IGB International School Newsletter, Issue 27, Week 2, February 2015

IGB International School’s Weekly Newsletter - Issue 27, Week 2, February 2015

The Weekly Newsletter is our online school-wide form of communication to the Parent and Student community. It is sent electronically every week to the e-mail contact you have provided to Admissions. You can either access it through the link sent to your e-mail or through the website at www.igbis.edu.my. Please read the newsletter every week!

News, events, school developments and highlights are shared and parents and students should make sure they read this every week.

Inside this week’s Newsletter

Upcoming Events 16th – 20th February 2015 School Holiday

Message from Head of School Mrs. Anne Fowles, Head of School

19th – 20th February 2015 Public Holiday - Chinese New Year Office Closed

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

23rd February 2015 First Day of School after Holiday

News from Secondary School Mr. Lennox Meldrum, Secondary School Principal Updates from Student Services Mr. Peter Fowles, Head of Student Services Updates from Academic and Support Services Mr. Peter Syme, Director of Academic and Support Services Updates from Admissions Mrs. Bronwyn Thorburn, Admissions Director

Igniting Minds

24th February 2015 Coffee Morning - Grade 9 Parents, 8.00am, Lobby Cafe 25th February 2015 Parent Teacher Conferences, 2.00pm - 7.00pm Senior Drama Production, 3.00pm and 6.30pm 26th February 2015 Coffee Morning - Grade 10 Parents, 8.00am, Lobby Cafe 27th February 2015 Coffee Morning - Grade 11 Parents, 8.00am, Parent Meeting Room

Impacting Lives

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Message from Head of School Mrs. Anne Fowles Head of School Dear IGBIS Parents and Community Members, All of our parents should have received their children’s reports – these were distributed electronically on Wednesday afternoon. If you require a signed copy, please bring a printed copy to school for us to have signed for you.

Last week we held another evacuation drill. This went very smoothly and children should now know the procedures. An sms was sent to parents to inform them that the drill was commencing and again afterwards to say it was completed successfully. Please check that you received the sms and inform admissions of any change of your phone number. If there is a real emergency in the school, we will contact you by sms.

I would like to congratulate our Grade 11 student, Tsiu Khoon Lim, who has been selected for the Malaysian Swim Team. The Amateur

Swimming Union of Malaysia (ASUM) will be sending the Malaysian swim team to Sydney, to participate in the NSW Open over 27th February to 1st March. We wish Tsiu Khoon the very best in the competition.

Our Chinese New Year assembly on 11th February was a wonderful celebration of the upcoming festival. The students’ command of Chinese was superb (one visitor asked if most of the students were mainland Chinese!) and their performances were excellent.

Congratulations to all of the staff and students who were involved in the assembly.

I hope that you all enjoy some quality family time over the break next week. Happy Chinese New Year! Gong Xi Fa Cai! Xing nian kuai le!

News from Elementary School Mrs. Claire McLeod Elementary School Principal Semester 1 Reports By now parents will have received their child’s Semester 1 report. We hope you have found the report detailed and informative. Opportunities to further discuss your child’s achievements and attitudes to learning will be available at the Parent/Teacher Conferences scheduled for the 25th February from 2-7pm. Please use the online sign up to select a suitable time.

Chinese New Year Assembly With the guidance and support of our Chinese teachers, students across Elementary and Secondary School presented a lovely Chinese New year assembly today. Their songs, poems, fan and lantern dances and a comedy act held the attention of everyone in the audience. Thank you to Ms Yuri Kim, My Mu Rong and Ms Xiaoping Li for their effort and commitment to ensure the students were well prepared and ready for this special assembly.

Early Years 1 Parenting Talk On Wednesday our Early Years 1 teacher Ms Deborah King and Counsellor Ms Pauline Davidson provided very informative and practical suggestions on parenting young children. Topics such bedtime routines, sufficient sleep, use of technology, nutrition, independence, resilience and behaviour were covered. From the discussions during the talk and afterwards it was good to hear that parents found this helpful. We hope to provide further Parenting classes in the next few months.

The Need for Pretend Play in Child Development Recently I read an excellent article about the value of pretend play, written by three eminent psychologists. In the article they suggest pretend play is a vital component to the normal development of a child. At IGBIS our Early Years is a play based, inquiry programme. Teachers recognize the value of pretend play and provide opportunities throughout the day for students to engage in free and undirected play where they learn and build on their social and communication skills and display their understandings in their own way. In older grade levels students often participate in pretend play during free time in class and outside at recess and lunch times. I have provided you with the link to the article; I hope you find it informative and when you see your child playing at home or hear that they were “just playing” at school you may view their play differently. http://bit.ly/IGBISpretendplay Until next time.

