IGBIS Newsletter | Issue 202

Message from the Head of School

Dear IGBIS Parents and Community Members

We enjoyed the Malaysia Day assemblies today. Thank you to all of our students who performed for us. Once again I learnt more about Malaysia’s culture and history. It was our 6th Malaysia Day assembly, but the first time that we were unable to fit our whole school into the theatre at one time. 

Earlier this week I wrote to our community about the difficulties we have faced with the air quality. I would like to thank our staff and students who have all continued to work and play effectively inside despite the conditions outside. We are blessed to have such a large area of air-conditioned indoor space. 

I will share this message again here in case you didn’t receive the email:

IGBIS has a Haze Policy to inform and maintain good health practices for the students and staff in times of haze and pollution in and around Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley.

Reference and recommendations in formulating this policy come from the US EPA Air Quality Index (AQI), the Malaysian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment who issue the Air Pollutant Index (API) for Malaysia, and the Department of Occupational Safety and Health Malaysia.

The Malaysian Air PoIlutant Index (API), is the basis for the measurement of Pollution Levels, Air Quality Rank, Health Implications and Response in Malaysia. IGBIS also references AQI, the measurement of fine particular matter of 2.5 (PM 2.5).

IGBIS track air quality during times of haze by reference to the live Air Pollutant Index (API) readings issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment http://apims.doe.gov.my and using the school’s own ‘Blue Air’ on-site measurement of AQI, temperature and humidity in selected areas of the school (located on the field, Early Years Playground and Central Staircase)

Our Early Years response to the API and AQI is slightly more restrictive than that for Elementary and Secondary School because medical evidence indicates that very young children are more vulnerable to the effects of particulate pollution than older children and adults.

When the AQI is 100-150, activity levels should be reduced for PE, recess and lunch and after school activities. Indoor facilities should be used when possible. EY-KG students will stay inside. When the AQI is over 150, all EY children will be kept indoors, while the threshold for other elementary and secondary students is 200, depending on the type of activity. Thresholds for students with respiratory problems or are highly sensitive to pollutants is 100 for all students. Please see the IGBIS Haze Policy for further details.

This week, the AQI monitor on the school field has often given a reading of 145-195, so as a precaution, all of our students have stayed indoors.

The full Haze policy can be found on the parent Splash Page under community.

We are aware that one of the international schools in Kuala Lumpur and several national schools in Selangor with much higher AQI levels than IGBIS have decided to close. However, all other international schools have remained open and have a policy to remain open as long as possible, as the air quality inside the schools is unlikely to be worse than if students are at home. School closure is usually at the direction of the MOE, however the school reserves this right should student health and safety be at risk.

If a decision is made to close IGBIS due to Haze to other circumstances, parents will be advised via email and SMS. We do hope that this situation improves next week. However, we will contact you again if need be.

Have a relaxing weekend and please do be mindful of the air quality.

Mrs Anne Fowles, Head of School

From the Elementary School Principal

Selamat Hari Malaysia. We hope that you have some wonderful celebrations over the weekend for this important day.

Our assemblies today were a fitting tribute to celebrate Malaysia Day. The variety of performances were great.

Keu and Thaya opened with the National Anthem and this set the tone of quality performances. Having the National Anthem sung ‘live’ showed how risk-taking can lead to a fantastic performance. Risk-taking was equally evident as the IGBIS Chamber music group performed a wonderful rendition of “Ikan Kekek”.

Throughout the assembly, the MC’s and grade levels educated us about the history of Malaysia. The information about the Prime Ministers of Malaysia was very interesting.

The singing throughout demonstrated that songs that we have heard from past assemblies can be performed in different ways and the Grade 5’s “Wau Bulan” and Grade 3’s “Rasa Sayang” were such examples.

The dances by our Grade 2’s, Grade 7’s and Grade 10’s certainly gave us a flavour of the diversity and rich cultural heritage of Malaysia.

