Mosaic February 2018 issue no 9 by Canadian International School

CONTENTS

30 ARTS AND CREATIVITY 30 32

FEBRUARY 2018

Beatfreaked: an inspiring CIS tradition CIS pianists perform at the National Museum of Singapore

34 ATHLETICS AND ACTIVITIES 34 34 35 35 36 37 38 39 39

30 46

18 26 06

40 SERVICE AND LEADERSHIP 40 41 42 43

02 COVER STORY 02

TEDxCanadianIntlSchool: Think about 10 years

06 FEATURED NEWS 06 08

CIS’s Outdoor Discovery Centre: A HundrED innovation Language expert applauds CIS’s bilingual programme

10 LEARNING 10 11 12 13 14 16 17 18

Outstanding success at SIMOC Grade 6 French students visit Alliance Française Absorbing the essence of a comic book Understanding civilisation through artefacts Children discover a new genre in Author Week TK library’s DO NOT READ THIS BOOK sign TK visits Lakeside: Reflections from TK grade 6 students An electrifying start to the school year

Huskies fantastic cross country results CIS Lakeside U11 football team are the champions Aline’s determination fuels a win Alya brings home a bronze A CIS ball kid at the WTA finals Emil swings for gold at the Batam golf tournament TK ACSIS sports: Season 1 wrap-up Aditya’s achievement at the Singapore Nationals! A successful season 1 for Lakeside

44 OUTDOOR LEARNING 44

20 22 24

Reading rocks at TK Everything you need to know about secondary French Cultural collaboration: A Singapore-Brazil connection

Deepavali celebrations at TK

27 GETTING SOCIAL 28 INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY 28

Grade 7’s virtually travel to the taiga

29 HAPPENINGS

A field trip to Tioman Island

46 STUDENT VOICE 46

IN Exhibition: a student perspective

48 ALUMNI

48 49 50 51

Up close and personal with alum Alex Knott Tanjong Katong: Connecting the generations An extraordinary gap year From IB to university - Alum Shubra’s successful transition

52 COUNSELLING 52 54 56

CIS DP students attend university visits on campus From coping to thriving Fostering resilience and GRIT

MOSAIC@CIS A quarterly school magazine of the Canadian International School

25 COMMUNITY GALLERY 26

Why do we have a student council? CIS teachers build houses and brighter futures Green Machine’s e-waste project Teachers connect and learn at PYP connect

Editorial

Editors: Michelle Sharp, Ela Erozan Gursel, Sue-Ellen Gray, Jacqueline Weber Design: Raymond Babol, Robin Viernes Photographers: The communications team and other members of CIS. Mosaic@CIS is published by the Canadian International School in Singapore. Reproduction in any manner in any language is forbidden, unless prior consent is provided. Please send feedback to mosaic@cis.edu.sg. CPE Registration Number: 199002243H CPE Registration Period: 8 June 2015 to 7 June 2019 MCI (P) 050/02/2018 Published by: Canadian International School Printed by: Carlisle Printers & Graphic Designers

COVER STORY

TEDxCanadianIntlSchool: Think about 10 years Watch the brief behind the scenes video and let the article Gayatri and Alexandra from the organising team walk you through the highlights and challenges of organising the first student-run CIS TEDx event. Words by Gayatri Chirambath and Alexandra Chapman, CanadianIntlSchool TEDxYouth organising team

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

COVER STORY

After eight months of weekly meetings, rehearsals and extensive email chains, 21 September finally rolled around the first ever CanadianIntlSchool TEDxYouth event, themed “Think about 10 years”. The whole TEDx team (speakers and organisers) was excited on the evening of the event, and the event went even better than we could have hoped for. Our speakers gave engaging talks on a range of topics from terrorism to the future of food. The audience which comprised of parents, teachers, and students were moved! It all started in February with our very first TEDx Youth meeting where the six of us began the long process of planning, organising, and setting up auditions and rehearsals. The first big question was what the central theme of the event would be. We had seen many TED presentations in the past, and knew that we had to craft an idea that would allow as much freedom to the speakers as possible. While we dedicated the first three meetings to creating the concept, we were still trying to obtain a license from TEDx during this time. Finding an available title was more difficult than some would believe! After we finalised our topic, “Think About 10 Years”, we began publicising schoolwide the opportunity to become a speaker in the first ever TEDx Youth event of CIS. TED speaker candidates went through two rounds of selections and the organisers met with final speakers and help them finalise their innovative topics. During this time, the organising team worked on creating the schedule and other vital details of such a large event. Before the summer break, we had our venue, our speakers, the topics, and a plan in motion.

Scan this QR code to watch the behind the scenes video.

The two months before the big event, August and September, were challenging in terms of organising rehearsals, finalising details, and working on the overall presentation. Communication was key: We had to ensure that with 6 people on our team, that we were communicating effectively between ourselves as well as with the Marketing and Communications team at school. Around two weeks before the event, our website was up and running, and signups were open! Rehearsals were great opportunities for speakers to practice their talks and receive feedback from teachers and organizing team on how to improve or do differently. The speakers put an incredible amount of work into their talks as we could clearly see the improvement in each speaker’s stage presence, comfort in speaking and in-depth knowledge of their specific topic. It was exciting for us to see months of hard work has finally come together. This was one of the bigger and more challenging CAS activities that any of us had put together. To work together was a great opportunity, but to learn how much effort goes into putting together such a big event was even greater. We hope that CIS students in the years to come, will continue hosting TEDx events and providing the student body with an amazing opportunity to share their opinions in our community. On behalf of the TEDx Youth team, we would especially like to thank the MarCom team, the IT Department, Mr Boon, Mr Rabor, Ms King, and especially Dr Bates, who all helped in the process tremendously. CanadianIntlSchool TEDx Youth talks can be viewed on the CIS’ YouTube channel.

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FEATURED NEWS

of the programme. “Students work in a comfortable yet challenging environment where confidence, delight and harmony ensure a clear sense of success.”

Scan this QR code Bilingual reading grade 2 Chinese literacy to watch the video!

Scan this QR code Learning Math in Chinese to watch the video!

Our senior leadership team, in collaboration with the programme’s faculty, are now carefully reviewing these suggestions and hope to share their plans with you in the coming months. Making sure we continue to provide your children with one of the best Chinese-English bilingual programmes in the region, remains a key priority of ours. Stay tuned for more exciting updates over the next months!

CIS’s bilingual programme received an excellent review from a renowned language expert, Dr Wang. Words by CIS Management For four days last November, CIS was delighted to host renowned language expert and director of foreign languages at Melbourne University, Dr Wang, for an in-depth evaluation of our Chinese-English bilingual programme. Since its launch in August 2014, enrolments in our programme have grown by more than 50%. We now have over 30 bilingual classes from junior kindergarten to grade 6, and opened an additional grade one class this month to meet the growing demand. Dr Wang’s evaluation of the programme follows earlier reviews carried out by other leading language experts. Each year, we invite an expert to come and critically evaluate how effective they believe our programme is in meeting its objective (to educate students in becoming fluent communicators in both Chinese and English), together with providing a set of useful recommendations on what we can do to improve the programme even further. Dr Wang’s findings were extremely encouraging.

on an aggregate of language competency by students in each language, rather than a comparison in either language alone. 2. Other major commendations by Dr Wang included our innovative and highly workable teaching model. In comparison to other programmes, he believed our model to be more challenging and rewarding. “The equal time split by daily swap is one of the most effective models of bilingual programmes,” he said. 3. Our Chinese teachers were also commended for developing a well established curriculum and their courageous and successful effort in delivering the IB PYP Units of Inquiry. “Dedication and hard work characterise the Chinese team,” said Dr Wang.

Four major commendations

“Teachers have almost made it a norm of practice to put in extra work when preparing lessons, developing resources, marking student work, giving individual care and searching for more effective methods.”

1. “The overall level of attainment and student learning experience is among the highest of similar programmes in the Asia-Pacific region,” he said. This conclusion was based

4. Dr Wang’s final key commendation was the happy and rewarding learning experience we offer our students. He believed this to be one of the most outstanding features

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Grade 4 student Aritra brought home a gold topscorer award for the second year in a row.

Words by CIS Communications

LEARNING

Outstanding success at SIMOC.

Grade 6 French students visit Alliance Française. CIS French language students learn abount French culture, comic books and food at Alliance Française.

Words by Albana Bertin, French teacher

If I could spend my life traveling and learning languages, I would do just that; and enjoying food along the way. Although that might not be possible most of the time, for Lakeside’s grade 6 French language students, the last week of November has been all about visiting new places, learning French and tasting some delicious French savouries. Our field trip was an enjoyable deep dive into the world of French culture at the Alliance Française of Singapore with a French afternoon tea – appropriately translated into croissants et chocolat chaud (hot chocolate, of course). There is a saying that success breeds success. This is certainly true for grade 4 student Aritra Guha who won, for the second year in a row, a gold ‘top-scorer’ award in the Singapore International Math Olympiad Challenge (SIMOC) held on 15 July 2017 at CIS’s Lakeside campus. Back in April, Aritra was one of our Asian Schools Math Olympiad (SASMO) gold medal winners, and like all SASMO medal winners, he was invited to participate in SIMOC over the summer. 1200 students from over 20 countries participated in this well known regional competition. Aritra surpassed his performance last year, ending as top-scorer, tied with four other candidates in his age category. According to his father, Utpal Guha, Aritra loves to solve challenging math problems and looks for mind boggling puzzles on a regular basis. Aritra’s mum, Priyanka Guha, makes sure that he spends some time every day practicing math and Aritra keeps 10

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asking for more difficult challenges. Aritra’s homeroom teacher, Ms Alison, has been instrumental in his math success and acted as a great mentor who has helped him thrive. She did not necessarily focus on SASMO/SIMOC preparation but rather, took the time to understand Aritra and to appreciate his strengths. She offered guidance to keep him motivated and focused on his academic goals, in math and other subjects. While many of us would be happy to be a mathlete, it’s not enough for Aritra. He is also a promising violin player, a karateka (karate athlete) with a brown belt and an enthusiastic arts student at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA). Well done Aritra. Your commitment and dedication to pursuing excellence in a number of areas is inspiring. We are very proud of you and your achievements, and wish you all the best in your journey to mathematical excellence.

One popular aspect of French culture that our students were excited to explore at Alliance Française was the world of French comic books (bandes dessinees). French children have a legendary taste for reading thanks to a wealth of comic books, with characters such as Tintin, Asterix and Boule et Bill enjoyed equally by adults. As some of the words we encountered while reading these comic books were specific, we took some time to prepare for them in the classroom before our visit. When we visited the media centre, Head Librarian Catherine Foucher gave a masterful introduction about the books we were about to discover in depth. Later, students embarked on a shelf to shelf search, finding out from mysterious clues who on earth Alix is, and what episode of “Tintin” followed “Les cigares of Pharaon”. Students filled in an entire page of Boule et Bill where captions were missing, using imaginative inventions that would have made author Jean Roba proud of his legacy in the 21st century. Students were asked to use iPads to put a comic story in the right order and sometimes this led to funny outcomes. Catherine and Laurence, from the Alliance Française team, helped them to get the story right. At the end of the day, students created a simple comic book to illustrate their visit to Alliance Française and took them home as a souvenir of this memorable day. Exhausted, but eager for more, grade 6 students were ready for our surprise reward at the Alliance cafeteria: Chocolat chaud and French pastries, followed by a group photo. Some students have already promised to come back with their parents to the Alliance Française, to borrow a book, watch a film or simply have a French snack. We also hope to be back soon for a new French experience! Merci et a bientot j’espere! Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

Singapore-based comic book writer and video game designer Kelly Bender explained how to read and analyse comics.

