Community Report, issue 2, January 2015

January 2015

International School Utrecht

community report

// commUnIty report // newS from the LeaderShIp team // parent SUpport groUp and dIvISIon coUncIL //

2 community report issue 2 January 2015

As learning the language of your host country is obligatory for International Baccalaureate students all over the world, each and every one of the 170 students at ISUtrecht has to learn Dutch.

Grade 9 student Sherien Burger has been involved with local

charity organisation Al Amal for the past two years as it means a lot to her to help support the local community.

Content January 2015

4

Although many people will appreciate how hard it can be to move abroad, families who move back home are not always met with such understanding.

8

6

International School Utrecht is a community school that aims to reach out to and make meaningful connections with the local as well as wider community. At the same time, our own special international school community is blossoming. Last August the school welcomed an unprecedented 70 new students and their families.

It is wonderful to see that all these new students have since found their feet. The new families were welcomed by the members of the Parent Support Group, who not only got to work arranging all sorts of fun activities for the students, but also managed to organise a number of social outings for the parent community.

In this issue of the Community Report, we look at all the different shades of meaning of the word ‘community’. For instance, you will find an interview with the Dutch teachers, in which they explain how learning the Dutch language makes the students feel more at home in Utrecht. Grade 9 student Sherien Burger shares with us why she has decided to volunteer for local charity organisation Al Amal, and teacher Lauren Veroude looks into a phenomenon known as ‘reverse culture shock’.

We hope you will enjoy reading this Community report as much as we loved putting it together.

Update

Cover photo: Grade 2 students travelling to the Da Vinci exhibition in Utrecht

// 7 Grade 2 // 10 Solutions for real-life problems // 11 Community // 12 Parent Support Group & Division Council //

And...

January 2015 International School Utrecht 3

management

As a school community, we all bade farewell to Jaap Mos, the school’s founding director, last December. During a very special Winter Celebration, we also welcomed Rynette de Villiers. Jaap Mos has been instrumental in getting International School Utrecht up and running. Together with deputy director Kate Corder, he created a vibrant school and a ‘home away from home’ for members of the mobile international community who live and work in and around Utrecht.

‘It has been a real privilege to work with such a fantastic team at ISUtrecht. A close-knit international community has been established in which students and teachers can learn from and with each other and where parents can forge those connections necessary for feeling more at home in the Netherlands. Thank you students, teachers and parents for turning what a mere three years ago was just a

vision into a real and dynamic school. I have loved watching the community grow and it is with very fond memories that I will look back on my time as director of ISUtrecht.’

Under the leadership of Rynette de Villiers ISUtrecht will continue to establish itself in the city of Utrecht by expanding the numbers of students, for example. While the move to the Van Bijnkershoeklaan will give the school some breathing space, a permanent location will have to be secured within the next couple of years. Rynette will also have the challenge of guiding ISUtrecht through the Middle Years Programme and Diploma Programme authorisations.

Rynette de Villiers grew up in South Africa in the province KwaZulu Natal. Together with her husband, she moved to Amsterdam almost 13 years ago. They are the proud parents of seven-year-old twin boys.

Rynette, who is an experienced international educator, held the position of school head at the International School

Almere. Before that, she was MYP coordinator at Laar en Berg in Laren. For the past six years, Rynette has been active as an International Baccalaureate educator in the IB region encompassing Africa, Europe and the Middle East. It is in this role that Rynette has been part of school-visiting teams that authorise and evaluate MYP programmes. She is also a consultant to several IB schools in the candidate phase.

‘I feel fortunate to be part of the International School Utrecht community and excited about the challenge of guiding the school as it moves into a new phase. Jaap Mos is a trusted colleague and has been very successful in setting up the Primary Years Programme and part of the Middle Years Programme. It is my aim and challenge to build on this solid foundation by further developing the MYP

and completing the continuum into the Diploma Programme. I value the power of a whole school community and hope to have the support of all as we move the school into the next phase.’

