TISA Times 27 November 2015

Contents

Director 1 Primary Visual Arts 2 TISA Talking in Prague 3-4 Science Department News 4-5 TISA Singers 6 Model United Nations Trip 6-7 Creativity, Activity, Service Trip 7-8 TISASTOCK 9 TISA TITANS 10 PTA 11-12 Baku Brownies 13

Calendar

December 1 M1-DP2 Student Council Deck

the Hall 1 Meet the Board

2 Secondary PAC Meeting 2 M5 Parents' and Students'

Evening: Introduction to the IB Diploma

3 M5 Diploma Subject Choices Introduction

3 Primary ASAs Term 1 Ends 4 Planning Afternoon

5 SAT Test 9 P6-P8 Choral Event 14-18 Student Council Spirit Week 15 P1 Winter Class Party

15 P2 Winter Class Party 16-17 P3-P8 Winter Concert 18 M4-DP2 January exams

completed and hand out 18 Term 1 Ends 19 Winter Holiday starts

www.tisa.az

[email protected]

27t h November 2015 2015-2016 I s sue 4

We hope you can join us Tuesday, 1 December at Sunset Café, 18:00-20:00 for the PTA-sponsored Meet the Board of Governors Social. In our desire to improve the quality and transparency of communication, the Board has agreed to use this opportunity to clarify roles and responsibilities as well as share both an update from the first semester and an overview of the continued development of TISA. We hope to convey this information in an interactive and entertaining format, which will provide both an opportunity for us to connect socially as well as learn more about TISA. On behalf of the PTA and the Board of Governors, we hope to see you there!

Chris Andre Director

Be Social!

TISA STOCK. See page 9

TISA Times of 13 Primary Visual Arts

Primary Visual Arts Visual Arts have integrated with the P7 Unit of Inquiry ‘How we Organize Ourselves’ by inquiring into materials and locations. They have used different materials in different places understanding connections and function. One popular inquiry was to decorate the Primary School Library, They used old and damaged books to create decorations for the space. Children generated proposals and then the Arts, Library and P7 teams worked to make this a reality. On 26th of October we spent the entire day working in chosen groups to complete this exciting project. When the PTA saw the wonderful work the students had achieved they gave them even more responsibility by asking that they prepare the decorations for the Winter Café during the TISA winter fair. You can admire and purchase decorations from the café in the old gym on November 28th.

Nicola Beale Primary Arts Team Leader

TISA Times of 13 TISA Talking in Prague

TISA Talking in Prague!

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On Friday 13th November 2015, TISA's first ever Speech and Debate team started competing in the CEESA Middle-School tournament hosted by ISP, Prague. Facing teams from long-established CEESA schools such as Bucharest, Budapest, Sofia, Vienna, Warsaw, Helsinki and Prague, the students were very excited and nervous despite having prepared well for 5 different events. The club has only been running for three months under the leadership of Dianne Caskie, Emma Burns, Aisha Taylor and Nick Slusher (DP2). The debate motion was "Google presents a potential threat to individual liberty. "Casimir Wypyski and Jason Liao debated effectively, gaining a couple of victories. Nastassja Gerlich and Akshay Joshi were a very strong pair, finishing the competition in 4th position, having faced students who have been debating for years! TISA was faced with a strange situation on day one when we were asked if we could provide a third debate couple. Mina Kasimoglu and Leyli Atkinson very bravely volunteered for this unenviable position and ended up winning 2 of their debates (they debated without any evidence or detailed research!) In Original Oratory our students presented a 6-minute original speech on a light topic. Emma Villinski kept the crowd happy with a delightful and thought-provoking speech abut Laughter, whilst Jason Liao dealt with the fascinating topic of Bio-Technology, balancing fact with effective rhetoric. Sarah Al Barwani presented a very evocative piece about her home country, Oman whilst Leyli Atkinson considered Smoking for her 6-minute speech. Casimir encouraged us all to consider

