Trips & Events
Trips
Preschool and Elementary organise trips for grade levels throughout the year, for which a risk assessment is done in advance. The school asks for permission at the beginning of the year, and parents log consent on powerschool. For some trips there are additional costs: you will be informed in advance, and can withdraw permission; in which case we arrange for the student to work in school. Otherwise we assume standing consent.
Preschool and elementary students travel to local parks, wildlife sanctuaries and forests, galleries and science centres. Grade 2 attend an Aberdeen theatre performance! In Grade 5 students go on a residential trip to experience a range of outdoor activities.
Middle and High School run a number of school trips throughout the year. These may be subject based - for example, language trips or to wind farms, art galleries and science centres; they may be for sports - for both local games and international tournaments or related to a club or activity such as model united nations or Duke of Edinburgh. Every October students from Grades 6 to 11 take part in an activities week with both day and residential options. More information about middle and high school trips and expectations can be found here.
All trips can be found on the ISA Community Calendar. If you click on the entries you can find the organiser and information letters.
Events
Elementary assemblies are on Monday mornings, beginning at 8:30am in The Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Parents are welcome to attend. Individual grades and/or specialist subject teachers usually make presentations or have performances during assemblies. Parents are given notice of these special events through individual teachers and/or grade newsletters. Middle and high school have assemblies and the beginning and end of semesters and special ones from time to time.
Throughout the year, we invite parents into classrooms to observe student debates and presentations. We also hold parent information sessions for everything from upcoming trips, to options choices to university applications. We also invite outside speakers to help students to improve their study skills or choose the next step after school or a later career. One of our regular guests is a friendly therapy dog and Cairngorm reindeer pop in just before our winter holidays.
At the beginning of each school year we have a new parent orientation followed a couple of weeks later by elementary and then middle/high schools open evenings to introduce parents to their curriculums and to meet the teachers. Parent teacher conferences are in November and March.
Later in the school year, elementary host science and arts fairs, while middle and high school invite parents in for exhibitions for art, global perspectives and theory of knowledge. We also have book fairs, author visits, poetry cafe, award ceremonies, swimming galas and sports days. All of which parents are very welcome to attend. Preschool have their own special events.
There are school performances throughout the year, mainly in the Queen Elizabeth Theatre but also in the Black Box Theatre and the Street. These include our small scale lunchtime concerts and Jazz in the Street, more formal musical concerts and after school plays. At the end of Semester 1 we have a preschool/elementary ceilidh dance which parents are invited to. Outside groups come in to give ISA students a taste of performances from other parts of the world. At the end of the year, Preschool have a special celebration and an orientation for next year’s kindergarten.
ISA also has a number of themed weeks and months. These include Kindness Week, Healthy Lifestyles Week, Science Week and Yesvember. The highlight of our calendar is International Week in April, culminating in our International Festival in which the community comes together to celebrate our diversity.
At the beginning of each year, middle school students are divided into cross-grade ‘clans’ (called houses in some schools). They then take part in clan competitions with dedicated clan challenge days at the end of each semester.
Middle and High School Student Councils organise fundraising events, dances and games nights. Each year high school students organise an end of year prom.
The Parent Teacher Organisation run a number of events to welcome new families, create a sense of community and promote the different cultures within ISA. These include the ‘Ice-cream Social’ at the beginning of the school year, coffee mornings, and parent events. Parents also set up displays to celebrate important festivals within their culture such Eid, Diwali and Christmas.
Outside groups also run events (applying using an event approval form). These have included Indonesian, Italian and Indian groups running cultural events. The American Women’s Association (AWA) hold a craft fair each November. On our campus, ISA and other children can join a Saturday drama group run by Stagecoach, regular swim sessions provided by Aberdeen Swimming Club and evening football training by Culter Youth FC.
Special Considerations
Birthdays are celebrated in both preschool and elementary. Please do not bring in food for your child to share with others. Read our allergen awareness protocol here.