School Leadership Change

Interview


Learning Dutch makes students feel more at home in UtrechtAs learning the language of your host country is obligatory for International Baccalaureate students all over the world, each and every one of the 170 students at ISUtrecht has to learn Dutch. But how do you go about teaching a language a lot of the students never use outside of school? And how do you encourage Dutch students to keep up with their mother tongue at the same time? Time for a chat with Nicole Boerma and Marloes Resink, who together form the school’s dedicated Dutch department.

By Ingrid Schmoutziguer

‘We do teach many different levels of Dutch simultaneously, especially in primary,’ says Resink. ‘As a small school, we have decided to teach the primary grades at their own grade level for the time being, meaning we do not group the students in the primary grades based on their level of Dutch.’

As part of the PYP, Resink teaches KG1, KG2, grade 1 and grade 2, whereas Boerma teaches grade 3 and grade 4/5. ‘There definitely are benefits in keeping the classes together,’ says Resink, reflecting on her experience. ‘The Dutch students learn how to explain things they take for granted and the non-Dutch children hear a lot of Dutch being spoken during lessons.’

Like Resink, Boerma, who is in charge of the older primary students, differentiates her teaching to accommodate Dutch and non-Dutch students. ‘The mother-tongue students, for instance, read more difficult books and have to write extensive book reports. They also research at their own level and work more independently. The non-Dutch students, on the other hand, read easier texts and might be asked to submit just short summaries.’ To challenge the older Dutch primary students, Boerma teaches a special ‘master class’ on Friday afternoons.

The non-Dutch students also exhibit great diversity in their command of the Dutch language. ‘Especially those children who need the language because they want to socialise with Dutch children outside of school make really good progress,’ Boerma finds. Resink agrees: ‘A girl in one of my classes has come on in leaps and bounds because she recently started swimming lessons. Since her swimming instructor refuses to speak English to her, this girl’s Dutch really has improved.’

Going to a Dutch-speaking after-school club, watching Dutch telly, reading Dutch books, trying to strike up conversations with Dutch children in the park: it all helps. Boerma: ‘But students who do not speak a lot of Dutch outside of school also benefit from the Dutch lessons. Learning a new language equips them with the skills to decipher languages, and going through this process makes them more receptive to learning even more new languages, which will serve them well later in life.’

Besides teaching the language, both Boerma and Resink also talk to their students about Dutch culture. ‘As a school, we celebrate Sinterklaas and Koningsdag, so we discuss these festivities and teach our students the traditional Dutch songs,’ explains Boerma. ‘But I also regularly talk to my students about the differences between the Netherlands and their

‘We do teach many different levels of Dutch simultaneously, especially in primary’.

Learning about Dutch culture is an integral part of the Dutch lessons.


native countries,’ says Resink. ‘These are invariably very interesting conversations.’For the secondary phase, Boerma and Resink have divided their work differently. Resink is the Language Acquisition teacher, taking care of the non-Dutch students following the Middle Years Programme, whilst Boerma teaches the mother-tongue students on the Middle Years Programme a Language and Literature course . As opposed to the primary students who receive two 45-minute lessons a week, the secondary students study Dutch for three 45-minute sessions.

For the Language Acquisition classes, the secondary students are categorised according to the six phases of language development the International Baccalaureate recognises. ‘These phases are exactly the same for every language a Middle Years Programme student learns,’ explains Resink. ‘This means that Rosa Martin, the Spanish teacher, and I teach the same phases, which is great as we can plan together. We make sure we align our units and discuss the same themes in our classes.’ Boerma and English Language and Literature teacher Sara d’Orazio work together in a similar way.

Dutch mother-tongue students will be able to choose Dutch as their Language and Literature course in grade 11 and 12 when they take the Diploma Programme and prepare for their IB exams. ‘I have noticed that my Dutch grade 8 and 9 students are getting much more serious about their work for the Dutch Language and Literature course,’ says Boerma. ‘They are really proud of their native tongue and actively choose to extend their knowledge of the language.’

In order to get to a good level, these students have to put in a lot of work. Boerma: ‘They quite often speak Dutch at home and might go to a Dutch sports club and have Dutch friends, but the majority of the courses they take at school are taught in English. This means their abstract language, reading comprehension and vocabulary skills are not as well developed as those of their Dutch peers in Dutch secondary schools.’ To help the mother-tongue students, a couple of Dutch parents have now started an after-school Dutch-language club to help with the homework.

