NEWSLETTER
December 2022
MESSAGE FROM HEAD OF SCHOOL
Dear AIS Family,
Another successful Term 1 concluded! Well done, AIS Community!
I am so proud of how far we have come, and how much we have achieved. So many events and activities, and celebrations!
While you scroll through this newsletter, you will see everything that we do at the forefront, but here are a few updates from the background too…
Firstly, as you may have seen on our website, our Senior Management Team continues to grow, and this time we are screening candidates for the Deputy Head of School position. We have interviewed some multi-faceted candidates who resonate with the AIS values, vision and mission. We hope to share some wonderful news on this front soon.
Another exciting endeavour I have been engaged in is formulating policy manuals for the soon-to-be-instituted Board of Governance, as well as a CIS accreditation for AIS. As I said, it’s been a busy and productive Term!
On the academic front, our High School students have already started university and scholarship applications. We have high hopes for this cohort keeping our fingers crossed as some of them have chosen the top 10 universities as their destinations!
As you may have read in the previous newsletters and witnessed the work next door, our campus is expanding to accommodate an exclusive Secondary block. I am extremely proud and happy that AIS PTO Chair, Mr. Ivan Irumba and his team have very generously offered to fundraise for a gym in the new block. Experts are already at work and what a wonderful legacy this PTO will be remembered for!
There’s never a dull moment at AIS! Every day is filled with joy, happiness, learning, and creativity! And a great ode to this joy and hope we experience everyday is our Global Village.
Now to address a matter that has been a cause of concern for us — unsupervised and extended screen time. The internet is an inevitable part of our world today, but we also know it has a dark side – a side that spreads doom and gloom.
As I sign off, I would like to remind all of you to be a little more generous, more forgiving and a little more caring and loving and create a peaceful world!
AIS’ REDUCE AND SUPERVISE SCREEN TIME INITIATIVE
AIS is committed to creating an environment that is safe and thriving.
Since we resumed on-campus classes, we noticed that an inevitable and unfortunate outcome of the pandemic was over-reliance, and even addiction, to screens among students. Even worse was that some students were left unsupervised with devices and they gained access to online content that was not age-appropriate. This has been a distraction in their learning experience.
Over this year, we have put several measures, big and small, to address this problem, for example, our Device Policy and some of the online safety measures we have shared in the past. As we welcome a New Year, we would like to involve the entire AIS Community in this endeavour – being mindful and aware of our screen time and also supervising what your child is watching.
A step towards this initiative is that over this break no department will set work online – Managebac or Google Classroom/Studyladder. For parents who would like to weave in structured study time during the break, teachers have set work that can be done offline (check the WhatsApp groups for more details).
We look forward to your usual unwavering support in this endeavour and hope we can work together to help promote healthy use of the internet, social media and devices.
MESSAGE FROM HEAD OF DEPARTMENTS
Early Childhood
Term 1 has come to an end. It was a long, but successful, period with many events. It’s been a pleasure getting to know each child and their parents better this term. Students fully settled into their new classroom environment, and it’s bringing me joy to see many happy faces on campus daily.
Uncertain times asked for great flexibility from teachers, parents, and children, but you made it work! I want to thank every AIS Family for their continued support and efforts. I can barely wait to start another term with you!
Happy Holidays!!!
Yirka Vinck
Head of Early Childhood Department
Email: [email protected]
Primary
Our students have focused on Pluralism and Lifelong Learning as the AIS Values, this term. An African proverb states, “a wise man never knows all, only a fool knows everything”. AIS continues to inspire and empower students to become lifelong learners and pluralists. Our students continue to embrace each other, irrespective of their beliefs, backgrounds, and values. They ask questions, at the same time challenge themselves to look for answers through research, they support and learn from each other, even when they have different opinions. As they come home for the break, we request that you continue to guide them to practice these skills, which will help them face the future with positivity.
Behaviour Policy
At AIS, we strive to instil discipline and mutual respect among our students. We have heard a few cases where students have not been respectful to those around them, and we encourage all parents to take this seriously to promote good behaviour. We request that parents discuss with their children the importance of being respectful and using appropriate language and gestures all the time. Our teachers and school counsellor will continue to work closely with students, but we also request parents’ support in this matter. We also encourage parents to read the Behaviour Policy in the AIS Parent Handbook, so that we are all on the same page on expectations.
