IGB International School’s Weekly Newsletter - Issue 165. Week 4. September 2018.
Day of Play ~ Pg. 4
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Message from Head of School Dear IGBIS Parents and Community Members, The ‘Day of Play’ was a fantastic success with close to 150 parents and children having a wonderful time playing with paint, Lego, cardboard, technology, rocks and all sorts of things! Thanks are extended to Ms Aga and her team of helpers for organising the event.
Over the coming weeks we plan to tell you more about the academic pathways at IGBIS. Gaining accreditation with the Council of International Schools (CIS) and the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) has meant that a third option is available for students who complete their IGBIS education in Grade 12: the IGBIS High School Diploma, recognised in the USA and a number of other countries, including Malaysia. More on this topic next week. I’m looking forward to attending the PVO ‘Aloha’ evening at the Valencia Golfers Terrace on Saturday night and hope to many of our parents, staff and IGBIS friends there as well. Have a wonderful weekend ahead!
Anne Fowles Head of School
News from Secondary School Dear parents, I visited quite a few classrooms this week, as part of the "learning walkthroughs" we do across the school. The range and quality of the learning experiences students were taking part in was fascinating to see, and an excellent example of why an IB education is so impactful on students. In these brief visits, I saw Diploma students giving dramatic interpretations of historical events, others who were creating visual renditions of their personal history, students staging Greek dramatic performances using authentic materials (please see Ms Blake's excerpt in this week's newsletter for more information on this example), and still others using their thinking skills to formulate complex questions about the concept of change as it occurs and is reflected in societies. What an exciting week!
questions they may have. These are good listening sessions for me, where I can hear feedback from parents, or provide clarity on specific items. The Kopitiams with the SS Principal will occur at the following dates, always taking place in the PVO room from 8:15 - 8:45. October 5th, November 2nd and December 7th Sincerely yours,
Michael Arcidiacono Secondary School Principal
The work of our students inspires me, and so does their interactions with each other. We welcomed a few new students into Secondary this week and the way in which our student community invites new members in is a critical element to the fulfilling part of our mission, to be caring global citizens. When students are new, change can be a little bit scary, as they prepare for the big first day (for them) of school. That our student ambassadors and all students more generally are so welcoming really helps to ease the transition of those who join us mid-way through the year. Looking forward, we will begin having Kopitiams with the Principals, and I invite all parents to come along with any
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News from Elementary School We had a fabulous turn out of children and parents last Saturday at our ‘Day of Play.’ We estimated that there were approximately 150 participants and the engagement level was extremely high. Some families were creating with Lego, others creating wonderful family community pictures on the ‘family mural’, the invisible canvas was a novelty and the rock painting was a definite hit with some very detailed creative designs. Naturally the cardboard creations brought a variety of ideas to a constructed reality. Thank you to all those who came out; we truly appreciate you playing and being a part of our IGBIS community. A huge thank you goes to Ms. Aga and her team of helpers who guided everyone as they engaged with the different play stations. Saturday was a very busy morning as we had quite a number of prospective families arrive to view our school on our Open Day. The families loved the atmosphere of the Day of Play and had high praise for our facilities. We now hope that they will choose us as an educational establishment for their children. This week we have had a number of teachers from At Tamimi Islamic International School spend time in the Elementary classes to ‘shadow’ our PYP teachers to learn from the wealth of experience that we have at IGBIS. Their focus in particular has been how we teach the students through an inquiry-based approach. In talking to them at the end of each day they have been thrilled with the experience and have learned a lot. They are now looking forward to trying to apply what they have learned in their own context. We wish them all the best on their own PYP journey.
Simon Millward
Elementary School Principal
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DATES FOR YOUR DIARIES •
Friday 5th October: Funky Friday: students dress in funky
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Monday 8th - Friday 12th October: School holiday
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Saturday 20th October: Google Apps For Education (GAFE)
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Tuesday 23rd October: PHAD (Phoenix Activity Day)
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Friday 26th October: PYP Parent University Session 3 PVO
clothes.
