IGBIS Weekly Newsletter. Issue 111, Week 3, April, 2017.

IGB International School’s Weekly Newsletter - Issue 111, Week 3, April 2017

At our last official PVO meeting for the year we celebrated everyone’s contributions in particular the spectacular success of our International Day. ~ April 20, 2017.

Inside This Week Message from Head of School Mrs. Anne Fowles 2 Head of School ....................................................

News from Elementary School Mrs. Claire McLeod Elementary School Principal 2 ....................................................

News from Secondary School Mr. Michael Arcidiacono 4 Secondary School Principal

PYP Exhibition. ~ Pg. 3 MYP Student Led Conferences. ~ Pg. 4 Grade 10 Visual Arts Field Trip. ~ Pg. 5 App Guide for Parents and Teachers. ~ Pg. 7 Friends of the Phoenix. ~ Pg. 7

Happening. ++ Mon, Apr 24 ~ (Public Holiday) Sultan Muhammad V Agong Installation) ++ Tue, Apr 25 ~ PYP Workshop: Cyber Safety @ PVO Room | 8:15 am – 9:15 am ++ Wed, Apr 26 ~ IB PYP Exhibition | All day ~ Yoga for parents @ Classroom 3-38 8:00 am – 10:00 am ++ Thu, Apr 27 ~ IB PYP Exhibition | All day ~ G12 Farewell Assembly / Graduate Breakfast (with parents) @ Theatre, L5 Staff Lounge 8:00 am – 10:30 am ~ Dr. Tan Sri Lim Presentation @ TBD | 12:05 pm – 12:45 pm ++ Fri, Apr 28 ~ Grade 5 Exhibition @ L5 Learning Lounge | All day ~ ADE Meet (Apple Distinguished Educators) | 2:30 pm – 4:45 pm

Message from Head of School Dear IGBIS Parents and Community Members,

executive board meeting and the Grade 12 Farewell Assembly.

The Duathalon held on Wednesday was a fantastic example of the whole school, teachers and students, participating in an event. Congratulations to all of those who took part in the swim and run!

If you have a chance to come and speak to the Grade 5 students and hear about their PYP exhibition, it will give you a wonderful insight into the PYP culminating activity.

We are looking forward to a whole range of events next week with the PYP Exhibition, a Board of Governors meeting, an

Mrs. Anne Fowles Head of School

News from Elementary School Wednesday’s Duathlon for grades 1-12 was successful because we had almost all students participating, many teachers joined in and the weather was very kind to us! Thank you to our PE team for organising this school event that helps build school spirit.

During Friday’s Elementary Assembly the need to take notice of our lightning alarm system was highlighted. Students and teachers should hear the alarm sound, followed by flashing lights that are positioned in numerous locations around the building. When the lights are flashing, all students and adults must move inside and stay inside until the all clear alarm is sounded and the lights stop flashing. At times the sky may appear clear, but experience, backed up by science, tells us that lightning can strike in clear skies.

Parents are asked to remind their children that playing outside when there is thunder and lightning is extremely dangerous and that they should move inside. Parents modelling this behaviour whilst in their own backyard, on the soccer field or golf course will help.

Mrs. Claire McLeod Elementary School Principal

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PYP Exhibition

Simon Millward Primary Years Programme Coordinator ...............................................................................................

Please see below for times available to view the Grade 5 IB PYP Exhibition.

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The IB PYP Exhibition is an exciting and challenging time in Grade 5. Students have had the opportunity to follow a personal interest through the inquiry process for the last seven weeks. They have been working on expressing their learning creatively and have combined their new understandings about their interest in a variety of creative ways.

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Wednesday 26th April 8:15 am - 10:30 - This time slot is dedicated to parents and family of the Grade 5 students only. We ask parents to be seated in the theatre by 8:10 am.

