TISA Times 28 November 2014

Contents

Director 2-3 Primary Principal 4 BTK 4 “TISA Singers” 5 P8 Measurement 5 EAL 6 Space Camp 2015 6 C & S Program 7-9 Secondary Principal 10 Baku Brownies 11 Scholastic Books 12 Board Report 13

Calendar

December

1 P1-P8 Parents' Workshop: Assessment in the PYP

1 M1-DP2 Student Council Deck the Hall

2 P8 Field Trip

3 P6-P8 Choral Event

3 Secondary PAC Meeting

3 M1-M5 Service Clubs

3 M5 Diploma Subject Choices Introduction

4 P6 Open House

5 Planning Afternoon

9 P3-P8 Winter Concert Performance

9 P3 End of Term Party

10 P3-P8 Winter Concert



10 M5 Assembly & Term 1 Sports Awards

11 P1 & P2 End of Term Party




12 Term 1 Ends at 12.30

www.tisa.az

[email protected]

28t h November 2014 2014-2015 I s sue 4

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We invited our three finalist candidates for the position of Primary Principal with their spouse/partner to spend time at TISA from Wednesday to Friday this week: Our candidate profile was as follows: • Successful experience in a

senior management position at a comparable international school;

• Extensive knowledge and experience of the PYP programme;

• A record of excellence in instructional and curricular leadership;

• Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills;

• Ability to further links across all areas of the school;

• Ability to enhance colloboration and partnership between staff, Board, parents and the wider community;

• Experience in systems and practices of continuous improvement;

• Commitment to international education and knowledge of international school trends;

• Experience in the recruitment, mentoring and evaluation of faculty;

• Sensitivity towards, and familiarity with, a diverse range of student learning needs;

• Cross-cultural openness and understanding.

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The finalists were: Tony Breese: Primary Principal at the International School of Uganda Tom Burton: Head of Primary Section, Colegio Anglo Colombiano, Bogotá Rick Elya: Head of Primary at the International School of Ulaanbaatar You can see that, importantly, all three candidates are existing Primary Principals in international schools, and in addition all three have substantial knowledge and experience of the PYP programme as well as fulfilling our other criteria. In the last three days candidates have had the opportunity to meet students, parents, staff and Board members as well as to get to know a little about living in Baku. All those who interacted with the candidates were invited to return feedback forms, which will be evaluated when we consider the merits of the three candidates. I will make our recommendation to the Board over the weekend and I hope to be able make an offer of employment early next week. I will confirm the name of the successful candidate as soon as possible.

John Gillespie Director

Primary Principal Search

School Closure Procedure

TISA Times of 13 Director

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I have done in previous years, I wanted to share with you the decision-making processes which could lead the closure of TISA because of bad weather. The basic principle will always be to try to remain open if possible, while ensuring the safe arrival and departure of students and staff. We receive daily weather forecasts specific to TISA from BP, which give us some idea of what to expect. As we all know, however, forecasts have been known to be wrong, and they do not necessarily tell us what the road conditions will be. Therefore when we expect the temperature to drop to freezing or when snow is forecast, between 5 am and 6 am one of TISA’s duty drivers checks road conditions between the downtown area and TISA and then reports his findings to the Business Manager. Early on those mornings we also receive information from the BP bus drivers, who give their own judgment of the road conditions as well. When the roads are clear, the Business Manager calls me at around 6 am to confirm that traffic can move safely. If you do not receive a call to inform you that the school is closed, then you should presume that we are open as usual. On those days when road conditions will not allow our buses to leave Stonepay to pick up staff, or when in the driver’s opinion cars will not be able to access the school safely or when ice on the roads or a build-up of snow makes driving hazardous, the Business Manager calls me at around 6 am to advise me that we should not open. Another significant factor that must be considered is the state of the TISA campus. Reasonable conditions on the roads in the centre of Baku do not always reflect the circumstances at

