IGBIS Weekly Newsletter. Issue 139, Week 3, January, 2018.

IGB International School’s Weekly Newsletter - Issue 139. Week 3. January 2018.

Elementary School Splashdown - Jan 15th 2018 Message from Head of School Mrs. Anne Fowles Head of School 2 News from Secondary School Dr. Michael Arcidiacono Secondary School Principal 2 News from Elementary School Mr. Simon Millward 3 Elementary School Principal

Assessment in the Primary Years Programme

~ Pg. 4

Student Website Addresses Depression in Teens

~ Pg. 5

Winter Clothes Drive for Syrian refugees

~ Pg. 6

The 24 Hour Race, 2017

~ Pg. 6

Managing Screen Time

~ Pg. 7

Photos: ES Splashdown

~ Pg. 8

Jan 24, Wed • U9/11 Boys Football @ BSKL | 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm • U9/11 Girls Football @ ISP | 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm Jan 25, Thu • PVO Meeting @ PVO Room | 8:00 am – 9:00 am Jan 26, Fri • ES Assembly: Grade 4 @ L3 ES Music Room 8:00 am – 8:40 am • NISMUNC (Model United Nations Conference) @ Nexus International School Putrajaya 1:00 pm – 7:30 pm

Message from Head of School Dear IGBIS Parents and Community Members, I hope that the Elementary School parents enjoyed seeing their children take part in the Splashdown earlier this week. It was great to see the confidence building that has taken place with our beginner swimmers as well as the potential coming through for those who are ready for the school swim team.

I am in London at present attending the Search Associates Recruitment Fair as we interview teachers for next year. While here I had the opportunity to catch up with some of our IGBIS Alumni who graduated in 2017.

With me for dinner are Dickson Chong who is now attending University College London and Hwei Minn Khoo who is at Magadalene College, Cambridge University.

Have a wonderful weekend ahead.

Anne Fowles Head of School

News from the Secondary Principal Dear Parents, Life in the Secondary School is in full swing as we head into Semester Two. There are some great articles in this week’s newsletter about some of the projects students have been working on. We heard information about these projects as well during this week’s Student Council Assembly, and I have been really impressed with how well our students speak in front of large groups of peers and teachers - no easy feat!

It was great fun to see some of our sporting fixtures as well this week. There is a lot of enthusiasm and spirit amongst the players as they participate in the matches and trainings. I hope to see more parents in attendance at future events.

Academic reports come out next week and I will also be sending information for parents to be able to book Parent-Student-Teacher (PST) conferences with the teachers of their child(ren) next week.

Please look out for that information in your parent email inbox.

Secondary teachers will have times available on February 6th

from 1pm to 7pm and on February 5th, 7th and 8th after school.

Teachers will also be contacting parents by email for students they need to meet with at the PST Conferences.

Next week also marks the beginning of our rotating timetable for Semester Two. Mr Millward and I have emailed all parents with further details, and the full semester calendar of the rotating days can be found on the Parent or Student Splash page.

On the horizon, also during the week of PST Conferences in February we will have school photos taking place. Our annual ISA testing will take place in the following week. More details to come on both of these items.

Sincerely yours,

Michael Arcidiacono Secondary School Principal

PVO Meeting reminder

All parents are invited to attend the next PVO meeting which is scheduled for next Thursday 25th January at 8.00am.

2

Igniting Minds

Impacting Lives

News from the Elementary Principal It is always good to be back in school. Last week I was away in Bangkok recruiting teachers for next year. It is these kinds of trips that act as a good reminder of the quality of the staff that we already have at IGB International School, facilitating learning for all our students.

the Grade 1 - Grade 5 students. They had a mix of competitive heats leading to finals as well as relay-type ‘fun races’ involving a variety of equipment such as mats, noodles and water tubes. The students were organised in their houses and they earned ‘house’ points for their participation. A big thanks to the PE department for organising such a great event.

This week has been really busy, as many of the grade levels near the end of their units of inquiry they are completing their summative assessments. On Wednesday the Grade 3 students held their Me Museum as part of the Where We are in Place and Time unit of inquiry. Students had been on a field trip to the National Museum and they used this experience to create their own exhibits. These had to be self explanatory as the visitors learned about many historical aspects of the students through the artefacts they used.

Wednesday also saw the Grade 4 students hold their ‘Makers Market’ as part of the How we Organise Ourselves unit of inquiry.

They sold their products to students from other grade levels with ‘fake money- Zeds’. The process saw students ideate, design and prototype their products before moving into production. On the day some students sold out of their products quickly and they were left wondering- did I sell them too cheaply? Could I have produced more? Were the consumers happy with their products?

The reflection process is as important as the design and make cycle.

