IGBIS Weekly Newsletter - Issue 168. Week 4, October 2018

IGB International School’s Weekly Newsletter - Issue 168. Week 4. October 2018.

Phoenix House Activity Day ~ Pg. 8

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Message from Head of School Dear IGBIS Parents and Community Members,

Elementary Principal, Mr Simon Millward, was invited to conduct a PYP evaluation visit in Adelaide, Australia, earlier this week.

Dato’ Tan Chin Nam, IGB founder obituary All of IGB and its subsidiaries including IGB International School, were saddened to hear that Dato’ Tan Chin Nam passed away last Sunday, aged 93. Dato’ Tan Chin Nam and his late brother Tan Kim Yeow (father of Dato’ Robert Tan) founded IGB over 50 years ago. Apart from being a pioneer in the construction of serviced apartments, hotels and shopping centres in Malaysia and abroad, Dato’ Tan Chin Nam loved horse racing and chess; he was a fourtime Melbourne Cup winning owner and promoted the game of chess in Malaysia. Our condolences are extended to his family and the many people who worked with Dato’ over the years.

IB Leaders Continuing on from my message last week about IGBIS staff who are involved in development of IB curriculum and assessment, our

IGBIS Board of Governors The IGBIS Board of Governors will be in school for their biannual meeting where the school will report on school progress and academic pathways at IGBIS. Deepavali Assembly Preparations are underway for our Deepavali Assembly which will take place on Friday, November 2nd. We look forward to seeing our school community come together for this event.

Anne Fowles Head of School

News from Secondary School Dear Parents & IGBIS Community, The highlight of the week was our Phoenix House Activity Day (PHAD), and my favourite part was the leadership and collaboration our secondary students showed to their younger peers. This was the challenge given by Mr Lovesey to our secondary students, and the response was fantastic. The interactions amongst our students is what makes PHAD, and our school, so special. When I asked my six year old what his favourite part of PHAD was, he said "Everything!" My sincere appreciation to Mr Lovesey and the whole PHE team for their work on the day.

This week some of our MUN students headed out to Phnom Penh to take part in an international MUN conference. This will be an exciting experience for them and help us to grow our own MUN programme here at IGBIS.

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Next week will be a very busy one one with a variety sporting fixtures taking place, coupled with a visit from a travelling poet on Monday October 29th, who will work with our Grade 6-8 students throughout the day. As well, there will be a presentation for parents of Grade 9 students on October 31st, to learn more about the educational pathways available at IGBIS. Looking further forward, next week we will be sending home information on our Parent-Student-Teacher conferences on November 12th and 13th. Please note these dates for your calendar, and we will be opening the online booking system soon for you and your child to schedule a time with their teachers.

Michael Arcidiacono Secondary School Principal

Igniting Minds

Impacting Lives

News from the PYP Coordinator: The MakerSpace Aga Chojnacka Primary Years Programme Coordinator

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This semester with the help of the students we have revamped the MakerSpace.

We took time to brainstorm ideas on the spaces they would like to use and their functions and all the Makers, big and small, made sure they had easy access to the resources.

Environment is an important part of every MakerSpace as it supports collaboration, ideation, sharing and reflecting on learning and making. With students advice, we added chalkboard stickers to walls and tables to allow for note taking and brainstorming. We have also added the steps of the design process and resources for following the design process.

Children who are involved in the MakerSpace (during midday play, after school activities or as a part of their unit of inquiry) engage in making through the design process that has the following steps.

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Ask - within which we empathise with the community and each other’s thinking about solutions to problems or pick up on things that need improving 2.

Imagine - when we ideate and brainstorm possible solutions 3.

Plan - during which we create the steps for the making process, think of the resources we need (including materials, time and people) 4.

Create - when we construct, shape and prototype our designs/creations 5.

Improve - within which we test and trial our solution, exposing it to real life conditions and seeing if it works, as well as learn from the trials performed and improve our design before sharing it 6.

Share - when we share our design/process/service with a wider community to see it used and collect further feedback

Igniting Minds

Children in the MakerSpace learn through the design process and reflect on it in the MakerSpace Seesaw Journal. Once our projects are finalised and we have gone through all the steps of the process we record our Maker Reflections based on the following questions.