Resink is pleasantly surprised about the level of some of her non-Dutch secondary students. ‘Especially the students who are now in their third year at ISUtrecht have made excellent progress and are really able to hold a conversation. They also produce good written Dutch.’

Both Resink and Boerma recently participated in an IB workshop on Language Acquisition and Language and Literature in Brussels. ‘It was really interesting to meet up with other international language teachers and learn from their approaches,’ says Resink. ‘Getting good examples of best practices from a range of international schools is really inspiring,’ Boerma agrees. ‘I now have a good network of other international school teachers that I can talk to or meet up with on a regular basis.’

Besides teaching the language, both Boerma and Resink also talk to their students about Dutch culture.

With the help of some parents, all the primary students made their own “pepernoten”.


Students about...

A Box of Hope

Grade 9 student Sherien Burger has been involved with local charity organisation Al Amal for the past two years as it means a lot to her to help support the local community.By Sherien Burger

As part of the MYP programme, each International Baccalaureate student must complete a form of ‘Service as Action’. This could be helping out a neighbour as well as doing charity work. Last year I started helping out a local organisation called Al Amal, which means hope in Arabic. This is an organisation which helps immigrants in Utrecht who live in poverty or have a lot of debt.

Many of the people the organisation helps have to live on 900 euros a month, and that’s for a family of maybe 4 or 5 people. Therefore many children in these families do not receive any gifts for the holidays, such as Sinterklaas, a Dutch tradition, where children receive presents in their shoe.

When I first heard about this, I was very surprised. Even as a very small child, I would receive gifts on Sinterklaas, and I could not imagine a year without Sinterklaas and at least one present in my shoe.

If I got a gift every year, then so should every child. I decided to make a project of my Service as Action, collecting shoeboxes filled with gifts. I called this project ‘A Box of Hope’. This became a huge success - I collected 46 boxes - and the children were very happy with the gifts they got. To see their grateful smiles also brought a smile to my own face.

It was then that I realised that community service is a very important part of life. This project touched me so deeply that I have decided to continue with it this year. I am also going to start a food and clothing collection, because I want to help out throughout the year and not just in the festive season.

Even if we didn’t have to complete Service as Action hours, I would still want to be involved in community service. It really gives me a sense of fulfilment and gratefulness. I am glad the International Baccalaureate motivates students to be involved in Service as Action, to help others and to understand their capacity to make a meaningful contribution to their community and society.

This time around Sherien collected and distributed a whopping 50

boxes.moreFor more information on Al Amal:www.al-amal.nl


report

Grade 2 out and about in UtrechtBy Ingrid SchmoutziguerTo provide the students with fresh input for their inquiry into ‘inventions’, grade 2 (7-8 year olds) visited Museum Speelklok in Utrecht’s city centre. It is one of many examples of our international students visiting local museums, theatres, exhibitions and organisations to further their learning.

Learning outside of the classroom is a key factor of the International Baccalaureate educational philosophy. Not only does this type of learning offer the students more varied information, it fosters a greater understanding of the local community, society in general and the role of individuals within it.

Tonko is mesmerized by a little street organ on display in Museum Speelklok. ‘I find it really weird that a piece of paper can make the organ play,’ he says. ‘I know how it works, though. There are holes in the paper through which air can be sucked and that is how the organ knows which notes to play.’ Sreevanth chimes in: ‘I like that you can make something and then it plays music’.

Museum Speelklok showcases a large collection of self-playing mechanical musical instruments, most of which still work. The students get to listen to ‘singing’ birds, musical clocks and of course the famous Dutch street organs. A piano on which the keys move all by themselves is ‘magical’, according to Jules, whereas Vinesh thinks a couple of self-playing violins are ‘really cool’.

A short walk from Museum Speelklok, just below the Dom Tower, the museum has a workshop where all of the 1,200 clocks and instruments in the collection are cleaned and restored. Emilie finds it all very interesting and gets as close as she can to a big clock in order to get a really good look at the intricate mechanics on the inside. ‘I find it really amazing that people can think up such an instrument,’ she says. ‘And it works.’

