Contents

Director 2 BTK 2 Primary Principal 3 Admission 3-4 International Day 4 Secondary Principal 5 TISA Stock 5 MYP Reports and ATLs 6-7 Language Trips 8 London Arts and ISTA Trip 9 Secondary School Production 10 EAL 11 PTA 11 Health Information 12-14 Board Report 15

Calendar

November

4 P4 Open House

4 M1-DP2 3-Way Conferences

5-8 Iberian MUN Trip to Lisbon

6 M1-DP2 3-Way Conferences

7 P7 Open House

7 M1-DP2 Student Council Talent Show

10 National Flag Day Holiday

12-16 IMUN Trip to Istanbul

13 Planning Afternoon

17-30 P1-P8 IEP Review process with students, teachers and parents

18 Space Camp presentation

18-19 TISASTOCK ROCK CONCERT

19 P3 Open House

20-22 SRAA Football & Volleyball Competition

26 P2 Open House

27 P1 Open House

27 P3-P8 Musical Drama for Community

27-28 DP2 Theatre and Music Academy Evening

29 TISA Winter Fair

www.tisa.az

communications@tisa.az

31s t October 2014 2014-2015 I s sue 3

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I would like to update you on a few significant items. Director Search The international recruitment agency Search Associates is administering the search for a new TISA Director, who will take up the post in August 2015. We have received an encouraging number of impressive applications, and the Selection Committee has conducted interviews with long-listed candidates. On Wednesday to Friday next week we will be holding interviews with the three finalists. The candidates will have the opportunity to meet students, parents, staff and Board members. Primary Principal Search As announced last week David Harrold has decided to leave TISA at the end of this school year. We are currently advertising internationally using Search Associates and the Council for International Schools (CIS). We hope to find someone with

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substatial experience in a senior management position at a comparable international school and with extensive knowledge and experience of the PYP programme. We have received applications from some extremely well qualified and experienced candidates, so we are confident that we will be able to find an excellent new Primary Principal. Stephen Caskie (Secondary School Principal) and Chris Klesch (Primary School Counsellor) have helped me to draw up a long-list of candidates. We are now collecting references on those who have emerged as outstanding applicants, and we are conducting phone interviews with these candidates. We will subsequently produce a shortlist of three or four whom we will invite to TISA for a few days at the end of November or beginning of December. Board members, teachers and other staff, students

Updates from the Director

TISA International Day See page 4.

Updates from the Director…continued

BTK International Day 2014

TISA Times Page 2 of 15 Director & BTK

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and parents will again have an opportunity to meet the candidates and to give feedback. TISA 5 As I hope your children have told you, the two sports halls and ground floor changing rooms in the new TISA 5 sports complex are now being used for PE lessons and for most after-school sporting activities. The new facility is a fabulous addition to the TISA campus, and students are already enjoying the new opportunities that it provides. Today sees the ‘official’ end of building works, in that the construction company has committed to delivering the project by the end of October. Inevitably there are still some elements which have not yet been finished, including completion of the front steps and the installation

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of bleachers in the main gym (the latter has been delayed until December). There is nothing however that prevents us from using the building, but it will be several more weeks before it will be fully operational, and we will be keeping a ‘snag list’ of minor problems and defects to be resolved over the next six months. Until the building is fully delivered and ready we will continue to hold evening and weekend activities in the old gymnasium as before. I will keep you informed on all these matters as things develop.

John Gillespie Director

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On Wednesday, the 22nd of September, BTK celebrated International Day together with our BTK children and their parents. We have children from 22 different nationalities and all of us enjoyed the wonderful activities the parents had prepared. On our journey round the world we visited Azerbaijan, Russia, Israel, Turkey, The Netherlands, France, the UK, Gabon and Australia. In our circle time the children presented our BTK song and showed their parents that they can say “Hello” in different languages.