The drama about the Orang Asli brought into sharp focus not only history but the reality and the challenges they face in today’s world. This was a powerful performance that was thought-provoking, as we consider could we have a role to positively impact their world.

The final performance was a change from what we have seen before. As an IB school, we talk about being communicators and it was pleasing to see that ‘sign language’ as a form of communication was highlighted in the assembly.

A big thank you goes to all of the teachers who guided our students in their performances, the students themselves and Ms Pei Yee and Mr Rashid who coordinated the assembly. Congratulations – it was very enjoyable.

Simon Millward, Elementary School Principal

Dates for your diaries.

• 16th Sept: Malaysia Day Holiday
• 28th Sept: PVO Social Masquerade Party @Boulevard Hotel
• 5th Oct: Day of Play (this is a Saturday morning of family fun and creativity)
• 7th & 8th Oct: ES Parent-teacher and 3 Way conferences.

From the Secondary School Principal

Dear parents and guardians,

I hope students and families enjoyed the Malaysia Day assemblies today and are looking forward to an enjoyable holiday weekend. As we grow as a school we will be altering some of our approaches to events such as our whole school assemblies, to accommodate for the increasing number of students and the wonderful attendance and support of our families. At the same time, it is always on our minds that we wish to maintain the family feel of our school as we grow. My thanks to the Host Nation teachers for their planning and all the students for their performances.

This weekend the secondary floors are fully occupied with the IB workshops, which is always exciting to host IB teachers from around the region. Looking forward, Student Council has organized a Spirit Week next week as their first event of the year and we will hear from the candidates for the StuCo Executive positions at our upcoming assembly.

We are also moving into a period of time when summative assessments are starting to take place in lessons, and students may face multiple assessments and/or a more crowded assessment calendar, as units come to an end. Now is a good opportunity for parents and students to sit together and look at Managebac, to think about the nature of the tasks set, and strategize so as to carefully manage the workload during a busier period of time.

Michael Arcidiacono, Secondary School Principal

World Scholar’s Cup Newsletter Post

During the 15th to 20th of August, 9 scholars from IGBIS participated in the Global Rounds of the World Scholar’s Cup which was held in Sydney, Australia. The World Scholar’s Cup is an academic event, where students from over 82 countries around the world, discuss and learn about topics and subjects like – Unsolved Mysteries, History, Social Studies, Arts & Music, Literature and Science. The students competed in the regional rounds earlier this year held in Penang and qualified for the Global Rounds in Sydney. Hong Yi, Gabriel and Lucas have previously competed at the Beijing Global rounds.

The Sydney Global Round of the World Scholar’s Cup was the largest global round in history and there were over 2000 scholars from countries all over the world. Scholars from IGB were able to take part in the scholar’s scavenge where we met people from different countries and formed global friendships. The scholars debated, took exams and answered hundreds of questions over the week-long event and often spent sleepless nights studying and preparing.

From the collective efforts of all IGBIS scholars and their parents, the delegation from IGB was able to attain over 32 medals. Moreover, all scholars have been able to qualify for  the Sydney Global Round as well as Beijing Global Round, which means all students: Hong Bin Lim (G11), Benjamin Koh (G10), Denny Seo (G10), Phebi Lee (G11), Alyce Takahashi (G11), Charisse (G10), Hong Yi Lim (G12), Gabriel Dzulkifly (G12), Lucas Fravi (G12), Marvin Chong (G11) and Anam Milfer (G11) have qualified for the “Tournament of Champions” which will take place at Yale University, New Haven, USA later in November.

On behalf of all scholars of IGBIS, I would like to especially thank Mrs Yee Peng Lee, Mrs Yee Ling Lee, Mrs Yeng Peng Lim and all other parents of the scholars for making everything possible and helping the students in Sydney and Beijing. Thanks also to Hong Yi Lim the club leader for providing us with such a great opportunity.