Finally the U9 girls and boys had their first warm up football game of the season. They played against HELP International School and learned a lot from the experience. The girls won their game 4-0 and the boys had a hard fought 2-2 draw. We wish them luck in the coming season.

Dates for your diaries:

On Friday the Grade 2 students had their story sharing time. The students had the opportunity to share the stories that they had written with their parents and other students from around the school. In addition, parents had the opportunity to share stories in their mother tongue language for students to appreciate.

Students were able to listen to stories from other languages too and appreciate the storytelling context.

In the sporting arena on Monday we had our ‘Phoenix splashdown’, our Early Years and Kindergarten students kicked off the day with a series of fun activities in the pool which showcased their growing confidence and skills. After break it was the turn of

Igniting Minds

• Monday 22nd January: Start of semester 2 and the new rotating timetable (see email sent on Thursday of this week).

• Tuesday 30th January: Semester 1 reports go home • Wednesday 31st January: Thaipusam holiday • Friday 2nd and Saturday 3rd February: IGBIS Open Days • Week of 5th February to 9th February: School photos schedule to follow.

• Monday 5th February & Tuesday 6th February: Elementary School Parent teacher conferences - more details to follow.

Simon Millward

Elementary School Principal

Impacting Lives

3

Assessment in the Primary Years Programme Kari Twedt and Stephanie Wafzig Grade 4 Teachers

...............................................................................................

Grade 3 “About Me Museum” Grade 3 students created their very own museum this week.

The About Me Museum showcased each student and what was important to them - their past, present, and occasionally even their future. They brought in artefacts that meant something important to them, from teddy bears and ballet shoes to photographs and trophies. This supported their learning from their current unit investigating Where We Are In Time And Place. Staff and students, and even some parents took time to visit the museum and learn more about the students throughout the morning that their precious items were on display.

Grade 4 Maker’s Market Grade 4 students finished off their unit of inquiry, How We Organise Ourselves, by creating their own Maker’s Market. After researching how marketplaces work and exploring various ideas from inspiring young entrepreneurs, students brainstormed ideas for a product or service they would like to create or provide.

They then planned out materials they would need within a given budget, purchased materials, created the product, decided how much to charge for it, and watched as customers rolled in. For almost an hour, students spruiked their wares, appealing to one

4

and all to buy their creations. Products ranging from bookmarks and stress balls, to animal masks and comic books (written and illustrated by two of the students) were available to buy using IGBIS’ own (fake) currency, the Zed. After the market was completed, profits were calculated and students discussed what they did well and what they could improve on for next time. Everyone had a lot of fun and it was clear to see that there are some budding entrepreneurs amongst the Grade 4 students.

Igniting Minds

Impacting Lives

Student website addresses depression in teens Sofea Johan Grade 10

...............................................................................................

Around the world, over 350 million people suffer from depression.

That is more than the entire population of the United States. The number of teens with depression is rising as time passes by and so I felt compelled to do something about it.

For my MYP Personal Project, I made it my goal to design a website to raise awareness on teenage depression and to show that there is help available for it.

It looks like this:

you can do to help your child with whatever difficulty he/she is going through right now.

You can access it by clicking on the link below: https://sofeajohan020.wixsite.com/theadversary Or you can access it through the school’s Splash Page:

Thank you for reading this and I hope you take the time to look through my website because although depression is a hidden illness, it is real. It is prevalent in every single one of our lives and is something that we should all educate ourselves on, no matter who we are. Depression can affect anyone regardless of their race, gender, age and social class.

This website has seven tabs: • Home • The Spiral • Understanding Depression • How to Help (someone with depression— separated into 4 sections: if you’re a parent, a teacher, a friend, or yourself ) • Stigma + Romanticisation • About (this website and a message from me) • Works Cited If you’re a parent who has a child suffering from depression, or think that your child is suffering from depression (not just looking sad, but also getting easily irritable and grumpy), I strongly encourage you to have a read through my website and see what

Follow us on

Twitter

Follow us on

Instagram

Igniting Minds

Impacting Lives

Follow us on

Facebook

5

Winter Clothes Drive for Syrian refugees Esha Mardikar Grade 11

...............................................................................................

Over the course of the last few months, Nur Shahidah Azmi, Ting Jie Ngo, and I have worked together to set up our own student-led entrepreneurship club, which we have called ‘Duit for the People’!

As our first business endeavour, we set up a small stall selling drinks and snacks at the 24 Hour Race KL back in December 2017. With the proceeds from this stall we plan to buy winter jackets from Hope Malaysia, a charity that had a surplus of brand new winter clothes in their library that they are not using. We intend to donate the jackets to Syria di Hatiku - Pertubuhan Sinar Damsyik Malaysia, a Syrian charity who will provide them to various refugee camps in Syria and along the border, where they are sure to be extremely helpful.