We wish you all a restful break!
Shallon Baguma
Head of Primary Department
Email: [email protected]
Secondary
As our first term of the academic year comes to an end, we take the opportunity to thank all our students, parents and colleagues for persevering through the uncertain times. We are glad to have received tremendous support from all of you in every aspect of the school activities and academics.
A few reminders for planning the next terms:
Attendance – Attendance of the students for each term has to be 90% for the consideration towards the next academic year. The homeroom attendance is marked between 7:45-7:55 AM in the morning. Attendance for the student-led conferences, examinations, projects and exhibitions are compulsory for such consideration. So, we request all parents to plan the day accordingly.
Student ID cards- It is mandatory to wear the ID cards at all times when in the school. If an ID card is lost, it should be immediately brought to the attention of the HOD via an email. New ID cards will be issued once the payment towards it has been made at the accounts department.
Uniform code- Secondary students are to wear a navy-blue shirt, khaki trousers and a tie every day of the week along with the school-issued jackets. Blazers and jackets that do not conform to school uniforms may not be allowed. We request parents counsel the students to wear appropriate shoes. Please refer to the Secondary Uniform code in Parent Handbook for further information.
Shirin Bagchi
Head of Secondary Department
Email: [email protected]
PARENT TEACHER ORGANIZATION (PTO)
Home Clothes Day is always fun at school. This happens every first Friday of the month when students can wear their favourite clothes with a small donation of UGX 2000 to support PTO activities. This event has grown as an awesome fundraiser tool and we are grateful to all the parents/guardians that have cooperated to have this event improve over the years. Parents’ involvement in the students’ learning is key and as PTO we encourage all the parents/guardians to continue getting involved in the child’s school life by actively engaging in all the school activities as highlighted on the school calendar. We also appreciate the endeavour by all parents/guardians to ensure discipline among our children. Discipline is an important virtue in our lives and without it is just like a ship without a radar. It is therefore important that we constantly remind our children of the importance of discipline in life.
Left to right(Mr. Ivan, Ms. Ameena & Ms. Harriet)
It is now common knowledge that the school is building a new secondary block and as PTO, we will partner with the school to furnish and equip the first-ever AIS Gymnasium at the new building. This will benefit the students, AIS staff and the entire school community. In this regard, PTO will do a repeat show of the Secondary School Play – The Government Inspector and a Car Wash as PTO fundraisers next term, in February and March 2023 respectively. We encourage all parents/guardians to turn out in large numbers to support these two activities. We look forward to all your participation and that of your friends’ friends for a successful fundraiser.
Wish you a relaxed holiday break!
Ivan Irumba
PTO Chair
MESSAGE FROM THE ADMINISTRATION DEPARTMENT
As the much-anticipated break kicks in, we send you warm greetings along with acknowledgement of your ceaseless support.
In the bid to have our students and staff prepare for any unforeseen circumstances, as a school, fire evacuation drills are carried out purposefully to have them ready and equipped.
Our drill this term was held on 03.11.2022 at 11:30 am lasting 10 minutes and 11 seconds, a minute earlier than the previous.
We continue to sensitize our students and staff about the importance of such events.
Any items left to the start of Term 2 will be donated to a good cause.
Please reach out to [email protected] if you have any questions regarding School clubs, After-school clubs, Daycare, Uniforms, Exit ID Cards, or any Admin related matters.
Season’s greetings!
Rosylene Ampumuza
Head of Administration Department
Email: [email protected]
PRESTIGIOUS RECOGNITIONS FOR AIS STUDENTS
Commonwealth Essay Competition Winners
We are proud of the achievements of our students in this year’s ‘The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition’.
The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition (QCEC) was founded in 1883 by the Royal Commonwealth Society and is the world’s oldest international schools’ writing contest.
Today, the QCEC is a special vehicle for introducing young people from remote communities, under-represented demographic groups, and disadvantaged backgrounds to creative writing, developing key literacy skills and increasing educational attainment. The Commonwealth Essay competition is a prestigious competition with 54 countries participating every year.