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Igniting Minds

Impacting Lives

Chinese New Year Assembly The purpose of the Chinese New Year assembly was to highlight our cultural diversity and celebrate the learning that happens in our Chinese Mandarin classes. This twofold objective was successfully achieved through eight stunning performances by our students on Wednesday afternoon in our amazing Theatre. There were also vital contributions from our student MCs and supporting staff members.

Then it was back to some music and dance, with Grades 2 and 3 doing a sign-language dance called “Sunshine after the rain”, and Grades 9 and 10 performing the hit number “The moon represents my heart” with accompanying saxophone. Then it was time for a traditional Fan Dance performed by Grade 6 girls, who won a spontaneous applause in the middle of their routine!

Grade 1 and the Chinese Lantern Dance started off the show watching them stepping in time with the music and holding the red lanterns, and with the lighting and stage decoration, made a brilliant visual effect. Then we shifted to a play done by Grades 4 & 5, that explained the origins of the Chinese Zodiac, including our students one-by-one roaring like a lion or clucking like a chicken, and announcing themselves in fluent Mandarin.

We finished off the show with everyone on stage, singing Gongxi, Gongxi with accompanying music and great fanfare. One of the Early Year students, funnily enough, decided to belt out “Let It Go!” and won approving laughs from the audience.

Have a great Chinese New Year Holiday and Gong Xi Fa Cai! Ms Yuri Kim, Elementary & Secondary Chinese Teacher

Three students in Grade 6 performed a play called “Rock! Sword! Firecracker!” which features some hilarious lines. The students did a great job in projecting their voices and acting out their characters. Then there was beautiful Guzheng music, while Grades 7 to 10 students recited poems.

News From the Clinic

Welcome to Semester 2. I would like to share IGBIS guidelines on infection control. Let’s work together to protect our students by supporting these guidelines. Please view the guidelines in the link below: http://bit.ly/clinicguideline Nurse Azilah, azilah.razali@igbis.edu.my, Clinic extension number: 4653

Grade 6 Field Trip to Desa Parkcity On 11th February, Grade 6 went on a field trip to Desa Parkcity for our Individuals and Societies class. In Individuals and Societies class we are currently studying settlements and looking at new towns. Desa Parkcity is similar to a new town so we went to learn about the development of a new town and to understand what happens in order to build one. We learned about how they decided to build Desa Parkcity and their plans for it to become bigger and better. We learnt about the plan on how they decided to build their houses and apartments.

Then we split into groups to find out more. Half of us did one thing and the other half did another thing. Some groups went to find out what type of shops there were, and some asked shoppers some questions for a survey.

What I personally found interesting is how Desa Parkcity grew from a quarry of just mud and rocks, to being a successful housing development place and have shopping malls.

Ro Xzi, Grade 6 Student

Igniting Minds

Impacting Lives

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The Learner Profile Part 2 As mentioned in the newsletter issue 23, week 2, January 2015, at IGBIS not only are we interested in helping our students to succeed academically but one of the great elements of IB programmes is the Learner Profile. These are the traits that we want our students to be demonstrating in their lives in and outside of school to help to make the world a more peaceful and better place. This is part 2 and five more traits will follow.

Inquirer: At IGBIS we actively encourage students to generate questions and either embark on a journey of finding out by themselves, with classmates or with you as parents. For example the Grade 2 students have a question box- student wondering that they can add to. These are then pulled out and inquired into, with the process being visually documented.

Thinkers: Following on from inquring, we want our students to be thinkers. Not just accepting what they hear or read, but questioning and generating their own wonderings as well. Taking a single subject example, in PE not only are skills taught and assessed, so too is the knowledge and understanding that they have gained from a unit. For example during our recent invasion games unit in Grade 1 & 2, students have been encouraged to plan (think of) ideas (tactics) for their team to use in the game.

Knowledgeable: Obviously we want our students to be gaining knowledge on a wide variety of topics. Asking questions to find the right kind of information and using that knowledge is an important aspect of our curriculum.

Reflective: Students are encouraged all the time to think about what they have done and consider how they might have done something differently or will do something differently next time. Everyone makes mistakes, however learning from them and seeing these as part of the learning process is extremely valuable. As teachers this is something that we model as we are always looking to make things better.

Risk taker: Often this is a trait that is misunderstood. Risk taking is to be undertaken safely and responsibly. Whilst it may involve undertaking an ‘adventure’ type of activity like climbing or gymnastics, it is not reckless. Risk taking is having the courage to try something different. This may be standing up and addressing a large gathering of people, creating and performing a dance or for an Early Years student taking their feet off the floor of the pool is being a risk taker. These all take courage and risk taking changes from person to person.

