IGBIS Weekly Newsletter. Issue 85, Week 2, September 2016.

IGB International School’s Weekly Newsletter - Issue 85, Week 2, September 2016

• Secondary Student Council Pyjama Day. ~ September 9th, 2016.

Inside this week’s Newsletter Message from Head of School Mrs. Anne Fowles Head of School ....................................................................................

News from Elementary School Mrs. Claire McLeod Elementary School Principal ....................................................................................

Greetings from the Music Room!

Ms. Elli & Ms. Jade PYP/MYP Visual Arts Teacher ....................................................................................

From the Secondary School Principal Mr. Michael Arcidiacono Secondary School Principal ....................................................................................

University Event Ms. Pauline Davidson Grades 9-12 School Counsellor ....................................................................................

IGBIS Instrumental Music Academy Mr. Jon Suffolk Performing Arts Teacher

Parent Workshop Day Mr. Phil Clark MYP Coordinator ....................................................................................

Diploma Programme & GIN at IGBIS Mary Boyd DP Coordinator ....................................................................................

Malaysia Day Celebrations Diane Douglas Host Nation Teacher ....................................................................................

Activities & Athletics Tim Bartle & Scott Ngatai Athletics and Activities Coordinators ....................................................................................

Secondary Student Council Pyjama Day Tien Xzi Ho Secretary, Secondary Student Council

Upcoming Event US, Canadian and Dutch University Fair at IGBIS Tuesday, September 27th 2016 8:00 am - 10:00 am

Message from Head of School Dear IGBIS Parents and Community Members, Parents and community members are invited to join us at the Malaysia Day Assembly on September 15th.

Please come dressed in clothing that represents the cultural tapestry of Malaysia.

With the air quality index (AQI) readings going up and down at present, we are monitoring conditions on a regular basis with information published on websites, and have decided to go the extra step and

take our own IGBIS readings as well. The equipment will take readings at various points around the school and will then be shared with teachers, students and others via our communication screens.

Have a relaxing long weekend with your families.

Mrs. Anne Fowles Head of School

News from Elementary School Mrs. Claire McLeod Elementary School Principal .......................................................................................

We had a successful evacuation drill last Friday morning and all students, staff and visitors were safely evacuated and accounted for within an appropriate time. Students were aware of their expectations and followed instructions well.

The Malaysia Day Assembly is scheduled for next Thursday 15th September at 2pm in the Theatre, and

parents are warmly welcomed to attend. Students and staff are asked to wear something that reflects the Malaysian culture. Students are not required to wear the school uniform on that day.

Please make sure you read the information about Activities and Athletics later in this newsletter as it has important information.

Don’t forget that next Monday and Friday are public holidays and school is closed on those days.

Malaysia Day Assembly Thursday | 15th September 2016 | 2:00 pm | Theatre

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Greetings from the Music Room!

Hadewych Dujardin Music / Drama Teacher .......................................................................................

Greetings from the music room! My name is Hadewych Dujardin and I am excited to be one of the music teachers here at IGBIS. The students and I have had a great couple of weeks. Students playing a musical instrument were happy to share a song or two during music class.

help us and we’ve made some great combinations with those rhythm patterns.

All the students have demonstrated great enthusiasm in these first few weeks, so it is sure to be a great year!

During the first week we’ve been focussing on two areas: classroom expectations and singing voices.

The Early Years explored rhythmic percussion instruments while singing songs like: ‘We’re Going to Kentucky’ and ‘Shake it High and Shake it Low’.

The colorful Remo Drums were their favourite with the activity ‘Animal Footsteps’. In this activity we explored the variety of sounds you can get from a drum when you vary the rhythm, the speed and the force with which you play.

In their performing unit, Kindergarten is learning to play on the xylophones while following graphic notation. We are also focussing on recognising high and low pitches.

In Grade 2 we looked at 4 rhythm patterns that were connected with words. We are practising to perform the different rhythms without seeing the words to

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From the Secondary School Principal Mr. Michael Arcidiacono Secondary School Principal .......................................................................................

Students (and many teachers) were quite cozy today as part of pyjama day - a Student Council event to promote community amongst the Secondary School. Part of community building also involves celebrating the cultures and backgrounds of all families, especially the culture of Malaysia. Our Host Nation teachers and their students have been quite busy recently preparing for our annual Malaysia

Day Assembly. Please read the message from Ms Douglas to see how you can participate.