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school. Sometimes snow and ice can make the approach roads hazardous, and snowdrifts can make it impossible to access the campus through the main gates. On site, drifts and ground ice can make access to various parts of the building dangerous and/or difficult. The path from Stonepay, the internal paths, the entrances to the ELC and external steps and doorways can be icy and treacherous. TISA Security will advise the Business Manager on the safety of the campus early in the morning when ice and snow are an issue, and this is also taken into consideration when deciding to close the school. If safe access to school cannot be guaranteed I will announce the school closure by operating the telephone tree as soon as possible after 6.30 am. I first call the Principals and a few other key members of staff, who in turn call other colleagues, who then call parents. We aim to inform everyone by 7.30 am. In extreme conditions we may even announce school closure the previous evening. If bad weather arrives during the school day, the Principals, Business Manager and I meet every hour to assess the situation. Our drivers provide regular feedback on road conditions. If we feel that the roads will be hazardous in the afternoon and that it will be prudent to close school early so that all can return home safely, we send an email to all parents and staff as soon as possible, and we will activate the telephone tree at the same time. You can rest assured that our first duty of care is to the children. On early closure days teachers remain at school until the bulk of the students have left, and the Principals and I stay until all students have been collected.

Calendar Changes February-March 2015

School Closure Procedure…continued

TISA Times of 13 Director

The TISA Titans Rugby Football Club is arranging its 2015 UAE tour. The tour involves many TISA students and will be taking place on Friday 6 March and Saturday 7 March. In order to minimise the disruption by ensuring that players miss as little school as possible, we will make some adjustments to the calendar: - The Professional Development Day on Friday 27 February will move to Friday 6 March. - The Planning Afternoon on Tuesday 3 March will move to Thursday 5 March.


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Previous experience of early closure days tells us that the last students are picked up around 1 hour 30 minutes after the message goes out. Thank you, in advance, to parents for responding quickly and for making sure children are picked up as soon as possible if the need arises to close during the day. We have ample supplies of salt, which will be spread by TISA Security and maintenance workers when needed, and Stonepay maintenance have agreed to help with snow moving equipment if necessary. Our maintenance workers will arrive at 6 am if light snow-moving is required, and even if

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the school is closed, our maintenance team will be hard at work all day clearing snow and ice, including at weekends if necessary. When we have to inform you of school closure it is of course essential that we have reliable telephone and email contact details for each family, so please remember to notify [email protected] if your details change. Wishing you all a safe and restful Festive Season!


TISA Times of 13 Primary Principal & BTK

From the Primary Principal

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Open Houses and ELC Celebrations of Learning have been taking place, and many more are due. Please enjoy this window into the teaching and learning that happens every day at TISA. The P6, P7 and P8s have now finished writing their ISA tests. This skills test focuses on reading, writing and mathematics and will give us input on how TISA students perform compared to other international schools around the world. Thank you to the large number of parents who joined our workshop earlier this year, so that we could explain the testing and answer parents’ questions. The test papers are being marked overseas and the results are expected in January. When we receive the data, parents who are interested in seeing their child’s individual data can make an appointment with the counselor. We will send out information about this after the winter break. The school will also carefully reflect on this data and consider our areas of strength and weakness and the related implications to our teaching and learning practices.

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Preparations for the Winter Concert are well underway and we look forward to seeing you all at the upcoming events. This year we have had to schedule two performances as the school has grown so much we cannot accommodate everyone in one sitting. Thank you to the team and all the staff who are preparing for this event. This week three prospective Primary School Principals visited the school to interview and met all the stakeholders. We will look forward to reporting more news about this important event. I would like to thank the PTA and homeroom parents for assisting with the end of year parties at each grade level. Students always eagerly look forward to this event and several students have already talked to me about it. I wish you and your families a wonderful winter break and look forward to welcoming everyone back in January.

