The Wave - October 2019

Practice makes Progress

Grade 10 MYP Personal Project ‘Mid-Point’ Exhibition Discovery Square was abuzz with energy on Thursday, October 17 as the TKS - GSS Grade 10 students presented their MYP Personal Projects to the community in a ‘Mid-Point Exhibition’ that brilliantly displayed their hard work and dedication up to this point.

The Personal Project is a Year 5 MYP independent project where students are tasked with investigating, planning, providing action and reflecting on an area of interest to them. The range of passion the students have is spectacular, ranging from solar energy to creating an App to architectural design. In preparation for the culmination of the project, students are required to get feedback at the midway point of the project to help them further their research and action.

The main aim of the ‘Mid-Point’ exhibition was for students to present their projects, answer questions and receive feedback from community members so that they can then adjust and refine their project. Thank you to community members for your constructive and honest feedback! It will be used by students to reevaluate their action, and their goal.

Evie Vaoga, Personal Project Coordinator. Photo credit: Amy Tulley, Grade 11.

October, 2019

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From the Director

Schools are complex systems. We have nearly 1600 students ages 3-18 representing 76 different countries, at numerous developmental levels, and speaking a variety of languages come through the doors at TKS each day, excited to interact with their peers and looking to learn with and from their teachers. As educators, we have an awesome responsibility to ensure that the students of today are positive contributors to our society tomorrow. This is a tall order because each child is a complex system themselves. Teaching and learning is both a science and an art. As we look to tomorrow, we are uncertain of what the future holds for these children in the way of employment and opportunities because the global society is changing at a rapid rate.

For these reasons, learning should look very different for our children than it did for many of us. Education today needs to be nimble, flexible and future-focused. At a time where most content that was taught in schools 20 years ago can now be found online, we must shift from a model where the teacher is the source of content, to be the facilitator of learning in the classroom. Today students often learn more on YouTube than they do from their teachers or parents. This is because the mode of instruction is fast and nimble, and the content is selected by the child based on their interest.

As educators and parents, we need to understand this and embrace the new normal. We need to look at what our children need in the way of skills and where their interests lie. We need to be equally nimble to meet them where they are, while also continuing to guide them towards critical knowledge and skills that will serve them well in the future.

This graphic created by the World Economic Forum shows us that we are at the beginning of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

There is much that we can do to prepare our students for these changing times. We need to teach them how to responsibly embrace technology and use it for good. In a world that will be dominated by advanced technological solutions, we need to ensure that our students are prepared to work in that technological world. In parallel, we need to see the limits of technology and recognize where human skills will be critical. Manual-routine jobs will not be done by humans in the future. For our students to have employment opportunities and to have an impact on the world they will need to think critically and ethically to provide solutions to problems that technology cannot solve.

It is an exciting and challenging time to be in education. We have a responsibility to prepare our students for the 4th Industrial Revolution. At TKS we are looking to the future and working to deepen our understanding of what it may mean for our students. We have a working group of teachers, students, parents, staff, and board members reviewing and revising our Mission, Vision, Values and Identity Statement which will lay the foundation of the transformational work that lies ahead for our organization. This is exceptionally rewarding work because I can see how we all continue to put the students and their learning at the heart of our decisions. I look forward to sharing our updated foundational documents with the entire school community later this year.

Dr. Michelle Remington, Director of the KAUST School 2

In a nutshell: Summaries of March’s PAC meetings Secondary PAC:

Kindergarten PAC:

• Ways to avoid MAP testing and two summative assessments on the same day

• Reviewed data following the October ParentTeacher Conferences to consider ways to improve

• Scheduling options for next year, including more flexible time built into the schedule, allowing students to seek specific teacher support, do homework or work on projects • Ways to support students in participating in co-curricular activities and showing flexibility to accommodate these students

• Used a text rendering protocol to review KG Protective Practices Guidelines and collect valuable feedback • Members will attend the upcoming KG Breakfast to connect with other KG families

As a reminder: Parents are encouraged to contact the GSS PAC if they have suggestions around topics for PAC meetings: - Hadeel Alsulaimany - hadeel.sulaimany@kaust.edu. sa - Amr Atiah - amr.atiah@kaust.edu.sa - Brian Ross - brian.ross@kaust.edu.sa - Cherine Fayad - cherine.fayad@kaust.edu.sa - Hussein Hoteit - hussein.hoteit@kaust.edu.sa

