IGB International School’s Weekly Newsletter - Issue 9, Week 2, September 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
Upcoming Events September Tuesday, 16th September 2014 Public Holiday - Malaysia Day Wednesday, 17th September 2014 Whole School Assembly - Malaysia Day, 2.20pm October
News from Secondary School Mr. Lennox Meldrum, Secondary School Principal
Updates from Student Services Mr. Peter Fowles, Head of Student Services
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
7th - 10th October 2014 Secondary School Camp (Grade 6 - 11) 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 Interviews
Impacting Lives
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Message from Head of School Mrs. Anne Fowles Head of School Dear IGBIS Parents and Community Members, It’s hard to believe that we are at the end of our fourth week of school. Students will now be finding that there is more pressure from the school day with the workflow building more than at the beginning of school year, homework and assessment tasks beginning to loom and after school activities making the school day longer. It will be good if parents can monitor their children and check how they are finding the workload. Please contact our teachers if you have any questions or concerns. A reminder that Tuesday, September 16 is Malaysia day so school will be closed. Our first whole school assembly will take place on Wednesday, September 17th to celebrate Malaysia day with a range of student and staff items being performed. This assembly is open to parents and we hope that you will come along. We will be encouraging students, staff and parents to wear clothing to reflect the cultures and regions of Malaysia, so please think of what you and your children will wear! The assembly will begin at 2.20pm so that you may collect your children afterwards. There are a number of students who were unable to begin on the first day of school so they are joining us this week and next week. Welcome to all of our new families.
News from Elementary School Mrs. Claire McLeod Elementary School Principal Our teachers appreciated the positive response to our first Parent Information afternoon and enjoyed sharing how we teach, the expectations they have and the different ways parents can support their child’s learning. I observed smiles and nods and heard a few laughs from a number of classrooms and it was easy to see that the relaxed nature of the information session was beneficial to all. The activities programme after school is going well and students are enjoying the options offered. Parents are reminded activities finish at 4.00pm and students will be escorted to the car park for collection. Karate Demonstration On Monday students in Grades 3, 4 and 5 enjoyed watching a karate demonstration. Many were surprised at the loud grunts and sounds from the manoeuvres and the force required to protect oneself from an attacker. There was absolute awe when they watched one karate specialist snap pieces of wood with his hands and feet. Thank you to Ms Brawn our PE teacher for organising this. Students borrowing books from the Library are required to have a book bag to protect the book. This bag does not need to be overly special; however, it will be helpful if the student can easily identify it. Recognizable colors, images, writing or a name tag will help. Malaysia Day holiday is next Tuesday 16th September and the school will be closed. As a school community we will celebrate Malaysia Day with a whole school assembly in the Theatre next Wednesday, 17th September at 2.20pm. There will be a number of interesting items and parents are welcome to attend. Early Years parents should note that dismissal will be a little later than 2.45pm to allow for students to attend this assembly. On this day students are not required to wear school uniform. Teachers and students are asked to wear something that reflects the various cultures and regions of Malaysia. This will make for a very colourful and exciting day at school. If your child has PE or swimming, please send along their PE uniform and swim wear so they can change.
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Igniting Minds
Impacting Lives
Bahasa Melayu and Host Nation Studies Early Years 1 and 2 enjoyed learning a Malay Folklore song called “Can Mali Can”. They are trying to pronounce each of the words in Bahasa Melayu. By learning this song, Early Years will start to to understand a villager’s life which is close with nature. All students are learning more about Malaysia in readiness for Malaysia Day. Students have participated in activities to identify each of the states of Malaysia and also learn about the meaning of the symbols and colours for “Jalur Gemilang”. All students are learning more about Malaysia in readiness for Malaysia Day.