Summit- Parent workshops
room 8.00 - 9.35am
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Romeo and Juliet wow Secondary students Marc Koster Head of English
.................................................................................................................... A group of students from grades 9 to 12 met at the Damansara PAC, hotly anticipating the local theatre group's production of Romeo and Juliet. On entering the theatre performance area, we were struck by the emptiness of the stage and the complete lack of props and adornments. As the performance began, the 'Herald' gave us some historical information about Shakespeare and the logistics of staging the play and briefly the 'how and why' of this performance.
The play commenced with the Montague and Capulet boys haranguing the audience and each other—and we then engaged our imaginary forces and were transported to the world of 16th century Verona! At the end of the performance the director and actors took questions from the audience. I was pleased to note that IGBIS students asked the most questions, showing a real interest in everything from the performers to Shakespeare's stagecraft. A memorable event for all!
Debate team success in Penang Princess Barcega Secondary Physics Teacher
.................................................................................................................... Three students from Grade 10, Marvin Chong, Sheik (Anam) Milfer and Song Lee (Justin) Shee, represented IGB International School in the ‘Uplands Debating Championship’ hosted by The International School of Penang from 21 to 23 September. The boys did very well in the preliminary rounds, garnering 1066 points and four wins after four rounds which qualified them to advance to the semifinals. Even though they didn't make it into the final round, the boys received the following awards: Justin - Overall best speaker Marvin - 4th Best Speaker Anam - 6th Best Speaker Congratulations of such a fine achievement!
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Diploma Programme 1 and 2 Arts Collaboration Heather Blake Secondary Art Teacher
.................................................................................................................... For the past several arts lessons, DP1 Drama and DP1 and 2 Visual Arts students have been collaborating on the creation of masks. These masks are to be worn by the drama students for their upcoming performance in early December of the Greek tragedy Antigone, by Sophocles. DP1 Drama students Sofea Johan, Pranav Pappu, Kabelan Arrumugam and Stephanie Wu came together with DP 1 & 2 Visual Arts students Momone Matsumura, Maryam Amer Ahmad, Balquis Badlisyah, Vanessa Veldkamp and Kitty Lim to create a mask for each actor with plaster gauze and finally, paint.
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The Drama students modelled for the artists as they applied plaster gauze to the actors faces. Once the masks were removed and became dry, specific features were built up with plaster powder such as the eyebrows, lips and cheek bones to emphasise strong expression in keeping with ancient Greek theatre tradition. The students communicated with each other what was essential and important to each others’ craft. Both groups of students have been learning a great deal about the processes involved in their respective arts areas and of the traditions within ancient Greek theatre. What has resulted is a wonderful collaboration between these talented arts students!
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College Counselling News Bill Mitchell Grades 9-12 School Counsellor
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United Kingdom - UCAS University Application Portal For those parents that are considering sending their sons/ daughters to the United Kingdom for Higher Education, please visit the application portal/website for its rich resources and explanations www.ucas.com. You can also view the International Undergraduate Guide - Parents to see a collated set of information that deals specifically with our international setting. As always, I am happy to meet to explain in depth, and to answer questions you may have.
IGBIS Events Upcoming University visits - Parents and students are encouraged to attend
American University Fair October 1st, 9:30am to 10.30am in the DP Lounge (6th Floor near Library) Fair Information University Information
Kuala Lumpur Events
EduCanada University Visit October 3rd, 8:00am to 9:30am in the DP Lounge Fair Information University Information
Northeastern University, USA October 4th, 2018, 1:40pm to 2:40pm in the DP Lounge https://www.northeastern.edu/
Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) - USA & Hong Kong October 5th, 2018, 12:50pm to 1:30pm in the Secondary Library https://www.scad.edu/ Follow the Secondary Calendar or see the College Counselling Events calendar for future visits and events. College Counselling Events Every Tuesday and Thursday, U.S. University Advising: EducationUSA Advisers provide comprehensive U.S. university advising. Register Here
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Asia-Pacific Writing Competition 2018 The New York Times invites students across the Asia-Pacific region to participate in the 2018 Asia-Pacific Writing Competition. The theme for this year’s competition is Digital Disruption. Students are asked to submit a 500-word opinion piece responding to the following question: Is digital technology disrupting our life and values, or is it creating new ways of living? The competition is open to all tertiary and secondary school students studying in Asia Pacific, with winners from each category selected by awardwinning journalists from The New York Times, and winning entries published in The New York Times International Edition.
