IGB International School’s Weekly Newsletter - Issue 88, Week 5, September 2016

• Grade 4 Health & Sport Drink Expo. ~ September 27th, 2016. - Pg. 4

Inside This Week’s Newsletter GIN IGBIS’ Recycling Project 8 Ms. Mary Boyd Message from Head of School 2 ...... Mrs. Anne Fowles Performing Arts 9 ...... Mr. Jon Suffolk News from Elementary School 2 ...... Mrs. Claire McLeod IB Pre-Universities Symposium 9 ...... Ms. Mary Boyd PYP Verification Visit 3 ...... Mr. Simon Millward Open Day Thank You 10 ...... Mr. Wayne Demnar Grade 1 Valencia Field Trip 3 ...... Sally Watters and Shireen Blakeway PVO & Alumni News 10 ...... Ms. Julie Arcidiacono Grade 4 Health & Sports Drink Expo Steven Harvey and Kari Twedt 4 ...... Upcoming Event at IGBIS Supporting Language Development... Ms. Amanda Clark 4 U11 Girls Basketball Preliminaries ...... Wed, October 12, 4 pm – 6 pm (Indoor Sports Hall) From the Secondary School Principal 5 ...... Mr. Michael Arcidiacono U13 Boys Football Friendly ...... Thu, October 13, 4 pm – 5 pm (Track and Field) Parent Workshop Day 5 ...... Mr. Phil Clark Kopitiam with the Principal ...... Fri, October 14 - (SS - 8:00 am) (ES - 8:40 am) University News Ms. Pauline Davidson 7 Message from Head of School

Dear IGBIS Parents and Community Members, some very enthusiastic families coming to visit the school. Thanks are extended to the staff, students and parents who We are delighted to announce that we have been successful came to school on Saturday to meet potential new families. in gaining the appropriate license for our Fireflies programme for 2-year-old children. The programme will commence on We hope that all of our school community are able to take time October 10, straight after the mid-term break. For further to have some family time over the mid-term break. information about the Fireflies programme, please contact our Admissions staff. (Email: [email protected]; Phone: 03 6145 4688). Mrs. Anne Fowles Our Open Day on September 24 was very successful with Head of School

News from Elementary School

Grade 4 dren who have no funds available. When the account is empty I had an enjoyable visit to the Grade 4 classrooms this week lunches are provided in Elementary School and names noted when they had their Health and Sports Drink Expo. The focus so the meals are accounted for. was on the students’ presentation skills, knowledge of their product and marketing skills as well as how their product tast- I hope everyone has a lovely break and l look forward to see- ed. Before l arrived in the rooms l could hear their spruiking ing refreshed students join us on Monday 10th October. from afar; their enthusiasm and passion was obvious and they seemed to get louder as l moved around the room! Until next time,

Cafeteria Account Parents are reminded to check their child/children’s cafeteria account to ensure there are sufficient funds for lunches. Over Mrs. Claire McLeod the last week cafeteria staff have noticed there are a few chil- Elementary School Principal

2 Igniting Minds Impacting Lives IB PYP Verification Visit

Simon Millward Having gathered a lot of information their job now is to write a PYP Coordinator report based on the IBO’s standards and practices and submit ...... it to the IBO. A decision will then be made whether to grant IGB International School authorisation status. On Thursday 22nd and Friday 23rd September the school hosted two visitors, Rima Singh and Inga Bela, representing In the final meeting with the visiting team they made many the International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO). The positive comments about what they saw. The sense of purpose of their visit was to verify that the information that community felt within the school was evident and there we had previously submitted about the school was being was open communication between students, teachers and implemented. the parent body. Particularly pleasing was the visiting team highlighting that the students spoke knowledgeably about their They toured the school, visited classes, talked to the learning and the PYP programme. Elementary Student Council, met with teachers to discuss the practices we employ to deliver the PYP curriculum and Whilst we still have to wait for the process to be completed, met with a representative of the Board and a group of parents. there were many positives that we can take from the visit.