As a community we work in partnership with you. As IB educators we try and live and model the Learner Profile in and out of school. We hope you can help us by doing the same, not only at home but at work too.

Simon Millward, IB Primary Years Programme Coordinator

5 Tips for Parenting in the Digital Age Technology no longer has boundaries Times are extremely different today than in previous generations.

Once upon a time there were built-in limitations: Kids played games in arcades or tethered themselves to home devices. Now, as long as someone in the family has a smartphone, games and other ways of being digitally connected are always an option.

Know when to cut it off Technology and computers can be a great way to learn (or to keep the kids quiet) but remember you are the parent and you decide when enough is enough. My Grandmother used to say that life is all about balance, we need to help our kids find this balance between screen time and non screen time. All digital devices should be used in a public space at home and not in bedrooms.

Focus on technology that connects us with our children Parents often complain that their children spend too much time playing computer games or watching television, but how often do we as parents use technology to keep kids busy when they need peace and quiet? It is possible to find games and activities that parents and children can do together online. The challenge is finding technology that connects rather than isolates.

Model the Balance Technology is incredible, I couldn’t do my job without it, but as a parent it is important that I model correct use of technology. That means not having the television on when we are having dinner, no using my phone at a restaurant, putting my devices down and spending time with my kids building, reading and playing sports.

Know the difference between preference and addiction Some days a child might prefer to play a computer game than go for a swim or talk to their friends, it doesn’t mean they are addicted to it. They are perfectly capable of going without the technology, they just prefer it. Addiction is when someone can’t live without technology or anything else, they feel empty or depressed without it. If this is the case then it needs to be addressed.

Technology will not go away nor will the desire to use it, as aprents we need to help our children find the balance and explore different ways to connect with others.

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Impacting Lives

Igniting Minds

This is a summary of this excellent article http://mashable.com/2011/09/14/parenting-tech-children/ Author: Soren Gordhamer Geoff Derry, Technology Integrator

News from Secondary School Mr. Lennox Meldrum Secondary School Principal Our students have been in the spotlight this week, putting on a display of their many talents. The Chinese New Year assembly highlighted their language abilities, performance prowess, and organisational skills, weaving a story of how our community celebrates Chinese New Year. With a nearly full theatre, it was another wonderful way to bring our community together. Congratulations to all of the students who presented on stage, especially our four Grade 11 hosts. And a huge thank you to the teachers and support staff who helped organise and guide the assembly. Well done everyone!

The other spotlight was through the semester one achievement reports that were issued on Wednesday through ManageBac. We hope that they were able to provide a clear indication of your child’s strengths, ways that they can continue to improve in semester two, and how an IB education provides a high level of academic rigour as well as a focus on important approaches to learning skills.

Our experienced teachers and coordinators are looking forward to discussing your child’s progress further at our Parent-StudentTeacher Conferences on 25th February from 2.00pm to 7.00pm. You can book a time with our teachers through the link on the front page of the report. Also on that afternoon are a series of additional sessions covering MYP, DP, technology, and two performances of a production that our Secondary School students have been rehearsing over the past few months. Further details can be found on the conferences booking page.

Have a safe and enjoyable holiday and we will see you again on 23rd February.

Grade 8 Students Prepare for their Community Project Last week our Grade 8 students began preparations for their Community Project. As a candidate school for the IB Middle Years Programme, IGBIS is introducing the MYP Community Project with Grade 8 students this academic year and will introduce the MYP Personal Project with Grade 10 students next academic year.

MYP Projects (Community Project and Personal Project) provide opportunities for students to identify areas of personal interest, to inquire more deeply into those areas, to learn more about them and to take some form of responsible action as a result of their inquiries. Students work on their MYP Projects in their own time and over an extended period of time. They are guided by teacher supervisors through a cycle of investigation, planning, taking action and reflecting.

The MYP Community Project focuses on community and service. Students inquire into needs within communities and take action to address those needs through service learning. For our first IGBIS Community Project, our Grade 8 students will work in small groups of two or three students and will focus their inquiries on our own IGBIS community. Our school is still a young community and there are many ways in which it can be further developed.

Over the next couple of weeks our Grade 8 students will conduct surveys with a variety of IGBIS community members to identify strengths and needs within our community. If you are approached by some of our students and asked to participate in a survey, please take a few minutes to assist with their investigation. The students will analyse their survey data and use that information to identify possible areas of focus for their Community Projects.