Words by Pratham Ranjan, grade 10 student

On 28 August, grade 10 Language and Literature students attended a presentation by Singapore-based comic book writer and video game designer Kelly Bender. His visit was a great opportunity for students to learn more about how to read and analyse comics to help build the necessary skills needed for our current unit focussed on the graphic novel Persepolis. We learnt about the sequencing and sizing of panels, the importance of font choice, and how the placement of a character can subliminally convey messages to the reader. Mr Bender told us the most effective way to read a graphic novel: “If you read the words, then look at the images, you’re doing it wrong. That’s like watching a movie with your eyes closed and ears open, and then another time with your eyes open and ears closed”. He taught us how to decode images and text simultaneously to absorb the whole essence of a comic book. This requires paying attention to seemingly minute details to fully understand the depth of a story. Finally, Mr Bender explained the various steps and intricate processes required to create comic books. The audience was amazed by the sheer amount of work it takes to produce just one panel of a comic as various artists are needed to work on different aspects of the design such as scripting, sketching, inking, colouring and adding text. Mr Bender was eager to answer our questions and even threw in some details about the upcoming release of a famous video game he has been working on. Overall, Mr Bender’s talk was an intriguing experience as we all left with new insights about the graphic novel genre and some of us even walked away with our own copies of his comic books! 12

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LEARNING

Understanding civilisations through artefacts. At a recent grade 5 end of unit celebration, students showcased the research they had conducted into past and ancient civilisations with a museum-like exhibition of artefacts.

Words by Alison Tremblay, grade 5 teacher

On Monday, 20 November, grade 5 students invited their parents to come and see what they had been learning about in their second unit of inquiry of the year: ‘Where we are in place and time’. Throughout the unit, students explored how evidence from artefacts can help us to understand different civilisations. Students from different classes accepted the challenge to create their own civilisations, and the artefacts that would go with them. The artefacts needed to help others understand the most significant parts of the culture of the civilisation that was being portrayed. This was also a unique experiential learning opportunity as students acted like anthropologists, ethnologists, and sociologists. Artefacts produced included money, government buildings, and even new languages! Most student groups created a map to show the land structure of their civilisation to explain things like how the civilisations people used their natural environment, and how trade agreements with other countries around them were set up. Co-curricular activity time during this unit provided students with additional time to both research and create the artefacts that represented their past/ancient civilisations. These artefacts were also on display for parents to see. During their Open Minds experience, students continued their unit learning as they visited three different museums: the Peranakan Museum, the Asian Civilisations Museum, and the National Museum. Not only did students see real life artefacts in a museum setting, they saw the types of things that are worthy of being in a museum, and drew inspiration for their own artefact creations. Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

LEARNING

Absorbing the essence of a comic book.

LEARNING

Children discover a new genre in Author Week. CIS librarians teach students how to select an appropriate and challenging book, one that is ‘just right’. Words by Melissa Cooper, Lakeside Teacher Librarian

“Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.” - Emilie Buchwalk (2003) Award winning children’s author, Emilie Buchwalk’s words ring true with both parents and educators. Books are the springboard for conversations about family, friends and places we have seen, and studies have shown, children who read or discuss books with their parents will perform better academically (Kloosterman, 2011). One of the best parts of my day is curling up with my 5 year old son to read before bed. My colleague also finds time to cuddle up with her teenager. Although it isn’t in a bed and they may not be reading aloud, they are still talking about books in connection with their life, family, friends and global issues. And it is evident from our library reports on 14

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book circulation that families at CIS believe in the importance of reading. For CIS librarians, our Author Week goal was to encourage our students to find a new author or genre to fall in love with. It is common at the beginning of the year for students to gravitate back to their favourite books so they need guidance to find some new and challenging books to read. As librarians, we believe in the empowerment of student choice. We teach students how to select an appropriate and challenging book, one that is ‘just right’. This is done to help them become better readers. What strategies do we employ to do this you might ask? Students were invited to an ‘author tasting’ where we encouraged them to sample different books, from a range of genres, that they wouldn’t normally explore. At the end of the tasting, every single student left with something new, either a book that was by a different author or a new genre. Our modern world today is filled to the brim with distraction or alternatives.

Our devices’ banners and pop-up reminders disrupt the natural flow of reading and thinking. Television and gaming systems are so visually enticing that they can appear more attractive than books. Research by the National Literacy Trust in the UK shows that only three in 10 children spend some of their own time reading books. The survey of more than 21,000 children found a notable decline in the number of children reading for pleasure between 2005 and 2011. Pleasurable reading is a wonderful tool to increase a child’s vocabulary without seeming like studying (Collins, 2005). If students read less at home, their vocabulary is in danger of becoming stagnant. As role models, we need to be balanced in our work and play times in order to encourage, guide, discuss, and support our children in the wonderful exploration of literature. As a result of author week, we found a greater diversity of books being checked out - even after the week came to a close. We were delighted to see the books moving off our shelves and to see students excited to discover something new. Many students surprised themselves and felt they’d taken an important step in the journey to become a better reader. Our work didn’t stop with students though. We included a session inviting parents to come and taste some new authors too. It was a wonderful chance to talk about books and to confess our literacy loves with fellow parents.

We regularly host ‘Library Bytes’ sessions for parents, so if you have any questions about developing a love of literature, or have ideas you’d like to share, please contact us. If you have any further wonderings about the power and wonder of the narrative tale, I encourage you to watch the Ted Talk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, ‘The Danger of the Single Story’ (2009). Chimamanda eloquently describes her journey as a reader and what power reading a variety of books brought to her perspective on life and the world. So what are you waiting for CIS. Visit your library and try something new! Work cited Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. “The Danger of a Single Story.” TedGlobal, July 2009. Speech. Collins, Molly Fuller. “ESL Preschoolers’ English Vocabulary Acquisition from Storybook Reading.” Reading Research Quarterly, vol. 40, no. 4, 2005, pp. 406–408. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/4151659 Kloosterman, Rianne, et al. “The Effects of Parental Reading Socialization and Early School Involvement on Children’s Academic Performance: A Panel Study of Primary School Pupils in the Netherlands.” European Sociological Review, vol. 27, no. 3, 2011, pp. 291–306. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41236594 Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

A controversial provocation gets students thinking about “Banned Book Week”, a global annual event that celebrates the freedom to read.

Words by CIS Communications An unusual sign greeted students as soon as they entered the TK library this week: DO NOT READ THIS BOOK. Under the sign, there were “banned shelves” where a few dozen books on display were clearly sealed with “do not enter” banners. This was a controversial setup for a provocation designed to think about “Banned Book Week”, an annual event created to celebrate the freedom to read globally. The event highlights the value of free and open access to information and brings together the entire book community of librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers around the common goal of the freedom to read. What were the banned books? The “banned” books are the children’s books we have which have been on the American Library Association’s (ALA) list of the ‘100 most banned or challenged books’, over the course of the last century. After conversations with parents, our teacher librarian Ms Nadine also placed three “frustration books” on the shelves (Wimpy Kid, Dork Diaries and Geronimo Stilton). These are books that students enjoy reading, but are ones that parents and teachers frequently want to switch as they try to get students to extend

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or broaden their reading, from both a breadth and depth perspective. Each session in the library for grades 3-6 was a learning opportunity for students. They learnt about the freedom to read and also learnt about how to choose the right books for themselves.

LEARNING

TK visits Lakeside: Reflections from TK grade 6 students. Grade 6 transition day gives students the opportunity to experience secondary school first-hand.

Words by Kirsty Kelly, TK PYP Coordinator Grade 6 classes from both campuses spent a morning at Lakeside, to see firsthand what life will be like as a grade 7 student like next year. They were divided into groups and enjoyed a full morning of team activities that included everything from solving a mysterious murder to performing science experiments. They had the chance to explore the Lakeside secondary school and some of the Middle Years Programme (MYP) subjects and activities. They also had the chance to ask questions about life in secondary school and hear directly from some current grade 7 students about their secondary experiences.

Who has the right to choose what we read?

Reflecting on their visit, these are some of the things that came to mind for TK students:

What books are appropriate and inappropriate for your grade?

They were surprised by… • the number of students at Lakeside. • the size of the canteen, the size of the library - and well, the size of the whole school!

What makes a book inappropriate for you? What do we do when we think a book is inappropriate? Every class explored the reasons behind books being banned. At the end of the class, Ms Nadine told students that the DO NOT READ THIS BOOK sign was put up as a provocation, designed to spark their interest in the banned books and they could in fact read anything they wanted.

They are excited about… • travelling to 8 different classes each day. • meeting new people and “re-meeting” friends who used to be at TK. They still wonder about… • hanging out with the Lakeside students. • finding their way around a new campus. But the absolutely best things they said about visiting Lakeside? • the teachers are sooooooo nice! Everyone is so very nice! • the food is amazing! They even have Subway food!

The purpose was to get them to think about our collective freedom to read... whatever we want, including the banned books. At CIS, we encourage the love of reading and believe in voluntary reading that is driven by students themselves.

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LEARNING

K library’s DO NOT T READ THIS BOOK sign.

LEARNING

An electrifying start to the school year! TK grade 3 students explore electrical energy as they conduct experiments and built their own circuits. Words by Tonia Whyte Potter-Mal, PYP Coordinator, Tanjong Katong Campus Sharanya: When our circuit stopped working, we figured out the solution by ourselves. In STEAM lessons, we get to use tools by ourselves and learn about them a lot.

In our modern and global world, it is a genuine challenge to consider the question “What would we do without electrical energy?” At recent ‘invitations to learning’ for parents, grade 3 students explored and navigated the unique and important features of electrical energy at different learning centres.

Aurum: At first, I thought that energy was not so fun as a unit but then when I started to make stuff and know more about energy, I started to like it! The circuits are cool because our teacher explained that the energy always moves in a circle and that’s why we call it a circuit!

As thinkers and risk takers, our young scientists expressed excitement at leading a number of practical scientific investigations, while engaging their parents in the inquiry process. The conceptual theme of ‘How the world works’ guided students as they experimented with a range of circuits, batteries, wires, putty and other gadgets located in ‘Little Bits’ electricity kit challenges. Students worked diligently to apply their prior knowledge, follow procedural steps, test their theories, gain new insights through trial and error and negotiate meaning. Parents were visibly impressed at these young students’ agility with complex materials and expressed sheer delight at their children’s abilities to make small bulbs light up, motors turn and sounds activate on cue!

Maithili: When we used the saw and then there was dust flying everywhere, it was exciting because it was the first tool time we ever had in the makerspace room! Max: We learnt about measurement. We made a wooden plane by putting in a battery pack, a switch, wheels and a motor! Sophia K.: The hardest part for me was trying to prevent the motor from being a short circuit because the battery and the wire were getting hot!

A number of students also added thoughts to a ‘wonder wall’ posted in the room to further reflect on their experiences.