Our students have won 2 Gold, 6 Silver and 4 Bronze Awards. Here are the winners:
Testimonials by the students
Mental Math World Cup 2022 Winners
Our students are making strides in skilling up on mathematical computations. This year, many of our students bagged First Rank in the country and in the school in various categories.
We are proud of you all!
AK Model United Nations (MUN)
At the recently-concluded COP27, countries came together to take action towards achieving the world’s collective climate goals. As an IB Continuum School, the United Nations (UN) and its endeavours are an intrinsic part of AIS’ core.
In line with this, we are so proud of our High School student, Vanshita Sharma, who won Best Delegate at the AK Model United Nations (MUN), which is an academic simulation, wherein students role-play as delegates, simulate a UN debate and attempt to solve real-world issues.
Well done, Vanshita!
EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH
This academic year, we have brought back Employee of the Month Awards for our AIS Staff. The Employee of the Month is such a small terminology for all the efforts put in on a daily basis, however, these are the stars of Term 1.
Each month, our winners receive a certificate from their HoD along with a cash prize. We invite you to check our Academic Block lobby for postings of our new winners each month.
We appreciate all our staff members for their hard work and dedication.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR STAFF
Early Childhood
The Early Childhood Department Teaching Assistants learned more about collaboration, digital storytelling and social and emotional learning during the AISA conference (The Association of International Schools in Africa). They conveyed their gained knowledge to the entire EC Department in three engaging sessions.
Primary
As a community of lifelong learners, we seek opportunities for our staff to continue growing and learning.
Over the course of Term 1, our staff have engaged in regular professional development guided by our PYP Curriculum Coordinator, Ms Rachelle. Topics of engagement have included using Bloom’s Taxonomy to encourage higher-level thinking skills, conducting self-assessments on current alignment with IB Teaching and Learning guidelines, and evidencing inquiry in our classrooms.
In addition to this, our PYP Teaching Assistants were given the opportunity to participate in the Association of International Schools in Africa (AISA) Conference in October. Fifteen of our Teaching Assistants participated in the conference and then lead sessions for the rest of the PYP teachers to transfer knowledge of learned content. Sessions included Anchoring a Positive Instructional Environment with SEL, How to Strategically Use Assessment Tools to Develop a Rich Picture of your Students and their Learning Growth, Bring it to the 21st Century: Managing Conflict with Conscientious Discipline Techniques, Integrating Inclusive Leadership Practices to Build Equitable Learning, Visual Thinking Routines, and Connecting Together: Building the Culture of Collaboration.
Also in October, Ms Rachelle (PYP Curriculum Coordinator) and Ms Sheila (PYP 5 Teacher) took part in the “Your Exhibition” IB Training. As the PYP Exhibition is the culminating assessment for all PYP students, we are looking forward to strengthening, not only the execution of it in PYP 6, but also our scaffolding leading into PYP 6 in the younger years.
Secondary
Teaching and learning in the IBMYP are based on the five key life skills that the IB refers to as Approaches To Learnings skills (ATL skills). These skills are aimed at teaching IBMYP students to “learn how to learn” and develop as holistic, problem solvers and lifelong learners. In our efforts to support teachers and strengthen the use of ATL skills in our teaching and learning at AIS, the IBMYP teachers took part in an ATL skills workshop where they explored different possibilities on how they can use ATL skills in their teaching and learning practice. During the workshop, IBMYP teachers applied a range of ATL skills to complete various tasks and there were able to appreciate the possible ways of utilizing ATL skills to support and improve their teaching and learning experiences in the classroom.
At AIS, we strive to keep up the IBMYP standards and this is why we work hard to promote academic integrity and honesty among our learning community of students and teachers. Of recent our IBMYP teachers participated in an Academic Honesty workshop with an aim of strengthening the implementation of the AIS academic honesty policy and adherence to the IBMYP academic integrity standards. During the workshop, educators explored the importance of academic honesty in teaching and learning and why this should be an ongoing practice in our classrooms. We went ahead and reviewed the most recent APA (7th Edition) citing and referencing requirements so that we best support our learners with such skills while completing their academic assignments. Based on feedback, educators indicated that the workshop was immensely useful because they gained tips on how to spot academic misconduct in students’ work. Going forward, teachers are looking forward to basing on the new knowledge to support students develop and master academic honesty skills that are required in their present and future academic writing.