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Coding but it was Mina Kasimoglu who gained the highest results with her charming speech about Family. Mina took that speech to the final but surprisingly failed to gain a medal. In Oral Interpretation, students find a piece of literature that they enjoy and they prepare their reading using their voice to suggest mood, character etc. Mina Kasimoglu presented a very dramatic piece from a Joyce Cary story, Sophia Wypyski was outstanding with her interpretation of Chaplin's Great Dictator speech but it was Nastassja Gerlich who was voted for the final with her piece from "Chains" by Laurie Halse Anderson. Nastassja gained the third place medal for her reading! Impromptu is the most intimidating of the speech events as students face a previously unseen topic, are given 90 seconds and then asked to speak for 2-3 minutes. The brave trio of Leyli, Akshay and Emma faced three rounds of this event. They did not get to the final but they showed themselves to be courageous, clearly spoken and very intelligent. Duet Acting is when a pair chooses a 7-minute section from a published piece of Drama that they act without props, costumes or a script! Sarah Al Barwani and Sophia Wypyski presented a crowd-pleasing piece in which Sarah was seeking help and along came Sophia, in the form of god. It was a superb piece that was rightfully selected for final where they gained the bronze medal! Out trip was very successful in terms of marks, medals, finals etc. but what was most impressive was

Science Department News

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Thank you to the parents who attended the MYP curriculum morning where the focus was around science. For those who did not attend, the science department has been undertaking some exciting development to our MYP curriculum that will be implemented over the next two years. The developments will be: • M1 and M2 will have longer

and more focused units rather than a ‘taster’

• M3 will be integrated (no rotations) as of next year (2016-2017)

• M4 will be have the overall focus of scientific skills and Biology (starting this year – 2015-2016)

• M5 will have the overall focus of Chemistry and Physics (starting next year 2016-2017)

This will mean: • Units will be more holistic,

focusing on a concept rather than specific content

TISA Times of 13 TISA Talking in Prague

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• Student assessment will be more authentic

• Units will not be held to a specific time frame, giving flexibility for students to explore concepts

• Differentiated learning will be more visible as units will be flexible to focus on students’ strengths

• Students will have a greater depth of skills that will enable them a greater chance of success in DP

• M5 will not be participating in the January exam week. Exams will just be conducted as normal in class with the

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the TEAM that these 9 young students created. They supported each other in times of success and disappointment. Aisha, Emma and I were very proud to travel with these young people. Friday the 13th was a lucky day for our pioneer TISA Speech and Debate team! We aim to continue meeting, developing leadership in our travelling-team as well as welcoming new members. It is our hope that we can run workshops with other schools in Baku, creating a mini-debate league perhaps! We meet on Tuesdays from 3.45 to 5.00pm and during Thursday lunchtime.

Dianne Caskie Secondary English Teacher

TISA Talking in Prague! …. continued

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TISA Times

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Science Department News

Science Department News…. continued

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TISA Singers Upcoming performances: Wednesday 9th December, TISA hall, 6pm start. Sunday 13th December, JW Marriott Absheron Baku, 12.00 arrival for 1.00 performance. (All interested listeners are welcome to attend this event!) News from the JW Marriott: If you would like to eat on this day, please see below re the ZEST restaurant. A la Carte menu is also available. Kids till 5 years old – no charge Kids from 6 to 11 years – 50% discount Kids from 12 years – full price The ZOMBO lunch buffet starts at AZN 11 p.p. and gets up to AZN 16 p.p. Please be sure to make a booking to avoid any disappointment!

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current unit. • M4 will continue with the

same teacher for the whole year

• M3 and M5 will continue to do the rotations as planned for this year

An example of the type of direction we are heading is the current M1 Unit entitled: Head, Heart and Hand. Students have been studying what a habitat is and what animal adaptations are in Science whilst, in Language and Literature and Language Acquisition, they are studying expression and voice. Students travelled to the zoo and interviewed the zookeepers and the zoo director about the habitats the animals live in.