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What did you make?

How did you make it?

Why did you make it?

Did you face any challenges on the way? How did you overcome them?

What advice would you give to other Makers who are trying to design something?

It has been an absolute delight and privilege to observe and support our Makers in their individual and group designs and see how they grow more confident and deeply reflective of their work and the design process. This week’s Parent University spoke of inspiring and nurturing creativity and curiosity and these are the values that the IGBIS maker movement champions.

Impacting Lives

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Igniting Minds

Impacting Lives

Host Nation Happenings Ms Meena, Mr Rashid, Ms Ada Elementary Host Nation Teachers

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As always, we have been very busy in our Host Nation classes. We have all been learning about Deepavali, with Kindergarten and Grade 5 students decorating diyas (oil lamps) and rangolis (designs made from coloured sand), and learning about Ramayana (a poem that tells the story behind Deepavali). Grade 1 and 2 students have been practicing a dance for the Deepavali assembly.

Upcoming Event -Deepavali Assembly Next week many Elementary students will be able to share what they have learned about Malaysia celebrations in Host Nation classes when they perform for the IGBIS community at the Deepavali Assembly on Friday 2nd November 2018, from 1.55pm to 3.00pm in the theatre.

Students are encouraged to wear traditional Indian outfits such as saree, jippa, dhoti or punjabi suits.

Grade 1 has also been learning about the Malaysian states. They read a book about the adventures of Parameswara, who travelled from Palembang to Johor and then to Malacca. Grade 2 has been reading a book about a boy named Si Tanggang, who did not acknowledge his parents after he became rich and famous. It is a story about moral values. The students rewrote the story and came up with more morals of their own.

Grade 3 and 4 students have been discovering interesting and beautiful places in Malaysia and have been learning about the diversity in this multicultural country. They have also been looking at how different cultures celebrate different festivals in Malaysia.

Igniting Minds

Impacting Lives

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Epic Build Isabelle Yap and Omar Mohd Haris Epic Build participants

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At 6:00am on 18 October 2018, 12 students, along with Ms Chotard and Mr Yoges, gathered in high in spirits and ready to depart to Kampung Sungai Lalang to participate in the ‘Build a Home’ initiative by EPIC Homes. The EPIC Homes movement aims to build relationships through building homes with underprivileged communities starting with the Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia.

Over the next three days, IGBIS and MKIS students could be found working and living together as a single unit. The first day was undeniably exhausting, and arguably intimidating, as we were all unfamiliar with the environment and there were unfamiliar faces all around us. Fortunately, our night time activities (which were packed with card games and late night talks) successfully lifted the group morale and improved our relationship as a team and community. The next day definitely witnessed a shift in atmosphere. Getting to know each other improved our teamwork. Our efficiency reached its max and we were far ahead of our planned progress, which spared us time to enjoy the rest of our day at the pool.

On our first day, we were divided into four teams: floor team, roof team, structure team and wall team. Within our teams, we built strong camaraderie between the IGBIS students, MKIS students, and the EPIC team themselves. Furthermore, the skills we learnt at the Basic Builders Workshop proved to be tremendously useful, equipping us with sufficient skills and knowledge to ensure a smooth working process.

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The most rewarding experience was, for many, being able to watch the house metamorphose before our eyes each day. It was like seeing a plant grow from being a fragile and slender sapling to a majestic tree that serves to shelter nature’s inhabitants. The pieces of wood, bits and bolts of nails and screws, combined with a team of passionate people, eventually came together as a complete home for our dear friend Fairiz and his family. No one was excluded from the build, and we all took an active role, impacting

ourselves, our team, and our community. It would be a fallacy to say that the build went on without any hardships. Amongst them are the sudden changes in weather and bloodthirsty mosquitoes that fervently fed on us. The hardest part, however, would definitely be using the outdoor toilets provided on the build site.

Nevertheless, we managed to pull through and the smile across the faces of Fairiz and his family at the end of the build just made everything worth it. It also made us realise how fortunate we are as individuals, and how we can use our privileges to help those in need: a true representation of an IB learner.

The Build a Home project was aa amazing experience, and we are proud to say that we, along with my fellow friends in IGBIS and MKIS, were fortunate enough to be part of such an EPIC journey!