LEARNING BEYOND CLASSROOMS
IBDP CAS CLASS PROJECT
CAS enables students to enhance their personal and interpersonal development by learning through experience. It provides opportunities for self-determination and collaboration with others, fostering a sense of accomplishment and enjoyment from their work. At the same time, CAS is an important counterbalance to the academic pressures of the DP. This year, we are proud to partner with Mukisa Foundation for the Class CAS project and our learners are planning to build an energy-efficient kitchen for the Foundation.
The DP classes interacted with the Founder and agreed to build a kitchen at the Wakiso site that hosts a hospital and home for children with special needs. The kitchen will have energy-efficient stoves, storage, a deep freezer, a workspace and a dining area which can accommodate up to 50 people. The DP class is now engaged in planning various fundraising events towards the successful completion of this project.
COLOUR FEST 2022
This colourful event for Secondary students was held in November 2022 at the AIS Soccer Field. In addition to the explosion of colours, learners enjoyed an afternoon of tug of war, musical chair challenge, among other fun activities.
The celebration was designed by DP 2 students to raise awareness about their CAS Class Project of building an energy-efficient kitchen project at Mukisa Foundation in Wakiso District.
FESTIVAL OF HOPE
International Baccalaureate (IB) launched Festival of Hope that is designed to unite us in this challenging moment. It’s about creating spaces where millions of young people can come to speak their truth and feel heard. To come together to turn complex challenges into positivity and hope.
We know that many of us feel hope when we are engaged in doing something we really care about and that feels important to us. Our students have engaged in many charity activities and service internships and tell stories of hopeful action. The students have worked with disadvantaged learners in Special Needs Schools & Rural Primary Schools such as Miru, Bubetsye, Dawn & Mukisa, donated scholastic materials and engaged with many young children, giving them hope and happy memories.
The videos were shared in The Festival of Hope under the theme ‘What gives you hope? Here’s what you told us…
MYP 3 COMMUNITY PROJECT
The Community Project is a unique opportunity that allows students to use their strengths and skills to serve a community. During the Community Project, MYP 3 students are given the opportunity to display the Learner Profile attributes that best suit them. The Community Project is an exciting opportunity for all students to develop an awareness of a need within a community and address those needs through service as action.
The MYP 3 students have engaged in research studies on violence amongst teenagers, kidnappings, climate change, disease, poverty, and education and others will engage in the same by directly making donations and offering service to the community through advocacy. The learners investigated, planned and are now going to the next phase of service action where they will directly engage the community. We thank everyone who has contributed to the success of the bake sales and the data collection for that research.
AIS FAMILIES CONTRIBUTE TO THE AKDN DONATION DRIVE
Acorns International School in collaboration with Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) held a donation drive this term. The whole school community generously donated used and new items like clothes, shoes, books, textbooks, scholastic materials, and any small household items.
The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) is dedicated to improving the quality of life of those in need, mainly in Asia and Africa, irrespective of their origin, faith, or gender. Our multifaceted development approach aims to help communities and individuals become self-reliant.
Thank you AIS community members for the support and for helping those who need it.
2023 AISA GLOBAL ISSUES SERVICE SUMMIT (AISA-GISS) – ARUSHA TANZANIA
The 2023 AISA Global Issues Service Summit (AISA-GISS) is set to take place in Arusha, Tanzania in January 2023.
The theme for this year’s summit is “The Future is Now”. This is a project aimed at advancing the promise of equality, justice, and dignity throughout Africa. Students from across the continent are welcome to lead sessions and/or highlight any service projects they have been working on in their local communities!
Outstanding MYP 3 students in Community Service activities will represent AIS at the event. They will have group presentations and share the best practices of Community Service in relation to the international community.
Visit to Alliance Française Kampala
At AIS, we value multilingualism and open-mindedness.