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We finished the day with an amazing lunch with dishes from around the world. A big ‘thank you’ to our homeroom mums Perihan, Katrina and Orit and to Hande who took the fabulous pictures! Thank you to all the parents who presented their country through various activities – you are amazing! Please go and check our BTK blog and relive this wonderful day again! http://blogs.tisa.az/btk/

Livia Gardner-McTaggart BTK Manager

TISA Times Page 3 of 15 Primary Principal & Admissions

Transferring Your Child to Another School

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We realize that as an international school transition is a regular occurrence for some families and now is the time that families will be thinking about preparing for potential moves. To help in that transition we are here to support with transfer applications and the transfer process to new schools. Please take a minute to read through the transfer process so that we can optimize our assistance to you & your family: • All parents withdrawing their

children from TISA should inform the Admissions Officer in writing or send an email to admissions@tisa.az giving as much notice as possible. Please note that it is not

From the Primary Principal

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I hope you all had a refreshing October break and I would like to welcome everyone back. Teachers returned on the Monday and we had a very successful P.D. focusing on mathematics. Content examined best practice as well as the practicalities of running and differentiating mathematics lessons.

The two International Days went off extremely well. Thank you to the huge number of people who were responsible for successes.

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 the large number of parents who joined our workshop, earlier this month, so we could explain the testing and answer parent questions. The test papers will be marked overseas and the results are expected in January. When we receive the data, parents who are interested in

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seeing their child’s individual data can make an appointment with the counselor. He will pass on all information about your child to you in the form of an individual report. This data is confidential to you as a family and it will not be passed to future schools unless you request this. 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.

The TISA Students’ Art Exhibition Gala Event was very well received within our community. It was indeed pleasing to give our students the chance to exhibit their work. The venue also worked well.

Open Houses and ELC Celebrations of Learning have been occurring and many more are due. Please enjoy this window into the teaching and learning that happens every day at TISA.

David Harrold Primary Principal

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sufficient to only inform your homeroom teacher.

• Please hand any references to

be completed to either the Primary or Secondary Counselor (at this point please hand in reference forms for secondary to the Admissions Officer). All completed reference forms will be emailed directly to the receiving school.

• The secretaries in Primary and

Secondary will gather all required documents such as transcripts, copies of reports in a sealed envelope and if requested send by mail or DHL directly to the school. DHL

TISA International Day See page 4.

4 of 13

International Day

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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

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puppetry, dancing, singing, playing national games, henna, art and drumming to name a few. A huge, heartfelt thank you to all parents and teachers for volunteering their time to run a workshop. Most people would say that eating food from around the world was their favorite thing about International Day. We had a feast! The smells, flavors and sights made your mouth water. The TISA community pulled their creative cooking and decorating talents together to make the hall beautiful. Thank you again to everyone who contributed their time to help feed the entire TISA student and staff population. The day was ended by a flag ceremony and dancing. The energy was high and the smiles, grinned wide as we finished the day together as a truly international community. It was an experience to remind us to continue to embrace and share where we come from. Thank you again for an amazing day.

Kimberlee Peters P6 Teacher

TISA Times Page 4 of 15 Admissions & International Day

Transferring Your Child to Another School…continued

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costs must be borne by the family.

• Any entrance exams that are

required for students can be administered in the counselor’s offices (Primary and Secondary) under exam conditions. Entrance exam papers must be sent directly to the counselor’s offices from the school. Please contact the counselor early in advance to be able to organize.

• Families transferring to the

UAE, need an attestation

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letter from C.I.S. Please contact the Admissions Officer to request this letter as soon as possible as it can take 4-6 weeks to arrange.

Please be aware that we need up to two weeks to prepare references and any related papers.

Andrea Gerlich Admissions’ Officer admissions@tisa.az

TISA Times Page 5 of 15 Secondary Principal

Learning Styles

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There is an old saying, “those who can – do, those who can’t – teach, and those who can’t teach – teach teachers.” Now whilst I don’t ascribe to this in any way, I often wonder what is meant by “do”. Given that most of us make our career choices at a young age, it would appear that this saying is based on how well we perform at school and college. In other words our experiences are shaped by how well we do on a narrow set of exams in our late teens and early twenties. I don’t know about you but I question whether the best doctors, lawyers, teachers, accountants etc. are those individuals who were considered smart when they were teenagers! The big question is, how else are we able determine who should do what in life. Part of the answer lies in something I saw last week in an English classroom. A student who is considered to be “average” and whose grades are “reasonable” produced an outstanding response to a question that showed incredible insight and understanding of the text he was studying. It was one of those moments where you couldn’t help but ask, “where did that come from and why do we not see that brilliance reflected in a traditional grade system?” Well, the good news is that the MYP criteria he

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was being marked against do take into consideration the means by which he demonstrated mastery. In fact there is increasing acceptance that multiple measures are necessary if we are to truly identify students’ strengths. Rather than try to shape them into an assessment model, we are increasingly looking to shape the model of assessment to find the best way to understand what students know. We have visual learners, auditory learners, tactile learners etc. It is only fair that, if we accept that students learn in different ways, we should be willing to assess them in different ways. This is something the International Baccalaureate Organisation takes very seriously and is researching in great depth. New courses and curricula are designed around the principle that multiple assessments should be used to find out what our children can do and what their future holds. If you fancy finding out a little bit about your own learning style, why not have a look at this questionnaire. You might well discover something interesting. I found out that I am a multimodal learner!