As a reminder: Parents are encouraged to contact the KG PAC if they have suggestions around topics for PAC meetings: - Ying Wu - Ying.Wu@kaust.edu.sa - Hind Aljohani - Hind.johani@kaust.edu.sa - Rebecca Buttigieg - rebeccabuttigieg@icloud.com - Anna Solarska-Combe - annascombe@gmail.com

- Melissa Fotea - melfotea@hotmail.com

GES PAC Summary

- Abdulaziz Alfaraj - Abdulaziz.alfaraj@kaust.edu.sa

• GES’s areas of focus this year: 1. Mathematics

Content

2. Reading 3. Social and Emotional Learning

03 | PAC Summaries 05 | From Kindergarten 08 | Counselors Corner 09 | From Elementary 12 | From Secondary Sports & News Click Here

• School-Home Connections 1. Embedding reporting systems into practice 2. Parent-Teacher conferences 3. Streamlining communication through SeeSaw • Suggestions for improving the menu in the cafeteria • Ideas for future PAC meetings As a reminder: Parents are encouraged to contact the GES PAC if they have suggestions around topics for PAC meetings: - Anna Rautek - anna.rautek@kaust.edu.sa - Ahmad Kadoura - ahmad.kadoura@kaust.edu.sa - Mani Sarathy - mani.sarathy@kaust.edu.sa - Andreia Farinha - andreia.farinha@kaust.edu.sa - Ana Margarida Costa - anamargarida.costa@kaust.edu. sa - Faisal Wali - faisal.wali@kaust.edu.sa - Meriem Laleg - taousmeriem.laleg@kaust.edu.sa

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TKS becomes a NCFE/CACHE Centre The first cohort of 9 interns on the Teacher Assistant Development Programme, joined TKS in April 2018 to study for and complete their Level 3 Diploma in Supporting Teaching and Learning. The award is accredited by NCFE/CACHE one of the largest awarding bodies for vocational qualifications in the UK. In line with the 2030 vision for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the TADP was conceived as a means to increase the number of Saudi nationals with recognised vocational qualifications, as a way of increasing the representation of the host country on the TKS staff and as a way of further supporting high quality education provision in TKS. The TADP represents a practical commitment to the IB mission relating to international mindedness and appreciation of the host country and culture. The TADP has created an authentic place for greater interaction between host country and the many other nationalities of TKS. In its first year, the programme proved to be an enriching experience for everyone directly involved and as we moved into the second year, with the arrival of the second cohort, we had more teaching staff offering to mentor interns that we had interns to place.

For the qualification, we worked with a distance learning provider in the UK used to working with students studying independently but who are mainly UK based. While the first cohort have been successful on this course, we were keen to find a way to make our provision of the course, more tailored to the strengths and context of our learners for the second cohort. We were interested in finding or creating learning materials that utilised a wide variety of media and assessment tasks that allowed learners to demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and skills in a wide variety of ways.

We decided that the best way forward was to become an accredited NCFE/CACHE Centre. This would mean we would be able to deliver and administer the Diploma course ourselves. Over the next months we collected and collated evidence to meet exacting criteria and we received our Approval Report on 29th April 2019. A rigorous quality assurance process will ensure we maintain our approved status. While the programme will continue to mature, develop and consolidate, it now has all the elements befitting its place in a world class institution such as TKS. Louise Knight, TADP Program Coordinator

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from Tiffany Hill, KG Principal Dear Parents, “Alone, we can do so little; together, we can do so much” – Helen Keller.

On October 3rd, the TKS community came together to celebrate ten years of learning and growing as a school community. One way that the Kindergarten celebrated was by taking a KG community photo to commemorate the event.

The video of this incredible event can be seen by clicking on the image below.

Special thanks go to the KG team and Mark Dudley who were instrumental in the organization of this event and FalconViz for their time and use of the drone.

This month we also celebrated student learning with Parent-Teacher Conferences. This was an opportunity for parents and teachers to connect one on one to support students learning and development.

Please mark your calendars for the upcoming KG Parent-Child Breakfast on November 6th in KG East and November 7th in KG West from 7:45 to 8:15.

Tiffany Hill, KG Principal

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Our Ways of Imagining

Continuing the inquiries to develop an understanding of how imagination helps create and express themselves, some children in K3 visited the King Abdullah Monument. They took various photos of the monument and the fountains, focusing on what they noticed.

Back in the classroom, we printed the photos they captured, and the children used these photos to create art.

Gayani News And Erik Boswinkel, K3

MAKE A NOTE

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K3 Gets Creative with Technology

This first unit of the year on creativity and imagination provided an opportunity for K3 students to use technology in innovative ways. After reading In My Room by Jo Witek, children brought their own imaginations to “reality” as they played with green screen technology. They became elegant princesses, divers in the deep sea, or even gave themselves an emoji head.

