IGB International School’s Weekly Newsletter - Issue 141. Week 1. February 2018.
Secondary House Track & Field meet ~ Page 8
Message from Head of School Mrs. Anne Fowles Head of School News from Elementary School Mr. Simon Millward Elementary School Principal
Safe Steps Campaign: Students Working to Make Change ~ Pg. 3
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News from Secondary School Principal Dr. Michael Arcidiacono 5 Secondary School Principal
~ Pg. 4
MYP Community Project
~ Pg. 5
Grade 12 Mock Examinations
~ Pg. 6
Secondary House Track & Field Meet
~ Pg. 8
IGBIS Instrumental Music Academy
~ Pg. 9
Elementary Music Notes
Photo Shoot @ IGBIS • Feb 5 – Feb 9 | All Day Feb 5, Mon • ES Assembly: PE @ L3 ES Music Room 8:00 am – 8:40 am • Parent Teacher Conferences | 3:15 pm – 4:25 pm Feb 6, Tue • Parent Teacher Conferences | 1:00 pm – 7:00 pm Feb 7, Wed • University Fair: Educanada Winter 2018 @ L6 Multi-purpose Room | 8:00 am – 9:30 am • Parent Teacher Conferences | 3:15 pm – 4:25 pm Feb 8, Thu • Rehearsal: CNY Assembly @ Theatre 8:00 am – 9:30 am • Parent Teacher Conferences | 3:15 pm – 4:25 pm • U15 Boys Basketball @ BSKL | 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm • U15 Girls Basketball @ IGBIS | 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm Feb 9, Fri • KLISS Elementary Swimming Championships @ IGBIS | All Day • MUN @ IGBIS | Feb 9 – Feb 11 | All Day
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Message from Head of School Dear IGBIS Parents and Community Members,
Have a wonderful weekend ahead.
The sun was shining and the thunderstorms stayed away for the Secondary School Track and Field Day on Tuesday. It was great to see students ‘having a go’ whether they were keen athletes or doing their best to clock up points for their house.
Anne Fowles Head of School
Our Open Day on Friday was very successful with a number of families turning up in addition to those who had registered. We are looking forward to an even greater number attending on Saturday. Thanks are extended to the staff, parents and students who volunteered to meet interested families. Another event planned for Saturday is tyre painting for the elementary play area. A number of parents and staff have been very involved in this project and will come into school to help out. We will have photos to share next week!
News from the Elementary Principal This week as I have moved around school I have seen a variety of use of technology. The Grade 4 students were engaged in a provocation to launch their Where We are in Place and Time unit of inquiry. The students were using the virtual reality (VR) headsets to navigate google street view. As they were doing so they had to try and guess where they were in the world and look for clues to help them with proving their theory. They were working with some Grade 9 students who are engaged in a design unit whose task was to design a VR experience for others. The two worlds of Elementary and Secondary came together in this provocation and it was wonderful to see the positive interactions between the students.
importance of car safety. This is a wonderful example of students identifying a problem and taking action to make a difference.
The Grade 3 students as part of their How the World Works unit of inquiry were inquiring into the function of structures. They were using a picture taken in and around the school area, zooming in and out to explore the environment and make predictions as to what the different structure’s functions were.
I look forward to being able to update you further on our community car tyre painting project next week.
On Friday we had our Open day, prospective families were guided around the school while it is still in session so they could see the PYP in action. We were very excited as for the first time we had a small group of student ambassadors from the Elementary school taking families around and giving them the inside scoop about what is happening at IGB International School. We hope that this will be the start of something bigger as interest to become a student ambassador grows. Well done to our pioneer student ambassadors.
Dates for your diaries: • • • • • • •
Following on from the launch of the car safety website, the group of Grade 4 students who initiated this were invited to personally meet the United Nations Goodwill Ambassador - Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh. The students travelled to another school and had a private audience with her so that they could explain their vision and what steps they wanted to take to further educate others about the
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5th & 6th February: Student photos 5th & 6th February: Parent Teacher Conferences: Early closure Tuesday 6th: 12pm 7th February: U9 Boys football @BSKL Friday 9th February: KLISS swimming @IGBIS 8.15 - 12.30pm Tuesday 13th February: Chinese New Year assembly, 2pm in the Theatre 15th - 20th February: Chinese New Year Holiday: School closed 21st - 23rd February: Grade 4 & Grade 5 Camps.
