SFS Today - October 2011

October 2011 Volume 3 Issue 1

SFS Today Details of daily distinction found at Seoul Foreign School

Seoul Foreign School, centered in Christ, inspires educational excellence & promotes Christian values, personal integrity & responsible global citizenship through a dynamic international experience.

SFS Gathers Together for the 100th

A er the annual See You at the Pole event, SFS students, teachers & staff gathered together on the soccerfield to pose for the 100 picture to commemorate the Centennial Year (2011-12) of Seoul Foreign School.

MS Opens its Millennium Time Capsule show of SFS history was shared giving students an idea of what SFS and Korea was like in the On Wednesday, August 17th the Middle School kicked off our Centen- past century. nial year with the opening of a ‘time Watch out for the capsule’ from the grade 8 class of next official Cen2000 – the year many of our current tennial Time Capgrade 6 students were born! It was sule Opening & great fun to look at the turn of the Burial on May 29, century through the eyes of Middle 2012. It’s going to School students. Technology has changed a bit since then, but favorite be fun opening up books, movies, and foods were readi- the time capsule to ly recognized by our current student find out what was buried 25 years body. ago!

Also at the assembly a short slide This is the year we honor our past, celebrate our present, and eagerly anticipate our future!

www.seoulforeign.org

MS students opening the Time Capsule

Centennial Writing Project… at the British School for two sessions - one to introduce the writing focus and one for feedback.

Google Docs is being used by all students, making it more accessible for Vi oria to edit writing and leave helpful messages.

We are grateful for Mr. Don Robinsonʹs expertise Father Giancarlo Faldani visits Year 8L class and for his sensible apVi oria provided the vision for our experiences of Seoul over the forty work and turned Dr. Tim Grayʹs seed proach. Through his guidance and years he has lived here. It was a fascipatience we have a practical solution of an idea into a reality. As the theme nating insight and a wonderful expeto organising the work involved in of one hundred is significant, it was rience for the students who conducsuch a huge project. Mr. Damian adopted as the core idea. Initially, Vi oria thought of different headings Prest must also be thanked for helping ted the interview. the younger students in his classes to for each class to focus on. A er a set up accounts. Mrs. Sally Corben great deal of creative thinking, Once the book has been published, Vi oria managed to present one hun- is forma ing our special book, as well with support from Ines Hur (parent of dred different titles, covering a range as working with all students to proJoanna Seung in Year 2C), everyone in duce a piece of art, which will be inof genres, to inspire our students to the British School will celebrate with a write one hundred chapters. The titles cluded in the anthology alongside traditional street party. All students their piece of writing. The British cover life as it is being experienced will receive a copy of the anthology School staff have enjoyed supporting now by our students, as well as reand a hardback copy of the book will flecting on what it was like in the past. Vi oria in their classrooms and value be placed in the time capsule. and appreciate the writing skills she Within the range of titles, there are has been sharing with our students. also plenty of opportunities for students to consider life in the future.

Students in Key Stage 3 have already “This anthology will become prebeen out in the field interviewing Mr. Vi oria has already begun working cious to students - and of course to with our students and sees each class Robert Black about the future of the school - in years to come, and Seoul Foreign School, and Mrs. Edie it is an honour for me to be inMoon about the volved in its creation. Two months changes she has witinto the project, all students in nessed in her time Years 5 to 9 are fully immersed in at Seoul Foreign their pieces, and the enthusiastic School. In early Sepmanner in which they have thrown tember, students themselves at their writing is wonin Year 8L were forderful for me to witness. At times tunate to have Fathe originality of the studentsʹ ther Giancarlo Falthinking amazes me. Every story dani (Pastor at St. they are producing is unique and Francis, the Francisspecial - just as the authors are can Chapel in Hanthemselves!ʺ nam-dong) visit Vi oria working with Year 5B students on the them in their form Vi oria DʹAlessio Centennial writing project room to share his vast

This academic year, 2011-2012, all the British School students are participating in a very exciting writing project to commemorate 100 years of Seoul Foreign School. The project is being led by Vi oria DʹAlessio, a trained journalist, and mother to Elisabe a Lawrence in Year 8L and Benji Lawrence in Year 3C.