During Term 1, students from PYP3, PYP4 and PYP6 took field trips to Alliance Française Kampala (AFK). They experienced learning French outside the walls of their classroom and had the opportunity to communicate with native speakers. During their visits, AFK engaged them in reading story books in French and some learning-oriented games.
All these activities were in French and allowed our students to practice their language skills.
During this academic year, all PYP students will have the chance to practice their multilingual skills by visiting AFK. As you may already know and as communicated earlier, AIS is in partnership with AFK. This not only allows us to make visits but also helps our children to enjoy other services offered by AFK at a discount. These services include taking weekend classes/ holiday courses and taking international exams. If you would like your child to enjoy these services at a discounted cost, contact Mr. Henry Kalanzi via email ([email protected])
DUKE OF EDINBURGH
Duke of Edinburgh International Award Updates
This term, learners engaged in voluntary activities to build a culture of service, as they develop the IB Learner Profiles and align with the SDGs.
All clubs voted for their Presidents, Treasurers and Mobilizers who manage the activities and coordinate the club reflections to inform the next sessions. The club leadership teams have done a great job.
In Term 2, every student will have an opportunity to start a new Tuesday activity which is from a different category from the clubs that the student has already taken this term (Physical/Skill/Voluntary).
All students will retain their Thursday activities that take 6 months to complete.
Both the Tuesday and Thursday activities taken in Term 2 will end within the same term. For Term 3, all MYP 1 to 4 students will choose new activities.
For Silver Level, the students will continue with their chosen clubs and there will be no changes till the end of the academic year.
Selection Form here
Highlights of the Clubs
The Football Club has been wonderful this term with many individual and team activities to develop skills and resilience in a game.
We learnt about endangered animal species, how to prevent animal abuse, advocate for endangered species, and about the chimpanzees and developed an open-minded learner profile.
This term, we practised routines, and props and danced to Spanish and world songs. World songs brought out the cultural diversity and uniqueness of dance in the world.
All students can demonstrate a variety of skills like forehand serve, rally, the proper stance, and grip. They can follow the basic rules that govern badminton. The students have demonstrated good interpersonal skills like communication, teamwork and cooperation. All students are able to do one vs one. A few students can demonstrate complex skills in badminton
The Environmentalists have been busy planting pot plants, community service engagement of picking trash and appreciating the interaction of how to save the planet.
The Club concentrated on the structure of a Newsletter and we developed our own structure to cater for the school activities this term.
Our string instrument this term was the violin. We learnt how to hold a bow, violin posture, location of keys, and played 3 songs (tango, overture, canon in D) and these activities culminated in the School Play, The Government Inspector.
The Poetry Club introduced poetry to the learners. They engaged in writing poems with rhyme and rhythm. We ended the term with the Haikus.
All students can demonstrate a variety of skills in Basketball like passing, high and low dribble, shooting, attacking, defending, and triple threat position.
Students understand the basic rules and playing formations. They have demonstrated good interpersonal skills like communication, teamwork and cooperation
This term, we did several interesting activities to motivate students to venture into language acquisition. Acquisition of languages helps break barriers and develop a variety of ways of thinking. It helps students embrace, respect and appreciate other cultures. The students learnt calligraphy of Chinese letters and to use apps to improve their skill of recognising and writing the Chinese alphabet.
The Club hosted a team from City Ambulance that taught our students the different ways of saving lives, especially drowning. The Club is also preparing for a blood donation drive with Uganda Red Cross.
Model United Nations, also known as Model UN or MUN, is an educational simulation in which students can learn about diplomacy, international relations, and the United Nations.
The Club has done a lot of clay work moulded into different shapes. The creativity of the learners has been amazing and inspiring. They made sofas, animals, and creative pieces.
The Club is designing a hydroponic plant. They have the needed materials to start growing plants in water. The Kratky method is being used.
The Club elected leaders this term; the club president, vice president, secretary general and treasurer with specific but complementary roles for the smooth running of the club.
They organised a bake sale with a variety of items to raise funds for the Nsambya Homeless Shelter.