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For their assessment, students will report to the zoo suggestions on how science can improve the habitats of the animals, whilst in English they will look at producing texts in an emotive tone. The director of the zoo has been incredibly accommodating and is looking forward to a working partnership with TISA and we thank the Baku Zoo for welcoming us so warmly. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me: [email protected]

Gregory Cowan

Head of Science

TISA Model United Nations in Lisbon

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On November 10, the TISA Model United Nations team boarded a flight to Lisbon, Portugal to take part in the 21st Iberian Model United Nations under the organization of CAISL [Carlucci American International School of Lisbon] and THIMUN [The Hague International Model United Nations]. 22 schools from around the world, with 350+ participants, representing 130+ countries wrote, edited, lobbied, debated, and voted on resolutions created by fellow student delegates on the following topics: General Assembly:

1. The question of strengthening democracy in LEDC’s 2. The promotion of measures against xenophobia 3. The question of the protection of the rights of sex workers 4. Measures to combat wealth inequality

Special Conference:

1. Improving the management of refugee camps to ensure the protection of fundamental human rights 2. The question of the regulation of national border controls 3. Developing responses to minimize IDP’s in areas affected by natural disasters 4. The question of military intervention to tackle transnational organized human trafficking

Security Council:

1. Question of Libya 2. Question of South Sudan 3. Questions of threats against international security

TISA’s 12 delegates represented 6 countries in 3 different committees: General Assembly: Fuad Aliyev France Malak Hajiyeva Ukraine

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Shanti Jacobsen Malta Stefan Papazov Arab League Matteo Lunghi India Yulia Lazareva Belize Special Conference: Alex Cross France Julia Villinski Ukraine Amelie Hajiyev Malta Romena McGregor Belize Sibel Dbila India Security Council: Azer Badalov France Romena McGregor, Delegate of Belize to the Special Conference, submitted a resolution to the question of, "Improving the management of refugee camps to ensure the protection of fundamental Human Rights." After a 2-hour debate, creating & editing amendments on the spot, lobbying for support, and speaking in front of a 130-person audience, Romena was successfully able to defend and pass her resolution with a clear majority. Romena said, “I knew that my resolution was well written and filled with specifics. While this allowed me to feel really comfortable speaking about it, it opened up opportunities that the other delegates could take and call me out about details in it. However, I did the research and knew what I was talking about, so I was able to defend my resolution. The delegate of Lithuania was the last to speak against the resolution as a whole and did so with conviction and intelligence. It had me worried for a bit but when those 74 placards went up in support, I couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear. It was amazing to share my success with my fellow TISA MUN delegates, Ms. Johnson, & our MUN Director Mr. Adukkalil. I thank them all for the continued support!” Azer Badalov, Delegate of France

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TISA Times

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MUN Trip

TISA Times TISA Times

Page 12 of 13 Bingo Night Photos

Board Report

TISA Times of 13 MUN & CAS Trips

TISA Model United Nations in Lisbon…. continued

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to the Security Council created a new resolution on the spot concerning international security, while details of the Paris tragedy was still making its way to the public. Hours later, while our team was in the air, the resolution was passed. “When the tragedy in Paris happened overnight, I knew that as the delegate of France to the Security Council, I had to push for a new resolution about international security to be created on the spot. That morning, myself and two other delegates wrote, lobbied, deliberated, and successfully passed the resolution in 3 hours time. It was an amazing experience to be a part of. As my last international MUN conference while at TISA, it was

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a huge success and would encourage any other TISA student who is interested in MUN to join and give it a try.” This return to the IMUN conference after a year absence was a success for TISA. It’s safe to say that diplomacy runs strong in our students and having the opportunity to see them in action is something that I will never grow tired of. I am immensely proud of our TISA MUNers and look forward to bringing another strong delegation to the 22nd Iberian Model United Nations Conference next fall.

