IGB International School Newsletter, Issue 37, Week 1, May 2015

IGB International School’s Weekly Newsletter - Issue 37, Week 1, May 2015

IGBIS parents organizing the Nepalese Charity Bake Sale.

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

News from Secondary School Mr. Lennox Meldrum, Secondary School Principal

Upcoming Events 12th May 2015 School Photo Day 1 13th May 2015 School Photo Day 2 14th May 2015 School Photo Day 3 15th May 2015 Teacher’s Day Assembly 23rd May 2015 International Day, 10.00am - 1.00pm

Updates from Academic and Support Services

Mr. Peter Syme, Director of Academic and Support Services

Updates from Student Services Mr. Peter Fowles, Head of Student Services

Igniting Minds

Impacting Lives

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Message from Head of School Mrs. Anne Fowles Head of School Dear IGBIS Parents and Community Members, Nepalese Charity Bake Sale I wasn’t able to take part in the Nepalese Charity Bake Sale as I was in Bangkok attending the IB Asia Pacific Regional Council meeting, but I heard what a wonderful success is was – over RM8,000 raised by our school community! What a fantastic effort by everyone involved and a special thanks to Felicier and the team of parents who did most of the organization for this. A presentation was made to the guards on Friday this week – they were in tears as they accepted the donations that will assist their families in Nepal.

International Day 23rd May Its only two weeks until our international day. Please mark this day in your calendar as it will be one of the highlights of the school year!

Grade 5 PYP Exhibition Congratulations to all of the Grade 5 students, their parents, teachers and mentors. I am very impressed by the growth that I have seen in the Grade 5’s during the year and in particular with the PYP Exhibition. They are using a wide range of skills and concepts such as research, communication, perspectives, connections and presentation as they explore ‘How Do We Express Ourselves: Artists Seek to Evoke an Emotional Response From Their Audience’. Parents and community members will be able to visit the exhibition on Saturday as well as Monday and Tuesday next week.

Student Led Conferences

Our Global Issues Network are organizing a charity drive for goods to be donated and flown to Nepal. Further information is included in the article below.

Visit by the Director of Private Education, Ministry of Education, Malaysia On Tuesday this week we were honored to host a visit from the Mr Abd Halim bin Ismail, Director of the Private Education Division, Ministry of Education. Mr Halim and other officials came to view our school in action and were highly impressed.

Collections for Nepalese Embassy Through our Global Issues Network (GIN) group, we are setting up a drop-off point inside the turnstiles in the car park if you wish to donate any of the following items: • Bottled drinking water • Canned food • Blankets • Tents These items will be collected by the Temple of Fine Arts who will deliver them to the Nepalese Ambassador to Malaysia.

The Nepalese Embassy is arranging for collected items to be transported to their country to assist with the relief operation.

These are the only items we are collecting so if you have other donations then there are a number of relief agencies that you could contact. This collection point will be available before and after school from 11th to 13th May only.

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Igniting Minds

We were pleased to see so many of our parents and students on Saturday, 9th May at the Student Led Conference day. I am sure that all of our parents were amazed when they saw first hand the progress that their children have made.

Glider Competition Grade 6 students learnt how to be a real designer by creating a glider for a client (Grade 4 student). The elementary kids will participate in a glider competition.

The categories will be assets; Time aloft; distance and design. Grade 6 created a design plan and two possible designs. They interviewed their client before the planning process and proposed two designs as well as the prototypes to the Grade 4 students.

The final gliders will compete against each other at the end of the school year.

Ms. Stephanie Seehaus

Impacting Lives

News from Elementary School Mrs. Claire McLeod Elementary School Principal Grade 5 IBPYP Exhibition It was with great excitement and anticipation that our Grade 5 students presented their IBPYP Exhibition on Friday. As the culminating PYP experience, the IBPYP Exhibition reflects the major features of the programme. During our student’s Exhibition journey they had an opportunity to: • exhibit the attributes of the IB Learner Profile • demonstrate an understanding of key concepts questions • use skills from the Approaches to Learning • explore knowledge that is significant and relevant.

The consensus from all who participated in this wonderful event on Friday was a sense of pride. Students were so proud of their work, their skills in presentation and their abilitiy to communicate their understanding and knowledge with confidence. Teachers and parents reflected on their short journey from the time they joined IGBIS and their smiles and comments showed their immense sense of prode and perhaps relief!

The central idea of their Exhibition was: Artists seek to evoke an emotional response from their audience.

The opening of our Grade 5 IBPYP Exhibition in the Theatre was polished and informative.

The students PE presentation of synchronized swimming on stage definitely evoked an emotional response from the audience. Everyone had a smile on their face, connecting what they were seeing on stage to their own memory of choreographed swimming displays.

The display of their graffiti art generated lively discussions and from there students led their parents and guests to the Grade 5 Learning Lounge to view the final element to the Exhibition, their own inquiry and Exhibition journey.

Congratulations to our Grade 5 students for their commitment to learning; whilst at times it seemed difficult, they persevered and learnt valuable life lessons. I would like to thank their teacher Ms Yolaine Johanson for her endless support and guidance that she provided to all students. Thank you also to our PYP Coordinator Mr Simon Millward, Art teacher Ms Nan Parker, Music teacher Ms Hadewych DuJardin, PE teacher Ms Jasmine Brawn, Teaching Assistant Ms Sarah, Librarian Ms Amanda Clark and all mentors and teachers who helped throughout this process. The combined effort truly brought together the IGBIS community together to support our students.