Over the course of the next week, Duit for the People will be welcoming donations of clothing of all kinds for us to donate to the Syrian refugee camps; unused winter clothes, are heartily encouraged, as each small donation will make a large difference.

If you do not have any items of clothing to donate but you would still like to support our cause, small monetary donations would also be extremely helpful as well.

We hope that you will show us your support in our forthcoming activities, and if you would like to make any contributions to our clothes drive, please put all items or money in a box or envelope labelled with your name and place it in the Secondary School Office, which will be collecting these donations from Monday 22 January to Friday 26 January.

Thank you so much for your kind support.

However, in the new year, we would like to also reach out to you, the IGBIS community, to help participate in a clothes drive that we will be holding next week.

The 24 Hour Race, 2017 Nathalie Chotard Service and CAS Coordinator

...............................................................................................

On Saturday, 9th December and Sunday, 10th December, 26 secondary students joined the 24 Hour Race, the student-led event aimed at raising awareness against human trafficking.

A big thank you is extended to eight marshals, and two first aiders, as well as two students in the organising committee for their support throughout the race!

Our 100% IGBIS running team, Bortei’s Strong Leg, was comprised of eight girls, all in Grade 11. Before the race, they raised RM1300 by making and selling cookies in their neighbourhood. For 24 hours, they ran 224 laps - nearly 180 kilometres. They should be congratulated for their determination!

If you would like to hear more about the students’ experience, watch the video created by Jenny Kim, Grade 11 student and member of Bortei Strong Leg running team. https://youtu.be/Xy0pimYFz4c

Five other Grade 11 students prepared for this event as they initiated to sell snacks and cool drinks in order to raise funds and send winter clothes to Syria for Syria di Hatiku - Pertubuhan Sinar Damsyik Malaysia - PERSIDM, a charity based in KL. Despite not selling all the goods, the students demonstrated collaboration and commitment during this project. Well done!

6

Igniting Minds

Impacting Lives

Managing Screen Time Chris Klesch Early Years to Grade 8 Counsellor

...............................................................................................

Unfortunately due to the traffic problem on January 18th, many parents could not attend this session. Some of the highlights are below, along with a summary of the recent reading selections that I find most instructive. Mr. Derry and I will also be making the slide show available in the next newsletter.

Some key points to remember: • Establish a maximum amount of time your child can use a device for leisure.

• Have your child use their device in an open, shared area.

• Have two categories - a sugar and then a brain category. This can be made into a calendar or a chart: • Sugar time would include games and cartoons, movies.

• Brain time would include games and cartoons, movies.

• Brain apps and screen time should outnumber the sugar screen time.

• Say no, a child does not always need a screen.

• Plan non-screen activities after school and on weekends.

• Have device free areas, for example, bed, car, dinner table.

Have a discussion with your kids about what they think is fair. You can then use this discussion as a basis for guidelines. We will be having several technology workshops in the future which will elaborate on all these points.

The hardest thing to manage is when to let your child have a phone.

There is a Wall Street Journal article, “Parents’ Dilemma: When to Give Children Smartphones,” that discusses what parents face when deciding to give their child a phone. Before you decide to

Igniting Minds

give your child a phone the article is worth a read. It examine how even the best laid plans of limited apps, screen limits, no phones behind closed doors, etc., may not be enough. Automatic invites and a plethora of groups trying to gain access to your child’s new phone make the arrival of a new device even harder to manage,

but just being aware is more than half the battle.

Something else to keep in mind is that even if your child wants a phone, many of the apps that she or he may want to have access to are not age appropriate for many elementary students.

The Australian Government, through the office of the esafety Commissioner, has released the recommended age limits for many of the apps students now use.

•

•

•

Resources “How Much Screen Time Is OK for My Kid(s)?” Common Sense Media: Ratings, Reviews, and Advice, www. commonsensemedia.org/screen-time/how-much-screentime-is-ok-for-my-kids.

Morris, Betsy. “Parents’ Dilemma: When to Give Children Smartphones.” The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones & Company, 12 Jan. 2018, www.wsj.com/articles/iphones-vs-parents-thetug-of-war-over-americas-children-1515772695. scheme=AGLSTERMS.AglsAgent; corporateName=Children’s eSafety Commissioner; address=Red Building, Benjamin Offices, Chan Street, Belconnen ACT 2617; contact=+61 2 6219 5555. “Is There an Age Limit for Kids on Social Media?”

Office of the ESafety Commissioner, Scheme=AGLSTERMS. AglsAgent; CorporateName=Children’s ESafety Commissioner; Address=Red Building, Benjamin Offices, Chan Street, Belconnen ACT 2617; Contact=+61 2 6219 5555, 9 Mar. 2017, esafety.gov.au/education-resources/iparent/staying-safe/ social-networking/is-there-an-age-limit-for-kids-on-socialmedia.

Impacting Lives

7