Ebby M Adukkalil TISA Model United Nations

Director

CAS Trip to Cambodia

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CAS is one of the last requirements that Diploma Students around the world need to complete in order to call themselves DP Graduates. The idea behind CAS is for the students to challenge themselves by completing experiences in each of the three strands Creativity, Activity, Service. After last year’s successful trip to Borneo, Malaysia, 8 Diploma Programme students and Secondary teacher/chaperone, Mr. Ebby Adukkalil, travelled to Cambodia to take part in a trip that would allow students to experience CAS through a global lens. The group landed in capital city Phnom Penh, to fully understand the culture of the country and its beautiful people. The Royal Palace, Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, and Killing Fields completed the first day of sight seeing. The Palace was a sight to see, in all of its stunning glory, while the Genocide Museum &

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Killing Fields were eye-opening, difficult reminders of a very recent history. With a serious tone set for the rest of the trip, it was safe to say that each of travellers were moved and walked away with images to not be forgotten any time soon. After an 8-hour drive, with a stop at Spider World [where students could pick up tarantula’s] and a scenic stop for lunch, Camp Beng Mealea [home for the next 4 days] was a welcome sight. Camp Beng Mealea was where the work of our trip took place. The TISA students built the foundation of an English language classroom that a local teacher would be using to teach the kids of the community. They built the support frames of wood, twisted the metal spacers, and poured concrete into the frames. In true TISA fashion, the group exceeded what was

Royal Palace, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

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planned for them and continued with the project, thus setting the building ahead of schedule. While the students were busy getting their hands, arms, faces, legs, and bodies sweaty and dirty, Mr. Adukkalil taught English lessons to 2 groups of local students. After growing comfortable with compost toilets, beautiful outdoor showers, runaway cows, scorpion sightings, mosquito hunting, and generator living, the team begrudgingly left the camp and made moves towards Siem Reap to close out the trip.

CAS Trip to Cambodia…. continued

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Once in Siem Reap, haggling in the night markets and tuk-tuks were on the agenda but not before a visit to Angkor Wat, where walking through thousands of years of history, proved to be yet another unforgettable experience. It’s safe to say that this trip will not be soon forgotten, even though talk of a trip to Tanzania, Africa next fall is circulating around the Secondary School. Stay tuned!

Ebby M Adukkalil CAS Coordinator

TISA Times of 13 CAS Trip

Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Genocide Museum, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Killing Fields, Phnom Penh, Cambodia Lunch Stop

Camp Beng Mealea

TISA Times of 13 TISASTOCK

TISASTOCK 2015

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This year’s TISASTOCK saw over 30 students perform 22 songs of varying popular styles over 2 nights in November. The students exceled on many different instruments, from Singing to Saxophone. Guitar to Drums and over 300 people in the audience were truly “Rocked”. The dedication and commitment shown by the students over two and half month of preparation was inspirational. The participants included P8s right up to DP2s all of them showing a dedication to work together and to

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perform music to a very high level. At TISA it is always a goal of ours to entertain audiences as well as exposing students to a fantastic learning opportunity, TISASTOCK’s performances were testament to this philosophy. Thank you to all those who supported us on this Journey and we look forward to many more entertaining evenings this year.

Marcus Glanville Head of Arts and Design

TISA Times of 13 TISA TITANS

Another great outcome for the TISA TITANS!

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The weekend of the 19-21st saw over 250 athletes and coaches move about the football pitch and the volleyball courts. 78 games of football and 72 games of volleyball filled the attention of all those involved. The games were tight and the TITANS found themselves in the thick of all the drama. The TITANS showed class and high skill levels in all games and did a great job in all divisions finding themselves in the hunt in every category. The gold medal winning teams were the MS girls football, MS boys football, MS boys volleyball, HS girls football and HS boys volleyball teams. They demonstrated high team cohesion and fortitude in every game. The boys MS football and volleyball teams along with the MS and HS girls football squad did not drop a match going undefeated throughout the whole tournament. Our MS girl volleyball squad showed great competitive heart in their final but found themselves on the losing end of the score board for a solid runner up performance. The HS boys football teams looked primed to meet each other in the finals but a few missed chances and an agonizing defeat in

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penalties ended that hope. The HS Green team found themselves in third position after have a positive outcome with their penalty shots. The HS girls volleyball showed great improvement and also found themselves just outside the championship game. Thank you to the coaches Kevin McMullen, Leon McCluskey, Theo Borgerding, Natasha Newstead, Sheyda Suleymanova, Sean Barry, Samir Valiyev, Simon Norton, Dan Nellor as well as Maytham Al-Rubaye and Aisha Taylor as they put in many hours leading up to the event outside their normal contract hours. As well as the athlete families who stepped up to help out with the hosting a couple guest athletes or working the snack stand helping scoring. Without these people the event could not have gone off. Now it is on to basketball starting November 30th! GoooooTitans!!!

