IGBIS Weekly Newsletter. Issue 90, Week 2, October 2016.

IGB International School’s Weekly Newsletter - Issue 90, Week 2 , October 2016

• Secondary School Student Council Fall Festival - October 14th 2016

Inside This Week’s Newsletter

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Message from Head of School Mrs. Anne Fowles Head of School ...............................................................................................

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

What Skills Do We Teach in the PYP? Simon Millward PYP Coordinator ...............................................................................................

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

Assessment in the IB Middle Years Programme Phil Clark MYP Coordinator

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Secondary Student Council Fall Festival Tien Xzi Secondary School Student Council Secretary ...............................................................................................

3rd Annual SENIM Conference at IGBIS Gail Hall and Lizzie Hudson Learning Support Coordinators ...............................................................................................

An [Art]icle Yin Xzi Ho, Zoe Teh, Afifah Nur Azmi, Anna Opanasenko Secondary School Students ...............................................................................................

Great Job Mr Derry!

Mr. Wayne Demnar Admissions and Marketing Director

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Message from Head of School Dear IGBIS Parents and Community Members, It was great to see that nearly all of our parents attended the parent-teachers’ conference during the week. I appreciated hearing many positive comments from parents as they talked about their children’s education at IGBIS and the wonderful learning environment provided by our teachers. Likewise our teachers commented very positively about the parents that they met and how supportive they were. It is particularly pleasing to hear about new students who have settled in to IGBIS and have quickly made very good progress. Most importantly, students are enjoying their school experience at IGBIS. On Tuesday October 25 we will hold our school-wide Deepavali Assembly which is bound to be a colourful event. Please come along and join the assembly at 2pm.

November will be a busy month for us with a preparatory visit from the Council of International Schools (CIS) and New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) for accreditation purposes during November 1-4; IGBIS Sports Day on November 9; hosting the Special Education Network in Malaysia (SENIM) on November 12; the 24 Hour Run to Prevent Modern Day Slavery on November 19-20; and inschool Open Days on November 24-25. We hope to see members of our community coming into school to support these events.

Mrs. Anne Fowles Head of School

News from Elementary School Deepavali The year is flying by and we are already in October and about to celebrate Deepavali. The whole school assembly is on Tuesday 25th October at 2pm in the Theatre and parents are welcome to attend. Students and staff are asked to wear something that reflects the Indian culture; students do not have to wear their school uniform on that day.

• Excessive signs of cold or sneezing, accompanied by nasal secretion that is yellow or green, and/or a fever; • Discharge from eyes or ears.

School Closed Please note that there will be no school on Monday 31st October, Tuesday 1st and Wednesday 2nd November.

Persistent Nausea, Vomiting and Diarrhea • Students with nausea and vomiting should remain at home until 24 hours after the last episode without any medication; • Diarrhea occurs twice, vomiting (after 2 incidents) or an upset stomach. The students should stay at home for 24 hours after the last episode and has returned to a normal diet.

School Clinic Guidelines From the start of the school year there have been a number of students who have arrived at school unwell or become unwell during the day. Please see the Clinic Guidelines outlined below; an expanded version of this has been added to the Elementary School class websites for easy access.

Early Years Students • Unusual lethargy and inability to participate in regular activities; • Irritability or persistent crying; • Unusual or unexplained loss of appetite, fatigue, lethargic behaviour, irritability or headache.

School Clinic The School Clinic is staffed by Nurse Azilah. The clinic is located on Level 2 near the main pool and the extension number is 4653. If your child becomes ill at school, Nurse Azilah will, if necessary, contact parents and arrange for the child to be taken home.

If your child is ill, or if you are not sure about their condition in the morning, please keep him/her at home to help reduce the risk spreading the illness to the whole class. If your child is ill with a contagious disease, please telephone the school nurse to report it.

The following medical problems are indications for sending a student home: Early Years to Grade 12 Students Students should remain at home for 24hrs without medication if they have: • A fever above 37.7°C; • A sore throat with fever or spots;

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Further information is available on each Elementary School class website.

Mrs. Claire McLeod Elementary School Principal

Igniting Minds

Impacting Lives

What Skills Do We Teach in the PYP? Simon Millward IB PYP Coordinator

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In the PYP there are five essential elements of the curriculum: Knowledge, Skills, Concepts, Attitudes and Action. These have been introduced during PYP workshops and will be revisited in more detail as the year progresses. In this piece I would like to highlight the skills that are taught within the PYP.

skills, Communication skills, Self Management skills and Research skills. During units of inquiry teachers select the most appropriate skills within each category to develop further.

For example in Grade 3’s first unit ‘Communication Connects People’ their focus was on social skills and communication skills. Within those categories, ‘respecting others’ and ‘resolving conflict’ drove the social skills category and ‘writing’, ‘listening and speaking’, and ‘non verbal communication’ drove the communication skills category. Not only were these inquired into in the grade level setting, but also the PE classes.

