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Miras International School Newsletters Contents
SUPERINTENDENT'S COMMENT -- by Ian Rysdale, Superintendent INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMMES -- by Adrian Moody, Deputy Director for International Programmes ALMATY ORPHANAGE -- by Tangi Johnson-Ross, CAS Coordinator SCIENCE AND PE WEEK -- by Dana Ashirbecova, Head of Science Department HEALTH AND SOCIAL EDUCATION -- by Anna Shaw, Health and Social Education Co-ordinator SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS -- by Irena Vlasyants, Deputy Director for Educational Programmes ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE PROGRAM -- by Rosa Matayeva, ESL Department COMMUNITY SERVICE -- by Petra Macleod, Community Service Coordinator
As we approach the last few weeks of the first term, I would like to take this opportunity to say how delighted I am with the progress we are making at MIRAS and to apprise you of some of our recent developments. We are, of course, continuing to work hard to improve and very much appreciate the help, co-operation and suggestions of all parents and the PTA. This term we have seen new buildings opened, adding to our already excellent facilities, growth in our student population to over 300 students from Pre-K to Grade 12, with representation from over 15 different nationalities, implementation of the full IB Diploma programme and the continual development of our overall educational programme, with the central at all times to better meet the needs of our students. In this respect, I sincerely hope that you have already established a good communication with your child's class, homeroom and subject teachers, as this will most definitely contribute to how well we can assist your child to develop its fullest potential. Another very exciting and important development has taken place of the past 2 weeks. We have, in fact, just concluded the visit of the ECIS Regional Accreditation Officer, following the completion of the Preliminary visits for full accreditation for our schools in both Almaty and Astana. Although we do have to wait for official written authorisation from the ECIS Board of Directors, I am very confident that we will be granted authorisation to begin this process as early as January 2003. Out of 650 ECIS members world wide, approximately 215 are involved in this process of international recognition and I am confident that MIRAS schools will be joining this select community in the very near future! International accreditation is a very important step for all schools and their students. It confirms full international recognition and status for all programmes and operations within the school, according to universally accepted international standards. This is particularly valuable for students applying to other schools and universities and gives them a distinct advantage in this process. At MIRAS, we will be applying for joint accreditation conferred by ECIS (The European Council of International Schools) based in the UK and Europe and NEASC (The New England Association of Schools and Colleges) based in the USA. This provides a global coverage in terms of recognition and in particular is recognised by the majority of the world's premier universities. Over the coming weeks and months I will be providing you with regular updates on our progress towards full accreditation and about opportunities for you, as parents, to participate and contribute in this process. Finally, following a request by the PTA, we have reviewed our current calendar in particular reference to the upcoming winter vacation, which is planned from Monday December 16th to Friday January 3rd, the first day of the 2nd semester being Monday January 6th. We understand that the local schools only return on Friday, January 10th, following the New Year holiday, however due to the complexities and integrated nature of the schedules for our national and international programmes, we cannot at this stage change the calendar. Our plans had to take these complexities into consideration, as well as the different examination schedules and the need to have a balanced year for our students and teachers. However, for those parents who wish to be on vacation with their families until January 10th, we request that you inform your child's homeroom teacher in writing that your child will be absent for the first 4 days of next term. They will then make a plan to ensure that work missed will be made up as soon as is reasonably possible and with the minimum of disruption. We hope that you understand this situation and at the same time appreciate our efforts to meet the needs of our dual programmes and diverse community.
Sincerely, Ian Rysdale Superintendent
We recently had a small but interested group of parents at our open night for the International Program. Presentations and discussions were held about our IGCSE, MYP and IB Diploma programs. These courses are open to all students who wish to study an internationally recognized course and can mange a program taught in English. Parents who attended came away knowing much more about these programs and how they may enter their sons and daughters into the program. We will be having another information night later in the year as we ask students to start thinking about their courses for next year. However, you are welcome to contact me about these programs at any time. As we move into the academic year a number of our students are beginning to prepare themselves for IGCSE and IB examinations. Three of our Grade 12s recently registered as candidates for the International Baccalaureate examinations in May 2003. These will the first IB candidates for Miras International School and the first candidates in Kazakhstan. We wish Nina, Milena and Vadim well as they move into the final stages of their academic course. We have expanded our options for languages in the IB Diploma program. We now have students studying Russian or English literature and Russian, English and French as a second language at advanced or beginners level. We hope to extend our language options in the IGCSE program for next year as well which will prepare students for the Diploma program requirements.
