ACG School Jakarta August 2021 Newsletter by ACG Schools

Monthly Newsletter

August 2021 ISSUE

Dear Parents, Caregivers and Students, The start of the academic year often presents challenges with new faculty, students and families settling in and adjusting to life in Jakarta and the new school. Like many other schools across the Inspired Education Group of schools, our tight-knit community embraced the continuing pandemic challenges by working together, communicating online frequently and solving problems with a positive and creative mindset. We would like to warmly welcome our new teachers, students and families once again and trust that the first few weeks of the school year has provided opportunities for you and your son/ daughter to meet (virtually) our wonderful school community. We also hope that our returning teachers, students and families have settled into daily routines and have enjoyed meeting some new faces. We encourage all of our students and parents to be active in seeking information and interact and communicate with teachers and school leaders in a range of different ways. We recognize that people do not learn in the same way and a range of methods should be used to accommodate different learning styles. When gathering information about the School or your son / daughter’s learning at school, there are a number of ways to do this. The School’s website has information for new and returning families including our updated Parent Essentials page that provides details about our Contingency Plan, Library Portal, Forms, Conferences and Parent Workshops. Our Newsletter and Handbooks page is also useful and gives access to monthly newsletters and the Parent & Student Handbook. Another method of receiving information is via direct email and we ask that you notify the school if your email details change. It is important for us to have email contact with you so that we can make you aware of special events and activities coming up that are specifically designed for parents.

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Message from the

PRINCIPAL

If you are a WhatsApp user, you can join the ACG School Jakarta WhatsApp group. Year Level Parent Reps will also be nominated soon and will become Admin for the Year Level WhatsApp Groups. ManageBac is an online planning, assessment, and reporting platform. At ACG School Jakarta, we use ManageBac to take attendance, record assessment data, plan our units, and report on student progress for all students. Parents can login to ManageBac, where they can access student reports and attendance for their child(ren). Parent guidance for ManageBac is provided by the school. In addition, the Secondary school uses ManageBac to show students’ timetables, issue assessment tasks, provide a calendar of summative assessments, and make course outlines and assessment schedules available to students and parents. In primary, a record of student learning is kept on the online Seesaw application. We encourage parents to view this weekly to see what has been taught as well as take note of any upcoming events. Access for parents is available via the Seesaw Family application, which is available as an app for iPhone and Android as well as on your web browser. For information about how you can access your child’s portfolio, please contact their Homeroom Teacher. Teachers and parents may also communicate via the Seesaw chat feature built into the application. In the coming weeks, we will be setting up parent workshops where we will go over the eCommunication tools we use in School and provide some helpful hints to help you navigate your way through SeeSaw and ManageBac. If you have provided the school with your correct email address, then a ManageBac parent account has already been created and you may have received a welcome message from ManageBac. We ask each parent to sustain a high level of interest and involvement in his/her son / daughter’s learning. We need you to be part of the team of teachers and parents that surround your son / daughter with support as s/he strives to succeed in school. Please join us in feeling very proud to be a part of ACG School Jakarta. We look forward to welcoming you to the School and trust that the year ahead will be a very successful one.

Shawn Hutchinson Principal

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Message from the

VICE PRINCIPAL It’s time to say ‘Welcome’ once more time to the school year! We are already three weeks into Term 1 of academic year 2021-22. We have greeted some new teachers during our Meet the Teacher event by saying ‘halo’ to Mr Agung Wiboyo (Economics), Ms Stephanie Datrix (Psychology and Counsellor) and our new Music teacher Ms Shinta Valentine. It has definitely been busy for all as we get used to our new Year level, some a new curriculum, some with a totally new programme! I thank you all for supporting and guiding our students through all of these changes, it is much appreciated. During our Meet the Teacher event you will hopefully have had the chance to learn about your child’s advisory teacher; indeed, learning is at the centre of what we do with our focus this year is on improving all areas of teaching and learning. One of the very best ways you can help is to always ask your children about their learning and progress. Please also feel free to contact your child’s teacher if you would like to learn more about the courses they are studying. We are very much looking forward to strengthening our home/school partnerships this year. Please make an extra-special effort to get into ManageBac as often as you can; this is where you will find Course Outlines, Assessment Schedules, Formative and Summative Assessments as well as great feedback and, of course, grades. The summer brought some fantastic IBDP results with over 94% of the cohort passing the IBDP and 6 students scoring 40 or higher. Most have already accepted offers at some great Universities in the UK, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand. Congratulations to all and best of luck in this coming year whether you are continuing your studies or taking a gap year.

