IGBIS Newsletter, Issue 211

I write this newsletter from Beijing, where I have been chairing an evaluation team visit to an international school for the Council of International Schools. Such visits are excellent opportunities to observe another school in practice and to reflect on our own school.

Anne Fowles, Head of School

It has certainly been a busy sporting week in the Elementary School this week. We started the week on Monday hosting the AIMS swimming competition. There were many students who managed to achieve personal best times and others who won medals. Overall we finished a very credible 4th, which is fantastic given the size of our school.

On Wednesday following on from the success of the previous week, the boys and girls U11 basketballers came runners up in the plate competition. More importantly, their skills, knowledge and tactics have certainly improved. It was pleasing to see the determination and commitment from these teams. The same can be said of our U9 boys and girls benchballers who also performed admirably in their tournament.

This week in assembly Grade 4 shared their knowledge about their inquiry into trade and commerce. They gave us more details about their learning on their field trip to Central Market and TTDI wet market where they asked various shopkeepers questions about their businesses.

A very important Maths PYP workshop is happening on Tuesday 26th November. Our Maths coordinator Ms Blakeway will be helping parents understand how we teach maths and how you can help your children with their thinking and strategies that they use. We hope to see many parents there.

Dates for your diaries.

Tuesday 26th November: PYP Maths parent workshop: Level 6 MPR 8.00 – 9.30 am
Wednesday 27th November: Parent workshop: Digital Citizenship – Learning with Technology PVO room 8.00 – 9.00 am
Friday 29th November: Season 1 Activities end: Paid activities still continue until 10th Dec.
Monday 2nd- Friday 6th December: Inclusive Schools Week
Tuesday 10th December: Christmas Assembly and Holiday Bazaar
Tuesday 10th December: Last day of school before the winter holiday

Simon Millward, Elementary School Principal

(9 pm – Friday evening)

The Organizing Committee of the 24 Hour Race is putting the final touches on the Sports Hall arrangements for the 24 Hour Race. The set up has largely gone smoothly over the course of the day, though as the end of the evening approaches they have run into some supply shortages and delayed deliveries. The group is working well together, intermixing fun and silliness with a clear sense of purpose in completing tasks. The strategizing is ongoing, as they find ways to overcome challenges, consider next steps and plan for what remains tomorrow before the event kicks off.

This is a wonderful process to observe; although the focus of this initiative is to raise awareness and funds to combat human trafficking, an additional benefit is the learning and skills students gain as they execute what is logistically a significantly complex task.

On to Race Day tomorrow!

Michael Arcidiacono, Secondary School Principal

It’s our final week of November and we hope you have been having some great discussions at home about the different strands of diversity.

For our final week, we will be focusing on Race, Language and Culture. In international schools, our children are privileged to be exposed to a range of cultures and languages. But we need to do more than just notice the differences amongst us. We need to be having discussions about race, skin colour and language. We all have experiences with race, whether they are overt, hidden, unconscious or implied. We need to think about how we feel when confronted with racism, prejudice or bias. Do we know what it looks like? Do we know what it sounds like? Do we know what to say? Do we know how to take action to reduce it?

In our pursuit of ‘empowering our members to be caring, global citizens,’ we must not shy away from difficult conversations.

Please wear turquoise next week to show that you support the idea that families of any race, language or culture are welcome in our school.

Lizzie Hudson and the PVO Inclusion Committee

Community Choir

We would love to have a community choir of teachers and parents for our final assembly taking place on 10th December. We feel it is a wonderful opportunity to come together as a united community to sing a song of peace. This supports our current community theme of kindness and inclusion, and sends a message of unity to our children.

We need more parent volunteers to please join in – enthusiasm is more important than talent, as we will have a backing tape and access to lyrics.

Here is the link to the song: https://youtu.be/50i-KO-uNU8

A rehearsal for parents has been scheduled on Thursday, 28 November after drop-off (8-9 am) in the PVO Room. The Christmas Assembly full rehearsal date is Thursday, 5 December from 8-9 am in the Theatre. Please save these days and join us for a fun practice session.