David Harrold Primary School Principal

BTK News

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For the last couple of weeks, our topic in BTK has been “Autumn changes”. Our activities, songs and crafts circled around the changing weather, the changes in nature and also how these changes affect the way we dress and how they affect our health. We had an interesting visit from our TISA nurse, Ms Greta, who told us about the importance of hand washing and the right way to cover your nose or your mouth when you sneeze or cough. Now we are already preparing songs and activities for our next big event in BTK – our Christmas party!

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On Friday, December 5th, from 10.30 – 12.30, we will celebrate Christmas with various activities, songs, a winter puppet show and a hearty shared lunch. We are also expecting a special visitor to BTK – Santa Claus! The children are already very excited and they are trying their best to prepare songs for this occasion. We are looking forward to seeing children and parents coming to BTK and enjoying this special celebration together!

Livia Gardner-McTaggart BTK Manager

Measurement - Mathematics in P8

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The students in P8 have been estimating, measuring and double-checking their original predictions by using tape measures and metre rulers to enhance and hone their measuring skills. The students have been converting and interchanging various units of measurement as they construct, transfer and apply mathematical concepts to different scenarios both inside and outside the classroom.

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International Day I have been the International Day coordinator for the past 6 years. Sadly, this was my last year coordinating this huge event. I can honestly say that this was one of the most memorable. Thank you to the following committee members for their energy, enthusiasm and efforts to making this year's International Day a huge success: Elizabeth O'Neill, Brigette Henk Gulatowska, Scott Mathyk, Gina Hinds, Mark Stride, Matthew Franklin, Maria Hamblin, Daniel Bergthold, Jo Green, Greg Skehan, Ebby Adukkalil and Lucy Norton. Aylin and Gunel started the day off as our enthusiastic MCs for the International Day assembly. We had a variety of performances including the Tango and Cha Cha, creative dances from Turkey and India, a musical performance from Russia, a song about the 50 states from the U.S.A, learning languages from the M2 students, a musical and dance production performed by talented guest artists from Azerbaijan and 3 inspiring songs sung by the TISA primary students. It was an assembly to remember! The day didn't end there. Staff and students rotated to 5 different workshops that included puppetry, dancing, singing, playing national games, henna, art

TISA Times of 13 TISA Singers & P8

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Our current mathematical unit will run up until the winter break and includes: reading and interpreting scales, worldwide time zones, selecting and using appropriate units of measurement and solving measurement word problems in real-life situations.

Matt Franklin Nick Palmer

Dan Bergthold and Michael Hinds

P8 Teachers

“TISA Singers” 2014

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We have finally started a Primary School choir! We have approximately 30 enthusiastic young singers from grades P6-P8 who are working hard to build a repertoire of lovely songs. They will perform for you on Wednesday 3rd December at 8.30 in the TISA hall. They are also very excited to be performing next to the beautiful Christmas tree in the lobby of the Four

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Seasons Hotel on Sunday 7th December at 13.00. We would welcome all supporters to come and enjoy these events of the inaugural “TISA Singers”. Look forward to seeing you all there!

Many thanks,

Ms Liz & Ms Charlotte

Primary Performing Arts teachers

The Importance of Mother Tongue

Space Camp 2015: Last Chance!

TISA Times of 13 EAL & Space Camp

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Please take time to read the excerpt below for this month’s “thought bubble” about the importance of Mother Tongue.

Mother Tongue: The Language of Heart and Mind

Hurisa Guvercin Every language spoken in the world represents a special culture, melody, color, and asset and to everyone the mother language is certainly one of the most precious treasures in our lives. It’s a duty and responsibility to preserve it and pass it down from generation to generation. Whether we are urged by necessity or because of other reasons, learning another language brings a lot of advantages in our life. A new language opens a new window in our world view and makes us more aware, open-

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minded, and respectful to other cultures, lifestyles, customs and beliefs. Moreover, knowing another language has been proven to contribute to helping us understand our mother tongue better. However, much research indicates that most children eventually learn a second, or even more, languages to a native-like fluency level, what immigrant (itinerant) 1 families are not often aware of is that many of their children are at risk of losing their mother tongue. 1 Our Insertion more suited to TISA families.

