THE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL AZERBAIJAN Mid-term Roundup

19 th October 2012
201 2-20 13 Issue 3
www.tisa.az
communications@tisa.az
THE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF AZERBAIJAN
Contents
Director 2
Secondary Trips 3
Primary News & Peter Pan 4
P5J & Danish Team 5
BTK & ELC 6
Career Fair 7
PE & PTA 8
PTA 9
Calendar
October
22-28 Mid Term Holidays
29 Professional Development
Day
30 Back to School for Students
31 P3-P8 Round Table Meeting
November
1 P3 Celebration of Learning
1 P5 Reading Workshop for
Parents
1-3 P7-IB2 TISA Football &
Volleyball Tournament
2 P1-P8 Assembly
3 SAT Exam
4-5 USA Embassy Softball
Tournament
5 MYP Parent Evening
6 P3-P4 Mathematics Parent
Workshop
6 Technology and Coffee
Morning
7 P8 Open House
7-8 P6-P8 Production
7-11 M4-IB2 IMUN Lisbon,
Portugal
8 P7 Open House
9 National Flag Day
12 Planning Afternoon
13 P1 Celebration of Learning
13-14 M1-IB2 3- Way Conference
14 P2 Celebration of Learning
15 P6 Open House
15-18 SRAA Football & Volleyball
Competition at TISA
16 P6-P8 Assembly
21 Parent Advisory Council
Meeting (PAC)
23-24 Secondary Drama Production
27 P6-P8 Mathematics
Workshop
30 M1-IB2 Term 1 Reports
distributed
Mid-term Roundup
It has been a very busy first half of
term! Only ten weeks ago we
were just starting out on this
school year, and so much has been
achieved in a very short period of
time.
At whole school level we have
been working on an action plan
based on the recommendations
from CIS, which we received in
July with our Re-accreditation
Report. Much of this relates to
work which needs to be done to
streamline the articulation of the
curriculum from the PYP through
the MPY to the Diploma
programme in order to ensure that
transition is smooth at all stages.
Another key element of this is that
we develop a curriculum review
cycle to update regularly and
methodically all parts of the
curriculum; this will include
incorporating current educational
thinking and pedagogy. We will be
working hard on implementing the
CIS recommendations over the
next 12 months as well as working
on our own Strategic Plan.
Another important aspect of this
year’s improvements (endorsed
and commended by CIS) is our
Technology and Learning Plan. We
have already made excellent
progress on this, with iPads now in
the ELC as well as in P3 to
P5 classrooms, and the teacher
laptop rollout is almost complete.
New WiFi networks are in use and
we are continuing to install
audio/visual equipment. Training
for teachers is underway, and the
two Coffee and Technology
mornings for parents were well
attended. Also related to steps
forward in technology, I hope you
have seen that the PTA Calendar,
Primary Calendar and Secondary
Calendar are now live on
www.tisa.az.
One of the highlights for me was
the TISA Art Exhibition in the last
week of September. This was a
first for TISA: an exhibition of the
works of over 80 of our talented
artists, from some of our youngest
to IB Diploma students, in a real
National Danish Performance Team at TISA