They further explored art through light painting, following the imaginative ideas of Harold and the Purple Crayon (book by Crockett Johnson). Don’t be surprised when the children begin to ask, “Is that real?” or say “I can do that!” when watching popular movies or viewing digital art. These are the signs of budding critical thinkers and creators!

The process from start to finish...

Candace Taylor-Weber, Kindergarten Educational Technology Coach & Librarian

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Positive Discipline Aisha Oliver and Yasmeen Ghunaim, KG Counselors

Family Meetings Family meetings are opportunities for parents and children to come together and discuss important issues, strengthen communication, reinforce values, and nurture positive relationships.

Tips for a successful family meeting: Be sure to keep the family meetings short in the beginning until the kids want them to go longer.

Have a job for everyone at every family meeting, such as timekeeper, convener, snack distributor, etc.

Take time for training - practice makes perfect!

Question: How old do you suggest children be to start family meetings?

Answer: The magic age seems to be 4. It is very important to start family meetings as soon after 4 as possible so children start learning to use their power in useful ways and to develop the belief, “I am capable.� This will eliminate many power struggles, and 4-year-olds are so good at problem-solving when given the opportunity.

For more information on Parenting the Positive Discipline Way, visit https://www.positivediscipline.com/blog

This year, the Counseling Department will offer two 6-week Positive Discipline Parenting courses, in November and December 2019 and in Spring 2020. Places are limited so apply early. Places can be booked via the KAUST Health website.

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from Chye De Ryckel, Associate Elementary School Principal As an IB world school, we are committed to supporting multilingualism as a fundamental aspect of internationalmindedness. As such, in GES we are in our seventh year of running a Mother Tongue Program to support the diverse range of language needs. We believe that mother tongue maintenance and development have a number of benefits such as fostering students’ cultural identities. Learners also increase their esteem for the language and literature of the mother tongue and strengthen learning pathways. For families who plan to return to their home country while their child is still in school, mother tongue development can support transitions to future communities and educational systems.

English and Arabic are mother tongues for many of our students and the development of these languages is supported through regular programming. In addition to this, we offer support for nine other languages benefitting approximately 20% of our students. Languages currently offered include Chinese, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Malayalam, Spanish and Urdu. A student who is eligible for mother tongue support classes that are run by parents or tutors must have at least one parent who is fluent in the language. The establishment of a mother tongue language class in the PYP is coordinated by the Mother Tongue Coordinator, Andy Wright, and approved by the Principal. Andy can be reached at andrew.wright@kaust.edu.sa if you have any questions about the program.

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The Olympiad Teacher Visit to TKS With great pleasure, the Saudi Advancement Program in TKS with cooperation with Saudi initiative department, has welcomed a group of 200 male and female Saudi teachers from different regions under the Olympiad program over 4 weeks. The purpose of the visit was to learn, explore, observe, & exchange knowledge about education.

These teachers were offered to attend presentations about the 8 forces that shape group culture. They were also offered to observe learning happening in classes according to their subjects followed by a reflection and feedback discussions. Each teacher left the school with some useful resources about the IB program and the 8 forces of cultures.

A big number of Saudi teachers in TKS helped and supported in the process in terms of leading presentations, classroom observations, and discussions.

Looking forward to having more visits and spreading more knowledge about education to Saudi teachers in KSA. Ms. Wjdan Qari, Elementary Teacher

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Navigating Your Child’s Digital Landscape

During the Partners for Learning event held on October 14th, GES and GSS Educational Technology Coaches Derek Halverson, Reece Lennon and Azra Hanif presented to parents on how they can better navigate their child’s digital landscape. Discussed were some of the current data related to tween and teen use of and access to various technological devices and social media accounts, as well as ways in which parents can help their children navigate their increasingly technology-centered lives.

A variety of resources were suggested that can help parents and children engage in positive discussion around balanced technology use in their day to day lives: American Academy of Pediatrics Healthy Children Family Media Plan Guide This tool helps parents to think about media and create goals and rules in line with their family’s values. It includes an area that supports parents to open a dialogue with their children around media use and family guidelines around the questions of how, when, where and why of media use and consumption.

Also included on the site is a Media Time Calculator that simplifies for families the planning of media use. It allows parents to quickly and easily create a chart calculating activities of importance such as family-time, outdoor-play, exercise, sleep, downtime, etc.

