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In the period from the Fall Break till the Winter Break lots of celebrations take place, from Halloween to Diwali, and from Sinterklaas to Christmas. In this parent update we have a contribution about the Diwali celebration that started today at ISD primary. There is also a contribution from the Eco Team and the exciting launch of their waste minimisation campaign. From ISD Secondary we share news on the developments of the new ISD Secondary building and the start of the Philosophy afternoon club. Enjoy the read!

ISD PRIMARY: Eco Team: ISD achieves Bronze certification
Contribution by Ms Marta Karlik-Neal, parent volunteer Eco Team

We are very happy to announce that on the 11th of November ISD has been awarded the Bronze Certification with the Eco-School programme. We have been working hard since the beginning of the year to achieve this first stage of the certification. We have created an Eco-Team composed of students, parents and teachers. Children undertook an environmental review of the school and developed an action plan. You can see the summary of their work here.

This year, we are focusing on greenery, water and waste. On Monday 16 November the Eco Team launched a new waste minimisation campaign. After completing a waste audit in the school to gain insight into the waste we collect, the children helped us design a new system for sorting and recycling waste. We will now compost all of our food scraps and recycle all paper, plastic, metal and drink boxes. Remember minimisation and reuse come first, so keep giving your children reusable containers for their lunches and snacks. The children made a video explaining our new system. You can see it here.

Let’s all work together to make ISD a zero-waste school!

We are always looking for more parent volunteers to get involved. Get in touch if that is you!

IMPORTANT DATES

17 November 2020 – Online Parent Teacher meetings ISD Secondary
24 November 2020 – Online Information Evening ISD Secondary (for Year 7 parents)
4 December 2020 – Sinterklaas at ISD
19 December - 3 January - Winter Break

ISD PRIMARY: Celebration of Diwali

Contribution by Ms Renu Ochani

On Monday 16th November ISD Primary celebrated Diwali at school. The day started with an online assembly to introduce Diwali and the Festival of Lights and the origins of Diwali. We told the story of Rama and Sita and some of the children talked about how they celebrate Diwali at home and what it means to them. Some of the ISD parents are running Indian dance and rangoli workshops today and later this week. Rangoli is an art form, in which patterns are created on the floor or the ground using materials such as coloured rice, coloured sand, quartz powder or flower petals. These designs are usually made during Diwali with the purpose to feel strength, generosity, and it is thought to bring good luck.

What is Diwali?
Diwali is a religious festival celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and some Buddhists around the world. Every autumn, the festival sees millions of people attend firework displays, prayer services and festive events. Diwali or Deepavali means Row of Lights. Diwali is based on the lunar cycle and the movement of the moon.

Diwali is a celebration of the victory of good over evil and light over darkness. During the celebration, businesses, temples, shops, and homes are brightly lit. Families celebrate for five days with food, lights, gifts, and fireworks. This is why Diwali is known as the festival of lights. People worship the Hindu Goddess Lakshmi (goddess of wealth) and Lord Ganesha on this day as they are believed to bring good luck, prosperity and wealth. The lights and lamps are also said to help Lakshmi find her way into peoples’ homes, bringing prosperity in the year to come.

Online Information Evening ISD Secondary for Year 7 Parents

The day that your year 7 child starts secondary school may seem far away, however at ISD Secondary we are already preparing for next year. On 24 November 2020 we cordially invite all year 7 parents for an information evening about our school. The evening aims to give you an opportunity to find out more about the school, the Middle Years Programme and what to expect when transitioning to Secondary School.

Date & time
24 November 2020 – from 19:30- 20:30

Please register before 20 November 2020 via: admin@internationalschooldelft.org and we will send you a link with the meeting details.

We are looking forward to seeing you online and answer any questions you may have.

ISD SECONDARY: Atelier PRO selected to design the new ISD Secondary school building

Over the last months the Gemeente Delft, ISD Secondary and the board of Lucas foundation have been in intensive talks with several architects to design our new school building. We are very pleased to announce that Atelier PRO, a highly acclaimed architect agency from The Hague, has been unanimously selected for this exciting project.

The site for the new school building will be located within the TU Delft campus, between Prins Bernardlaan, Julianlaan and Michiel de Ruyterweg, in close vicinity of the Primary school. In the conceptual vision for the design of the school, the architects focused on the future oriented learning that is central to the identity of International School Delft. The building will accommodate different ‘user needs’ and a diverse range of learning environments that are central to the Middle Years Programme.