Two types of skills are taught within the PYP curriculum: 1. Subject specific skills - for example, in Language there are specific reading and writing skills that are taught, the same can be said of Mathematics, Science, Music, Visual Arts and PE.

In Grade 3 students explored ‘Kelso’s choice’ to help them resolve conflict and find out what it meant to be an effective communicator. The students wrote and asked questions in an interview, took notes and shared their understanding in a visual presentation.

2. Approaches to Learning (ATL) skills - these are the skills that the IBO identified as transcending subject boundaries. These skills are contained within all of the subjects and as such are taught within all of them. These could be termed 21st century skills and have been identified in research, such as UK Employer Skills Survey Summary Report, as desirable skills according to employers.

The approaches to learning skills are woven authentically into units to provide students with opportunities to develop these desirable skills. The importance of these skills in an IB context is emphasised through the fact that in all of the IB programmes (PYP, MYP and DP) the approaches to learning skills are taught and built upon.

There are five ‘ATL skill’ categories: Thinking skills, Social

UKCES. Employer Skills Survey 2015. Rep. no. UKC004. London: UK Commision For

Work cited: Employment and Skills, 2015. Print.

News from Secondary School It was a pleasure to see so many parents and students this week at our PST Conferences, meeting with teachers to discuss the academic progress that has been made thus far and identify areas for improvement. Please continue to monitor ManageBac regularly with your son/daughter to accompany their progress until the end of the semester.

We would like to hear from parents about this week’s Conferences. Please provide feedback through this link:

information, upcoming dates, photos from field trips, student entries of their activities in homeroom, and so on. Parents can also join the photos section to see pictures of trips or other activities.

Next Tuesday we will hold our annual Deepavali assembly.

Everyone is encouraged to dress in traditional attire in honor of the event.

Sincerely yours,

https://goo.gl/forms/WXElFsd8gVtdVJ543 Several field trips happened this week as well, please monitor the Secondary Homeroom Notices website (found through your Splash Page) as this site is regularly updated with

Michael Arcidiacono Secondary School Principal

Igniting Minds

Impacting Lives

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Assessment in the IB Middle Years Programme Phil Clark MYP Coordinator

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Assessment in the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) is different from the type of assessment most of us experienced when we attended school and may be unfamiliar to families who recently joined IGBIS. In Grades 6-10 we do not measure success in terms of percentages or A to F grades, we do not talk about passing and failing grades and we do not compare students with each other to decide who is top or bottom of the class.

The MYP approach to assessment recognizes the importance of assessing both the process and the products of learning.

Assessment is an important part of the teaching and learning process. Teachers use regular, ongoing assessment to build a picture of a student’s progress, achievements, skills, knowledge and understanding.

Assessment supports and encourages effective teaching and learning. Assessment includes: • Pre-assessment: identify what students already know to clarify the starting point for teaching and learning.

• Formative assessment: ongoing assessment to helps the teacher plan for ongoing needs of students and plan the next steps for teaching and learning.

• Summative assessment: find out how far students have progressed during and at the end of a unit of study.

• Self and peer assessment: students make assessments about their own progress and that of their peers.

Teachers may use some or all of the following assessment strategies and tools: rubrics; observations; quizzes, tests or examinations; performance assessments; investigations; checklists; process-focused assessments; essays; anecdotal notes; laboratory reports; continuums; open-ended tasks; and presentations.

As students progress through Grades 6-10, they complete many units of study in each subject area. The length of units

varies from unit to unit and between subjects. Teachers plan a variety of formative and summative assessment tasks and the students receive individual feedback that guides them towards improvement.

Students complete summative assessment tasks which are evaluated against four criteria in each subject. The four criteria are broadly similar across all subjects, although they vary slightly according to the specific requirements of individual subjects. In general terms, the criteria are used to assess the following areas: • Criterion A: a student’s knowledge, understanding and ability to analyse ideas in a subject.

• Criterion B: a student’s ability to investigate, organise and develop ideas in a subject.

• Criterion C: a student’s ability to effectively communicate ideas in a subject.

• Criterion D: a student’s ability to use, apply, evaluate and reflect upon ideas in a subject.

Each criterion is divided into eight achievement levels with clear descriptions of what is required in order to achieve at each level. The achievement levels and descriptions are presented in a tabular format (or rubric) so that teachers and students can easily match achievement on a task with the criterion level descriptions. This process sounds complicated, but students quickly become proficient at reading and understanding assessment rubrics and use them before submitting an assessment task. Students also use the assessment rubrics to identify their areas of success and what they need to do in order to improve.

IGBIS Secondary School teachers plan their units of study using ManageBac, our online learning platform and information management system. The unit planning details exactly how and when the learning will be assessed, including which criteria are to be assessed and the assessment rubrics that are to be used. Students and parents can login to ManageBac to access unit overviews and assessment details.

After student learning has been assessed, students and parents can access personalised feedback from the teachers on ManageBac, including levels of achievement.