Page 2 of 9
Director
TISA Times
Mid-term Roundup…continued
Baku gallery! We were proud to be
able to collaborate with Azerbaijan
National Artist Arif Hüseynov at his
Miniatures Gallery and hope very
much that this will lead to further
links between the TISA Art
Department and the local art
scene.
So far this term the Primary School
has held a number of very useful
workshops for parents, and I know
that a lot of parents have been
very positive about what they have
seen of students’ progress at Open
Houses as well. We have also had
the opportunity for community
collaboration with students,
parents and teachers working
together to improve the ELC,
inside and out, at the Working Bee
a couple of weekends ago. There
has been an enormous amount of
activity inside the classroom in
Primary, and a lot of superb work
is on display. In addition, P6 to P8
students were very focused on the
ISA tests earlier this month: the
results of these tests will give us
very helpful data against which to
benchmark our students’ progress.
In the Secondary School in the past
couple of weeks there has been a
wider range than ever of trips
abroad, with students travelling to
France, Russia, Spain, the UK and
Cambodia. These have given our
students a wonderful opportunity
to experience different cultures as
well as to develop language skills
in situ. In addition earlier in the
term there was an M1 trip to Alti
Agach, a Biology trip and M1-M3
trips to Gala, Jumeriah Beach and
Gobustan and elsewhere. We also
had a very successful Career Fair.
The Secondary School teams are
currently reviewing a number of
significant areas of school life,
from assessment and reporting to
dress code, and I am sure that this
will lead to significant future
improvements.
We have witnessed some
outstanding
sporting
entertainment and success
recently. The Colombian Women’s
Football Team visited TISA during
the opening week of the FIFA
Women’s Under-17 World Cup, and
we were also fortunate to have
had the enthralling National Danish
Performance Team at TISA for a
whole day. TISA athletes
performed very well indeed in the
SRAA Cross-country Championship
held last weekend in the Baku
Botanical Gardens: congratulations
to all!
Soon after the break we have a
number of events to which to look
forward. On the sporting side, we
will be concentrating on soccer
and volleyball. From Thursday 1 to
Saturday 3 November at TISA we
have a P7-IB2 TISA Football &
Volleyball Tournament against
Baku schools. This is preparation
for the SRAA International Football
& Volleyball Tournament to be
held at TISA two weeks later, from
Thursday 15 to Saturday 17
November. We hope that many
parents will be present to cheer on
our teams! In addition, please
reserve space in your diaries for
the P6-P8 production of Peter Pan
on the evenings of Wednesday 7
and Thursday 8 November.
Last but not least, you will be
interested to know that steady
progress is being made on the TISA
5 sports complex construction. At
present work is taking place on the
foundations, with 78 tons of
reinforced steel installed and
800m 3 of concrete poured so far!
I hope you will enjoy finding out
more about what has been
happening in all parts of the school
over the past few weeks in the
pages of this issue of the TISA
Times.
John Gillespie
Director
If you are interested in renting
a table please contact us where
we will confirm your place via
email.
Dixon_nicola@tisa.az
Mulleneux_elizabeth@tisa.az
Table rent is AZN 20 and should
be paid as soon as possible in an
envelope, with your name
clearly marked, to TISA 3
Reception.
The last day for payment is
Friday November 16 th .
HURRY, AS THIS IS A VERY
POPULAR EVENT AND SPACE IS
LIMITED!

Page 3 of 9
Secondary Trips
TISA Times
Secondary Trips, Trips, Trips…
The Secondary School has been very
busy these last few weeks…
Trips abroad - Our trips to Russia,
France, England and Spain were all
wonderful learning experiences for
the students involved. (More about
these trips to come in future
editions).
Biology Trip - On September 19, the
IB2 Biology class went on an ecology
field trip to Absheron National Park,
the furthest point on the hook at the
end of the Absheron peninsula.
Seven students practiced different
ecological sampling techniques,
including quadrat sampling; line
transects, and plant
collection/identification during the
day-long trip to the wind-swept
park. The students braved gritty
winds, hot sun, and the occasional
water snake in the course of
collecting data. It was a great day
of field work, and the students did
an excellent job. Great work
everyone! (submitted by Ms. Childs)
M1, M2 and M3 Get Out and About
TISA Secondary has been seeing
Azerbaijan! On September 18 th , M1,
M2 and M3 started the year off with
their Pastoral Care Day Trips. These
trips are designed to build a sense of
community and caring among the
students and their teachers, and to
experience the beauty of Azerbaijani
culture. M1 and M2 spent the day at
Qala Cultural Reserve. Qala is built
upon the remains of a 5000-year-old
settlement. Students baked
traditional bread, worked with a
blacksmith, wove rugs, and explored
the caves beneath the castle. They
ended the day with group tableaux
performances of all they had
learned. On that same day, M3s
traveled to Jumeriah Beach Resort.
They were kindly hosted by Jamilla
Hasanova, homeroom mom for M3A,
and the rest of Jumeriah’s friendly
staff and activities directors.
Students and teachers learned yoga
on the beach, participated in team
building activities, and swam and
swam and swam! It was a
wonderful experience for all, and
the students built strong ties and
memories.
On October 11, Mr. Gray Brown in
Humanities took all of the M1s to
Gobustan National Park. They
explored the petroglyph park and
the newly built museum. They
were accompanied by several
enthusiastic parents: Mandy
MacRae, Sarah Johnson, Reba
Gilchrist, Segolene Gras,
Shendelle Pietersz and Meera
Dahl. The kids loved having them
along, and everyone learned a
great deal. While out and about,
our students represented TISA
with thoughtfulness, curiosity and
respect. We are very proud of
them! (contributed by Ms.
Thompson, Pastoral Coordinator
for M1-M3)
**A big thank you to the teachers
who organized the trips in
addition to doing their regular
teaching duties! As some of you
are aware, we are refining the
trips procedures in hopes of
streamlining the process for
everyone.
Who to contact in the Secondary
School? Here’s a helpful list of
which secretary is responsible for
different tasks:
Shabnam Aliyeva – school trips,
substitute teachers, parent
communications, graduation
Aliyeva_Shabnam@tisa.az
Leyla Huseynova - attendance,
detentions, mail, after-school
activities
Huseynova_Leyla@tisa.az
Kamala Aliyeva – admissions
support, transcript/transfer
certificates, certificates of
attendance, event set-up
Aliyeva_Kamala@tisa.az
Ms. Shaundele Leatherberry
Secondary Principal
Gobustan National Park
Jumeriah Beach Resort
Yoga on the beach
Gala Cultural Reserve

