IGBIS Newsletter, Issue 258.
Message From the Head of School
I hope that you all enjoyed International Day as much as I did. A huge thank you again to Ms Usa, Mr Simon, Mr Harvey, Mr Adi and Mr Warren for all of their work collating everything together and thank you, thank you, thank you to all of the people who prepared, recorded and contributed their performances, cooking, reading and so on. One of the really fun parts of the international day this year, was looking back over the clips from past years. Lets hope that next year everyone can be at school and have an international day like we used to. If you weren’t able to join us on Saturday, you can find the complete programme HERE.
Tomorrow (Saturday, March 20th), we are holding our first face to face Open Day for quite some time. If you have friends or family that might be interested in seeing our school, please contact admissions@igbis.edu.my to make an appointment to visit.
Have a good weekend!
From the Elementary School Principal
I hope you all enjoyed our Virtual International Day on Saturday 13th March. I have to say I watched it with my children and the time flew by and I only scratched the surface. Fortunately I can go back and watch any videos that were played on our International Day site. You can too by clicking on this link IGBIS Virtual International Day Site
On my travels around the school this week not only was I on the lookout for the learning taking place but I was checking that we were also adhering to our SOP’s.
It was pleasing to see different examples of great learning and following our own protocols.
I dropped into Grade 2 and the students were extremely engaged as they were researching about our planet and the challenges it faces. Some groups were looking at ocean pollution, others deforestation and its impact on the earth including animals and another group air pollution. The children were keen to share what they were learning.
As I visited Grade 5 I noticed that their space was looking unfamiliar. There were many ‘pods’ of tables with one person sitting at the table engaged in their work. When I asked why it was set up this way, it was communicated that these are their PYP Exhibition spaces that they will develop over time. They liked the space and even though they were engaged in a maths task they felt a sense of ownership of where they were learning.
The Grade 3 students have started their ‘Who We Are’ unit of inquiry about body systems. They were very engaged and some students from 3B that I spoke to not only shared their learning but thought they would test my knowledge of bones.
- They asked me which bone in the body is the hardest to break? And
- Which bone is broken most often? (is the easiest to break).
All I can say is that I got one correct and one wrong answer. Do you know the answer to these questions? Have a guess and check the bottom of the article to see if you were right.
One of my final stops was to take a look at one of our groups in the swimming pool. I was able to observe the Grade 5’s in action in the 50m pool and with our small numbers they were able to designate one lane per student so that they were suitably distanced from each other.
We are enjoying being back at school face to face and seeing the happy smiling faces of our students is very rewarding.
Dates for your diaries
- 29th- 4th April: Spring Break holiday.
- 21st – 23rd April: Gr5 PYP Exhibition (More details to follow)
- 24th April: Student-Led Conferences (More details to follow)
Answers to the G3 questions:
- Femur
- Clavicle
From the Secondary School Principal
Week 10 of semester 2! What a week! The Gr.12 English orals are DONE. Their Language Acquisition orals are next week. Soon, they might even get a glimpse of a dim light at the end of their two year tunnel :).
Rob Pendlebury (Head of the Arts) is busy finalising plans for the IB2 Art Exhibition that opens after the break. There will be incredible art to see, and the best part is getting the opportunity to talk to the artists themselves about their inspiration, challenges, and process. Visitors will also be treated to some recorded pieces from the IB2 Theatre and Music students.
And because Rob does nothing by half, we will also have live music and a drama performance for your enjoyment.
Yearbook photos will be taken during the first week back after the holiday. Secondary will have individual photos taken on Thu 8th and Fri 9th April. A detailed schedule will be shared after the break.
Next week our wonderful StuCo is running a Spirit Week in Secondary. Students (and teachers) dress up to earn house points. Here are the themes for each day.
- Mystery Monday: Dress up in dark and mysterious clothing
- Tired Tuesday: Pajama Day
- “Who is that” Wednesday: Dress up as a famous person or well-known character
- Time Travel Thursday: Come in either clothes from the past or what you think future trends will be
- Full-House Friday: Each grade will choose a theme, the grade with the best theme wins a special prize 😉
On Saturday April 24th, we’ll run our Student Led Conferences. Every student from Gr.6 to 10 will have a teacher mentor who will help prepare them for the day. MYP students are already building their learning portfolios which will be used for part of the conference. The event will be virtual, and each conference will be ~20 minutes long. More information to follow. Please mark your calendar so that you are available to learn from your amazing MYP child.
Class of 2021. Six super-enthusiastic Gr.12 parents have volunteered to organise the Graduation Dinner for our largest ever graduating class, Magnus and I met actual 3-Dimensional parents this morning. I’ll be in contact with all Gr.12 parents over the next few days with some key information about the Graduation ceremony and Dinner.
Tomorrow is our first face-to-face open day for the year. It will be fun to show prospective students around the school.
Hope you have a lovely weekend.
Stay safe.
IGBIS Ranked 1st Place in NISMUNC ‘21!