Friday 28th April 8:15 - 8:30 - The Elementary Assembly will be held in the theatre. Grade 5 will be performing their dances, music and singing. You are welcome to then proceed to the Grade 5 Learning Lounge to see the students’ inquiries

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News from Secondary School Students and teachers came back refreshed from the April break and have quickly engaged with their studies and the events happening this week. The Duathlon was a big success this Wednesday, and I am very thankful to Mr Mullin and the PHE team for organising the event. The event was nicely structured to allow for all students to participate and challenge themselves to do their best. As a participant, I enjoyed setting my own personal goals, swimming and running with the students and teachers. The Secondary Student Council also did a great job of providing activities and entertainment, as the participants finished the event. More broadly, the Secondary

Student Council has been very active in demonstrating leadership and organisation - putting on several events this week. One of our greatest strengths at IGBIS is our students and their dedication to the school. Well done Secondary Student Council!

Sincerely yours,

Michael Arcidiacono Secondary School Principal

MYP Student Led Conferences - Saturday 13 May Phil Clark Middle Years Programme Coordinator ...............................................................................................

On the morning of Saturday 13 May we will be hosting our third annual IGBIS Student Led Conferences. All students are expected to attend school on that morning and we invite parents, guardians and other family members to join them.

Student Led Conferences (SLCs), as the name suggests, are conferences that are led by the students themselves.

The purpose of our Middle Years Programme (MYP) SLCs is for grade 6-10 students to lead a one-hour conference, where they sit together with their family and show how they have demonstrated their learning and the attributes of the IB Learner Profile throughout this school year.

Grade 6-10 students are building a MYP portfolio to share with their family. They are selecting examples of work from across the different subject areas that demonstrate growth in learning.

Students are collecting a variety of work samples including digital files, physical, performance and tactile examples. They are also selecting an example of something they have learnt this year that they will teach to their families during SLCs. In addition to the individual aspects of SLCs, there will also be opportunities for families to see other things that have been accomplished at school this year including exhibitions, demonstrations and displays from both PYP and MYP. Our Grade 10 students have recently completed their MYP Personal Projects. The Personal Project is an important

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culminating self-directed project in the MYP which connects student personal interests with school learning. The Grade 10 students engaged with their Personal Projects over a period of nine months and this year worked on a variety of projects which include creating a fitness training website; creating a range of artworks; creating a video to raise awareness about mental health; learning musical instruments; creating a documentary about refugees in Malaysia; designing and building a dog house; and creating a basketball training video. The Personal Project is formally assessed and prepares students for the Extended Essay in the IB Diploma Programme. The Grade 10 students will be showcasing their Personal Projects during SLCs so please take some time to visit and see what they have been doing.

By the end of the SLCs families should have a clear understanding about what MYP students have been learning this year, and how their own child has grown as a learner.

Families should also gain a deeper understanding about how students are learning and being assessed in the IB Middle Years Programme. Grade 11 DP students will also be involved in activities at school on this day but their programme will be slightly different.

Please mark Saturday morning, 13 May, in your diary. We hope to see all parents and guardians here to share in the SLCs. Conferences will be scheduled throughout the morning between 8:30am and 12:45pm. Please allow 1.5-2 hours so you can take full advantage of the SLC experience. More details, including how SLCs are being scheduled, will follow in the coming weeks.

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Grade 10 Visual Arts Field Trip Sheena Kelly Secondary Art Teacher ...............................................................................................

On Thursday April 20th, Grade 10 visual arts students spent the day discovering the world of sculpture in Malaysia. The opportunity to experience high quality sculptural artwork in person will help the students with their next unit which is about the form in abstraction.

smooth and shiny from the outside, on the inside it is filled with many sharp and pointy edges. This shows the different perspectives on something as simple as glass.

Rimbun Dahan is approximately 20 mins from IGBIS and houses the best of Malaysia’s artworks and its gardens hold a variety of sculptures. The ASEAN Sculpture Garden is in the heart of KL with a multitude of contemporary sculptures of which the student observed and gathered primary evidence.

Rimbun Dahan - Yit Hao Rimbun Dahan is the home of the famous architect, Hijjas Kasturi, and his wife, Angela. The 14-acre compound consists of the beauty of nature and a variety of wildlife. It hosts artists from around the world developing traditional and contemporary art forms. Artists’ works are displayed around the specific areas to correlate between the environment and artwork.

Sculptures in Rimbun Dahan - Max The first sculpture we looked at was the “Sixty Turns” sculpture.

It was created by architectural student Abdul Multhalib Musa, who planned a one year residency at Rimbun Dahan, and the sculpture would prove that he had an artistic side to him as well. He was very fascinated with how things were angled and would use construction software to play around with some of his ideas.

