DIRECTOR’SUPDATE COMMUNITY UPDATE
DearCommunityMembers,
As you know, through ISB’s personalised curricula, teaching practices, and breadth of cocurricular offerings, we are working to dispel the myth that academic excellence and high inclusivity are mutually exclusive For us, striving for academic excellence is not about averages, but about each child receiving the right level of challenge and support needed to reach their potential. This week, during our two community sessions, I shared many of the impressive achievements of our students and was also able to convey the ways in which we arestrivingtoimprovethelearningresultsforeachandeverychild.
Asaschool,wecanpointtomanydifferentareasofachievement,includingourlatestMAP analysis from last year which shows high levels of growth and achievement for students across our sections. One particularly impressive statistic is that over 70% of ES and MS students show both high growth and high achievement for Maths, which is the type of result that is the envy of many schools around the world We also observed that, on average, students who have studied at ISB for more than three years perform better on MAP testing in Maths than students who have just joined our community. While averages liketheseareimpressive,whatisfarmoreimportanttousisthatweknowhoweachofour students is performing, and that we know how we can support and challenge each individuallearnertogrowandimprove Thisisthehallmarkofgreateducation,andforus thatmeansanincreasinglypersonalisedapproach.
We also know that our students have interests and passions in many areas, and another part of our job is ensuring they can learn more about the world and develop new skills. We want them to discover and nurture their emerging talents In an upcoming issue, we are going to share an example of this in the form of a new programme called “Pathways to Excellence”, which is a way of providing exceptional support and challenge for students focusing on Arts, Athletics,andSTEM
In our Strategy for the Future, one of our pillars is called Exceptional Education. As we look to the future, we are committed to providing an even stronger academic programme and continuing to develop our extra-curricular offerings, while also ensuring the right conditions existtosupportindividualwellbeing.
Our work at ISB is very important. Thank you to all our parents for your ongoing support as we pursueourmissionofeveryoneincluded,challenged,andsuccessful.
Kindregards,
James MacDonald ISB Director
OurStudents’SuccessattheChemistryOlympiad
InJune2024,17st in a ChemistryOlympiadCompetitionorganisedbytheRoyalSocietyofChemistry (RSC).Thecompetitionwasopentostudentsintheirpenultimateyearofstudybefore university, from schools across Belgium. A total of 103 students took part in this year’s event
Three separate written examinations tested students' knowledge and understanding of chemical concepts and challenged their problem-solving abilities. The last assessment specifically went beyond the chemistry field and posed challenging questions that required students to use deductive reasoning, as well as creative thinking,tosolveawiderangeofpuzzles.
A total of 9 prizes could be won across the categories (1st to 3rd place in each category) Additionally, there was an overall prize for the student who had the best combinedscoreinthetwochemistry-basedsections.
We are proud that our ISB students dominated the leader boards across the three sections, with Juliette Martin being crowned the RSC Champion for 2024! All winners receivedcashprizesfortheiraccomplishments
Seethefulllistofwinnersbelow Wesincerelycongratulateeveryonewhoparticipated inthisgreatcompetition!
SectionA:ChemistryMultipleChoice
JulietteMartinandRyodaiNomuraachieved1stplace AntoniZielenskiachieved2ndplace
SectionB:ChemistryWrittenProblemSolving
NaomiTrevellyan-Schippachieved1stplace
JulietteMartinachieved2ndplace
SectionC:LateralandCreativeThinkingSkills JuYoungChanachieved3rdplace
OverallChemistryChallengeWinner:JulietteMartin
2023-24 ENGAGEMENT
Our Community Engagement Programme (CAS) helps our students develop and nurture their social awareness and gives them opportunities to give back to the community through a range of diverse and meaningful projects. We are happy that the previous 2023-24schoolyearwasfullofexcitingandmeaningfulopportunitiestogetinvolvedand makeadifference!
You can find the weekend results on the ISB website, ontheRaidersAthleticsResultsPage A T H L E T I C S
Friday, 4 October is a RED OUT DAY for the Homecoming weekend at ISB. Please wear red and comecheckouttheVarsityandJVgamesoncampus. PleaseseethespecificscheduleforHomecomingand theRaidersWeeklyschedulebelow:
AthleticsSchedule-HomecomingWeekend2024 2024-25WeeklySchedule
ISBCOMMUNITYMEETING
ISBvaluesparents’voices,andthebeginningoftheschoolyearisthe perfecttimetohearyourfeedbackandsuggestions!