MESSAGE FROM HEAD OF SPECIALTIES
Sports Teams
We appreciate all the support rendered over this Term! We had a good start at the ISSA (Uganda) fixtures this term, however, couldn’t complete them due to the Ebola situation at the time.
Our participation in the ISSA League games has taught us many lessons that have informed our decision-making as coaches. We have learned that most of our students have the skills to play, but lack the necessary endurance to finish up the game with the same energy they started. We have therefore decided to have more time for our Saturday practice sessions, students will arrive at 9:00 a.m. and end training at 11:30 a.m. We also encourage our students to continue practising during holidays. This will make them fit for games as soon as we start competitive league games next term.
The added 30 minutes will be used by the coaches to warm up our students with some drills that will help them develop the necessary endurance to play games. Thank you, again, for your unwavering support!
For new families that would like their children to participate in the School Teams, please watch out for the next tryout announcement. The tryouts will be for Soccer, Badminton, Swimming, Table Tennis, Basketball and Athletics. When your child passes their tryout, they will join the respective team they have tried out for.
Swimming Team
To further develop Swimming, the AIS Swim Team launched the AIS Saturday Swimming Derbies. It’s an internal swimming competition where the members compete against each other. This has been happening every last Saturday of the month. Through this Season 1 simulation, the team has greatly improved in training discipline, technique, endurance, and speed. We thank all our students for their hard work and commitment. We also appreciate parents who voluntarily turn up to cheer our children during these competitions. Students were awarded medals and trophies for showing commitment, discipline, speed and endurance. Individual swimmers were recognized for their performance and discipline.
Teachers Versus Students Match
To culminate our Basketball training, our U16 and U18 Boys Basketball teams showed they can be Risk Takers by taking on a challenge to play against their teachers. Students, with support from the Student Council, organised a Teachers VS Students Basketball Match. Fun- and action-filled, students took up a tough challenge. The match ended with a 49-48 win for the teachers. Well done, our U18/U16 Basketball teams for being Courageous! Keep taking more challenges!
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TALENT HUNT
AIS Talent Hunt 2023 Guidelines
- AIS Talent Hunt 2023 will be an inter-school competition. Students will compete in four categories- Vocals, Instrumentals, Dance, and Drama. All AIS students are welcome to compete, however, participation is not mandatory.
- Parents who would like their children to participate can reach out to the Head of Specialties via email at [email protected]. Please let us know the category you would like your child to participate in by Friday, February 10, 2023. The Talent Hunt finale will be held on campus on Saturday, March 4, 2023.
- Families are encouraged to start preparing their children for this competition as early as possible.
- Only registered students will participate in the auditions, which will happen next term in January.
MESSAGE FROM STUDENT COUNCIL
Message from the Students’ Council President
As the Student Council, we lead not by the example of our power, but by the power of our example.
We want to ensure that the school provides nurturing and memorable experiences for everyone. We pledge to be the bridge between the school and the student body, by enhancing the student body with more experiences.
In the short time that we have been a part of the Student Council, this experience has taught us leadership skills, compromise, and working more as a team, rather than as individuals.
So far, I have had many experiences as Student Council.
Some of these experiences include interactions with the school community, my peers, teachers, administrators and more. This has enabled me to keep the promise that I had made prior to our election, listening and being the voice. This experience has shown me that even though I am a leader, I will not always make decisions that satisfy everyone and I can’t make everyone happy.
Our participation in the School Play was phenomenal, I was the emceeing the event alongside Mr. Neal, and other council members helped with ushering in visitors and ensured that every student was seated and was to the best of their behaviour. We are looking forward to making other school events more enjoyable, organised, and fun. Thank you!
Casey Egesa
Student Council President
Student Council Meetings
As highlighted in the Students’ Council Policy, council executive members have to meet at least once a month. The Student Council has decided to have their meetings every last Friday of the month. The first meeting was held on Friday, October 28, 2022. In this meeting, different things were discussed including participation in the School Play, debate and the EBOLA situation.
Another meeting was held on Friday, November 25, 2022. In this meeting, council members had a guest speaker from the National Debating council who made a presentation on debate and speech. Mr. Gasta Kakaire, Chairperson of the National Debating Council, promised to continue supporting our students to develop their speech and debate skills. He will continue visiting and providing workshops/ training to the current Council to enhance their leadership skills.
