Everton International Academy at IGB International School
August 8, 2024
IGBIS Newsletter, Issue 382.
August 23, 2024
From the Elementary Principal
By Simon Millward
During this first 7 day rotation the Elementary students have been delving deeper into what it means to be a Phoenix. What are the characteristics? How do we conduct ourselves? How do we help our new students belong and feel a part of our school community?
Seeing many smiling faces and students helping each other has been wonderful.
This week also saw the return of the Elementary assembly. It was an unusual assembly because this week it had many teachers who were ‘put on the spot’ to participate in the performance.
Our Odyssey News breaking story highlighted some strangers on campus. The situation was unusual because instead of taking items, they brought boxes in and left them in school.
The mystery was explained: these were the new teachers who had joined the PYP in IGBIS.
The students then had the opportunity to engage in a game show hosted by the World Famous game show hosts Chuck Chirpman and Trixie Talon.
The students were presented with a fun fact and they had to guess which of the new teachers the fact matched to.
This captured the students' imaginations and they loved guessing!
The fun didn’t stop there, as the students listened to a story- with an interrupting Phoenix!
With Dr. Brunton and Mr. Simon involved in the ‘Welcome back coffee morning’ for parents the student birthdays were introduced by Ms. Elli.
Finally, the assembly wrapped up with the news that some Phoenix hatchlings had escaped and we needed help finding them. As they are small they can hide in many places. Ms. Ruba had no idea how they escaped or where they were.
We managed to spot one, fortunately, our students are on the lookout and have been bringing them back to Ms. Ruba to place back in the jar.
In my many conversations with students, they were asking me if I had seen any or if I knew where they were, alas I didn’t, although I did spot one in a stairwell, hmm I wonder if that one was found?
Next week we have our Back to School information afternoon on Wednesday 21st August. You all should have received information about the afternoon via Toddle. If not then please contact Ms. Ruba in the Elementary office.
I look forward to seeing you all on Wednesday.
Welcome from The Counseling Team
The Counseling Team is excited about the year ahead. Mr John (ES), Ms Leanne (6-10) and Ms Sarah (11-12 ) work as a team to support the entire IGBIS community to navigate the path that is life. In a single day, some students are experiencing nervousness, reservation and even anxiety about academics, planning for life after graduation, school attendance, friendships, relationships with parents and teachers, family dynamics, family and personal health challenges and in some cases even grief.
As well as supporting community members with challenges we are also here to help build and support a community that reflects our Pillars (Inclusion, Innovation, International Mindedness, well-being and Empowerment) and our RISE: ‘We the Phoenix’ beliefs (Respectful, Inclusive, Supportive, Equitable and Fair) Please continue to read the newsletter each week where we will outline in more detail how we do this and how we can be of assistance to within the community. We will also advertise our parent coffee/chat mornings in the Newsletter. If you are interested in finding out more about how the counselling team works, feel free to follow us on Instagram!
We are just one part of the IGBIS team who help to support your young people. We work with classroom/subject teachers and even more closely with Grade Level Coordinators, Well-being leads and Homeroom teachers to help ensure that all students are safe, supported and happy.
You will see us at the level 2 entry (turnstiles) almost every morning welcoming students; connecting, building relationships and making very specific observations that give us clues as to the overall personal and social well-being of the whole school. Our morning spent at the turnstiles is almost like a ‘temperature check’ of the whole campus. This is also a time when we get to know and connect with parents, so please don’t be a stranger if you are dropping off (or picking up). If you see us come and say hi! We have made some amazing connections AND friendships with our extended IGBIS community based entirely on our interactions at the turnstiles.
It is going to be an amazing year! (keep an eye out for our super t-shirts. These help you know who we are…we are the School Counsellors and we are a TEAM!
- John Schuster (ES) john.schuster@igbis.edu.my
- Leanne Harvey (6-10) leanne.harvey@igbis.edu.my
- Sarah Sousa (11-12) sarah.sousa@igbis.edu.m
