Middle Years Programme
MYP
2022-2023 has been a special year in many ways. It was the first full year without any covid restrictions which allowed students and teachers to get back to what was normal routine before the pandemic. Though this was at times a challenge in terms of learning, it was a wonderful to have social activities going ahead. This newsletter aims to show the exciting events that happened throughout the year.
This year ISRLO Language Day was organized for the first time, in addition to which we had the yearly language trips to Malaga and Nice for MP4. Other highlights were the whole school Sports Day in June and the MP4 Sports Day with Dutch International Schools in Amsterdam Olympic Stadion. We realized how important these sports activities are for students socializing and bonding. It was wonderful to see how students shared their talents on different occasions such as the annual school play Mobius in February, International Evening in June, and the themed school parties.
There were a lot of student-initiated activities to raise money for charity, most of the time as a Service as Action (SA) activity. The bake sales were the most popular and generated a lot of money. It was great to see how our students are involved in global issues and how they want to contribute to a solution.
As every year we had new students joining us and others leaving throughout the year. We are proud of the RLO community that welcomes these new students and makes them feel at home so smoothly. We hope you enjoy reading about the highlights of this year in this inaugural edition of the end of year ISRLO Newsletter and wish you a relaxing summer break. We look forward to welcoming you back at the start of the new year on Monday August 21.
Marja Selier MP123 Coordinator
Anne Lamers MP45 Coordinator
MP1 students Adrian, Isabella and Shriya share (in their own words) their experience of their first year at ISRLO
MP1 have had many remarkable moments during this year which will be hard to forget, some with the whole of MP1, and others with our own classes.
When we first entered Rijnlands, we were a bit nervous, though we felt excited to be a part of this amazing school. We were a bit sad since we had to be split into two sections, which meant we couldn’t be in the same class as our friends, but it meant a fresh start with a different group of people and full of opportunities to make new friends.
As MP1, we’ve enjoyed many school trips such as our bike ride to Jumpin Noordwijk, following our trip to Katwijk beach which occurred during the first week of MP1. We experienced many fun parties such as the Wild West party, International Evening and the Hawaii Beach party which happened a few weeks ago. Another fun occasion that we enjoyed were the musicals and the plays, which we thought were fun and different from our old school. We could audition for certain roles and could get in, or we could also audition for the production team.
A couple of cherished moments of MP1A are the cake schedule, which was a schedule where every week one person from our class would bring a cake, or some sort of pastry to share with everyone. We also liked international evening where you could bring your own food from your nationality and share it with the rest. There was also a show where the students could show their talents to the audience.
A few favourite moments of MYP1B were the parties, international evening, Sports day, the Ros loop and Surprise, which was during the first week of December where we had to pick
someone from our class’s name out of a hat and make something that they like for them. Some other choices that a couple of students thought were highlights from this year are the numerous bake sales which took place in the hallways of our school. Many students enjoyed the open day, where many of us got to participate, class reps giving tours to families, and others helping out in the art room.
In conclusion, we think we can speak for the whole of MYP1 by saying we loved our first year at ISRLO and are excited for the next one and many more to come.
We’d like to thank our tutors, Mrs Selier, Mrs Lamens and our teachers for helping us get settled and used to the habits and expectations of Rijnlands. We’d also like to thank the staff of the school for helping us feel comfortable and safe in this school during this year. We hope you all have a good summer break.
On behalf of all the MP1 students
MP2 Reflections
MP3, The Challenge is on!
This year has been a great year for MP3, full of challenges of all sorts that were set by school, each other, yourselves, the home front or by your tutors.
The year started with the Polder Sport challenges in muddy waters. Both other schools and the organization that were present, were impressed with the kindness and teamwork both classes showed towards each other. It set the tone for what was to come.
In Services Action personal skills were the main focus in serving our communities, through some great activities. On the 5th of December we had our Secret Sint gift exchange in the form of the Dutch “Surprises” tradition.
Project week was super fun, creating and watching each other’s professionally edited movies on the big screen in the Filmhuis in The Hague. We also visited the Archeon, learning about Roman and Medieval life in this part of Europe.
