.Behind every show and concert in the Tiyende Pamdozi Theater there is an enthusiastic team of students hard at work under the tutelage of Edwin Kamangala. This group of students recently showed their skills running the tech for the Primary Production "Adventures of a Comic Book Artist." They ran all the sound and light for the show using state of the art professional digital and wireless equipment. It takes weeks of preparation and a lot of know-how to make it all look so easy!  Well Done!

This past Tuesday Mr. Tony Potts, Primary Assistant Principal, together with Ms. Terry Maguire, Secondary Librarian, met with interested parents to share ideas and resources for holiday enrichment.

If you were unable to be there but would like to see some of the resources we discussed, please explore our Holiday Learning Libguide, which has resources for both primary school students and secondary school students (simply click on the tab for the level you wish to see). Note that the password is the same as the one for parent portal & entire virtual library system.

We also talked about how the school holiday offers many families a time to re-connect and recreate together, often as a result of having a bit more time in the day for pursuing other activities. Time spent together and nurturing family relationships are equally important aspects of holiday enrichment We encourage families to share ideas for simple rituals they might all enjoy together in addition to having personal learning goals for the holiday break.

There are many features of our calendar that could be extremely useful to parents. As you can see from the image below, it is possible to not only 'search', check a specific date and change the view but also 'subscribe' to the 'AISL calendar' from your own device. ​Very soon, events for 2019/20 school year will be added too! Visit the main calendar page and click 'subscribe' to find out more information how this can easily be done on a variety of platforms.

On Thursday, 9 May, the Grade 4 students showcased their learning from the previous unit of 'How the world works' with the central idea being 'humans use their scientific knowledge to create a more sustainable world'. Students engaged parents through a unit Kahoot game, poster presentations, iMovies, literacy essays, experiments and math reflections. Much learning and fun was had during the presentations! Thank you to all of the families that came out to support our students. Below are a few moments captured from the morning.

Everyone loves comic book superheroes, right? Stanley Leonardo Sappovitz wants nothing more than to become a comic book artist and create heroes and villains for the comic books he loves so much.  As the janitor at Wonder Comics, he anxiously awaits the day that his boss’s, the Wunderman sisters, will see his drawings and give him the chance to have his superheroes come alive on the printed page.  Stanley’s heroes come alive, all right — but not on the printed page! In an effort to revive their faltering company, the Wunderman’s have ordered a set of magical pens guaranteed to bring to life any character drawn.  When plans go awry and his staff of artists unwittingly create the dreaded super-villain Doctor Shock Clock, it is up to Stanley to save the day with his own superheroes — charismatic but egotistical Star Guy, speedy Triple Time, environmentally correct Blossom, and cranky little Wombat Woman!  Stanley’s heroes battle Shock Clock and his henchmen, the Minutos, only to be saved in the end by the greatest superhero of them all — Eraser Man (aka Stanley Leonardo Sappovitz)!

Cast designed logos.

Shows are: 
Friday May 17th 14:30
Saturday May 18th 14:30 

​Our primary-actors have been working very hard on this production since January. Please come celebrate and honor their hard work. ​

We will soon begin our testing window for our MAP Growth spring assessments. Starting Monday, 6 May until Friday, 24 May all Grade 2 to Grade 10 students will complete another cycle of MAP Growth assessments in reading, math and language usage. The data we receive back as a school pertaining to students' progress help teachers to differentiated learning. Attached is a brief summary for parents new to MAP Growth from the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) explaining what it is and how we use results. Remember, these assessments cannot be studied for as they are adaptive assessments, adjusting to each student's individual level. Please make sure that your child gets a full night's rest and eats a healthy breakfast in the morning, ready to show their best effort. At the close of the testing window, your child's MAP report will be shared with you via their ManageBac account. We will inform you when these reports are available. 

Our Primary field was full of action on Monday morning as our Grade 2 students did a second launch of the rockets they designed. Our students had a trial run the previous week that required them to go back and rework their designs to see if they could get their rocket to travel further the second time. As part of our unit of inquiry on 'How the world works', our Grade 2 students have been inquiring into different kinds of forces; an exploration of forces and magnetism; and the connection between forces and motion. The rocket launch was a learning activity designed to incorporate much of that learning into one project. Our students were cheered on by our Primary students, our teachers, and many families. Thank you to everyone who came out to support our engineers!

Well done to our Grade 5 students who celebrated a very successful PYP Exhibition (PYPX) last week. The eight week process was an intense period of time of research, refining, and preparing for their extremely rewarding final staging. Over the last week, our students presented their research to students across the school as well as to teachers, families and visitors. They performed their PYPX Assembly for the Primary school during the day as well as family assembly at night. The Assembly was a combination of live role-play, both on stage and behind the scenes with the green screen. The assembly raised awareness about real global issues in a creative way. Thank you to our two guest speakers, Mr. Viner and Ms. Okafor for sharing how their professional work aligns with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. None of this would have been possible without the community support behind it. Well done to our Grade 5 Team (Ms. Bicknell, Mr. Chilton, Mr. Mukwatu, Ms. Joyce, Ms. Natalie, Ms. Dee and all of the mentors) to your dedication to this process. Thank you to all of the families who turned out on Thursday evening to support our students' presentation of learning.

Rehearsals ramp up as our Primary School 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders prepare for the much anticipated annual Primary Production.  Join us in the Tiyende Pamodzi Theater on May 17 & 18 for a memorable story of creativity, mayhem, dance battles, and even a little bit of magic in "Adventures of a Comic Book Artist!"  Our young performers have been hard at work learning lines, memorizing songs, creating props, rehearsing sound and light cues, and mastering dance moves - all to provide a special performance not to be missed!  See you there!

The big move is coming! Over the June / July holiday we are renovating much of the primary school and replacing the library roof. This is a major undertaking that involves literally emptying the library and putting it into storage containers. We anticipate reopening the library about three weeks after the new school year begins.

Not to worry, though! The library is about far more than books. Our teaching, programming, and outreach will continue as usual. In August, we will open a temporary library in the Palm Pavilion with collaborative & quiet work spaces, popular titles, our new books (about 1500!), and a relocated coffee bar. 

We need your help, though. Please mark your calendars with these important dates:
11 May (Saturday)- LAST Saturday checkouts for the library
18 May: last open Saturday but no checkouts as all items due back 20 May checkout (books checked out here are due on Monday for inventory)
20 May: ALL books due back for inventory 
25 May: Africa Freedom Day- library closed as this is a national holiday
29-30 May: holiday check-outs for returning patrons with clear records

We thank our whole community for your understanding during this process. We will strive to continue providing a great place to work, collaborate, and relax- it may just be a little walk up the hill!