K. International School Tokyo

June 2008
Volume 1 Issue 9

Dates toLearning for Life

RememberTerm 3 andTerm 1
2008/2009
Principal’s Message
On June 13th, it was my great pleasure to be in the audience of our annual
Secondary End of Year Event. The evening’s entertainment and the array ofinteresting performances were a wonderful opportunity for our schoolcommunity to celebrate the achievement, character and skills of our Secondary
students. To all of the students who performed, their teachers, and of course,
Ms Svetlana Klyuyeva, I would like to send a message of congratulations.
Through your performances we were able to clearly see your skills and your passion for performing and entertaining. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening!
I would like to take this opportunity to say congratulations to our 8 Grade 12’s
who graduated on the evening. It was with an enormous amount of joy andsadness that we said farewell and congratulations to these students. Over theyears, this group of students has inspired and touched all of our hearts. They
have shown us clearly what it means to be an IB student and the commitmentand determination that is required to complete the requirements of theprogramme. On behalf of our school community I would like to say
congratulations to :George Brova, Heisei Cantero, Hiroyuki Suzuki, Komal Sahi, Chiyo Morton,
Hiro Komaki, Joshua Spohr and Patrick Yamamoto

K. International School Tokyo

our K. International 2008 graduating classJune:
26th June:
Grade 5 Graduation
27th June:
K3 Graduation
No ESL or Clubs
August:18th-29th August:Summer School(see handout for details)
September:
8th September:First day for Primaryand Secondary

As this year draws to a close and we start to prepare for the coming school year, I
would like to inform all parents of a new staff member who will be joining ourAdministration Team next year. The school’s former Vice Principal, Ms Anne
Grahame will be joining our Administration team as Upper School Principal forthe new school year. It is with great delight that I welcome Anne back to theschool.

9th September:

The structure of our Administration Team for 2008/2009 will be:

Clubs and ESL start

School Principal—Sasha Marshall

Grade 2-5 ParentVice Principal—Damian Rentoule

Welcome NightLower School Principal (ECE/Primary)—Ms Amanda Cooke

17th September:

Upper School Principal (Secondary)—Ms Anne Grahame

K1-K3/G1 Parent

From our Administration Team, I would like to wish you a safe and happy vacation. We look forward to working with you in the coming year .

Welcome Night

Kind regards,
Sasha Marshall
School Principal

First day for ECE
15th September:
Public Holiday
16th September:

18th September:
Grade 6-12 Parent
Welcome NightPage 2

News @ KIST

Volume 1 Issue 9

Staff Farewells
The staff and students of K. International School Tokyo would like to say farewell and best of luck to the following staffmembers who will be leaving us this school year:

Peter Ackerman, Christine and Daiju Vithayathil, Chris Lister, Jeff Jones,
Kelly Byrne and Ashish Trivedi
Many of these staff are heading off to new and exciting adventures, some are returning to their home countries to bewith family and friends. We hope that your journeys ahead are safe and fulfilling .
On behalf of our school community we would like to thank them for all of their hard work throughout their time at K.
International School.
Good-Bye, Sayonara, Bon Voyage, Auf Wiedersehen, Namaste, ciao, Do vstrechi

Farewells from Departing Staff
Sayonara!
I will be leaving KIST this year but before I go I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to the KIST community for the support they have given me over the three years that I have been here. Every class that I have taught at
KIST has left me with some truly fantastic memories that I will treasure.
I look forward to our paths crossing once again. Best wishes.
Mr. Jones
Even though I have only been teaching Grade 7 at KIST for one year, it has been one of the greatest learning and growing experiences of my life. To my students and other KIST students, farewell and good luck until we meet again. Remember, the only limits in life are those that you set for yourself. The world is limitless.
Kelly Byrne
Thank you to all the K. International School Tokyo families for all of your support and kindness. I have had a greattime teaching your children and I will take away many wonderful memories from the time I shared with them.
Wishing you all the best for the future. – Peter Ackerman
Dear Parents
It is with mixed feelings that I break this news to you that it is time for me to move on. My time in Tokyo has been agreat experience in many ways. K International School to me is a community of wonderful people and in the past three
years I have thoroughly enjoyed learning and growing as a professional.
I am going to miss working with students, teachers and parents! From August 2008 I assume the role of MYP Regional
Associate Manager at the International Baccalaureate’s Asia Pacific office in Singapore. This will take me away fromteaching for a little while, but I will continue to be in touch with teachers, parents, students from other IB schools.
Ashish TrivediMYP CoordinatorPage 3

