Contents

Director & ELC Art 2

BTK & PTA 3

IB Coordinator 4

Tisavision 5

Secondary Drama 6

Athletics 7

Sports Day 8

Sports Day Photos 9

ELS 10

Board Report 11

THE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF AZERBAIJAN

Calendar

June

14 P1-P8 Assembly

14 Secondary Student Council Fun Day

14 Last Day of School (full day)

15 Summer Holiday

August

16 New Students’ Orientation

19 First Day for all Students

www.tisa.az

communications@tisa.az

13 t h June 2013

2012-2013 I s sue 10

Earlier this year BP Security conducted an audit of security arrangements on the TISA campus. While generally pleased with the level of security here, the audit team made several important recommendations. At present we have around 200 cars entering the TISA campus to drop off and pick up children each day. The Security audit team suggested that a traffic system be implemented which prohibits the entry of vehicles onto the campus for drop-off and pick-up. Employees’ cars and delivery vehicles only should be allowed to enter the campus. In addition, pedestrian access should be controlled by the use of card-reading turnstiles. We have been investigating the implications of these suggestions and we will be making structural and other necessary changes to implement these recommendations over the holidays.

Stonepay has made available some land opposite the main gate which will be converted into a carpark with 200 spaces. Turnstiles will be installed at three access points which will allow entry via proximity cards for adults (and for students arriving at school unaccompanied by adults). We expect that as well as enhancing campus security this will also alleviate the traffic queues which build up at certain times of the day. It will be a little less convenient for some ELC parents and children who will have to walk further, but the benefits of keeping the campus traffic free are obvious. There will be a good deal of construction activity taking place over the summer holidays to install the turnstiles, to build new security huts at the entrance points and to prepare the carpark.

SECURITY UPGRADE

Location of New Carpark

work and used different strategies in order to complete them. We had many visitors to the art gallery and the children received many positive comments. Thank you for taking time to visit us to support this project.

The ELC Team

The ELC Art Exhibition

The ELC art exhibition was highly successful. Each ELC child chose two pieces of artwork to display and added a reflection to accompany each one. There were many styles of artwork including clay pieces, papier mâché, Batik, photography and jewellery pieces. The children used a variety of colours in their

TISA Times Page 2 of 11 Director & ELC

Given the relatively short holiday period it is possible that we will not be fully ready to implement a new system at the start of the next school year. It will in any case take some time to distribute entry cards and to establish procedures. We will of course let you know by email of any changes to expect on your return to school in August. I am sure that this security upgrade will prove extremely beneficial and that once we get into the new routine we will all agree that it is an extremely worthwhile improvement to the campus.

SECURITY UPGRADE…continued

Main Entrance

Pedestrian Access from

Stonepay

ELC Access Point

I wish you all a very pleasant summer break. We send to those students, parents and staff who are leaving TISA our very best wishes for the challenges that await them wherever they are heading. I look forward to seeing the returning families - and indeed to welcoming the new members of the TISA community - in just over two months. The next school year begins on Monday 19 August.

John Gillespie

Director

TISA Times Page 3 of 11 BTK & PTA

BTK News

On Friday 7th of June, BTK celebrated a fabulous year by getting children and parents together in a pool party! There was lots of laughing and splashing outside in the pools and later inside when the children played some great fun games, organized by our homeroom mums, Karen and Nathalie. Then we sat together in a big circle, because the children had prepared the song “All the fish are swimming in the water” and were performing it for their parents – what a lovely sight! We finished this day with a shared lunch and we all could enjoy the delicious dishes our BTK parents brought in.

This is now also a way of saying Thank you to the BTK parents who entrusted us with their precious children and we feel honoured to have spent a great year with such amazing children! We wish all of our BTK children who will move up to P1 a wonderful summer and a great start in the ELC and we also wish our youngest BTK members lovely holidays and we are looking forward to having them back in BTK in August! A big thank you to our supportive and committed BTK community – have a great summer!

Livia McTaggart and the BTK Team

We’ve had a wonderful school year! We held our last event of the year - our Summer BBQ. It’s been a busy year for us all and it was great to come together one last time. We had great weather, music, games, food, and wonderful friends to enjoy the afternoon. This year, with your support, PTA has been able to…. stock the Primary recess shed, support printing for Art Exhibit in September, banners for Career Day, two ELC Community Days, Hoodies for IB2 students, fruit for sporting events (including Sports Day), purchase a popcorn machine, puzzles for BTK, ELC costumes for Novruz, books for BTK, alongside the school long-jump pit, books and goodie bags for reading week winners, purchase a cotton candy machine, and the new Primary playground. We have also been able to help five Charities… Hope Haven, UFUQ Dental Clinic, Abused Children’s Center, Autism Center, and Mushvig Disabled Children’s Center.

