IGB International School’s Weekly Newsletter - Issue 13, Week 2, October 2014
Inside this week’s Newsletter Message from Head of School Mrs. Anne Fowles, Head of School
News from Elementary School Mrs. Claire McLeod, Elementary School Principal
News from Secondary School Mr. Lennox Meldrum, Secondary School Principal
Updates from Student Services Mr. Peter Fowles, Head of Student Services
Upcoming Events October Wednesday, 15th October 2014 Whole School Assembly - Deepavali Celebration 18th - 26th October 2014 School Holidays Wednesday, 22nd October 2014 Public Holiday - Deepavali Wednesday, 29th October 2014 Parent Teacher Conference, 2.00pm - 7.00pm
Updates from Academic and Support Services
Mr. Peter Syme, Director of Academic and Support Services
Updates from Admissions Mrs. Bronwyn Thorburn, Admissions Director
Igniting Minds
Impacting Lives
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Message from Head of School Mrs. Anne Fowles Head of School Dear IGBIS Parents and Community Members, I expect that there will be some tired teachers and students arriving back in school after their camp this week. Mr Meldrum visited the Grade 6 - 8 camp in the Port Dickson area and I visited the Grade 9 - 11 camp near Lumut. All of the students were having a wonderful time and building relationships with each other in a new environment. I was very impressed to see the service activities that the Grade 9 - 10 students were engaged in with local students while the Grade 11 students were on their kayaking expedition. Community service or service from action is one of the requirements for our secondary students and we are pleased to see them to be taking this on with such enthusiasm.
Security and Safety Alert! We would like to alert our families to an incident that took place between Sierramas and the school gate this week. One of our teachers was set upon and robbed by four men on motorcycles. Fortunately an administrator was nearby and quickly assisted the teacher so that the teacher got away unhurt. We had heard of stories of robberies such as this before, but it was quite alarming to have this happen to a member of our school community in the Sierramas area.
Several families in Valencia and Sierramas have mentioned that their children might walk or cycle to school and some have started to do this. We have also noticed a couple of families dropping their children off on the road rather than bringing them into the dropoff zone in the car park. We would ask that families bring their children into the school as this is the only way that we can ensure their safety. Please keep alert, mind your personal safety and that of your children! The Haze IGBIS has been monitoring the Air Quality Index (AQI) this past week and note that on Friday the AQI was close to 100. According to international standards, an AQI of 100-150 is unhealthy for sensitive groups and those with respiratory problems and from 150-200 young children or those with respiratory problems should stay indoors. We will continue to monitor the AQI but in the mean time, please ensure that your child’s medical information is complete and the school has been advised of any respiratory problems that we should be aware of. Deepavali Assembly Next Wednesday (October 15th), commencing at 2.20pm, we will be holding a whole school assembly in the theatre for the upcoming Deepavali Festival. All of our families are invited to join us at the assembly. Students will have the option of wearing clothing suited to the Deepavali theme rather than their regular school uniform that day. Have a restful weekend.
News from Elementary School Mrs. Claire McLeod Elementary School Principal I hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend and had a chance to relax with family and friends. I enjoyed a few days away although l am still trying to work out how to avoid holiday traffic jams!
Mid-Semester Holidays Our last day of school before the midsemester break is next Friday 17th October. School will resume on Monday, 27th October.
As I moved around classes this week l took some photos to show the different approaches to learning that are evident in Elementary School; I hope you find these interesting.
Parent Teacher Conferences Parents are reminded that our Parent Teacher Conferences are scheduled for Wednesday, 29th October from 2.00pm - 7.00pm. Students will be dismissed after lunch at 1.00pm and buses will leave the school at 1.15pm. Further information about how to sign up for these conferences will be sent home next Monday. Until next week.
