IGB International School’s Weekly Newsletter - Issue 17, Week 2, November 2014
Students with one of the new instruments, the double bass.
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
Upcoming Events November Monday, 17th November 2014
Staff Professional Development Day (no school for students)
Saturday, 22nd November 2014 Open Day, 10.00am and 1.00pm
News from Secondary School Mr. Lennox Meldrum, Secondary School Principal
Updates from Student Services Mr. Peter Fowles, Head of Student Services
Wednesday, 26th November 2014 Parent Coffee Afternoon, 2.00pm
December Wednesday, 10th December 2014
Whole School Christmas Assembly, 2.00pm Last day of School
Updates from Academic and Support Services
Mr. Peter Syme, Director of Academic and Support Services
Updates from Admissions
Thursday, 11th December 2014
Public Holiday - Sultan Selangor’s Birthday
11th December - 2nd January 2014 December School Holidays
Mrs. Bronwyn Thorburn, Admissions Director
January 5th January 2014
Igniting Minds
School Resumes
Impacting Lives
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Message from Head of School Mrs. Anne Fowles Head of School Dear IGBIS Parents and Community Members, I am in Geneva at present attending an IB Board of Governors meeting at the IB Foundation Office. Members of the Board were invited to visit the oldest and largest international school in the world, the International School of Geneva (Ecolint), where we attended a presentation about the IB Career-related Programme (IBCP). Students enrolled in the IBCP at Ecolint are undertaking specialised studies in either Business or Art and Design in addition to three IB Diploma Programme subjects and the DP core. The students undertake industry related research and entrepreneurship in their chosen course. Our appreciation is extended to the senior students and staff who assisted at the PISF last weekend. Over 500 families called in to visit our booth to find out more about IGBIS. An open day is scheduled to take place on 22nd November with two sessions, at 10.00am and 1.00pm. Please invite your friends and neighbours to attend. A reminder that there is a Professional Development Day for teachers on Monday November 17, so there will be no school for students. The pedestrian turnstiles will be activated for secondary students and parents from the afternoon of November 18. Please remember to bring your ID card for access to the school. School staff will be on hand to assist parents and students to gain entry into the school while we all become familiar with using the turnstiles. Have a good weekend.
News from Elementary School Mrs. Claire McLeod Elementary School Principal Dear Parents, Our school nurse Ms Azilah Chan is monitoring the general health of all students and in particular the students in the grade where we have had one student confirmed with Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease. Students have been reminded to wash their hands regularly and posters are in classrooms and bathrooms as a reminder.
I have included a few photos of Grade 3 students learning about their body systems and students enjoying reading in the Library, hope you enjoy. Until next time.
Nurse Azilah cares for students who are generally feeling unwell and those who may have sustained an injury during the day. When a student has a temperature above 37.5, or has an injury or other illness that requires further medical care she will call the family to request the student be taken home. Students are not allowed to self-administer medications. Our nurse will also administer medication upon request from parents when a child has an on-going illness that does not require at home care. Medication must be clearly labelled with the name of the medication, the dosage and the instructions. Parents are reminded that if they collect their child before the end of the school day they are required to have a permission note signed by the class teacher and a Principal. This note must be handed to the guards upon leaving the campus. Class teachers and our nurse have copies of these forms as well as our Elementary School secretary Ms Ruba.
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Elementary School Music Early Years and Kindergarten students have been exploring songs, stories, percussion instruments through play and hands on activities. Early Years 2 have looked at the different characters in the story Peter and the Wolf and how they are represented by different instruments. They tried to reconstruct the story with pictures and recognise the different characters by listening to the music. They were particularly excited to try the flute and violin. Grade 1 and Grade 3 have as a central idea: ‘Performing with instruments enables musicians to engage in a process of expressing ideas, both alone and with others.’ Grade 3 students have been practising to follow the conductor and play in time with a beat. Grade 2, 4 and 5 explored rhythmic patterns and traditional music notation.