We would like to thank our outgoing PTA members and welcome the PTA Board for next school year. President - Crystal Jensen Vice President - Anna Lewis Secretary - Bronwen Wilson Treasurer - Dhanashree Godbole Upper Secondary (M4-DP2) - Brenda Burnett Lower Secondary (M1-M3) - Jane Onslow Upper Primary (P6-P8) - Adri Kahn Lower Primary (P3-P5) - Katie Lindsay ELC (P1-P2) - Kim Brazan BTK - Einat Krausz Charity - Hande Apaydin Hospitality - Cheryl Kurz Booster - Lori Thomas InterCultural Coordinator - Gabrielle Liddy

We wish those moving on the best of luck! And look forward to seeing those returning after the summer break! Enjoy your holiday!!!

Crystal Jensen PTA President &

Louise Scarr

PTA Communications

From the PTA

BTK Pool Party

TISA Times Page 4 of 11 IB Coordinator

Dairy Farm

Congratulations to Our Graduates!

From the IB Coordinator

Congratulations to our IBDP 2 students who recently finished examinations and now anxiously await their results! Well done DP2! Our DP1 students recently traveled to Ivanovka, Azerbaijan for a Theory of Knowledge trip. Ivanovka is a former Soviet “Kolhoz” that still runs as a collective due to a Presidential decree that allows them to do so. Students were able to see how a collective operates and even visited a collective dairy farm. They were also able to visit another modern style dairy farm that was extremely high tech. Students were able to reflect upon the differences between the two models and discuss the benefits and drawbacks of each economic system. Students also had some time to put on skits that explored the idea of collectivization and uncovered some fundamental benefits and problems with the system. In addition, we visited a local school, which housed a museum. Students learned about the history

of Ivanovka and why the Russian descendants that live there came to Azerbaijan during the time of Catherine the Great! The trip was great fun and students had the opportunity to barbeque and spend some classroom bonding time as well. Overall, the trip was a great success! The proprietors of the Ivanovka guesthouse that we stayed in commented on how great our students were and how much they would love to host TISA students again in the future. It is with great satisfaction and some sadness that I pass the IB Coordinator torch to Mr. Gareth Hubbuck. I am extremely confident that Mr. Hubbuck will continue to improve the IB Diploma Program at TISA over the coming years! Mr. Hubbuck is an extremely invested and experienced IB practitioner and a current DP Coordinator. I leave the DP program in very good hands with Mr. Hubbuck!

Alex Rakochy

IB Diploma Coordinator

TISA Times Page 5 of 11 Tisavision

Tisavision is an annual event at TISA that is usually held at the end of the year. On the 24th of May, the M3 students and Ms. Emma organized the event at the Kempinski. Approximately one hundred and fifty people showed up including TISA students, parents and teachers to watch a few performances and some stayed for an extra hour to play bowling. The theme for Tisavision 2013 was “Eighties Neon”. The area was beautifully decorated with neon lights and most of the performers and the audience dressed up in eighties-style clothes. The performers had to compose an original song and perform it live at the event. Most of the performers were M3 students, since that song was part of their final assessment for music, but an M1 and an M5 student also chose to perform. The winner was decided by the

audience’s votes and by the decision of the jury. The judges this year were Mr. Hearn, Ms. Mulleneux, Ms. Dixon and Clayton, the winner of Tisavision 2012. This year, the winners were a trio of girls called “The Hippies”. They include Eln Paath, Saida Rasulova and Bahar Oromi. Together they wrote the song “Smile” and sang it together. They were rewarded with a pizza for lunch and an opportunity to judge Tisavision 2014. Over 600 AZN was raised that night and it all went to the Mushviq center. Using that money, we managed to donate musical instruments to the disabled children living there. Tisavision was an incredible amount of fun and everyone enjoyed it.

Nadin Garibli

M3B Student

Tisavision

TISA Times Page 6 of 11 Secondary Drama

Much Ado about Something!