Secondary Student Council Fall Festival Tien Xzi Secondary School Student Council Secretary

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On Friday 14 October, the Secondary School Student Council held its Fall Festival in the Sports Hall. The festival included a range of carnival games, team games and a guest visit from a balloon artist. Students ran around playing basketball and Capture The Flag, and earned points on the carnival games to win prizes. The air was full of the sweet smell of caramel popcorn and candy floss and the less appealing smell of

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sweat! Congratulations to prize winners: Gilmer for winning first place, Winson, Chiew Hui and Reeti for winning joint second place, and Troy for winning the third place prize.

Sadly, this was 2015-16 Student Council’s last event, but all the attendees made this event memorable for us. The event was even Snapchat-worthy!

We look forward to electing our new 2016-17 Student Council soon, and to more happy memories ahead.

Igniting Minds

Impacting Lives

3rd Annual SENIM Conference at IGBIS Gail Hall and Lizzie Hudson Learning Support Coordinators ...............................................................................................

from Malaysia and around the world, will discuss a variety of topics including Technology in Music Therapy, Educational Assessments, How To Respond To Challenging Behaviour, and Partnerships For Success: A Parent’s View. If you would like to register to attend this event, please visit http://malaysia. senia.asia/, or email senimkl@gmail.com, or join the Facebook group Facebook.com/groups/senimkl to complete the online registration form.

IGBIS is proud to host the 2016 Special Education Network In Malaysia (SENIM) annual conference on 12 November 2016.

The conference will feature nine presentations from specialists and other people who have direct experiences with helping all children to reach their full potential. These presenters, both

3rd Annual SENIM Conference

Keys to Unlocking Learning

12 November 2016 th

Registration || 8:00AM Conference || 8:30 - 1:00PM Registration Fee || RM60

• Network, Collaborate, Share Expertise, & Experiences • Pa rticipa te in one workshop from each strand – Technology, Looking at Lea rning, & Social Emotional

Includes coffee break, lunch & materials

Host: IGB International School Jalan Sierramas Utama, Sierramas, 47000 Sungai Buloh, Selangor T: 60 3 6145 4688

Easy ways to register!

Visit: http://malaysia.senia.asia/ Email: senimkl@gmail.com Join: Facebook.com/groups/senimkl to complete the online registration form

Igniting Minds

Impacting Lives

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An Article By

Yin Xzi Ho, Zoe Teh, Afifah Nur Azmi, Anna Opanasenko

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On October 21st, Sheena Kelly, Jade Saba, and Phil Clark brought art students of grades 9 to 12 to the 10th edition of the Art Expo Malaysia at the Matrade Centre. Once there, the art enthusiasts spent hours perusing the wide variety of art.

They were in awe of the technique, detail, and effort that went into the pieces. The amazing collection of art contained a wellcurated assortment of different genres, media, and themes. As prompted by the art teachers, students spent time looking at the artworks that inspired them most so they could incorporate them into their next work.

“There were a series of calligraphy pieces that contained nighttime cities within them - those pieces captured my attention in the way that it seemed to come to life.”

- Yin Xzi Ho, G12 “The exhibition was very diverse, opening me to new art styles.”

- Yit Hao Tam, G10

• Suzu Ishii “Far Away”

Students started conversations with the present artists and were exposed to the wider world of the art market, as many of the artworks had predetermined selling prices up to 1 million MYR. Even if only from a monetary point of view, the value of art became that much more apparent to the students. The pricing reminded the Grade 12s of the most recent Theory of Knowledge presentations in which many of them questioned the value of art.

“The difference in qualities of the art shown reminded me of how art has the capacity to encompass anything and everything, and still be appreciated by an audience.”

- Zoe Teh, G12 “I loved the variety of art, it was also my first exhibition experience.”

- Ee-Li Sik, G9 An interesting development from the exhibition is that Mr. Clark may appear in Peter Liew’s upcoming work. Let’s all keep an eye out for it. Mingling with art students from other schools as well as art aficionados from all over broadened the students’ horizons.

• Tan Vooi Yam “What’s Happen ?? !!” 2013

• Syaiful Rachman “Steve Jobs” 2016

Great Job Mr Derry!

Wayne Demnar Admissions & Marketing Director ...............................................................................................

Have a look also at his latest video tutorials on: • Managing Multiple Google Accounts • Accessing School Email on a Phone

At this week’s PVO meeting, Mr Derry shared some of the tutorial materials he had created to assist parents:

Click here to see the videos

• How to log on to your IGBIS parent account • How to forward emails to another account • Managing multiple Google accounts • The right way to access school email on your phone

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We really appreciate the creative way that Mr Derry helps us manage our technology - thank you!

Igniting Minds

Impacting Lives

Happening @ IGBIS October 14th, 2016

*IGNITE Restaurant Launch *SS Fall Festival

Igniting Minds

Impacting Lives

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IGBIS INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

Igniting Minds

Impacting Lives