SFS Receives Excellent Results for First IGCSE Exams Distinction for their SFHS commenced ICE award. They offering IGCSE achieved four A* (International Gengrades each with the eral Certificate of rest of their grades as Secondary Educahigh passes. tion) courses to The IGCSE program Grade 9 students in continues to develop August 2009. These and strengthen at courses are offered SFHS. We have seen through Cambridge an incredible growth International Examiin the number of stunations dents opting for IGCSE (www.cie.org.uk), courses and we have part of the Universiincluded new subjects ty of Cambridge.

(Spanish, Additional Almost two years Jezamine Wee and Joseph Godden with their teacher Ruth Sanderson Mathematics). later, in May 2011, This first set of results our first cohort of is an excellent reflection of the qualimembers of the first IGCSE cohort.

Grade 10 students sat for their final ty teaching and learning that is takThey both opted to take a full set of IGCSE examinations. Our students ing place in IGCSE classrooms. The IGCSE courses in Grades 9 and 10, achieved excellent results that were school continues to be commi ed to well above the world averages. Our enabling them to be eligible for an additional qualification, the Interna- providing resources and training for pass rate was 100% with 90% of tional Certificate of Education (ICE). teachers of IGCSE classes so that this grades awarded being high passes The ICE award demonstrates that the quality is maintained. (grades A* - C). In fact, 60% of all student has studied a balanced curgrades our students achieved were riculum across five subject groups, either A* or A, the highest grades If you have any questions regarding available. A total of 50 IGCSE grades with a minimum of 7 IGCSE subjects IGCSE courses at SFHS, please contaken, and it is awarded at three lev- tact Mrs. Ruth Sanderson, IGCSE were awarded across ten subjects.

Two of our current juniors Jezamine els – Distinction, Merit or Pass.

Coordinator at Both Jezamine and Joseph received a ruth.sanderson@seoulforeign.org Wee and Joseph Godden were key

Arirang TV Recognizes SFS’ 100th Anniversary On October 13, 2011 at 9:30 pm, the ‘Heart to Heart’ program of Arirang TV featured Seoul Foreign School in an interview with our Head of School, Dr. John Engstrom. The pro-

gram offers a unique opportunity for the school to share its extraordinary history, breadth of educational expertise and community spirit which is so characteristic to SFS. A link to this interview will be made available in our PRESS tab on our main school website. We’d encourage you to share this link with your friends and family all over the world!

IB - Rigor and Recognition for SFS Students 62 seniors (out of 99) were IB diploma candidates last year. That means 62 students took all the required IB classes (three standard level, three higher level) plus the Theory of Knowledge class, wrote a 4000 word Extended Essay and fulfilled their CAS hours (Community Action and Service). This number is 22% more students than last year, the highest number in our history. It also indicates the high level of commitment to rigorous learning from our students.

Many of our students now recognize that an IB diploma may give them advanced standing when entering college. Our students routinely receive advanced

placement and/or college credit for their examination results. In addition, college requirements to take foundation courses, typically given in the freshmen year, may be waived for IB students who have been awarded higher level credit. Currently, 2545 universities and colleges in 75 countries recognize the IB Diploma as superior preparation, and view

SFS Senior, Robin Lee gets the spotlight For his IB Extended Essay Research The article described his preparation for the IB extended essay, which explained the historical background of the movement for the Genshagen Daimler motor works called ‘Goldfish, Obrigheim’ during World War II. Robin spent three days at the ITS in Bad Arolsen and had the opportunity to look through its archives this past sumRobin Lee, current senior was feamer. His enthusiasm for history in tured in an article published by the International Tracing Service (ITS) for general and for the Second World his research on his IB extended essay. War era, predetermined the subject of

all Diploma program courses as Honor courses.

The graphs below show the increasingly wide variety of topic areas that students are choosing for their Extended Essay (EE). The EE is a 4000 word research paper and is a core aspect of the IB Diploma program. This increasing diversity is an excellent indicator of the growing breadth of the IB program at SFS.

his extended essay paper. While conducting research he added:

“Primarily focusing on the facts, on the project story in itself, I have to try ’blending out’ the many personal fates of the people affected by it”.

Robin Lee, Senior The ITS - Arolsen was impressed by Robin’s research and featured him in an article published on their website.