Grade 1 Valencia Field Trip

Grade 1 students are finishing off their Unit of Inquiry, investigating the central idea “Humans use maps to understand their environment”. The children went off campus on another field trip, this time heading to nearby Valencia to putinto practice all the map reading skills they have learnt. They also used a compass to find north, east, south and west. At six different locations, students followed directions such as, “Head north to the sand pit, turn to the west and walk to the path, turn right and walk forward 17 paces.” Boxes were hidden at each location and once discovered children needed to solve a puzzle to open the box. Inside the box was a puzzle piece and directions to the next location. Once all the puzzle pieces had been found and fitted together, the children discovered the Sally Watters and Shireen Blakeway location of a well-earned snack. Despite the heat, everyone PYP Teachers had a wonderful time, thanks to great teamwork and generous ...... assistance from the parent helpers.

Igniting Minds Impacting Lives 3 Grade 4 Sports Drink Expo

Steven Harvey and Kari Twedt hour spruiking their product and applying various advertising PYP Teachers techniques, such as emotional appeal, exaggeration, loaded ...... words and bandwagon appeal, to encourage everyone who passed by to taste their drink. The exercise had the students Grade 4 students finished up their Unit of Inquiry “How We tap into their creativity, while building their confidence, ensuring Express Ourselves” this week with a Sports Drink Expo. This they continue to be effective communicators and inquirers. was one of the final activities of the unit, which students had been working towards for the past six weeks. The central idea was that media influences how we think and the choices we make, and students demonstrated their understanding of different styles and techniques of advertising. They did this by designing advertising posters for a mock sports drink that encompassed the principles of design - contrast, alignment, repetition and proximity. They prepared their drinks and as much advertising material as they wanted and spent an

Supporting Language Development in the Elementary Library

Amanda Clark Helping our students develop a love of reading is a huge Whole School Teacher Librarian part of what we do in school. This happens in homerooms, in ...... single subject areas and, of course, in the library. Elementary students come to the library for one lesson a week where, as part of what we do, students have the chance to borrow books to take home and read. They are able to keep these books for two weeks, however most of the books are returned each week when the students come as a class. Being literate in your mother tongue language (the language that is used most commonly at home), is essential to supporting the development of additional languages, such as English. To help your children grow and develop in their use of their mother tongue language, the library has a growing collection of books in Bahasa Malay, Chinese, Japanese and Korean. The books are either translated from English, and include a lot of our most popular titles, or they are books that are originals, written in the mother tongue. We encourage all our readers to enjoy these fabulous books, in all languages.

4 Igniting Minds Impacting Lives News from Secondary School

Dear parents, Thinking in this manner is part of the reflection process and helps students to consider their progress from different It was a busy week in Secondary as we head into the October perspectives. Just as teachers plan for conferences, so should break. Sports fixtures, camp reflections, assessment due students. On that note, I do ask that all secondary students dates, Universities Fair, student research teams in action — attend the PST conferences with their parents - it is their lots happening! This will continue when we return; on Friday education and they should have a “seat at the table” and be I shared the link to our online booking system for our Parent- part of the discussion. Student-Teacher (PST) Conferences in mid-October. The link can also be found here. I wish parents and students an enjoyable break!

The break next week is a nice opportunity for students (and teachers!) to rest and relax a bit after a busy beginning of semester. These occasions are natural opportunities for Michael Arcidiacono students to reflect on their progress and evaluate their efforts Secondary School Principal thus far. An interesting thought experiment a student might do is to consider the following question: “What points will my teacher likely raise with me and my parent when we meet at the PST conference?”

Parent Workshop Day - MYP CONCEPTS and CONTEXTS

Phil Clark their own culture. They learnt how to make structured notes and MYP Coordinator how to cite their information sources using the collaborative ...... features of Google Docs. They found library books and online resources to research how their culture has traditionally been Last Friday we organised a full day for parents to experience expressed through food and the arts, and how it has been learning through concepts and contexts. In the morning expressed in modern times. Comments overhead during the parents participated enthusiastically in a hands-on mini unit session included, “I didn’t know we’d really have to work,” “This of inquiry that simulated how Grades 6-10 students learn and is harder than it looks,” and “Now I know why my child says it is are assessed in MYP. The unit was interdisciplinary, in that hard to get a 7 or 8 on assessments.” it incorporated three different subject areas - Individuals & Societies, Design and the Arts.

While the unit developed skills and knowledge in all three subject areas, it was also designed to develop a deeper understanding of the concepts of “culture” and “innovation” and was set in a context of “personal and cultural expression”. The statement of inquiry for the workshop was “People can express their cultures in innovative ways while remaining true to their identities.”