Page 4 of 9
Primary News & Peter Pan Show
TISA Times
Primary News
On September 20 th we had our first
parent workshop of the year about
the IB Primary Years Programme.
The P5s did a very successful
mathematics workshop and after
the October break. It was again
great to see so many of you there
and I have received some positive
feedback about both these events.
We are planning to have additional
curriculum workshops later in the
year, specifically geared towards
the lower and upper areas of the
Primary School and the ELC. Please
look out for further information
about mathematics workshops
conducted by the remainder of the
school.
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 seeing their child’s individual
data can make an appointment
with the counselor. She 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.
Have a refreshing October break
and I look forward to welcoming
everyone back.
David Harrold
Primary Principal
National Performance Team
Primary School Workshops
Peter Pan – The Upper Primary Show
A note for your diaries. The
premiere of PETER PAN will be at
7pm Wednesday the 7th of
November, and the final night on
Thursday the 8 th of November. The
reception foyer will open at 6:30 for
snacks and beverages. In keeping
with the tradition of Peter Pan we
will be raising money for Great
Ormond Street Children's Hospital as
well as for a local charity. Tickets
are available at the primary
reception, or from Mr. Alex. We also
welcome voluntary contributions on
the night.
In 1929 Sir James Barrie gifted the
rights of the play to GOSH in
order to help children who, unlike
Peter Pan, had to grow up sooner
than they might otherwise have
to. He claimed Peter had been a
patient at the hospital, and had
"… put me up to it." Can you spot
Sir James at the back of the
audience peering over to get a
better view?
Alex McTaggart, Melvin Sawyer
and Nikki Beale
Primary Arts Department

TISA Times P5J & Danish Team
Page 5 of 9
P5J wrote an author and she wrote back!
P5J wrote:
Dear Jeanne,
Your books are awesome. We are
reading “10 True Animal Rescues”.
We are all in P5J (grade 2) at The
International School of Azerbaijan.
We come from South Africa,
America, Thailand, Iran, Canada,
Germany, Argentina, Colombia,
India, Croatia, Azerbaijan, France,
Wales, and Russia. Believe it or not
there are only 16 of us!
How did you find out about all
those rescues?
Which one was your favorite
rescue?
Have you been to any of our
countries?
Of the books you have written,
which one is your favorite?
Angelina, Carriad, Cleo, Dunya,
Evlynne, Eric, Isa, Kshitij,
Louise, Maga, Nicholas, Pablo,
Rafael, Sophie, Shoko, Tai, Miss
Lala, and Mr. Jim.
Jeanne Betancourt wrote back:
I am so pleased to receive an e-
mail from you all. I loved learning
that you represent many different
countries. I am going to answer
your questions beneath each one.
Please look out for more of my
titles, especially THE PONY PALS.
There are 44 books in that series
and an internet game and club you
can join - Club Pony Pals…also,
AVA TREE AND THE WISHES THREE.
This is one my favorites. Lots of
fun, especially since AVA has a
truly amazing pet rabbit.
How did you find out about all
those rescues?
I did a lot of research to find out
about those rescues. A few of
them were reported in PEOPLE
magazine. I learned about others
by doing searches on the internet.
Which one was your favorite
rescue?
My favorite rescue is the hamster.
I spoke to the family that had that
experience, which made it so
much more interesting for me.
Have you been to any of our
countries?
I have not travelled much but I
have been to Mexico, El Salvador,
Puerto Rico, Cuba, Spain,
Portugal, Holland, Italy, France,
and Canada.
Of the books you have written,
which one is your favorite?
My favorite is often the last one
I’ve written, so today I would say
AVA TREE AND THE WISHES THREE.
Happy reading to all of you.
Cheers from New York City.
Jeanne
P5J Students
National Danish Performance Team Show
National Danish Performance Team
Students Workshops
National Danish Performance Team
October 3 rd saw the National
Danish Performance Team (NDPT)
come to TISA and fun was had by
all! NDPT ran workshops for all
grade levels during the day and
performed a spectacular
performance in the evening. A
thank you goes out to all the
families who invited these athletes
into their homes for 5 days.
Without them we would not have
had the team here! Some may
have attended the October 8 th
performance down town and what
they saw was even better than
what they showed here. The
athletes really showed the high
caliber of talent they possess; on
this evening with great lights and
sound they pushed themselves to
the limits. Make sure to see them
again if you can while they are on
their world tour!
Mr. Buczkowski
Head of PE
National Danish Performance
Team Show