Zac: At the first class, we were just gathering materials. In A focus on the key concepts of form, function and responsibility has supported students in deepening their understanding of electricity as a form of energy. They explored different materials, some of which included cardboard, plastic and aluminum, to apply core aspects of the design cycle. With the aid of construction tools and safety glasses in the makerspace room, students also created prototypes of familiar inventions and then demonstrated how to make them function as simple machines powered by electricity. They also considered what their responsibilities are in terms of conserving energy.

the next class, we had to measure a lot and use materials that we hadn’t used before. It took us a lot of effort for us to build our plane! The iPad that we used for STEAM helped us to reflect on our project with the Book Creator app! Gery: Once I was with my partner Josephine and I was trying to make an LED light with electrical tape and we tried a long, long time but we never got it correct and then we tried turning it over and at last we were the first people to finish! Hayden: The hardest thing about this unit is the part when we had to make the electromagnetic motor because Ms Hartung said we had to try and make a wire, a magnet and a battery to make the wire spin around the magnet. I tried for days and then at last it worked! Divit: My partner and I were trying to make an invention but at first it was very hard and then we kept on trying and we connected wires together to make a torch!

Thank you to our team of grade 3 homeroom teachers, educational assistants and Mr Ben Cooperman, TK’s STEAM Facilitator, for nurturing the students’ curiosity and competencies on this interactive learning journey. Here are some inspiring quotes from grade 3 students about their experiences during this unit of inquiry: Taisei: I learnt that when something works, it’s always moving like a circle so that’s why we call it circuits! 18

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LEARNING

Reading rocks at TK. TK sparked a love of reading thanks to a passionate library team and a semester jam packed with reading and literacy events. Words by Nadine Bailey, TK Teacher Librarian

At TK, we’ve had an amazing semester with all kinds of reading and literacy events. In the months of October and November 2017, our grades 2 to 6 students took part in the Global ReadAloud, reading the same books with millions of other students worldwide. While reading Mem Fox picture books, our grade 2 students, partnered up, with the Hong Kong Academy and were very lucky to have their teacher librarian, Ms Tanja as a mystery reader at our school during her vacation. We exchanged thoughts, feelings and ideas about our reading through padlets and then Skyped with her grade 2 classes. Grade 3 students read “Fenway and Hattie”, and grades 4 and 5 read “Wild Robot” and exchanged postcards with 60 other schools around the world. Some of our students had never written a postcard before or even licked a stamp so it was a great experience! 20

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Grade 6 classes read “A Long Walk to Water” and had some very serious conversations about water rights, war and migration. This initiative saw all our classes discovering new books and authors related their themes.

power of stories - in any language. On Monday 13 November, our grade 6 students’ wish came true with a visit from young author Gabby Tye. Gabby has a new book out, Ever, a sequel to her popular Run-Hide-Seek series. She told our students about how she started writing her first book at 11 years of age - an activity that was initially designed to get more time on the computer. Back in those days, Gabby had set herself a goal of writing 300 words a day. Her book was finally published when she turned 14, and it became a Singapore bestseller. She talked about the importance of writing about the things you know and things you’re passionate about, the

importance of persistence, and how a good author gathers inspiration from being well read. But the year isn’t over yet, and the library is still a busy and active place. Just this month we have received hundreds of new books that will continue to engage, enlighten and empower each and every one of our readers - from our youngest children to our oldest. Parents are reminded that they’re always welcome in the library to browse, borrow and read to their children. Parents are also encouraged to come to our regular Library Bytes sessions to learn more about literacy, reading and research.

In early November, the whole school stepped outside for buddy reading in the garden. Across the whole week, our display was “don’t judge a book by its colour”. Students could borrow a picture book in their house colour. School was a colourful place that week as students gathered with their house colour friends to read lots and lots of blue, red, green or yellow covered books. Many students discovered books they’d never seen before, and our younger students really appreciated reading with their older peers. Across the course of UN week we had parents, grandparents, teachers and students reading in the library. We listened to stories in Maltese, French, Dutch, Hindi and Chinese, showing the Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

LEARNING

Everything you need to know about secondary French. MYP French students develop language proficiency by participating in debates and singing at the French idol competition. Words by Armelle Tainsh, MYP French teacher At CIS, learning French is more than just learning a language. French is a world language. It is spoken by about 274 million people globally (as a native or second language), it is the 5th most widely spoken language on the planet, and it is the only language - together with English, to be spoken across all five continents. French, which has been offered as a second language since the school began over 25 years ago, is offered to students from junior kindergarten. Our commitment to multilingualism sees our teachers providing students with opportunities to embrace the cultures associated with a language, and to become immersed in it beyond the classroom. In the Middle Years Programme (MYP), French students have partnerships with French speaking schools in a variety of French speaking countries such as Canada, France or Morocco. Students will exchange letters or emails with their French speaking counterparts. In the Diploma Programme (DP), students have opportunities to experience (with their French teachers) French cinema at the Singapore French film festival or to attend classical plays at Alliance Française of Singapore or Sing’ theatre. This year CIS became a member of the French Teachers Association of Singapore, in order to provide additional opportunities for students to converse in French outside of 22

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the classroom. This association gave our French speaking students the opportunity to participate in two interschool events in the first semester alone. Some of the French speaking activities that happened in the first semester of 2017-2018 include: Débattons en Français! French debates. In September, a group of DP French B students took up the challenge of participating in the Interschool French Debates Competition, where they made us proud by battling against students from Tanglin, SAS, GEMS and the German International School in high quality debates about a variety of global issues. The competition judges were impressed by our students’ confidence and overall performance. Well done, Solene Le Bretton, Gaia Bartoletti, Marius Cagnat and Garrick Massardier from grade 11, and Alisa Hulsbosch, Lily Howarth, Marie-Claire Jalaguier and Rania Rufaidah Fuadi, from grade 12. French debate student reflections: Gaia Bartoletti (Grade 11, French B higher level) I would definitely recommend that everyone taking French B HL consider being part of the debate competition as it was a great and fun experience. Each participating team was made up of two contestants age 15 or above who are taking either

Marie-Claire Jalaguier (Grade 12, French B standard level) I signed up for the French oral debate competition at SAS just a couple of days before debate day, and I’m really glad that I joined. I got the opportunity to apply the skills I learnt in class to a real world situation of conversing and expressing different opinions and perspectives to others. I have never been very confident about speaking in French but this debate gave me the confidence to interact with French speakers the same age as me with different views on a number of issues (homework, genetically selected babies, immigration, and veganism). Debating in French definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone. If I had the chance, I would participate in the debates again as the whole process of researching, preparing, and debating was so rewarding and an experience like no other. Rania Rufaidah Fuadi (Grade 12, French B higher level) The French oral debate (Joutes Oratoires) was a very worthwhile experience. To try to improve my French speaking skills, I decided to participate in this event very close to the “D-day”. Not only did I succeed in improving my French speaking skills, I also met new people from different schools and had the chance to experience an official debate in a small group. It was a great experience to be able to speak and express my opinions in front of people I have never met and debating in French was a whole new experience.

international schools across Singapore. The only requirement was that students had to sing in French! Swara was selected to represent our school and gave a fantastic performance! DELF exam - prepare for the future! For the fourth year, CIS students will sit the external DELF French examination at the Alliance Française in May. The DELF is an official qualification awarded by the French Ministry of Education to certify the competency of candidates from outside France in the French language. These certificates are valid for life and recognised worldwide. There are four levels of competency from A1 to B2. From B1 level, the DELF diploma can give students credits in most universities around the world. It is also often required by administrative bodies, employers and educational institutions. The DELF certificate also opens up opportunities for higher education at some of France’s best-known universities (the Sorbonne, Pierre Marie Curie University, etc) or elite grandes écoles (HEC, Polytechnique, ESSEC), often on very favourable financial terms. Native level French classes opening Recognising our growing French speaking community, French speaking students can now elect to take a French A (French native language) Language and Literature class at DP level and earn a bilingual IB Diploma at the end of the two year programme. The phase 5 and 6 French programme we offer grade 9 and 10 students provides solid preparation for those who want to challenge themselves in the DP and we are looking forward to scheduling more “near native” classes if the numbers allow.

Lily Howarth (Grade 12, French B standard level) Even though my decision to join the French oral debate was rather last minute, I am glad I got the opportunity to participate in the event. My partner and I had to prepare arguments for four possible topics, including genetically modified babies, immigration, veganism and homework. The debate was fun though quite nerve racking. It allowed to me practice my French speaking skills in a formal setting, try out various persuasion and debating techniques, and practice public speaking. Although debating in French was quite a challenge, I am glad that my partner and I took the risk and I am proud of how our debate turned out. Alisa Hulsbosch (Grade 12, French B High level) The French oral debate was one of the most challenging experiences I have ever had. Not only did I improve my French speaking skills when under pressure, I learnt a great deal about a number of global issues and found it quite interesting to listen to other students’ perspectives on the topics we discussed. French idol In November, Swara Ranam, a grade 9 French student, represented CIS at the Interschool French Idol Competition. This competition welcomed French language students from Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

LEARNING

MYP phase 4 French or DP higher level French B. Before the debate we were given 4 possible topics to discuss: accepting immigrants in Europe, genetic engineering, homework in university and vegan meals in school. All topics were very interesting to learn about from different perspectives. Taking part in the French debate competition was a great experience. I was able to meet new people from different schools, develop my French skills and learn about new things. The debate will also look good on university applications (and also counts for CAS)!

LEARNING

COMMUNITY GALLERY

Cultural collaboration: A Singapore-Brazil connection. TK grade 1 students host virtual tourists from Brazil.

Scan this QR code to watch the video!

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Words by Tonia Whyte Potter-Mal, TK PYP Coordinator Earlier this year, the Maple Bear Canadian School in Brazil, invited TK grade 1 students to be part of their virtual trip to Singapore, a country they were curious to learn more about. What a great way to have a truly authentic learning experience! As part of their interactive journey across the world, Brazilian students visited a virtual Singapore tourist information centre and our grade 1 students were there to answer their questions. With iPads and the Book Creator app, our students shared cultural aspects of our school community based on these questions sent by our new friends in South America: • What does your school look like? • What kind of transportation do you use to go to school? • Does your school have a soccer field? • Are the fruits you eat the same kind as ours? • What are your favourite fruits? • Do you have a collective snack and lunch? Is it a school lunch or from home? • What do you usually eat? • What kind of games do you play at school? • Who is a famous singer there? • Do you have pets?

• How long is your school day? • How are the islands? • How do you celebrate losing a tooth? To prepare for their “visit”, our Brazilian guests learnt some practical life skills including packing clothing appropriate for the weather, making lists of things to take, writing in their journals about cultural observations, preparing their passports and “buying” flight tickets. The make believe simulation day at Maple Bear Canadian School saw teachers step into the roles of pilots, flight attendants and customs officials as the students’ flight to Singapore “took off” and landed! Scan the QR codes to watch the videos to get a glimpse of their incredible travel experience.

UN Week at CIS. Uniting Nations week highlights in photos.

This exciting cultural collaboration is a genuine example of how our youngest primary students are capable of taking action through international inquiries. Through guided communication with digital tools, grade 1 students from opposite sides of the world have made a meaningful global connection in celebration of learning within their communities. Thank you to all the grade 1 teachers and students who participated in this project!

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COMMUNITY GALLERY

Deepavali celebrations at TK. Our principals led the traditional lamp lighting ceremony, symbolising the spread of knowledge.

Getting social. Photos 1. #CISPrimary Always a huge fan of parent engagement in learning. A G6 parent in Ryan Sayer’s class shares expertise on energy. G6 SS are inquiring into energy, transformation, its application, influence on medical, science, infrastructure, environment by working on problems. A tweet by Sarah Aspilaga.

Words by Nandini Jhaveri, French teacher

Photo 2. So much #data in a game of rock-paper-scissors #CISprimary #math #datahandling. A tweet by Ben Grundy.

