will be no classes nor ASA’s on 18-19 September so that the faculty and administrative staff can participate in two days of professional development activities. These days allow us the opportunity to upskill our team and spend valuable time reviewing and refining our programs. Here is an idea of some of the things that our team will be working on:

All in all, these two days are an important step in implementing our commitment to have the most highly-trained staff in Zambia.

A couple of weeks ago, I shared this Introduction to ManageBac presentation with the parents that came along. Please use this link to find out even more about how to access, navigate and use Managebac as a parent!

Students in our 'Digital Landscapes' after-school activity, facilitated by Ms. Leslie and Ms. Fatima, have been getting creative with their landscape constructions.

Beginning Monday, 25 September, we will begin our swimming unit during our Primary PE lessons. Students will participate in swimming during both of their PE lessons each week (one for ELC) from 25 September until 15 December for a total of ten weeks of swimming. Please make sure your child has his/her complete swim kit for each swimming lesson. A complete swim kit includes a swimming suit (one-piece for girls), a towel, flip-flops/Crocs for the poolside, and goggles (optional). If your child chooses to bring goggles, please make sure that he/she is going to wear them as they tend to be misplaced easily if not worn. Please remember to put sunscreen on your child in the morning. For any additional questions, please see Kate Luwisha, our Primary PE Teacher.

​AISL is committed to keeping children and young people safe from harm and abuse. Creating a safe learning environment, identifying children and young people who are suffering or at risk of harm, and then taking suitable action, are considered vital to making sure that children are safe at school and at home. The school is dedicated to promoting the emotional and physical safety and well being of each person it serves. It addresses any issues of bullying, abuse, or other maltreatment even if it means that someone in a position of power will be embarrassed or upset. Finally, AISL always puts safety first with its activities, rules, and policies, and immediately addresses any potential safety problems impacting the community.

The school’s actions and decisions are guided by established crisis response protocols that pertain to emergency situations as well as child protection. The protocols have been devised by the AISL Crisis Response Team (comprising school administration, counselors, security, and IT). The protocols are also informed by research and documentation drawn from a number of sources including the Association of International Schools in Africa (AISA). The Child Protection procedures (as described in the Crisis Response Manual) are also influenced by the American School Counselor Association’s ‘National Model’, which is comprehensive in scope, preventative in design, and developmental in nature. They also draw upon the International Model for School Counseling Programs, which more specifically addresses working with an international, transient, and Third Culture Kid population.

Child Protection at AISL is based upon prevention as well as considered response in the event of suspected harm or abuse. In the Primary School, prevention lessons take place in each class bi-weekly and utilize ‘Kidpower’: teaching safety through awareness, confidence-building, boundary-setting skills, positive peer communication (bullying prevention) and de-escalation skills. In the Secondary School, safety and wellbeing issues are explored through IB MYP Physical and Health Education and a comprehensive Advisory program, delivered by advisors, the counselors, and external experts in small group settings. Advisory sessions take place four times a week.
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AISL would like to make it clear to children and adults that we want to hear about problems or concerns, and we will act on them in a fair, balanced way and in accordance with our policies.

Let’s work together to keep our children and young people safe and healthy! Julie Ann Baldry, Special Services Department High School and College Guidance Counselor

​Need help understanding the assessment criteria? Feeling overwhelmed by assignments? DASH to the rescue!

Diploma Additional Support + Help (DASH) is an after school time for individual student support and help, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Whether a student wants clarification about a Math internal assessment, needs assistance researching primary sources for TOK presentations, or simply seeks quiet work space, the DASH space is a perfect fit. DASH is staffed by Mr. Cottrell on Mondays, Ms. Mulazzi on Wednesdays, and Mr. Osorio on Thursdays.

One of the keys to student success in the DP is asking for help and effective time management. Taking advantage of DASH is a way to take charge of your own learning!

Jenn Caldwell, our Primary Counsellor, and Noa Mor, an AISL parent, would like to invite our Primary families to join them in the newly formed Primary Parent Group! They will facilitate regularly scheduled discussions as outlined below. The first gathering will be on Friday, 22 September, from 07:30 - 08:30 in the Protea Room. The discussion topic will focus on 'being assertive and using boundaries to help our children succeed' and here is a great article to initiate the discussion!

Future discussions will include:
6 October: Building compassion and empathy in our children
3 November: Stress management strategies
17 November: Developmental stages of children (and adults!)

If there is a particular topic you would like to learn more about, please let us know. We hope to see many of you on 22 September!