“MYP Projects help students to develop the attributes of the IB learner profile; provide students with an essential opportunity to demonstrate Approaches to Learning (ATL) skills developed through the MYP; and foster the development of independent, lifelong learners.” (“MYP Projects Guide”, IBO, 2014) Mr. Phil Clark, Middle Years Curriculum Coordinator

Office Closure on Wednesday, 18th February 2015 In conjunction with Chinese New Year celebration, the office will close from 12:30pm on Wednesday, 18th February 2015. Our office will resume operation on Monday, 23rd February 2015.

Should you have any enquiry, please contact us at +60 3 6145 4688.

Igniting Minds

Impacting Lives

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Information from the Diploma Programme Coordinator As the Lunar New Year holiday approaches, its important for our Grade 11 students to reflect on their first semester at IGBIS in order to help them plan ahead for the rest of the academic year. IB Diploma Programme students need to complete several assessments during the two-year IBDP programme, and need to use time-management skills to help them complete these assessments on time and with care. In order to help the students plan ahead we have created the IGBIS Academic Deadlines schedule, which lists the important assessments and their completion date in chronological order. The upcoming academic deadline dates are: * March 2, 2015 - English A Language and Literature Written Task #1 (Draft) * March 13, 2015 - English A Language and Literature Written Task #1 (Final) The Academic Deadlines document is posted on ManageBac, and has been emailed to the G11 students. As deadlines approach they will be listed in this newsletter space as well. Its important that the G11 students plan ahead and create work schedule during the upcoming holiday in order to complete future assignments on time and with care.

The Parent-Teacher Conferences will take place on 25th February after the Lunar New Year holiday. These type of events are a great opportunity for parents and teachers to communicate about student progress and other aspects of student life at IGBIS. I will be giving a presentation and information session at the conference regarding the IBDP, academic deadlines and grade formulation for the reports. We hope to see lots of parents at the 25th February conference.

If there are any questions regarding the IBDP at IGBIS please email me at matthew.marshall@igbis.edu.my. Happy Lunar New Year holiday to everyone in the IGBIS community.

Mr. Matthew Marshall, Diploma Programme Coordinator

Senior Drama Production The IGB Senior Drama Production “A SUITCASE FULL OF SURPRISES� will be performed on the 25th February at 3.00pm and again at 6.30pm.

This is the same day as the Parent/Teacher conferences. The production features many surprises. The following photographs show the students in rehearsal.

The production is approximately 30 minutes in duration. Book it into your Parent/Teacher conference schedule and enjoy this thoroughly modern theatrical experience in our theatre.

Mr. Jon Suffolk, Performing Arts Teacher

IGBIS Instrumental Music Academy The IGBIS Instrumental Music Academy has commenced for Semester with classes in Piano,Violin and Guitar at maximum capacity due to the availability of our excellent tutors. The short performances at the end of Semester 1 proved how much progress our students are making. A reminder to parents who have not yet paid their Semester 2 tuition fees to please do so as soon as possible. As big thank you to the parents who have emailed me their receipts when they have completed a bank transfer.

We welcomed our new Singing teacher Ms. Irma Lailatul Munira this week. Ms. Irma is an excellent singer in her own right and I am sure over time will develop a strong singing program at IGB There are still vacancies for singing, woodwind and brass lessons if anyone is interest. Please email me for more information.

Mr. Jon Suffolk, Performing Arts Teacher

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Updates from Student Services Mr. Peter Fowles Head of Student Services Dear Parents and students, Congratulations to Jasmine Brawn the school’s Athletics Director for initiating IGBIS teams and creating the opportunity for games with other schools. Please see her message to students posted this week on managebac.

Hello Secondary Students, It’s been a great couple of weeks for Athletics/Activities at IGBIS. Our wonderful facilities have begun hosting teams from other schools and we are well on the road to some competitive programs to represent us in the community and in the not so distant future, internationally.

Last Monday, 2nd February, our U13 Boys Basketball Team played ISKL with some help from our Grade 9’s and held there own at home, with a 26-38 final score.

On Wednesday, 4th February we hosted HELP International School in a friendly tennis exchange and our tennis elites got to strut their stuff. Our emerging tennis team included Lucas Fravi, Kai Teh, Vanessa Veldkamp and Alexander Vivarelli. These individuals stepped up and took a risk in coming out and playing. They played round robin games that varied in duration and points. The teams were mixed to reflect a friendly atmosphere which was a great way to end the day on the courts.

On Monday, 9th February we were host to ISKL’s U15 Girls B Team and many non-basketball players showed up to round out the squad. Our team played with tremendous spirit with the 21-35 score not a reflection of the fun that was had during the game.

