IGB International School’s Weekly Newsletter - Issue 24, Week 3, January 2015
The Weekly Newsletter is our online school-wide form of communication to the Parent and Student community. It is sent electronically every week to the e-mail contact you have provided to Admissions. You can either access it through the link sent to your e-mail or through the website at www.igbis.edu.my. Please read the newsletter every week! News, events, school developments and highlights are shared and parents and students should make sure they read this every week.
Coffee Morning for Kindergarten and Grade 1 parents.
Inside this week’s Newsletter
Upcoming Events January
Message from Head of School Mrs. Anne Fowles, Head of School
12th January – 20th March 2015 After School Activities (2nd Session)
News from Elementary School Mrs. Claire McLeod, Elementary School Principal
27th January 2015 Coffee Morning for Grade 2 & 3 Parents 8.00am, Lobby Cafe
News from Secondary School Mr. Lennox Meldrum, Secondary School Principal
29th January 2015 Coffee Morning for Grade 4 & 5 Parents 8.00am, Lobby Cafe
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
30th January 2015 Coffee Morning for Early Years 1 & 2 Parents 8.15am, Lobby Cafe February 2nd February 2015 First day of school for Semester 2 3rd February 2015 Public Holiday – Thaipusam 4th February 2015 Parent Coffee Morning, 8.00am, Lobby Cafe
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11th February 2015 Page 1 Impacting Lives Chinese New Year Assembly, 2.00pm, Theatre Semester One Reports
Message from Head of School Mrs. Anne Fowles Head of School Dear IGBIS Parents and Community Members, A short message from me this week as I am currently in London attending a teacher recruitment fair with Mr Meldrum. As with last year, we are conducting a world-wide search for the very best IB teachers to join those already at IGBIS. Prior to the fair, I attended an accreditation meeting of the Council of International Schools and visited two IB schools in Essex and Kent. Both of the schools I visited offer the IB Career-related Programme as an alternative to either the IB Diploma Programme or A Levels. IGBIS is investigating the possibility of offering the IB Career-related Programme in the future.
News from Elementary School Mrs. Claire McLeod Elementary School Principal Dear Parents, The use of the security bracelets to enter and leave the school has been relatively smooth, with a few students forgetting their bracelets from time to time. This has been easily addressed by the security guards at the turnstiles at the car park. However, with the introduction of the cashless payment system for the Cafeteria, students are required to have their bracelet with them every day, particularly if they order meals from the Cafeteria. Students in Early Years and Kindergarten have their meals delivered directly to their classrooms. The cafeteria assistant takes the students’ bracelets and swipes them each day to record that a meal was provided. In Grades 1 to 5, students take their bracelets and individually swipe their cards to record their meals. Students who have their bracelet attached to a
lanyard have their bracelets stored in the classroom and they are handed to them when required. When a student forgets their bracelet, the teacher alerts the IT staff who provide the student with a temporary card to be used to record their meal for the day. These temporary cards are then returned at the end of the day. With this system it is imperative that students bring along their cards each day. Whilst we encourage our students to take responsibility for their own belongings, it would be helpful if parents reminded their children and checked regularly that they have them stored safely at home. If a bracelet is lost the replacement price is RM50.00. Until next week.
Elementary School Music Although we’ve only been back for 3 weeks after our December break, the elementary music students have been extremely busy already. All Elementary classes have started to practice the songs for our musical that we will present next semester. Our actors have received their scripts and are auditioning this week and next week. Stay tuned to find out who is going to play which role! Grade 5 created their own classroom version of the song ‘I like to move it, move it’. They created a grid that shows when the different patterns are played and how many times they have to be repeated. The Grade 5 students presented their learning in music to the audience during their music assembly last Friday. Check out this video of their performance: http://bit.ly/moveitG5 A big thank you goes to Miss Johanson for helping to organize, rehearse and guide the students’ dialogues, and to Mr. Harvey for making this video! While the Grade 4s had explored Garage Band on the iMac before the December holiday, they have now sampled their own chosen Apple loops into their jingle. Next step will be recording their voices with their slogan and adding it to the music.