After a short morning break in the school cafeteria, the second session saw parents split into two groups - one group moving on to Design class, and the other group moving on to Performing Arts. Parents had to apply what they had researched and learnt about their culture during the previous session, and create an innovative way to express their culture by designing and creating either a meal (food design) or a theatrical performance (performing arts). Parents worked enthusiastically and created some truly impressive products. Comments overhead during this session included, “I wish we The first session of the workshop was held in the school library had classes like this when I was at school,” and “Now I know with a focus on developing collaboration and research skills why my child is so excited about this subject,” and “Can we do and historical knowledge in Individuals & Societies. Parents this again?” worked together in groups of two or three, huddling around computers to search the library catalogue and find books about Continue next page >>

Igniting Minds Impacting Lives 5 In the third session, both groups of parents came back together In the afternoon parents joined our Grade 12 IB Diploma to share their creations. There was much excitement as the Programme students as they presenting the collaborative, Design group brought their meals from the food design kitchen interdisciplinary Rube Goldberg science projects that they to share with the whole group. They explained the rationale for had been constructing throughout the week. There were some their creations and how each dish represented an innovative fabulous machines that demonstrated extremely creative expression of their culture. The Performing Arts group took to design and applied a variety of biology, chemistry and physics the stage in the drama room to perform innovative expressions principles. of their culture which were greeted with much laughter and applause.

We thank the parents who were able to commit so much time and join us for this workshop, and especially thank them The final part of this activity was for parents to review the for participating with such enthusiasm. We hope they had a assessment rubrics for the research and creation sessions. positive experience, learnt more about how students learn They discussed in small groups the descriptions for each level within the IB programmes and have a greater understanding of achievement and tried to reach agreement as they peer- of how learning is structured around concepts and contexts. assessed their own group performance.

Parent Workshop - Introduction to To register for this workshop, please login to this form using MYP Assessment your IGBIS parent email - https://goo.gl/forms/n7MCyTyArzn3H09z2 We invite parents of Grade 6 students, and parents of students new to the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) at IGBIS this NOTE: This is a repeat of the workshop that we offered last year, to join us for an introductory workshop about assessment year and is a general introduction to MYP assessment. We will in the Middle Years Programme. offer a another workshop later this year that explores MYP assessment in greater depth. Thursday 27 October (8:00-9:00am) in the PVO room on Level 2. Phil Clark Middle Years Programme Coordinator

Secondary School Fall Festival - Friday, 14 October 2016 | 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm

On Friday 14 October, the Secondary Student Council is [ SECONDARY SCHOOL ] hosting an after-school Fall Festival event for all secondary students. The event will run from 3:30pm - 5:00pm in the Sports Hall, and school will be providing transportation for students if they usually take the school bus. There is an admission fee of 10MYR, as we will have prizes and outside providers. Students will be able to play Capture the Flag, as well as mini-games like target golf and frisbee challenges. There will also be popcorn and candy floss for all to enjoy. Students are encouraged to bring their water bottles and to wear sports gear during the event. We hope to see all secondary students at the event!

6 Igniting Minds Impacting Lives University News

Ms. Pauline Davidson should make the search process truly personal for their Grade 9-12 School Counsellor child...... ~ Craig Meister, President Tactical Consulting

The first step in a good college search and match isa strong understanding of self. Parents can assist students in this area by exposing them to with various environments, locations, academic programs, and student bodies. ~ Lynette Mathews, Director, The College Planning Center

Pick a set time, once a week perhaps, and promise to confine your questions to that period (they are allowed to bring it up anytime they like). Also, do NOT share details With 39 university representatives, 100 students and 32 of your child’s scores, grades, application choices, etc. with parents, complete with Special Guest Jennifer Rodrigue, the friends and relatives without their express permission to Trade Commissioner from the Canadian High Commission, last do so. week’s Global University Fair was an overwhelming success. ~ Carol Morris, Regional Director of Admissions, Southern Thank-you to all parents who attended and supported their Methodist University child. Parents should have input and offer advice, but always It is important to remember that for students making decisions being careful not to take over or become so involved that it about which university is the right fit for them, researching all becomes more about them than about the student. available opportunities is critical. In beginning to plan early ~ Jeannie Borin, Admissions director, Duke University in their high school years, students are better likely to gain focus and momentum for a successful university application Upcoming University Events process. However, parent involvement is also crucial to University visits: making the university application process a healthy one. We • Boston University: Monday 10th October at 2.30- encourage open communication between parents, students 3.30pm and the school to maximise support during the university • University of British Columbia: Tuesday 11th October decision and application process. - 12.30pm • King’s College London: Tuesday 11th October 12.30 Tips from the Experts • Goldsmiths University of London: Wednesday 12th University administrators have shared valuable tips about this October 12.30 critical time for students and parents, and it is worth paying • Westminster University: Wednesday 12th October attention to their advice. 12.30