Fiona Hunter Primary EAL Coordinator

Trip dates: 24-29 April 2015 www.spacecampturkey.com Dear Parents, Once again we will be taking a group of M1-M3 students to the famous Space Camp in Turkey from 24-29 April. There is a display advertising this in the TISA 4 corridor. The final cost depends on numbers but will be about US$1900 (including all flights, activities, trips, food and accommodation). We are booking flights this week to avoid higher costs next year. If your child might be interested in this unique educational and fun adventure, please email me as soon as possible.

John Brotherton Head of Science

[email protected]

TISA Times TISA Times

Page 12 of 13 Bingo Night Photos

Board Report

TISA Times of 13 C & S Program

The TISA Community & Service Program

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The “C & S” Program at TISA is an opportunity for MYP students to become thoughtful and active members of their local and global community. It is an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others. Service can be done at a very local level within the TISA community as well as in helping the underprivileged in the greater Baku community. It also extends to raising awareness on global issues. On a daily basis our students, parents, and teachers are very engaged in the important work of school, sports, and after school activities. The C & S achievements that so many of our students have made so far or that they are planning to make to support worthy causes has pushed them to give some time and to go out of their way for the greater good. All 204 MYP students are organized into 12 different groups based on a passion: Arts & Crafts, Book lovers, Environmental Action 1, Environmental Action 2, Health, Journalism, Music, Photography 1, Photography/Hands & Paws, Poverty & Hunger, Russian Club, and Sports group. These groups have been looking at social issues that affect their local and global communities; engaging or planning to engage in a project with a local organization; supporting the TISA community with active volunteering; and fundraising or collecting in kind donations for their cause or charity. The groups are run like “clubs” with student leaders leading the meetings. Students are encouraged to be more independent in planning their activities, allowing them to take responsibility and engage in meaningful service. In addition to their twice-

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monthly dedicated class time, MYP students with the support of the PTA, TISA teachers, and parent volunteers have been doing amazing things outside of the classroom to support their community. In October, many TISA Community & Service students gave up their free time to participate in community & service projects. It was a remarkable day as 70 students gave up their free afternoon to support TISA projects and various Baku Charity Groups. On that day TISA also had 26 visitors from the Umid Yeri Street Children Centre. These children enjoyed lunch, games and snacks, organized by the C&S Sports group. Also, students from the Book Lovers Group spent the afternoon with children from the UAFA Children’s Disabled Center in Mardikan. The students actively spent time with the children helping to feed them during snack time and playing musical instruments, board games and balls with them. The students were very mindful of the needs of these very vulnerable children and showed care, warmth and kindness towards them. The Arts & Crafts Group visited the House of Charity Homeless Shelter for the Elderly run by the Missionaries of Charity. They had discussions with the staff of the Shelter and interacted with the residents. The students delivered food supplies that they had collected from a Food Drive over a long weekend along with donated clothing and shoes from TISA's parent body. The Environmental Action groups worked in cleaning up the outdoor classroom and creating advocacy posters on environmental issues. The Journalism & Photography groups supported the many activities being done by others by writing articles and taking photographs of ongoing events. The Poverty & Hunger Group re-launched the TISA Food Recovery