Page 6 of 9
BTK & ELC
TISA Times
BTK News
On Friday, October 5 th , we had our
first shared lunch with the
children. It was our “Harvest
Lunch” in order to celebrate the
start of our new unit “Sharing the
Planet”. Thanks to the wonderful
effort of our BTK parents, the
children enjoyed a fantastic
selection of homemade food and
had fun sharing the goods with
their friends and their parents.
In our unit “Sharing the Planet” we
will explore harvest, food, farms
and animals and the changing
seasons. Our activities, songs,
poems and stories will evolve
around these topics to offer a
genuine experience and an
authentic connection to these
topics for our children.
We have welcomed new children
and parents into our ever growing
BTK family and we are sure, that
we will all have a happy,
enjoyable and productive year
ahead of us!
I’d also like to thank our fantastic
parents’ representatives Nathalie,
Ramona and Karen for their effort
and good spirit and their
contributions to our BTK events
and celebrations – please keep up
the good work!
The BTK Team:
Livia McTaggart
and Farida Guliyeva
The ELC Working Bee
BTK Harvest Lunch
The ELC Working Bee that took
place last Saturday was a huge
success. We had lots of support
from teachers, parents and CAS
students.
There were some fantastic ideas
provided by parents on how to
reinvigorate the ELC foyer and the
CAS students worked hard in
completing lots of chores with the
ELC teachers and parents.
So, a big thank you to everyone
involved, particularly to those hard
working parents who organized
the Working Bee in the first
instance.
We would like to say a special
thank you to Anna Lewis who
spent many hours coordinating
this worthwhile event.
We look forward to working on the
next ELC Working Bee project
during the springtime in 2013.
The ELC Team
The ELC Working Bee

TISA Times Career Fair
Page 7 of 9
TISA Students Learn About Career Options at Fair
Secondary students from M4 to IB2
participated in a recent Career
Fair organized by the TISA PTA,
Secondary Student Council, and
the Secondary Counseling Office.
Local business and community
members were invited to give
information, advice and to speak
to students about potential
careers.
Featured speaker for the opening
of the all day program was Mr. Joe
Fitzgerald, Building Construction
Engineer. Additional speakers
were: Seref Ozalp, Executive Chef
from Jumeriah Bilgah Beach Hotel;
Cee Gibson, Pilot; Bridgett Dennis,
BP Marine Engineer; Nickee Dixon,
Make-up Artist; Irada Ahmedova,
UN Coordination Analyst, Hassan
Taifour, Nutrition Specialist for
UNICEF; Yusif Mammadaliyev, CEO
Pasha Bank; Sarah Johnson, Nurse
specializing in Pediatrics; Mario
Baldi, Italian Ambassador; Hans
Steuten, Geophysicist and
Structural Geologist; and Sarah
Cosmao, Artist.
A special thank you goes to the
TISA PTA and representatives
Pauline Totterdell, Crystal Jensen,
Andrea Godet, Cheryl Kurz, and
Lori Thomas for their efforts and
support of the career fair and TISA
students.
“The goal is to get students to
begin thinking about their future
and set goals for what they want
to do. Our desire is to expose
students to what is potentially out
there in terms of careers, as well
as have our students meet
professionals in Baku,” conveyed
Dr. Cheryl Travers, TISA’s
Secondary Counselor.
Comments from a student survey
following the fair included:
“I liked that they discussed with us
the classes and other activities we
should be taking to achieve our
goals.”
“It was nice for the speakers to
take time out of their busy
schedule to speak with us about
their careers and what we would
need to do to get into a particular
area”.
“Even though a career is years
away, it is important to begin
thinking early.”
“We were encouraged to do
internships to help decide how
strong our interest really is in a
particular field and our speaker
offered to provide places for those
of us interested.”
“The fair is a good idea as it helps
us to start thinking about what you
want and need to do.”
Pauline Totterdell, PTA Secondary
Representative, who helped
coordinate the event related, “I
was pleased to be a part of the
Career Fair Day and it was great to
see how well it was supported by
all the students. Many thanks to
every speaker that gave up their
time. I was very impressed with
how every student participated in
the day - it was a great opportunity
for them to consider many different
career paths.”
Ms. Shaundele Leatherberry
Secondary Principal
Secondary Career Fair Guest
Speaker
Secondary students discussing
potential career opportunities