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The Grade 3 students have shown a great interest in singing these last couple of weeks. Students were particularly found of ‘Rolling in the Deep’ by Adele. We have some great singer/dancers in G3! Grade 2 students are inquiring into the instruments of the orchestra. Our central idea is ‘Instruments are put in families by the way they are produced and played’. After a bit of research, students discovered that there are 4 instrument families. Kindergarten and Early Years 2 have been exploring the xylophones. While Kindergarten focussed on all the different sounds we can make on the xylophones following graphic notation, Early Years 2 have been practising to play an accompaniment of several songs following the correct beat. Mrs. Hadewych Dujardin, Elementary School Music Teacher
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Elementary Visual Arts ‘Becoming Light Centred and Print Orientated.’ The Early Years Two Unit of Inquiry is all about Light. The Central Idea of the unit states that: Understanding the way light works allows us to use it in different ways. Art is linking to this unit by a series of activities that can explore and expand their understanding of light as they work and use different art materials.
We began with a drawing activity to illustrate their prior knowledge. Three questions were posed. They could draw different kinds of light, how we use light or what light can do. Next, in search of how light can be reflected off a surface, we reviewed the story about The Rainbow Fish who learned to share his most precious possession, his shiny scales. The students then designed their own fish from a model, drew scales using metallic oil pastels, then added iridescent paint to portray the shiny reflective scales. Lots of drawing and painting skills were employed to gain a great result! In Grade 4, Art linked to their Unit of Inquiry about Beliefs and Values, the Central Idea being People’s beliefs influence their actions.
The students took time to research the Terracotta Warriors and why they were made. Their summative assessment was to use the process of printmaking and to reflect on whether their print was successful or not and why. Along the way, there were many formative assessment tasks built into the Art unit, including ways of using the pencil to create different shading effects, making an object look 3D, practising 4 different methods of shading and drawing body proportions from a mannequin. The students are proud of their finished pieces! Ms. Nan Parker, Elementary Art Teacher
Flood Relief The IGB Group is organizing contributions to support the flood relief effort in Malaysia. Collection points have been set up at offices of the Secondary School Principal and Elementary School Principal. Items such as tinned or dried food, clothing and basic necessities would be very welcome. Please encourage students to participate. Let’s see if we can create a mountain of support! Please contact me in regard to activities or student concerns. Mr. Peter Fowles, Head of Student Services
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News from Secondary School Mr. Lennox Meldrum Secondary School Principal As you might be aware, we were recently authorised as a candidate school to offer the IB Middle Years Programme and Primary Years Programme. This takes effect from March 1 when the International Baccalaureate provides us with a consultant in each programme to assist us through the process. For many schools, the provision of a consultant is a valuable asset as this person is an experienced IB educator who can offer advice and guidance on everything from curriculum planning and IB teaching philosophy through to building requirements and integration of service learning through classroom activities or school events. Schools that choose to become MYP or PYP schools are often transitioning from other programmes such as local curriculum or national specific courses such as IGCSE, and it is not uncommon for a candidate school to have very few or sometimes no trained IB educators teaching in their faculty at the start of their candidacy. In schools where this is combined with an administration and/or board that are also new to offering IB programmes, the candidate phase can take a number of years while the consultant ensures that the school is making the correct adjustments and providing appropriate training so they can move to the next stage of authorisation. This next step involves a team of trained IB educators visiting the school over a number of days and checking that they approve that the school can be recognised as an IB World School. This can sometimes take some time as well if the visiting team find matters to be addressed. At IGBIS, we always had the vision of offering PYP, MYP and DP and our first cohort of staff were hired with this intention in mind. They have come from international teaching backgrounds
with most of them having taught in multiple IB World Schools. Even with this experience, we have still been committed to providing IB professional development and many of the teachers have attended workshops over the past few months that are designed to improve their knowledge and skills in delivering their courses. The consultant that the IB provides will still be a valuable asset to us as the IB is continually improving its standards and practices and the consultant can assist us in measuring ourselves against these outcomes. We are also fortunate to have staff within IGBIS that are also authorised IB consultants, including Mrs. Fowles, me, and Mr. Clark - quite a powerful team for our MYP teachers! Part of the process in becoming an authorised school is inclusion of our parent community in the feedback process regarding our policies, procedures, and curriculum development. We look forward to working with as many of you as are interested over the next 12 months in helping us develop into an even better IB school. Mrs. Fowles and I are currently in London at a hiring fair and are meeting some exceptional IB educators. We look forward to introducing you to our new teaching staff for the 2015-16 school year in the coming months. Have a wonderful weekend.
