ISA special olympics a special success

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For the past 19 years, the ISA Special Olympics has been a highlight of the school calendar, with students from ISA and the van Koetsveld school in The Hague coming together to host a day of games and sports activities for local children and adults with disabilities.

On Saturday, 4 March, the ISA Special Olympics Club members, along with creativity, Activity and Service (CAS) students participated in this year’s Special Olympics led by ISA English teacher, Jennifer Gryzenhout and Pre-school teacher Eli Arenas Thomas.

One of the school’s strongest and longest-running community service projects, the day offers students the chance to engage with the local community while also experiencing the value of inclusion, connection and diversity. This year’s Special Olympics was created around the theme of “outer space” and ISA students decorated the foyer and annex and set up a range of fun and engaging activities and games. The support of students and volunteer parents who helped with the organisation of the event and the packing of lunchboxes was appreciated by all involved.

Jennifer Gryzenhout said she was very proud of the efforts of ISA students who rise to the challenges of staging the day with dedication, making a real difference to the lives of those who participated.

“The Special Olympics is a truly memorable event, with a lot of laughter and broad smiles at the end of the day. ISA students enjoyed the day almost as much as our guests! They interacted with our guest children with enthusiasm, responsibility and in the spirit of joy and inclusion.”

Next year’s event is looking to be even bigger and better as we celebrate 20 years of the ISA Special Olympics!

London ISA Alumni Reception

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Everyone loves a good “catch up” with old friends and with ISA launching its new Alumni department, many of our former students had the chance to do just that.

On Sunday 22 January, ISA held its first Alumni Reception at the trendy Graphic Bar in London, with ISA students from 1973 to 2016 gathering to laugh, reminisce and reconnect over their shared experiences whilst studying at ISA.

Als­­­o in attendance were ISA Director Ed E. Greene, Heads of School Sarah Grace and Paul Sanders, Admissions & Advancement Director, Julia True and new Alumni & Advancement Officer, Matt Jasinski.

“This was the first Alumni Reception that ISA has held in London, and in fact the first event that we have done since revamping ISA’s alumni programme earlier this year. It really was great to meet so many of our community members and have them attend the event.”

Jasinski, who heads the new alumni department, is excited about the new opportunities for alumni of the school.

“This was my first chance to meet many of our alumni – and I was blown away by their kindness and appreciation at having this chance to get together. Everyone spoke fondly about their time at ISA – proving that the connections that they made while at our school are lasting.”

“I hope that those who attended felt motivated to reconnect with friends they have not spoken to in a while, and left excited over meeting new members of their ISA family. The school looks forward to hosting future events, connecting with more of our alumni, and creating more opportunities for our community to come together.”

 

Technology Planning Update

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Image credit: www.securedgenetwork.com

ISA is in the process of updating its Educational Technology Plan, under the direction of Director of Educational Technology, Michael McGlade, who will be working with all community stakeholders to update, clarify and communicate clear goals for technology use at ISA, to describe how the school will meet those goals and to suggest the related expenditure needed to achieve them.

The Technology Plan is a document (or series of documents) compiled by the Director of Educational Technology, with input from staff, students and parents, to support the school’s overall strategic plan by creating clear goals for technology use, describing how the school will meet those goals and suggesting the related expenditure needed to achieve those goals.

The Tech Plan Steering committee is made up of Faculty and Staff volunteers and includes Upper and Lower School teachers, Technology integrators, tech support staff, and school administrators. The steering committee is organising the process and compiling data as well as forming smaller committees to give input. These committees will include students, parents, faculty and staff.

The previous 3-year plan is now being updated and the ISA Tech Plan Steering Committee will be looking for input through small-group discussions and feedback sessions.

Please contact Michael McGlade at techdirector@isa.nl with your questions and if you would like to volunteer your time to this process.

ISA Awarded Gold School Cafeteria Plate 2016

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ISA’s cafeteria, George’s Place, has been awarded GOLD status by the Netherlands Nutrition Centre (Voedingscentrum).

The Gold Plate certifies George’s Place as a cafeteria that provides healthy choices to students. “A healthy school cafeteria facilitates making healthy choices through its vibrant and healthy appearance, and by offering predominantly healthy foods.” Our thanks go to George van Rijn for initiating and completing this process with the Voedingscentrum. For further information, please click here.  

ISA Beach Cleanup a Real Success

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via The Lower School News Blog

The ISA Green Team organised a beach clean-up for the first time on Saturday. A group of students, parents and staff participated, bringing together people from across our school. We’d been warned to dress up warm after a windy week and were fully prepared to brace ourselves against the cold.  But we were pleasantly surprised by the gorgeous weather that awaited us on the beach at Zandvoort.  We found a wide variety of objects including a diaper, bottle tops, cans, cartons, plastic bags, straws, socks, string, styrofoam, pieces of glass, buckets, string, an old body-board, a tyre and even a curtain!  

We also visited the Jutters Museum further along the beach which houses a fascinating collection of an even wider range of objects than we’d collected such as pacifiers, slippers, buoys and boat signs. The museum also houses displays of local natural history and creatures from the sea.  

A Spring event will be organised as well. Keep an eye out for more information after the Crocus break.

PTA Festivals of Light

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In the lead up to the darkest time of the year, the annual PTA Festivals of Light event took place on 17 November, with parents from our Israeli, Indian, Dutch, Spanish and Italian communities presenting information about their cultural events which celebrate light.

An annual favourite, this event was open to the ISA community as a whole and a number of Lower School classes had scheduled visits to learn more about the different celebrations, which will be especially meaningful for those grades who were studying ‘Celebrations’ and ‘World Religions’.

As an international community of learners, understanding the meaning behind the celebrations of our friends and families allows us to remain true to our mission to educate for international understanding.

Raising Teens to be Happy, Healthy, Confident Adults

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Always wanted to know what’s going on in your teen’s mind or how to discuss topics such as body image, social media or substance use? Ever needed help with   promote resilience and self esteem for your teenager or his or her friends.

These topics and more were discussed in the interactive and informative parent session  Raising Teens to be Happy, Healthy, Confident Adults: Practical tips, led by  paediatrician and ISA parent Anisha Abraham in November. Abraham, specialises in teen care and has been a consultant visiting high schools around the world to guide students  and parents though the transitional stages of the teenage years.

To get a better understanding of what Dr. Abraham offers, be sure to listen to her TEDxWilmington talk on this subject.

Introduction to the PYP – Workshop for Parents

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The parent workshop ‘Introduction to the Primary Years Programme (PYP)’ was held for Lower School parents on 8 November. The half-day event gave parents who are new to the ISA PYP programme insight into the structure of the curriculum, the various methodologies employed by teachers and the overall holistic approach to learning that the programme provides.  With presentations and hand-on activities, therapists were able to experience how the ISA approach to the IB PYP works and were able to have any lingering questions answered from the heads of the programme.

This programme is held annually and offers the opportunity for translation services in Korean, Japanese or other languages as needed to help ensure that all parents gain a deeper understanding of the PYP.