Page 8 of 9
PE & PTA
TISA Times
From the Athletics Department
The football and volleyball seasons
are in full swing and the crosscountry
season has just finished!
The boys’ junior and senior
football teams participated in a
set of friendly matches with the
British School of Baku recently and
it proved to be a great learning
experience for both schools. They
are looking forward to more
matches in preparation for the
upcoming tournaments.
After an unfortunate
postponement of the cross-country
event in Tbilisi some Baku schools
decided to host it here in Baku
instead. So on October 13 th at the
Baku Botanical Gardens the
runners (P7-M1) enjoyed the
morning in the sun while pushing
themselves to their personal best!
Coming up November 1-3 our
Junior and Senior football and
volleyball teams will be
participating in a
mini tournament to prepare
themselves for the SRAA event
which will happen November 15-
17. Please come out for both
events and support your TITANS!
Of course we will need some
help with the events so they are
the great experience of the
students, look for a future email
for a list of helpful duties from
Mr. Buczkowski.
Basketball is scheduled to start
in late November; the schedule
of trainings days will alter
accordingly. Once the coaching
positions are settled there will
be a final schedule put out.
GoooTitans!!!
Mr. Buczkowski
Head of PE
From the PTA
PTA IN OCTOBER – email
pta@tisa.az
This month has seen PTA active at
all levels within TISA, with events
ranging from a well-organized
Careers Fair in Secondary, and the
latest ‘Worker Bee’ get-together
in ELC, along with our regular
round of grade level gettogethers,
technology themed
coffee mornings and roundtable
meetings.
Special thanks to Secondary Rep
Pauline Totterdell for providing
PTA support in co-ordinating a
wide variety of guest speakers for
the Careers Fair, including a pilot,
nurse, executive chef,
ambassador, marine engineer,
structural geologist, artist, and
building construction/engineer. A
great day was enjoyed by all, with
plenty of food for thought for
future careers of TISA students.
Over at the ELC, Anna Lewis, Cee
Gibson and Cortney McClellan
worked to bring together creative
ideas for a new-look foyer area.
Over a productive Saturday
morning, toys were cleaned, walls
were painted….and a shoal of sea
creatures arrived to ‘wow’ P1 and
P2! PTA would also like to thank
the CAS students for their
considerable efforts in providing
childcare for our little ones while
we worked, and also for providing
some serious muscle in the outside
areas, where last year’s fruits
were cleared to make way for new
planting projects. We’ll continue
to add and develop new projects
in and around the ELC, so there
remains plenty of opportunity to
lend a hand.
Our next major event was just
ahead of the school break, with
the PTA’s Annual General Meeting
(AGM) on Wednesday 17 October.
Many parents attended and
contributed to an important
debate around how PTA money is
spent.
Basketball Team
Working Bee in the ELC

Page 9 of 9
From the PTA…continued
As background, all parents and
legal guardians of children
enrolled at TISA are automatically
members of the Parent Teacher
Association (PTA) – that means
you! PTA members are
represented by an elected
Executive Committee (please see
the photo boards for current
committee members). Each year
the PTA hosts an Annual General
Meeting. This is open to all
parents, and this year we
presented significant new
proposals for how PTA money is
allocated to charities outside TISA,
and also ‘enrichment’ programs
within the school.
There were important decisions to
be made, involving the money our
school community works hard to
PTA
fundraise each year. Should PTA
money be allocated each year on a
strict percentage basis, split
between charity and enrichment,
or should individual projects be
funded as needed, based on their
merit against the criteria we have
developed? The PTA Committee
will share with you the results of
decisions taken at the AGM after
the break.
We also look forward to supporting
another wonderful International
Day, and work also continues to
build towards the Winter Fair in
December. More on both of these,
next time!
Louise Scarr
Communications Rep
TISA Times
Renovating the ELC