26 Children from Umid Yeri Street Children Center hosted by the TISA

C & S Sports Group

TISA Times of 13 C & S Program

London Arts and ISTA Trip

The TISA Community & Service Program…continued

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Program (TFRP) where they are taking left over meals from the TISA cafeteria and delivering them weekly to the Ishliqi ev Street Children Center. The Health group worked throughout the month on a brochure for the Caspian Compassion Project as well as on posters related to health and hygiene which will be displayed at various Charities. The Russian Club, and Music Groups have also been meeting regularly and are planning very exciting programs. November has kept the all the groups busy planning for the TISA Winter Fair sponsored by the PTA. The families and friends of the TISA community will enjoy games, food stalls, and activities organized by the students, the PTA, and many parent volunteers. 50% of the money raised from this event directly supports 10 charities that are linked to the C & S Program. The C & S student groups support the charities listed in the insert below with their projects. MYP and Primary students will also be supporting these charities with The Giving Tree Program. Where we have set the ambitious goal of collecting and delivering 735 gifts to 7 of our charities before the school holidays commence. TISA Community and the PTA support the following Centers through the Community & Service Program (C & S). 1. The Homeless Shelter – A house

to help disadvantaged and homeless people in Baku. It provides safe transitional housing and services for elderly and handicapped people. It helps poor families in the community with food parcels, clothing, household items, and school supplies. It also teaches English to poor children in the community and provides them with food.

2. The Refugee Center – A Center

helping refugees from Iraq,

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Afghanistan, Pakistan, Chechnya, and Syria who are temporarily stationed in Azerbaijan. Currently the Center supports 80 families with language courses, school uniforms, and basic needs as they adjust to life a new life.

3. SOS Children’s Village – An

orphanage that is in the form of a village. Orphan children live in a safe village environment, where 5-6 orphan children live with a housemother in individual houses.

4. UAFA Disabled Children Center – Helps disabled children to have a place to spend quality time while receiving therapies.

5. Umid Yeri Street Children Center

– A transitionary house for street children to live from the time they leave their street life and until they move to an orphanage. The Center provides the children with education, clothing, and food.

6. Ishliqi Ev Street Children Center – A place for street children to go during the day where they can have a hot lunch, play games and be in a safe and nurturing environment.

7. Mobile Dental Clinic – Two medical dental trucks that visit orphanages and provides dental care to orphan children.

8. Baku Animal Rescue Society – an organization that houses and cares for stray dogs and cats.

9. Caspian Compassion Project – An eye hospital, dental office, and mobile eye clinic that serves poor communities. Provide routine care and surgery to people in outlying areas of Baku and helps children with eye problems.

10. The Down Syndrome Children

Center – Creates opportunities for the children in the Center to integrate with society through performing arts.

IT Workshop for TISA Parents

TISA Times of 13 C & S Program & PTA

The TISA Community & Service Program…continued

More than 15 parents attended the IT parents’ workshop "Your MacBook Basics" last week. Please join our next IT Parents’ workshop on MacBook Basics Part 2 on Monday, 8th December, 8:45am, Tisa 4 Staff room.

PTA

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A very special thanks to the C & S teachers who work each week with the MYP students to keep the program going. They are: Dianne Caskie, Greg Skehan, Robin McMullen, Gulnara Umayera, Emma Burns, Josh Li, Saadat Gaybalieva, Greg Kremer, Mehriban Azimzade, Gray Brown, Kevin McMullen and Marcus Glanville. We want also want to thank the volunteer parents for their incredible support. All that has been achieved to date was possible because of the amazing parent volunteers who work with each of the 12 C&S groups. They are: Tshai Bryan-John, Adri Kahn, Kerry Marais, Jeff Villinski, Min Jung Sung, Einat Krausz, Apoorva Joshi, Bihter

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Soyleyen, Stephanie Lowe, Roopal Lalaji, Onari Tafri, Donna Williams, Tania Langlands, Babita Badri, Reba Gilchrist, Shafag Huseynova, and Ena Laliberte. In closing, please recognize that many groups are still in the early stages of planning and others have already had successful events. Each individual effort by a student in the program leads to successful impact by the TISA community. Please support and encourage their efforts! It’s not too late. If we keep doing service, our many individual and group contributions of good will collectively elicit positive change in the world.