While the Grade 2 students looked at how to use one word with one or multiple syllables to represent rhythmic patterns, Grade 4 composed a sixlayer ostinato using the character names from Harry Potter. The Grade 5 students learned different rhythm patterns to accompany the song ‘Reel’ using small percussion instruments. Students worked in different groups to find out how to write down the rhythm patterns using music notation. They also explored online music notation on the iPads and iMacs. Mrs. Hadewyh Dujardin, Elementary School Music Teacher
Bahasa Melayu and Host Nation In the Bahasa Melayu lessons, Early Years 1 and 2 enjoyed learning about 10 different warna (colours) in Bahasa Melayu. The students are learning with different activities to identify 10 warna such as merah (red), jingga (orange), kuning (yellow), hijau (green), biru (blue), ungu (purple), merah jambu (pink) and hitam (black) by doing colouring activities and drawing using the i-Pad. Early Years also learning how to recognise 8 shapes (bentuk) in Bahasa Melayu such as bulat (circle), bujur (oval), hati (heart), segitiga (triangle), segi empat sama (square), segi empat tepat (rectangle), bintang (star),and bulan sabit (crescent). They been learning how to identify all shapes by drawing and spelling.
Grade 2 and 3 have learnt about keluarga (family) and how to address their family in Bahasa Melayu. They enjoyed by doing a role play to identify all terms in Bahasa Melayu and completing a booklet about their own family. Grade 4 and 5 have focused on the topic of “ Sekolah Saya” (My School) and learnt to describe the different words for the rooms in the school and what they do in these rooms. They also learnt how to write simple sentences in Bahasa Melayu to describe about their own school.
In Host Nation Studies, Early Years, Kindergarten to Grade 3 have learnt about “Rumah Tradisional Melayu” (Malay Traditional House) and the differences between their own houses. Learning has mainly taken place through interactive activities. Grade 4 and 5 have learnt to recognise 10 “Makanan Tradisional Malaysia” (Malaysian Traditional Food). Over the week they enjoyed a food tasting and explained by writing the experiences. Ms Dianti Ranofla, Bahasa Malaysia Teacher
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Elementary School Chinese Early Years 1 and 2 Early Years students have reviewed about family and colors through different activities, and learned about countries and nationalities. They could identify their own country’s flag, understand and answer questions like “which country is this?” or “ which country are you from?” as well as sing the songs. From Ms. Anderina’s class: For this time, the Early Years has been working on My Family. We started by introducing the family members in Mandarin and later identify the people around them and putting them in order. We did a follow up by making a family book. Kindergarten and Grade 1 In Kindergarten and Grade 1, students successfully accomplished their “poster and presentation” project. They also made a storybook, and performed the story, named “Happy Birthday Henry/Ricoy.” The story was a little bit sad but quite interesting. If you ask your child about it, I believe they will tell you more details. Grade 2 and 3 In Grade 2 and 3, we are focusing on “exercise and nutrition”, tying-in with homeroom inquiries. We did one of the Chinese traditional exercises “rope skipping”, and will do more to take action and know about Chinese culture. At the same time, students are learning Pinyin through poems and rhymes, and learning to use a dictionary to solve reading and writing problems. In writing, Grade 2 students are learning radicals; Grade 3 students are learning to make up words and compose sentences. From Ms. Murong’s class In Grade 2/3 Beginning Chinese lesson, students are learning family and fruits. There are 4 sentence patterns that students have practiced below. 这(zhè)（他(tā)／她(tā)）是(shì) ～～This(He/She) is ~~. 我(wǒ)（他(tā)／她(tā)）有(yǒu)～。I (He/She) have~. 我(wǒ)爱(ài)～。I love~. 我(wǒ)（他(tā)／她(tā)）喜(xǐ)欢(huan)～。I (He/She) like
Grade 4 and 5 Grade 4 and 5 students are working on the unit “ 我的健康我做主”（My health is up to me). Besides extension readers, the text we are digging deeply into is 《服药记》（the story of taking medicines). Students are learning using some reading comprehension strategies to understand and interpret texts. From Ms Kim’s Class Students have been learning useful expressions for our daily lives and in classrooms. We also studied different expressions of each family member. For these topics, we have played matching, singing and acting games through pictures, Pinyin and characters and songs. We also used computer to play word games. To build up the vocabulary, we also played Scrabble to make the words and expressions in Pinyin. Ms Xiaoping Li, Chinese Teacher