Common Sense Media Common Sense Media is a non-profit organization that is “dedicated to improving the lives of kids and families by providing the trustworthy information, education, and independent voice they need to thrive in the 21st century.”

The site is quite extensive and includes a rating system for all types of media - movies, books, tv, games, apps and websites. It contains reviews of many popular media, family guides, links to the latest research on child development, parenting in this digital age and much more.

Thanks to the many parents who took time out of their busy schedules to attend. Special thanks as well for the great discussion at the end of the session. As always, if you have any questions, concerns or want to meet to discuss issues surrounding these topics, please don’t hesitate to contact one of the TKS Educational Technology Coaches.

Derek Halverson, GES Educational Technology Coach 11

from David Tigchelaar, GSS Principal

Looking Back

Looking Forward

• GSS Climate Action activities from 24 - 26 September, connecting to worldwide climate action

• 10 - 14 November: Bike Week and Spirit Week

• Parent Information Sessions on Digital Platforms and on MYP and DP results and MAP testing

• 18 November 5:30 - 6:30 Student and Parent Info session on Gr 10 -11 Course Selection

• The TKS-hosted MUN conference from 9 - 11 October

• 21 November: Parent Info Lunch Social Media; SCA Night School

• The MYP Certificate Ceremony in the GSS Auditorium on 8 October

• 12 November 6:15: Arts Night in GSS Auditorium

• 25 - 28 November: CIS / MSA Preliminary visit

• The Personal Project midpoint exhibition in Discovery square on 17 October

• 26 November 5:30 - 6:30 Student and Parent Info session on Gr 8 - 9 Course Selection

• 3-way conferences on 21 October (Gr 11 and 12) and 22 October (Gr 6 - 10)

• 28 November - 2 December; YMGE / MUN trip to Lisbon

Some photos from Climate Action week:

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G7 Islamic Studies - an Interactive Article!

Aabish Imran, Grade 7 Supported by Wedjan Khan, Islamic Studies Teacher, Badriah Alghamdi, Islaimc and Arabic teacher Assistant and Azra Hanif, EdTech Coach

In Islamic studies class, we learned that being merciful is very important in Islam. Mercy teaches us to be positive towards everyone and handle situations thoughtfully without hurting other people physically or emotionally. We also read hadiths (sayings from our beloved prophets) about backbiting, hiding somebody’s faults, being kind to others, inner beauty and rights of the neighbours. One of the main things that we discussed as a class was how to be a good neighbour. Many students got inspired by this and started sharing some treats with their neighbours while documenting their good deeds.

The final phase of the learning journey was to choose a word or a phrase which we got out of our learning experiences and this was recorded to form a video. This was then further edited to create an augmented reality experience by using HP Reveal app. Please follow the instructions below to download this app which will allow you to enjoy the video.

Instructions on how to use HP Reveal to watch the video 1. Go to the ‘App Store’ for your mobile phone and download ‘HP Reveal’ 2. Create an account by clicking on ‘Create an Account’ 3. On the top of this app, where it says ‘Discover Auras’, search for ‘GSSIslamic by wejdankahan’ and then select this by clicking on it.

4. Then click on ‘Follow’ 5. Go back by clicking on ‘Back’ 6. Click on ‘cancel’ 7. Click on the blue circle at the bottom of the screen 8. Scan the above picture and when the video starts to play, double click on the screen to get the correct orientation (according to how you want it displayed - landscape/portrait) and retention of the video to play whilst not pointing at the above picture.

9. Enjoy some of the highlights from some of the grade 7 learning from their first unit - Islam is a Religion of Mercy.

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Sci-Cafe comes to School!

We were thrilled to launch “Sci-Café TKS” this month. This first Sci-Café at the school was run and supported by the same team that leads the campus Sci-Café. Ours was held at the GSS Library and had a similar format, with three KAUST Ph.D. students sitting on the panel. The theme was “Marine Pollution and Plastic” and each panelist spoke about their work around this theme. Cecilia Martin spoke about monitoring the abundance of microplastics and their interaction with ecosystems. She was even able to demonstrate how she uses her drone to assist in her observations (see images below). Walter Rich spoke about the various stressors on marine organisms and the impact that they make on them. Ananya Ashok explained how she uses analytical methods to trace oil pollution and study the effects of pollutants on marine life.

It was a well-attended event, and our TKS students came out buzzing from hearing these young researchers talk about their work in such a dynamic way. The panelists told us that they were impressed by the attentiveness and the quality of the questions coming from our TKS students.