Stephen Caskie Secondary Principal

1969 WOODSTOCK

2014 TISASTOCK

An evening of Rock Music

Presented by Secondary.

Venue: TISA Hall Dates: 18th, 19th Nov. Start time 7.30pm Price: 5 Manats Tickets available from the SRA and

the Music room, from Oct. 27th.

More Meaningful Assessment October Reports and the Approaches to Learning

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This is an important year in the MYP at TISA. Throughout the programme, we are making changes to improve teaching and learning as part of our implementation of the MYP Next Chapter. Some of these changes were evident in last term’s reports. The fall reports at TISA in the secondary school consist of two elements. The first element is a report of students Approaches to Learning (ATL’s). The second element is a short comment from the teacher. The goal of this article is to help our parents understand the ATLs and their assessment at TISA. This article will outline each ATL and then will give the achievement descriptor for each. IB has identified five approaches to learning that students should develop while progressing through the IB program. The five ATL’s are:

• Communication skills, • Social skills • Self-management skills • Research skills • Thinking skills. Communication Skills: Seek to assess whether students are able to use a variety of communication forms for a variety of audiences. We assess the ability to: • use a variety of media and

visual forms to communicate • read and observe critically • comprehend what they are

reading and observing • produce, use, and interpret a

range of discipline-specific representations and symbols

Social skill: Seek to assess collaborating and taking on a

TISA Times TISA Times

Page 12 of 13 Bingo Night Photos

Board Report

TISA Times Page 6 of 15 MYP Reports and ATLs

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variety of roles within a group. We assess their ability to: • respect other cultures and

other points of view • actively listen to other

perspective and ideas • encourage others to

contribute • take responsibility for their

own actions

Self-management skill: Seek to assess if they are able to bring the necessary equipment and materials to class. We assess their ability to: • use appropriate strategies to

organize materials and plan short and long-term assignments to meet deadlines

• practise concentration, perseverance, self-control and determination.

• use previous experiences to select and improve relevant approaches to learning.

Research skills: Seek to assess students’ ability to collect, record, verify and make connections between various sources of information. We assess their ability to: • select and evaluate the

relevance of sources. • seek a range of perspectives

from various sources. • create reference lists and

create citations. Thinking skills: Seek to assess whether students can formulate factual, topical, conceptual and debatable questions. We assess their ability to: • evaluate evidence and

arguments to draw conclusions

London Arts and ISTA Trip See page 9.

More Meaningful Assessment October Reports and the Approaches to Learning…continued

TISA Times Page 7 of 15 MYP Reports and ATLs

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• problem-solve using existing knowledge.

• combine knowledge, understanding and skills to create a product or solution.

At TISA we are striving to make the assessment marks for the ATL’s more meaningful for the parent, student and teacher. To this end, we reviewed the assessment levels used in 2013-2014. The levels in 2013-2014 were E for excellent, G for good, S for satisfactory, and NI for needs improvement. Teachers perceived these as somewhat vague and felt that they could be misunderstood. Thus it was decided that, for the 2014-2015 school year, new levels with clearer definitions would be used. The new levels have been developed from language in the MYP Principles to Practice handbook and will better align with the PYP. We also feel that they will help students to better use their reports to reflect on their learning. The new ATL marks are as follows:

Exceeding - The student meets and often exceeds subject expectations for understanding and using this skill in their learning. They are confident and independent in its application.

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Consistent - The student consistently meets subject expectations for understanding and using this skill in their learning. They are confident and need little teacher support and guidance in its application.

Developing - The student usually meets subject expectations for understanding and using this skill in their learning. They need some teacher support and guidance in its application.

Beginning - The student occasionally meets subject expectations for understanding and using this skill in their learning. Considerable teacher support and guidance is required in its application. These marks, like the MYP ability level groupings in the criteria, are progressive; a student needs to meet one level before progressing to the next. It is our expectation that most students by the end of the year will be at the consistent level in all five ATL’s. By making these changes we feel that how we assess ATL’s will be more meaningful to students, parents and teachers.