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News from Secondary School Mr. Lennox Meldrum Secondary School Principal Last week I was in Beijing taking part in the largest series of teacher workshops that the International Baccalaureate has ever coordinated – over 1300 educators involved in dozens of workshops. These regular events attract teachers from across Asia-Pacific, with support from their schools, to participate in three-day workshops designed to promote their understanding of what it means to be an IB teacher and how to extend the IB learners in their classrooms. The workshops are leveled to be appropriate for teachers new to IB schools, teachers who may wish to extend their skills in particular area (such as assessment or use of technology or inquiry-based learning, for example), or for teachers who are teaching subjects that may have recently been reviewed and updated. A selection of our teachers was present in a range of subject areas and I was there to lead a workshop for teachers new to MYP Sciences. It was a great opportunity for all of us to extend our learning and to network with other IB professionals. There were four interesting aspects that came out of the event for me. The first was the scale of the event and why I believe it was so large. The IB runs regular workshops in all three of its regions (Asia-Pacific, the Americas, and Africa, Europe, and the Middle East). There are usually at least 8-10 major workshops during a school year in each region with many smaller events run in schools that usually have a specific focus – currently there are over 40 events that will be running in Asia-Pacific this year. These events are run across the region, from India to Japan to Australia to Singapore and so on, allowing schools to minimize travel requirements for their teachers to attend. What I found interesting about the workshop in Beijing was how many teachers from outside the Asia-Pacific region chose to attend even though the distance and expense was much greater. The growth of the IB in Asia-Pacific is at a higher rate than the other two IB regions and it is my belief that this is resulting in higherquality teachers being attracted to the region. The caliber of teachers I saw leading the workshops was exceptional and it is understandable that schools from other parts of the world want their teachers trained by the amazing educators we have in Asia-Pacific. The second interesting aspect was how the workshops are designed around how subjects are delivered in the classroom, not the specifics of what is being delivered (ie. the content). IB schools are highly respected across the globe because of the high quality of teachers that are hired. What makes an IB education different from other systems is how teachers are able engage students in learning experiences that assist in the delivery of the content. This is a different approach from other systems that put content first and sometimes sacrifice essential learning skills. Universities recognize that students who come from IB schools are better prepared for deeper learning and still have the same (or higher) level of content knowledge as students from other systems. The IB workshops are aimed at developing better IB educators, not more knowledgeable content deliverers.
place outside the prepared classroom activities. The conversations over lunch and throughout the workshop sessions sometimes provided as much professional development to our teachers as the workshops themselves. It is the same with our students. Our subject areas are one source of learning, but students are developing essential organization and leadership skills by being part of sports teams, Model United Nations, Student Council, and many other activities at IGBIS. We always encourage students to undertake a balance of activities and again, these broad educational experiences are one of the reasons why universities chase IB graduates for their courses. The final aspect was a reinforcement of what I already knew – IGBIS is awesome! I listened to so many teachers and administrators discuss issues with their schools, what they wished they could do but can’t, problems with staff or the community being on board with their programmes, and lots of other different challenges that they face. I could proudly smile to myself as I nodded along, knowing that IGBIS is one of the best international schools around. Yes, we are still young and developing and we still face our own challenges at times, but the deep community spirit that is already evident helps us move onwards and upwards with a smile on our face. Thank you all for being part of this special start to our amazing future. On Monday our teachers will continue to be lifelong learners with an in-school professional development day. Teachers who have been to workshops will return with the latest knowledge to share with their peers, and our coordinators will be running sessions to dive deeper into the programme standards and practices. Technology is always a focus within IGBIS and we have some very talented teachers in the school that will run sessions to forward the skills of our staff. Don’t forget to complete our questionnaire about ManageBac, our progress reports, and the Parent-Student-Teacher conferences at: http://goo.gl/b9de4V. Have a wonderful weekend.
