DP NEWSLETTER
November 2019
Dear DP students and parents, As winter approaches, so do deadlines and internal assessments! The next few weeks see major deadlines for many different subjects as well as the English Orals. It is now that students must prioritize and structure their studies to ensure they meet all of their deadlines. After the winter break the Mock Exams will take place in the auditorium over two weeks. Students may have three exams in one day, but do not have to study for more than two exams on the same day. This is similar to the final exams themselves. We have tried to schedule the exams during the school day, so students taking the school bus will be able to arrive on time, however alternative arrangements should be made, in case exams run late for any unforeseen reason. English Oral Assessments IOC’s will be taking place in the next few weeks and I would like to remind all students that if they are absent they must produce a medical certificate, otherwise they will not be awarded a grade. Well-Being Students are now entering the half way point of the Mindfulness Study in the new Wellbeing course. In the opening four sessions, students have been introduced to formal mindfulness skills such as Mindful moment, walking, body scan and seated practices focusing on breathing. Students have also been encouraged to explore their relationship with stress – body sensations, thoughts or feelings they are aware of when stressed. This awareness is the first step in mindfully responding to stressful situations and better equips students to recognise choices they have when the demands in life or the DP are high. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Ms. Mellissa Jaywickrema.
Andrew Tomlinson, DP Coordinator atomlinson@ris.ae Ms Nicola Hewitt, Assistant to the DP Coordinator, DPC-assistant@ris.ae
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HEADS OF GRADE Grade 11 Dear parents, The IB Program is now in full swing, and all students are feeling the squeeze! Adjusting successfully to the rigorous demands of the course takes time and consistent organizational effort; there is no other substitute. Assessment deadlines will continue to arrive thick and fast, highlighting the importance of adhering to a strict study regime, both at school and at home (the advisory teachers and myself can help students formulate these). Wasting precious time and ignoring problems will only compound issues further. To help navigate through these stressful loads, Ms. Mellissa, our DP school counsellor, has been working with our cohort during weekly Wellbeing sessions. Ms. Mellissa’s workshops focus on mindfulness skill development; particularly, mental health and stress management skills. Implementing these useful skills when dealing with increasing work-loads is vital, especially, as we move towards the first MOCK examination in May 2020. The 3-Way Conferences is a fantastic opportunity to talk with the subject staff about your concerns/quires or just to finally put a face to a name. If you have missed out on an appointment time, I would encourage you to pop into the teachers room, and see if they can squeeze you in for a quick chat. From a home perspective, please keep encouraging your child to stick to a weekly workable routine (including sleep and nutrition consistency). Spending hours in-front of the computer screen in their bedroom, is not necessarily productive time spent on school work (consider turning the wi-fi off at a predetermined time). Furthermore, please keep abreast of the upcoming ManageBac assessments, and have a conversation with your child about how they plan to successfully juggle the approaching assessments. I would also urge students to make a start with their Extended Essay research (getting as much work completed this year as possible reducing the burden next year). Like always, please email any of your subject specific teachers, or myself for advice and/or information. We’re here to help! Warm regards, James Jones jjones@ris.ae
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Grade 12 Greetings Grade 12 Parents, As you are already aware, the interim report has been released to check your child’s progress in their subjects. This is a great time for teachers, parents and students to evaluate what to discuss during three-way conferences. I strongly advise parents, with their child, to attend these conferences on 12th and 13th November. Some teachers will simply be able to reaffirm that your child is doing well in their subject, but some will also be able to offer further guidance if your child is not progressing as well as they would have hoped so far. Though we have another round of conferences in March, using this time in November will give students time to put necessary strategies in place to be successful. Though this seems very far away, a reminder that Graduation will be taking place on 30th May 2020 (time to be confirmed). Preparations have already started, and many students have important roles to play to support the event. Grade 12 are really excited about this event and more information will be released in the coming weeks. I want to say a huge congratulations to our student-led senior committee for their efforts with the creepy carnival event that took place on 29thOctober. It was fantastic to see a good turn out and for the students to be smiling and simply having fun. Though the DP is not without its pressures and stress, it is important that opportunities are taken to relieve stress and take a break from worrying about academic pressures. A big thanks also goes out to the teachers who gave up their evening to support the Grade 12s in this endeavor. I look forward to seeing more events planned by the students to encourage joy, laughter, wellbeing and quality time with their classmates. A final reminder that many important deadlines are on the horizon. The Extended Essay is due 7th November. If your child is struggling, they are encouraged to reach out to their supervisors for further guidance. Students are encouraged to use the resources they have here at school like me as their Head of Grade, our University Counsellors, Mr Brian and Ms Catherine, our Social/Emotional Counsellor Ms Mellissa and their advisory/subject teachers. We all want your child to be successful and that is why we are here to help. Christine Armstrong, Head of Grade 12. carmstrong@ris.ae