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Staying with results, we had a great set of results in Year 11 with students achieving a 94% pass rate and 45% of papers received an A grade or higher. The DP retreat was a great success with students in Years 12 and 13 spending intensive time learning about the IBDP Core or working on their EE’s and CAS Projects. We finished the event with 4 of our recent alumni graduates helping our current students with the benefit of their hindsight and accumulated knowledge. Important upcoming dates for those wishing to continue their studies beyond Year 13: Unifrog Study In London Webinar: Completely Free! University Fair for Students in Asia: Completely Free It’s been a fantastic start to the year, and I look forward to seeing you all soon very soon. Stay safe and take care. Richard Todd VIce Principal

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Message from the SENIOR TEACHER EARLY LEARNING and PYP COORDINATOR Dear Parents, Caregivers and Students,

Welcome once again to Term 1 of this academic year of 2021-22. It has certainly been a busy time for our faculty and students, as we adapt and adjust to the routines of (online) school life. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your support and guidance during this time. The students have already done a remarkable job of showing such readiness for school and an eagerness to learn and do their best. I am so impressed with them. Thank you for your attendance during our 1-1 family meetings. I hope you found them to be beneficial and informative. It was certainly lovely to see all our families again, and get to know the new members of our ACG school Community. We are very much looking forward to strengthening our home/school partnerships this year. As we all become more familiar with the various online learning platforms and digital learning tools, it has been great to start the year again using ‘Seesaw’. Not only does it give us a wonderful window into a typical virtual school day for our students, but it hopefully provides you with those all-important daily plans, lesson activities, resources, and guidance to enable your child to be successful in their schooling. Please keep up regular communication with your child’s teachers via Seesaw and if you have any questions or queries about any aspect of this platform, please let us know. Creating Essential Agreements has been an important part of our back-to-school work, and the students have shared so many wonderful ideas and suggestions regarding zoom etiquette, behavior and setting high expectations in how we should conduct ourselves during online meetings and lessons. ‘Student voice’ was certainly at the heart of this work and the finished posters illustrate the high-quality conversations and discussions that took place. The next step is for these agreements to become embedded into our everyday learning, so that our students can be the best they can be. One way to do this, is to discuss these agreements with your child at home. Thank you for your support. It’s been a fantastic start to the year, and I look forward to seeing you all soon very soon. Stay safe and take care. Vanessa Ellison Senior Teacher Early Learning and PYP Coordinator

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Learner Profile Attributes Name of student: Nur Ivy Devis Name of student: Taeyoon

Year level: Year 4

Year level: Kindergarten

Learner Profile: Risk Taker

Learner Profile: Communicator

Reason: For having the courage to share her thoughts and ideas clearly in class and for leading the student led sharing session. Nur Ivy demonstrated leadership in the way she gave positive feedback and how smoothly she ran the session.

Reason: For being such a confident communicator and sharing his ideas and answering lots of questions! Name of student: Sara Tachi Year level: Year 1

Name of student: Michael Battja

Learner Profile: Principled

Year level: Year 5

Reason: For being respectful towards her peers and teachers. She listens to the opinion of others during Zoom discussions and often demonstrates good ethics such as raising her hand when she wishes to speak. Sara also shows ownership of her work and submits high-quality work consistently.

Learner Profile: Thinkers Reason: being a creative observer in our first science activity and using efficient research skills to find precise information on the object he was observing. Well done Michael! Name of student: Jeong-Hyeop Lee

Name of student: Ira

Year level: Year 6

Year level: Year 2

Learner Profile: Inquirer

Learner Profile: Communicators

Reason: vJeong-Hyeop is willing to try new activities in order to learn something new. He is not afraid of mistakes .

