IGBIS Newsletter, Issue 307
From the Head of School
Jason McBride
The Importance of Sleep
Hello IGBIS Community,
Having been back at school for a few weeks, it’s a good time to make sure that we’ve left behind those holiday routines (or lack thereof!) when it comes to one of the most important aspects of our wellbeing … sleep. According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), the chart below captures the recommended amount of sleep that 3 – 18 years olds need each night to promote optimal health:
| Age | Sleep | Bedtime (assuming a 6:30 am wake up time) |
| 3 – 5 year olds | 10 – 13 hours | 6:30 – 8:30 pm (plus naps) |
| 6 – 12 year olds | 9 – 11 hours | 7:30 – 9:30 pm |
| 13 – 18 year olds | 8 – 10 hours | 8:30 – 10:30 pm |
Beyond the more obvious effects that a lack of sleep can bring about from kids having low energy, a lack of focus or emotional irritability in the short term, adequate sleep is even more important in the long term as it significantly impacts learning, memory, mental and physical health and overall brain development (Source).
The long list of benefits for children who consistently get a good night’s sleep include:
- Being more creative;
- Concentrating on tasks for longer;
- Having better problem-solving abilities;
- Being more able to make positive decisions;
- More able to learn and remember new things;
- Having more energy during the day; and
- Creating and maintaining good relations with others.
If your children get up in the morning fairly easily, go to sleep relatively quickly in the evening and are usually in good spirits during the day, then congratulations, you are winning at parenting. If your child is struggling with any of those aspects, however, it may be time to revisit what time they are going to bed to see if sleep may be part of the answer.
From the ES Principal
Simon Millward
It was very exciting to have our initial meeting with the potential house captains this week. There were approximately 20 students who were interested in pursuing this leadership opportunity. This was a time for Ms Nikki and me, to talk to the students about the qualities we are hoping the children possess, the role itself and the commitment they would be signing up for. The children were still keen afterwards!
They are now preparing their speeches for next week where they will talk in front of the Grade 5 students before the voting process takes place. The Grade 5 students themselves will be briefed on the criteria of the house captains and guided to vote according to the students who they feel are best suited for the role.
I look forward to being able to announce the house captains very soon.
Something else we are excited about is that we have our Malaysia day assembly coming up on 15th September. On this day students will be able to wear traditional Malaysian outfits or alternatively dress up in the colours of the Malaysian flag: Red, white, blue and yellow. Our students are working hard on their performances for the assembly and we are looking forward to seeing them perform on the 15th September.
Dates for Your Diaries
- Thursday 15th Sept: WS Malaysia Day assembly (students only, sorry parents!)
- Friday 16th Sept: Public holiday
- Friday 7th October: 3 Way/PT conferences
- Monday 10th October: Public holiday
From the SS Principal
Sandy van Nooten
ManageBac (MB) Session
This morning we had our interactive MB session led by Ms Flavia. Thank you to the parents who came, and many thanks to Flavia for somehow making it fun! We are working on our schedule of parent workshops for the rest of the year and hope to have it available to you by the end of next week. We have workshops planned that cover the MYP, DP, CP, our assessment procedures, service, pathways, credits, counselling, and more.
Student Council Leadership (StuCo)
The registration for StuCo candidates closed yesterday. Speeches and voting will happen next Friday at our secondary assembly and the new StuCo will be announced on Monday the 12th. After the StuCo election, we’ll run elections for house captains, homeroom representatives and student ambassadors.
Merdeka (Spirit) Day
Thanks to the current StuCo for organising the Merdeka spirit day on Tuesday and thanks to all the students and teachers who dressed up and showed their spirit.
Eco Club
The Eco club has been busy with training everyone to understand how recycling works so that we can hopefully start being effective and impactful recyclers. This is just the beginning for the Eco club, they certainly have big plans!
Upcoming Parent Workshops
(the full list of secondary parent workshops will be available next week)
- Introduction to the IB Diploma & Career Related Programmes.
- Led by Mr. Drechsler, DP Coordinator, supported by Ms. Lopez
- Thursday 8th Sept 8:15 to 9:15 in the PVO Room
- Introduction to the MYP Programme at IGB
- Led by Mr. MacDonald, MYP Coordinator
- Thursday 15th Sept 8:15 to 9:15 in the PVO Room
- Topics include subjects, language pathways, choices in Grade 9 & 10, projects and an overview of criteria
- Assessment in Secondary
- Led by me, Secondary Principal Sandy van Nooten
- Thursday 30th Sept 8:15 to 9:15 in the PVO Room
- Topics include everything from our overall philosophy to the “nuts and bolts”.
- Stay tuned for lots more…
Have a great weekend!
Regards
Sandy
Spanish Language Acquisition (LA): Role Playing
Laura Hernandez
This week, Grade 9/10 Spanish LA has been creating their own sketches on the topic of “Holidays”. The students scripted their role play revolving around a failed vacation or problems they encountered while on holiday. They not only used vocabulary related to holidays and accommodation but also practised past tense to compare and contrast their current disastrous holidays and their wonderful past experiences.