WONDER WEEK
Early Childhood
From October 31 to November 5, we celebrated Wonder Week in the EC Department. Every day, students engaged in a different forms and methods of Wonder – be it through a Puppet Show, funny creatures, writing on Wonderwall, funny experiments, or role-play
As aptly put by Helen Keller, “A well-educated mind will always have more questions than answers.”
Primary
“All thinking begins with wondering.” – Socrates
As an Inquiry programme, our PYP students are always encouraged to wonder, explore and learn about their current Unit of Inquiry. Wonder Week provides an open opportunity to explore in open inquiry about any topic of their choice. Below are the teacher’s reflections on the week.
SECONDARY BOOK WEEK
The annual Secondary Book Week 2022 started on October 31. This year, apart from the tradition of the English Essay Writing Competition, we celebrated French, Spanish and Kiswahili too. Students had fun creating comic strips in these languages. Farwa Fatima of MYP 4 has created a wonderful comic book which will be used as a language acquisition resource for junior classes soon. We also had activities like illustrating a favourite scene from a novel, illustrating book covers, reading books on scientists and scientific discoveries and writing reflections on them. Drop Everything And Read (DEAR) became a thing as the entire Secondary floors fell silent from 10:30 to 11:00 am every day during the week, as everyone immersed themselves in the world of books. There was a Library Scavenger Hunt and the Reading Buddy program, where our MYP students read out stories to Early Childhood students. The week culminated on November 4 with the award ceremony and coming to school dressed as the favourite book characters.
SCHOOL PLAY
The evening of November 11, 2022, was unlike any other!
Our Secondary students put on an extravagant show of talent and hard work with “The Government Inspector”.
This play was originally written by Nikolai Gogol, and adapted by Mr. Francis Kamusiime, our Secondary School Drama teacher. We also had music and dance interludes by the Secondary School Band, which added rhythm and more enjoyment.
As AIS, we aim to equip our students with different skills and this was evident to all those in attendance. It was evident that the cast had exceptional communication, dance and drama skills that have been developed throughout their practice sessions.
All students who participated in the play were appreciated with certificates and a treat.
As observed, many parents missed the play, due to which the School Management obliged the PTO’s request to stage more shows next term as a major fundraising drive to fund the AIS/PTO Gym Project in the new Secondary Building. The dates for these shows will be communicated soon.
We appreciate all the parents for cooperating with the Performing Arts team and agreeing to the longer after-school practice. We also appreciate the Performing Art teachers for their hard work and dedication towards preparing our students for this fabulous production.
ASSEMBLIES
Early Childhood
Our EC2 students were thrilled to perform on stage while pointing out what they learned throughout the term.
- EC2 Flamingos created a role-play, showing different family members and their roles. They also showcased a dance performance about family.
- In a dance performance, EC2 Cranes showed us the importance of being a good friend to others and the use of magic words.
- EC2 Ostriches exposed the various cultures within different families. They represented families from Kenya, Hawaii, Uganda, and India.
Primary
The PYP2 had their class assembly this term. It was the first assembly that parents could physically attend, since the pandemic. The morning was filled with dance, drama and lessons learnt! Students were excited to share with their parents everything they had learnt from a skit on “choices and consequences” to parts of speech, a poem about the past and the future and a dance based on their Transdisciplinary theme. We appreciate all the support from parents and the school administration who helped us with acquiring costumes, props and all necessary materials.
Secondary
This term, we had two assemblies in Upper Secondary. Our DP 1 students presented an assembly on Kind and Unkind choices in our actions and words. While our MYP 5 S students, as part of their assembly, advocated for homeless children focusing on National Adoption Month.
3-WAY CONFERENCES
At AIS, we welcome and appreciate healthy interactions between stakeholders in your child’s academic journey. At the end of every term, we look forward to these conferences. This term, we had Three-Way Conferences where students, parents and teachers discussed the term gone by and the ones yet to come.
Click on the Picture for the Gallery
Click on the Picture for the Gallery
Click on thePicture for the Gallery
RAFFLE WINNERS