Denny Seo, Publicity Director for WSC

PVO Inclusion Committee

The PVO Inclusion Committee met this week to delve deeper into what ‘an inclusive learning community’ and ’embracing diversity’ really looks like and how we want this to manifest at IGBIS. There were some wonderful discussions and aspirations.  Please look out for upcoming events and interactive exhibits to engage the whole community. If you would like to join the committee, the sign-up form can be found on the PVO website (also found on the Splash Page). Meeting minutes have also been uploaded there. Our next meeting is on Wednesday 16th October at 8:15 am in the Parent Lounge on L5. Please come along if you would like to be part of this. 

Lizzie Hudson, Elementary Learning Support

IB Asia Pacific Regional Workshops

While students and staff members are enjoying a long weekend due to the Malaysia Day holiday, nearly 200 participants are attending International Baccalaureate (IB) Asia Pacific Regional Workshops at school. This marks our fourth time hosting IB Asia Pacific Regional Workshops, and it is a privilege to be repeatedly chosen as the venue, as it favourably exposes our school amongst the international school’s community. 

Being the host for such an event allows us to showcase our facilities to many who are travelling from regions near and far. 15 workshops are being held in the Secondary School classrooms, with topics ranging within three of the four IB programmes of education: Primary Years Programme (PYP), Middle Years Programme (MYP), Diploma Programme (DP), and Career-related Programme (CP). Each workshop falls within a category, described below, which offers 15 hours of face-to-face interaction with an experienced IB Workshop Leader. 

Category 1 workshops: focuses on IB philosophy and implementation.

Category 2 workshops: focuses on delivery of the four IB programmes of education.

Category 3 workshops: for educators to build on and enhance their professional development portfolios.

Many of our teachers are attending workshops as part of their own professional development, and we are proud to share that amongst our faculty, many of our own teachers and senior leadership staff take on a number of roles as part of the worldwide IB Educator Network. 

These are the workshops being held at IGB International School at present moment: 

Making the PYP Happen: Implementing Agency	Category 1
Building for the Future	Category 3
MYP Arts-Visual and Performing: Implementing the MYP Curriculum	Category 1
MYP Individuals and Societies: Implementing the MYP Curriculum	Category 1
MYP Design: Implementing the MYP Curriculum	Category 1
MYP Sciences: Implementing the MYP Curriculum	Category 1
MYP Language and Literature: Implementing the MYP Curriculum	Category 1
MYP Arts-Visual and Performing: Managing the Assessment in the MYP	Category 3
MYP Language and Literature: Managing the Assessment in the MYP	Category 3
MYP Design: Managing the Assessment in the MYP	Category 3
MYP Physical and Health Education: Managing the Assessment in the MYP	Category 3
MYP Sciences: Managing the Assessment in the MYP	Category 3
English A: Language and Literature	Category 2
Malay A: Literature	Category 2
Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches	Category 2

Masquerade Party

We are looking forward to celebrating our 3rd annual PVO Social on Saturday, 28 September at The Boulevard Hotel. All of the community is warmly invited to attend – parents, caregivers, staff members, family and friends. Tickets can be purchased at the school’s finance counter or via online bank transfer to the school’s account:

Detik Harapan Sdn Bhd
CIMB: 8007 19 3002

Please reference ‘Masquerade Party’ and be sure to include the names of who will be attending.

Tickets are RM90 each.

The theme for this year’s event is “Masquerade”. Masks will be provided during the event, but guests are more than welcome to wear their own. The suggested dress code is semi-formal attire, also known as cocktail attire, which roughly translates into a cocktail dress or trousers for the ladies, and a suit/tie or sport coat/blazer for the gentlemen. 

There will be special parking and hotel room rate for guests attending the event. Guests may validate their Mid Valley carpark ticket at the hotel’s reception to enjoy a RM5 flat one-time entrance fee per car. The nearest parking zones to the hotel are Zones C and Zones H. Hotel room bookings can be made directly with the hotel (contact Mr Perry at perry.salesblv@stgiles-hotels.com). There are a few room type options to choose from which may or may not include breakfast, with room rates ranging from RM366 to RM416. 