Simon Millward
Elementary School Principal
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Safe Steps Campaign: Students Working to Make Change Aga Chojnacka
and an office space to make sure they had the all the resources they needed.
Primary Years Programme Coordinator .................................................................................................................... Over the past 5 months we’ve been observing IGBIS Elementary students taking brave steps towards having a real impact on their community. A perfect example of one of these Action initiatives is the Road Safety campaign by Grade 4 students, inspired by their unit on Growth Mindset and Persuasion in the Media. A group of 5 students moved by a personal experience of one of the Grade 4 children, Aveesha, have come together to research, spread awareness and campaign for Road Safety not only in IGBIS but across KL and the world. They spent time designing infographics, brochures, posters and most importantly building a website that would support their edu-campaign within and outside the school. Their efforts have been supported by the school, children were offered a flexible timetable, mac computers
All the hard work and commitment have not gone unnoticed. The children were invited by the Prudence Foundation, which in cooperation with United Nations, FIA and National Geographic promotes Road Safety via the Safe Steps campaign, to participate in a new programme launch and appointed Junior Ambassadors for the Safe Steps campaign. What is more, they had the very great pleasure of meeting and discussing their campaign with the UN Goodwill Ambassador for Road Safety - Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh. The team will now go on to run workshops across all classes of the school and then book workshops with the other international schools across the network in cooperation with the Safe Steps organisation. They are also planning to collect funds to appear on the radio and create their series of media resources. Their action is a genuine testimony of how the IGBIS programmes Ignite minds to Impact lives.
*More photos next page Hi my name is Aveesha, from Grade 4. As you might know, we have started a road safety campaign in the elementary called “no use of mobiles while driving”. I started this campaign because someone I know was in a taxi and something very bad happened. While on the highway the taxi driver was on his phone and got distracted, they crashed into the rail that was on the side preventing cars from falling on to the road below. If the car was to move a bit further it would have been fatal.
the opportunity to meet the United Nations Goodwill ambassador Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh on the 30th of January, 2018. She spoke to us all and informed us how 1.3 million people are killed every year in the world in road accidents. Road crashes are the number one cause of death of 15 to 29 year olds. With the help of IGBIS community we are hoping to spread the word to other schools about this.
Aveesha Nanayakkara With the support of Ms.Aga, Ms.Kari and my team members we got
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Grade 4
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Safe Steps Campaign: Students Working to Make Change
Elementary Music Notes Susan Bal-Short Elementary Music Teacher .................................................................................................................... “From little things, big things grow” - Paul Kelly The Phoenix Tweeters is the elementary school choir which started as an after school activity last season. We began with nine little Tweeters from grades 2 and 3 and they performed at our Day 5 assemblies, the Diwali and Christmas Assemblies. This season has seen the choir expand to 18 Tweeters with singers from Grade 1 and Grade 4 joining us to discover the joys of singing in a choir. Every Tuesday, we meet in the music room to work on some fun repertoire as well as gain skills in breathing and breath control, vocalising, articulation, diction, phrasing, posture and part singing. In our rehearsals we bond as we enjoy singing
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together as a group. As learners, the students are empowered to sing out, improvise and use their voices expressively. Listen to Richard Gill’s TED talk about the importance of music education. It’s inspiring as it tells us just exactly how beneficial music and singing can be to the body and brain. Then listen to opera singer Katie Kat’s message about the importance and physical benefits of singing. Our numbers have doubled this season - and hopefully will continue to grow for the rest of the year. Rehearsal time with the Phoenix Tweeters: Tuesday After School Activity from 3.104.00pm. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8rmKXbYljw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeRus3NVbw
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News from the Secondary Principal Dear Parents, Reports came home via Managebac this week, and I hope there will be some time this weekend for students and their parents to sit down and review the report, to celebrate the academic achievements and also discuss the areas for growth. Beyond the criteria scores, the narrative feedback from the teachers is very valuable for students and parents to understand the levels of achievement they have obtained. I encourage you to have a careful discussion and formulate some initial conclusions about how each student can make further progress. At the PST Conferences next week, you can then have a focused discussion with the teachers about some goals for the future. If you have not booked your conferences already, please do so over the weekend.