Igniting Minds

Impacting Lives

Igniting Minds

Impacting Lives

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Focus on inclusion: Circle of friends Lizzie Hudson Learning Support Teacher

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IGBIS is proud to be an inclusive school. The first part of our school’s mission is “To provide an inclusive learning community, embracing diversity”. This means that we welcome people with different backgrounds, different experiences and different educational needs. We strive to be a safe, open and accepting environment where everyone has the same opportunities. Inclusion isn’t just about academics: it also encompasses social and emotional learning and development. One of the many ways we work towards this goal is with our Circle of Friends programme.

Three lunchtimes a week, different students from grades 3, 4 and 5 meet with me for our Circle of Friends. This approach is based upon the idea that peer support is the strongest form of support. It is a powerful approach for developing a sense of community in the school and enhancing the social cohesion of students.

Circle of Friends starts at the beginning of the year with students considering the circles in our lives. We start with our Circle of Intimacy (family), then our Circle of Friendship, our Circle of Participation and finally our Circle of Exchange. The students consider what it might be like if their Circle of Friendship was empty. This then leads to a discussion about the fact that there

are people in our school who are in this position. Students then are given the opportunity to volunteer to give up a lunchtime to support their peers. Being part of the Circle of Friends gives students a leadership role, and it is one that they take seriously.

In each session, we first look at a larger concept such as disability, perspective or self awareness. We then discuss some of the difficulties that they are seeing or are involved in. Often these have happened on the field and playground. As a group, they discuss the issues, consider different perspectives and factors and generate some solutions. Sometimes they choose to stand up to others who are being mean, sometimes they offer to play with particular students who may be having trouble, sometimes they just reconsider their own actions and attitudes.

The benefits of inclusion are not only felt by the students who have different learning requirements and social skills to the majority of other students. Students in the Circle of Friends have benefitted from inclusion by developing strategies and understanding to help their peers. When asked why Circle of Friends is important, members of the group have said, “Everyone deserves a friend and everyone is equal,” and, “We are able to help people who have a harder time in school,” and, “We learn about how to help certain students and to be friends with them and how to understand others.” Seeing how students in the Circle of Friends have grown in their understanding, open mindedness and compassion is testament to how inclusion is an effective way to teach our students to become caring, global citizens.

Phoenix House Activity Day - from some of the House captains Phoenix House Activity Day is a whole school event where four houses: Aer, Aqua, Ignis, and Terra compete against each other in friendly competition. There were 18 stations that had a balanced range of activities for the students to take part in. Older students helped younger ones by taking leadership roles to help encourage team spirit and have fun. Extra points were awarded for spirit that was demonstrated by the students. PHAD encourages and strengthens the bonds between older and younger students as well as teachers to create a closer community. Teachers took part by leading activities, supervising a group, cheering for their house, taking pictures and much more. I personally liked when it began to rain because it made the activity students were participating in more fun. Team spirit, friendly competition among houses, and cheering for your house made PHAD a memorable day.

-Ro Xzi Ho It was amazing seeing everyone from all the grades coming together to do all the activities. It is these moments that I treasure most as we don't usually get to spend time with the elementary

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kids. I really enjoyed seeing everyone bonding together and just having fun, and look forward to more of these days in the future.

-Jordan Scott Lee On the 23rd of October, IGBIS hosted an annual event known as PHAD (Phoenix House Activity Day). It is where students of all grades come together in their respective sports houses to try and win as many points as possible for their house. I, Hritvik, am in Terra house (the best house) and I am in Grade 10. This is my second time participating in PHAD however, this time I took part in PHAD as the house captain. I really enjoyed working and collaborating with the kids, they are always so full of energy that it always keeps the team spirit up. The best part about PHAD was the fact that the whole school came together to work for their house, it was great as house captain to see everyone full of energy and trying their best to win as many points as possible to win. Sadly, however, Terra house didn’t win, but I am 100% certain that will will improve. LETS GO TERRA!!!

-Hritvik Chigurupati

Igniting Minds

Impacting Lives

Igniting Minds

Impacting Lives

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Igniting Minds

Impacting Lives

Igniting Minds

Impacting Lives

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