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Igniting Minds
Impacting Lives
Bahasa Melayu and Host Nation In the Bahasa Melayu lessons, Early Years 1 and 2 have learnt about My Body. We called “Anggota Badan Saya” in Bahasa Melayu. The students are working hard to identify 10 anggota badan such as mata (eye), rambut (hair), pipi (cheek), gigi (teeth), hidung (nose) dan telinga (ear) by doing mix and match activities, and using these words in sentences. Grades 2 and 3 have learnt how to use about 20 verbs or “Kata Kerja” in Bahasa Melayu in conversation and have practiced using these with word search activities, writing and spelling these verbs to describe every day activities. In pairs learners have recorded on their iPads 10 actions given by teacher. Some of the verbs are lari (run), lompat (jump), ajar (teach), tulis (write), cakap (talk) and jalan (walk). Grade 4 and 5 have focused on the topic of “Rumah Saya” (My House) and learnt to describe the different words for the rooms in the house and what they do in these rooms. They also learnt how to write simple sentences in Bahasa Melayu to describe about their own house. In Host Nation Studies, all grades have learnt about “Pakaian Tradisional Rakyat Malaysia” (Malaysian Traditional Clothing) such as Baju Melayu Cekak Musang, Baju Kurung, Cheongsam, Samfu, Sari and Dothi. Learning has mainly taken place through interactive activities. Over the week Early Years, Kindergarten and Grade 1, enjoyed singing the folklore song called “Burung Kakak Tua” while they were trying to identify and pronounce each item of clothing accurately. Thank you. Dianti Ranofla, Bahasa Melayu Teacher
Igniting Minds
Impacting Lives
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Elementary School Chinese For Early Years, we have made a number book counting from 1 to 10. We had a surprise party and counted the candles on the cake and later on counted the pieces for each student. We have also learned a new song “一二 三” (One Two Three).
Kindergarten and Grade 1 students are continuing to learn about their colours and numbers. Students were given specific colours to search for objects in the classroom. Cards games and smart board games were included to make the learning fun!
For Grades 2 to 5 students have watched a video of a famous Chinese story “三个和尚” (Three monks no water) and read the story. Learning has mainly taken place through interactive activities such as singing, presenting, visual prompts and story telling. Also, they have studied the song “Two tigers” and they changed the words to write their own lyrics and exchanged their own songs to perform. Ms Yuri Kim, Ms Anderina Alexander and Ms Huei Yin Elementary School
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Igniting Minds
Impacting Lives
News from Secondary School Mr. Lennox Meldrum Secondary School Principal
Progress Reports On Friday, October 17 students will receive their Semester One Progress Secondary School Report online through ManageBac. If It has been a quiet and lonely you have not received a welcome email week at school here without to sign into ManageBac, please check the students and teachers – a your spam/junk email folder. If you are reflection on how much they have still having problems, please contact deeply defined the culture of our school in the first two months. Our camps this week have given our Technology Integration Specialist, Geoff Derry (geoffrey. our staff an extended opportunity to develop important attributes derry@igbis.edu.my). that we wish to see in all of our students, from our school motto of Igniting Minds, Impacting Lives to the IB Learner Profile and Parent-Student-Teacher Conferences the importance of Service and Action. It was wonderful to join the Parents are reminded that our Parent-Student-Teacher Grades 6 - 8 camp on Thursday afternoon and see how much Conferences are scheduled for Wednesday, October 29 from fun everyone was having. After an exhausting game of water polo 2.00pm to 7.00pm. Students will have lunch and then be to cool down at the end of the day following the team building dismissed at 1.00pm with buses departing at 1.15pm. All students activities, dinner and a campfire gave everyone a chance to are expected to leave campus as there will be no supervision continue building relationships with each other. Grade and age available, however some exceptions may be made on a casewere unimportant as everyone just by-case basis if parents have an early appointment and the time had a great time in each other’s travelling to/from school would impact the appointment. Details company. I’m sure all the students on how appointments will be made will be sent out next week. and teachers are going to sleep deeply on Friday night! You will Next Friday is our last day of school before our October break, find short reports on the camps in with classes resuming on Monday, October 27. Have a great this newsletter with more detailed weekend with your children back home. articles next week when teachers and students have had time to reflect together. Deepavali Assembly To celebrate Deepavali on Wednesday, October 15 we will be holding a whole school assembly in our theatre from 2.20pm with performances from students and staff. All members of our community are invited to wear clothing reflective of Indian culture and are welcome to attend the assembly. I look forward to seeing you there.