Performing Arts IGBIS Instrumental Music Ensemble As part of the IGB Activities program, students have joined the IGB Instrumental Music Ensemble. This Tuesday afternoon activity has grown in numbers and types of instruments this session and it is exciting to see and hear so many enthusiastic young musicians joining together. They are learning a repertoire that includes rock, jazz and classical pieces. The members of the group play in small ensembles as well as together as a large ensemble.
Semester 1 Recitals Our piano tutor, Ms. Wong Piu Sim and violin tutor, Ms. Kein Wooi Chen presented short recitals this week. It is so encouraging to see the progress of all the students under their care. I was extremely impressed with their work and the performances of the students considering that they had only had 9 lessons in Semester 1.
IGBIS Instrumental Music Academy All students who have registered for the Instrumental Music Academy program for Semester 2 should now have received emails with the invoice as well as a draft schedule. It is exciting that more students have chosen to join the program. In Semester 2, we will welcome Ms. Irma Lailatul to our Instrumental Academy program. She will be teaching voice. With a splendid voice of her own, we are indeed lucky to have such quality teachers joining our program. She will be giving a short recital next Friday 30th January in the IGBIS Theatre at 1.15pm. Students, parents and staff are welcome to attend.
Mr. Jon Suffolk, Performing Arts Teacher
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News from the DP Coordinator The Grade 11 students completed their Semester One Exams this week, and can now focus on upcoming assignments and the second semester. Their teachers will going over the exam results with them in order to help them identify areas of weakness and to help them improve their exam preparation and study strategies for the Grade 11 Final Exams, which take place at the end of Semester Two. The Semester One Exams are worth 25% of the Semester One grade, and the Semester Two Exams will be worth 50% of the Semester Two grade. The reason for heavily-weighted exams is to prepare the students for the IBDP Exams in May 2016, which are worth 70 - 80% of their final grade. The Extended Essay (EE) is an independent, student-directed research assignment, finishing with a maximum 4000 word essay.
IBDP students must complete the EE as part of the programme requirements, and should follow the IGBIS EE deadlines, which have a final completion date of 22nd to 26th February, 2016. The Grade 11 students attend a 40 minute EE class once a week to help them focus on this important assignment. During the first half of Semester One, the students looked at the various EE topics and example essays in order to help them decide which topic they wanted to do their EE in. They formally started the EE in November, and have already passed two IGBIS EE deadlines. There will be an EE Supervisor comment on the upcoming Semester One Reports which details student progress in the EE. 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
Approaches to Learning We were delighted to recently receive news from the IB Asia Pacific Regional Office that, as of 1 March 2015, IGBIS has been officially accepted as a candidate school for the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) and the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP). We look forward to working closely with the IB over the coming months as we continue through the authorisation process. As we approach the end of the first semester, the midpoint of our first academic year at IGBIS, Secondary School students and teachers are reflecting on the journey so far and are setting goals for the second semester. Students and teachers are reflecting on student academic progress and achievement over the past few months. Their thoughts and reflections are being documented and collated in the Semester 1 Achievement Reports which will be published to parents and students on ManageBac on Wednesday 11 February. A recurrent observation from many of our students is that the ways in which IGBIS teachers teach, and the ways in which our students learn, are often very different from their experiences in previous schools. “Approaches to Teaching” and “Approaches to Learning” are clearly identified at the heart of the IB programmes and are two
of the features that distinguish an IB education from other types of education. Approaches to Learning (ATL) skills are relevant across all areas of the school curriculum and help students to “learn how to learn”. ATL skills have been specifically identified in IB programmes, can be taught and learnt and can be practiced, developed and improved over time to help students become independent learners. The IB identifies five main skills categories that are relevant to all learners: Communication Skills, Social Skills, Self-Management Skills, Research Skills and Thinking Skills. These skills are introduced and developed in the Primary Years Programme (PYP), expanded in the Middle Years Programme (MYP) and refined in the Diploma Programme (DP) and Careers-related Programme (CP). In the MYP, the five skill developmentally appropriate Collaboration, Organisation, Information Literacy, Media Thinking and Transfer Skills.