Speaking of ways parents can participate, I enjoyed our first Kopitiam last Friday with several parents and we were able to have a nice discussion on a variety of topics. We will host our first secondary workshop for parents on 24th September (please see Mr Clark’s article for the full details), this is a new and interesting way for parents to learn more about an IGBIS education. I look forward to seeing parents at the PVO meeting next Wednesday 14th September.

University Event Ms. Pauline Davidson Grades 9-12 School Counsellor ......................................................................

There was a wonderful attendance at the Grade 12 College and University Parent Evening on Tuesday and I thank all the parents who endured the horrendous traffic to attend the session. There was a fabulous ‘buzz’ of communication and planning throughout the evening, and I hope parents left feeling ready to help their children manage the college application process in a healthy way.

For the parents who were unable to attend, or if parents would like to revisit the information presented, all resources can be found at

https://sites.google.com/a/igbis.edu.my/ counsellingigbis/home/collegeandcareer I hope to see the parent ‘brag sheet’ surveys completed and returned by Thursday 15 September.

If parents and students would like to book an appointment with me, please do so via the Counselling tab on the school Splash page.

Lastly, please remember that both students and their parents are welcome to visit the university drop by tables and the upcoming US, Canadian and Dutch university fair at IGBIS on Wednesday 27th September from 8am-10am. More details to come soon.

The following university event is scheduled for next week: University

Date

Time

Location

Savannah College of Art and Design, Hong Kong

Tuesday 13th September

12.30

Table near counselling office

IGBIS Instrumental Music Academy Jon Suffolk Performing Arts Teacher ...................................................................................

Wern-Shynn Soon, in Grade 11, plays violin in the Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, the premier youth classical music ensemble in Malaysia. They will be performing with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra on 8th October at 8:30pm and 9th October at 3:00pm in a concert titled “If Music Be The Food of Love: Celebrating Shakespeare.” This would be a great holiday activity for IGBIS students and families. Please visit http://mpo.com.my/10-celebrating-shakespeare/ for further information.

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Parent Workshop Day - MYP CONCEPTS and CONTEXTS - Friday 24 September Phil Clark Middle Years Programme Coordinator .......................................................................................

On Friday 24 September, at the end of our Secondary School Camp Week, we are organising a full day for parents to experience learning through concepts and contexts.

In the morning parents will have the opportunity to participate in a hands-on mini unit of inquiry that will simulate how their children learn and are assessed in MYP. In the afternoon parents are invited to join our Grade 12 IB Diploma Programme students who will be presenting the collaborative, interdisciplinary science projects that they have been conducting throughout the week.

At the end of the day, our Grade 6-11 students will return from camp and you can take them home for a well earned rest and a much needed shower.

If you are available, please mark the whole day of Friday 24 September in your calendar. More details to follow. ..................................................................................

MYP CONCEPTS and CONTEXTS ~What are

we talking about?

When teachers met with parents at the Meet the Teacher evening last week, they referred to concepts, contexts, statements of inquiry and inquiry questions as they explained the units of work that students are currently undertaking. But what do we mean when we use these terms? ..................................................................................

CONCEPTS Concepts are powerful, big ideas that are as important at school as they are in life beyond school.

Concepts that we regularly explore with students include aesthetics, change, communication,

communities, connections, creativity, culture, development, form, global interactions, identity, logic, perspective, relationships, systems, and time, place and space.

Learning about concepts requires students to demonstrate deep levels of thinking that reach beyond traditional facts, topics and skills. Concepts are used to formulate the understandings that students should retain in the future. The exploration of concepts leads students towards:

school subject boundaries; • appreciation of ideas that cross over national and cultural boundaries; • engagement with complex ideas that connect and transfer learning to new contexts. ..................................................................................

CONTEXTS Teachers help students to understand these broad, complex and often abstract concepts by connecting them through familiar contexts. Teachers identify settings, events or circumstances that provide specific examples and perspectives of the concepts.

Providing a context for learning addresses such questions as Why are we engaged in this inquiry?

Why are these concepts important? Why is it important for me to understand? Why do people care about this topic?

Learning in context helps students to: • explore specific examples of conceptual ideas; • develop critical and creative thinking skills; • consider multiple, and sometimes conflicting, perspectives; • develop inquiry and problem-solving strategies; • connect and transfer learning from one context to another.

STATEMENT OF INQUIRY Every unit of study is defined by a statement of inquiry which explains clearly what students should understand and why that understanding is meaningful. The statement of inquiry connects the concepts and context that will be explored through the unit of study.