Marie Favret Kevin Arndt

MYP Coordinators

London Arts and ISTA Trip See page 9.

London Arts and ISTA Trip See page 9.

More Exciting Language Trips in the Secondary School!

TISA Times Page 8 of 15 Language Trips

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This school year as in previous years, the language department of TISA has organized language and culture trips to Barcelona, Montpellier and Moscow. The purpose of the trips is to allow students to practise their language skills and deepen their knowledge of the target language culture in an authentic setting. During these trips the students attended language classes and visited the following historical sights of Barcelona, Montpellier and Moscow. Here are some of the highlights:

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• Kremlin, Tretyakov State

Gallery, Armory Treasure and Gorky Park in Moscow

• Sagrada Familia, Ruinas

romanas Tarragona, and Parque Guell in Spain

• Popes’ Palace, Arena Museum

and Gladiators Museum in France

The students had a great week of study and enjoyment.

Aza Azimzade Language Department Head

Popes’ Palace in Avignon (France)

Family’s house in Montpellier

Plaza Catalunya

Red Square in Moscow

Tretyakov State Gallery in Moscow

TISA Times Page 9 of 15 London Arts Trip

London Arts and ISTA Trip

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The London Arts Trip was all about fun! It's an educational trip which makes you experienced in the arts, yet it's not just educational but it's also very fun and interesting! During the whole trip we were divided into two groups, the art and music students were in one group and worked together, and the drama students were one group and would go to drama studios to work with other people from around the world. This trip was very interesting because we got to see “Stomp” who are famous musicians who can basically make music out of anything, we got to watch a musical called "The Commitments" and we watched a show called "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time." We got to see Banksy's famous Graffiti Tunnel in Leake Street and we met the famous street artist, Pure Evil, isn't that amazing? We the arts students got to learn more about graffiti and the famous street artists, and visited their galleries. We got to work in music and art workshops and met talented people.

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These are not the only activities we did in the Arts Trip, but we also visited the famous Tate Britain Museum where we got to learn about Modern Art and got to see Turner's late artwork, the Design Museum, and many other museums. This trip included all kinds of attractions like shopping in Covent Garden and Westfield, going to the famous London Dungeon, visiting the famous Piccadilly circus and the Leicester Square, touring around the beautiful city of London, and enjoying the great view of the River Thames in a bus which magically transformed into a boat. Our teachers picked great attractions, and workshops for the students. Thanks to them we had a lot of fun! Especially, everything about the trip gets more entertaining when you have your friends with you. I recommend everyone to take their friends and go to the London Arts Trip next year because this is a trip that you'll always remember in your life and will want to go back to!

Bahar Oromi M4 Student

TISA Times Page 10 of 15 Secondary School Production

Twelfth Night TISA High School Celebrates Shakespeare's 450th Birthday

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The TISA high school dramatists are to be congratulated for their stunning performance of William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. The show premiered in TISA to a packed audience, and went on to make TISA history by performing in a fully professional state theatre in downtown Baku the next evening. Students were cast before the summer holidays, and learned their lines over the summer. This meant that the very short rehearsal time of 6 weeks was sufficient to put together a performance of epic proportions. However, it must be noted that this play would not have been impossible without the strong teamwork and commitment of the performers, who went above and beyond expectations, rehearsing late on schooldays, and at weekends. The process was challenging and fun as students worked collaboratively to develop choreography and songs. A play can be very much like life. If you want to do it properly, then do it well. To do this it takes teamwork, passion, enthusiasm, empathy, respect, commitment, and a lot of hard work. It is important to remember in an ensemble cast, that every actor,

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(no matter how big or small the part), has a job to do. That job is to tell the story. This also helps with nerves, to remember the reason why you are there. You are there to do a job, and that is all. In this way, a story can be told that becomes an effort not one or two ‘stars’ but one of collaboration, teamwork and togetherness. The audience appeared to have enjoyed the show, and this was clear from the laughter, the stillness, and the earthshaking applause the cast and crew received. Finally, a special thanks to the cast from your director: Mr. McTaggart. As he is so utterly gobsmacked by your performances, all he could manage to utter between mumbling random Shakespearean verses from the play was: “Aania, Matilda, Mirren, Sybel, Fidan, Kirill, Ola, Sona, Arunraj, John, Stephanie, Stefan, Nadine, Toby… and again… Aania – Job well done!” He is now back in school and capable of (fairly) normal English again after convalescing for a fortnight in a special drama teacher retreat… in Tibet.