For Bahasa Melayu studies, learners started by learning nouns to make them clarity each parts of “benda”, “objek”, “manusia” and “tempat” in Bahasa Melayu. Grade 4 and 5 have focused on the topic of “Keluarga saya” (My family) and learnt the words to describe the different members of their family (emak/ibu, bapa/ayah, abang, adik, kakak, datuk, nenek, sepupu, pakcik, makcik). We have also started looking at “Rumah saya” (My House) and learning the different words for the rooms in the house “bilik tidur, dapur, bilik mandi, bilik tamu, bilik makan” and what they would do in these rooms, such as “mengemaskan katil, mandi, memasak makanan di dalam ketuhar”. Over the week all grades have participated in activities to identify each of the states of Malaysia and also learn about the meaning of the symbols and colours for “Jalur Gemilang”. Dianti Ranofla, Bahasa Malaysia Teacher
Elementary School Chinese In the first four weeks in Early Years, the students have learned about the numbers, their age, family members, colors and clothes. Learning has mainly taken place through play and interactive activities. The songs we have learned are “你好 吗，lisa”,“生日快乐”and“两只老虎”. Kindergarten students have learned about class instructions, numbers, names, their age and family. The songs they have learned are “你好，你好”, “一二三”,“你好吗，lisa”、“生日快乐”. Hopefully they can sing some of them to you. In writing, they learned the basic strokes and practice writing from “一” to “十”. Grade 1 students have learned about classroom instructions, numbers, names, their age and family. They made a little book named “I love my family”. The songs they have learned are “ 你好吗，lisa”，and“生日快乐”. Hopefully they can sing some of them to you. In writing, they learned about the basic strokes and practiced writing simple characters. Learning mainly taken place through interactive activities, like songs and rhymes, role-play and visual stimulation. Differentiation in activities has helped support the different levels of ability. Grade 2 and Grade 3 students are learning about the unit of inquiry,“ I can do it myself.” The first main passage we are reading is “马莎长大了”. Learning has mainly taken place through interactive activities, such as singing, presenting, visual prompts and story telling.
Igniting Minds
Grade 4 and Grade 5 students are learning about our inquiry related to conflict resolution. The first main passage we are reading is “妈妈的账单”. They learned to make their own learning goal and practiced collaboration and teamwork. Students in Ms. Kim’s Grade 4/5 Chinese class have been studying numbers up to 100, greetings and classroom instructions. Students were singing, playing word games and matching pictures with Chinese characters and Pinyin.
With the Mooncake Festival on 8th September, we learned about the cultures related to this and students made lanterns. Ms Xiaoping Li, Chinese Teacher
Impacting Lives
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News from Secondary School Mr. Lennox R. Meldrum Secondary School Principal The range of activities both in and out of the classroom has continued to grow this week as subjects explore their units in more depth. One of the more exciting classes was a karate demonstration during Health and Physical Education class, conducted by a group that included some Malaysian and South East Asian champions. Students not only had the thrill of watching experts who had trained for many years to attain a high level of experience, but were also looking for various techniques and skills that Mrs Brawn had previously discussed with the class. The high level of discipline demonstrated was certainly impressive.
these two sets of numbers don’t quite add up. “Catching up” by sleeping longer on weekends is not a valid option as it can disrupt the sleep patterns established during the week and make Monday morning even more difficult.
Tips For You
Here are some tips to help you guide your children towards better sleep patterns: • Try to maintain a regular time for going to sleep, ideally at least 9 hours before needing to wake up. • Naps immediately after school can help attain the sleep needed daily, but try to make them not too long or too close to the regular bed time.
We try to instill and encourage students to improve their own discipline pathways throughout their schooling with us. Some students already have a strong sense of personal discipline from external activities such as sports or musical instrument practice, some have come from schools that helped develop academic discipline, and positive family values are evident in all of our students. The IB Learner Profile attribute of Balanced ties in with personal and academic discipline. IB learners strive to understand the importance of balancing different aspects of [their] lives – intellectual, physical, and emotional – to achieve well-being for [themselves] and others. Our teachers and support staff work with our students to provide age-appropriate guidance aimed at helping them understand how to attain balance in their busy lives both in and out of school. Sleep Patterns One area that students can struggle with balance is their sleep patterns. When children enter adolescence, their natural sleep cycle shifts so their body is ready for sleep a couple of hours later than before they became teenagers. For most children, this means that they won’t be sleepy until 10.00pm - 11.00pm. Research shows that teenagers should be trying to get 9 to 10 hours of sleep per night. Unfortunately with our school starting time, you can see that
• On the weekend, try to not wake up more than a couple of hours later than the regular time during the week. This will help develop and maintain a regular sleep pattern. • Have some quiet time before going to bed. Don’t study or do taxing activities right before trying to get to sleep. • Doing all-night or very late study sessions before an examination does not help as your body and brain is more likely to make simple mistakes due to the lack of sleep. A planned study and revision schedule and a healthy amount of sleep is the best option. In our busy lives it can be difficult to maintain healthy routines, but we hope that by working together we can establish awareness of the importance of being balanced. I hope to see you next Wednesday, 17 September at our Malaysia Day assembly in the Theatre from 2.20pm onwards. All students and staff are encouraged to wear clothes that represent Malaysian culture and encourage all attending the assembly to do the same. Have a relaxing weekend and enjoy the public holiday on Tuesday.