INQUIRY QUESTIONS Each unit of study includes a series of inquiry questions. Some inquiry questions will be factual in nature, others conceptual and some debatable or provocative. The inquiry questions guide the students as they explore the statement of inquiry in greater detail, make connections, develop curiosity and deepen understanding.

Students and parents can view the concepts, contexts, statements of inquiry and inquiry questions for each MYP unit of study by logging in to our online platform, ManageBac.

• deeper understanding of individual school subjects; • appreciation of ideas that cross over traditional

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Diploma Programme Mary Boyd DP Coordinator ............................................................................................................

students and teachers - to have faceto-face conversations about individual progress.

Last Thursday evening, it was a pleasure to welcome so many parents of G11 and G12 students into the School for the information evening, during which lots of facts and figures were disseminated about each subject by the teachers who teach it. On Wednesday 19th October, we look forward to the more personal occasion of sitting down together - parents,

Last Tuesday G12 students and their parents attended the all-important University Information Evening. As our G12s enter the College Application season ‘good and proper’ now and our G11s prepare for it later, it is worth considering what ‘achievement’ is and what students hope to ‘achieve’ now and later in their lives. Obviously, applying to University involves many important decisions, namely which course, what university and why? Students can no longer simply choose a subject they love: in our globalised world, especially with the IBDP as a global passport in your hand,

students and parents must be proactive in gathering information for the ‘next step’ and cast their net wide. As educators, we are privileged to be able to help our students and parents find future pathways for academic and professional success.

A recent report called ‘Turning the Tide’ caught my eye, representing the first step in a two-year campaign to re-shape the College Admissions process. Released earlier this year, primarily by Harvard Graduate School of Education, involving more than 85 key US stakeholders, with the contributions and endorsements of educators, including the Presidents and Deans of Admission at many of the country’s elite institutions of Higher Education, the report could be seen as revolutionary for some, but for IB educators worldwide, it is a huge endorsement of what we do already at IGBIS: educate the individual as a whole, in terms of breadth and depth of study, and in encouraging meaningful ethical and intellectual engagement.

Quoting Harvard’s Graduate School of Education directly: The report includes concrete recommendations in three core areas: 1. Promoting more meaningful contributions to others, community service and engagement with the public good.

2. Assessing students’ ethical engagement and contributions to others in ways that reflect varying types of family and community contributions across race, culture and class.

3. Redefining achievement in ways that both level the playing field for economically diverse students and reduce excessive achievement pressure.

Two prominent Deans of Admissions responded to the report saying:

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“We don’t want students who do things just because they think they have to in order to get into college. To the contrary: we want students who lead balanced lives, who pursue their interests with energy and enthusiasm, and who work cooperatively with others, all of which will help them be successful in and after college”. ~ Stuart Schmill, MIT “In response to the report, Yale has agreed to add a question on next year’s application asking students to reflect on their contribution to family, community, and/or the public good. We will also advocate for more flexibility in the extracurricular forms on both the Common Application and Coalition Application so that schools can more easily control how they ask students to list and reflect on their extracurricular involvement”. ~ Jeremiah Quinlan, Yale University.

Just as the weight of the pig cannot tell us how it was fattened, the IBDP is much more than a final score and is certainly more

Impacting Lives

than the sum of its parts. All those ‘extras’, like CAS, TOK and the EE, are not ‘extras’ at all, but fundamental parts that contribute to the development and education of the individual, so that they can grow to be the best versions of themselves, develop concern for others and work towards creating a better society and world. Whilst keeping a mindful eye on grades, of course, we are ever conscious of the bigger picture and how the DP for the student fits into their broad scheme of life. Finding one’s dream and purpose is not easy, but through the breadth and depth of the DP and its holisitc, values-based approach to education, we can help students discover what that might be and do everything we can to help them. Finding the right university and the right course involves lots of thinking, talking, openness, balance,

communication, time, work and careful consideration. As our students embark on this journey, they should take heart in the fact that the IBDP is an extremely well-established programme of education that is well ahead of its game, since the 1960s. A plethora of research shows that the IBDP develops students that universities want: those with expert subject knowledge, research and essay writing skills, and that all-important spirit of intellectual inquiry and critical thinking. This new report only echoes what all thinking human beings have known for years, certainly those of us dedicated to the mission of the IBO. As we explore and examine future pathways together, I wish good luck and good sense to all involved.

