The ISE mission is to educate resilient, confident, self-motivated
and creative students, who are internationally minded and
accepting of individual differences, and who will be inspired to
develop their learning and achieve their potential.
16 December 2016
Save the Dates:
• Tuesday 18:00 December 20th – Primary Christmas Evening
• Monday 08:30 Jan 9th – Welcome New Families – Coffee Morning
• Thursday Jan 26, 18:30 to 20:00 – Plans for the Future and School Finances
Dear Students, Parents and Staff:
Many thanks this week to the primary students who told me the most marvelous stories:
stories of Princes and Dragons, and of chocolate cake and deserted Islands. Once I have time
to reflect more on the ideas these stories have generated, I will share my thoughts with you in
an upcoming newsletter. Having said this, as I was so captivated by their sheer creativity, along
with their passion for storytelling, I thought that creativity should be the theme for this
newsletter. My thanks also to those students who shared with me their Christmas Poems!
Construction of FROG: Visit from Eindhoven Alderman, Ms. Jannie Visscher
On Thursday we officially thanked the city officials for their support in the construction of our
new primary building, and for their help in organizing the use of the temporary building. This
building has been named Frog by the students.
A group of primary students put on hard hats and helped to build one of the exterior brick walls
of Frog. They were also able to ask questions, and in the process learned a little more about
how such buildings are constructed. (They now know the reason why there are actually two
walls in our buildings!).
I think their choice in naming the building, Frog, is perfect, as with the right education students
can make a tremendous ‘leap’ in terms of their creativity, conceptual understanding and their
capacity to problem solve. These attributes, will be essential in the future success of our
students.
My thanks to our Education Alderman, Ms Jannie Vissher for coming to help us officially start
the construction process. She, along with other officials, have worked quite hard over the past
few years to ensure that our campus will be able to continue to cater for the anticipated
enrollment growth. We will have a much larger event when the building is completed! A short
clip is available on the local news channel Studio 040.
The school vision is of a purposeful and focused learning community based on respect where all are engaged
in a co-operative, challenging and enjoyable learning experience. We aim to provide a caring, supportive and
positive environment where students, staff and parents feel valued, and safe.
The ISE mission is to educate resilient, confident, self-motivated
and creative students, who are internationally minded and
accepting of individual differences, and who will be inspired to
develop their learning and achieve their potential.
Strategic Planning and Insight into Finances
One of the recommendations of our CIS Self Review was to offer stakeholders more detail
about our school finances and plans for the future. On Thursday Jan 23 at 18:30, I will
share with the community some thoughts related to both of these issues. Please save the date.
History of the World in 100 Objects: Conceptual Connections
"... the officer who most likely influenced the outcome of the Waterloo campaign was the
Quartermaster General, General Major Baron de Constant Rebecque."
(Philip Haythornthwaite, 2007)
Last week, two students in Year 6 came to show me their history articles. They first explored
our school buildings, which as you may know were originally a military barracks named in honor
of, Constant Rebecque, the former Chief of Staff of the Dutch Army during the Battle of
Waterloo. The second student explored WWII from the perspective of Russian forces.
The work of these students, and the conversations I had with several members of our school
community over the past week, reminded me of how much I enjoy studying history – not just
dates and special events, but the connections and insights about such events and how these
have resulted in major changes in society. These connections often provide us with a better
understanding of present circumstances.
As asking questions and making such connections is an essential part of our curriculum, I
thought I would share with you a history book which aims to do just that. This text is called,
"The History of the World in 100 Objects". The stories associated with these objects provide
an opportunity to gain a deep understanding of very broad social and historical issues. I
suggested this book in a previous newsletter, but offer it again, as it is truly a compelling and
insightful source for linking topics which one may have thought were totally disconnected.
My personal favourite objects in this series are shown below. The complete book can be
purchased, or if you prefer, you can listen to individual podcasts. I offer below links to 5
podcasts and the transcripts. If you enjoy these stories I would suggest you read the entire
book!
Object
Early Victorian Tea Set
Hokusai's 'The Great Wave'
Sudanese Slit Drum
Russian Revolutionary Plate
Throne of Weapons
Audio
Audio
Audio
Audio
Audio
Transcript
Transcript
Transcript
Transcript
Transcript
The school vision is of a purposeful and focused learning community based on respect where all are engaged
in a co-operative, challenging and enjoyable learning experience. We aim to provide a caring, supportive and
positive environment where students, staff and parents feel valued, and safe.