News @ KIST

Volume 1 Issue 9

News from the PYP Coordinator
As a result of ongoing review throughout all of this year, the KIST Programme of Inquiry will change for the next school
year. The curriculum at all IB schools is expressed as three interrelated components: the written, the taught and theassessed curriculums.
The written curriculum identifies what is worth knowing; for the students. The Programme of Inquiry is a summary of
the written curriculum. In order to develop a deeper understanding of the six Transdisciplinary Themes, the Programme of Inquiry outlines the key knowledge, concepts and skills for each year level.
There are many reasons for the changes, but the key reason was to bring alignment to our school’s Programme of Inquiry. The new KIST Programme of Inquiry brings a better balance of Science and Social Studies from K1 through toGrade 5, whilst also allowing meaningful connections with other subject-specific areas.
Early next year, each family will receive a copy of the entire KIST Programme of Inquiry for the 2008-2009 schoolyear. This will allow families to have a clearer idea of the units of inquiry that their children will explore throughout
the year. Providing a copy of our Programme of Inquiry will also provide families with the chance to view the programme in its entirety.
I wish all staff and families of our school a safe and enjoyable break.
Sincerely
Paul Langtree
PYP Coordinator

Messages from the School Office
Office opening hours
The school office will be open during the summer vacation period as follows:
June 30 (Monday) – July 18 (Friday): 9:00 – 16:30
August 11 (Monday) – August 15 (Friday): 9:00 – 16:30
August 18 (Monday) – August 29 (Friday): 8:30 – 18:00
Lost and foundAn increasing amount of lost clothing and other items are being held in the Lost and Found Box located in the main
reception area. Items not claimed by Friday, July 11 will be marked for sale at the School Festival bazaar in October.
Some of the items that do not have names written on them have not been placed in the Lost and Found Box to avoid
them being taken by mistake. If you cannot find the item you are looking for in the box, please check with Ms Yamazakiat the reception counter.
Message from the Accounts DepartmentInvoices for the 2008 Autumn Term Tuition Fees (Due: July 15) were distributed to all families on June 9. If you have
not yet received yours, please contact the office as soon as possible. Families who wish to change their child’s schedule
for the school lunch and bus services must submit the appropriate forms (available on the school website) to the officeby June 30. After receiving your forms, we will re-issue your invoice.
In addition, we would like to clarify the situation with the KIST Payment Options Form that was distributed recently.
The option to pay annual fees as a lump sum in order to receive a discount applies only to families whose children entered the school after December 2007 or to families who have elected to follow the new school fee structure. The discount does not apply to families enrolled before this time unless they have changed to the new fee structure. We
apologize for any confusion this may have caused.

Message from the Lower School
As I finish up my first year as Lower School Principal, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the school community for their enthusiasm and support throughout the year. Because of your involvement, we are able to celebrate thesuccess of a range of traditional K events, as well as some new initiatives. These include the renovation of our ECE playground, the school wide celebration of Water Day and International Day of Families, and the attendance of parents at
our Primary Assemblies. Now that our ECE Assemblies are also a regular part of our annual schedule, we would like tobegin inviting parents to share in these experiences in the 2008-2009 school year.
In reflecting on my year, one of the most enjoyable aspects of my job has been getting to know a wide range of students and teachers throughout the school, from K1’s all the way through to our Graduating Year 12’s. Being involved
with a range of people in our school community allows me the opportunity to experience learning from many perspectives. To illustrate this I have a story to share…
One of our primary teachers attended a Professional Development course on Reading and Writing in the PYP this year.
On return from the course, she enthusiastically shared the new ideas and strategies she planned to implement.
Through discussions with other staff, and the sharing of ideas and common experiences, a new approach to creative
writing was developed. Having implemented, adapted and refined this approach throughout the year, this teacher has
shown herself to be an enthusiastic learner and teacher.
A student approached me during recess recently and asked if she might share her new story with me. After reading the
2 page story about a beautiful shiny butterfly, she proceeded to explain that she had gathered ideas for her story from‘a range of authors she had learnt about in class’. She further explained that she had ‘adapted these ideas to makethem her own’ as she was being ‘careful not to plagiarize’. The student went off to play with a large smile on her face,
only to return the next day with a poem to share.
After this second visit, I realized the link between the teacher and the student. I saw the teacher’s enthusiasm and new
ideas reflected in the joy and creativity of the student. It is this variety of perspectives that constantly reminds me of
the important connection between all members of our learning community. And it is this enthusiasm that I hope wecan continue to inspire and maintain as a community of learners.
“Enthusiasm is excitement with inspiration, motivation, and a pinch of creativity.” Bo Bennett.
Amanda Cooke
Acting Lower School Principal

Doughnuts and Free Dress Day
On behalf of Dingyun Xu, Faye Rentoule, Shreya Deshmukh and myself (Noel Southall) I would like to say a huge thankyou to all the students, parents and teachers that bought Pon de Ring doughnuts and participated in Free Dress Day.
The current total is just over 100,000 yen which is fantastic considering that it was raised from such a small group andin such a small amount of time from two activities. The money will be sent to the Red Cross so that it can be used tohelp the victims of the cyclone in Myanmar and the earthquake in China. Thanks again for taking the time and making
the effort to support our students in their fundraising efforts.
Noel Southall

Letter of Thanks
To everyone who bought my book “Tackle Your Troubles”,
I would like to thank all of you for your support. We sold a total of 217 books. I will bring all the money that we earned
to the Children’s Shelter of Cebu this summer. I am looking forward to going there and meeting the children that will
benefit from our work.
Have a great summer, and see you in September.
Sincerely,
Aryo Hadi 6A