GIN: Global Issues Network, at IGBIS

by Mary Boyd

With a dropped jaw, I watched the recent opening of the G20 Summit, the first ever to be hosted in China and the second in an Asian country: a spectacular array of music, dancing, flashing lights, and fireworks. As the 20 leaders of the most influential nations on earth were greeted one-by-one by Chinese President Xi Jinping, the dynamics of the human interactions of each was interesting in themselves, as was the number of women on the panel, only three: the German Chancellor, the President of the Republic of Korea and the Prime Minister of the UK. During the G20 Summit, the most prominent issues affecting our world were discussed: global warming, fighting against tax evasion, favouring international trade

and economic growth and investment, opposing protectionism through popular anti-globalisation and anti-immigration movements and strengthening support for refugees.

citizens, face today. As part of GIN, IGBIS, we will discuss some of the most prominent issues affecting our world, with the hope and desire to do something about them, within the School and outside of it.

Global Issues Network (GIN) state that their mission is to “nurture and mobilise transgenerational communities of global citizens to build a just and sustainable future”. At IGBIS, during our first GIN meeting of this year, we introduced ourselves in turn, explaining why we wanted to be members of the network and what our hopes were for it. My soul lit up when I heard each student speak intelligently and compassionately about their desire to tackle and raise awareness some of the global issues we, as global

GIN is a student-led organisation. Although I’ve written the article this week because it’s the first, in the the future, each member of GIN will, in turn, have their voice via this spot.

Next week, our current GIN President, Charlene, will write about what has happened through GIN so far, what has happened in the week between now and then, and what could happen in the future!

Clockwise from left: Charlene (G12), Yuto (G12), Natasha (G12), Hamizah (G12), Rachel (G11), Ms Boyd, Glenda (G12), Gareth (G8), Justin (G8), Rebecca (G12), Hwei Minn (G12), Mabel (G12) (Missing from photo for now, but not next week! Hwei Linn (G11), Aria (G11), Josh (G12), Zoe (G12))

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Malaysia Day Celebrations Diane Douglas Host Nation Teacher

.......................................................................................

Malay Traditional Clothes

As the nation celebrates Malaysia Day on the 16 September 2016, we at IGBIS will be having a special assembly on 15 September at 2pm. We would like to invite all parents to join us for the assembly and encourage all students and parents to wear Malaysian traditional clothes on that day. Here are some examples of Malaysian clothes that could be worn on that day. We look forward to seeing you there.

Chinese Traditional Clothes

Indian Traditional Clothes

Activities and Athletics Tim Bartle & Scott Ngatai Athletics and Activities Coordinators .......................................................................................

The IGBIS Athletics & Activities programs continued this week with good numbers in attendance. Poor weather conditions such as heavy rain, lightning and haze can cause disruption to outside activities. At times teacher absences may also cause disruption.

We would like to confirm the following: • If the activity leader is absent, another teacher will be available to take the activity: the activity will not be cancelled.

• Activities and Athletics will not be cancelled due to poor weather conditions.

The students will be supervised in the library and escorted to buses/pickup zone at 4:15pm.

The outside provider may reschedule the missed lessons at another time or provide a refund.

The above information aims to give parents/ caregivers the peace of mind to know that if your child is booked in for an after-school activity, no matter what the weather conditions may be on the day, the activities will always be on.

• On days when there are poor weather conditions, outside Activities/Athletics will continue, but they will be relocated indoors

*Please note that there may be a few occasions throughout the year when Activities and/or Athletics may be cancelled, e.g. parent-teacher conferences; these will be communicated to you in advance.

• The activities will be redesigned to focus on core strength and/or agility training, and could involve a review of rules, tactics and skills.

Please also note that the last day for payment of paid activities was earlier stated as Friday 16th September, which is Malaysia Day, so this has been extended to Monday 19th September, 3:00pm.

On days of poor weather conditions paid activities run by outside providers will be moved indoors and students will be supervised by IGBIS staff.

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Secondary Student Council

PyjamaDay

by Tien Xzi Ho Secretary, Secondary Student Council

On Friday the Secondary Student Council held a Pyjama Day at school to increase school spirit and help students bond with one another. Many of the secondary students rolled out of bed and came to school dressed in pyjamas or hugging their favourite stuffed toy. Everyone was so excited to find out who was dressed up, to guess which animal people were dressed up as, and what type of stuffed toy they had. We had such a fun day and students can’t wait to see what event the Secondary Student Council plans next.

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