Head of school
Dear students, parents and guardians,
It is time again to reflect on the school year that has been. I hope you will enjoy this end-of-the-year newsletter!
From where I am sitting it has been a busy but fun year once again – my 18th at ISRLO. The first part of the year was very much focused on the 5-yearly IB evaluation, culminating in a 3-day online visitation. We’re good to keep delivering our IB programmes for the next five years it least, and even after 3 successful cycles that’s always a reassuring message to hear. The evaluation feedback has resulted in ISRLO wanting to put more emphasis on programme development, especially in our MYP, and we are very happy that Ms Annelies Brabant is taking on this role. This has caused a few more internal changes for next year: Ms Anne Lamers will be MYP department leader as from next school year, and Ms Sophie Auton will be our careers counsellor. And while I am on the personnel topic, I would like to give a big public thank you to Ms Marja Selier and Ms Ambria Sebregts for their combined extra effort as interim MYP coordinators!
The other big change this was that from term 3we have gone mobile phone free! Or at least we have all made a gallant effort, and although there are always improvements to be made it has been a positive move. It is just wonderful to see at break time how much more direct interpersonal contact there is in the school.
We have just had our dp results: Congrats to all!
I wish you all a wonderful summer. If you are moving on: thank you for being part of the ISRLO community and I wish all the best in your future. Keep in touch! For those who are staying: I look forward to catching up with you in August.
Mathijs Hekkelman
ISRLO Introduction Week
The first week of the new school year is the Introduction Week which consists of varied activities that eases the students into school life at ISRLO. From the welcome speech from Mathijs Hekkelman, getting to know your classmates and tutor, to collecting a big bag of subject books, finding a locker, a day out on an activity trip and at the end of week, the school barbecue with all students, parents and teachers and of course some teaching, it is a busy week!
Purple Friday – Friday 8 December
DP1 student, Beatriz de Araujo Possollo Soares gives an explanation of what this event is all about and its success!
The Gender-Sexuality Alliances (GSA) Purple Friday bakesale on the 8th of December was a massive success! Purple Friday, also known as Paars Vrijdag, is a nationwide celebrated day in which students and teachers alike can display their solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community by wearing purple, and the GSA was so happy to see so many supportive faces and classmates sporting the color on Friday! We thank everyone for the support within the school, and we love to see that events such as Purple Friday can make our school a friendlier atmosphere for all students. The bakesale and Kahoot game we hosted also received widely positive responses, and we hope that you all enjoyed a sweet treat baked by the wonderful members of the GSA. We will denitely be bringing Purple Friday back again next year, and we assure you that it will be even bigger and better than this year.
Have a Merry Christmas! GSA
Visual Arts Projects
School Musical ‘Annie’ – by Diana Khadzhoyan in DP1
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! No, not Christmas as you may think, but the preparations for the annual RLO production! For the past few months, students from all departments and faculty members alike have been putting their all into this year’s musical, Annie.
Originally a comic strip in an American newspaper, Little Orphan Annie was first introduced all the way back in 1924, and was updated daily up until 2010. Annie was a symbol of hope and optimism through hard times, which especially stood out during its run through the catastrophic Great Depression. The comic was later turned into a Broadway musical, premiering in 1976. After countless renditions, it is finally time for Rijnlands’ version! The style of our school’s take on the musical will touch upon the cartoon roots of the original.
After the nerve-racking auditions done last school year, the cast was busy with dance and singing practice, until the moment they finally found out their roles. From the beginning of November, the cast has been memorising their lines, learning the dances, and training their vocal cords. “I absolutely love the time and energy that has been put into this production,” says Olivia Alwayn (DP1A), playing Grace, “I think the final product will be really great”. Being a part of the cast means taking on a lot of responsibility, especially for someone with a big role like Olivia, but seeing it all coming together makes the late Wednesday and Friday afternoons all the more worth it.
But it’s a hard knock life not only for the cast! The production team, orchestra, and technical crew have also been hard at work to put everything together. As someone who is part of the production team, I can say that although it is not easy, it is one of the most fun experiences at our school. Students passionate about all kinds of arts come together to create a product that everyone can enjoy, whilst providing a rare opportunity for collaboration between the Dutch and the international students, which only adds to the fun of it all.
On December 9th and 10th, all students and faculty members part of this wonderful musical came to school from 10-17 to take part in the first production weekend! It is a weekend full of hard work, perfecting details, good food, and most importantly friends and fun. The weekend also included the first full run-through, with the orchestra, costume changes, and even props. Watching it for the first time just made me more excited for the final product!
Be sure to get your tickets for Annie, running for 5 nights in February 2024. I think you’re gonna like it there!
Photos taken by Eric van Leeuwen