The students did a fantastic job on Tuesday at our Secondary Sports Day. There was a very high level of participation and some good competition, and it was pleasing to see how well our students rose to the challenge of pushing themselves possibly a bit further than they thought they could go. Well done! Well done also to our entire PHE team for their organisation of the event. I looking forward to seeing all families at our PST Conferences next week. Best regards,
Michael Arcidiacono Secondary School Principal
MYP Community Project Phil Clark Middle Years Programme Coordinator .................................................................................................................... This week our Grade 8 students completed their MYP Community Projects. They are presenting their projects for assessment on Friday and are preparing for the Community Project Exhibition next Tuesday. The MYP Community Project focuses on community action and service. Students inquire into needs within communities and take action to address those needs through service learning. Their projects are wide ranging and reflect the varied interests of the Grade 8 students. Projects this year include working with a local organisation called ‘Bake with Dignity’, volunteering with an organisation supporting deaf children, raising awareness about cancer, volunteering with search and rescue dogs, working
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with an organisation supporting refugee children, volunteering with SPCA, working with an organisation that supports abused and neglected children, and raising awareness about teenage depression. Next Tuesday morning, Grade 8 students will share their Community Project Exhibition with the school community. These projects have ignited the minds of the Grade 8 students and have impacted not only their own lives, but also the lives of the community members they worked with. Our Grade 8 students took action and are eager to share their experiences with you. IGBIS community members are warmly invited to join the Grade 8 students for their MYP Community Project Exhibition on Tuesday 6 February from 10:45-11:55am in the Secondary School Library on Level 6.
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Grade 12 Mock Examinations: Wednesday 28 February to Friday 9 March Mary Boyd Diploma Programme Coordinator .................................................................................................................... As our Grade 12 students start their final semester at IGBIS, many of whom are from founding families, we are prepare ahead for some big events. The students’ final assembly will be in April, Graduation will be on Friday 25 May, and those all-important final Diploma Programme examinations and the High School Diploma examinations will be taken at the end of April. Mock exams will
begin on the afternoon of Wednesday 28 February. More specific details about the Mock Examinations will come nearer the time, but, to plan ahead, the timetable has been circulated to all teachers, students and parents, and added to the shared Google folder of all key DP documents. Now finishing the last of their internal assessments as well as their Theory of Knowledge essay, we wish all our Grade 12 students our fullest support and warmest best wishes at this very important time.
Good luck to all of the Grade 12 Students for their final Semester.
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Secondary House Track & Field Meet Alex Cima Vivarelli Grade 11 .................................................................................................................... It was the day where the tension was almost palpable, where the pressure to win was almost back breaking, where everything could come crumbling down like apple pie. That day, was the Secondary Sports Day. It started off normally, like any other sports day; warm up activities and laughter. But that soon came to an end, as the students from each of the four houses: Ignis, Aqua, Terra and Aer gathered at the grandstand to begin the events. From the moment the whistle blew for the 100m sprint, hollering, cheering and all manner of sound filled the air, encouraging us to go faster, run further, push harder. Even as the sun beat down on us, we never stopped cheering and putting one foot in front of the other. It was the drive to win and make our houses proud that made us not want to give up. It was heartening to see this kind of sportsmanship and kindness persevere throughout all the competitiveness and ambition as we helped each other along to the theatre for our final announcement on the winners. As if a switch had been flipped, everyone suddenly sat upright, eager to hear the ultimate victor of IGBIS’s Secondary Track & Field Competition. After much waiting and extended silences the winner was revealed to be Ignis house! With Aer placing second, Terra at third‌ and Aqua in last place. The day was not without its challenges. There were moments when some of us felt like giving up, but if it weren’t for the people around us; friends, rivals, supporters, we would never have gotten this far.
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Secondary House Track & Field meet
IGBIS Instrumental Music Academy Jon Suffolk Instrumental Music Academy Coordinator .................................................................................................................... Congratulation to all the students who performed at the two concerts this week. It is great to see the number of students who are resilient and persist in continuing their music development through the Academy programme and under the tutelage of the dedicated tutors. For many of the students it is a very confronting experience playing in front of their peers and parents. I know their peers and parents are very impressed with them and the risk taking they are undertaking to perform. To our tutors — Ms Wong, Ms Irma, Ms Iko and Mr Adil — I say a very big thank you for all your hard work. Semester 2 lessons have already commenced for some of our tutors and invoices have been sent to parents. In Semester 2 we welcome back Mr Yew Chee Chew who will be teaching piano again as the number of students has increased. Please be reminded that the Music Academy days do not rotate due to the availability of our tutors. All the schedules can now be accessed through the Splash page.
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