DP Newsletter 2019

DP NEWSLETTER

May 2019

Dear DP Students and Parents,

We’re off! The exams began on Friday, with the Business Management students the first to taste the exam experience. Although students will be allowed to drink water during the exam, please remember the Ramadan rules which are employed on the rest of the campus.

The leaver’s ceremony will take place on st the 1 June and I know that Mr. James is looking to share any tickets which won’t be used. Please return any unwanted tickets to Mr. James so that he can distribute accordingly, thus allowing as many friends and family as possible to enjoy the evening .

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. James for taking such good care of the Grade 12’s for the past 2 years. We are already planning our own exam opening ceremony on the 6th of July!

Grade 11 will sit their mock exams from 30th May – 13th June.

The week leading up to the exams will be classes as normal, but teachers have been requested not to set major assignments for this week. Students will be expected to attend lessons throughout the week. After the examinations there will be regular lessons, up until the end of term. It is not possible to allow students to leave early for vacations, as the group four project is taking place on 23rd and 26th June. This is compulsory for all students. There are also key deadlines for English, Design, Economics, Visual Arts, Computer Science, CAS and Extended essays; in short, school continues as normal up until the final day of term, the 4 th of July.

Andrew Tomlinson, DP Coordinator – atomlinson@ris.ae Ms Nicole Mann, Assistant to the DP Coordinator, - DPC-assistant@ris.ae

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HEADS OF GRADE Grade 11

Dear Grade 11 parents, I’ll start with a “well done” and “thank you” to all our Grade 11s. It’s been an extremely busy year and you have acquitted yourself with aplomb. It’s difficult to believe the Grade 11s have entered the home stretch of their first DP year, exemplified by the release the grade 11 Mock Exam timetable in the last week. If students needed reminding that they were getting to one of the most important times of the year for them, this is it!

On that note: as the Mock Exams approach, clear and structured use of review time, study blocks, and home time will become even more important. With teachers continuing to deliver course content up until the second last week before the Mock Exams, and with assessment tasks, the TOK presentation and Extended Essay and CAS commitments continuing, solid study plans and organisation can contribute greatly to success.

To help students in this area, there are a number of resources available to them at school, from our school counsellor, Ms Mellissa, Advisors, and Mr Elliot who can guide students through the process of building a study and review timetable using a spreadsheet.

The last fortnight also saw the launch of the new Raha Internship program, open to students in grades 11 and 12. The program is designed to give students relevant and real life industry experience that will help them explore their interests, develop skills, and perhaps provide the springboard for future study or career directions. For grade 11s in particular, this Summer represents the last extended break before university applications begin in earnest, and an ideal time to build experience that will help with personal statement writing, and may prove the difference in securing their preferred position. We currently have positions in health, and hospitality and management available. More positions will be finalised and open for applications in the coming weeks, with details posted to Managebac and publicised on the Internship noticeboard. All the documents needed for applications are available to students on Managebac. A special note in the internship program is that students will require parent permission to apply for position.

Once again, thank you all very much for your continued support of our grade 11 students.

George Scorgie

Grade 12

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It’s finally arrived!

What you should be aware of during the Finals: A balanced nutritional diet, and consistent sleep patterns are essential in order to effectively operate our cognitive and physiological systems. Accordingly, please encourage your child to maintain consistency of both (students should be aiming for 8 hours of sleep, at a consistent time of night; have access to healthy food options/healthy snacks).

What does effective study look like?

Students should be writing and reviewing exam question/assessed content areas within the limits of IB exam times. For example, If the IB exam given students one hour to write a response to a question, students should be practicing a response in the same format. Reviewing content on a computer (although, this is also necessary at times) is not the most effective approach to preparing for exams. Likewise, all assessments are hand written, not typed on a computer and writing responses can take more time than typing; practice for the exam format/conditions.

The Graduation Ceremony?