Denny Seo, President, MUN Club
Two weeks ago, 16 students participated in the Nexus International School Model United Nations Conference 2021 (NISMUNC ’21). Researching, collaborating and debating with students from all around the world; students discussed topics such as: the treatment of indigenous people, the current situation is Myanmar and ethics in genetic engineering to name a few. By debating about these highly relevant topics, students were able to develop diplomatic skills, learn foreign policies and most importantly meet new people.
All members of the IGBIS group delegation performed to the best of their abilities, and as a result, IGBIS ranked first and won a prize of MYR1000! The prize money will be used to fund the EosMUN Conference taking place at IGBIS later this year. Moreover, Jared Wee (G11), Charisse Chai (G11), Sophie Choong (G11) and Denny Seo (G11) were awarded the “Best Delegate” award , the highest form of recognition awarded to individual delegates, for their respective councils. Stefano Togatorop (G11), Ee Yeong (G11) and Thesya Thiruchelvam (G9) also received verbal recognition.
Congratulations to all the following delegates that participated:
- Mathilda Harvey
- Alisha Patel
- Daniel Orcando
- Hannah Wood
- Brinda Gunalan
- Thesya Thiruchelvam
- Taejaayn Thiruchelvam
- Fatemah Muneeb Iqbal
- Su Fei Choong
- Jared Wee
- Ee Yeong
- Stefano Togatorop
- Subin Choe
- Charisse Chai
- Denny Seo
- Daeun Lee (Chloe)
Lastly, I would like to thank Mr John Moore and Ms Maheen Habib for supervising and supporting the students all weekend!
SS Design Department
Marcus Wetherell, Subject Leader (Design)
Hello from the Secondary School design department!
It’s great to be back in school, face to face with many of our students. Whilst I think our home learning was very successful, nothing beats being together in the classroom!
Grade 6 to 10 students have been continuing to work on a variety of projects including board games, laser-cut mandala patterns, cardboard products and an ePortfolio for the IB. Our Grade 11 and 12 students remain hard at work in their DP Design Technology course.
Grade 12 recently undertook mock examinations in all their subjects including DT – the real ones aren’t far away now! They recently undertook a unit on resource management and sustainability. As part of the unit, we looked at sustainable systems for individual energy generation. Check out this ingenious phone charger that is powered by naturally running water!
The Book Cover Challenge
Kerri Chan, Whole School Librarian
The Book Cover Challenge is Here!
The IGBIS community is invited to participate in a book cover challenge during the week of 5-9 April 2021.
Instructions:
- Select a book cover you would like to recreate.
- Try and recreate the cover using whatever materials, people, or animals you have at home.
- Send a photo of the original cover and your recreated cover to Ms Chan using the Book Challenge Form
Get your family and friends involved and see how creative you can be! There is no limit to how many book covers you can create and each cover is worth 1 house point! The IGBIS community will have the opportunity to vote on their top three favourites for an extra 10 points each.
Good luck and have fun!
Clubs are Back!
Ruth SpracklanScott Ngatai, Athletics & Activities
That’s right, after the April break clubs will be running! Due to SOPS we are very restricted with what we can offer.
The details of the clubs can be found on the Athletics and Activities page. Signs ups will be opened at 7 pm, Tuesday 23rd March Comment end and will close at 3 pm Thursday 25th March. A signup Tab will be found on the Athletics & Activities home page.
Clubs will start after the April Break on Monday 5th April until Thursday, June 3rd.
During the week of Ramadan, no clubs will be offered (May 10-14) and also no clubs during the last week of school.
Numbers are restricted for some clubs so that we can adhere to the new SOP regulations (subject to change).
Buses will be provided for those on school transport departing at the later time of 4:15.
No Paid Activities will be offered.
Any questions, please make contact with the Activities and Athletics Directors:
Activities: Scott Ngatai: scott.ngatai@igbis.edu.myAthletics: Ruth Spracklan: ruth.spracklan@igbis.edu.my
HOUSES-Walk the World with IGBIS!
Ruth Spracklan, Athletics Director
Week 3 Update
Well, haven’t we been busy?! – In total, across all the Houses, IGBIS has walked a whopping 1188km!
It seems that Ignis have found their feet (excuse the pun) this week and have stomped (again, I can’t help it) ahead with 403km!
With only one week left there is everything to walk for, so why not push yourselves and get those feet moving!
Ignis – 403km
The reds have now achieved a staggering 10 medals! You have finished working your way around the Cabot trail in Canada, just 48kms needed to complete the Grand Canyon!
Terra – 345km
Aer – 326km
Terra and Aer have also achieved 10 medals, but with a few less kms to their names they don’t quite get the glory of the top spot! But can they take over in the last week?…
Aqua – 114km
Can someone give Aqua a shake and get them walking please?!
Remember to check the House page for more information.
https://sites.google.com/igbis.edu.my/igbhouses/house-calendar/walk-the-world-with-igbis?authuser=0