The third aspect was a reflection of what I see at IGBIS every day, and this is the importance of learning experiences taking
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Instrumental Music Programme It is so pleasing to hear the sounds of music being made every day as students attend their lessons. So far there has been excellent feedback from students and parents. Minor issues have been solved and the program is looking to expand in the future. I would like to invite parents to watch and share this animated video with their children about the affect that learning a musical instrument has on the development of the brain. It was shared with me by a fellow music teacher and II hope you enjoy it. http://trendinghot.net/what-playing-a-musical-instrument-does-to-your-brain/
New Musical Instruments While I was absent at the MYP workshops in Beijing last week a number of instruments were delivered to the school including two double basses. It is rare for a school to have students who play these instruments but sisters Yin Xi Ho and Tien Xi Ho were very excited as they have been learning the double bass prior to arriving in Malaysia and will be able to continue that learning here at IGBIS. In the photograph Yin Xi Ho tries out one of the new instruments. Mr. Jon Suffolk, Performing Arts Teacher
As a person who has played the double bass for four and a half years, I was very excited when, on the behalf of me, the school decided to order a double bass. When the double bass finally arrived, I all but ran to get it so that I could play the bass again after a period of six months without one. - Yin Xzi
Updates from Student Services Mr. Peter Fowles Head of Student Services Dear Parents and school community, A second session of activities will run for all students from 12th January 2015 to 20th March 2015 a third session will then run until 5th June. With the assistance of outside providers activities will be available from Monday to Friday some of which will have an associated cost. Sign up for these activities will be made available electronically for students in Secondary and for parents in Elementary, this will come out by 4.00pm, Wednesday 10th December 2014. Please understand that some activities may not run if there are insufficient numbers, students in Secondary and Elementary parents will be notified of successful selection by 10th December, the last day of school for 2014.
Energy Rising with Lara Attention Parents! Come take some time for yourself with Lara. Vinyasa flow Yoga for beginner and intermediate levels 8:20am - 9:30am on Tuesdays & Thursdays. Drop your kids off and join us ladies in the dance room on LG floor. Class ends at 9:30am. For more details contact Lara: 012 970 8664 or energyrisingwithlara@ gmail.com or visit http://energyrising.zohosites.com. If you are interested in Art classes as well, please contact Lara or finance office.
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Updates from Academic and Support Services Mr. Peter Syme Director of Academic and Support Services Soccer Clinics On Monday afternoon, 24th November on the school football field, from 3:10pm - 4:10pm, the 1st International Soccer Academy will be running a free soccer clinic for interested students from Grades 3 - 11. The academy will hopefully become part of the IGBIS After School Activity programme in January. This trial is free. If you wish to sign up for the soccer clinics as part of the ASA programme in January, as with all external providers, there will be a fee involved. Coach Will and Coach Wan will be on hand to put you through your paces. Please note, there will be NO buses at 4:10pm so if you are a bus traveller, your parents will need to come and get you.
Updates from Admissions Mrs. Bronwyn Thorburn Admissions Director Events planned:
Open Day, 22nd November with two sessions at 10.00am and at 1.00pm We would like to have parents/students available for questions at a table in the Reception area. If you can assist us, please contact Admissions at: enquiries@igbis.edu.my. Coffee Afternoon, Wednesday, 26th November, 2.00pm in the Elementary School Library
Please come to a ‘Coffee Afternoon’ to meet other parents at IGBIS. Also, for those interested, we would like to discuss the establishment of the IGBIS Parent Volunteer Organisation. We hope that this organisation can assist the school community in a number of ways including: Class Representatives, Country Representatives, welcoming new students/families, arranging social events. Come along to find out more!
Inter-School Triathlon The Australian International School of Malaysia held its annual Inter-School Triathlon last weekend on the 9th of November. Lainey Settle represented IGBIS in the girls under 6 division by swimming 25m, cycling 500m, and running 300m. She was excited about receiving a medal for participating and is looking forward to improving her times next year. Way to go, Lainey!
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