Updates from Diploma Programme (DP) Its been a very busy few weeks since the start of the school year at IGBIS, and the Grade 11 IBDP students are adjusting to the rigours of the demanding IB programme. In order for students to successfully cope with the IBDP, its important that they learn how to use their time productively, and use the various tools provided to them in order to plan accordingly for upcoming assignments and assessments. These tools include the ManageBac information management systems, which provides calendar assessment dates and assignment expectations. Also, the students have access to the IGBIS DP Academic Deadlines document, which informs the students of the major assessment deadlines that begin at the end of Grade 11 and continue throughout Grade 12. The IBDP Core includes CAS (Creativity - Action - Service) and the EE (Extended Essay). These requirements must be completed by all IBDP students in order to attain the IB Diploma. To help the students complete these requirements, an 40 minutes Extended Essay class and 40 minute CAS class have been timetabled into their schedule. These classes will be used to help monitor student progress, and to provide support for the students to assist them to complete these demanding requirements. If there are any questions regarding the IBDP at IGBIS, please email me at matthew.marshall@igbis.edu.my.
Mr. Matthew Marshall, Diploma Programme Coordinator
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Igniting Minds
Impacting Lives
Updates from Student Services Mr. Peter Fowles Head of Student Services Dear Parents and Community, Service and action in IB programs Action (learning by doing and experiencing) is a key component in the kind of teaching and learning common to all IB programmes. Service has always been a shared value of the IB community. IB learners strive to be caring members of the community who demonstrate a personal commitment to service, and act to make a positive difference to the lives of others and to the environment. IGBIS as an IB World School values service with others as an important way to engage students who are the future, in principled action with local and global communities. Through responsible action young people and adults can develop the kinds of attributes described by the Learner Profile that are essential for success in future academic pursuits and life long learning. The IGBIS grade level camps are one way of fostering student inquiry into how they can best serve others and the community. As an outcome of student initiatives contacts are being made with local organizations to create opportunities for interaction with those who would benefit from our support. Initially this will begin with the Grade 9,10 and 11 camps where they will spend a morning working with students that are less able than them. IGBIS students will report to the community through this article, Grade 6, 7 & 8 have been introduced to Action for Service during this week’s student welfare session and have put forward their Action for Service ideas.
Camps for the 2014 academic year will be held on the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th October 2014. Camps are designed to help students develop personally and socially and are an extension of the academic, creative, action and service components of the IB programmes. Camps establish a class identity and provide students with a sense of belonging and well being. All students are expected to attend their grade level camp. Students will come to IGBIS on normal buses on Tuesday the 7th of October and will leave for camp at about 8.00am. Grades 6,7 and 8 will travel to Port Dickson while Grade 9, 10 and 11 will be based in Perak. Students will return from camp on Friday, October 10th returning home on regular 3:10pm buses. Detailed information for camps will be sent to parents in a timely manner before the week of camps.
Updates from Academic and Support Services Mr. Peter Syme Director of Academic and Support Services Car Stickers and Access I have been making observations this week about car stickers being displayed for our guards. Thank you to all those who are using them. After Wednesday next week, all cars without stickers will be stopped at the guard house and the occupants will be asked to sign in manually and provide another means of identification. There are currently 17 families yet to collect their car stickers. By the end of today, the school will have contacted you to come and collect these stickers. Once everyone has these stickers, this will minimise disruptions and any delay in entering the school property.
Updates from Admissions Mrs. Bronwyn Thorburn Admissions Director We have contacted a number of parents in the past week seeking signed copies of the IGBIS’ terms and conditions, and are extremely grateful for the many quick responses to our request. As the terms and conditions involve parents agreeing to a number of important school policies and procedures in relation to your children, we really do need to have a signed copy on file. We still have a number of the documents outstanding and will be calling families next week to assist with the process of submitting them. A reminder that the uniform shop will continue to be open from Monday to Friday, 7:45am to 8:45am and 2:30pm to 3:30pm on the Lower Ground floor (Level 3) until further notice.
Igniting Minds
Impacting Lives
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