Back in the classroom the students are having a go at inventing their own musical instruments. They are encouraged to come up with a completely new type of instrument, all the while carefully thinking about the sort of sound it would make.

Jane loves to show her ‘trumpet’ which features three heads, ‘so with it I can blow sounds in three different directions’.

Una is busily working on her drawing of a very special piano. ‘You can play it with you bum and your head and your feet’. She giggles. ‘If you sit down on the stool in front of the piano, it will go ‘boing’ and then you can use your head and your feet to touch the piano keys and that will also make a noise.’

Over the next few weeks the students built their instruments out of all kinds of recycled materials. They also visited a Leonardo da Vinci exhibition in “Het Oude Postkantoor” in Utrecht. The children engaged with interactive displays built to Leonardo’s designs of flying machines, pumps, bridges and more. They not only learnt about the famous inventor, but participated in a workshop where they created their own inventions. It was a learning activity that promoted creativity and long-term retention, and was great fun for all!

Interview


Although many people will appreciate how hard it can be to move abroad, families who move back home are not always met with such understanding. Repatriation can be very challenging as grade 3 teacher Lauren Veroude finds out.By Lauren veroude

The International School of Utrecht is not only a mosaic of ex-patriate families from abroad, there are also a large number of repatriating families. Some of these repatriating families are here for the short term and some for longer. Many of these families know that returning to your homeland can be accompanied by a myriad of trials and tribulations, feelings of excitement and exhilaration, but also sometimes feelings of fear or displacement. Whatever the case, repatriation often awakens a series of uncanny feelings struggling between the familiar and yet unknown.

Repatriation is sometimes forgotten or neglected, even though it is a significant event for those returning to their homeland after a long or short stint abroad. I first experienced repatriation culture shock upon returning from a year in Germany when I was 18. It was a weird and kind of surreal experience that I can still recall very vividly.

I was engulfed in a washing machine of emotions churning inside my head and my heart. At first I thought I was recovering from the jetlag after the long flight from Europe, but after a while I realised I just couldn’t place what I was feeling. I was home. A place I had been longing to return to. I was finally here, but it didn’t feel like I was home. What was wrong with me?

Back in 1996, what I call the last year of the technological dark ages, there was no Google, and access to information was much more difficult. I was the first person in my circle of family and friends to go abroad for a year, so there was no one to ask or talk to about the emotions I was feeling.

It was not until two years later I had a conversation with someone who made me realise that I wasn’t unique in feeling weird in my homeland. Many conversations later, l figured out that returning home from a period abroad often includes these disconnected feelings. At the time of writing this article, I have finally learnt that there is an official term for what I was feeling: reverse culture shock.

An ISUtrecht family who has recently returned to the Netherlands and is beginning to experience some of these feelings of reverse culture shock is the Schaasberg/Van Lavieren family, comprising Hanneke, Ron, Tim (grade 5) and Daan (grade 7). They have been living in Canada for the past eight years. Before that the family lived in Kenya (six years) and the Philippines (three years). As a family, they are adjusting to their new life, although on the whole, Hanneke feels that her children are coping much better than she and her husband, Ron.

Now that the initial excitement is starting to pass, Hanneke and Ron are beginning to recognise that the “Nederland” they left is very different to the “Nederland” to which they have returned. The country has changed in so many ways. Gradually, Hanneke and Ron are adjusting to the physical changes within the country as well as to the changes in mentality. Sixteen years is a long time to be away.

When asked about what they are doing to help themselves re-integrate into Dutch society, Hanneke says: ‘We are taking it slowly. It is a cultural shock and so much has changed since we last lived in the Netherlands. It is so busy everywhere and there are so many small spaces. We try to not get too stressed by the

Life after the BIG adventure: repatriation

‘Returning home from abroad often includes disconnected feelings’.

The Schaasberg family lived in Canada, Kenya and the Philippines.


bureaucracy and crowds. We realise Holland has become a fast-paced, perhaps more impersonal, country.’