Reason: Displaying incredible communication skills since beginning Year 2. Ira was chosen by her classmates as being someone who consistently follows our Essential Agreement and communicates effectively in ZOOM lessons, when using our SeeSaw blog and while participating in small group activities. Amazing start to the year! Name of student: Reyaansh Dhagle Year level: 3 Learner Profile: : Communicator Reason: Always communicating clearly, sharing his ideas and listening respectfully to others.

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Learning at ACG School Jakarta Kindergarten Our superstar Kindergarteners have started the new school year brilliantly! We are so proud of how they have conducted themselves online, showing their confidence, enthusiasm and a willingness to learn new things and in new ways. We know that our Kindergarten parents and caregivers have played a huge part in this, so we thank you for you for your energy and unwavering efforts to support your child with their online learning. We see some budding teachers amongst our parent community too! Let’s keep working and growing together.

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Learning at ACG School Jakarta Year 1 We are so excited to be back to school and meet our Year 1 students. In the first few weeks, students shared about themselves and family in the most creative way. This gave opportunity for students to get to know their peers better. Fun games such as ‘Guess Who ? ’ were also played as icebreakers. Students were also enthusiastic exploring counting 1 to 10 using ten frames and they also created their number chart. In Personal, Social and Physical Education, students further developed their fine motor skills that is beneficial for their daily life. Year 1’s are definitely a fun bunch and enthusiastic learners, who also enjoying snapping pictures with their best poses. We look forward to sharing more pictures of Year 1 Gems’ learning journey in the next newsletter.

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Learning at ACG School Jakarta Year 1

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Learning at ACG School Jakarta Year 2 We have had a wonderful start to the year and our Year 2 team is so happy to be learning with these amazing superstars. This week, our focus has mostly been on developing our online classroom community. We have had fun getting to know each other and build positive relationships with the people we will be working with this year. Year 2 students have also been establishing routines, expectations and our own online Essential Agreement (attached at the end of this newsletter). Thank you for meeting with us this week. We have really enjoyed meeting all of you on Zoom and we appreciate your time and support. We look forward to getting to know you all more in this new academic year. Stay safe everyone.

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Learning at ACG School Jakarta Year 3 Year 3 has a glimpse of discussion about the history of Indonesian Independence day, Using 5 wh-questions from the video.

Practice mindfulness; Year 3 has been practicing mindfulness by making their own coloring pages, the activity was helping them to lower their stress, helping their focus, and relaxing their brain after a full day of school.

Year 3 shared their summer break activity during the zoom session, everybody drew on the screen and gave a short explanation about their highlight.

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Learning at ACG School Jakarta Year 3 Maths - Students understand the using of base ten blocks to represent three-digit numbers and partition into hundreds, tens and units.

Bahasa- Students learn about different countries and different languages. They were sharing about the people they know that spoke different languages from them.

Sharing feelings using emojis; Year 3 students have been regularly sharing their feelings in the last period of the day as a part of their end of day reflections.

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Learning at ACG School Jakarta Year 4 Year 4 started the year with fun get to know activities such as timed scavenger hunts, collaborative number searches, spiral patterns and an ‘inside out’ activity where we share not only our physical characteristics but what we are like as people. We also began to share what we knew about measurement.

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Learning at ACG School Jakarta Year 5 Year 5 has had a smooth transition back to school for our new school year and it’s been a pleasure spending time getting to know everyone. For the first few weeks, we’ve been doing a lot of community building so students feel comfortable learning with Ms. Mita, Mr. Bowo, and myself. We’ve enjoyed chatting casually during our social lunches and sharing stories from ACG. We worked together to brainstorm, categorize, and finalize the wording of our Year 5 essential agreements. All members of class have signed the agreements to show they intend to follow them while in class. In our first math lesson, we did a number talk. This strategy is to exemplify the different ways in which our brains naturally calculate answers and hopefully gives students new ideas of how to problem solve. We enjoyed sharing our mental math strategies. Although it’s still the beginning of the year, we’ve already had 2 birthdays in Year 5. Andrew celebrated his birthday this past Wednesday and students made beautiful cards for him. I also had my birthday on Friday and students surprised me by delivering a cake and balloons. I was blown away by the generosity of Year 5! I can tell it’s going to be a great year of learning!