New initiatives within the school involved the exchange day between MP3 and 2TTO and MP3 partaking in the so-called “Tweedeklassentoernooi”. With these initiatives, the connection with the school as a whole were strengthened and perceived as very positive. MP3 proved to be a great example in showing team spirit, fair play and in being connected.
On behalf of both your tutors Mr. Malte Huthoff and Mr. Joeri Kuijlenburg, thank you all for an unforgettable year!
Tweedeklassentoernooi – MP3 winners!
Het Tweedeklassentoernooi is a tournament that is contested by both RLO and ISRLO students. It is based on completing various challenges each day such as building a suspension bridge over water, baking a pie or collaborative work on a puzzle. The winners this year was MP3 who participated for the first time and with fewer students than most classes!
MP3 student, Henry Brees’ highlight of the week was completing and winning building the bridge challenge. “It was a great team effort”
Elizabeth de Witte also in MP3 challenge was vlogging about what to do and what was happening throughout the tournament. “Each group was picked based on their skills and abilities for each of the challenges”
MP 4 Spanish language trip to Málaga
Every tear the Spanish department organizes a trip to the beautiful city of Málaga in Andalucía, the south of Spain. This trip is usually in the second week of March, leaving on a Sunday afternoon and returning on Friday evening.
The objective of this trip is to immerge the students in the Spanish language and culture: they stay from Sunday evening until Friday afternoon with a Spanish family with whom they will only speak Spanish. Besides that they have Spanish lessons at the language school CLIC, located in the center of Málaga, where the lessons are only in Spanish.
In the afternoon there are excursions and free time, which is usually well spent since Málaga has a beautiful beach close to the city center. On Wednesday, the group goes for a day trip to either the Alhambra in Granada or the Mezquita in Córdoba. Other excursions during the week involve a city tour through Málaga, a visit to Gibralfarro and Alcazaba, the castle and fortress that look over the city, a cycle tour, a dancing class and the last evening there is a tapas night.
This trip forms part of the school curriculum and the students not only enjoy it, but usually claim that they learned a lot from it; some students have even went back to the families they had stayed with.
Ms. Auton, MP4 Tutor gives an insight on Travel Week
During Travel Week in March, MP4 students who study French Language Acquisition went to Nice and Monaco to develop their language skills. They were hosted by local Niçois families. After French lessons in the mornings, the teachers accompanied them on tours of the historic city centre and a selfie competition to get to know Monaco. We had fantastic sunny weather to look out from the ancient mountain village of Eze, and the modern art museum MAMAC gave panoramic views of Nice. MP4 was completing an Interdisciplinary Unit (IDU) with history and language acquisition about what makes a city authentic. Therefore, they experienced fragments of life on the Côte d’Azur: sandwiches from the boulangerie, optimising time spent outdoors socialising along the seaside boulevard, cramming onto a train during public transport strikes, and learning how the local parfumerie has made fragrances since the 1960s. Outside of their busy programme, students interviewed locals about their experiences of the city. Some of the students were even brave enough to swim in the Mediterranean in March! Fantastique!
MYP5 E ASESSMENTS – Ambria Sebregts
Two weeks after May Holidays, MP5 students sat their E-assessement – computer-based exams that are designed to test conceptual learning. Also, students had to prepare the interdisciplinary units for Maths and Sciences. As a reward for all their hard work and commitment, MP5 went on a trip to Louwman Museum where they learnt about the history of the car and saw the very first electric car (from 1888) finishing off the 2 weeks with some tasty pizza!
Reflection sports day in the Olympic Stadium
At first, I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but the day surprised me positively. The organization of the sports day was done very well, and we all knew where to go at all times. At first I was a bit nervous about whether or not there would be competition between the schools, but it felt more like a community. Everybody was motivating the others, and made them feel good about whatever they were doing. Before, I did not know about other international students through the Netherlands, but now I met many others. Another nice surprise was that they gave us prizes based on team effort, which taught us the importance of teamwork. It was really impressive that we got to do the sports day in the Olympic Stadium, and it was amazing that we were there with people from other schools. Overall, I really enjoyed the day, and it made us get to know others, and learnt us lessons in daily life.
Nina Mannaerts (MP4c)