They came up with many creative ideas and some of them could have been nominated for an Oscar for “the most dramatic character”!.
The Counselling Team
The IGBIS School Counselling team are out and about welcoming and saying farewell to the students at the entrance on level 2 every morning and afternoon. Please do not hesitate to come and say hi, or have a chat with us… We are here for you!
This week we were very excited at the arrival of our ‘team’ shirts. Look out for us in our team shirts each Monday.
Monthly Mental Health and Friday Feel Goods
A new fixture to the Secondary School Counselling Program this year is our Monthly Mental Health and Friday Feel Good messages. Each month we will focus on a mental health topic, and every Friday of the month, will send out messages aligned to our monthly theme through both the Friday Feel Good Messages, and this newsletter.
Students and parents can access the Friday Feel Good Messages from the Counselling Website available on your Splash page, and students will receive a direct email each Friday.
For the month of August, we have focused on the theme of TRANSITIONS, as this is what we are all going through right now (we’re all in this together!) See Ms. Leanne’s message below as we close out our August theme.
How to Help Younger Siblings When Older Teens Go Off or Go Back to College.
During the vacation, I was lucky enough to return home to Australia for the first time in 2 ½ years. That meant seeing my family, which was wonderful. We were also able to spend time with our older son who graduated from IGBIS a few years ago and is studying in Brisbane. Many of you are in a similar situation where you have spent family time with your college-aged teens who have returned home, or you have been to visit them for the vacation. Others of you are in the rather stressful phase whereby you are getting organised to send off your teens to college for the first time. While this is challenging for us as parents, we sometimes forget about the impact that this has on the siblings who are left behind.
We spend so much time preparing the one who is leaving that we forget about the impact on the siblings who are left behind. With one less person in the house, many things change, often including the dynamics of how everyone relates to each other. Here are some ideas to smooth the transition for younger brothers and sisters that worked for others:
- Accept that it may be hard, especially at first.
It’s important to give everyone the time they need to get used to the new normal. In the beginning, if voice calling or video calling is too difficult you may choose to message.
- Keep the family connected.
Continue to find common interests or topics that bond your kids together. For some, it may be online games, quizzes or puzzles. For my kids, it is music and bands. - Choose communication that feels natural.
Some families like having a scheduled time for siblings to speak to each other. But for others, a set time can be stressful or feel forced. Be flexible and do what works for you. - Avoid being a “go-between.
Instead of acting as a “go-between” for your family, encourage communication between each member.” - Share the small stuff.
Talking about the small details that they used to share helps make them feel more a part of each other’s lives.
Remember every family is different and interacts in different ways. Think about communicating in ways that work best for keeping your own unique family connected.
These are some of our IGBIS alumni with siblings still at our school. They are just some of the families who reunited over the summer and are now re-adjusting to family life without ‘the college kid’.
Reference: Your Teen For Parents Magazine.
Best Regards,
The Counseling Team
- John Schuster (ES) john.schuster@igbis.edu.my
- Leanne Harvey (MS) leanne.harvey@igbis.edu.my
- Amanda Lopez (HS) amanda.lopez@igbis.edu.my
IGBIS will celebrate International Inclusion Week from 26th – 30th September. We are seeking interested community members/parents to come along to our initial planning meeting on Monday 5th September at 3.15 pm in the Elementary School Library. This year’s theme is Unity Within Our Community. We look forward to bringing this theme to life to celebrate, promote and continue to build inclusion and unity within our wonderful community. We look forward to welcoming anyone who is interested.
Be Safe Online
Steven Harvey
Set Up Family Rules Together
As a family, you can choose some easy rules to help keep everyone safe online. You can include things like where devices can be used, what games and apps your children can use, and how much time can be spent online. Most devices and apps have features to set limits on how they are used.
When your child is around 3 years old, if they are using devices, it is a good idea to make a family tech agreement together. At this age, children are recognising rules, so you can build on this understanding to talk about online safety and set some guidelines. Talking with your child about these rules will help to develop their critical thinking and self-regulation skills and encourage them to build good habits around technology. It can also help them to understand how the internet and networked technologies operate, which in turn explains the importance of online safety.
A family tech agreement is designed to help your family have a smoother time around technology in your home and promote safer online experiences. You can use the guidelines below as a starting point to write a (brief) set of rules together and then display them in the home in a place where everyone will see them, like on the fridge.
- I will ask before I use a device or play a new game online.
- I will only use devices in shared spaces like the lounge room, family room or kitchen.
- I will only talk to people I know when I chat, message, email or video call online.
- I will stop playing, watching or exploring online when my time is up.
- Our devices are put away in the ________________
For older kids (5-8 years), you may like to adapt some of these rules and elaborate on them by having conversations with your child about what they mean. The attached document contains conversation starters and points for discussion. Children can then develop their own rules for using devices like smartphones, tablets, computers, TVs and gaming consoles. They can create their own family agreement poster to keep in a place where everyone can see it, like on the fridge.
*Reading – Creating a Family Tech Agreement
Music-academy-OL-OPT
Canteen Menu (September 2022 – Week 1 to 4)
Menu-IGBIS-september-2022