We in the Science department believe that we have an exceptional opportunity to build a bridge across the educational gap between high school and university in a way that is unique to our location. This is the first of what we anticipate to be an ongoing partnership with researchers on campus and the group from the Vice President for Research. We hope that parents will encourage their children to be a part of this pioneering initiative and to relish the stimulating scientific research that is being done on our doorstep.

Emma Nason (Team Lead for Science) and Francois de Ryckel (Team Lead for Math), Carmen Denman and Carolyn Unck (Office of the Vice President for Research) Photo credit: Reece Lennon 14

MYP Certificate Ceremony

On Tuesday 8th October 2019, last year’s Grade 10 class – current Grade 11s – and their families attended the MYP Certificate Ceremony in the GSS Auditorium. IB MYP Certificates were presented to students by their Grade 10 Advisors.

Mr. Powell, the MYP Coordinator, spoke about the importance of making the right choices and about learning as a journey. ‘Graduation’ nights are important events in one’s lifetime. They offer an opportunity to briefly catch a breath before the next chapter of learning begins. This class were curious and formed a strong unit over the course of the year. They exhibited a number of the IB Learner Profile attributes over the year and they all strived for that necessary balance.

The current Grade 10 Level Leader, Mr. Dave Webb, introduced some of the Grade 10 students and they spoke about their MYP learning journeys. They all faced a number of challenges but they had the ability to come together and they helped each other through some tough times academically and in other realms of their lives.

This was the fifth year that TKS GSS students had taken e-assessment exams and the results overall were impressive.

Six areas of the curriculum are obligatory (including the Personal Project and Interdisciplinary) and two other subjects are selected based on the higher results.

Congratulations to all. It was an enjoyable evening of celebration.

Peter Powell, MYP Coordinator

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Grade 11 AVI Trip

The Grade 11 Physics students at GSS visited Arabian Vehicles & Trucks Industry Co. Ltd., (AVI); the Volvo & Renault Trucks Assembly Plant in KAEC. The purpose of the trip was to enrich students’ curricular experience and enable them with a first-hand Physics encounter outside of the classroom. Students had the opportunity to engage in the enrichment program offered by AVI. Students are currently working on proposals that will be presented to AVI and we look forward to our students’ ideas getting recognized. We thank AVI for allowing our students to broaden their experience and thus engage them in such an amazing opportunity.

Myriam Abdulbaki, DP Physics and MYP Science Teacher. Photo credit: Amr Hassaan, Grade 11

Coming soon....

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U16 SAIKAC Boys Volleyball From Thursday, October 10, to Friday, October 11, a U16 boys’ volleyball team consisting of 12 secondary school students played passionate, heartfelt games throughout the days, developing their teamwork and chemistry among the team both on-court and off-court.

Starting from learning the fundamentals of passing, setting, hitting, and serving, our team went a long way from complete amateurs to more experienced players.

Within the short season, we were able to learn and develop our skills and knowledge for the game to show up and be a competent team during SAIKAC.

Now, the last game would decide our seeding and our morale for tomorrow. It was nerve-wracking at its last moments of the game, we went into the third set to play a game to 15 with BISJ. Miraculously, with a movie-scenelike ending, Timo (setter), was able to achieve a service ace and won us the game 17-15.

Day 2, started off very well before the final - playing for gold against JPGS-A. We were ecstatic as we prepped for the last, final game. Hard to say, it was a letdown, we lost the first set, thought we were coming back on the second, and lost it again.

Six teams including TKS attended the SAIKAC tournament at JPGS - those other five schools were, TWA, BISJ, AISJ, JPGS-A, and JPGS-B. After a tough start, it was time for a wake-up call, we gathered in the canteen and discussed what went wrong, what needed to improve, and what we could all do to help each other. Thankfully, we were able to come back after the serious discussion and we started to finally look like a team. We beat AISJ, then went on to play JPGS-A followed by BISJ. Nonetheless, the team did very well to place 2nd for the first SAIKAC game as one of the youngest, shortest, and most inexperienced team there. With enough hard work, dedication, focus, practice, and teamwork, it is definitely possible for the Sharks to bring back gold and a trophy.

In the end, we must thank our coaches Mr. Clint and Ms. Kelly for allowing the opportunity for us to practice and develop and hone our volleyball fundamentals. We began as a group of confused, lost individuals, started to come together as a team a little at the midpoint during RSAC, and ended beautifully as a young team during SAIKAC. Alvin Huang, Grade 10

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A look-back at ‘10 Years of TKS’, October 03, 2019 Photo credit: Reece Lennon, Blake Remington, Jesse Remington

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