Looking forward to seeing you as of 6:30 pm at The Boulevard Hotel for mocktails. Dinner will be served at 7:30 pm, followed by games, prizes and dancing. Alcoholic beverages will be available for sale at the hotel bar, adjacent to the function hall.

College Counselling News

IGBIS Events

Practice SAT (PSAT/NMSQT) October 2019

The PSAT/NMSQT is tightly aligned with the redesigned SAT and provide 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 programs if they plan to complete higher education in the USA. Students who take the SAT or the PSAT/NMSQT can opt into Student Search Services, making their names and information available to scholarship programs as well as colleges. 

It will cost each student 110 MYR to sit the test on Wednesday, October 16th, 2019

We strongly encourage students in Grade 9,10 and 11 to use this as an opportunity to prepare for future applications to the United States.  

If you are interested, please email me at bill.mitchell@igbis.edu.my 

Once you have registered interest, further details will be shared on timing and preparations for the test.

Upcoming University visits

Parents and students are encouraged to attend!!

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 19TH, 1230-2PM (Multi-Purpose Room, 6th Floor) – Council of International Schools, South-East Asia College Fair

IGB is lucky enough to host 16 Universities from the USA, and one from Germany on this day (List here).  From CIS, “The CIS College and University Fair is an excellent opportunity for students and parents to become familiar with the wide variety of higher education options that are offered abroad by personally speaking with university recruitment and admissions officers. Use this event as a unique opportunity to conduct some careful and thoughtful research to inform your university options.”

Further information on schools here.

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 25TH, @ 930-1000 AM (Secondary Library, 6th Floor) – University Visit: Carleton College – USA

Come to find out more about this top-10 ranked US College from Brian Swann the Sr. Assistant Dean of Admissions & Coordinator of International Recruitment.  https://www.carleton.edu/

TUESDAY OCTOBER 1st @ 800-930 AM (Room 7-21/7-23) – Study in USA Tour with AEO

A total of 28 USA Universities will be on IGB Campus for parents and students to research and ask questions about all the exciting programs and scholarships on offer.  There are some amazing schools travelling to us that includes art/creative schools (Columbia College) to large research schools (University of California, San Diego).  Don’t miss this opportunity!

MONDAY OCTOBER 21 @ 12:50pm (Secondary Library, 6th Floor) – University Visit: Royal College of Surgeons(RCSI) – Ireland

Claire O’Connor
Student Recruitment Specialist
RCSI Admissions and Student Recruitment 

MONDAY DECEMBER 9 @ 12:50 (Secondary Library, 6th Floor) – University Visit: Nagoya University, Japan

Mr Freddy Mason
Assistant Director of Marketing and Admissions

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

College Counselling Events

Kuala Lumpur Events

I would like to share with you several exciting events that will be happening at the MACEE KL office next month. September is a busy recruitment season for U.S. higher education institutions. We have different universities who will be visiting us and conducting different activities and workshops.

It would be very much appreciated if you can share these events to your students and parents

• September 13^th, 5.30 pm to 7.30 pm: University info session and fair by Columbia University, Georgetown University, Princeton University, Duke University and Northwestern University
• September 24^th, 4 pm to 5 pm: Admissions and financial aid to highly selective liberal arts colleges in the U.S. by Amherst College

AEO University Tour – Over 20 universities from the USA

Further info here – https://www.aeotour.com/students.html

Kuala Lumpur
Tuesday, Oct. 1 –  6:00pm-9:30pm
Le Meridien @ KL Sentral 2, Jalan Stesen Sentral, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

EVERY TUESDAY AND THURSDAY U.S. University Advising: EducationUSA Advisers provide comprehensive U.S. university advising Register Here