categories are subdivided into ten ATL skills clusters: Communication, Affective Skills, Reflective Skills, Literacy, Critical Thinking, Creative
IB ATL Skills Categories
MYP ATL Skills Clusters
Communication Skills
Communication
How do I read, write and exchange thoughts and ideas in English and in other language(s)?
Social Skills
Collaboration
How do I collaborate and work effectively with others?
Self-Management Skills
Organisation
How do I manage my time and tasks effectively?
Affective Skills
How do I manage my own state of mind - focus, perseverance, emotions, stress, motivation, resilience?
Reflective Skills
How do I reflect on my strategies for effective learning, my Learner Profile attributes and my Approaches to Learning (ATL) skills?
Information literacy
How do I find, interpret, judge, cite and create information?
Media Literacy
How do I interact with media (including digital, social media and networks) to use and create ideas and information?
Critical Thinking
How do I analyse and evaluate issues and ideas?
Creative Thinking
How do I generate new ideas and consider new perspectives?
Transfer Skills
How do I use the skills and knowledge I have learnt in one subject in different contexts?
Research Skills
Thinking Skills
Description
Students use their ATL skills to learn, to prepare for assessments and to demonstrate understanding. ATL skills provide a common language that students, teachers and parents can use to reflect on the process of learning. Mr. Phil Clark, Middle Years Curriculum Coordinator
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Updates from Student Services Mr. Peter Fowles Head of Student Services Dear Parents, Students and the IGBIS School Community, We welcome Sunarize sports company to IGBIS as our outside provider of activities for students. Both Sunarize and the school welcome any feedback that you have regarding their services and the Activities programme as a whole. We are already discussing Session Three which will commence after 20th March, 2015. We thank the Finance Department for their support in taking fees. For those taking Karate, there is a reminder that the uniform and association fee is to be paid directly to the instructor. Below are the confirmed activities and times for Session Two. With the growth of IGBIS, we are better able to offer a wider range of activities that are more age specific. Activities Session 2: 12th January to 20th March 2015
Monday Gymnastics (User pays) Kindergarten to Grade 9 Open to boys and girls, for beginners and advanced students, try an olympic sport or enjoy developing balance and agility. Train with a Malaysian National gymnast. Cost: Mondays only RM350 for 10 sessions. Time: 3.05pm to 4.05pm Hip Hop Creative Dance Grade 8 to 11 ( 5 sessions) Time: 3.05pm to 4.05pm
Secondary Instrumental Group Grades 6 to 11 Improve child’s instrumental skills in groups. Time: 3.05pm to 4.05pm Ultimate Frisbee Grades 7 to 11 Practice throwing and cutting skills and play games. Time: 3.05pm to 4.05pm Ceramics Grades 6 to 11 Hand building with some opportunity to work on the wheel. Time: 3.05pm to 4.05pm
Basketball Skills Grades 9 to 11 Basketball (Outside supervisor) Time: 3.05pm to 4.05pm Swimming (User pays) Kindergarten to Grade 11 Train with Mr. Daniel Bego (Olympian) and his team for stroke & stamina development, preparing you for for the next level. Cost: Mondays RM420 for 10 sessions, Wednesdays RM420 for 10 sessions Time: 3.05pm to 4.05pm Athletics (User pays) Kindergarten to Grade 11 Open to all children who enjoy the skills of running, jumping and throwing! Experience great coaching from two Malaysian Olympic athletes. Cost: Mondays RM300 for 10 sessions. Thursdays RM300 for 10 sessions 3.05pm to 4.05pm Soccer (User pays) Grades 3 to10 Sunarize Sports Company. AFC ‘A’ class coaching. Cost: RM380 for 10 sessions 3.05pm to 4.05pm
Football/Soccer Grades 6 to 11 A continuation of session 1’s football activity. Preparation, in the view, to play against other schools in KL. Mainly games play with some skill drills. Time: 3.05pm to 4.05pm IGBIS Instrumental Music Ensemble Grades 6 to 11 This activity provides an opportunity for students to play music together in a large ensemble or smaller groups. New members are most welcome. Time: 3.05pm to 4.05pm Homework Help Grades 6 to 11 Drop-in to the Secondary Library if you have homework to complete - work alone or with a group of friends. Time: 3.05 to 4.05pm