The ISE mission is to educate resilient, confident, self-motivated
and creative students, who are internationally minded and
accepting of individual differences, and who will be inspired to
develop their learning and achieve their potential.
Sources:
o MACGREGOR, N. (2015) 'History of the World in 100 Objects, BBC Radio 4
o MACGREGOR, N. (2015) 'History of the World in 100 Objects, British Museum,
Penquin Books, London
o HAYTHORNTHWAITE, P. (2007) 'The Waterloo Armies: Men, Organization and
Tactics, Pen and Sword Books Limited, South Yorkshire, U.K.
Transport Issues:
You will be pleased to hear that I have been invited to another meeting with city officials next
week (this was also in the newspaper this week). I will keep you informed of any outcomes. In
the meantime, I thought I should at least mention this week a couple of related points including
some changes I am planning within the campus.
•
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Buses: As mentioned in the emails sent last week, the city have changed their buses to
electric vehicles, and there is an additional route from the main train station to the
airport, which will have stops on the main road outside of the school. This may be a
useful way for parents and older students to get to the school besides the normal
school bus, but as there is quite a walk from the main road to the school, I would only
recommend this for parents and older students, particularly when it is dark.
Registered Taxis: A reminder to parents that if they are organizing a taxi for their
children, the vehicles should have the appropriate seat belts and car seats (for younger
children). There appears to be some unregistered taxis picking up students, and parents
should ensure that vehicles are insured and can transport students safely.
Other Plans: At the moment we have cars and some bicycles using the main road into
school at the same time. I am sure everyone recognizes that this is not ideal. I am
therefore looking at a plan to reposition the student bike racks closer to the
Oirchotsedijk path. If this is possible it could also make the kiss and ride area larger.
Whether this goes ahead will be determined by the costs involved, and whether there
are any municipal restrictions.
Finally, We discussed the larger transport issues with the Alderman Jannie Vissher when
she was in school this week, and will carry on these conversations during a meeting on
Monday.
Creativity and Innovation – The Key to Our Future!
“We didn't know as children that we were creative. We just knew that it was okay for us to try
experiments that sometimes succeeded and sometimes failed.”
Tom Kelly: Author, Inventor and Business Leader
The school vision is of a purposeful and focused learning community based on respect where all are engaged
in a co-operative, challenging and enjoyable learning experience. We aim to provide a caring, supportive and
positive environment where students, staff and parents feel valued, and safe.
The ISE mission is to educate resilient, confident, self-motivated
and creative students, who are internationally minded and
accepting of individual differences, and who will be inspired to
develop their learning and achieve their potential.
In the Globalized World of the 21st Century individuals and companies will need to continue to
innovate if they are to remain successful. In this section of the weekly newsletter, I will
offer insights into the ingenuity of people of the region with the aim to inspire students,
teachers and staff to discover, experiment, invent and innovate for themselves.
As the ability to question, brainstorm and problem solving are often the foundation of
innovation, all members of our community should be ready and willing to develop these
important skills, and make use of them freely and frequently to help move the school forward
and help students to develop these skills for themselves.
A) Cultured Beef – Producing Beef Without A Cow!
Our senior students will know that cows produce methane – one of the greenhouse gases.
This week scientists mentioned that the level of methane is growing at an alarming rate,
and much higher than expected. These rising levels of methane are the product of
increasing beef production and one of the major contributors to global warming.
One of the most important questions is how to continue to feed an increasing world
population in more sustainable and more environmentally friendly ways. There are many
small things we could do such as to grow foods closer to home or become vegetarians.
There are also ways that modern science can help. One such strategy was developed by
researchers at Maastricht University who are 'creating' beef by taking muscle cells from
cows, and feeding and nurturing them so they multiply and eventually create beef tissue.
Imagine beef without cows!
For additional information:
o Video
o Website
TOK Questions: Is this 'real' beef? Are there any ethical issues to consider? Are there any other
issues that would need to be addressed to ensure this method of beef production should be
scaled up?