PTA

TISA Times of 13 Secondary Principal

The Power of Music

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For those who attended last week’s TISASTOCK there is no doubting that music brings a community together. Whether as an artist on stage, a member of the crew or an audience member, there is a feeling of elation when present at a live concert. What impressed me most was not the fine lighting display, nor was it the incredible sound show, it was the number of participants on stage, behind the scenes and at the front of house. TISASTOCK provided students with an opportunity to excel outside of class. The same can be said of our artists, dramatists and sportsmen and women. There is nothing better than witnessing the nerves, energy and joy of out TISA performers. For those who think that playing an instrument is simply a pastime or an extra-curricular activity, you might be surprised to read recent research that shows how the brain functions when playing a musical instrument. It has been long since known that the brain “lights up” when we listen to music, with areas of the brain activated that are dormant during other types of activity. What is becoming more apparent is the way that the brain functions when an instrument is being played. Multiple areas of the brain on both the left and right sides are stimulated and areas of the brain are connected in unusual ways. There is strong evidence to suggest that playing an instrument improves fine motor skills. This might seem obvious. We also know that playing an instrument

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helps to improve both short and long term memory. Furthermore, there is a growing belief that it helps to improve critical thinking skills resulting in improved problem-solving capacity. Add to these an improvement in communication skills and social skills and we can only conclude that our young musicians are using their playing ability to enhance other areas of learning. The following link will take you to a short video outlining some of the evidence. It would appear that there are multiple benefits from being a musician and that it is not simply a means of relaxation when not working; it actually helps us to work more effectively. TISA offers a number of opportunities for students to learn how to play an instrument. We obviously have a lot of talent already but there is certainly more to unearth. If you would like to consider this as an option for your child, please feel free to contact our Head of Arts, Marcus Glanville at [email protected]. He will point you in the right direction. As for me – 3 years attempting to master the Ukelele has led to……. Well, not the best example to support the research.

Stephen Caskie Secondary Principal

1st Baku Brownies do a Good Turn for Charity!

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On Wednesday 19th November 1st Baku Brownies organized a Jewellery and Bake Sale to raise money for the African charity ‘United Against Malaria’. The Brownies chose to support this charity as part of their learning for their World Cultures Badge. They made bracelets and jewellery, some from recycled materials, and these were sold along with the baked goods. The jewellery and bake sale raised a total of 730 manats for the charity 'United Against Malaria'. United Against Malaria is an alliance of various organisations which aids the prevention and treatment of malaria across the African continent. The Brownies purchased bracelets from the charity to raise awareness and donated the remainder. The AZN 730 raised is a fantastic result and a credit to all involved. 1st Baku Brownies would like to thank all the parents who supported us by

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baking so many delicious goodies to sell. The sale of baked goods was extremely popular, and without this support raising so much money would not have been possible. We are very proud of all of our Brownies who spent time in meetings and at home making jewellery, and who also helped parents to bake and helped to run the stalls themselves to sell the goods. We would also like to thank all the TISA staff, parents and students who purchased jewellery and baked goods from us and supported us to raise this money. It is lovely to see that while working on badges, we can also increase awareness of issues occurring in other countries and have such a positive impact on others by raising money for charity. Well done 1st Baku Brownies!

Baku Brownies

TISA Times of 13 Baku Brownies

TISA Times of 13 Scholastic Books

TISA Times of 13 Board Meeting Report

From the PTA…continued

TISA Board of Governors Meeting Report, Wednesday 19 November 2014 Present: Wilbert Long, Michael Dickerson, Carol Hawkins, John Gillespie, David Harrold, Stephen Caskie, Alison Bainbridge, John Bowell Absent: Dave Hatfield, Oddvar Samuelsberg, Reynold Ajodhasingh 1. Welcomes and Introductions, Wilbert Long

WL welcomed Board members. The meeting was preceded by a tour of TISA 5 (see below). Great to hold Board meeting in TISA 5. Opening ceremony to be planned for January.