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The deadline for submissions is Wednesday, 31 October, 2018 by 23:59 Hong Kong Time. Please see inside the entry pack for submission guidelines and suggested materials. If you have any questions, or require further information, please do not hesitate to contact Mr Harding at darryl.harding@igbis.edu.my, or Fern (New York Times Head of Education in the Asia-Pacific region) at eduhk@nytimes.com.
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Athletics and Activities News Sean Lovesey PE Teacher
.................................................................................................................... I am excited for another fun-filled year of PE. Elementary students have had a fantastic beginning to the year. They have started all lessons with great enthusiasm. Grade 2 and 3 students are currently doing their invasion game unit. We have had a strong focus on developing communication skills. Furthermore, Grade 4 students have been using athletics to link to their maths unit. I am also proud to be leading the House Cup this year. We will have our second Phoenix House Activity Day. It will be held on Tuesday 23rd October. All students in the school will take part. Parents will have the opportunity to come and support. Please wait for more information to be shared, through classroom representatives. We have also launched House captains. This is a new leadership role for students in Grade 5 and Grade 10. This week in the elementary assembly we revealed the new house captains. I was
very impressed with the amount of students who put themselves forward for the role. The quality of their answers was very high. After getting students to vote and speaking with teachers we decided that our new house captains for Grade 5 would be; Aer: Suhani Aqua: Ming Zhou Ignis: Tilly Terra: Chloe We felt these students really embodied the IB Learner Profile and would strive to help and support other students within the school. Next week we will be announcing our Grade 10 house captains. Lastly, thank you for your support as parents, ensuring students have correct kit and encouraging them to take part in the athletics programme. We have seen the numbers of students participating in events increase. This is fantastic. Thank you.
GIS invitational swim meet Ruth Spracklan PE Coordinator
.................................................................................................................... Garden International School is holding an invitational swim meet on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 November. Medals will be awarded to the top three finishers in each age group, as well as heat winner ribbons. There will also be a top visiting team trophy awarded at the end of the meet. An entry fee of RM100 per swimmer is required, which entitles swimmers to enter as many races as they are eligible for (some races require a qualifying time). Participants will also receive a meet t-shirt. If you are interested in your child attending this event, please complete this google form by Thursday 4th October. For further information, contact Ms Spracklan at ruth.spracklan@igbis.edu. my as soon as possible.
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Day of Play
Photo Album. Click HERE.
More than 120 people, comprised of over 70 families, joined us last Saturday for our Day of Play. Building on last year’s Cardboard Challenge, the Day of Play provided students and their families with several stations where they could turn their imaginative ideas into creative reality. There was a rock painting station where people could turn ordinary white pebbles into colourful pieces of a sensory path that will be constructed later in the year; there was a Lego station, where people could engineer a unique creation with a seemingly endless supply of the little plastic bricks; there were painting stations of many different types, from painting on cardboard strung along the pool fence to painting on plastic wrapped around the playground, to painting outlines of each other on a wall—a decoration that is now a lasting reminder of a fun-filled community day. And of course, there was the cardboard: rockets, cars, armour, pinball machines and more - so much was made from the mountains of cardboard available to one and all. Thanks must go again to Ms Aga who worked tirelessly before, during and after the event to ensure its success. The Day of Play is now becoming an annual event that the whole community can look forward to.
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Day of Play
Photo Album. Click HERE.
IGBIS INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
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