The prospect of college is daunting for all students. Without PARENTS, PLEASE VISIT IF YOU ARE ABLE TO!! adequate guidance from parents who have experienced the process themselves, and/or without a strong support University fairs: network in school and in the community, the obstacles to • US fair on 17th October - 15 US universities, including college access can cause issues. As parents your job is to New York Institute of Technology and Gonzaga help your child overcome challenges to examine the world University of college opportunity that awaits them. • UK fair on 7th November - 26 UK universities, including ~ National Association for College Admission Counseling Bristol, King’s, Bath & Exeter.

Parents can most help out by clearly explaining to their Full details of these events were sent via to all parents and student the parameters of what the family is willing and/or students in grades 9-11 on Friday. able to pay for so the student can figure out what colleges are actually feasible options and worth applying to in the first place. ~ Philip Ballinger, Director of Admissions & Assistant VP of Enrollment, University of Washington

Parents can help their kids turn inward by asking them how they imagine college. Questions like, “When you imagine college, what is it like? What are you doing? What are the students around you like? How do you want to change or what do you want to happen for you in college.” Parents

Igniting Minds Impacting Lives 7 GIN IGBIS’ Recycling Project

Mary Boyd DP Coordinator “The average person generates ...... over 4 pounds of trash everyday and about 1.5 tons of solid waste Have you wondered about where your per year.” rubbish goes, once it hits the garbage bin? Does the issue of recycling concern you as “Recycling one ton of paper saves much as it does us? 17 trees.” Horrified at the amount of paper, aluminium cans, plastic bottles that go straight into the garbage bin, destined for a “American throw away 2.5 landfill, the sea or an incinerator, we’re formulating ways million plastic bottles per hour. to start getting recycling bins into each classroom, and to Each one takes 500 years to focus the recyclable waste at the forthcoming 24 hour race, d e c omp o s e .” where we could expect maybe 1200 runners, 500 marshalls and possibly 300 visitors, most of whom, we imagine, will be “Malaysians produce an average drinking water from plastic bottles and eating snacks wrapped of 30,000 tons of waste every day. in plastic or paper. More to come, but in the meantime, the next Only 5 percent of it is recycled.” time you’re about to throw away paper, plastic, aluminium or From ‘Clean ’, the national Ministry anything else that could be recycled: please think. Let’s work of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government, September 2015 together to tackle this problem and speak to a GIN member about your ideas.

* Images from Clean Malaysia, Sept 2016.

Garbage on Perhentian Beach* Dump Site in the Cameron Trash in a Kuala Lumpur River by Highlands* Kounosu*

Charlene (G12), Yuto (G12), Natasha (G12), Hamizah (G12), Rachel (G11), Ms Boyd, Glenda (G12), Gareth (G8), Justin (G8), Rebecca (G12), Hwei Minn (G12), Mabel (G12), Hwei Linn (G11), Aria (G11), Josh (G12), Zoe (G12)

