IGBIS Newsletter, Issue 294
Message From the Head of School
By: Jason McBride, Head of School
Dear IGBIS Community,
When we talk about risk-taking or courage as part of the IB Learner Profile, we sometimes equate that with things like starting to rock climb or learning a new language, but risk-taking is also about standing up for what you believe in even if you don’t know what others might think. Over the past few weeks, I’ve had a number of meetings where the environment and sustainability were on the agenda and students needed to have courage in order to meet with me when they didn’t necessarily know what my thoughts would be around making our school and our community more sustainable. In just the past seven days:
- A Grade 5 student (Nerys) introduces the idea of Earth Hour at an ES assembly and then follows up again in this week’s assembly on stage, on her own (even though she doesn’t necessarily love the idea of public speaking).
- Another Grade 5 student (Aaron) took me through the financial reasons why we should install solar panels at the school as part of his PYPX project (even though his pitch involves pressuring me to find the money to do so).
- A group of Grade 9 students came to present their idea for an Earth Day to the entire K12 Academic Leadership Team as the result of what they were studying in Science, team culminating in us working offline and in the dark for much of the day today from Fireflies to Grade (even though we hadn’t done anything like this before).
- Two Grade 8’s set up a call with me, Mr. Tan (our Facilities Manager) and Ms. Sandy to talk about their idea to install solar panels to allow students to charge their phones during the day, ready to build the panels themselves with our approval (which we gave, once we reminded them that their phones wouldn’t be uncharged if they didn’t use them during the day!)
- A group of Grade 9-11 students met with me today to explore the idea of us pursuing our WWF EcoSchools Green Flag as a way to pull the community together in an effort to make IGBIS more planet friendly (an idea we will continue to explore).
All of these are incredible examples of students taking action and being brave enough to put their ideas forward to make the world a little more sustainable. In the meeting with the Grade 9-11’s, I asked the members of the EcoClub why they joined and one of the students (Jun in Grade 11) quoted our motto in saying that he joined in order to “ignite minds and impact lives”; I couldn’t have been happier to hear that.
Over the weekend, consider asking your child what today was like without electricity, the pros and cons, the impact they think it had on the environment and what habits we might be able to continue at school and in your home. We hope this gives you something to talk about while you’re sitting in the candlelight as we turn all the lights off from 8:30 – 9:30 pm on Saturday!
Have a wonderful weekend,
Jason
From the Elementary Principal
By: Simon Millward, ES Principal
Sometimes you have to stand back and smell the roses. This week has been one of those weeks where there were challenges with staff out, however, this was made all the more easier by the great staff that we have working at the school who volunteered to take on extra responsibility to ensure that the school could support student learning and safety.
I did manage to get into classes which is always a joy and the combination of live and recorded sharing in the assembly was a real treat.
The Phoenix Tweeters had their first live performance and they did a marvellous job, being risk-takers in front of the Elementary school.
We also had the Grade 4 students who led us in the dance break and their hat ‘fashion parade’ to showcase the hats they made using only recycled paper, cards and materials. Here is a selection of these wonderfully creative headpieces.
Talking of the Grade 4’s I dropped into the kitchen on level one to see a group of students who were engaged in their personal inquiry time, baking! They were so excited to be cooking and the final products looked delicious. So much so that one student ate her bread that she made for lunch! You can see a little of the action in the photos below. Sadly no pictures this week of the final creations, but watch this space.
Finally, I dropped into the Fireflies swimming lesson, they were loving being in the water and playing, gaining confidence and exploring materials and the water itself.
Don’t forget that this weekend is Earth hour where for one hour on Saturday evening you turn off all your electricity for one hour. It’s an opportunity to turn off all devices, including your phone and to spend it in your family engaged in non device games (albeit in the dark). On Friday at school we tried to go for a whole day with no or limited electricity! It was not easy! Sorry no photos of this I wasn’t able to use my phone all day!
Dates for Your Diaries
- Friday 1st April: House shirt Friday
- Friday 8th April: House shirt Friday
- Monday 11th April – Tuesday 19th April: School holiday
- Wednesday 20th April – School begins
From the Secondary Principal
By: Sandy van Nooten, SS Principal
Covid Updates
- We had a slightly easier week with fewer new close contacts and positive cases than in recent weeks. I’ll try not to get too excited, or assume we are in the clear, but it is good news nevertheless :).