Alexander Gardner-McTaggart Performing Arts Coordinator

TISA Times Page 11 of 15 EAL & PTA

PTA School Enrichment

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The PTA works hard to raise funds throughout the school year. All money raised gets split: 50% goes to charitable causes that the school supports through the Community and Service initiative - more on this in next month’s TISA Times. However the other 50% gets used for different projects around the school to benefit the pupils. One of these latest projects is the new Lost & Found property station in the Primary School reception area. The parent behind the idea was Alejandra Macias who like a lot of parents became very frustrated with the old lost and found box. With the blessing of the PTA, the school for the space and the funds from the PTA, she designed a new lost

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and found system, found a carpenter and made it happen. Thank you Alejandra. Another project that the PTA have supported with funds is the new improved DP Lounge for IB1 and IB2 students to use while not in class. This room got a good clearing out and a makeover with freshly painted walls, decorations for the walls including a fantastic giant world map, furniture repaired, built and sofas donated from BP. 8 large floor cushions were also made. Students can now enjoy this room to meet with friends, study or just hang out. Thank you to all the parent and student volunteers who worked so hard on this project.

pta@tisa.az

Raising Multilingual Children

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What kind of example are you for your child? Are you using your language as much as possible or are you speaking the community language (English) most of the time with your children and not even realizing it? Some parents think that they speak their mother tongue with their children ALL the time, but are in fact spending the majority of the time speaking in the community language without even realising it. It is very easy to fall into this pattern. You can solve this by:

•Being aware of when you are and are not speaking your language with your children

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and then switching to your language each time you catch yourself speaking the community language.

•Ask yourself why you tend to

speak the community language with your children as much as you are. If you can find the sources for that question, then you are already one step further along the path toward solving it! (Heller, 2014)

Corey Heller is the founder of Multilingual Living and the Editor-In-Chief/Publisher of Multilingual Living Magazine

EAL Department

From the PTA…continued

TISA Times Page 12 of 15 Health Information

Ebola Outbreak in Africa

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Updated: 16 October 2014

The largest ever Ebola outbreak is underway in several countries in West Africa. It began in the southern forested area of Guinea in December 2013. However the diagnosis was not made until March 2014, by which time there were clusters of infection in several areas. Ebola then spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone.

An imported case into Nigeria infected others there, and a single imported case occurred in Senegal (however the outbreaks in both these countries may soon be declared over).

This current outbreak is the largest and most challenging that has ever occurred. The World Health Organization declared it a “Public Health Event of International Concern” in early August. Case numbers are thought to greatly under-estimate the extent of the outbreak.

In the worst affected areas, healthcare facilities are overwhelmed, and safety and security are threatened.

Authorities have implemented a number of measures to control spread, including closure of some borders, quarantine of the most affected areas, and exit and entry screening. In addition, some commercial airlines have suspended flights to affected areas.

An imported case into the United States and a medically evacuated case into Spain have infected healthcare workers in each of those nations.

An unrelated outbreak is underway in Democratic Republic of the Congo. Transmission is human to human (from one person to another).

The situation is changing and travellers are advised to check the latest information on the outbreak

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at the dedicated website www.internationalsos.com/ebola

What is Ebola?

Ebola belongs to a group of diseases referred to as "viral haemorrhagic fevers" (VHF). Dengue fever, yellow fever, Lassa fever, and Marburg fever are other examples of VHFs. "Haemorrhagic" means these diseases can involve bleeding, which can be one of their more alarming symptoms.

Ebola is named after a river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire) where the disease was first recognised in 1976. There are four Ebola virus strains which are known to cause illness in humans. They are named after the region where each strain was first detected: Bundibugyo, Ivory Coast, Sudan and Zaire.

How do people become infected with Ebola virus?

There are two ways people can be infected – either from contact with infected animals OR contact with infected people.

From animals to people: The virus probably lives in bats and occasionally infects animals. These include chimpanzees, gorillas, monkeys, forest antelopes and porcupines. Humans who hunt or eat forest animals or bats can be infected following direct contact or consumption of infected animals.

From person to person: Once a human has been infected, an outbreak can occur if proper precautions are not taken. This occurs especially in areas where hygiene, sanitation and infection control levels are low.