Photo 4. FIRST® LEGO® League training day at CIS. Students programming the EV3 robots to complete the FLL missions successfully #CISsteam #CISprimary #CISsecondary @Joe_Teft @deir75 @TStudlo. A tweet by Egmond Boon.

Diwali (in northern India), or Deepavali (in southern India), is the festival of lights, colour and feasts. With these come joy and family gatherings, all in celebration of the victory of good over evil. At CIS TK, we celebrate Diwali by gathering as one big family on the basketball court. Children, teachers and parents are all dressed in Indian festive clothes. Most of the ladies are wrapped in beautiful 6 yards of silk called sarees. Although trying to walk in them is tricky enough, the courageous ladies even dare to dance! It is indeed a beautiful sight where individuals from other cultures not only participate, but are fully immersed in the celebrations. The centre of the basketball court is adorned with a decoration of flowers called rangoli. Every year we gather at 6am to complete the floral design before students come in. Mums from different nationalities partake in one of the most beautiful moments of the day. This is also an opportunity for children to showcase classical Indian dances and musical performances. India clearly has so much more to offer than just Bollywood, and our children at TK make it a point to get that word across. Mrs Henderson and Ms Cherie lead the traditional lamp lighting ceremony, symbolising the spread of knowledge. During this year’s celebration on 4 October, we had the pleasure of our head of school, Mr Corcoran joining us. Not to be left behind, teachers and parents join the festivities and enjoy the wonderful Diwali celebrations together, the TK way!! 26

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Photo 3. Can you find all the numbers to 100 using only 1, 9, 8 & 5? #math #ibpyp #CISprimary #operations #teachingbedmas. A tweet by Alison Tremblay.

Photo 5. Make sure students understand your statements of inquiry by asking them to analyse what it’s saying! #Ibmyp #CISSecondary #ib_asiapacific. A tweet by Gavin Smith. Photo 6. Students @CIS_TK were inspired to try some yoga moves after reading a book called ‘The Happiest Tree” last week. Great work SK!

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INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY

Grade 7s virtually travel to the taiga. A virtual reality (VR) experience helps students understand the six world biomes in a novel and engaging way. Words by Katelyn O’Rourke, Grade 7 science teacher and Tim Studlo, Digital Literacy Coach years from now they can look through VR at a time when cars did not fly and people did not teleport. I would love to use VR again in class.” Gabriel Chia, Grade 7-1 student

Some of our grade 7 students recently had the opportunity to experience VR in their studies. These students were inquiring into world biomes from a biological and geographical perspective. While it’s easy to observe the tropical rainforest biome firsthand in Singapore, immersing ourselves in other biomes such as deserts, tundras and grasslands is definitely a challenge. Until recently, we have been limited to pictures and videos of the other major biomes for units like this. VR and AR (augmented reality) are indeed game changers. Students in 7-1 recently took a virtual reality field trip to explore other world biomes. All we needed was our smartphones, some cardboard VR viewers and Google’s Expeditions app. For this activity, teachers could either guide the tour through their own device or students could explore the specific expedition freely, pressing down on a button at the top of the viewer to move through the prompts. Our experience was teacher-guided so that we could draw students’ attention to a variety of built-in highlights of biome features and the adaptations of its flora and fauna (eg cones and needles of coniferous trees in the taiga). Each “expedition” came with a general description of the biomes and leveled questions for teachers to ask students. While grade 7 student’s VR experience was definitely fun and interactive, most importantly, this VR experience truly allowed the students’ learning to come to life and helped them better understand the biogeography of six world biomes (tundra, taiga, temperate forest, tropical rainforest, savanna and desert). When asked about their VR lesson, students said: “The experience was very new as I had not done this before and seeing the textures and shapes of a different place took me away. We saw numerous species of plants, animals and different rocks. Seeing is believing, and seeing the biome allowed thoughts to fire and branch out. This concept could be applied to history too. Maybe being at Martin Luther King’s scene of death would be better than looking at blurry photos [referring to a source analysis assessment we did in September]. 360° photos were not taken back then, but 100

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“When trying on the VR viewers, it felt weird that we were seeing a different biome but were still here in Singapore. It was really realistic especially because of the 360° view. It definitely helped us learn because we got to have a different perspective on the biomes. As well, arrows were pointing to different fauna and flora allowing us to see it in real life. I found when writing my summative assessment, I was able to remember it because it was different and unique compared to all the other photos and videos.” Emma Spahr, Grade 7-1 student Some teachers and parents may be intimidated by VR or think that it’s too expensive or time-consuming. Not so. VR viewers can be made of inexpensive cardboard and VR is a great way for students to occasionally make their units “come to life” at school and at home. They also provide a fun family opportunity to explore historically, spiritually or culturally significant places or environments together. Cardboard viewers can be purchased online for as little as $5 from https://vr.google. com/cardboard/get-cardboard/ and the Expeditions app is free to download. Use My.CIS to find out what students are learning at school and then search the app for related expeditions. This could be a fun educational way to study when homework is lighter or during school holidays.

Happenings. 7

13 17 November

10 November

UN Week at TK Campus. TK celebrated cultural diversity with a parade of nations, a food fair and cultural performances and sports games.

UN Week at Lakeside Campus. Lakeside celebrated cultural diversity with a parade of nations, a food fair and cultural performances, art photography exhibition and community weaving wall.

12 November Talent Tuesday. A TK tradition that showcases student talents.

15 September TK’s 10th birthday. A red and white birthday party and hundreds of cupcakes for the beloved TK.

2017

VR/AR spotlight CIS’s Digital Literacy Coach, Timothy Studlo recently moderated a roundtable discussion titled “Opening The World To Students Through Augmented Reality & Virtual Reality” at the EduTech Conference Singapore. Over forty educators from all over Asia participated in the productive discussions which included virtual field trips, creation with virtual reality (VR)/ augmented reality (AR), language acquisition through virtual experiences, and how to offer differentiated learning for different types of students. From these discussions, it is evident that VR/AR is storming into the classrooms as the technology is getting more accessible to educators. Many participants agreed that this technology can offer students first hand experiences they otherwise would never know and learning can be enhanced in various ways through VR/AR experiences. What matters most is to find the right time and place to implement this technology into the curriculum.

13 December Secondary holiday concert.

6 December

Over 200 secondary students performed a myriad of rock, jazz and classical music at the holiday concert.

‘Twas a Starry Night. All grade 3 drama club students performed merrily at this fun holiday show.

11 15 December Primary holiday assemblies. Holiday assemblies put us into a festive mood before the December break.

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ARTS AND CREATIVITY

Beatfreaked: an inspiring CIS tradition. As the show celebrates its 9th anniversary, we asked performers what makes beatfreaked so special. Words by CIS Communications In October, secondary students performed for a full house at Beatfreaked, the annual secondary school talent show. This incredible evening of talent included everything from piano solos to dancing, singing, and even magic tricks. This year marked Beatfreaked’s 9th anniversary. Whether it’s because of the spectacular performances or the exhilarating atmosphere, Beatfreaked is an event we look forward to every year. But what about the performers? What brings them back year after year? We asked a few performers to share their experiences and tell us what inspires them to participate. Ricca is a grade 12 student who played a captivating guitar solo of Nothing Else Matters by the rock band Metallica. Her interests lie in computer programming and game design, but she has a passion for music and it really shows. This was Ricca’s third

year performing at Beatfreaked, and she was delighted to see so many new faces on stage this year. In previous years Ricca was part of a group performance but this year she decided to challenge herself and play solo. Although she was very nervous, she is happy she will have another incredible memory of CIS when she graduates in May. Grade 11 student Nia sang a remarkable rendition of The Trouble with Men, by the late Amy Winehouse. Nia is just beginning what she hopes will be a long career as a performer. She came to CIS from another international school in Singapore because she wanted a strong music programme. She is studying music in the IB Diploma Programme and wants to continue her musical studies beyond secondary school. She is thrilled with the support she is receiving from CIS. She joined Beatfreaked because it is one of many opportunities CIS gives her to become a better performer. She plays with a

local band in Singapore and even has her own YouTube channel. Her best memory of Beatfreaked this year? Being able to perform with her father who played the drums! From the moment grade 10 student Victoria began her song, the audience was mesmerized. She sang an incredibly powerful rendition of Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You. She has played piano for many years but this year she decided to be a risk-taker and try something new. Victoria joined CIS in grade 7 from a local school. Her parents were looking for a school with a broad vision where Victoria would be encouraged to be open-minded, and to ask questions and reflect on her learning. Victoria’s favourite part of Beatfreaked was being able to meet new people and make new friends. Grade 9 student Maria came to CIS from Norway last year. This was her second year at Beakfreaked, and this year, she performed a very personal song that she composed herself. She felt privileged to be backed up by the CIS “teacher band”, and was thrilled to have the chance to perform on stage with her good friend Swara. There were over 30 performances this year at Beatfreaked, yet as usual the night ended far too soon. Students describe Beatfreaked as one of the most character building experiences of their young lives. It encourages them to try something new and helps them gain confidence. Thank you students for another memorable evening of entertainment. We hope to see you on stage again next year!

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ARTS AND CREATIVITY

Comments from Her Excellency Lynn McDonald, Canadian High Commissioner

CIS pianists perform at the National Museum of Singapore. CIS students were given an amazing opportunity to play the red Steinway concert grand piano that Chinese classical star Lang Lang played at Singapore’s 50th anniversary celebration. Words by Tom Anderson, MYP Music Teacher On Thursday 9 November, CIS music students served as CIS ambassadors at a reception co-sponsored by the Canadian High Commission, Embassy of Finland, and the Embassy of Singapore. The event called ‘Ice in the Tropics’ was part of a series of Arctic-themed events at the National Museum of Singapore to celebrate Canada’s 150th and Finland’s 100th birthdays, taking place from 9 November to 3 December. For this inaugural event, DP music students, Agnes Widjaja, Kaelen Anderson, Pei Jie Lim, Tyler Koh, and grade 7 music student, Mindy Huang played live music on the Singapore National Museum’s nine-foot Steinway concert grand piano. Supported by CIS faculty Ann Zellhoefer (MYP/DP music) and me (MYP music), students selected and performed their own musical repertoire. Students superbly rose to the occasion demonstrating excellence, responsibility, poise, 32

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

and polish, as their classical and contemporary selections entertained reception dignitaries and guests. The striking red Steinway concert grand piano was the same piano that Chinese classical star Lang Lang played on at the Sing50 mega concert at Singapore’s 50th anniversary celebration. The opportunity to play this stunning, one-of-a-kind concert grand piano was an experience our students will not soon forget!

Tyler Koh, grade 11, DP music Gustav Lange: Blumenlied Chopin: Piano Sonata in Bb Minor, Op. 35, 3rd Mvt. Pei Jie Lim, grade 11, DP music Chopin: Waltz in C-sharp Minor, Op.64, No.2 Debussy: La plus que lente Mindy Huang, grade 7 Chopin: Étude Op. 25, No. 2 Debussy: Arabesque No.1

Our students’ performances included the following repertoire: Agnes Widjaja, grade 12, DP music Liszt: Un Sospiro, from Trois études de concert No. 3 Liszt: Waldesrauschen, from Zwei Konzertetüden No. 1 Liszt: Liebesträum No. 3 Kaelen Anderson, grade 11, DP music Russell Crowe: Stars Coldplay: Everglow Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

ARTS AND CREATIVITY

“Thank you and your wonderful students for providing the music at our “Ice in the Tropics” reception at the National Museum of Singapore on 9 November. The students were excellent – as remarked on by many guests, including Minister of State Sam Tan! We really appreciate the superb contribution of the talented students from CIS at this event, so please do pass on our sincere thanks to them. All the best – and we look forward to our next opportunity to collaborate with CIS!”