- Please remember to let us know (via report.covid@igbis.edu.my) if a student is a close contact or positive themselves. Once we receive that email, secondary students are added to the ‘online list’ and Nurse Azilah will make contact to provide guidance on when and how to return to school as well as providing support for the family.
School Photos
- We will do catch-up photos (for students who were absent this week) during break in the music room on Thursday, 31st and Friday, 1st.
- For students who are online and out of the country, please take a photo in portrait, with a white (or light) background, dressed in school uniform and send it to Ms. Usha (usha.ranikrishnan@igbis.edu.my).
Earth Day & Walk the World
A group of Grade 9 students (after studying a recent unit in Science) were inspired to do something to raise awareness about the impact of power use and power wastage. On Friday 25th, all of IGBIS participated in Earth Day. NO devices or electricity until break, limited electricity after that. Students and teachers were encouraged to wear house shirts and participate in ‘walk the world’ (for house points). Here are some photos from the first (zero electricity) block.
The official World Earth Hour is on Saturday (26th March). The students want to encourage the entire community to join millions of households around the world and turn everything off between 8:30 and 9:30 pm on that day. Hope you’ll join us.
Thanks to Melissa, Natalie, Sophie, Arielle and Yoon Seo for their inspiration and leadership.
Have a great weekend (don’t forget RTKs on Sunday)
Regards
Sandy
World Maths Day Competition
By: Kari Twedt, Grade 5 Homeroom Teacher
A huge Congratulations to the Grade 5 classes for participating and Dominating in the World Maths Day competition held on Wednesday, 24th of March. Each student competed head-to-head against students from around the world in 20 Live Mathletic competitions across 4 different levels. Each competition lasted 60 seconds and students earned points towards their total World Maths Day score.
This is the 15th year for this competition and only the first time that IGBIS has participated. There were over 10 million students from across the globe (160 countries!) who answered over a billion questions during the competition time period. Impressively, our Grade 5 students finished 32nd in the WORLD competition and placed 2nd in all of Malaysia! What an amazing feat!
Three of our grade 5 students placed in the top 20 throughout Malaysia:
- Marcus Tee – 2nd place
- Siwoo Choi – 9th place
- Yewon Seo – 11th place
We are very proud of all the students who competed and look forward to future Maths Day Competitions for IGBIS.
How to Help Your Child Who Procrastinates!
By: Leanne Harvey, Middle School Counsellor
In secondary school, we are moving towards that point in the semester when many assignment deadlines are fast approaching. There is also the inevitable reality of final exams for our graduates. Each student is different and each one tackles this time in a different way.
Do the young people in your family jump into this time with delight and excitement or is your place more like mine, where procrastination is a challenge? Do you find yourself asking; do all kids leave homework and school tasks until the last minute or is it just my child/children?
So why is it that some kids put off doing these important tasks until the last minute?
Getting assignments completed on time involves organization and planning. These life skills are all smaller parts of the Approaches to Learning (ATL) skills that are one of the Essential Elements of the IB curriculum. These abilities are part of a set of skills known as Executive Function. When young people have challenges with Executive Function it can make it difficult for them to manage their time.
There are many ways that home and school can work together to support students who have a tendency to procrastinate;
- Use physical planners, homework diaries and visual trackers as opposed to digital ones.
- Plan ‘brain breaks’ – help students to look for the signs that they need to take a break. These should happen in a timely manner before frustration or lack of focus sets in.
- Break tasks into smaller steps.
Here are 8 helpful tips that can be used at home and at school to break down assignments and projects into smaller steps.
- Define how much time is available
- Decide how long the child can work for at a time
- Calculate what needs to be done each day
- Make a list of what is needed
- Write down each task (make into task cards)
- Put the task cards in order
- Assign a deadline for each task
- Review their progress regularly
Please know that there are many professionals at IGBIS who you and your child/children can reach out to if they face challenges because of procrastination. Always remember that class teachers, homeroom teachers and Student Services (including the counselling team) are all a resource you can draw on for support.
- Mr John Schuster (john.schuster@igbis.edu.my) – Elementary Counsellor
- Ms Leanne Harvey (leanne.harvey@igbis.edu.my) – Middle School Counsellor
- Mr Tim Howe (tim.howe@igbis.edu.my) – High School Counsellor
*Reference: Julie Rawe https://www.understood.org/articles/en/why-kids-procrastinate
