ISN NEWSLETTER November 1, 2019

Week 6 Dear parents, guardians and friends,

A big welcome to Mrs Catharine Wadsworth, our new staff member replacing Mr

Joel, who arrived in Nadi this morning. Getting the paperwork finalised has been a

very slow process but it was done in the end. I know the students and parents of

PYP5 are looking forward to having her in the classroom. I would like to thank Mr

Taito and Ms Kati for their hard work filling in while we were waiting for the

immigration applications to be completed.

PTA AGM:

This was held this afternoon. Unfortunately, no nominations for any of the

positions were received. The 2019 committee members have all stepped down so

our situation is that there is no PTA Committee and hence no PTA.

Obviously, that’s a great pity. The PTA is a wonderful opportunity for parents to be

involved in the school, to help make it better. The outgoing committee was very

active in both fundraising and in introducing change, and has left the PTA in a very

solid financial position. As a Committee, they worked effectively to spread the load

amongst themselves and to share the responsibility for the activities they engaged

in, as well as in running the monthly meetings. The Uniform Shop is now

generating income (approximately $5,000 this year), something that will continue

to happen in the future. There could be more as well, if a new Committee was

prepared to extend the sales from the shop to the Primary uniform and to other

things like basic stationery items.

In the meantime, the funds left by the outgoing committee will be held until a new

committee can be formed. If any parents would like to take up the mantle, please

let me know. If you want to see change and improvement, this is a great way to

make an impact.

The New High School Building

Work is progressing with security fencing and formwork for the footings in place.

It’s exciting to think about how useful this building is going to be. It will take

pressure off the whole school in terms of classrooms and will allow a planned

staging for the growth we are experiencing. Everyone is going to benefit.

SCHOOL CONTACT

INFORMATION:

Landline: 7762960

Email info@isn.school.fj

Website

www.isn.school.fj

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/

groups/isnfiji/

UPCOMING EVENTS

Week 6

Nov 4

IBDP Exams Begin

Nov 7

DP 1 Exams begin

Nov 11

Prophet Muhammad

Birthday – Public Holiday

Nov 14

MYP E Assessments begin

Nov 15

PYP 6 Graduation

Nov 15 & 16

CHOW Games

Nov 23

Trivia Night Fundraiser for

Sea Mercy (DP student run)

Enrolments for 2020

We currently have 24 applications for next year across the whole school. This has put some pressure on some

classes in the PYP and we have had to address that by asking for a holding deposit which will be deducted

from next year’s fees. That was done with great reluctance as I know this is a bad time to be doing this.

However, we don’t want to end up starting next year having spaces which could have been filled by new

enrolments. Once the new building is done, we will be able to cater much better for this kind of situation.

Oval usage:

Anyone driving by the

school in recent weeks will

have seen a lot of activity

on the field before and

after school and at the

weekends. Since the start

of the term, Nadi Rugby,

the Drua team and the

Japan 7s team have been

training at the school. The

Japan 7s team donated a

signed jersey as a

memento of their time here.

Later this month, the NZ Women’s 15s side will also be using the oval for training in preparation for the

Oceania World Cup qualifiers.

FNPF and the TTLB Lands Trust Board are also using the field in the upcoming weeks. It’s an important aspect

of our connections with the local community.

Canteen tender

Unfortunately, we have had effectively no response to our tender for a new Canteen provider. If you know

anyone in that industry, please encourage them to contact us for the details.

PASH Fundraiser on November 9

This was advertised in one of our earlier Newsletters. The event has been postponed. We will keep you

updated about the new date.

Best wishes,

Erik Hoekstra

Principal

Weekly Updates

MYP 5 eAssessment

This year we have six MYP 5 students who will be sitting for the eAssessment. eAssessment is a innovative

assessment model that helps achieve greater student outcomes and provides quality assurance and

recognition for International Baccalaureate® (IB) World Schools. Students who opt for the optional

eAssessment in MYP 5 sit for on screen examination and work through ePortfolios to meet the IBMYP

Certificate requirement.

eAssessment on screen examination will be from the 14th to the 22nd of November.

MYP Semester Two Examination

MYP Students will sit for their semester exam on Monday 18th to Wednesday 20th of November.

Examination will be for Maths, Language & Literature, Sciences and Individuals and Societies. Students will

also be given time to do their portfolios for Design, Art, Music and Language Acquisition. The Examination and

portfolio timetable will be released next week on ManageBac.

MYP 1 – 3 sit for 1 hr 30 minute papers with an added 5 minutes for reading

MYP 4 - 5 sit for 2 hr papers with an added 5 minutes for reading

Students should be in school by 7:50 am and wait in the assembly area. Extra time will not be provided

if students are late for their examination.

If students are absent from school, permission to sit for the examination at a later date will only be

granted if a medical note from a doctor is provided.

Examinations cannot be sat prior to exam dates. Accommodation can only be made after

the examination days on condition that a valid reason was provided on the student’s absence.

Please do encourage students to start with their revision.

PYP 6 EXHIBITION

The PYP 6 presented their exhibition in week 4 of this term. The event showed how the students have gone

through the process of inquiry collaboratively with peers, teachers and mentors. They each showed their use

of the 5 essential elements of the PYP; concepts, knowledge, attitudes, skills and action.

This year the transdisciplinary theme was 'How We Express Ourselves' with students choosing to broaden

their knowledge on topics such as; dance, trash to fashion, propaganda, values in sports, abstract art, drawing,

hip hop and animations.

The students achieved a high level of success and should be proud of what they learned and produced.

MYP Service as Action. Pink Mufti and Bake Sale

Lily Hopf and Federica Dressino initiated a fundraiser for the Cancer Society to mark the month of October and

to create awareness about Breast Cancer. Their class bake sale was run in conjunction with their class

members Atalya Cavalevu, Alisha Nast-Achari and Mikayla Kahl. The students also organized a whole school

pink mufti day. The MYP 3 girls raised $660.00 that will be donated to the Cancer society.

We would like to thank our ISN community for making this a successful Service activity.

HORSE - RIDING ASA PICS

DIWALI ASSEMBLY SNAPS