Source:
o
o
o
o
https://culturedbeef.org
http://bcove.me/p0xe3w3z
KELLY, T. (2005) "Ten Faces of Innovation" , Doubleday, New York
AMOS. J. (2016), Methane surge needs 'urgent attention', BBC online.
The school vision is of a purposeful and focused learning community based on respect where all are engaged
in a co-operative, challenging and enjoyable learning experience. We aim to provide a caring, supportive and
positive environment where students, staff and parents feel valued, and safe.
The ISE mission is to educate resilient, confident, self-motivated
and creative students, who are internationally minded and
accepting of individual differences, and who will be inspired to
develop their learning and achieve their potential.
B) TU/e - Heart Values for Children
For children who may be born with faulty heart valves the solutions in the past may
have been for the child to wait for a donor heart or undergo several major surgeries to
implant synthetic values (as the child grows the valves need to be replaced). Now
researchers at the TU/e have discovered a way to use a new type of valve which will
eliminate the multiple surgeries.
Source: The Xeltis Heart Valve
Note: There are also studies underway to use the child's own stem cells to create a valve which
would eliminate the synthetic component of this entirely.
If you know of any other innovations or discoveries within the Brainport, please let me know so
we can share them with others in the community.
Books and Other Ideas to Ponder.
This week I thought I would offer a Tedtalks and books focused on Creativity. Ken Robinson is
considered one of the most eminent educators today looking to transform education so that
our students will be better prepared for the world of the 21st Century. Crucial to him is the
need to create opportunities so students can find their passion, and to develop their powers
of creativity. The short video clips are certainly worth watching.
Recommendation 1: Changing Education Paradigms, Sir Ken Robinson (2015)
"The fact is that given the challenges we face, education doesn't need to be reformed -- it
needs to be transformed. The key to this transformation is ... to put students in an environment
where they want to learn and where they can naturally discover their true passions.” (Ken
Robinson, The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything
In the clips below, Robinson explains that our schools are modeled on the needs of the
industrial revolution. There is another economic revolution underway, which is transforming
the world through technological innovation. He is making suggestions which will align our
education to the changing world around us.
Source:
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Robinson, K. (2006) 'Do schools kill creativity', TED Talk
Robinson. K.(2009) The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything, Viking,
London
The school vision is of a purposeful and focused learning community based on respect where all are engaged
in a co-operative, challenging and enjoyable learning experience. We aim to provide a caring, supportive and
positive environment where students, staff and parents feel valued, and safe.
The ISE mission is to educate resilient, confident, self-motivated
and creative students, who are internationally minded and
accepting of individual differences, and who will be inspired to
develop their learning and achieve their potential.
Recommendation 2: The Sherlock Holmes Puzzle Collection Dickens (1843)
“Creativity is as important as literacy” (Ken Robinson, 2006)
This is a collection of incredible brain benders that should enthrall both students and parents.
Being able to problem solve, and brainstorm with others, are part of the key 21st Century skills
that Ken Robinson suggests we should aim to develop at an early age.
Primary Students at the ISE are offered problem solving activities to use with their parents at
home, so I thought I should offer some additional books designed to develop this key skill.
What constitutes a puzzle is of course relative to the individual, but there is quite a variety of
puzzles worthy of the great Sherlock Holmes himself offered in this book.
Sources:
•
GALLAND, R. (2015) DICKENS, C. ’The Sherlock Holmes Puzzle Collection’ ,
Recommendation 3:
Sherlock Holmes: The Adventures of the Dancing Men, Sir Arthur Conan Dole
I like puzzles and breaking codes. If you also like these you might try to break the code in the
story below. You can read the text online using the link below, and if you are keen to try and
break the code there are many sites which can give you a hint how to do this (or better yet you
can try and work it out for yourself!).
Source:
•
DOYLE, A. C. (1903) 'The Adventures of the Dancing men', The Strand Magazine
Best wishes and enjoy your weekend.
Please note that with a short week, the holiday will be upon us before I have a chance to offer
another newsletter, so I wish everyone a very safe and happy holiday season, and a wonderful
New Year! 
Roy White
Director
The school vision is of a purposeful and focused learning community based on respect where all are engaged
in a co-operative, challenging and enjoyable learning experience. We aim to provide a caring, supportive and
positive environment where students, staff and parents feel valued, and safe.