Introducing Beverley Bloem - Whole School Counsellor and PSHE Teacher

Beverley Bloem joins ISL as the whole school counsellor and PSHE teacher with over 20 years of international school experience. Bev attained her degree in Secondary Education from Edgewood Teacher Training College UKZN, South Africa and a Masters in Counseling from Wake Forest University in the USA.

Bev started off her career as a teacher in the village of Maun in Botswana and has gone on to work as a teacher and counsellor in another twelve countries. As a teacher she taught most of the subjects at the Primary and Middle School levels and Geography, Art and Technical Drawing (Engineering Graphics) in High schools. As a counsellor she assisted students as they faced emotional, social, and academic challenges and provided career guidance to students pursuing internships and university options around the world.

Beverley enjoys exploring new places and meeting people from diverse backgrounds. To relax she likes to get outside, watch sports and movies, and pizza with friends.

Congratulations! Graduating Class of 2021

Congratulations to the graduating class of 2021! You have successfully completed 13 years of school by knocking out all the hurdles that crossed your path. The last leg of final IB year was even more challenging, however you persevered and ISL is very proud of you. As you leave the halls of ISL, our best wishes are with all of you. Go and conquer the world.........

                  

IBDP 2 CAS Presentations

On 26th May, Year 13 students celebrated the successful culmination of their CAS journey by presenting their CAS engagments to their peers and to all Year 12 students. Students reflected on their CAS experiences as part of their DP and described how they achieved the seven learning outcomes. It was gratifying to hear how the experiences enhanced their creativity and changed their perspective about life. 

                   

           

Introducing Suzy Churchward - Mathematics Teacher

Suzy Churchward joins us from Weobley High School in the English countryside where she has been teaching Maths for the last 8 years. She has taught in three very different schools in the UK – two in inner London and the third, her current role. Suzy has held various roles in these schools including second in Maths department, Head of House and Assistant Principal. 

Suzy has a B. Eng. (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Edinburgh and has previously worked outside of education in the City of London as a management consultant. 

Suzy is really looking forward to her first teaching role outside of the UK and starting a new adventure with her family in Zambia. She has two young children who will be attending ISL in pre-school and Year 2. 

At the moment most of her free time is spent enjoying family time outdoors: riding bikes, going on long walks and visiting new places.

Introducing Ruta Baskevica - Primary Teacher

My name is Rūta Baškevica and I am delighted and honored to join the ISL Team as a primary teacher. I come from a beautiful country in the Northern part of Europe - Latvia. I have a teacher's diploma from the University of Latvia and a Bachelor's degree in International relations from Riga Stradiņa University.

I and my husband Sandijs are raising 4 wonderful children who are embracing our overseas journey with open minds while keeping Latvia and its rich traditions close to our hearts. For the past nine years we have lived in Bangladesh, China, and Qatar, and now are very excited about our upcoming move to beautiful Zambia. I feel very fortunate to be a teacher because every day my students keep reminding me that life is filled with wonders and endless possibilities. 

Introducing Sandijs Baskevics - Athletics Director

Sandijs Baskevics (pronounced Sun-dees Bash-ke-vits) is excited to join ISL and become a part of this very special community. His family comes from Latvia, a small, but proud country in the northeast part of Europe. Sandijs’ wife, Rūta, will also be teaching at ISL, and all 4 of their children will be students of ISL.

Sandijs graduated from the Latvian Academy of Sports Education, receiving a Bachelor’s degree with qualifications as a PE teacher, basketball coach, and sports manager. Sandijs also has a Master’s degree in Sports Science.

Sandijs has worked at various international schools for 19 years, mainly teaching PYP PE and coordinating athletic programs – 10 years at the International School of Riga, Latvia; 2 years at the International School Dhaka, Bangladesh; 2 years at the Beijing BISS International school, China; 2 years at Qatar Academy Sidra and 3 years at the Awsaj Academy in Doha, Qatar. Before moving abroad he was involved with basketball operations in Latvia – Sandijs founded and ran Student Basketball League in Latvia for 9 years, and had his own basketball agency for 5 years. 

Introducing Eric Zarouba - Primary Teacher

Eric Zarouba has over 30 years teaching experience in schools in the United States, Asia, and Europe. His most recent position was as a fifth-grade teacher at the Bavarian International School in Munich, Germany. Eric has a BA in psychology and English and a MsEd in Curriculum and Teaching from Fordham University in New York. 

Aside from creating engaging classroom learning experiences for his students, Eric enjoys spending time outdoors, dining out, reading history, traveling, and experiencing new cultures. 

Introducing Gida Cresti - Modern Foreign Languages Teacher

Giada Cresti joins ISL having had a deep and varied background in NGO and international development projects from Portugal to Ecuador. Originally from Italy, Giada has been living and working in the United Kingdom over the past several years, teaching languages and trying to make a difference in the lives of those students who may not believe they have the potential to achieve. 

Giada has a PGCE from Brighton, a QTS qualification, a MA in Gender, Culture and Development from the University of Sunderland, as well as multiple qualifications in teaching Italian, Spanish, Portugeuse and French at various levels through Secondary school. Giada is a qualified  A-level Spanish examiner and a GCSE Spanish and Portugeuse examiner.

Apart from loving her job as a teacher, she enjoys DIYing, plants, gardening and trying to keep fit. She really enjoys going to the theatre, opera, concerts, and music in general and dancing and travelling specifically. 

