Issue: Nine

Date: January 20, 2012

Message from the School Head, Roy G. Crawford Our NISC Vision: Inspiring ethical, respectful and compassionate global leadership.
I hope all of you had a restful and enjoyable semester break and that you were able to spend quality time with your families and friends. I believe our students and teachers returned from the break energized and ready to begin a productive second semester. New Classrooms: As I informed you in December, due to significantly increased demand and enrollment, we have opened three new classrooms at the Early Childhood Center. We moved Mr. Jims K/1 students to the ECC to be with their peers and friends, and added three new Early Learning Classrooms for 3 and 4 year olds. We are leveling and planting grass to enlarge the play area. We hope to have the project complete within the next month. In addition, we created a new Grade 4/5 classroom for students from our waiting list. We are excited about the growth and expansion of our programs. We now have a total of four age 3 and 4 classrooms, four K/1 classrooms, and three 2/3 and three 4/5 classrooms. New Teachers: As we created two new classrooms, we of course employed two new teachers for those rooms. Please welcome Ms. Trina Saxon (New Zealand) as our new Early Learning teacher, and Ms. Emily Fisher (USA) as our new 4/5 teacher. Ms. Emily is in her second year at NISC and has been teaching 4/5 EAL. Phase I Architects: We have appointed an architectural firm to develop Phase I of our campus Master Plan. I will schedule parent meetings to provide detailed information about Phase I construction and our timeline for the completion of projects which will begin this school year. As usual, thank you for trusting us with the very important job of educating your children.

We like to recognize and acknowledge the accomplishments of our students by sometimes placing pictures of them in NISC publications or on the Web. If you do not want pictures of your child to be included in the school website or publications, please contact the school office immediately. Thank you.

Assessment - by Natalie Ross, PYP Coordinator

Assessment is often a word that conjures up images of end-ofyear examinations with stressed-out students sitting in rows in a completely silent room, filling in answers with the clock ticking. However, within the International Baccalaureate programs, assessment is a broader term that exists in a variety of forms and fulfills a range of purposes. conditions of the examination room at the end of the semester. Teachers continually assess understanding by listening to comments students are making and watching the action they are taking with their learning.

Another purpose of assessment is for evaluating the efficacy of the teaching and learning program. It is vital for schools One of the major purposes of assessment is for determining and teachers to reflect on the effectiveness of their classroom student progress and understanding. Summative assessment programs as it contributes to the continuing improvement of is the term used for end-of-unit tasks which may include the overall program. As an IB school, student performance is tests, assignments, and performance tasks. It is often referred assessed in accordance with the IB Standards and Practices, to as Assessment OF learning. and subject specific overall expectations. As an international school, NISC also has other ways of monitoring our However, IB teachers strive to ensure student success and performance as a school. therefore place a great deal of importance on Formative Assessment, which is often simply explained as Assessment In the next month, all students from gr 3-10 will be involved in FOR learning. An example of this is finding out what prior the International Schools Assessment (ISA). As a parent, the knowledge or skills students have before teaching new work, results from this give you an indication of where your child is, so the teacher can build on existing knowledge and deal with in proficiency levels in the areas of Reading, Writing and misconceptions. It also involves teachers knowing what skills Mathematics. As a teacher, the results can assist in and understandings to look for during the teaching of a topic, identifying students who need additional support, as well as so regular, descriptive feedback can be given and teachers give an indication of how grade levels are performing in can adequately tailor their teaching to meet the needs of the relation to other schools As over 160 schools take the ISA, students. Formative assessment is also of great benefit to administrators are able to compare NISCs performance to all students, as learning intentions are highly visible enabling other schools and also to schools with similar student the students to discuss and reflect on their own mastery of demographics. The assessment results from year to year are the knowledge, skills and attitudes . analyzed to show trends, and therefore inform planning for professional development and school initiatives. Within the PYP, assessment takes on a variety of forms. Rather than focusing on finished products, teachers also focus If you have any questions about assessment whether in your on the process, the performance of skills, knowledge and childs classroom or the ISA please do not hesitate to contact attitudes. Assessment doesnt take place under the silent your classroom teacher, programme coordinator or principal.

WASC
The who, what and why of WASC (Western Association of Schools and Colleges) Who is WASC - The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) is one of six regional accrediting associations in the United States. The Commission provides assistance to schools located in California, Hawaii, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, American Samoa, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and East Asia. What is WASC - Accreditation is a voluntary dual-purpose process showing that schools (1) must be worthy of the trust placed in them to provide high-quality learning opportunities ;and (2) clearly demonstrate continual selfimprovement. An accredited school is focused on a mission and goals for students; it is student-oriented and examines its students' performance continuously; it accepts objective evaluation from a team of outside peer professionals trained by WASC; it maintains a qualified faculty within an effectively organized school; it collaboratively assesses the quality of its educational programs on a regular basis; and it plans for the future. Why be involved with WASC Because everyone benefits. WASC accreditation is a valuable service to the public, students and educational institutions themselves. The public is assured that accredited institutions are evaluated extensively and conform to general expectations of performance and quality. Because accreditation requires continual self-evaluation, frequent reports, and periodic external review, the public can be assured that the educational quality of programs and services offered by the institution are current, reflect high standards of quality, and are offered with integrity. Students can be assured that the institutions in which they seek to enroll have been reviewed and the educational programs that are offered have been evaluated for quality and currentness. Educational institutions benefit from the stimulus for selfstudy and self-improvement provided by the accreditation process. Today with WASC - NISC is currently working on its self-study. This is where the staff, students and parents report and evaluate the direction the school is taking at this time and place. Next year NISC will host an external review team to evaluate and report to our community, the state of the school. This is a continuous cycle of change that helps us improve. If you have any questions about WASC, the process or being involved, please email me at rob_cody@nisc.edu.kh (Information taken from http://www.acswasc.org)