The Bard arrived in Baku amidst spring rains and roses in bloom on May 29th as TISA students took to the stage for our first Shakespeare in the Courtyard performance! The M5 Drama class, with special guest artists from M1-M4, staged a dynamic production of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing that evening, playing to an appreciative crowd dotted with pink umbrellas. With undaunted and undampened spirits, the players showcased the wonderful talent we have at The International School of Azerbaijan. The Baku Roasting Company provided treats and drinks and everyone’s spirits were lifted by a a delightful production that celebrated spring. M5 students also benefitted in their English classes as Much Ado About Nothing was read as a part of the curriculum and the

familiarity they gained through playing the characters and staging the play deepened their understanding of this romantic comedy. The cast included Aleksandra Kneifel as Beatrice, Clayton Draughon as Benedict, Saur Hajieva as Claudio, Tara Godet as Hero, Caitlin Kurtz as Leonata, Dara Gozal as Borachio, Chingiz Alakbarli as Conrad and the Friar, Rebecca Rodrigues de Miranda as Margaret, Sona Allahverdiyeva as Dona Giovanna and guest artists William Hereward as Dogberry, Kirill Volodko as Verges, Matilda Moss as the Sexton, Vivienne McTaggart as the Watch and Jacob Bowell as the Messenger.

The Arts Department

TISA Times Page 7 of 11 Athletics News

Athletics

The Wild Wind Track meet was held May 16 and 17 and the Titan Athletes did a fantastic job representing TISA on and off the track! The first day had some very exciting 400 meter runs along with a great finish in the 3000 meter boys’ event. On Saturday the kids showed great flexibility as the schedule had to change to accommodate events that did not occur on Friday evening. The events got off to a good start with the girls long jump as well as start of the 100 meter sprints. TISA did very well in most of the

events. Securing 49 gold, 26 silver and 15 bronze metals. They won the team award in the Junior Boys, Intermediate Boys and Girls, and Senior Boys categories. You can see the results on the Titans Sports web page https://sites.google.com/site/tisatitanssports/important-forms. The athletes’ hard training really paid off for them. The training by the coaches Daphney Long, Roelf Haverkamp, Sean Barry, Sandra Williams, Ruslan Gafurov and Marie Ingram was appreciated and very helpful. Congratulations athletes!

Mr. Buczkowski

Head of PE

TISA Times TISA Times

Page 12 of 13 Bingo Night Photos

Board Report

SPORTS DAY!!! A fantastic time was had by all on June 4th and 6th. The Primary and Secondary students took part in the annual sports day event! The weather was perfect and the smiles wide. The Primary students took part in running, jumping, crawling, throwing and balancing all in order to earn points for their House. In the end the Yellow House was triumphant over the Blue, Red and Green Houses. The scores were very close which shows how much effort all students put into the event. The Secondary sports day was two days later with the students working through shooting baskets,

Physical Education Department

kicking goals, sprint running, volleying the ball and throwing the medicine ball for distance. Once again the weather was perfect and the kids worked hard all morning long. The Red House was the final winner after calculating the points for the concluding “tug o’ war” event. A special thanks to Crystal Jensen and the PTA for supplying energizing fruits to the kids so they could make it through the day. Great job students!

Mr. Buczkowski

Head of PE

TISA Times Page 8 of 11 Sports Day

TISA Times Page 9 of 11 Sports Day Photos

More Sports Day Photos

ELS Book Signing Afternoon

Hearty congratulations to all our M1 – M3 ELS students who are now published authors! They presented their coffee table books to parents, teacher and friends at an afternoon book signing event in TISA 4. We were also entertained with Nagara drumming and an original song by our TISA-Vision winners.

Susan Ogilvie

Secondary ELS Teacher

TISA Times Page 10 of 11 ELS

Present: Mark Thomas, Richard Bodley-Scott, Reynold Ajodhasingh, Wilbert Long, Dave Hatfield, Natasha Morin, Carol Hawkins, John Gillespie, David Harrold, Shaundele Leatherberry, Crystal Jensen, Tom Moore. Apologies: Lars Sorensen 1. Welcome and Introduction, Mark Thomas, Board Chair: Mark welcomed Dave Hatfield and Wilbert Long to the Board. A copy of the International Trustee Handbook was distributed to each member. 2. Board Report