The new building will be a state-of-the-art facility where great emphasize will be placed on sustainability and flexibility, by creating an Energy Neutral building that is designed in such a way that changes in function and future needs can be accommodated. The new building will be able to host up to 440 students.

Jaap Mos: “Atelier PRO has a ton of experience in designing innovative school buildings, in the Netherlands and abroad. We are very happy and confident to be working with them on this exciting project to create a new school building that will incorporate the vision and ambition for ISD”.

Atelier PRO is currently drafting the first rough designs for the new school building in which they fit all the requested spaces and functions in a preliminary design. In the coming months frequent ‘User’ – work group meetings are planned to help with finalizing the design. The expectation is that we can use the new school building after the summer of 2023.

ISD SECONDARY: MYP 2B – Service in Action: Movie for UNICEF

Contribution by Ms Jennifer LaForge

Service in Action is an important element in the MYP curriculum. Service as Action encourages students to participate in activities that make a positive difference to the lives of others and to the environment. Learning about important issues, informing others, engaging in advocacy, organizing and taking individual and collaborative action are all forms of Service as Action. Action is followed by reflection, where students consider the impact of their actions on both the community and their own development.

In this spirit, last Friday the MYP 2B class organized its first Community Service event to raise money for UNICEF. The students organized a very successful movie afternoon where ISD students were able to choose between two movies that played in different classrooms: Dr Dolittle and My Spy. Actual movie tickets were designed, printed and sold and students were able to buy lots of different snacks and drinks to enjoy while watching the movie. It was great to see that so many students joined the movie screening. Moreover, the students appeared to have a good appetite on this Friday afternoon, which led to a quick sell out of the snack store. All in all, we can look back at a very successful event and we are proud to share that we raised 180 euros for Unicef!

November Coat Drive
Please remember that MYP2B is also organizing a coat drive. We will be collecting gently loved coats, hats, scarves, gloves, and mittens right away. There will be a box in the student lounge. At the end of November, we hope to deliver these to a local donation centre in Delft. We would love to be able to give your pre-loved clothing a new life for those who need it. Please go through your closets and see what your children may have grown out of (parents too!). We appreciate all your donations and we are looking forward to organizing more Community Service projects.

ISD SECONDARY: Philosophy Club: Or why it always starts with Greeks

A reflection of our Philosophy Teacher Jef Fobelets

On November 12th, 2020, we started our first session at ISD with our philosophy club. We had 8 students joining in, 1 who popped in for a bit, but left together with another student. So, 7 students would be fair to say are now in this club, of which 1 is from MYP3, 1 from MYP2, and all the others from MYP1. Whilst the start was a standard affair of asking what students thought philosophy was, and what they associate with the topic, we quickly came to the question of where it began. The students asked why it’s always the Greeks everyone starts with, and a brief explanation showed them the big three, who laid the foundation for everyone to follow: Sokrates, Plato and Aristotle. Their main contributions were quickly summed up; this was after all the very first session.

Whilst going through this list, the students kept coming with more and more questions about those very same subjects; which undoubtedly will be discussed and debated about. These stretched from Sokrates’ elenchus to Plato’s idea of what a republic should be, as well as the nature of gods, to the ideas of ethics, empiricism of Aristotle, and of course how any of this relates to our modern world. Most everyone was instantly annoyed with Plato though, once they learned that he invented the school subjects they study today (as is befitting of secondary school students).

Going forward, we have agreed to vote on a topic from a list I shall provide. These shall range from the deeply philosophical ones such as ontology, ethics & morality, or metaphysics, to ones that are of direct interest to the world of today, such as political, cultural or religious philosophy. All agreed though that during the reading and discussing we’ll be doing, we will be preparing for a large, academic debate at the end of our topic. The students will be assigned their positions, whether they agree with it or not, to learn how to argue from another perspective than their own; an idea to which they enthusiastically agreed. And so, tentatively, the philosophy club sets forth.

Information & contact

For more information about our school, the enrolment and contact options, please visit our website:
www.internationalschooldelft.com

Copyright © *2019 International School Delft , All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
info@internationalschooldelft.com

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International School Delft · Jaffalaan 9 · Delft, Zuid-Holland 2628BX · Netherlands