IGBIS Newsletter | Issue 180

Message from the Head of School

Dear IGBIS Parents and Community Members,

I do hope that you all had an opportunity to spend time with your families during the Chinese New Year festive season.

Two afternoons of parent-teacher conferences took place this week, often with students attending along with their parents. Our teachers remarked on the number of parents that attended the conferences and the quality of the conversations that took place. If parents wish to follow up during the school year, they may do so by contacting the appropriate teachers and making appointments.

IGBIS has featured in this IB Blog about edtech innovations and how they can aid and extend learning:

http://blogs.ibo.org/blog/2019/01/23/how-technology-is-transforming-education/

While the article mentions how our school is pioneering the use of AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality) experiences, it also provides examples of our school using technology to assist students’ learning through our inclusion programme. Our Technology Integration specialist and ICT Coordinator Geoff Derry, others in the tech team, Student Support Services and our teachers, are to be commended for the cutting edge practices that are being used to extend our students’ learning at IGBIS.

Mrs Anne Fowles | Head of School

News from Secondary School

Dear parents & guardians,

It was a very busy week in Secondary with the ISA testing and the Parent-Student-Teacher Conferences. I hope the conversations from the conferences were fruitful, and students have a clear understanding of their progress thus far and the next steps they must take to improve further. As we head into a stretch of uninterrupted time over these next six weeks before the April break, it is very important that students have a clear road map for their success and put forth the effort necessary to reach their destination.

I spoke with a few different students about their Innovation projects and enjoyed learning about what they have accomplished as a result of this self-directed time. Seeing passions students have that we are not aware of, and how they cultivated these interests was the most exciting part of this new innovation we have undertaken in the secondary school. Hopefully parents were able to see their child’s project and enjoy a similar experience. I am looking forward to the next round of innovation, which will have a focus on service, looking through the frame of the United Nations Global Goals for Sustainable Development.

Looking forward, there are a variety of sporting fixtures on the calendar and also on the horizon are the Grade 12 Mock Exams, as our senior students enter into the final phase of their studies. Please check the parent calendar so that you are aware of all the upcoming events.

Michael Arcidiacono | Secondary School Principal

News from Elementary School

It was wonderful to speak with so many parents over the last few days with regards to your children’s progress and also the challenges that they are facing. We always stress that developing this home/school relationship is very important as together we can build a bright future for all of our students.

Our Grade 3 to 5 students were also involved with the ISA assessments this week. These enable the school to have one more piece of data about how students are progressing and the results of these can be used in a variety of ways. On an individual basis, as a comparison across ‘like’ schools and by us as we look at our programme. As I moved around it was great to see the students working through the various mathematical problems using the myriad of strategies that they have been taught over time.

There has been a lot of final preparations taking place this week for our Grade 4 and Grade 5 camps. They will head out next week and embark on their experiential learning: the Grade 4 students on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and the Grade 5 students on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. We hope they have a great time working together in teams, bonding and being taken out of their comfort zone!

Dates for your diaries:

• Monday 18th – Wednesday 20th February: Grade 4 Camp
• Wednesday 20th – Friday 22nd February: Grade 5 Camp
• Thursday 7th, Friday 8th, Monday 11th March: Student photos
• Wednesday 13th March: KLISS Primary Athletics (Track and Field) @IGBIS
• Wednesday 27th March: ES Production

Simon Millward | Elementary School Principal

Elementary Art News

“ Colouring outside the lines is a fine art” – Kim Nance

As Chinese New Year draws to a close and we have had time to reflect on our first few units of the year, we can now let you know of the exciting things happening moving forward.

Early Years students are enjoying playing with moving or ‘kinetic’ art – there are so many possibilities from spinners, body art, mobiles and wind powered sculptures, even Hot wheels cars, marbles and water polo balls can make exciting art. The students thoroughly enjoyed working with the Grade 8 students on a collaborative art session prior to the break.

Grade 1 students are finding out about artefacts associated with celebrations, and coupled with exploring more about symmetry, are designing their own celebration objects to be made from clay. Grade 2 students are studying micro beasts and bacteria. The colours, forms, shapes and patterns of the microscopic world has inspired many an artist to create and the students are ‘going big’ in clay to produce a Superbug. Grade 3 students are focusing on Nature and how it inspires us to create. It’s a huge inquiry and they will be exploring textiles, batik and wax resists and of course, pattern. Grade 4 students are completing a complex and detailed ‘Hide and Seek’ unit, so they will be looking forward to playing with scale, proportion and FOOD in the next unit, ‘miniature meals’. So keep your eyes peeled for mini pretzels to maxi Tim Tams!

Grade 5 students have finished their portraiture unit and their final pieces are on display in the art corridor. We are beginning a unit on Sequential Art in which we will look at how images in sequence can be used to tell stories or create new meaning. Initially the students will explore storytelling and character design with a piece of fiction. Once these initial skills have been honed we will turn our attention to the students’ PYP Exhibition theme and develop a piece of sequential art to support their personal PYP Exhibition project.

Ms. Elli and Mr. Pendlebury | Elementary Art Teachers

College Counselling News

IGBIS Events

PSAT 10

Tuesday, February 19, 3pm – 6pm in Room 7-21/23

The PSAT/NMSQT is tightly aligned with the redesigned SAT and provides educators and students with the chance to check in on student progress. The exams will support all students with a clear focus on the skills and knowledge that matter most for college and career success. Scores from the PSAT/NMSQT are used by several organisations to identify candidates for their awards or recognition programmes if they plan to complete higher education in the USA. Students who take the SAT or the PSAT/NMSQT can opt in to Student Search Services, making their names and information available to scholarship programmes as well as colleges.