Introducing Annie Chilufya - English Teacher

Annie Chilufya joins us from Chengelo School where she has been the Secondary English Teacher for the past few years. Annie has a B.A.of Arts in Education in English and Civic Education from the University of Zambia. Previous to her working at Chengelo School she has worked as a tutor for a private tutoring centre teaching English language.

Annie has also worked as a mentor/facilitator at Youth Alive Zambia where she held and implemented various workshops and teachings in community schools within and outside Lusaka, facilitating youth educational programmes in areas such as HIV/AIDS, life skills, and behaviour formation for children and teens 

Aside from teaching, Annie likes going to church, watching soccer, travelling, listening to music and reading. 

Introducing Soma Chakravorty - English Teacher

Soma joins us from the Italian School of Lusaka where she has been teaching English and Literature in IGCSE and A Levels since 2014. Prior to that, she was working as an instructional designer, editor, and copywriter in eLearning, publication, and advertising respectively. 

Soma has an M.A in English Literature from Calcutta University and a Diploma in Mass Communication from Jadavpur University in India. 

Soma is an accomplished Indian classical and light classical singer and loves to read and travel.  She lives in Lusaka with her toddler daughter and husband and is looking forward to joining ISL in the coming academic year. 

Introducing Suwilo Namfukwe - University and Careers Services

Born in Zambia,raised in Australia, and fine-tuned in the United States, Suwilo joins us after having spent the past 8 years in the corporate world where she was part of a team that developed holistic wellness programs for mines across Africa. This work included providing counseling and assessment support to the schools within the mining communities, and support around critical developmental issues faced within schools such as bullying, career selection, and cultural awareness. 

With a Bachelor of Science in Psychology & Criminal Justice, and a Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Grace College in Winona Lake, Indiana, Suwilo worked as a College Admissions recruiter for her Alma Mater, a Residence Director at Azusa Pacific University in California, and a Counselor for at risk high school students in Warsaw, Indiana and San Jose, California. 

As a certified provider of all MBTI and Pearson psychometric tools, she has enjoyed working with individuals and groups over the past 10 years to identify their unique strengths and passions in order to choose paths that are best suited to who they are in order to leave their unique mark on an ever evolving world and global community.

Departing staff

At the end of the school year, we will bid farewell to the following teachers:

• Ellings Chomba will leave secondary English for retirement 
• Grace Kambeu will leave primary for retirement 
• Madhurima Choudhuri will also leave primary 
• Saoirse Milner will leave the early years section  
• Durba Silam will leave secondary English
• Silvia Tilton will leave secondary Spanish 
• Martin McCutcheon will leave secondary Mathematics in June
• Velenasi Munsanje will leave secondary Library and Information 
• Jenny van der Vinne will leave primary in June
• Sekai Chitaukire will leave primary and secondary counselling in June

The school remains most grateful to have had their unwavering commitment to helping our students achieve the best possible results. We were lucky to have had them on our team and wishes them the best of luck in their future endeavours.

Year Art Exhibition- Fund Raiser

Glorious three days on campus with the Year 2 Art Exhibition! Stunning displays of exhibits and knowledge by the Year 2 students.💖

Hearty Congratulations to the class teachers and the Arts teacher on facilitating this achievement. The students in both year groups sold their paintings to their parents and collectively have raised K12,402!

Geometric flowers!

 Year 7s made these beautiful designs in maths, using just a compass and colours. Watch the video here

IB Five-Year Review

I am happy to announce that we have completed successfully our school's five-year review for the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO). This process occurs - as you may have guessed - every five years. It begins with a protracted self-study process to which all faculty contributed and culminates with a visit by an evaluation team from the IBO. The process was slightly different this year due to the introduction of a new set of standards and practices. Our school was one of a small group piloting these new standards in collaboration with the IBO evaluation team. I am proud that our school could be part of this initiative and complete this process despite the vicissitudes of the past year.

The process was a positive one leading to a successful conclusion. The results of the self-study were verified by the visiting team who reported that all the requirements for IBO accreditation are in place. The report from the visiting team may be read here. I would like to thank all faculty for their efforts in completing the self-study and supporting the visiting team. In particular, I would like to recognize and thank Grace Kambeu and Silvia Nithyanathaan for their leadership and expertise in completing this important task.

Secondary Internal Exam information

Dear Parents and Students of Year 7, 8, 9, 10,12

As you may know, we are approaching the final exams for 2020-2021, beginning on Thursday May 27th and finishing the following week, depending on the Year level. 

Opening in August

The past two school years have been subject to a variety of uncertainties imposed on our school by the coronavirus and associated economic problems. Throughout this time, I am proud of what our school, our staff, and our students have achieved.

Your school needs you

Dear parent:

You, as a parent, are a voting member of the Association of the International School of Lusaka - which means that you own our school.

How to run for the board

The process for standing for election as a board member is quite stratightforward. To accompany nominations, we ask that the association member:

• Verifies that they are willing to attend board meetings at least once every two months
• Commits to serving on at least one board committee, meeting once a month
• Submits:
1. a completed Board Member Nomination Form
2. a recent photograph
3. a brief biography, including their reasons for standing and key areas of interest

Nominations may be submitted via email to isl.sec@islzambia.org by 24th May 2021.

Fantastic Year 2 Art Exhibition

 What an incredible show!