Tuesday
Maker Club (including Robotics) Grades 4 to 11 Lets get together each week to make stuff. We will be playing with lots of tools (both computer and non computer) for you to make things. Let your imagination run wild and get making. Time: 3.05pm to 4.05pm
Tennis (Elementary) Grades 1 to 5 Come and learn the basics of tennis in a fun and friendly environment. Time: 3.05pm to 4.05pm
Badminton Grades 6 to 11 It is for MYP and DP students to practice the badminton skills. Time: 3.05pm to 4.05pm
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Swim squad Grades 3 to 11 Must be a competent swimmer apply to the coach. Tuesdays and Thursdays Time: 3.05pm to 4.05pm Adventure & Camping (Duke of Edinburgh Award Club) Grades 9 to 11 An internationally recognized leadership award. CAS hours can be cross credited or earned. Camping and adventure planning for an excursion in May 2015. Time: 12.50pm to 1.30pm Global Issues Network Grades 6 to 11 Discussions and action plans on global issues. Time: 12:55pm to 1:35pm
Wednesday Swimming (User pays) Grade: K to 11 Train with Mr Daniel Bego (Olympian) and his team for stroke & stamina development, preparing you for for the next level . Cost: Mondays RM420 for 10 sessions. Wednesdays RM420 for 10 sessions. Time: 3.05pm to 4.05pm Basketball (Middle school) Grades 6 to 8 Basketball drills and fundamentals withs some scrimmage games. Time: 3.05pm to 4.05pm
Thursday Karate (User pays) Kindergarten to Grade 11 Full body exercise with an emphasis on correct karate self defence techniques and discipline, keep physically and mentally healthy a popular martial art for self-defence but also to inculcate discipline, respect, confidence, perseverance and self-esteem. Costs: Mondays RM380 for 10 sessions. Thursdays RM380 for 10 sessions. Time: 3.05pm to 4.05pm Girls Volleyball Grades 6 to 11 This is a volleyball club. We practice the skills of volleyball and have a lot of fun doing drills and playing games. Time: 3.05pm to 4.05pm Badminton (Elementary) Grades 2 to 5 Have fun playing Badminton. Time: 3.05pm to 4.05pm Model United Nations (MUN) Grades 6 to 11 Model United Nations is an activity that simulates the processes of the United Nations. Students explore important local and global issues and present solutions from the perspective of an assigned country. Students have the chance to attend MUN conferences at IGBIS or at other International schools in KL. Time: 1.10pm to 1.35pm
Girls Basketball Grades 8 to 11 Practice skills, learn strategies, and play some friendly games with other schools. Time: 3.05pm to 4.05pm
Swimming for beginners (Elementary) Grades 1 to 5 Have fun learning to swim. Time: 3.05pm to 4.05pm
Boys Basketball Grades 9 to 11 A focus on basic basketball skills with game time and friendly matches against other schools. Time: 3.05pm to 4.05pm
Chess Club Grades: 6 to 11 For players and those who wish to learn. Time: 12.50pm to 1.30pm
Theatre Productions Grades 6 to 11 Preparing a production to be performed. Time: 3.05pm to 4.05pm Musical (Elementary School) Grades 2 to 5 Be part of an Elementary musical production. Time: 3.05pm to 4.05pm
Swim Squad Grades 3 to 11 Must be a competent swimmer apply to the coach. Time: 3.05pm to 4.05pm
Friday No Activities
Creative Writing Grades 6 to 11 Students will take part in a series of mini-workshops on writing short fiction. Time: 3.05pm to 4.05pm Story Cartooning (Elementary) Grades 1 to 5 Students have a chance to explore their interest to create their cartoon stories through individual creativity. This class will teach them the fundamentals and basic elements of the subject. Time: 3.05 to 4.05pm Touch Rugby Grades 6 to 11 Non contact rugby for girls and boys. Time: 3.05pm to 4.05pm