ATHLETICS AND ACTIVITIES

Words by CIS Communications Earlier this month, TK grade 1 student Aline competed in a rhythmic gymnastics competition organised and hosted by Viktoria Karpenko - a two-time Russian national champion and the founder/ head coach of Karpenko Gymnastics Academy. More than 60 gymnasts competed during this one-day event and Aline came away with third place in her age group. A remarkable accomplishment for this young CIS athlete!

CIS Lakeside and TK teams have been active all season. Huskies fantastic cross country results. Words by Dean Monaghan, Head of Sports

Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport that combines elements of ballet, gymnastics and dance. In order to be successful, rhythmic gymnasts must have balance, flexibility, coordination, and strength, and they must also be able to compete under intense pressure, and have the discipline and work ethic to practice. Aline only started rhythmic gymnastics about 6 months ago but she is already demonstrating many of these characteristics. Aline will be competing again in Singapore in early 2018, and she is also determined to train and compete at the 2nd Emirates International Cup in Dubai in mid 2018.

The last week of September has been all about cross country. The hard work, the early morning trainings, the dedicated coaches and the determined runners came together nicely with many representatives running personal bests in the race. The UWCE Invitational Competition was held at Bedok Reservoir on Wednesday 20 September. In the 16U boys race, Jeremiah Neoh placed 10th, Harry Myung placed 20th, Sean Fan placed 21st, Grewal Singh placed 30th, Guru Nayak placed 31st and Ansh Nair placed 35th. With commendable results, our 16U boys placed 3rd out of 11 schools participating. In the 19U boys race, Mark Abbott placed 10th and Mandal Pradyut placed 27th to give CIS an overall team placing of 5th and in the 19U girls race, Anna Stewart placed 6th, Risa Machida placed 8th, Emilia Norwood placed 11th and Clancy MacDonald placed 14th with an overall team position of 3rd out of 5 schools.

She has been amazingly dedicated and motivated with her rhythmic gymnastics, looking up to her coaches, seeing what older children are able to accomplish, and pushing herself to improve. The diversity at CIS allowed Aline to find this sport through her friendship with a former CIS Russian classmate. Her parents also love the way that CIS PE, music and drama programmes allow Aline to express herself. They believe these specialty classes have helped her learn to actively participate, set goals for herself and keep a learning mindset. They are confident this educational approach will set her up well to succeed further in gymnastics outside school.

Coaches were very proud of everyone’s results. Almost everybody ran 3 - 5 minutes faster in this race than they did in the time trials, which was huge, especially considering our training didn’t provide a hilly workout! This was a vindication of the hard work you have been doing in training for the ACSIS championship race.

CIS Lakeside U11 football team are the champions! Words by Dean Monaghan, Head of Sports

The CIS Lakeside U11 football team became the champions of the 1st ESPZEN Primary School Festival U11 tournament held at Dulwich College Singapore on Sunday 24 September. The team won 4 out of their 5 games against some tough opposition from Holy Innocents Primary School, Overseas Family School, Stamford Primary School and runners up Shuqun Primary School. Congratulations U11 team and each and every one of the 10 players who represented CIS! (Arsène Gudin, Jake Folbigg, Kyra Taylor, Nils Vandersmissen, Jack Nordenskiöld, John Nordenskiöld, Tianlin (Steven) Zhao, Connor Whelan, Jai Shah, Yuto Hayashi)

Alya brings home a bronze. Words by CIS Communications

Congratulations to TK grade 4 student Alya who brought home a bronze medal from the 5th Daedo Taekwondo Open Championship in November. Hosted by the Singapore Taekwondo Federation, over 500 young taekwondo practitioners from Southeast Asia and Korea competed in this championship over two days. Alya started taekwondo when she was only 4 years old. Recently, at the age of 8, she successfully passed her 2nd Poom (2nd Black) belt grading. The 5th Daedo Taekwondo Open Championship was the first regional championship Alya attended. She is looking forward to participating in other national and international competitions in the near future. Best of luck Alya!

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

ATHLETICS AND ACTIVITIES

Sports.

Aline’s determination fuels a win!

ATHLETICS AND ACTIVITIES

CIS Lakeside and TK teams have been active all season. A CIS ball kid at WTA finals. Words by Kush Tummala, grade 8 student The BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore is an annual prestigious event where the top eight players in the Women’s Tennis Association all around the world compete to be the grand-champion. Ball kids (commonly known as ball boys or ball girls) are present in the WTA Finals to ensure that the matches run smoothly and quickly. Contrary to what most people believe, it is a very important job and requires an immense amount of concentration. In February 2017, I tried out to be a ball kid after my dad received an email from the WTA finals about the tryouts. At first, I was hesitant, but the promise of a life-changing experience and the chance to meet some WTA legends convinced me to volunteer to serve players in a sport I did not know how to play - I only like to play basketball, cricket, badminton and baseball. I was selected to be an official ball kid in March 2017, and training sessions took place very early most Saturday mornings leading up to the event in October. Training was very tedious, and I thought about quitting many times throughout the year but I persevered because I knew the experience would be incredible. And it was indeed! Once I was in the finals, I knew the tough training had been worth it! Even though we had 8 months worth of training to prepare us, I still felt very overwhelmed at my first match: Jelena Ostapenko vs Garbiñe Muguruza. We had to be careful not to distract the players and I knew that if I made any mistakes I would be removed from the court. It was extremely difficult to understand what the players wanted, as they would make very small gestures. For example, if a player wanted a towel, she would stare at the towel until a ball kid gave it to her. If they wanted a ball, they would just look at a ball kid, and say nothing. Sometimes, the player might look at a ball kid, even if she did not want a ball - this was very confusing. At one point, Venus Williams screamed, “Just give me the ball!” (I thought she was just glancing around). Luckily, the trainer didn’t notice and I wasn’t removed from the match! In the end, the experience was amazing and I loved (almost) every minute. I got to meet Caroline Garcia, Jelena Ostapenko, Caroline Wozniacki, Venus Williams, Elina Svitolina, Karolina Pliskova, Garbiñe Muguruza, Simona Halep, all the doubles players, Martina Navratilova, and Chris Evert. Although the training was difficult, I cannot wait for next year and I hope to see some familiar faces from CIS at the training. 36

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ATHLETICS AND ACTIVITIES

Sports.

Emil swings for gold at the Batam golf tournament Words by Sims Evers, Golf Programme Facilitator In November, the Lakeside CIS Huskies golf club competed in the first ever ACSIS golf tournament in Batam, Indonesia. Our golfers competed against players from seven other international schools in Singapore. I am so proud of all our golfers - they really put their heart into the game and showed no fear of taking on risks. Our goal with the tournament was not about winning, but in gaining some valuable experience and learning more about this challenging sport. At the end of the day Emil Thorling made us proud by winning gold medal in the 12-14U category! Thank you to Emil and his father Andreas Thorling for sharing their experiences during the golf tournament. Let’s hear about their golfing experience: Emil I started playing golf with my father towards the end of the summer of 2016. I got my green card (a basic golf certificate) and played one or two rounds, and then continued playing again the following summer. At first I didn’t really want to play in the Batam tournament since I thought everyone was going to be much better than me. I was super surprised and very happy that I won! My favourite part of the game (and my strongest) is chipping the ball up on the green because I feel so professional when the ball lands beside the flag. Before I started playing golf, I was amazed when I saw people do it on television and was surprised to find out that I could do it too! I do want to improve my putting because this is an area that can really hurt a golfer’s score. My favourite golf player is, of course, Henrik Stenson because he is the best Swedish player! Emil’s Father: Andreas CIS’ golfing programme was in important part of Emil’s tournament preparation because it allowed him to practice after school and to help out with the younger kids. He and I also spent some time together on the driving range, and played a practice round of golf at the Champions Golf Course, a public course near Bukit Timah. Golf is a wonderfully social game where you spend a lot of time together with your fellow golfers and, because of the handicap system, you can compete with each other regardless of your playing level. Now that Emil is interested in golf, I hope that I can play more often. I want Emil to have fun and play as much or as little as he wants and to really enjoy the game. In life, that is a big question. I would like him to continue to develop as a human being, have fun, meet interesting people and become the best person he can be. Most important of all, I want him to be happy and enjoy whatever he does.

Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

ATHLETICS AND ACTIVITIES

Words by CIS Communications The 34th National Age Group Chess Championship 2017 was held from 22 - 26 November at Singapore Expo. This standard chess championship is a prestigious annual event conducted by the Singapore Chess Federation, with eight games played over five consecutive days. Like every year, this year’s tournament attracted all top players from Singapore as well as numerous other Chess Federations like Malaysia, Philippines, China, India, England and USA – including players traveling to Singapore to participate.

It was a active and heart-pumping season TK ACSIS sports: Season 1 wrap-up. Words by Fabio Dogliotti, TK Sports Coordinator With the first competitive sports season complete, it is a pleasure to reflect back on all of the incredible successes our athletes experienced - both on and off the pitch and court. They showed incredible personal growth, and I am incredibly proud to have been a part of their journey.

Aditya put in an excellent performance winning five out of eight games, ranking an impressive 23rd out of 90 participants in the Open Under-10 age category and qualifying to join the Singapore High Performance Intermediate Squad. He also played an impressive game on table one against the top rated player. Great job, Aditya!

TK had two 9U soccer teams that showed great teamwork. Their collaboration resulted in some wins and although they didn’t make it to the top ranking, they put all their effort into the ACSIS finals. From beginning to end, our players showed strong commitment at each match.

Words by Dean Monaghan, Lakeside Head of Sports

Our 11U basketball girls team welcomed a few new players in Season 1. In the face of challenges, they demonstrated unity and focus, and most importantly enjoyed playing basketball every game.

With season 1 ACSIS Sports under our belt, it is time to reflect on another fantastic season of successes. The following results is where our secondary school teams finished off:

Congratulations to Mr Jamie Yorke’s 11U boys basketball team that came very close to winning the bronze medal in the ACSIS finals. They ended in the season in fourth place, but finished first in determination and grit!

14U Boys Badminton Division 2 - 1st 19U Girls Football Division 2 - 2nd 14U Girls Badminton Division 2 - 4th 19U Boys Football Division 3 - 3rd 14U Boys Rugby Division 1 - 4th 19U Girls Volleyball Division 1 - 3rd 16U Girls Football Division 1 - 1st 19U Boys Volleyball Division 1 - 2nd 16U Boys Football Division 1 - didn’t place 19U Girls Cross Country Team - 3rd 16U Girls Volleyball Division 1 - 6th

Ms Sarah Cole’s 12U girls badminton team had an impressive season. They won quite several games and ranked in sixth position within their team classification. The 12U badminton boys team showed strong commitment during the season and really improved their athletic techniques. Well done! Season 1 was a fabulous season for the 12U girls netball team. They demonstrated strength and determination against very strong teams, and won several important matches. The girls collaborated with great team spirit and effort.

A successful season 1 for Lakeside.

The ACSIS teams who placed 1st, 2nd or 3rd were presented their medals along with the Coach’s Choice and Most Valuable Player trophies at the grade 10-12 and grade 7-9 assemblies. Congratulations to all husky teams!

I was glad to watch the cross-country finals for the first time. Our athletes from grade 2 to grade 5 participated in a long distance run and all TK students completed the race course with pride. Thank you to students for their commitment, coaches for their dedication and many enthusiastic parents who have come out to support our players at different events between international schools. Congratulations to all!