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Learning at ACG School Jakarta Year 6 Welcome back to school! Year 6 students have shown enthusiasm for being back in the Zoom classroom this month. We have been collaborating and working together on creating an inclusive virtual classroom where all voices are heard, and contributions are welcomed with open arms. Creating our Essential Agreements at the beginning of the year outlines how the environment will help everyone learn and achieve at their best and is crucial to our success. Our students took action by reaching a consensus on each agreement before including it into our Class Agreements. Please take a moment to have a look at the creative products created and designed by our gifted Year 6 students:

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Learning at ACG School Jakarta Independence Day Celebration

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Learning at ACG School Jakarta Year 10 - Bahasa Indonesia The Year 10 IGCSE Bahasa Indonesia students jumped straight into some serious learning, and in the past two weeks they have been improving their skills skimming and scanning texts to identify and summarize topics, themes and arguments. To encourage independence students needed to select a book they previously read and identify the overall message as well as the strengths, and weaknesses of the text. They then summarized their ideas by writing a review as a formative task.

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Learning at ACG School Jakarta Year 7 - Math Students enjoyed building upon their interest, knowledge and skills with aspiration and excitement of visualizing what they will be learning for the new school year. The collage of their work shows the wonderful opportunities and possibilities that they benefit from diverse talents, perspectives, and learning from each other.

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Learning at ACG School Jakarta Biology The atomic theory is an excellent illustration of the process of science. Our understanding of the world around us is reshaped and refined with each scientific experiment. The first recorded idea of the atom comes from the ancient Greeks in the 400’s BC. Over the millennia, scientific experimentation has added to our knowledge of the atom, redefining what it is and what its structure is like. Our IB diploma chemistry students started their programme by researching and reading informational text, organizing the components of the theory and presenting their findings.

Science packs The science department has arranged additional resource packs and science kits for our students as we continue to navigate through these uncertain times. Subject teachers will inform their classes when such resources will be available to support their learning. We want to request our parents and caregivers to follow the link below to arrange collection or delivery when students need to collect these packs. https://bit.ly/acgresourcepack2021

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Library Update The Virtual Library To create a dynamic learning environment where students can discover, read, and access various types of reading, the ACG School Jakarta Library presents a Virtual Library Service. The Virtual Library is an online space, available 24/7, which extending our physical library service. Through the virtual library, students can find and access digital materials. The sections and books will be updated every two weeks. Click HERE to access the Virtual Library. To learn more about accessing the Virtual Library, click HERE. Enjoy reading at home!

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Students Celebrate Excellent CambridgeIGCSE Results ACG School Jakarta students have achieved remarkable results in their recent IGCSE Cambridge International examinations Our Year 11 cohort has excelled in their Cambridge studies, and we couldn’t be prouder of their hard work, commitment and focus. Despite the past 18 months being entirely taught via remote learning and online lessons, our students have received exceptional IGCSE results under the guidance and support of our specialist educators and faculty. Our results speak for themselves: • Our students achieved a 94% IGCSE pass rate • An outstanding 45% of our IGCSE papers were awarded A* and A grades (80% and above) This outcome illustrates strong performances across a wide range of subject areas. Special mention must also be made of the standout marks of several students: • Seoyeong Kim received six A* grades (90% and above) and three A grades (80% and above) • Anirudh Reddy Sripathi was awarded five A* grades and four A grades • Syed Raahem Haamer earned five A* grades and three A grades • Mei Hutchinson received three A* grades and six A grades • Lidia Condolaizza Napitupulu was awarded three A* grades and five A grades “We are really pleased for our students who demonstrated resilience, perseverance and strong work ethic,” says ACG School Jakarta Principal Shawn Hutchinson. “Students faced additional challenges with late decisions to move to the non-examination route because of the pandemic. This required teachers to prepare and administer assessments remotely and prepare individual assessment portfolios for moderation in the final stages of each course.” The Cambridge curriculum values disciplinary subject knowledge, encouraging curiosity, investigation, and enquiry. In addition, it focuses on the development of vital skills and learning competencies, such as problem-solving, time management and critical thinking abilities, to ensure students reach their highest potential. Accordingly, our IGCSE students have developed essential approaches to learning skills and the solid foundations required to begin Year 12 – and the two-year International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) – with confidence. Congratulations to all of our students for this amazing result. We are delighted with your success and look forward to working with you throughout the IBDP. 22 | ACG JKT