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UNIVERSITY APPLICATIONS Grade12: Many of the northern hemisphere university application cycles are open or soon to be opened. Students should be looking at submitting their applications to countries such as: United States, United Kingdom, and Canada before the winter break. Western University and UBC indicated that they use rolling admissions, which means they process the applications and grant conditional offers before the application deadline. We already have one student with three offers in the UK and deadline is January 15th, so it appears the UK uses rolling admissions too. Upcoming Night School sessions this month are November 20th Northwest Europe (Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, France) and November 27th Northern Europe (Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark). Please attend your Night School destination, if you have not already attended in the past. As university counsellors, we want to remind you of the importance of preparing for your Mock Exams during the winter break. The Mock Exams will contribute to your grade 12 transcript marks, plus just as important, your preparation for the Mock Exams provides you with the opportunity to implement a study plan/schedule and measure its effectiveness against your Mock results. If your target results are not attained, you can modify your study approach to increase its effectiveness for your Final Exams. You don’t want to drop more than 1 to 2 points in your Final Exams, or you could lose conditional university offers. Grade11: Hopefully, you have all had a great start in DP. It’s the toughest curriculum on the planet, but the most beneficial for preparing you for university. Try to come out to universities visiting on our campus and in the community. It doesn’t matter if it’s a university on your list or not, because you can learn about course structure to get a sense of what appeals to you. It’s best to slowly collect information throughout your DP, because university applications are really very much a process. A process that you and your parents should engage in together. I’ve noticed some of you attending the Night School sessions which is very quick way to get an overall understanding of the university applications in particular destinations. Visiting any university campus is also very valuable to get a sense of size, old versus new, and whether it’s the middle of a large urban setting or more removed from fast pace of city life. Whenever I’m asked the question of what is more important DP or university, I always say DP. Because your performance in DP determines your future pathways into university. So alongside of working hard in your DP, trickle in some university information/experiences to motivate you to focus on the end goal – the dream for yourself! Universities: November 10 – University of Toronto at Raha. Theatre at 1:00 pm (Parents welcome too) November 10 – UK Fair at Le Meridan – Abu Dhabi. At 4:30 – 7:30 pm Brian Marshall – bmarshall@ris.ae
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CORE SUBJECTS Extended Essay Muge Okur, Extended Essay Coordinator mokur@ris.ae
Grade 11 The Extended Essay process has started with the launch presentation on October 20th . It is now time for all Grade 11 diploma students to spend time reading and researching on their topics of interest. The goal is to come up with a good research question, with the support of their supervisor, a question that will lead to sufficient critical thinking within the subject of choice. When students have ideas, they must speak to the teacher of the subject to ask to be their supervisor. When approved, the information should be entered on ManageBac including teacher and subject choice, by November 21st . Supervisors will help students to formulate the research questions to provide the best “map” for the extended essay. This process does and should take time, so the research question is due on January 2019. I encourage all students to consider options, and be prepared to go through many variations of their research questions before they have their final one. If any student struggles to choose a subject, they should come and see me, I will do my best to go through their subjects and guide them in a direction to find the best topic for them. For supporting the students during this stage, there are resources available with links through the students’ ManageBac, Extended Essay tab. One of the best strategies at this stage is to review the subject-specific criteria requirements from the online guide, and review samples. Most of the information and guidance on initial steps can also be found in the Extended Essay Student Booklet, posted on MB. I am excited to start a new cohort of extended essays, please contact me for any questions! Grade 12 We are approaching the final stage of the Extended Essay with the class of 2020! The deadline for final essays is November 7th. The feedback on first drafts is most valuable at this stage. The final submission will be done through ManageBac. A final reminder to all students to make sure they follow the format requirements correctly in their final product. We are almost there!
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CAS Carlos Noguera, CAS Coordinator cnoguera@ris.ae
G12 students; Its time to get going with the reflection sand evidence for all the wonderful initiatives listed in your portfolios! As soon as these are completed, we can begin closing them out. April 30Th CAS portfolios will be locked! This is the time to close out the experiences/projects listed in your portfolios before the mock exams!
G11 CAS Have you recorded your interview yet? Just over half of the cohort managed to record the first CAS interview. The purpose of this interview is to ensure that students have a clear understanding about the CAS program and what is expected. This is recorded as a voice note and uploaded to ManageBac. Students that have not started their CAS portfolios or recorded their interviews have received a personal message from me via ManageBac. I’m happy to report that many students have started uploading reflections and evidence to their portfolios. Some of the highlights include beach clean-ups, Triathlon practice, sports tournaments, speeches and art projects. If you would like to be featured in next month’s newsletter, ask Mr. Carlos to have a look at your portfolio
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