Adrian Moody, Deputy Director for International Programmes
Over 400 children (six to sixteen year olds) live at the Internat Orphanage in Almaty. On Wednesday twelve Miras students visited the orphanage to look at various ways of helping. After the visit they decided that a good project for Miras School could be raising money to buy the children a television and a video player and/or collecting old TV's and video players that still work. The orphanage has been given videos but need equipment to view the movies. Another project could be to buy picture books for the younger children who have no reading material. All in all, it was a good visit with students and teachers realizing just how lucky we are at Miras.
Tangi Johnson-Ross, CAS Coordinator
This week was Science and Physical education week. This is the first of our subject weeks. It has been a joint collaboration between two different departments which give our students the opportunity to see the links between different subjects that they study. There have been activities throughout the week including open lessons and links between science and PE classes which have made for some very interesting investigations. Students have learnt about the relationship between the body, physical activities and diet, and physical laws of science. Some of the integrated lessons include 'Inertia and Physical Education', 'Genetic traits that enable record-breaking performance'., 'Oxygen breathing exercises', and 'Nutrition and Chemistry'. These lessons help students discover the many interesting facts and connections about their health and science. Activities in homeroom classes and over lunch have included awareness of alcohol and smoking and the importance of physical activities for the body. Students took part in chess, climbing, arm wrestling and basketball competitions.
Dana Ashirbecova, Head of Science Department
It promises to be a productive year as we progress with the implementation of health and social education into the middle years programme. My HSE co-coordinator Galiya recently attended an AIDs awareness seminar and has been sharing the latest resources and information with teachers. In cooperation with Science and Physical Education Week, teachers have made links with the health area of interaction. It was a wonderful opportunity for teachers to teach lessons with a real health focus and for students to carry out experiments, identify links and, in some subjects, plan lessons and teach younger students. The homeroom focus during this week was drug and alcohol awareness. We are currently working with all the Middle Years Programme staff to develop the implementation plan for health within MYP subject areas. The outcome will be a more structured approach to delivering health education to our students.
Anna Shaw, Health and Social Education Co-ordinator.
There have been some recent challenges in the school schedule. Russian classes in Grade 10 are now timetabled together for international and local students. We now have an increasing number of local students joining the international stream. As these students are fluent Russian speakers they are able to study Russian Literature while the Russian as a second language students study Russian language. We are now coming to the end of the first term. There have been a number of progress reports for students in both the local and international programs. A much fuller semester one report will be sent to parents in the second week of term 2 on the 16th January. Parents will have an opportunity to meet with teachers to discuss the progress of their children. Term two is an important one for all students. It is a time to consolidate and build upon the work done in term one. Grade 10 will be sitting the IGCSE mock examinations and Grade 12 the IB Diploma mock examinations in the week beginning March 10th. Other senior students will be sitting examinations in term 3. December 13th is the last day of term one and is also the Independent Day of the Republic of Kazakhstan. On this day Miras will hold the International Christmas Charitable Festival after lunch. We invite all parents to take part in this Festival. Further details to follow. New Year's party for 1-7 Grades will take place on Monday, December 23rd at 12:00 PM.
Irena Vlasyants, Deputy Director for Educational Programmes
ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE PROGRAM The ESL department offers a wide and flexible curriculum framework which maintains the mission and philosophy of a truly international school. The course is structured in a such a way that students discover that there are many ways of viewing the world. The objectives of the course are skills based and sufficiently broad to allow for a variety of teaching and learning approaches. The students are involved in a variety of activities including problem-solving, role-plays and project work. Teachers balance the needs of the fours skills of speaking, writing, listening and reading. The MYP areas of interaction are an integral part of the subject teaching and learning process and are the core of all activities. The main aims of the course are to:- * enable students to use language effectively as a means of practical communication * provide a sound basis of communicative skills necessary for future study, work and leisure * begin to develop an understanding of the cultural patterns that affect the thinking, feeling and acting of the societies in which the language is spoken.
Rosa Matayeva, ESL Department
We live, we work, we learn together and we share the same surroundings. Here at Miras we are a community. Community Service is about helping people in our communities. 'What is the sense of helping others?' you may ask. There is value in it, even if you help in just the smallest of ways. In many ways it is part of being human to help others. The Community Service program at Miras is teaching our students the importance of looking beyond ourselves and thinking of others in our community. Our communities are people at home, at school, in Almaty, in Kazakhstan and in the world. Our students are thinking globally, acting locally.
Petra Macleod, Community Service Coordinator
MIRAS INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL NEWSLETTER November 22nd, 2002
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