Eric Buczkowski Head of Secondary Physical and

Health Education

TISA Times of 13 PTA

From the PTA

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What’s been keeping PTA busy this month? Preparations in full swing for this year’s Winter Fair! At the time of going to press, the final touches will be being made…the Giving Trees will be trimmed, wine will be mulled, the elves will be stocking the Secret Shop, and Santa will be making his way to his TISA Grotto. We are looking forward to welcoming the TISA community and beyond to another wonderful event, to starting the holiday season in good style, and raising plenty of money for our charitable causes along the way. It hasn’t been all hard work without play though. On 17th & 18th PTA were out to support the music event of the year, and TISASTOCK! Drinks and snacks kept a thirsty crowd well refreshed,

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with plenty of backstage support thrown in for good measure too. The hosting continues on 1st December, when PTA is pleased to sponsor a new style ‘Meet the Board’ event on 1st December. Held at Sunset Café in Stonepay, this evening event is open to TISA Parents and Staff, and will be a relaxed and informal opportunity to meet the TISA Board of Governors and find out who does what, and why. Please do join us 6-8pm, and don’t forget to B.Y.O.P – Bring Your Own Phone. We plan to get interactive! Looking forward to seeing you at PTA events,

Louise Scarr PTA President

PTA Charities Committee inspires the community with a special project!

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The season of goodwill is upon us and many of us are starting to turn our thoughts to the PTA Winter Fair, Winter Break, spending time with friends and family and giving. Since winter term started back in August, the PTA Charities Committee has been working on assisting all PTA Charities as their needs arise. PTA Charities Committee works with 6 charities: Mushiviq Centre (for Children with Special Needs), UNHCR/HAYAT's Refugee Woman and Youth Centre (RWYC), UMID YERI (for homeless children and lonely women). UAFA, Homeless Shelter and the Mobile Dental Clinic As a group, we took on an additional very special project this term, brought to us by Tania Langlands, PTA Charities Coordinator. This involved the refugee baby Mohammed and his urgent need for a life-saving heart operation. Tania was first to meet the family and the child, and having established a connection

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with them, was very keen to do everything she could to help. Together with members of the community and the charity committee, a plan was put into place to raise over 11,000 AZN to pay for Mohammed’s potentially life saving operation in just two weeks. Response from the whole community was incredible, and the money was raised very quickly. Several local groups were approached to assist in funding by organizing fundraising events. Appeal letters were sent and Internet appeals were also made. As this was a special project for one very young baby and not for an organization involving many, all money raised was done independently of PTA., with assistance from the community and PTA Charity Committee expertise. Tania Langlands and Hande Apaydin accompanied Mohammed to all medical appointments, coordinated travel and helped to coordinate hospital bookings and appointments. We are delighted to say that Mohammed’s operation

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was successful and we will carry on supporting the family with the required post operation appointments. On behalf of Mohammed’s family, the PTA Charity Committee would like to thank the whole community for their extensive support in saving Mohammed’s young life. Everyone really pulled together and at a time when there are so many uncertainties in the world, it is refreshing to report such a positive outcome. Thank you everyone! Also on a positive note, the charities team have made several visits to the six charities we support, delivering school supplies to Mushiviq Centre for Children with Special Needs, supporting UNHCR/HAYAT's Refugee Woman and Youth Centre (RWYC) with successful swimming classes for refugee children with special needs and purchasing knitting materials with funding from the TISA Cookbook. We have made several visits to UMID YERI (supporting homeless children and lonely women) and have a large list of needs from this centre requiring our support, including a special project helping a woman to rebuild her unsafe home to allow her family to live together once more. In addition to this we have visited UAFA who are looking for more funding. Several donations have been sourced through TISA community baby groups and generous community members. The PTA Charity has donated money for the purchase of