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ATHLETICS AND ACTIVITIES

Sports.

Aditya’s achievement at the Singapore Nationals!

Student leaders explored the purpose of a student council and planned their long term goals during the September leadership retreat.

Words by Elissa Burns, Grade 12 student leader Our new student council grade representatives and committee members dedicated a weekend in mid-September to brainstorming the vision and goals of the year ahead. “Why do we have a student council?” became the leading question and theme of CIS’ 2017 student council leadership retreat. We began with the question of ‘why’ to start the conversation about our longterm goals and explore the purpose of a student council and our roles as student representatives. As we engaged in a variety of activities, learnt leadership skills and bonded as a community, we explored important issues including the importance of student advocates, how to improve school spirit, and building a better community. We learnt that being a good leader involves learning to work with others. We engaged in an exercise where we were stranded on the ocean and split into two teams. Our leaders were tasked with negotiating and agreeing upon the priority ranking of 15 items essential for survival. Harder than it seems, tensions rose as the ‘great chocolate debate’ reared its head. Is chocolate or shark repellant more important? By a majority of 1, chocolate won despite loud opposition. More important than victory, it became clear that the real message of the activity was how difficult, yet essential it is, to be a good leader. A fair leader is inclusive and understanding but capable of making difficult decisions without 100% agreement. Although our grade representatives and committee members made a valiant effort that deserves recognition, leadership is not something that can be mastered in two days. Ultimately, being a leader is more than just having a set of qualities, and the art of community building is not easily learnt. It’s a growing process of learning to fall and get back up, and it is an immense task to hand to students. Nonetheless, the leadership retreat concluded with students brimming with confidence, and the executive team has the utmost faith in the new student council members, and the numerous events and ideas that they have planned. Finally, I’ll finish off with words from our student council president, Mudra Kashyap: “It was amazing to see the enthusiasm student council members have to work with their peers to make their school experience more enjoyable and inviting. The plans they’ve made over this weekend will surely make this school year very exciting.” We all look forward to the new school year.

SERVICE AND LEADERSHIP

CIS teachers build houses and brighter futures. This year 17 CIS teachers traveled to the Kampong Cham province in Cambodia to build 8 houses.

Words by Kendra Jones and Michael Black, Community Outreach Coordinators

Scan this QR code to watch the video!

Each year, a group of teachers from CIS spend one week of their school break giving to those who are less fortunate, to help make our world a better place. This year, 17 of us (along with some family and friends) traveled to Kampong Cham province in Cambodia to build eight houses with the Tabitha Foundation. Tabitha and its founder, Janne Ritskes, encourage Cambodian families to join their “Savings Program”, providing them with the support to help them save their money and break the cycle of poverty. Tabitha partners with these families for 5-7 years, during which time they achieve 4 to 6 dream items per year, the ultimate one being a house! The eight families we built houses for now have a dry shelter and are on the path to financial independence. This was a humbling experience and we thank everyone who supported us in assisting these families in need. If you’d like to know more about how the Tabitha Savings Program works, scan the qr code and watch the video above. While in Cambodia, we also visited the People Improvement Organization (PIO) school in Phnom Penh that gives free education to children in need. At the PIO school, we gave students a watermelon treat and spent time in

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SERVICE AND LEADERSHIP

Why do we have a student council?

grade 1 and 2 classrooms teaching children how to make a yarn and bead craft. CIS has worked with the PIO school for over 12 years now, and it’s wonderful to see the impact of our support during this time. There are now over 1300 children receiving free education at the PIO school. The school’s founder, Phymean Noun knows that education is a fundamental right for all children and the key to a better life. If you’d like to learn more about Phymean’s story and work, scan the qr code and watch the video above. CIS staff and students have made some wonderful contributions during the time we have been working with Tabitha and the PIO school. Our goal is to build a school with Tabitha in the near future. In poor rural areas of Cambodia there is still a shortage of schools and less than 40% of children receive any primary education. We are so fortunate at CIS and we’d like to take action and share our good fortune with others. Stay tuned for a CIS event in which you can also contribute to our goal of building a school with Tabitha. Let’s ensure that all children have the experience of an education - together we can make a difference!

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SERVICE AND LEADERSHIP

Green Machine’s e-waste project. Do you know about the electronic waste initiative on Lakeside campus? Words by Leonor Mengoli Lopes, Green Machine student member

Teachers connect and learn at PYP Connect. On November, 23 CIS teachers led workshops on math, literacy, STEAM and educational technology for educators in Singapore. Did you know that Singapore throws away 6 million kg of electronic waste every year and only a fraction of it is recycled properly? Last year during Earth Week, CIS students watched a video on electronic waste (e-waste) which had a great impact. Meenakshi Sundaram Sakthikumar got interested in the topic and decided to do something about it so he asked secondary Language and Literature teacher Ms Hallam if they could help with this cause and then came up with the idea to collect e-waste at school. Through a student led project, our school has teamed up with Starhub, DHL and TES-AMM (a global expert in IT lifecycle services) to put a RENEW bin (RENEW stands for REcycling Nation’s Electronic Waste) in the Lakeside atrium near the old vive cafe. What happens with the collected 42

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Words by Kirsty Kelly, TK PYP Coordinator

electronics? Secondary Science teacher Mr Broadhead explains, “they are disassembled and the different parts are then sold so they can be recycled for use in new products”. The reason why we don’t want to throw away electronics is because the materials used to make the electronics can be poisonous. The electronics might leak or emit into the environment, damaging plant and animal life and generally contributing to pollution in Singapore.

Teachers are by nature lifelong learners. They are constantly looking to improve their skills and explore new ideas. On Saturday, 18 November, 150 PYP educators gathered at the CIS TK campus, for the 5th PYP Connect event, a series of Saturday morning workshops presented by, and for PYP teachers from Singapore and Malaysia.

If you would like to help our planet, instead of throwing your electronics away, put them in the RENEW Bin on the first floor. The renew bin will recycle the electronics such as computers, CDs, phones, wires, and chargers. Please only put electronics inside the bins and nothing else. You can also help outside of school. You can start by raising awareness about throwing your electronics in the renew bins on your social media pages.

Seventeen different workshops led by 23 CIS teachers were offered in two sessions across a range of professional interest areas. These included educational technology, supporting ELL students, inquiry, STEAM, professional collaboration, assessment, mathematics, and literacy. Though not an official International Baccalaureate organisation (IBO) event, participants were welcomed by Monita Sen, the IBO’s Regional School Services Manager for Authorisation.

Monita then attended workshops alongside PYP teachers, coordinators and administrators. It certainly was a day of learning - even break time offered opportunities to learn, as teachers made connections with colleagues from other schools and shared information about their planning, teaching and assessments. They also checked out displays of teaching resources and children’s books published by author Jamie Yorke, a TK teacher. PYP Connect’s participants and influence is growing every year. So much so that this year, the PYP Connect was the number one trending story on Twitter in Singapore at 10am that day. This shows that we are connecting digitally and globally with other educators beyond the region. Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

An ESS perspective. The trip to Pulau Tioman was an unforgettable experience. As attempting ecological fieldwork in Singapore is nearly impossible, having the opportunity to explore an island with much less disturbance allowed us to investigate the authentic ecosystem of a tropical rainforest - one we had only read about in textbooks.

OUTDOOR LEARNING

Our DP grade 12 geography, biology and environmental systems & societies students actively applied classroom learning on Tioman Island. Words by Michelle Lee, Nur Karadayi, and Piers Tainsh - DP science and geography teachers and Marie-Claire Jalaguire DP geography student and Sundaram Sakthi Kumar DP science student Field work in the DP presents a unique opportunity to actively apply classroom learning. Our grade 12 geography, biology and environmental systems and societies (ESS) students spent a week on Tioman island (Malaysia) in September to do just this. The purpose of the trip was to investigate a range of different ecosystems and the impact of human disturbances on them. It provided students with the opportunity to carry out the sampling techniques studied in the classroom, and to put these skills into practice in the field. Students hiked through primary and secondary rainforests, freshwater streams and mangroves, and snorkeled across the Tioman coral reef. The trip also allowed students to complete their IA (internal assessment), a core requirement of the DP. Students’ IA topics are diverse and ranged from the impact of humans on the biodiversity of freshwater organisms, frequency of waving in fiddler crabs in the mangroves, comparison of biodiversity in primary and secondary rainforests and the effects of disturbance on the re-opening time of mimosa. While the week was challenging physically, it was also rewarding. It was full of new experiences and allowed students to connect and apply their knowledge and understandings in a real-world context. A geography student’s perspective. In the first part of the trip, geography students had the opportunity to snorkel at 3 different sites to collect data on the health of coral reefs. Spending 6 hours in the water and under the sun was well worth it since everywhere we turned there were beautiful and diverse corals and marine species (even reef sharks)! The second part of the internal assessment (IA) involved investigating tourism in the coastal towns near the reefs we visited. We explored our research question about how tourism in coastal towns is influenced by the quality of coral reefs using both onshore and offshore data collection methods. We also spent time enriching our case study on coastal

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management strategies and how the Malaysian government has established Tioman as a marine park to encourage sustainable tourism. Overall, Tioman was an enriching learning experience that expanded our field research skills. Furthermore, our knowledge has been enhanced even further when we were able to connect and apply what we learnt in class to what we see in the real world around us. All in all, the trip was amazing; I am so lucky to have experienced it with great peers and the most inspiring geography teacher! Biology students’ perspectives. In the first two days, we learnt about different ecosystems such as the mangroves, fresh waters, rainwater and intertidal zones. All these ecosystems were interesting and different from each other. We had great opportunities to perform some of the methods in each zone. For example, in the rainforest, we set up transects and studied about biodiversity, light intensity and the height of the trees. We got the unique

experience of trying out these different methods we had learnt in class. After a busy hands-on two days of investigation, biology students got to do their IA’s in one of their chosen ecosystems. Internal Assessment is an important part of IB where students are meant to conduct an experiment ( for science-related IA’s), and write a report on it, which is worth 20 percent of our final grade. With extended essay, TOK essay, and other subjects IA’s coming all together, being able to finish our IA’s in Tioman was a great opportunity. My IA was on the abundance of molluscs in the disturbed and undisturbed area of the intertidal zone. Those of us who conducted the experiment in the intertidal zone had to wake up at 2 am due to the low tide. Despite the difficulty of waking up very early, it was well worth it as studying the area in the dark was a whole new experience for Tristan, my partner who did a different study, and me.

The ESS portion of the excursion included informative presentations on the biomes of the world, conservation strategies, and hands-on investigation methods for our IAs. We also had the chance to go snorkeling, trek through a rainforest and mangroves, and go on a night walk to observe nocturnal animals in their natural habitat. As for me, this trip provided a look into what work in the field would look like, a more complex understanding of our impacts on the environment, and what the future may look like if we do not take the time to act against these impacts.