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Academic Calendar 2021 - 2022 Semester One July 2021

August 2021

S M T W T 1 4 11 18 25

5 12 19 26

1 - 31 20 29 - 30

6 13 20 27

7 14 21 28

F S

S M T W T

F S

8 15 22 29

9 16 23 30

8 9 10 15 16 17 22 23 24 29 30 31

School Holiday Eid Al-Adha Teacher Orientation

3 - 10 10 11 12 12 - 13 17 27

S M T W T F S 2

10 11 12 13 14 17 18 19 20 21 24 25 26 27 28 31

Teacher Orientation Meet the Teacher Islamic New Year First Day of School IBDP Retreat Indonesia’s Independence Day ACG Community Group Meeting

October 2021

September 2021

S M T W T

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

26 27 28 29 30

24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

8 9 10 24

Year 7 Parent Webinar Year 8 Parent Webinar Year 9 Parent Webinar Whole School Assembly

5 International Teachers Day 25 11 - 15 Parent Student Teacher 26 Conferences 28 15 End of Term 1 18 - 25 Term Break 19 Birthday of the Prophet Muhammad

December 2021

November 2021

S M T W T 1

Staﬀ Only Day Term 2 Begins Whole School Assembly

S M T W T F

F S 5

S 4

7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

28 29 30

26 27 28 29 30 31

19 Whole School Assembly 22 -26 Midyear Examinations (Years 7 - 12) 25 Indonesian Teacher’s Day

8 - 10 17

Term Starts & Ends

Art/DT Exhibition Semester 1 Academic Reports Released End of Term 2 20 - 31 Term Break 24-25 Christmas Holiday

School Holiday

Public Holiday

Disclaimer: National holidays are yet to be conﬁrmed by the Indonesian Government. The information within the ACG School Calendar is, as far as possible, accurate and up-to-date at the time of publishing. ACG School Jakarta, however, reserves the right to make changes to the calendar during the academic year.

Academic Calendar 2021 - 2022 Semester Two February 2022

January 2022

S M T W T F S

S M T W T

1 2 9 16 23 30

3 10 17 24 31

1 3 - 10 10 11 28

4 11 18 25

5 12 19 26

6 13 20 27

7 14 21 28

1 6 13 20 27

8 15 22 29

New Year Holiday Term Break Staﬀ Only Day Term 3 Begins Whole School Assembly

1 2-4 25

Lunar New Year Mental Health Awareness Week Whole School Assembly

S M T W T F

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

27 28 29 30 31

24 25 26 27 28 29 30

1 3 7 - 11 11 14 - 18 21 28 - 31

1 15 18 - 22

Isra Mi’Raj Holiday Balinese Silent Day Literacy Week End of Term 3 Term Break Term 4 Begins Mock Exam Week Year 11 - 13

27 29

May 2022

1 8

Mock Exam Week Year 11 - 13 Good Friday Parent Student Teacher Conferences Year 13 Study Leave begins Year 11 CAIE Examinations begin Whole School Assembly

June 2022

S M T W T F

1 2-3 4-6 9 9 - 13 16

April 2022

S M T W T F S 2

7 8 9 10 11 12 14 15 16 17 18 19 21 22 23 24 25 26 28

March 2022

F S

S M T W T F S

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

29 30 31

26 27 28 29 30

May Day Eid Al Fitr Joint Holiday School Resume Photography Competition Vesak Day

23 - 27 End of Year Examinations (Years 7 - 10 & 12) 26 Assecention Day 27 Whole School Assembly

1 3 4 7-8

Term Starts & Ends

School Holiday

Pancasila Day Holiday Year 6 Transition Day Graduation Ceremony and Celebration Year 6 PYP Exhibition

10 17

Prizegiving Semester 2 Academic Reports Released End of Term 4 20 - 30 Summer Holidays

Public Holiday