The Auditorium doors will open promptly at 4:15pm (on June the 1st), for a Ceremony commencement start of 4:45pm. Subsequently, the side doors (opposite the library and the rear carpark door) will be closed at 4:40pm. Thereafter, the back door (facing the pitch) must be used beyond 4:40pm. This back exit should then be utilized to enter and exit the Auditorium throughout the Ceremony (if need be). This is to reduce distracting light and sound entering the Auditorium during the Ceremony. I would suggest families aim to be seated in the Auditorium before 4:35pm. I would also suggest getting to the Auditorium as early as possible, as best viewing spots will fill fast. More information to follow in later weeks.

Extra Graduation Tickets?

Extra requested Graduation tickets are ready for collection (students should come to me directly for these). If families do not need all provided tickets, please return the extras to me, as we still have families who need additional tickets. Please bring your Graduation tickets to the Ceremony, as they will be collected at the doors.

It’s been a crazy, quick two years and before you know it, you’ll be helping ship your child off to University!

Let’s get through this last stage together. If you need anything, please ask.

Kind regards, James Head of Grade 12 DP Psychology & ToK Teacher

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UNIVERSITY APPLICATIONS Grade 12 Students: Final Exams are upon us, so the DP is almost done. Many students have heard back from their university applications and are holding multiple offers. Once you’ve met your offers and selected your chosen university, the university may require additional documents to complete your admissions into that university.

One such document is the IB diploma, which may be required to be legalized depending upon the country of your university destination. The IB Diploma gets sent to our school in early to midSeptember.

Some universities may require a final transcript (hard or soft copy) that lists the student’s Final Exam Marks.

This document is created after the release of the Final Exam Marks on July 6 th. Students make a request for this document by going to the school website and filling out a form under the admission’s menu. Students will need to make arrangements in regards to how these documents arrive to their universities.

Once the Final Exam Marks are released, I will be online to support students and their families during early to mid-July.

Grade 11 Students: Grade 11 Mock Exams are very important and should be taken seriously. Not only do these exams prepare your to write your grade 12 Final Exams a year from now, but the exam marks are used along with your term work to make your first Grade 12 Predicted Grades on October 1st.

Next year, our school will be using a new university application software called BridgeU. I will be introducing and training students on this software before the summer break.

I will be holding two Night School sessions in June. At 6:00 Wednesday, June 19 th, I will be covering the UK application process and at 6:00 Wednesday, June 26th I will discuss applications to US universities. Both these countries have earlier application cycles, so I want to make sure everyone has the right information. Those grade 11 students and parents targeting these countries that did not attend these Night School sessions this past fall, should try to this session(s).

This fall, I will be hosting numerous Night School information evening sessions on the application processes of particular countries/region prior to the application submission cycle. Students and parents are encouraged to attend their destinations sessions, if they have not already done so this past year.

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CORE SUBJECTS Muge Okur, Extended Essay Coordinator mokur@ris.ae

Grade 11 students have just passed another checkpoint in their EE progress, the outline. which was due on April 17th.

To summarize the stages that should be completed at this point in time: The Supervisor, Research Question, Topic and Subject should all be entered in the EE worksheet on MB. The First reflection should be entered in the Planning and Progress Form on MB. The outline should be uploaded to the EE space as a file on MB. The next stage is a “detailed outline� by the end of May, which may vary in format depending on the nature of the essay. For example, a scientific experiment may require data collection to be collected. Students should check with their supervisors to find out what is expected for the corresponding subject. This can be shared directly with the supervisor or uploaded to MB. After June exams, we will be holding the second formal reflection meetings, followed by entry of the second reflection. By that meeting, students should have completed all their research and be ready for writing of the essay, which is why we are asking for the detailed outline before the exams. The actual writing can then take place during the summer break in order to submit the full draft essay in September. This draft will be the only time supervisors will give detailed feedback on the essays.

Most of our students are currently on track, however, we do have a number of students who are still behind EE progress. Please check with your child about his/her progress and entries into MB. The EE is a long-term individual task, and we break it down for students with these checkpoints. I have added notes on their EE page on MB to remind them of the missed deadlines if any.

Thank you for your support!