Grade 6 - 8 Camp What an exciting and exhausting week we have had on camp! There have been so many great opportunities for students to demonstrate Learner Profile attributes, from being risk-takers on the high ropes, thinkers in the group challenges, showing how they can be communicators in the team-building activities, and being caring at all times with their friends and teachers. Inquirers on the camp enjoyed the raft building activity as they had to work out the best method for putting all of the pieces together. Knowledgeable students taught others some new games or helped explain different skills to groups of their friends. Everyone showed how they were open minded to new experiences and could be reflective on what they learned about themselves and others during the camp. Students appreciated being balanced with a range of indoor and outdoor activities, and also how our digital devices don’t need to dominate our lives.
Finally, staying together in a dormitory helped reinforce the trust students must have of each other in order to lead principled lives. What a great time we all had! Thank you to the students for making our first Grade 6-8 camp so much fun. Grade 6 - 8 Camp Teachers
Igniting Minds
Impacting Lives
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Updates from Student Services Mr. Peter Fowles Head of Student Services Grade 11 safely arrived this afternoon after a wonderful experience with our chosen sponsored school in Lumut. The students were at their very best cooking with their hosts to create fruit salad and hamburgers. The students all mentally impaired were warm and gracious with their hospitaility, our students for their part lost all inhibitions and were excellent ambassadors for IGBIS, there were many touching scenes especially as we left. Grade 9 & 10 shared their presentations with students from the same school as their part for Action for Service. IGBIS students have donated games and morning tea to be enjoyed after the performances. Grade 11 were coached in Kayak skills and paddled off to spend the moonlit night on Pangkor island with the support boat equipped with rations for the night and next day. We look forward to tomorrow.
IGBIS Instrumental Music Academy Registration is now open and students should have received a brochure and registration form last week. Registration for Semester 1 will close next Friday 17th October. Invoices and timetables will be sent out next week. Please take your invoice to the finance counter for payment. One of our Early Years teachers passed the article below to me and I thought it was worth sharing. The power of Music to increase our learning potential and brain activity has long been acknowledged. This research is very interesting. http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/07/ unpacking-the-science-how-playing-musicchanges-the-learning-brain/ Any enquiries about the Academy programme please contact me by email on jon.suffolk@igbis. edu.my Mr. Jon Suffolk, Performing Arts Teacher
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Igniting Minds
Impacting Lives
Updates from Academic and Support Services Mr. Peter Syme Director of Academic and Support Services Valencia and Sierramas Bus The invoices will be delivered on Monday, 13 October by Mr Anba when he drops your children off. This first invoice includes the last week of August for those that used the service and a reminder that for the first week of school operations, the service was complimentary.
Car Park We are indeed very lucky to have the car parking facility. I read every week in the newspapers about petty thieves that are getting bolder all the time and having the security of the car park should put our minds at ease.
Please contribute to the safety of the car park by driving slowly and following directions. Should you be parking or have a driver waiting, please turn off your engines to avoid fumes and smells.
Updates from Admissions Mrs. Bronwyn Thorburn Admissions Director Thank you to all the families who have returned the medical information for their children. We are nearly there in terms of updating information for the students. The final stage is making sure we have the correct passport or ID information on file for each student. Please do remember that if your contact details change in any way through the year, you must inform the Admissions Office.
Uniform Shop The uniform shop will be open from next week in the area next to Reception. From now on, the shop will be open on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from 3:00pm to 4:00pm. If you should need the shop at another time, please contact Reception and we will arrange for someone to be there for you.
Igniting Minds
Impacting Lives
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