On the gym court 10th Tuesday, we hosted the ISKL Grade 8 Boys B Team with our U15 boys winnning the close encounter.

Please congratulate all the individuals and teams who have stepped forward to represent IGBIS at this early stage in our development.

They are doing a fantastic job!

Looking forward to Saturday, 7th March when there is a Boys/Girls U13 Football Tournament in which we are hoping to field a team.

We need Grades 6 and 7’s to step forward and volunteer their skills on the field. Please let Mrs. Brawn know if you are interested in playing that day. The venues include IGBIS for the Boys and ELC for the Girls.

Thank you and have a great holiday.

Mrs Brawn (Athletics Director) Mrs Brawn and I extend an invitation to parents who are always welcome to watch our teams play at IGBIS.

Igniting Minds

Impacting Lives

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Updates from Academic and Support Services Mr. Peter Syme Director of Academic and Support Services School Vans and Pick Up Times As you all know, the starting times for the Secondary School is now at 7.50am with the first bell sounding at 7.45am. There has been a very slight adjustment to the van pick up times to reflect this change so that students travelling from around KL reach school in time.

Recently, both the drivers and the academic staff at school have noticed that some students are arriving after 8am. After some investigating and speaking with some of the students, it appears that the drivers sometimes have to wait 15 minutes for some students to meet the vans.

It only takes one person to be late and this can throw the whole timing out, particularly in an area like Mont Kiara, where morning traffic can be very heavy. Whilst this is a paid service, the students still have a responsibility to be at their pick up points at the appropriate time and like any transport service, trains, buses and planes, we always try to be there sooner rather than later in case we miss them.

We all understand that sometimes things can happen in the morning that can cause lateness and this is why it is important to keep in contact with the drivers and the company to inform them of any delays. If there is no communication with the drivers, we have instructed them not to wait for more than a few minutes at the most, so that the other students arrive to school on time.

Please check your pick-up schedules with your drivers and make sure you are where you should be, preferably 5 mins before the scheduled time. After the school break next week and when the service resumes on Monday, 23rd February 2015, as I said, the drivers will not be waiting if you have not contacted them to inform them that you will be late.

Cleanliness of Car Park There has been a steady increase in the amount of rubbish at the car pick and pick up zone. Whilst our cleaners do monitor the pick up zone, the rubbish is appearing away from this area as people

walk to and from cars as well some of the drivers employed by families who are also smoking on site and leaving their cigarette butts around. If drivers are used by families to collect children in the afternoon, can you please remind them that IGBIS is a no smoking property. The security and facilities team will be monitoring this very closely and drivers will be asked to leave the school if they smoke on the school grounds.

Parent Café Recently, parents have been involved in various grade level morning teas, which have proven to be very successful. One of the common threads has been enquiries about when the Parent Café will open.

Whilst the sourcing of companies is on-going, we would like to introduce a simplified version of the Parent Café after Chinese New Year. The café located on Level 5 outside the lifts and the theatre foyer area will be open for parents on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings from 7.45am to 9.00am and on Monday and Wednesday afternoons from 2.30pm to 4.00pm.

There will be tea and coffee available as well as sweet and savoury selections from our current catering team. We will be charging a flat rate of RM5.00 for parents who would like to take the opportunity to meet up, share and generally socialise with other parents in the school. This will run as an honesty system and your RM5.00 will be placed in a jar or tin on the counter.

The area outside the café will also be used once our delivery of sofas arrive. The afternoons particularly provide a very nice breeze in this area. As I said it is a very simple vesion at the moment, but we hope it will not be too much longer before we can fit out the café and open the café on a much grander scale.

Updates from Admissions Mrs. Bronwyn Thorburn Admissions Director Secondary School Coffee Mornings Parent coffee mornings for Secondary School will be at the following times and locations: All sessions will be held at 8.00am.

Grade 9 - 24th February in the Lobby Cafe Grade 10 - 26th February in the Lobby Cafe Grade 11 - 27th February in the Parent Meeting Room (next to the Lobby Cafe) Thank you to those parents who attended the Whole School Coffee Morning on Wednesday.

Open Day, March 28th We will be hosting another Open Day. The date for this event will be Saturday, 28th March.

Lobby Cafe We are planning to open the Lobby Cafe on Monday, 23rd February (after the February Chinese New Year break) with a small supply of coffee, tea and pastries on Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning from 7.45am to 9.00am, and then Monday and Wednesday afternoon from 2.30pm to 4:00pm.

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Igniting Minds

Impacting Lives