2. TISA 5 Update during Walk-through, BP Business Support Manager, Ian McGregor

The facility is now in use with some snagging works to be completed: internal safety glass panels have arrived in Azerbaijan, installation starts on Monday; external door handles to be fitted; multi-purpose gym: certification of climbing wall, motors for monkey bar holders; all fitness machines working; main gym: bleachers being installed on 5 December; steps between field and TISA 5 with soft barrier to be constructed in next few weeks; underfloor heating in gyms has not been tested yet; fire alarm system being finalised; evacuation plan being worked out; lockers still to be installed; store room doors too small for some equipment, but arrangements can be made to streamline use; scissor lift needed; road being finished next week.

3. Board Report a. Whole School Matters, John Gillespie October minutes approved. Slight decrease in student population, but net increase expected in January. New TISA Code of Professional Conduct will be incorporated into new contracts. Primary Principal Selection Schedule 26-28 November 2014: all 3 candidates experienced PYP Principals. Closure List telephone tree test carried out on Thursday 30 October; mostly very efficient, some wrong numbers. Still waiting for work permit for new Secondary Counsellor. No gas for Secondary Science practical lessons since 17 October due to safety concerns: significant impact on programme delivery. Margarita Kashkay has become Business Manager. Dan Egorov appointed IT Director with overall responsibility for the IT Department.

b. Primary Principal’s Report, David Harrold Open Houses: we have received positive feedback from parents about how engaged their children are and the quality of the work. Staffing: recruiting for a learning support teacher is proving challenging. Jean Watts has still not returned to school and P3J is still being covered by Sean Barry from the EAL department. Sissi Klesch will start her maternity leave toward the end of November; Liz Costello, wife of the temporary Secondary School Counselor, will cover P2S. Medical Emergency Drill: a scenario was developed involving the nurse, first aiders and the administration and was carried out effectively overall.

c. Secondary Principal’s Report, Stephen Caskie Classroom management system: representatives from each department are working to identify the best system for TISA. CEESA: we are continuing to look at potential organizations that will provide TISA with an appropriate level of sporting challenge and we are considering CEESA (Central and Eastern European Schools Association). MYP Certificates: the certificates for last year’s M5 were conferred last week. The statistics and report are on www.tisa.az; the results are good and have allowed us to identify several areas of strength. Absence and Lates: a recent focus in Secondary has been to address the issue of bullying; we have been raising awareness through assemblies, homeroom activities and competitions. Our next big initiative is to address the issue of chronic absence and tardiness. Data: an increasing number of parents are connecting with the Secondary School. Continued growth of: PAT (Parents’ Advisory Team); the number of respondents to feedback requests and the number of parents reading the Friday Focus shows a growing level of engagement.

d. Staff Council Report, Alison Bainbridge Housing: two landlords have terminated housing contracts with little notice. Bathrooms: insufficient bathrooms for staff.

4. Treasurer’s Report, John Gillespie on behalf of Reynold Ajodhasingh JG presented a financial summary to the end of October 2014. On track with budget after 3 months. TISA 5 will be completed within approved FM; construction of steps will need to be funded from 2014-15 TISA budget. EY report distributed to Board: clean bill of financial health for 2014-15.

5. Initial Fee, Budget and Staffing Discussions for 2015-16, John Gillespie JG presented an early sketch of projected enrolment, income and expenditure for 2015-16. Based on information currently available, a slight decrease in the Primary School population is possible in 2015-16, and 36 additional students in Secondary. SC: there is pressure on Foreign Languages and Mathematics in Secondary and increasing numbers need greater diversification at different levels; IT is in need of more specialist teaching to integrate IT within other subjects. Discussion took place around possible increase in fees for 2015-16.

6. Any Other Business New Director verbal offer accepted; offer letter being prepared, agreement being finalised. WL to send communication to staff.

From the PTA…continued

TISA Times 28 November 2014

Documents

Transcript of TISA Times 28 November 2014