a. Whole School Matters, John Gillespie: Slight student growth again this month: now 616 students in P1-IB2 - fire alarm: all cable trays installed, call points, sounders and fire door magnets now to be installed - field maintenance completed - ELC self-closing gates installed - contractor AC specialist, gardener and painter on site for next few weeks - main summer holiday upgrade/maintenance works planned. Priority: additional classrooms and associated construction; Internal: painting of TISA 1 & 2 classrooms, ELC floor reconstruction, TISA 4 basement, continued upgrade of AC units; External: repaving and curbstones, ELC outside redevelopment incl. shade, security enhancements (tbc) - menu changes suggested by Catering Committee implemented on a trial basis; results to be evaluated. b. Primary Principal’s Report, David Harrold: 22-26 April Reading Week: many engaging activities - 24 April ELC Round Table Meeting: minutes sent to all parents - 25 April Parent Advisory Council Meeting: issue of class placements was discussed in detail. PAC members were unanimous that parents should not come to the school to request specific teachers for their children. They thought it was appropriate for parents to talk about the kind of teacher their child needs and why. Members thought the current letter to parents, which explains how classes are compiled and invites parent input on friendship groups, is suitable - 27 April ELC Action Day: very well attended - 1 May P3-P8 Round Table Meeting - 2 May P8 Exhibition: culminating event was very well received and parents responded very positively - 8 May Planning Afternoon: focus was on child study events and moderation of report grades and comments - 10 May PD Day: focus was on effective integration when working with subject teachers, effective assessment in mathematics, action in the PYP and enhancing the use of the Learner Profile. Current Strategic Work: Teacher Appraisal and Goals: Principal/Assistant Principal currently undertaking interviews with all teachers who are bringing evidence and discussing how they have met the goals set for the year - Report Writing well under way and administration are exploring with the IT department how to move the process to PowerSchool next year. Expansion - planning for three new classes, classrooms and teachers - Extensive review of the Programme of Inquiry has been undertaken: strengthening of science through articulating the science strands and skills within the units. c. Secondary Principal’s Report, Shaundele Leatherberry: Trips to Turkey for ISTA and Space Camp - 3 Way Conferences - Student Council Volleyball Tournaments - Student Council speeches and election - MUN: 20 students spent the weekend of April 19th involved in the MUN at BOS were good TISA representatives - Science Fair: M1 & M2 presented their science projects to a panel of judges on April 19th: great variety around central theme of water - IB Exams started May 2nd - PE Uniform Committee: design chosen, now gathering input into sizes - PowerSchool customisation began - Changes in schedule - transition schedule presented to PAC; PAC recommended sending a shortened version to parents with an after school discussion - Standardised Testing - ISA to be used for M1- M3 next year and PSAT for all M5 - Admissions Review Committee: OPI to be adopted next year - Walk Through, Prom and Graduation: walk through May 22nd, Prom at Marriot May 25th, graduation at Art Garden May 27th. d. PTA Report, Crystal Jensen: Playground Vandalism - some playground vandalism appears to have happened on the weekend of the second-hand sale - PTA Board - President, Charity, Booster, Hospitality are staying next year, everyone else will be new - Summer BBQ June 1st - Meet the Board 18:30 Wed 22 May - Field Closure: concern that maintenance requires field to be closed during term time. RBS - maintenance necessary, closure regrettable but there have been very pleasing results with current strategy - Uniform Survey: should uniform survey be carried out regularly? Yes, every 3 years, so next survey in November 2015.

3. Matters Arising from the Board Report: CJ asked what plans had been made for improvements to the Secondary schedule for 2013-14 and 2014-15. 2013-14 to be revisited again now by Principals and Director to see if further enhancement is possible. DH - there could have been more exploration of ideas, the process takes time and dialogue and for example extending the end of the school day in Secondary could have been considered. If not possible now, further discussion will be necessary in September re. improvements for 2014-15. NM asked what was final decision re. health insurance for national staff. JG - After comparison with benefits of US Embassy and BP nationals Option 1 was chosen as it covered chronic illness, which was the main concern of TISA national staff. 4. Treasurer’s Report, Reynold Ajodhasingh: High level overview summary presented. OPEX very much on track. Income higher than expected - 8% increase on start of year projections. TISA 5 Project Manager to give update at June meeting. 5. ISA Standardised Testing Results Feedback, David Harrold: Last year’s pilot and this year have been successful. 31000+ students in 122 international schools in 50 countries sit the tests. TISA students compare favourably with like schools and all schools. Some (e.g. P8 maths) are above average. Data was analysed by sector and class and is proving to be a very successful diagnostic tool which informs teaching - strengths and goals are identified. Inference (deducing meaning) in reading comprehension is a common aim in P6-8. 6. Mission Statement Review Feedback, John Gillespie: New proposed statement presented. Some felt that “within the IB framework” was redundant. RBS - structure could be altered to reflect “Why? How? What?” 7. Budget 2013-14, John Gillespie: Increase in budget driven by increases in salaries, additional staff to cope with increased student population, TISA 5 repayments, IT and maintenance continued upgrades. Budget approved. 8. Board Evaluation Survey 2012-13, John Gillespie: 2011-12 survey distributed; comments/suggestions invited. 9. Graduation Requirements, Shaundele Leatherberry: Proposal for 2013-14 presented. MT - important to make policy transparent,

clear and to make transfer/transition easier. Proposed changes approved.

TISA Times Page 11 of 11 Board Report

TISA Board of Governors Meeting Report, Wednesday 15 May 2013