Until next time.

News from Secondary School Mr. Lennox Meldrum Secondary School Principal There is a buzz around the hallways of the Secondary School lately, but it isn’t the normal kind of buzz we expect as a school year gets near to the end. Usually at this time of the school year, students are stressed about upcoming final assessments and tired from a year of learning. Teachers are pushing students to meet deadlines, are preparing for the end of year (and the start of the next year) and are also exhausted from the pressures involved with being a Secondary School educator. This can generate a feeling of stress and sometimes a sullen mood across a school which then adds to the negative feelings.

But as we already know, IGBIS is a special place that always strives to do things better. While we do have assessments and deadlines on the horizon, students and teachers are continuing to be positive and supportive of each other and helping chase away negative attitudes. Students have been genuinely excited about the Student Led Conferences on Saturday, although many are anxious as it is the first time they have had the opportunity to do anything like this in their other schools. The “Teach-it” events will be a fantastic way to experience the hands-on learning we encourage, while the presentations of the portfolios will give you a deeper understanding of how our programmes encourage deeper thinking and reflection, not just content learning. I’m very excited to see you all enjoy the day with your children and I just wish I could be in every location at once!

International Day is another event coming soon that our students and staff are getting excited about. There are some amazing activities planned and it is sure to be a fun day for the whole community. These are only two of the many events coming up over the next six weeks, culminating with our final assembly and awards ceremony on 18th June (the final day of school). Please note that this is different from our previously published calendar.

Next week I will share more of the great activities coming soon, but for now I am going to go out and enjoy the waves of positive energy flowing through our halls and classrooms.

Igniting Minds

Impacting Lives

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Updates from Academic and Support Services Mr. Peter Syme Director of Academic and Support Services International Day An information sheet will be attached to this newsletter today that will inform families of the running order and requirements for International Day. The important part of this will be the attached slip so that you can purchase your passports. Don’t forget to contact your parent grade level reps if you have any questions.

seat to the front of a moving vehicle. Really?

Do we value our children’s lives that little?

Let our school community insist on seatbelts.

The event is coming together very nicely and I have to say that it has been delightful working together with the staff and parents. Being the first International Day at IGBIS I am sure there will be things that we may do differently in the future, however, what has been organised so far is just wonderful.

Whilst the food samples will reflect geographical regions of the world, our Parade of Nations and introductions will be aimed more at our own nationalities and our cultural heritage, so we get the best of all worlds.

Let us all celebrate our rich diversity, from near and far.

Transport and Safety Once again I would like to remind everyone in the school community that wearing seat belts is an absolute must. Yet again, last weekend we hear of another horror crash that killed three people and left two young girls orphaned. The 3 victims were thrown from the vehicle.

Having baby and infant car seats installed in vehicles also makes a huge difference. Statistics tell us that car baby capsules reduce the risk of death by 71%, and that infant car seats can reduce the death risk by 54%. All too often we all see children not strapped in, not wearing seat belts, leaning forward and even climbing from the back

Summer School A reminder to current students at IGBIS that we are running a Summer School during the holidays. There will be 3 sessions; Week 1, Week 2 and Week 3. Week 1 runs from June 22- June 26, Week 2 from July 20- July 24 and Week 3 from July 27- July 31. Information and application forms are available now, so check the website for details and updates.

Tennis Academy German tennis coach, Jens Hiestermann, will be running two free tennis Open Days at the IGBIS tennis courts on a trial basis. Jens is hoping to start tennis classes for all standards soon after that at the school courts. Keep the following dates in mind and remember to contact Jens directly to reserve your free place. There are some posters around the school with some more information about Jens and his experiences and qualifications in coaching in Germany, The US, Spain and Malaysia.

Saturday 6 June 2015 8:00am-9:00am…….10 years and under 9:00am-10:00am…...11 years and older Tuesday 9 June 2015 4:30pm-5:30pm……10 years and under 5:30pm-6:30pm……11 years and older Contact Coach Jens to register on jenshiestermann@aol.com.

Updates from Student Services Mr. Peter Fowles Head of Student Services Dear Parents and caregivers, This weeks article is a reminder of the Secondary Schools policy with ‘Back packs and uniform’.

The school requirement in Secondary is that backpacks be kept in lockers during school hours. Students only need to carry a small number of items and have the form-fitting case for laptops or tablets. For larger items such as musical instruments or sports equipment students are welcome to use my office or they could make arrangements with the relevant subject teacher.

Bulky backpacks being carried in the hallways are a safety hazard. It is a day-to-day issue to avoid clutter and obstacles in working school spaces especially if there is a fire drill and a need to evacuate the building. It is important to maintain mobility in the hallways and classrooms. Students always have the option to go back to their locker between classes.

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Igniting Minds

Students need to keep their lockers locked.

Very often they are visibly open and items could go missing! Lockers are the alternative for keeping items safe and not backpacks, which are too accessible and can easily be tampered with.

The school asks for the support and understanding of parents as we direct students to use their back packs and lockers in an acceptable manner.

In regard to uniform, shoes remain an issue with some students still not wearing the approved ‘black’ sports or dress shoe as shown on the website and displayed on notice boards in home rooms.

As with all items in the newsletter, please make contact with the school to discuss issues further. Parent and community responses to these articles are always welcome.

Impacting Lives