A big thank you to all parents who attended our Community Meetings on Thursday evening and Friday morningthisweek
Last year, ISB hosted this event for the first time, and building on the successofthisevent,wedecidedto schedule these sessions as recurrentevents
We look forward to seeing many of you next year and to report on the progress we’ve made in the meantime!
PARENTPERCEPTIONSTUDY 2024
ISBARTS
The Performing Arts Music Department will be taking six talented Jazz studentmusicians to the AMIS High School Honor JazzMusicFestivaltakingplaceinDüsseldorf from25to29September Thisisanexciting opportunity for our student musicians interestedinhoningtheirJazzperformance skills by participating in workshops with internationally renowned musicians, culminatinginaconcertonthefinalevening Our IB Theatre students will also have the opportunity to attend the ISTA IB Taps SymposiuminLondonfrom9to12October. TAPSworkshopsprovideanopportunityfor studentstoauthenticallyengagewiththeIB Diploma Theatre programme. Students will work with theatre professionals, examiners, IB/ISTA trained workshop leaders, and master class practitioners drawn from the worldofprofessionaltheatre.Theaimofthe symposium is to provide students with a seminal theatre and learning experience thatwillactasalaunchpadfortheirown further explorations of theatre, within the contextoftheIBTheatreprogramme.They willalsobeseeingfourprofessionaltheatre productionsduringthetrip.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
TheMiddleSchoolStudentLeadership Team will host a variety of Carnival Games and Face Painting on the Château Field for the ISB Community on Homecoming day on, Friday, 4 Octoberfrom16:15to17:30
HOMELANGUAGEPROGRAMME
It’s European Parliament Multilingualism Day, celebrating linguistic diversity in the EU, and there is no better time to share some exciting facts about our Home Language Programme
Given our international environment, with over 60 nationalities and 55 spoken languages, all of our students are on a journey to multilingualism. In the spirit of honouring our diverse student body, this year we introduced our extended Home Language Programme in the Lower School In addition to French and Dutch for native speakers, we are now offering classes in Swedish, Japanese, Korean, Hebrew, and Spanishduringtheschooldayandwithinstudents’timetables.
We plan to extend this unique programme to the Upper School as well, in the next academicyear!
This week, our parent language and yoga classes started again We also had parent meet-ups, a cooking class, and an ECC Community Day. What a great way to close out September!
InOctober,theFAhassomewonderfuleventsandactivitiesforthecommunity.Besureto markyourcalendarsfor:
Thursday,3October:CoffeeMorningBrunchBunch,11:30-13:00
Friday,4October-Saturday5October:ISBHOMECOMING
Tuesday,8October:FAMonthlyParentMeeting,09:30-11:00
Thursday,10October:GuidedMeditationWorkshopsbegin,10:00-11:30 Brunch&Bubbles,12:00-14:00
There are so many ways to discover all the great events, classes, and activities the FA is doing.Wehopetoseeyouatonesoon!
Biweekly FA Community Compass: Keep an eye out for the FA newsletter next Wednesday(andeveryotherweekfollowing),whereyouwilldiscoveralltheFAhasto offertotheISBCommunity.
Facebook: TheISBFAParentForumisgreatforannouncementsandinformationonallthatis happeninginourcommunity ISBFABuy&Sellisourcommunity’sMarketplacegroup,whichisalsoagreatplace tofindandpromotelocalservices
WhatsApp Group: Join the ISB Family Assoc. NEWS group to stay informed about importantnewsandupdatesfromtheFA.
ISBApp:FindusontheISBPortalandontheAppforcontacts,events,andinformation abouttheFA.
ITNEWS
Our Apple devices provider, Econocom, has created a dedicated ISB Community AppleOnlineShop.
To take advantage of the preferential prices, each user needs to take the following steps:
1.CreateanAccountwiththeirchosenusername
2.UsecodeISB2024!
3.Createapassword
Please note that ISB is not responsible for warranty issues, damages, repairs, or any otherproblemsrelatedtopurchasingdevicesfromthisOnlineShop