On our last day on the island after finishing our experiments we had some snorkeling time in the ocean. This was my first time seeing different corals and some lucky people even saw sharks! Being in our final year at CIS, this was our last school trip filled with great memories, new skills and knowledge and a lot of fun times with great people! By Jasmine Smith I’ve been at CIS for nearly 7 years and have participated in an excursion trip every year across Asia. Although I’ve loved every excursion, our recent trip to Tioman stood out. I’ve never worked as hard as I did in the 5 days we were there, working more than 12 hours each day. I was exhausted - yet truly inspired. The ecologists who guided and educated us inspired me with their passion. Tioman has really changed my perspective about the world we live in and the way we treat it. All in all, it was a genuinely ‘awakening’ experience. The trip allowed me to take a break from my school routine and work in an environment surrounded by nature and rarity. By Mabel Balhuizen Tioman was an unforgettable, adventurous experience! The first 3 tough days were so worth it as we all left inspired by being exposed to environmental issues that are threatening the world. As we visited a range of ecosystems, we gained more knowledge about how the small changes we have made can positively contribute to these

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OUTDOOR LEARNING

A field trip to Tioman Island.

beautiful ecosystems. Never have I been exposed to such environments nearby, and my awareness for the importance of these ecosystems has changed completely.

STUDENT VOICE

IN Exhibition: a student perspective. Secondary student Gayatri discovered a whole new meaning to the word “diversity” at the recent IN exhibition.

Words by Gayatri Ary Mahadewi, CIS student artist

The IN exhibition sees student artists from 14 leading international schools in Singapore and Malaysia come together, and it is an excellent opportunity for us to express and showcase our individuality through our own style of artwork. I thought I knew all there was to know about diversity because CIS brings together such unique cultures and perspectives in art. However, when I arrived at the exhibition, I discovered a whole other meaning to the word “diversity” and I was honoured to be a part of it. The breadth of diversity at the exhibit is highlighted through the display of three of my artworks, which were “Displacement of Id”, “The Never-Wake-Up Berry”, and “Wait in Gold”, in the form of collages and sculptures. These art pieces follow the theme of “Absence and Presence”, where I aimed to demonstrate the contrasts of what is present and what is not. “Displacement of Id” is a paper mache sculpture that represents the absence of one’s identity through a hollowed body. “The Never-WakeUp Berry” is composed of a series of collages that embody the idea of corruption of one’s innocence. “Wait in Gold” consists of many sculptures formed from broken ceramics and paper mache, in which gold foil was placed on the joints to signify the importance of time in one’s recovery from pain. I am thrilled to be a part of IN and I am looking forward to exhibiting my work at the DP art exhibition at CIS in March! 46

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Alex tells Expat Living about her CIS experience and how her education prepared her for university and inspired her to give back to the global community.

Scan this QR code to read the article from Expat Living!

Words by CIS Communications

ALUMNI

anjong Katong: T Connecting the generations. TK nursery student, Lara Melwani has a remarkable connection to TK’s past through her grandmother, Vidya Hassomal who went to Tanjong Katong Girls’ School, the school that occupied the TK campus for over 40 years.

Words by CIS Communications they want for Lara”, Ms Hassomal says. “They don’t want her spending her entire day closed up in a classroom.

process and relate information, and to communicate and collaborate with others who have different skillsets and viewpoints. I’ve managed to meet up with CIS graduates in Singapore, and in unexpected places including Canada, South Korea and Mexico. One of the wonderful things about going to an international school is that by the time you graduate you have a global network of friends.

”Ms Hassomal had the chance to visit TK in May during our celebration of outdoor classroom day. It was a real “trip down memory lane” for her. She has wonderful memories of her childhood and her time at Tanjong Katong Girls’ School. Although she noticed that the school has changed in many ways, the main building where the classes were held still looks much the same. The garden and play area in the centre of the school was an indoor field and she remembers attending sports events and PE classes there.

Did you go on to university?

Tell us about your school days. Though my parents are from Canada, I was born in London and I also spent some years in South Africa as a young child and in Singapore as a teenager. Defining “home” was always complicated for me: I never felt entirely “Canadian”, “British” or anything else. I feel fortunate to have experienced many different places and to find it easy to get along with people from all over the world. During my last year of high school, I went on a trip to Cambodia. Learning about the country’s turbulent history was challenging, and there was also a service component that included visiting orphanages and building houses. In my gap year, I ended up volunteering at one of the orphanages we visited during that trip; that year really set me on the path I’m still on. I was one of the last to graduate from CIS with an Ontario High School diploma – it’s since been replaced by the International Baccalaureate – and I was also awarded the Governor General’s medal for the highest grade point average. Interestingly, I graduated with the same diploma as my mother did, yet on the other side of the world, and having never actually lived in Canada at that point! At CIS, I learned how to work with others in an international setting and how to engage critically with information, as opposed to just passively ingesting and regurgitating facts. It’s becoming more critical than ever to learn how to 48

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ALUMNI

Up close and personal with alum Alex Knott.

Yes, my degree was from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, and I spent one of my four years on exchange at Koç University in Istanbul, Turkey. For my postgraduate degree, I studied Anthropology at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London (completed 2016), with a focus on International Development. Initially I had no idea what to study, but I couldn’t have imagined a better course! What are you doing now? I work with a US-based NGO called Omprakash – it’s online, so I can work from anywhere, which in the past year has included Vancouver, India, Hawaii and New York. Omprakash aims to help its 166 inter national partner organisations in more than 40 countries to find volunteers, interns, researchers and donors to support their efforts. I liaise with new and existing partner NGOs and am a mentor for their ethical global engagement program. Where do you hope to be in 10 years? Many of the things I’ve done in the past 10 years have been the result of chance encounters and unexpected opportunities. So, while I have no idea what may be in store for me next week, let alone in ten years, all I can hope is that I continue to be open to what life has to offer, to challenge myself and to continue to grow as a person, in all facets of life. Alex Knott Nationality: British and Canadian Lives in: US School: Canadian International School, 2008-2009 Year of Graduation: 2009, Ontario Secondary School Diploma

This year, Tanjong Katong, our east coast “heritage” campus, celebrates its 10th birthday. Although many students from TK’s inaugural class are now scattered around the globe, we continue to welcome a new generation of TK students every year. In August the number of students expanded as we opened our new nursery programme for two year olds. One of these youngest additions to the TK family was a 2-year old student, Lara Melwani who has a remarkable connection to TK’s past: Lara’s grandmother, Vidya Hassomal was a secondary student at the Tanjong Katong Girls’ School, the school that occupied the TK campus for over 40 years, until 1994. The Tanjong Katong Girls’ School was established in January 1953 with seven classes, 250 students, and ten teachers. It was the first post-war government English girls’ school built in colonial Singapore. Vidya Hassomal attended the school from 1965 to 1969. Ms Hassomal was born in the Tanjong Katong neighbourhood and lived in Singapore until she married and moved to the Canary Islands, Spain. She raised two sons in Spain. They attended university in the UK and stayed on to work in London. Four years ago, her youngest son Mohit and his wife Ridhi decided to leave London and move to the east, settling in Singapore. Their daughter Lara was born in Singapore two years later. When it came time to select a school for Lara, they chose TK because of its exceptional outdoor play spaces. When they visited TK, they fell in love with the Outdoor Discovery Centre (ODC). The ODC is “exactly what

Not all of Vedya’s memories of the campus are pleasant. Back in the 1960’s none of the classrooms were air conditioned and she has not forgotten how hot the classrooms were! She and her friends used to stop in at the Katong News Agency across the road after school to buy little knick knacks and stationery, etc. When Ms Hassomal visited TK, she was delighted to find the store is still in business - run by the same owners! At CIS, we believe it is important to foster connections with our local community. Each year TK hosts the Tanjong Katong Girls School Secondary 1 classes. Maintaining strong ties to their history and traditions is very important to them. During their visit, the girls spend time with former students and teaching staff, tour the campus, and learn what it was like to be on the original campus. It is an event that our principals and teaching staff look forward to each year, as they gain new insights and information about the history of the TK site. Life has brought Ms Hassomal “full circle”. She now feels she has more reason to visit Singapore than ever before. We look forward to welcoming Ms Hassomal back for another visit to TK and hope she will share more of her memories with us. Meanwhile, Lara is settling into her new learning environment where our inquiry, play-based teaching approach nurtures her curiosity and allows her to explore, investigate and imagine. She has already become part of our TK family. Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

A gap year does not mean a gap in learning... it can be a challenging and rewarding one. Words by CIS Communications was confident CIS would challenge Manas and give him the opportunity to grow and to explore his own interests beyond the classroom. According to Manas, that’s exactly what happened. At CIS he was encouraged to pursue his passions - to go beyond the syllabus and think big. The school helped him take ownership of the learning process and prepared him for the real world challenges that laid ahead.

While his fellow CIS secondary school graduates were entering their first year of university, Manas Biju was beginning his job as a research assistant at the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Nanyang Technological University (NTU). Manas is one of many CIS students who have experienced the benefits of taking a “gap year” between graduation and university. Taking a year off before going to university has become so popular that dozens of books have been published on how to get the most out of a gap year, including books for parents on how to help their children benefit from taking time off before university. As Manas’ experiences demonstrates, a gap year does not mean a gap in learning. Students who take a break from structured academics often continue the learning process, just in a different format. Students choose to take a gap year for many reasons. Some want to follow a passion, others want to become immersed in another culture. Others are not yet ready for university. Students who take a gap year are said to gain experience and maturity, and to be more independent, and self-directed. A gap year can help them acquire new skills and perspectives. It can offer a chance to focus on a particular area of interest in a hands on way. That is exactly what Manas did. Manas was only 14 years old, and the youngest student in grade 11, when he joined CIS in 2014 and began the two year Diploma Programme. His father had visited several schools in Singapore before choosing CIS for his son. He 50

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ALUMNI

From IB to university - Alum Shubhra’s successful transition. Words by CIS Communications a 2.5 hour train ride apart, and they are able to visit each other twice a month. When asked about her time at CIS, Shubhra remembers the support and guidance she received from her teachers when applying to universities. Michael Broadhead was one of the CIS teachers who inspired her. His passion for the subject he taught (chemistry) and his love of animals and a vegan lifestyle. Shubhra’s grade 7 math teacher Mr Wood gave her some golden advice before her college interview. He simply said, “you know you deserve this school, don’t be nervous. They’ll be foul not to have you. Let them know you’re meant to be there. They’ll see it.” Shubhra indeed had a fantastic time at her admissions interview, the time allocated was 15 minutes, her interview lasted 40!

While he worked towards his IB diploma, he balanced his studies with his passion for robotics and computer science. In January 2015, Manas was a keynote speaker at CIS’ 2nd annual Code Avengers Code Camp, showcasing his experience in these two areas. He inspired younger students by talking about his love of coding. He did this while demonstrating his unique remote controlled vehicle - one he had designed and programmed to move in a unidirectional way. Unlike traditional driving methods, the vehicle knew where “front” was, based on the position of the operator rather than front always being the front of the car. Graduating at age 16, Manas felt he was too young to leave home for university overseas and he wanted to finish a few projects he had put on hold while he completed his IB studies. This included a robotics project to create a radiocontrolled sphere. While in the midst of his IB exams in May 2016, Manas was invited to apply for a position in the Materials Science Division at NTU. There, he collaborated with Professor Rajkumar Pant of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay in Mumbai on the design and development of an indoor airship (“blimp”) that could operate on its own, by maintaining a safe distance and avoiding obstacles in an indoor hall. Watch the integration and flight testing of the airship. Manas co-authored a paper with Professor Pant and they presented the results of their research and development at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics’ Lighter-Than-Air Systems Technology Conference in Denver, Colorado this June. Last month, Manas began his studies at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, home to one of the top 5 computer science programs in the United States. There, he will walk in the footsteps of such notable alumni as the founders of YouTube and PayPal and the creator of JavaScript. Manas plans to major in computer science and pursue his interests in physics and economics. We are incredibly proud of Manas and know that great things lay ahead for him.