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Updates from Academic and Support Services Mr. Peter Syme Director of Academic and Support Services Bussing Currently the Valencia school-operated van is full, which is good news. The school vans operated by Aerolines presently have a total of 22 students using the services on existing routes, with the possibility of expansion at the start of second semester on 2nd February, 2015. A separate service for Bangsar/Bukit Damansara is being planned for and as soon as we get viable numbers, this could possibly be introduced. If there are any interested families who are still waiting for this expansion of service, please let me know. Access Cards and Lunch Orders The access cards and bracelets were activated last Monday. Whilst they have been in use for the turnstiles since the beginning of January, I have noticed many forgetful students who enter via the gate next to the turnstiles. Now however, with the electronic lunch payment, it could become a serious issue if students keep forgetting to bring their cards or bracelets. If students do not have their cards or bracelets, then they cannot purchase food from the cafeteria.We do ask that the students become more responsible for their own cards and bracelets, remember to bring them at all times and have them on their person should they be purchasing their lunch. As different staff are on duty each day, it is not possible to track who in the school has paid and not paid and this is why it becomes the student’s responsibility. IT support has been available at the cafeteria each day and we do appreciate their assistance. They have also been identifying all the teething problems with the new system and working with the provider to iron these out. Another meeting took place this week with the
bank and we are working towards the online system of payment so you as parents will be able to do this from home. Lunch Payment Process There are two ways to make payment for lunch. 1.
There is a cash kiosk located in the secondary cafeteria. The student card or bracelet is needed to make the payment and cash is placed inside the machine. Instructions are on the screen and the screen will prompt you to follow the steps. Secondary students can easily do this themselves and although the younger students will need assistance.
2.
Payment can also be made at the Finance Counter to a member of the Finance team only. They have a laptop and a card reader to do a manual top up from the counter. They can accept cash or cheque only. Cheques need to be made payable to: Detik Harapan Sdn Bhd
A reminder that student must retain the receipt generated by the Kiosk or at the Finance Payment Counter.
Updates from Finance Department Semester Two will commence on 2nd February 2015 and a copy of invoice for returning students has been emailed out in November 2014. Please take note a late payment surcharge of 5% on all outstanding fees will be imposed for fees not paid by the stipulated payment due date; for example, if a Semester Fee of RM10,000 is not received by IGBIS on the due date stated in the invoice, RM500 will be charged as a late payment charge. Ms. Teresa Choong, Finance Manager
Updates from Admissions Mrs. Bronwyn Thorburn Admissions Director The Elementary School Coffee Mornings have started, and this Friday morning, a group of enthusiastic Grade 1 and Kindergarten parents met and discussed social events, International Day, and parent sports events (establishing a Saturday morning football/soccer group). They have shared details and we have the beginnings of Class Representatives established for these grade levels. Thank you to those who attended! Next week, we will have Elementary School Coffee Mornings for the following grades at the Lobby Cafe, next to the Uniform Shop: • Tuesday, 27th January, 8.00am - for Grade 2 and Grade 3 parents
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Thursday, 29th January, 8.00am - for Grade 4 and Grade 5 parents Friday, 30th January, 8:15am - for Early Years 1 and Early Years 2 parents
Please come along to meet each other and share ideas and contact details! Uniform Shop The black IGBIS baseball caps are now available for RM20.00 at the Uniform Shop. The Uniform Shop is open every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon from 3.00pm to 4.00pm. Please come and purchase your cap for use during outdoor PE lessons and break/ recess times on the sports field.
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