MYP Pre-Authorization Visit - 16 & 17 January 2012

As I write this, Curtis Beaverford, the regional director for the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) is meeting with NISC teachers to learn about our progress towards MYP authorization. This visit is an important step on our journey to becoming a three-program IB World School. Mr. Beaverford will speak to all the MYP teachers, visit classrooms, speak with students, meet parents and review the documents that support our implementation. In the end, he will give specific recommendations for us to follow in the next phase of our development. These recommendations will give us a road map for the rest of the MYP implementation process and beyond, including a time frame for the authorization visit, the last step of the process. His impressions thus far have been favorable and he remarked about our high-powered staff and how well informed our students were in the MYP. There will surely be much more work to do, but these two days mark an important milestone and represent the hard work of our teachers and students. We will provide further details from the report in subsequent editions of the Mekong Messenger. Mr. Steve Paterson, Principal

Special Donation to the Library / Media Centre

Mr. Rick (NISC librarian) and Mr. John (NISC Guidance when he attends university next year. Many Counsellor) would like to thank Hokyung Hwang for donating thanks Hokyung! test study guides to the library. Hokyung's consideration for his Mr. Rick & Mr. John, on behalf of NISC fellow students is a wonderful demonstration of the IB Learner Profile in action. One of the most important attributes in the Learner Profile is that of 'Caring'. Hokyung will add to NISC's reputation for producing outstanding, well balanced students

Festival of Lights

We want to thank all NISC staff, students and parents, Northbridge Communities staff for making the Festival of Lights such a wonderful evening. A special thank you to Ms. Joyce Penner, Ms. Bei Hunt, Ms. Kelli Cody and Ms. Anna Sudra.

MRISA Basketball Coming to NISC

One hundred and sixty student-athletes from schools in four countries will be coming to NISC on February 10 & 11 for the annual Senior Basketball Tournament. No tournament of this size can happen without the support of the greater school community. We need NISC families to help us by hosting some of the 120 visiting athletes. In general the host family is required: To provide sleeping accommodation for the duration of the tournament. Meals: Thursday and Friday evening meals and breakfast over the tournament weekend. To provide transportation to and from NISC *no motos or cyclos please+. They can accompany their host on the school bus. To enforce the 10.00pm curfew, no students are to be out after this time even with adults. All guests will have left by 10a.m. on Sunday. This exciting weekend is a chance for our students to form new friendships and test their skills against players from other countries. In addition to two days of games, the weekend includes social activities for the players to interact and get to know students from the other MRISA schools: Hanoi International School (HIS) International School Eastern Seaboard (ISE) International School Ho Chi Minh City (ISHMC) International School of Phnom Penh (ISPP) Northbridge International School Cambodia (NISC) South Saigon International School (SSIS) United Nations International School (UNIS) Vientiane International School (VIS) The opening ceremony will be held in the NISC gymnasium at 8:30 on Friday, 10 February with games commencing at 9:00. Please come out and support the student-athletes and enjoy some great games!

CAN YOU HELP?

Host families needed for visiting MRISA athletes on 9-12 February. Please contact Ms. Margie at 012886350 or Ms. Kate at 09592969 if you are able to host MRISA athletes. This is a whole community event and families of students from ALL grade levels are welcome to host. We really appreciate your support!

Cafeteria Lunch Menu

Monday, 23 January Tuesday, 24 January Wednesday, 25 January Thursday, 26 January Friday, 27 January Monday, 30 January Tuesday, 31 January Wednesday, 1 February Thursday, 2 February Friday, 3 February No lunch sandwich bar, grilled vegetbales, grilled chicken legs, beef ball noodle soup, fruit, lemon tea sandwich bar, tomato cream soup, quiche, beef stroganoff, mash potatoes, ice cream, lemon tea sandwich bar, cauliflower floret, fried egg with onion, stewed beef balls, mash potato/rice, banana, lemon Sandwich bar, steamed bokchoy with ben curd, red chicken curry, fried noodle with shrimp, rice, cake, lemon tea sandwich bar, cauliflower floret, prawn tempura, fried noodle with pork, baked potatoes, fruit, lemon tea sandwich bar, beef broth, pho noodle, grilled pork with soya, rice, banana, lemon tea sandwich bar, tomato sup, hamburger, vegetable au gratin, garlic bread, ice cream, lemon tea sandwich bar, lettuce puree, stir fried chicken with ginger, vegetable curry, rice, fruit, lemon tea sandwich bar, vegetable soup, grilled chicken breast, steamed bok choy with bean curd, rice, pastries,

EM DATES TO R

ol Year, no scho inese New Monday - Ch ts 20 January, vities #3 star School Acti day - After Tues 24 January, Swim Meet 10 Saturday for grades 328 January, ISA Testing ednesday nament , Tuesday-W sketball Tour 7-8 February A Senior Ba RIS -Sunday - M ry, Thursday 9-12 Februa

EMBER:

P.O. Box 2042, Phnom Penh 3. Kingdom of Cambodia Phone: (855-23) 886-000/ -006 Fax: (855-23) 886-009 E-mail: info@nisc.edu.kh