R e s i d e n t Artist Veronika Neukirch - Gil Veronika Neukirch is a German artist born in 1986 in Dusseldorf.

As an object-based artist concerned with developing new roles for predesigned objects, she uses a variety of odd materials that can be seen in many of her pieces. By visiting her workshop we were able to observe the different materials she experiments with. She had several works in progress that consisted of concrete, latex and grout.

Circle and Final Yellow Sculpture - Ryan A resident artist at Rimbun created a circle and pulled out all the grass. He created a safe zone for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer or questioning people.

Ahmad Osni Peii’s sculpture “Sakiah” is a large, yellow, metal sculpture that is ugly and I don’t like it. But it shows that it’s a female form, I don’t know how, or why, and I don’t know which part of female looks like that.

Gallery - Ting Jie The gallery was a large underground room filled with a variety of Malaysian and foreign artists’ artwork. There were many different types of artworks in the gallery.In the gallery there was a painting titled Night comes suddenly. It looked really interesting and the dull colour really put into context and makes sense to the title.

One other sculpture we looked at was a glass sculpture which was made entirely out of broken glass from construction sites.

The story behind it was that even though glass may looks very

Gallery - Kit There was a sculpture of a penguin made out of Lego blocks and an Ikea chair with a plant. It was about the way that we can create the same environment wherever we are with flat pack furniture. Every place we live in can be the same.

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War Memorial - Maryam

ASEAN Sculpture Garden - Vanessa

We also visited the National Monument which is known as the Tugu Negara. The monument commemorates the soldiers who died in the war against the Japanese occupation. Tugu Negara is the tallest bronze freestanding sculpture in the world. The monument was situated very closely to the ASEAN Sculpture Park where we sat down, observed and drew sculptures.

After visiting the National Monument, we went to look at the ASEAN Sculpture Park just around the corner. All the sculptures at the park were sculptured by representatives from all ASEAN countries. The sculptures were all very abstract. Although they were abstract, the sculptures did have a meaning to why they were designed the way they were. For example, one piece, “Barong-Barong” was about a modern interpretation of old architecture and the artwork is supposed to function as a bed, toy, table and chair. After taking a quick look at all the sculptures in the very hot sun, we all sat down on benches under the shade, drawing one of the sculptures at the park from two different angles. A lot of us drew the Malaysian Sculpture, “Growth”, because of the simplicity of it.

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App Guide for Parents and Teachers

Geoffrey Derry Technology Integration Specialist ...............................................................................................

Kids love socialising; they always have. As a child I used to love nothing better than playing games with friends, just hanging out at the playground or even going to someone’s house to chat. Kids haven’t changed: they still love hanging out with the friends, playing games and chatting, they just do them in different ways these days.

Today’s kids love apps, they love social media, they love the instant response they can get when using a phone, iPad or computer. When I was a kid I used to have to wait until the next school day or the end of the holidays to tell my friend a joke or talk about what I watched on TV. While social media and apps do have their benefits (see this article 5 reasons you don’t need to worry about kids and social media), they can be scary, especially when you don’t know what the apps or websites are, how safe they are or whether they are appropriate for your children. When I am asked about

a website or app and how appropriate it is, the first place I always go is to commonsensemedia.org. This website reviews other websites and apps (as well as films, books and more), provides advice for parents, tips and cheat sheets and a wealth of other resources.

Another useful resource I recently stumbled upon is this popular app guide for parents and teachers. It classifies many (20+) popular apps into three categories: Green - apps considered safe, Grey - apps that should be used with a parent or under parent supervision, and Red - apps that should not be used by kids.

With all of this cybersafety stuff, the best approach is to talk to your kids about it. Maybe show your kids the list and then ask them what they think? Do they agree or disagree? Will they change their behaviour because of this list? If you can explain why you don’t want them to use an app, they are more likely to buy in and own the decision.

Remember though, you are the parent/guardian, especially with younger children, sometimes kids just have to do what their parents say even if “All of their friends are using the app”.

Alumnus

Alumnus Isabelle Nair-Lacheta (Class of 2016) Izzie: What a gap year should be about @ The Colosseum Rome.

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IGBIS INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

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