Hanneke says that they also try to seek out the positives, too. ‘We try and enjoy typical Dutch food again, such as “kroketten”, “frietjes” and “pannekoeken”. And now that Sinterklaas is coming, we feel it is a good opportunity for the kids to experience this typical Dutch tradition.’

When thinking about how she feels on being back, Hanneke reflects poignantly by saying: ‘We feel like foreigners in our own country, misunderstood. We get frustrated by many things (it is so over organised and controlled here). We also feel that even though we have the Dutch nationality (my husband and kids have dual Canadian and Dutch citizenship), we are treated as foreigners.’

Hanneke finds this particularity evident when trying to jump through the bureaucratic hoops. ‘Registering back in the Dutch system was not easy and we are still dealing with the paperwork for our son’s birth certificate from Kenya.’ Despite these difficulties, Hanneke concedes: ‘We do find that Dutch people are very friendly, also to us re-patriating Dutchies’.

Whilst almost every person re-patriating will have their own unique story to tell, there will be many familiar experiences and feelings, no matter what age or stage, we are at in our lives. So when it is time for you to pack your bag realise that you may be stepping onto a roller coaster of emotions when returning to your home country.

TipsTo help those transient Dutchies like Hanneke, Lauren came up with some tips:

• Comeinthespringtime/summerwhenHollandisatits best.

• Startfindingahomeforrentorpurchasewellahead of time because it can take a while to find something suitable.

• EnrolyourkidsinISUtrechttoslowlyre-integrateandnot to give them a total culture shock.

• Makesureyoutestthedistancestoschoolandorwork. Roads in the Netherlands are extremely busy and you want to avoid high traffic areas in your daily commute.

• Ifpossible,comeaheadoftimeforashortorientation visit. Take time to see where you would like to live and what kind of houses are available.

• Stayintouchwithyourfriendsfromabroadandmake arrangements for them to come and for you to visit.

• Takeitslowlyandtryandenjoythelittlethings.

• Letyourfriendsandfamilyhelpyouout.

• Talktootherre-patriatingfamilies,shareyourexperiences and connect to those in similar situations.

• Distractyourself!Becomeactiveinyourcommunity.Join clubs, school (or other) boards, PSG and other social groups. There is plenty out there.

• Readblogs,articlesandbooks.AnicebookisThirdCulture Kids: The Experience of Growing Up Among Worlds.

You may be stepping on a roller coaster of emotions, when returning home.


article

By Annabel Kjar

‘How are we going to…?’ ISUtrecht 6th and 7th graders ask each other in the Design class all the time. ‘What do we need? Let’s make a plan….’. In MYP Design the students are asked to provide design solutions for real-life problems. In the weeks leading up to the Christmas holiday, the students were responsible for the production and design of their own pantomime performance, which was held on 18 December.

The pantomime performance of Ali Baba was not only an opportunity for the students to showcase their dramatic talents and what they have learned in Drama lessons, but also an important lesson in time management and collaboration. The students had to come up with their own inventory of what is involved to stage a production, including the design and production of flyers and posters, makeup, costumes, sets, props, a backdrop, music and special effects.

Sketches, Post-it notes, lists and calendars on open laptops, cardboard models and makeup purses were strewn across the room as they actively engaged in this creative process. Rough sketches and mind maps led to production drawings, and plans indicated a depth of understanding of the processes and investigations they were carrying out.

Students work autonomously on projects that are relevant to them.Nowadays, with information being readily accessible, students are no longer required to merely learn facts or skills that easily become out-dated. An inquiry-based approach to learning, such as in MYP Design, attempts to trigger the students to work autonomously on projects that are relevant to them and to their age group. This requires not only an investigative attitude, but also an innovative one for finding ways to communicate. Rather than teaching a set of skills, it teaches creative problem solving, whereby the students have to

engage in a continual internal dialogue of testing, stretching, criticising and redirecting their own thought processes.

The teaching focus of the Design lessons is to optimise the transfer of thought, following the steps of the Design Cycle and providing ways for students to develop their ideas while focusing on the presentation. The essence of design, after all, is to create products and systems – to build, with ideas, drawings, models and materials.

Solutions for real-life problems

pictures

New and returning students quickly become friends at ISUtrecht.