A full version of the article on Robin Lee, “South Korean Conducts Research for Final School Paper” of Robin Lee is available at: h p://www.its-arolsen.org/en/ homepage/latest_info/index.html

6th Grade Engineers build Rollercoasters The 6th grade students in the Middle School had a fun time investigating the relationship between kinetic and potential energy recently. Students worked in teams to design and build roller coasters. Initially, they tested their ideas by recreating them in an

online simulation. Once they had a working idea, they began construction, using rubber tubing, rubber bands, and pins to transform their ideas into something tangible. Students had to continually test and redesign their ideas until a small metal marble could pass all the way through their rollercoaster without ge ing stuck. Students collected data and created spreadsheets that reported how their model showed the relationship between kinetic and potential energy. We have some very creative and innovative students in 6th grade!

Lauren Lee measuring out 10 cm increments for the Rollercoaster.

“Say Something!” Say “no” to Bullying ed in these “SAY SOMETHING” assemblies, whilst terrent to bullying is adult the youngest students authority.” learned about this theme through small-group, counThis September 28th, all four divisions selor-led “SAY SOMEof SFS held their annual “SAY THING” presentations in SOMETHING” assembly. The assem- their classrooms. blies highlighted school-wide efforts Three years ago, SFS chose to educate students to recognize and the school-wide theme of “SAY deal with bullying at school. Students SOMETHING” to encourage students in Year 3/Grade 2 and up participat- who experienced bullying firsthand or who are bystanders observing others being bullied, to stand up and say something to the person doing the bullying and to others in the student’s support network, especially adults.

Statistics indicate that when bystanders “SAY SOMETHING”, bullying incidents can be de-

“The single most effective de-

creased by as much at 75%.

In the first semester and in the semester to come, as a school, SFS staff will be continuing to discuss and work with students regarding the issues surrounding bullying. SFS wants parents to be aware of the school’s efforts so that they too can support their child if he/she witnesses or experiences bullying. The Elementary School PTA will host the ES counselors as they present on the “SAY SOMETHING” topic on November 3rd in the ES Veranda. All are welcome.

SFS Swimmers make a Splash This last August, our Summer Swim Squad had the opportunity to participate in it’s first Korean swim meet at the Olympic Swimming Center in Jamsil.

The team was represented by a handful of our own SFS swimmers. It was the first time our swimmers had competed in an Olympic sized pool (50m) barring a single time by our own Ashley Chang, Grade 6.

Though the pool was two times the length the kids were accustomed to swimming in, all the kids stepped up to the challenge and not only swam admirably, but recorded personal bests! Both our Anna Rose Keating, Year 7 (100 Bu erfly) and Ashley

Chang (100 Breast) won gold in their Job well done Crusader Swimmers ! respective events! The kids were able to participate in a much larger level of competition and were able to taste a li le bit of swimming beyond the confines of SFS and the small circle of international schools. The kids were treated to a celebrity of sorts here in Korea too, when the meet was represented by Korea’s own Park Tae Wan, the Olympic Gold Medalist from the 2008 Beijing Olympics!

Capping the team’s success at the meet, the team was alerted to the fact that Ashley Chang’s time in her breast stroke events would have placed her in the top 3 at the Korean Ashley Chang (Grade 6) National Competition!

SFS Summer Seoulstice Summer Program “I can’t wait until tomorrow!” These words became commonplace as SFS campers finished their day of Camp SFS. More than three hundred SFS students and staff participated in the six sessions of Seoul Foreign School’s Summer Seoulstice Summer Pro-

ed individual and team sports, tutoring, language, math, writing, robotics, and many other opportunities.

Watch for information about SFS Summer Seoulstice Summer Program 2012. You will be glad you did!

al personnel, and excited children who had fun while learning and enjoying friendships- old and new. The Pictures taken from 2011 Summer Program summer program served SFS students from Reception/JK to High School. Camp SFS included daily rotations of activities gram. Only in its second year, the such as drama, musummer program consisted of four sic, arts and cra s, “camps”: Camp SFS, Sports Camp, instructional and recAcademic Enrichment Camp, and reational swimming Specialty Camp. Numerous reports were received regarding worthwhile and much more. The programming, caring and profession- other camps includ-