It will cost each student RM90 to sit the test. Specific details regarding timing are being considered and will be shared soon.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me at bill.mitchell@igbis.edu.my

Grade 11 Parent Information Session: University Admissions

• Thursday, March 7, 10am – 12pm in the PVO Room

An Information Session with the College Counsellor to discuss the process and procedures as they relate to the major countries that our IGBIS students apply to. We tentatively have agreement from EducationUSA, British Council and AusTrade to be available to answer questions. If you haven’t already, please use this link to RSVP to let me know if you can attend.

Upcoming University visits

EduCanada ASEAN School Visit Tour Winter 2019

• Wednesday, February 20, 9.15am – 10.00am in the 6th Floor Learning Lounge and DP Lounge

20 Universities from Canada and representatives from the Canadian High Commission will be present to allow you to explore all that Canada has to offer, and answer questions about student visas and the automatic three year work visa after study is completed.

Click here for a link to university information.

University of Arizona, Wells College, Columbia College (Chicago) USA

• Monday, February 25, 12.50pm – 1.30pm in the 6th Floor Learning Lounge

Art & Design Roadshow

• Wednesday, February 27, 9.30am – 10.30am in the 6th Floor Learning Lounge

A good mix of universities that will benefit the students’ choice of application strongly in the areas of Animation, Architecture, Fashion, Film, Fine Art, Graphic Design, Interior Design, Media and Journalism, Music, Photography, and Performing Arts.

Parents and students are strongly encouraged to attend.

IGBIS Events

IGBIS Career Exploration Morning

CANCELLED FOR THIS YEAR

For those that have continued interest in mentoring/guiding/informing students about your area of expertise, please let me know. bill.mitchell@igbis.edu.my

Follow the secondary calendar or see the College Counselling Events calendar for future visits and events.  

Kuala Lumpur Events

Greetings from RCSI & UCD Malaysia Campus (RUMC).

We are pleased to inform you that we are organising Medical Careers Day in Kuala Lumpur on 23 February 2019. It is an event to help students and parents better understand careers in Medicine. We would like to invite students who are interested or exploring the field of medicine to join us in this event. The details are as follows:

• Date: Saturday, 23 February 2019
• Time: 12.00pm – 5.00pm
• Venue: Novotel KLCC
• Address: 2, Jalan Kia Peng, Kuala Lumpur, 50450 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur
• Admission fee: RM50.00

Please click on this link to register and for more information: http://www.rcsiucd.edu.my/event/medical-careers-day-kuala-lumpur-2019/

The event will consist of talks and interactive workshops that will bring insight into the field of Medicine. The following are the highlights of the event:

• Selecting the medical school for you
• Basic clinical skills workshops
• Medical student experience sharing
• Studying medicine in Dublin and Penang
• Career pathways discussion

Preparation Programme for the SAT

Mont Kiara International School (MKIS) from 1st to 5th April, 2019

MKIS is graciously hosting Testtakers’ SAT preparation programme over the April break. This programme will cover all aspects of the SAT for students sitting the May 2019 test. Students from other schools are welcome to attend this programme.

Testtakers was selected based upon their ability to provide a quality programme at a special price. Testtakers Managing Director Jeremy Craig is a Columbia University graduate who has worked with thousands of international school students and has been teaching SAT preparation for nearly 25 years. The programme includes 22 hours of classroom time, three computer-scored diagnostic tests, our Study Buddy flashcard box, and the College Board’s Official SAT Study Guide. The fee is S$600, which covers all course materials and instruction. Testtakers runs ongoing programmes with many schools in the region including the Stamford American International School, Garden International School, Anglo-Chinese (Independent), UWCSEA, Tanglin Trust School, Overseas Family School, and the Jerudong International School (Brunei).

The focus of the programme is to learn and apply new innovative test taking techniques rather than tedious practice and rote memorisation.

If you would like to register for this SAT prep course, please click the link below to complete the online registration. Payment can be by credit card via PayPal or wire transfer. Note: there are no extra charges for payment via PayPal and you do not need an account. If you have any questions about the programme, please email Testtakers at: info@testtakers-sg.com.

http://www.testtakers-sg.com/mkis-satprep

University Advising

EducationUSA advisers provide comprehensive U.S. university advising every Tuesday and Thursday. Register Here

Bill Mitchell | Grades 9-12 School Counsellor

How technology is transforming education

We are proud of the technological capabilities within our school and how our students are exposed to different forms of technology on a daily basis, and it seems the rest of the world is looking to us as leaders in this form of education. Our technology integration specialist, Mr. Geoff Derry, was recently interviewed for an article by the International Baccalaureate Organisation about how we at IGBIS use technology in our classroom. It’s a great read, and a big shout out to the world about the innovative things we are doing here at IGBIS. If you would like to read the article, please click on this link: http://blogs.ibo.org/blog/2019/01/23/how-technology-is-transforming-education/.

Innovation

Months of research and planning during innovation time culminated in an exhibition of MYP students’ innovation projects. Everything from poetry to food was on display during the week and many staff members were blown away with the quality of work and the dedication so many of the students showed. It was fantastic to discover the passions and talents that so many of our students possess. We’re looking forward to discovering what you can create in the next exhibition.

Preparations for International Day

International Day is one month away! All members of the IGBIS community will receive the attached invitation to International Day next week. If you have kept in contact with former students or staff members, please feel free to forward it to them as well. We would love to have all of our IGBIS family celebrate our 5th year anniversary with us.

Several community members met with me on Friday, 15 February for a briefing on what to expect and prepare for International Day. At present, we are expecting to have the following booths represented during the event:

If you could not attend the meeting and would like to find out more about the preparations, please do not hesitate to contact me at julie.arcidiacono@igbis.edu.my.

Julie Arcidiacono | Community and Events Coordinator