Learning outside of the classroom is a key factor of theIB educational philosophy.

Grade 3 has been exploring how architects and artists look at cities and systems.

Upper Primary looked into how art reflects society.

Students at ISUtrecht are encouraged to help support the school, as well as the wider community.

Secondary students all helped Sherien Burger with her ‘Boxes of Hope’.

Kindergarten students dressed up as ‘helpers’ to celebrate the end of their unit.

CommUnity

Both the Division Council (DC) and the Parent Support Group (PSG) welcomed a number of new enthusiastic members. The DC will focus on new policies to better support the ISUtrecht staff. The PSG is hoping to develop a Secondary Subdivision.

new policies and proceduresBeing a part of the Division Council at a new school has been exciting. Many new policies and procedures have had to be developed, and the DC at ISUtrecht has been able to be a part of this development.

We look forward to continuing our work with the school management and staff as ISUtrecht grows and becomes more established. To best facilitate this, we have added new DC members to get a fair representation of primary and secondary parents, teachers and students.

the dc currently consists of:parents:- Roosmarijn de Boer (chairperson);- Alexandra; Kislay Kanth and Patricia Canning; staff:- Lois Levett, (office manager)- Nicole Lamers, (teacher Upper Primary)- Marloes Resink (teacher Dutch in primary and Dutch Language Aquisition in secondary) students:- Robert van Elsberg (Grade 9)- Sherien Burger (Grade 9).

Our focus in the next six months will be the staff body. We wish to look at developing policies that will better support them in their work at ISUtrecht. For more regular information on the progress of the DC, please refer to the school’s bi-weekly News Bulletin.Roosmarijn de Boer (DC chairperson)

focus on developing and growingThe last six months have seen a number of changes in the PSG. We have five new members, after the departure of three members

at the end of the 2013/2014 school year. The new members are Chaitali Desai, Melanie Leeder, Hinde Smit, Maaike Kruisdijk and Maren Lingnau.

The PSG portfolios are divided as follows: Social Events (Seema Tewari and Chaitali Desai), New Parents (Melanie Leeder and Angela Benjafield), Class Parent Coordinator (Hinde Smit). Roosmarijn de Boer joins us as a representative of the DC, and she is also involved in the compilation of the ISUtrecht Yearbook. Two of our new members, Maaike Kruisdijk and Maren Lingnau, are secondary parents who are enthusiastically beginning a subdivision of the PSG which will focus on secondary activities and families.

The PSG started the year with a coffee morning to welcome all new parents. The excitement and positivity of the parents who joined us was immediately evident. Parents also joined us for a nature walk through the Amelisweerd forest and an interesting historical tour of the city centre.

We have further been involved in organising a number of activities at the school, including (so far this year) Halloween, Sinterklaas and the Winter Celebration.

In the next six months the PSG will focus on developing and growing the PSG Secondary Subdivision, and examining how we can best serve ISUtrecht secondary families. We look forward to working closely with Rynette de Villiers, our new school director to ensure that the ethos and community feeling of ISUtrecht remains positive and “gezellig”. And during the transition between our current school building and our new one in the spring of 2015, we hope to create many opportunities to establish a strong community atmosphere quickly.Angela Benjafield (PSG chairperson)

If you have questions or comments about the ISUtrecht division council you may address these to the relevant council member and you are especially invited to communicate with roosmarijn de Boer via [email protected], in her capacity as chairperson.

Parent Support Group and Division CouncilBy angela Benjafield & roosmarijn de Boer

ISUtrecht community report is published by International School Utrecht

text Ingrid Schmoutziguer, Sherien Burger, Lauren Veroudeediting Metamorfose Vertalingen, Utrechtgraphic design Blik grafisch ontwerp, Utrechtphotography Annabel Kjar, ISUtrecht teachers

©International School Utrecht

We do not object to the use of (parts of) the text, provided that International School Utrecht is named as the source.

International School UtrechtNotebomenlaan 4003582 CN Utrecht

From the spring of 2015 Van Bijnkershoeklaan 83527 XL Utrecht

030 870 [email protected]

Community Report, issue 2, January 2015

Documents

Transcript of Community Report, issue 2, January 2015