A Season of Gratitude, Celebration, and New Chapters
We have been absolutely delighted by the incredible turnout of parents and families at our recent campus events. From the energy of our trio of Sports Days and the collaborative spirit of our Stay-and-Shares, to the wonderful creative expressions in the Queen Elizabeth Theatre (QET). Your presence makes our learning community whole.
As we head into the final week of the 2026-2027 school year, we still have a few wonderful opportunities to gather and celebrate our students' journeys:
- Preschool End of Year Celebration: Monday, 8 June at 8:30am in the QET.
- Grade 5 Moving On Ceremony: Friday, 12 June at 9:00am in the QET.
- Final Friday Assembly: Friday, 12 June at 1:05pm in the QET. This special assembly will feature our traditional summer birthday quiz and a chance to bid a fond farewell to the students and families who are moving on to new horizons. We will be out of the QET by 2:00pm.
Our Heartfelt Thanks to Our Volunteers
We want to extend a massive thank you to the wonderful family members who dedicated their time, energy, and culinary talents to host the spectacular Staff Appreciation spread on Monday. It was an incredibly kind gesture that provided a wonderful boost to the entire team at just the right moment in the school year.
We are also deeply grateful to every parent and carer who stepped forward to volunteer on our recent field trips and sports days. We simply could not provide these rich, experiential learning opportunities without your active support. The same must be said for our amazing team of library volunteers. The library would not be able to operate without their tireless work.
Navigating End-of-Year Transitions
June is naturally a time of transition in schools; it is a period of reflection as students prepare to step up a grade, families get ready for new international placements, and colleagues prepare for new chapters. In the PYP, we view transition not as a single day, but as a supportive process of building confidence, familiarity, and resilience.
Farewells to Our Moving Families
To the families who will be moving on from ISA this summer, we wish you the absolute best as you plant roots in your next communities. We know that transitioning away from a familiar school environment can bring a mix of anticipation and vulnerability. It is our sincere hope that you depart with fond memories of the connections made here. You will always be a part of the ISA family and we will delight in seeing you again should your journey
Administrative Note: For families who are relocating, please ensure that you have provided formal notice and confirmation to the school as soon as possible. This means completing the Withdrawal Form on PowerSchool. This allows our team to efficiently process and complete all necessary transfer documentation during this exceptionally busy season.
Moving Up Within ISA
A great deal of intentional planning goes into ensuring the step from one grade level to the next feels secure and exciting:
Our Grade 5 families recently gathered for a transition coffee morning to explore the layout and expectations of Grade 6. The Grade 5 students also spent time upstairs in the middle school classrooms, meeting members of the Grade 6 teaching team.
Our Preschool children have been actively previewing life in the Elementary School, enjoying regular visits to the Kindergarten classrooms and joining the KG–Grade 2 students for lunch and recess. Preschool families were given the opportunity to visit the Kindergarten classroom and meet Mrs. Dalziel and Miss Susan, too.
Over these final weeks, each child in the Elementary School will have spent time getting to know more about next year’s classroom spaces and routines, with visits and shared activities.
Honoring Our Departing Faculty
As we wrap up the school year, we are also preparing to say goodbye to the staff members who will be leaving our community this summer.
As you know, this has been a year of organisational change, which unfortunately included a number of redundancies. Because of these difficult circumstances, our departing colleagues have very different feelings about how they would like to say goodbye.
We believe that the best way to show our deep gratitude to these educators is to respect their personal preferences and privacy. Therefore, you may notice that our end-of-year acknowledgments look different from person to person. Some staff members have requested traditional public farewells, some have asked for simple, direct acknowledgments of the restructuring, and others have explicitly requested a quiet departure with no public mention at all.
We share this with you so that our community can be as thoughtful and sensitive as possible in the coming weeks. If you or your children are reaching out to departing staff to say goodbye, please be mindful that some may find these conversations difficult or emotional. They may not wish to discuss the details of their departure, and we ask that you respect their space and boundaries.
We are incredibly grateful for the immense impact all of our departing staff have had on our children, and we thank you in advance for helping us support them with dignity and care during this transition.
Looking Ahead to 2026–2027
As we look toward the upcoming school year, our teaching teams will feature a few adjustments designed to respond to changing demographics and school restructuring.
The classroom teacher allocations for the 2026–2027 school year will be structured as follows:
- Kindergarten: Natalie Dalziel
- Grade 1: Jory Bolton
- Grade 2: Lynne Stewart
- Grade 3: Debbie Cooper & Lulu Smoor
- Grade 4: Paul Bertolotto & Adele Hughes
- Grade 5: Graham Brace & Claire McMahon
With regards to specialist classes, the children in Kindergarten to Grade 5 will continue to have the broad range of opportunities that they’ve always had. Specifically, we are planning for children in the Elementary School to have:
- one period of Library each week (with Rosaleen Hay);
- two periods of PE each week (with James Cooper);
- two periods of Art each week (with Kat Williams);
- two periods of MPA each week (with Kent Walter*);
- three periods of Languages each week (French with Catherine Fielding/Spanish with Philipa Davie**)
*Mr. Walter will teach MPA classes to students in Grade 3 and Grade 4, as well as Grade 5 Band. We have not yet appointed an MPA teacher for the Kindergarten to Grade 2 classes.
**Sra. Davie will teach Spanish classes to students in Grades 3-5. We have not yet appointed a Spanish teacher for the Grade 1 & Grade 2 Spanish class. All students in Kindergarten will take French with Mme. Fielding. Students in Grade 1 and Grade 2 who take French will do so in a combined class (also taught by Mme. Fielding).
World Word of the Week
Meraki (Greek: μεράκι) To do something with total soul, creativity, or love. It describes the act of putting a piece of yourself into your work, your relationships, or your community, leaving an indelible remnant of your heart behind.
Context: This school year has been entirely shaped by Meraki. We see it in our parent volunteers who poured their energy into the Staff Appreciation lunch, in our students who gave everything to their year-end performances, and deeply so in our departing staff members. Each of these educators has left an irreplaceable piece of themselves in the fabric of ISA, and our school is permanently enriched by the soul they put into our community.
Parent Conversation Starters
For celebrating personal growth: "Think back to the very first week of school last August. What is something that felt completely new or challenging back then, but now feels completely natural to you?"
For navigating peer and staff farewells: "When someone we care about is leaving, what are some thoughtful ways we can show them we are grateful for them while still respecting their feelings if they are sad or emotional?"
For end-of-year reflection: "Looking back at all our school events this year—from the big stage performances to the playground moments—what is the happiest memory you’ll carry with you into the summer?"
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