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nappies, wipes and other very basic needs. The Homeless Shelter (run by the Sisters of Charity) has been visited several times and is a clean and pleasant old peoples’ home. TISA PTA charity funding has been used to assist them in buying new kitchen equipment. The Mobile Dental Clinic is another of our charities although visits have not been possible this term because the vans have been out of Baku. In addition to charity visits, we have organized the Giving Tree, where the school community can collect a tag, buy the gift and leave it below the tree. The Primary Student Council have been involved with another fundraising project collecting student drawings and printing cards for sale at the winter fair. The PTA Charity Committee is run entirely by volunteers. If you are interested in finding out more about charity work, or wish to volunteer some of your time, please contact TISA PTA or Tania Langlands (PTA Charities Coordinator).

PTA Charities Committee 2015-16:

Tania Langlands, Karen Mean, Tshai Bryan-John, Nancy Wedlake,

Shafag Dickinson, Apoorva Joshi, Roopal Lalaji, Casey Aguilar, Ann-

Marie Corbally, Alexandra Allen, Sara Orlandi

PTA Charities Committee inspires the community with a special project!

TISA Times of 13 PTA

Mohammed following his successful operation

1st Baku Brownies complete the ‘100AZN Challenge’ and help to save a baby’s life!

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1st Baku Brownies showed great enthusiasm and determination in completing the 100AZN Challenge back in September/October this year. They raised money for Baby Mohammed, a refugee child who required an urgent heart operation in order to survive. The Brownies completed a challenge of their choice, varying from cycling/scooting or running around Stonepay, to baking and selling cakes and drinks and doing chores at home. Brownies were sponsored to complete the challenge by their family and friends in their home countries. As a unit 1st Baku Brownies managed to raise nearly 2500AZN! Thea Carr, who was new to 1st Baku Brownies this term, managed to raise well in excess of 700AZN. An amazing result! Well done to Thea and to all 1st Baku Brownies and their supportive families and friends! All Brownies earned their fundraising badge for their efforts. 1st Baku Brownies meet every Wednesday from 3pm until 4.45pm in the Primary Staffroom. Meetings are fun, educational and interactive, and we earn badges in the process. This term 1st Baku Brownies have completed their healthy heart badge, where amongst other things, they learnt to monitor their heart rate before and after exercise, demonstrate awareness of healthy foods and a healthy lifestyle. We also finished the road safety badge where we discussed safety on the roads, made reflective vests and created skits in teams about road safety incidents. We have completed speaker badge and communicator badge, involving listening to others and being able to present to others

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on a subject for two minutes. With the assistance of parents at home, and Baku Sharks swimming coaches, most of us have completed our swimmer badge outside of meetings. We are currently working on our World Guiding Badge and our Water Safety Badge. Girls in Brownies make friends, learn to work together in teams, participate in arts and crafts, games, fundraise for charity and connect with other units both in Azerbaijan and abroad. If you think your daughter might be interested in joining Brownies (age 7-9), please register your interest on the girl guiding website below and we will contact you once a space becomes available: http://www.girlguiding.org.uk/get_involved/volunteer/register_your_interest.aspx You can also speak to one of the leaders and taster sessions are available before accepting a place. 1st Baku Brownie Leaders are: Karen Mean, Dhanashree Godbole, Gillian Davis, Mel Carr and Nicky Bennison. We look forward to hearing from you! 1st Baku Brownies would like to thank all members of the community who have supported us this term, including guest speakers Jane Onslow, Laura Moore and Louise Scarr, who volunteered their time to come on separate occasions and share their expertise to assist Brownies in attaining their badges. The success of Brownies relies on volunteers from the community. If you are interested in helping at Brownies or becoming a leader, please let us know.

Baku Brownies

TISA Times Page 17 of 18 Board Meeting Report

From the PTA…continued

TISA Times of 13 Baku Brownies

TISA Times 27 November 2015

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Transcript of TISA Times 27 November 2015