IGB International School’s Weekly Newsletter - Issue 123. Week 1. September 2017.
Meet The Teacher Evening
On Tuesday evening we welcomed parents to the school to meet the teachers and hear about the year ahead. Parents seemed as happy to catch up with each other as they did with the teachers. Parents and teachers form a critical partnership in supporting the children’s growth and wellbeing. It was certainly a very positive start to our 2017-18 academic year.
Inside This Week Message from Head of School Mrs. Anne Fowles 2 Head of School .................................................... News from Elementary School Mr. Simon Millward 2 Elementary School Principal .................................................... News from Secondary School Mr. Michael Arcidiacono 5 Secondary School Principal
PYP Parent University ~ Pg. 2 Grade 2 and Grade 8 Working Together ~ Pg. 3 Elementary Art News ~ Pg. 4 No Dream is Too Big for Rachel ~ Pg. 5 Admissions and Marketing News ~ Pg. 6
Happening.
++ Thu, Aug 31
~ Public Holiday: Merdeka Day
++ Fri, Sep 1 ~ Public Holiday: Hari Raya Qurban
Message from Head of School Dear IGBIS Parents and Community Members, Happy Merdeka Day! IGB International School congratulates Malaysia on 60 years of independence! Wishing all of our IGBIS families a good holiday break.
Anne Fowles Head of School
News from the Elementary Principal With a four day weekend coming up this is a great time to get outside and get active! Keep it simple: go for a walk as a family, have a bike ride, swim and hang out by the swimming pool, take a hike through one of the many parks there are in and near to Kuala Lumpur, go geocaching (like treasure hunting!), or just play a sport like football or tennis.
Speaking of routines, Mr. Chris Klesch, our school counsellor, is offering a workshop to parents on Tuesday 5th September for all EY - Grade 5 parents. He will be presenting on ‘The importance of establishing routines’. This will be held in the PVO room on Level 2 (8.10am - 9.20am). We look forward to seeing you all there.
My challenge to you is, put the devices away, talk, laugh, eat, play and exercise together as a family. Hopefully this can become a routine and who knows where this may lead!
Simon Millward
Elementary School Principal
PYP Parent University Aga Chojnacka Primary Years Programme Coordinator ............................................................................................... We had a wonderful turn out to our inaugural PYP Parent University workshop on Saturday. The topic, ‘Play as a way of knowing’ looked at who we and our children are as learners and how our different learning styles can affect our understanding of what learning should look like. The group reflected on their
needs in the workplace and what types of environment are best for different types of learners. The workshop showed participants how play is essential to growth and makes us more efficient learners and really is the universal language of learning. The fun, interactive and innovative workshop was enjoyed by all, with most people eager for the next workshop on 30th September. All interested people are welcome and I look forward to seeing many Elementary School parents there.
Grade 2 and Grade 8 Working Together Leanne Harvey Grade 2 Teacher ............................................................................................... In our current unit of inquiry the Grade 2 students are learning all about plants, why they are important, and how we can use and protect them at the same time. As part of our inquiry into the different parts of plants we went to the biology laboratory to work with the Grade 8 students who had been learning about similar concepts. Our big buddies supported and encouraged us to complete some experiments with different seeds. We also used the microscopes to look at seeds and leaves. We love working with the big buggies and we love being scientists.
Igniting Minds
Impacting Lives
3
Elementary Art News Ms Elli and Ms Jade Elementary Art Teachers ............................................................................................... Welcome back to school, Artists, and hello from busy, messy art rooms!! We are currently working on our ‘I Am..’ mini art project. This is a vertical unit where everybody from Kindergarten to Grade 9 are inquiring into ‘Who am I?’ and visually representing our discoveries in a way that feels personal to us. This project is a great indication of our current skill, inspiration and creativity. We are working on our outcomes this week and next. Please come and see some of our work displayed outside the art rooms in September. Meanwhile, our youngest artists in Early Years have been exploring the art room, some of them for the first time! We have been painting and working out what a responsible artist looks like by cleaning up after ourselves and learning where things go. We are also using SeeSaw to document some of our discoveries and creations so keep checking in!
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Igniting Minds
Impacting Lives
News from the Secondary School Principal
It was wonderful to see so many parents on Tuesday at the Meet the Teacher evening! The intent of the evening was to not only meet the teacher, but also to get to know the teaching styles that students encounter at IGBIS. Therefore, parents experienced some different types of activities over the course of the evening. Quite a bit of information was shared as well about this academic year; all of the presentations can now be found through Managebac. Parents can look on the bottom left of their screen and click on “files” (under IGBIS Parent Teacher Association). Through this link, parents will find the presentation from Tuesday as well as the MYP Subject Overviews. Additional resources will be shared with parents through Managebac over the course of the year. Enjoy your holiday weekend! Sincerely yours,
Michael Arcidiacono Secondary School Principal
No Dream is Too Big for Rachel At an age when most students are just dreaming about what they will do when they finish school, Grade 12 student, Rachel Lim, has already accomplished more than most. A yoga enthusiast who sometimes teaches her classmates, as well as a painter (her art has raised over RM11,000 for charity), a musician (she plays piano and guzheng and recorded a mini album for her Grade 10 Personal Project) and published novelist, Rachel has packed a lot into her 17 years. She published her first book, Nightmares, at the age of 14 and wrote a second book soon afterwards. Nowadays her focus is success in the Diploma Programme, with aspirations to study politics, philosophy and economics at university. Still, she finds it difficult to maintain a low profile, having recently been interviewed for a local blog, ThotsnTots. You can read the interview here. Congratulations, Rachel, we can’t wait to see what you accomplish next!
Igniting Minds
Impacting Lives
5
Admissions and Marketing News Admissions and Marketing in Grade 4 - on Tuesday the marketing team were invited to visit the Grade 4 class who are looking at ‘How media influences our choices’. The students asked some excellent questions about our roles and were keen to hear how we use the media to share what happens in our amazing school with people in the community. The students certainly understand how important their teachers and the IB programmes are in telling a wonderful story about our school. The marketing team all agree that the school’s reputation is in good hands judging by the quality of its students.
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Please tell all your friends and colleagues - Our first Open Day for the year will be held on Friday 15th September from 9.00am to 12.00pm and we would like your assistance in letting as many friends and colleagues as possible know about the Open Day as we would like to see a large crowd in attendance.
Wayne Demnar
Admissions and Marketing Director
Igniting Minds
Impacting Lives
The Importance of Establishing Routines
Parenting Workshop #1
by Counsellor Chris Klesch
Tuesday 5th September 2017 8.10am - 9.20am PVO Room, Level 2
IGBIS INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
Igniting Minds
Impacting Lives