Dear ISL Parents and Guardians,
It’s hard to believe that another school year has come and gone. It seemed like just yesterday that we were having our welcome coffee morning for new parents and beginning of the year ice cream social. I would like to extend a very big thank you to all of the members of our school community who have gone out of their way to make this an excellent and rich educational experience for your children. In addition to all of the work that they have done in their classes, the teachers have organized as well class trips, concerts, carnet de voyage, enrichment activities, and many more events and activities. I had the privilege of participating for a day in the primary residential trip, and it was great to see the attention and care with which the teachers were looking after your children. Ensuring around-the-clock care for an entire class of students, regardless of whether they are primary students or high school students, is quite an undertaking, and I was very impressed with the excellent organization and attentiveness with which the teachers carried out their roles. Your children are in good hands, and I hope that you have thanked the teachers for all of their hard work!
I would also like to extend a very big thank you to our highly dedicated PTA executive committee, along with the parent volunteers, who have been so active throughout the year in supporting all of our many events and activities. We could not do many of our events and activities without your ongoing support.
As we head into the summer vacation, I hope that you will take the opportunity to relax with your children and enjoy quality family time together. In terms of the ongoing growth and development of your children, having time to relax and “recharge the batteries” together is very important; hence, I normally do NOT recommend summer school options for students. In the same way that athletes need to build rest days into their training schedules, students need to have rest time as well. Summer can be an excellent time for learning other skills in a non-academic environment, whether that be through traveling, sports camps, visiting grandparents, etc.
One of the ongoing discussions among educators is how to avoid students’ forgetting and losing during the long summer months all of the hard-earned academic development that has taken place throughout the school year. The publishing companies are fully aware of the pressure on young people to keep up with the academic work as well, and hence the numerous options for “cahiers de vacance,” or summer homework textbooks. If you do choose to carry on with summer homework, I strongly recommend that you select texts that are highly graphic, colorful and fun, and be careful to ration their use parsimoniously. The bottom line is that the summer should be a time to relax, and daily battles over homework should be avoided. For students in 10th and 11th grades, it can also be a time to start doing university visits, as well as rounding out their admissions profiles by participating in non-academic activities that can be included in their university admissions dossiers.
Regardless of how you choose to spend your summer, I hope that it will be enjoyable and rejuvenating, and we look forward to welcoming you back at the end of August for the start to another exciting and enriching school year. For those of you who are moving and starting school elsewhere next year, we wish you all the best as you move on to new horizons.
Ngokufudumala,
David, ISL Director
KwiSizwe samaZwe 