ALUMNI

An extraordinary gap year.

CIS 2015 graduate Shubhra Ojha is studying veterinary medicine at the Royal Veterinary College, University of London in the UK. With a solid 43 IB score, she was an exemplary student both academically and socially. When asked about the transition from IB DP to university, Shubhra shared that hers was a smooth one, but that this was not the case for her new friends who came from nonIB schools. The lab experiments she conducted and the reference lab reports she wrote at CIS really prepared for her university coursework. Additionally, CIS’ approach to developing students’ presentation skills and the capacity to engage with an audience from an early age gave her an edge compared to her peers.

Shubhra describes the CIS community as her “greater family”. She and her friends developed strong bonds over the years - through excursions, shared classes and activities year after year. She is still in touch with many of her CIS friends. They arrange frequent reunions, if not in Singapore, then somewhere else around the world. Shubrha shared that after a CIS education, it feels like you have family everywhere! After she graduates from university, Shubrha plans to have a mixed veterinary practice specialising in both farm and small animals in the UK for a few years. After she’s gained some international experience, she is keen to return back to Singapore and focus on small animals - which is where her real passion lies. We wish Shubrha the best of luck in her future endeavors, and we can’t wait to hear more from her in the future.

Shubhra found both the learning and social environment at Royal Veterinary College an easy one to transition to. There were two key factors that were instrumental in her transition: the university has the largest international student community of all the veterinary schools in the UK; and CIS and the IB had prepared her to be responsible for herself and her learning. There is afterall no one to remind students to do their homework or to study after class at university. Shubhra’s biggest challenge as an international university student has been being away from her family and home in Singapore. When she lived in Singapore, she and her twin sister (another successful CIS alum) used to share a bedroom. Fortunately, both girls study in the UK and are just

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COUNSELLING

Testimonials on university visits Mudra Kashyap - grade 12 The opportunity to apply to a university anywhere in the world is an exhilarating possibility. Yet, it also creates uncertainties about embracing a completely new environment and lifestyle, particularly if you haven’t had the chance to visit a university or city in person. Fortunately, the numerous university visits we’ve had this year have helped alleviate such nerves and answered many questions. I really enjoyed all the university visits I’ve attended, as the personal conversations helped me grasp the ‘feel’ of a university better than any website I had previously accessed. Based on my research, I had interpreted the QMUL (Queen Mary University of London) vibe as quite formal. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the jovial and friendly nature of the lecturer when he attended our school. Such visits were also an excellent way to establish a personal relationship with the admissions officers, which can later be continued via email. Thus, I was able to receive personalised advice on the details of the courses I was considering. Attending university visits are definitely useful in helping gauge one’s compatibility with a university, and in humanising the admissions process.

CIS DP students attend university visits on campus. Students learn about different universities, the application process and the type of students these universities are looking for. Words by Karel de Cock, University Advisor University representatives visit high schools all over the world with the sole purpose of promoting and informing students and parents about their institution and the different programs available.

who visit our school and regional education exhibitions/ fairs. These events are advertised on the Career & University Guidance page of My.CIS, where you can register. Parents are more than welcome to attend university visits as well.

These visits are a great opportunity to learn about the university, the application process and the type of students they are looking for. In some cases, the representative may also be the person reading your application, so you should treat the conversation as a potential interview if you plan on applying to that institution.

It is important that you make the most of the visits by asking questions. You should organise your questions into categories to ensure that you receive a well rounded perspective of the institution.

From September until the Christmas break, many higher education institutions from around the world will visit CIS. These professionals can sometimes provide you with ideas about other colleges, similar programmes or career opportunities after graduation. Keep an open mind and take advantage of the wide variety of university representatives 52

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Meet with as many representatives as possible even if you are not particularly interested in the institution. Not every university can visit our campus or fly to Singapore. The more you learn about all kinds of possible options, the better your decision-making will be at the end. Here are some comments from students who have already attended some university visits at CIS:

Molly Laycock - grade 12 My name is Molly Laycock and I am interested in studying psychology in university. I decided to go to a few of the many university visits at CIS because I wanted to get a feel for what kind of students each university was looking for, therefore getting a better understanding of my fit within the university. I am glad that I attended these university visits as they have given me the chance to look into new universities that I have previously never thought about, as well as allowing me to cross of universities that I did not feel connected to. One of the main things that I liked about the visits was that I was able to ask any broad or personal questions to the university admissions officers. To any student on the fence about the university visits, I would definitely recommend going to at least one! Raj Deshpande - grade 11 I attended the European universities visit where I learnt more about German universities which I have not considered before. Going to this visit was certainly helpful as I got a better insight as to what the universities have to offer, what the structure of the subjects are, the layout of the programme, and about the surroundings of the university. I also got to learn about the fact that the two universities that I looked at, teach the entire course in English, and do not require any proficiency in German beforehand. What I liked about the visit was that I got to talk one-to-one with representatives of the university and help clear some doubts that I had regarding the programme or any entry requirements. The visit did help me understand the path of study I was to take in the coming years, in the form of what courses I should take in order to arrive at my field of career. Overall, the universities visit enabled me to discover two new universities and helped me get an understanding of what it means to study in Germany. For anyone wanting to find new universities, going to such visits will definitely help. Canadian International School • Mosaic@CIS

COUNSELLING

• What are your best hopes for your child at the age of 25? • How about this coming February, what will you be seeing in them when they are thriving? • What about right now? Where do you already see your child thriving? Glimmers? Moments? • Finally, what are just a few of the ways you support this, and one small thing you can add or take away to move forward? The energy in the room when discussing what is going well and a small change to make was amazing! And the list! The list that parents came up with was inspiring and included:

Singapore without scaring them • how to encourage responsibility • cultural awareness • bullying • helping children cope with peer pressure and how parents can respond • only children and relationships. If you have any questions about this talk or counselling at TK, please look for me in room D104 or email me at phil.meehan@cis.edu.sg.

• Finding opportunities to give kids a chance to do more and take on more responsibility • Letting our child make choices, living with those choices and allowing them to also live the consequences • Keeping our own anxiety or worries in check • Finding ways to teach financial responsibility One insight that was shared by a number of parents was that supporting doesn’t mean “more things for me to do”. For example, by giving a child responsibility for appropriate tasks (packing their own bag, making their lunch, preparing their breakfast etc…) the child feels empowered, less anxious, and parents can check off items from the family “to-do” list. To be fair, this takes discussion around what is appropriate and the consequences if it doesn’t happen, planning for success and preparing for the unexpected as well as teaching skills (sandwich making, perhaps!). It also includes parents giving up some control, but the benefits, in terms of self esteem, positive mental health and building maturity continue to add up. Scan the QR code to watch this great TED talk.

From coping to thriving. The first counsellor’s chat at TK focused on what parents can do more or less of to help their children thrive.

I will be holding a series of counselling chats on the first Friday of the month. Topics that parents said they would like to explore are: • • • •

sibling rivalry and competition dealing with money and teaching financial literacy carving out the time with each child how to prepare kids for life outside of the safe bubble of

Words by Phil Meehan, TK Counsellor Thirty parents participated in the first counsellor’s chat at TK. The focus of the session was on how to help our children thrive; more to the point, on what we as parents can do more or less of, to help their children thrive. In today’s busy world we are all looking for the simplest and best answers to our questions. Personally, I rarely book a trip without looking at Tripadvisor or drive across Singapore without checking the traffic on Google Maps first. The challenge with this is that too often these days we are looking outside of ourselves, even in areas where we are the experts. The hope with this session was to have parents who attended take some time to reflect on what they want to see in their children, and recognise some of the amazing things that they are already doing to help those things come about. 54

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Scan this QR code to watch the video!

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COUNSELLING

The talk started with the following four questions:

COUNSELLING

Wondering how to help your child cope with stress amidst constant change? Our school psychologists shared insights at a recent parent workshop. Words by Dr Mifrando Obach, Psychologist, Head of Student Support Services, and Kristy Finlay, Secondary Counsellor

A third way is to give our autonomic nervous system “time-off” by choosing to schedule “moments of silence” as part of our daily life routine. Physiologically, the brain needs time to rebound and to recharge its “cognitive batteries” from daily stressors. This can be accomplished by doing mindfulness exercises, meditating, practicing tai chi or yoga, dancing or even something as simple as walking quietly in the park or on the beach.

One of the challenges faced by children and young people in today’s world of rapid and constant change is how to manage the resulting stress that is part of their daily life. In and of itself, stress is not a negative thing. Some level of stress propels us to growth (referred to as eustress), but when it becomes too much or too constant, it becomes debilitating (distress). On Tuesday 21 November our school counsellors, Gaius Tan (PreK to grade 3), Kristy Finlay (grades 7-12) and our school psychologist, Dr Mifrando Obach directly addressed this issue during their parent info session, “Fostering Resilience and Grit among our Children and Youth.” 1 Our bodies developed a physiological and behavioral response to stress that is often referred to as the “fight or flight response”. This response is an adaptive function that allows us to survive in the face of a significant stressor, such as a life-threatening

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event. However, it is less adaptive in the face of modern day stressors such as being caught in a traffic jam on the way to work or sitting down to write an exam. And at a time when change is the new normal, and as it is happening more quickly than in the past, the body’s capacity to adapt to the modern day stressors is pushed to the limit and exhausts its system, resulting in weakened immune system, less psychological well-being, disease, and even, in extreme cases, death.

These three factors have been proven to enhance our ability to be resilient. That capacity to bounce back after a significant stressor (or setback) is experienced. Parents can nurture to develop this resilience among their children in the face of daily stressors by providing a family structure (“social support”) with consistent expectations and predictable outcomes.

COUNSELLING

Fostering resilience and GRIT.

stressful events that stem from selfdefeating thoughts (“beliefs”) to more positive perspectives decreases the occurrence of negative emotional responses associated with stress. For example, rather than thinking of an upcoming presentation as yet another demonstration of how awkward you are at public speaking, it is more helpful to think of it more as just another opportunity to share knowledge. Such change in perspective will change the level of anxiety the presentation provokes in you. Learning how to view stressors in a more positive, less threatening light, can greatly enhance our ability to deal with the events of day-to-day life.

It is better, however, to model and to teach them that how to talk to themselves when faced with these negative experiences. These experiences of failure or blocked goals are opportunities for them to understand their own beliefs about failure or frustration, to learn that they can change these beliefs, and to choose to get back up and to continue pursuing what they want to pursue. This is what Angela Duckworth, an American psychologist, refers to as GRIT. Grit refers to the characteristic that enables people to persevere and to pursue one’s passion. In her research, Duckworth discovered that grit is a better predictor of success than IQ, financial status, or education. She posits that grit is best fostered when parents and caregivers have high expectations for their children accompanied by a warm and supportive parenting style. And these high expectations must be consistent with what their children are passionate about. Without passion for an inspiring goal, it is difficult for them to persevere when they experience the inevitable bumps in the road. Finally, Duckworth reminded us that “grit is living life like it’s a marathon and not a sprint”! *Ms Afizah Ahmad (grades 4-6 counsellor) was instrumental in the planning of this session, but was unfortunately unable to present.

In a world that is highly mobile, it is comforting for students to have dependable social structures they can lean on. As parents, our instinct is to protect our children from negative experiences in life.

The good news is that we can augment and moderate our body’s responses to modern day stressors including mobility. Human beings have evolved to become social animals and research has shown us that social support is one way to bolster our adaptive response to stress. Another way to cope is to use the capacity of our evolved brains. Learning to change how we view

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