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Theory of Knowledge Fatima Miller, TOK Coordinator, fmiller@ris.ae G11

Natural Sciences as an area of knowledge Science is a way of thinking more than a body of knowledge. Carl Sagan, 1934-96 Science is a way of observing reality; it is therefore limited by the limits of observation, and it asserts nothing which is outside observation. Jacob Bronoswski 1908-74 Students identified various disciplines within Natural Sciences such as chemistry, biology, physics, astronomy and earth science. This led them to distinguish between science and pseudo- science. Karl’s Popper theory of falsification and its contribution to the scientific method, was explored. Another important theory in the Natural Sciences is the Kuhn theory. Thomas Kuhn introduced the essential concept of paradigm (overarching scientific theory used to make sense of some aspect of reality) to the philosophy of science. After determining what makes a method ‘scientific’, students applied inductive and deductive reasoning to various situations of their choice. They applied the ‘Truth test’ to compare and contrast different perspective on truth, explain the difference between validity and truth, and identify how causation and correlation may hinder scientific truth.

KEY TERMS:     

Pseudo-science: a set of beliefs which mimic the surface features if science without being genuinely scientific.

Hypothesis: a tentative explanation for an observation or problem which, if it is to be scientific, is testable.

Inductivism: the traditional conception of the scientific method, using inductive methods of reasoning.

Law: a general statement confirmed by experimental evidence which describe some feature of reality.

Falsificationism: the belief attributed to Karl Popper that science progresses by falsifying rather than verifying scientific hypothesis.

Essential WOK in this unit: 

Imagination, faith, intuition.

Some of the knowledge questions explored in this unit: What Role does language play in scientific thinking?

In which way do scientific laws differ from the laws of human science subjects such as economics?

To what extend is knowledge progress dependent on culture?

Students are currently researching Real life situations and formulating Knowledge questions for their final TOK presentation. The TOK presentations are scheduled in May, from the 12th to the 29th of May. Grade 12 Congratulations to Grade 12 who have completed their two-year course in TOK! Remember that TOK is a useful course to refer to during university interviews, as it values personal knowledge, allows you to think outside the box, and drives you to consider the effect of bias on belief.

We wish you all the best in your May exams!

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CAS It has been a busy month! Grade 12 students have started completing their exit interviews marking the end of their CAS journey through the Diploma Programme. Hopefully more students will seek out to their Advisory Teachers or the CAS Coordinator to join those who have crossed the finish line!

One of my favorite parts about coordinating the CAS program at our school is that I get to learn about so many of the amazing experiences our Diploma Students engage in. Take for example Ayesha M. in G12, who assisted in the evening Basketball program for children with autism. Having our students engage in these types of activities is key to helping them develop into whole individuals that embody the IB Learner Profile attributes.

“Although I learned a lot from the first term of doing this activity, going into the next term made me more open-minded of what might happen during the sessions but also make me grow a better connection with the students as I have the ability to interact with them more. The first learning objective I have is "Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process". I have chosen this learning outcome since I had more difficulty this term especially in the beginning of the term than the first term I joined.” - Ayesha M Grade 11 students have also been very busy as evident by the updated “status flags” on ManageBac. It was great to see many students earn the “Gold Trophy” status while others joined in the “Green flag fleet”. At this point there are a few red flags which means that changes need to be made on their CAS portfolio page on ManageBac. Students are encouraged to inform Mr. Carlos after making updates so that he can adjust the status flags accordingly.

Over the spring break, Ms. Caitlin, Ms. Liz, Mr. Vaughan, and Mr. Carlos had the wonderful pleasure of accompanying a group of 28 Grade 11 students to complete a service project in Cambodia. Here are a few words from Maya Human on behalf of the Cambodia Team: “What. A. Trip. I don't think anybody could have anticipated what an experience this excursion could have been. We have dug toilets and wells, taught children English, been blessed by monks, explored ancient temples, and bartered in local markets. So many new adventures we embarked on as a team, all concentrated in one incredible week! I know I will never be able to forget this journey and I know that it has had a profound impact on my world view that will last a lifetime”.

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