People are infected through direct unprotected contact with an infected person’s blood, excretions, secretions or body fluids. Once someone has symptoms of illness their blood, vomit, faeces, mucus, urine and any objects that are

Ebola Outbreak in Africa…continued

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contaminated by them are all potentially infectious. (People who do not have symptoms are not contagious).

Healthcare facilities where strict infection control does not occur, and funeral practices that require touching, washing or kissing the dead body are high risk for spread of Ebola.

Who is at risk?

People who have direct unprotected contact with sick people and their contaminated items (such as needles) are at highest risk of infection. This includes:

• Healthcare workers looking after cases

• Family members and other people who are in direct contact with sick people

• People who have direct contact with animals Others, including business travellers, are at low risk.

What are the symptoms of Ebola virus?

Symptoms develop between 2 and 21 days after exposure, although most people fall sick after about 7-9 days. There is sudden onset of fever, weakness, muscle pain and headache. Vomiting, diarrhoea, rash and abdominal pain follow in most cases. Some people may develop redness of eyes, and hiccups. Organ failure and bleeding (both internally and externally) occur in some people. These lead to death. About 50% of cases are fatal.

How is Ebola diagnosed?

Diagnosis is made through specialised blood tests. Staff that draw and handle blood must be trained in Ebola testing. Only specialised labs can handle Ebola samples. In an outbreak, a “clinical diagnosis” may be made based on the symptoms and history of

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exposure. The laboratory tests may take several days to confirm the diagnosis.

Can Ebola be treated?

There is no specific treatment for Ebola. Patients receive supportive therapy, including intravenous fluids, supplemental oxygen and antibiotic treatment of any “secondary” bacterial infections. Early treatment in specialised Ebola Centres increases the chance of recovery.

There is currently no cure for Ebola. Although there are experimental treatments, they have not been tested in humans. Their efficacy and side effects are unknown. Quantities are extremely limited. Use of these treatments is highly controlled by international and national authorities.

Is there a vaccine?

There is no vaccine commercially available, although research is underway and clinical trials have commenced.

What is the outlook for this outbreak?

Experts expect it will take at least 6 months to come under control. While the outbreak in West Africa continues, export of more cases into other countries can be expected.

In less-developed countries, whether in Africa or elsewhere, the weakness of health facilities and public health mean that imported cases pose a real risk of starting an epidemic.

In developed countries, it is likely that health facilities will diagnose an Ebola patient relatively quickly and public health authorities will undertake rigorous contact tracing, thereby avoiding a widespread outbreak. Nevertheless there is a risk that healthcare workers caring for Ebola patients may be infected.

TISA Times Page 13 of 15 Health Information

TISA Times Page 14 of 15 Health Information

Ebola Outbreak in Africa…continued

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How is Ebola prevented?

Prevention is through strict infection control – avoiding direct contact with people who are sick, their infected organs and fluids. It is also important to avoid direct unprotected handling of any potentially contaminated objects.

Avoid high risk activities

• Direct unprotected contact with ill people or their body fluids or potentially contaminated objects

• Handling dead bodies

• Funerals in affected areas

• Do not visit facilities that are treating Ebola patients

General advice

• Pay strict attention to hygiene

• Washing your hands frequently and properly

• Do NOT touch blood, body fluids or secretions

• Avoid touching your face

• Only eat well cooked meat

• Avoid forest animals that are sick or found dead

• Avoid bats and bat meat

What public health actions have been taken?

Authorities and International organisations have established isolation and treatment centres. They are isolating cases, and tracing their contacts.

Some regions are quarantining contacts – usually in the home. Contacts are monitored for development of symptoms. If symptoms occur, they are quickly isolated.

Measures have been put in place to educate the public and train

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healthcare workers.

The most heavily affected areas of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone are under “cordon sanitaire” quarantine – restricting movement of people into or out of these areas. Security / military are enforcing these restrictions.

In some areas there are curfews, public gatherings have been stopped, international meetings and non-essential travel cancelled, schools have been closed, and burials are controlled. Exit screening and entry screening has been implemented at some borders. Some international borders are closed and some commercial airlines have suspended flights to affected countries.

Travel advice

The situation is rapidly evolving. Monitor the latest developments, especially just prior to travel as the situation may have changed.

Defer non-essential travel to Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.

For Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria and Senegal:

• Do not travel if you are sick

• Follow the preventive advice above

References and further information

International SOS – Ebola website www.internationalsos.com/ebola

International SOS - Country Guides http://www.internationalsos.com

World Health Organization – Ebola virus disease http://www.who.int/csr/disease/ebola/en/

Disclaimer This information has been developed for educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Should you have questions or concerns about any topic described here, please consult your healthcare professional.

TISA Times Page 15 of 15 Board Meeting Report

TISA Board of Governors Meeting Report, Wednesday 22 October 2014 Present: Wilbert Long, Dave Hatfield, Reynold Ajodhasingh, Oddvar Samuelsberg, Michael Dickerson, John Gillespie, David Harrold, Stephen Caskie, Alison Bainbridge, John Bowell Absent: Carol Hawkins 1. Welcomes and Introductions, Wilbert Long

WL welcomed Board members. 2. TISA 5 Update, BP Business Support Manager, Ian McGregor

Good recent progress; sports halls and ground floor changing rooms now being used. Much activity planned for this week and next. Bleachers now due at end of December. Most of the internal and exterior works will be completed by end of October but full use will be delayed.

3. Board Report a. Whole School Matters, John Gillespie Currently 704 students from P1 to DP2. Secondary Counsellor’s arrival delayed due to waiting for work permit, but all early applications being processed by SC. Primary Principal Search advertisement placed on Search and CIS websites: deadline for applications 31 October, interviews late November/early December. TISA buses improved: 3-point seatbelts, new GPS and cab cameras installed. b. Primary Principal’s Report, David Harrold Professional Development Day: was linked to Primary School Strategic Goal on mathematics teaching. International Day: was a splendid success! Staffing: Jean Watt in P3 is still not back after illness. Sean Barry has been covering the class and is doing a very effective job. Learning Support: still to find a permanent teacher. c. Secondary Principal’s Report, Stephen Caskie Process of selecting our classroom management system has begun. Students recently completed their ISA tests and are in the process of taking CAT4 tests to establish the needs of Gifted and Talented students. The new Parents’ Advisory Team met for the first time recently and a new format was agreed with parents. The Secondary Leadership team is examining the structure of the school day, the curricular provision and the timetable model for 2015/16. d. Staff Council Report, Alison Bainbridge Some housing matters raised.

4. Treasurer’s Report, Reynold Ajodhasingh On track with budget after 2 months. TISA 5 will be completed within budget and approved FM in spite of slippage of project completion date. Need to calculate supplementary TISA 5 costs for 2015-16.

5. Director Search Update, Oddvar Samuelsberg 26 applications, strong field, 6 long-listed for screening. 3 to be invited to final interviews in Baku in early November.

6. Overseas Hire Staff Salary and Benefits Proposal 2015-16, John Gillespie JG presented to the Board the annual review of overseas hire teachers’ salaries and benefits. The current TISA benefits package is considered appropriate and therefore no changes were proposed for 2015-16. Need to offer an attractive package in order to attract and retain staff. Slight increase in salary scales approved for 2015-16.

7. Committee of Measurement and Statistical Analysis, Michael Dickerson MD praised recent presentation of ISA results and outlined his proposal. Starting point will be to assess the Mission Statement review process being implemented this year. Committee would also investigate how to use ISA results. DHat commented that it would be a useful tool to produce positive feedback to share with parents. Committee members: MD, DHat, SC and DHar.

8. Building and Grounds Committee Report, Dave Hatfield

PAC: further work required to understand the next steps (WL and DHat to meet); Existing gym: plans to be developed for this building/space. BTK: potential relocation of BTK into the TISA grounds with consequent reduction of rental costs. Playground development: possible upgrade of the area between the P8 classrooms and the Primary Reception. Pitch maintenance: new water tanks have allowed for the field to be watered daily which has had a positive on the pitch quality; Summer works: TISA 2/3 ramp: some further improvement required; tiles at the top of the steps to the TISA playing field have been repaired. Feasibility study for development of the courtyard area on hold; Refurbishment of the TISA 4 Science labs to take place next year. Documentation: loading of data and documents into the BP Documentum system is taking place (TISA 5, smoke detection, TISA 4 basement, etc.). Football and rugby storage container has been installed.

9. TISA Guide for New Board Members, John Gillespie

JG thanked CH in her absence for help in producing this document and invited further comments.

10. Any Other Business None

From the PTA…continued