ACG School Jakarta April 2023 Newsletter

Wolf Pack

Excellent exhibition from the Year 6 students

Exciting things are happening at our school today! Our Year 6 students are hard at work preparing for their PYP exhibition with the help of their amazing mentors. We can’t wait to see their final presentations on April 26 and 27. We are incredibly proud of our students for their dedication and commitment to their education, and can’t wait to see what they will achieve!

The ACG School Jakarta Interactive Newsletter

Message from the Principal

Dear Parents, Caregivers and Students,

April in the Northern Hemisphere signals the starts of spring, but also the exam season. The Year 11 and Year 13 students have had to be busy revising for their external exams. They have had mid and end of year exams, along with mocks to help prepare them, but there is nothing like walking into the exam room and knowing that this is the time. Everything you have learnt in the last 2 years could be tested in multiple 1-2 hour papers.

But April also signals the last term at school. Thoughts do turn to summer plans, the coming year, and what choices need to be made for subjects for the following year.

Kindy, Year 6, 9 and 11 have been working on transitioning to the next part of their school life. Though there are some similarities; education is not just about trying to cram all the data into a brain, but developing independence, responsibility, resilience, and continuing to improve study habits and other skills. It will look different throughout the school, but as a community, we are always working towards the next step in student’s learning journey so that they are ready when they leave ACG School Jakarta to make choices with confidence.

As mentioned in last month’s newsletter, the pace of technology is moving fast and it changes the dynamic of study and the workplace, being armed with the skills to know when technology helps, or can be a hinderance is important, but it also informs choices as students move into the workplace after university. How things were done, are done now, and how things can be done, could look very different.

I hope that as the students move through their years at ACG that they learn these important skills with the support of the teachers and other staff.

Warm regards

Myles D’Airelle Principal

Myles D’Airelle

Vice PrincipalMessage from the

Dear Parents, Caregivers and Students,

As summarized in our Mission Statement, ACG School Jakarta is a diverse community of learners who are open-minded, responsible and caring. We inquire into the world around us through academic programmes that aim to prepare students for life’s opportunities. With an understanding of and respect for others and the environment, we actively strive to make a difference, locally and globally.

The month of April saw our Y6 students busy with their PYP Exhibition Unit of Inquiry under the Transdisciplinary Theme of Sharing the Planet, following the caring guidance of their mentors from the school community. Our school community was proud to see the culmination of our Year 6 students’ inquiry into issues that underpin the United Nations Global Goals, in their PYP Exhibition. We hope and expect they will continue throughout their lives to actively question the status quo, seek solutions and preventative measures for existing and foreseeable problems, to make ours a better world.

Our Academic Leadership Team interviewed candidates for 2023-2024 Head Students. It was very difficult for the ALT to choose a headgirl and a headboy, as all candidates spoke with confidence and showed a deep understanding of what leadership is about. In their applications and interviews, aspiring young leaders gave examples of how they display capabilities and traits such as :

• Leadership

• Delegating and taking on extra responsibilities

• Strategical problem solving

• Perseverance

• Setting high standards

• Effective communication

• Teamwork

• Inclusivity and open mindedness

Selda Mansur

Vice PrincipalMessage from the

• Outgoing and warm personality

• Being able to motivate self and others

• Reflectiveness and forward thinking

It is so refreshing to see and hear the young generation aspiring to make positive contributions to the world. It is our privilege to be facilitators of their growing into leaders of their own lives, and agents of positive change locally and globally.

Selda Mansur Vice principal and PYP coordinator

Kindergarten to Primary Transition

As the end of Semester 2 is fast approaching, the end of kindergarten, for our K4 students, is on the horizon. It’s a very exciting time.

We invited our K4 parents to a Transition to Primary School information meeting on Monday 3 April 2023. This session was hosted by our School Principal, Mr Myles D’Airelle, along with Mr Faheem Mohamed, our Year 1 Homeroom Teacher, and some parents joined the meeting online. It was an opportunity to learn about what the parents and the children can expect in primary school. There was also time for the school staff to answer any burning questions parents had.

In the next phase of our transition programme, K4 students will regularly spend some time in Year 1 classroom, lunch and play areas every week throughout May and June. Buddies from Year 1 will help them get familiar with the Primary School routines. They will be paired in buddy groups, with Y1 students serving as role models and helping K4 students transition to the more autonomous student life in Primary School.

Kindergarten children moving into Primary requires everyone’s input: teachers, educators, children, parents and carers. Children have their own unique traits and develop at different rates. They also have different strengths and weaknesses. Here are some general guidelines Kindergarten parents can support their children’s transition to Primary:

• encourage your child to explore their feelings; invite them to talk about their joy (and fears, if any)

• help them connect to the school; view their photos and videos from the current year, look through our school website and social media accounts with your child

• help them build friendships and relationships with people; those experiences will help them initiate and develop friendships at school, too

• empower them by building their confidence and independence; for example, let them stay overnight or spend some hours during the day with relatives or friends without you, give them tasks within your home

• Read and view stories, listen to and sing songs, and dance with them; help them talk about their likes and dislikes

• And most importantly, always play age-appropriate games with them; and also ensure they have opportunities to play with other children; and talk about their experiences with you

A community of entrepreneurial and compassionate learners

Throughout April, we continued with our preparations for the upcoming IB Evaluation. Our self-study groups which have members from different sections of the school teaching and administration teams, together with our Academic Leadership Team, continued working on Programme Development Plans. At the moment we have three draft plans, focusing on

• ACGSJ mission statement guiding all aspects of the school life

• Collaborative curriculum planning and implementation

• Student well-being

We are proud of our staff taking ownership of our approaches to teaching and learning, and working collaboratively to enhance our curricula.

Our next step in May involves the four groups reflecting on and providing feedback and feedforward on all draft plans.

We are beyond proud of our Year 6 students who successfully completed their PYP exhibitions this week! These young scholars have spent the past 8 weeks working tirelessly with their mentors to prepare for this moment, and their hard work has truly paid off. They have demonstrated incredible creativity, dedication, and knowledge, as well as honed their communication, research, and self-management skills. We can’t wait to see all the amazing things these bright minds will accomplish in the future. Congratulations, Year 6!

The trip involved a captivating scavenger hunt and a plant distribution study using the quadrant method. The purpose of the field trip was to provide students with hands-on learning experiences, promoting teamwork, critical thinking, and ecological understanding.

The field trip commenced with a study on plant distribution using the quadrant method. Before entering the zoo, each group was assigned a specific area to investigate. Then, equipped with quadrant frames and measuring tapes, students analyzed the plant distribution within their region. The study highlighted the interdependence between plants and animals, emphasizing the importance of balanced ecosystems.

Conducted alongside the scavenger hunt, the field trip included a thrilling scavenger hunt within the zoo premises. Divided into teams, students were given clues and questions related to various animal exhibits and attractions. The objective was to solve the clues and find the answers, leading the teams to different locations within the zoo. The scavenger hunt encouraged teamwork, problem-solving, and observational skills as students raced against time to complete the challenges.