8 Igniting Minds Impacting Lives Performing Arts

Mr. Jon Suffolk Senior School Drama Company 2016 Performing Arts Teacher The work for the Secondary School Drama Company 2016 is ...... well under way. This year, the Company will stage their own rendition of the play “Living With Lady Macbeth” by Rob John. IGBIS Instrumental Music Academy This play follows the story of Lily Morgan, a high school girl As we move to the October holiday break I would like to thank who everybody thinks is very ordinary and rather dull. But Lily the many parents who have paid for their children’s Music eventually proves everybody wrong when she auditions for the Academy lessons for Semester 1. If you have not yet made the role of Lady Macbeth in the school play. payment could you please do so at your earliest convenience. As the cast begins to memorise and rehearse their lines, The holidays is a great time to engage your children in some the backstage crew are planning the sets, costumes and extra practice or attend a concert to give your children added marketing. Directed by Mr. Suffolk and Mr. Fleury, this incentive to practice and to become life-long learners of music. production is bound to be a spectacle worth watching. If you We all know the benefits of learning a musical instrument, enjoy murder mysteries, Mean Girls and madness, you’ll and the research surrounding the positive effects on the definitely love this play. development of children through learning a musical instrument is extensive: it ignites the brain. The play is scheduled to be held in the school theatre on December 7th at 7:30pm. Put the date in your diary.

The IB is conducting an IB Pre-Universities Symposium on local and foreign universities. The seminar will be hosted by Saturday 12 November 2016, at Sunway Hotel Resort and Gregory Biggs, Global DP Product Manager. Spa. There are 2 sessions, morning and afternoon. There is no requirement for you to RSVP and there is no limit in terms of the number of delegates. For the afternoon session, the IB are inviting parents, university Please see the detailed schedule below for your counsellors, teachers and students to the IB Diploma reference: Programme (DP) seminar and mini exhibition by at least 20 Continue next page >>

Igniting Minds Impacting Lives 9 14:00 - 14:15pm 15:55 - 16:55pm Welcome Address - Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dato’ Panel discussion (students and alumni – 10 minutes each) Prof. Dr. Rujhan bin Mustafa, Malaysian Qualifications i. IGB International School - Anne Fowles, Head of School Agency (MQA) i. Kolej MARA Seremban - Dr. Saaidah Abd Rahman, 14:15 - 14:45pm Deputy Director Presentation on IB Diploma programmes and recognition - i. Taylor’s College Sri Hartamas - Chan Wai Yen, University Gregory Biggs – Product Manager, DP Placement Services - Partnership Development ii. Alumni from the Malay College Kuala Kangsar 14:45 - 15:45pm iii. Alumni from Kolej MARA University Presentation (universities – 20 minutes each). 17:00pm Universities to share on their admission policies for DP End of the session students as well as why they value IB DP students. i. Universiti Malaya - Mr. Yusoff Musa, Registrar ii. Monash University Malaysia - Jenny Lee, Senior Manager iii. International Medical University - Sebastian Loh, Manager - International Marketing iv. King’s College London - Francine Dawson, Regional International Officer, SEA

Open Day Thank You

Wayne Demnar soon matched by the buzz of curious parents and potential Admissions & Marketing Director students. The merits of an IB education was the topic of many ...... conversations and we hope to see some new enrolments to follow. Thank you to Ms. Arvindar Kaur and all the staff who It was certainly a matter of slow start, strong finish with regard attended for their efforts before and during the day, as you to the Open Day at IGBIS last Saturday. With over 30 staff in certainly reflected a positive view of IGBIS. Special mention attendance, we were all primed for a wonderful day sharing the also to our wonderful students and parents who came to share virtues of our programmes. The enthusiasm of the staff was their stories - you did us proud!

PVO & Alumni News

Julie Chen Arcidiacono We recently launched the Friends of Phoenix website Community Support & Services Coordinator (https://sites.google.com/igbis.edu.my/alumni), dedicated ...... to our alumni community. The graduating class of 2016 has been invited to share their contact information and a selfie Many of our IGBIS parents have been very busy this past week; in their current surroundings. Our inaugural alumni are now from participating in an MYP mini unit of inquiry, to helping to scattered in various locations throughout the globe, and show the school to prospective families during Open Day, and we hope that Friends of Phoenix can become a lifelong link then attending the Global College Fair with their children. connecting all our former students.

We recently held our first event committee meeting for the As a reminder both PVO and Friends of Phoenix websites can 24hr Race. More details regarding this event, as well as be found via: ways parents and volunteers can be involved, can be found • www.igbis.edu.my > School Life > PVO (or click the on the PVO website (https://sites.google.com/igbis.edu.my/ PVO icon on the Splash Page) pvo). If you are interested in being involved in this or other • www.igbis.edu.my > Admissions > Alumni events, please register your name on the sign-up sheets on the website. I hope you enjoy a relaxing break and will return ready for more PVO fun.

10 Igniting Minds Impacting Lives

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