IGBIS Newsletter, Issue 295
Change in Arrival SOPs Starting Next Week
With the release of new COVID SOPs by MKN earlier this morning as the government begins the endemic phase (found HERE in both BM and English), some of our arrival processes will remain the same, while others will change. As of Monday, April 4:
We will continue to:
- Wear masks properly at all times, with a strong encouragement to wear N/KN95 if possible.
- Socially distance as much as possible.
- Eat behind dividers when masks are off.
- Require all students and staff to take a weekly RTK test the day before returning to school and submit the results.
- Require everyone entering campus to scan in using their My Sejahtara app (for those with phones).
- Sanitise hands and temperature check at the Level 1 Early Years entrance/turnstile (due to the age of children in that school section).
We will stop:
- Mandatory temperature checks at Level 2 turnstiles and the main guard house (optional for those who wish to do so).
- Mandatory hand sanitising at Level 2 turnstiles (optional for those who wish to do so).
- MySejahtara status checking (moving to the endemic phase, we trust that all symptomatic and/or close contact people will act and/or report accordingly).
Message From the Head of School
By Jason McBride
Hello IGBIS Community,
Although it was published almost eight years ago, I only recently came across the essay by Carol Black entitled “A Thousand Rivers: What the modern world has forgotten about children and learning”. In it, she calls for parents, educators, leaders and policymakers to go beyond the standard way of measuring learning that has been adopted in many “developed” countries that over-emphasize testing, quantification and standardization and instead to:
“Experiment. Observe. Listen. Explore the thousand other ways of learning that still exist all over the planet. Read the data and then set it aside. Watch your child’s eyes, what makes them go dull and dead, what makes them brighten, quicken, glow with light. That is where learning lies.”
There is no doubt that assessment is important and we support our Grade 12 students to do as well as they possibly can on their exams (with a lot of success over the years I might add!), but standardized tests and predetermined curriculum have an inherent assumption built into them that expects all students to learn similar things in similar ways along a similar timeline and if you think about your children, you know that is simply not how they grow and develop.
It is for that very reason why I have been with—and have my own children—in an IB school where we continuously put the student at the center so they can be agents in their own learning, inquirers with their own interests, and directors on their own paths. Students aren’t empty vessels in need of filling as Socrates reminded us, but lights that need igniting; I’ve found that you can’t ignite anyone with endless memorization while sitting in straight rows quietly taking tests!
This is why at IGBIS – as Malaysia’s first four-programme IB school – instead of the traditional model most of us grew up in, we:
- Have innovation and play as central pillars of our program because we believe that students learn best when they experiment, observe and listen – and often to one another instead of the teacher.
- Help students pursue the answers to their own questions because we believe that to stay curious, students have to help drive what they learn; and
- Keep inclusion as a core part of who we are because we believe that in our diversity, real-world understanding, international mindedness and compassion can thrive.
To better tell the story of who we are and what we believe, we have been completely redesigning the school website so that it communicates what makes our school unique better than it has ever done before. We should be ready to launch in late April/early May and we hope that the story it tells explains how we aim to raise children and young adults whose eyes “brighten, quicken, [and] glow with light” each and every day.
Enjoy the rest of this week’s very full newsletter, especially all the action opportunities as a result of the upcoming Grade 5 PYPX!
Jason McBride
School Calendar
Please click HERE to visit the School’s Calendar page to view the 2022-23 academic calendar. A few notes:
- Divali is incorporated into the October break to make it easier on families who celebrate at that special time of year.
- With the Lunar New Year earlier than usual in 2023, and so close to the three-week December Break, we are taking three days off instead of the entire week.
- To better balance continuity of learning with breaks to support our wellbeing, there is only one week-long Semester 2 break that is now in March; the days saved from the other week off in previous years are spread out to create long weekends throughout the year.
- The Hari Raya holiday has been slightly extended to not only recognize its importance in Malaysia, but to offset the fact that both days fall on a weekend in 22-23.
From the Elementary School Principal
By Simon Millward
Thank you to all those parents who attended the Workshop Wednesday with Mr Alex, Ms Elli, Mr Wei Jun and Mr Ngatai.
These are great opportunities to learn more about our programme and ask lots of questions to the educators at the school. You have also received a link via Toddle to access the recording, should you have missed the session. Just copy and paste the URL into your browser and access the material from there. Remember you have to be signed in to your parent’s email account.
This week I managed to visit some older students swimming classes and I have to say the children are very focused on developing their current stroke technique. Yes, the students are working at different levels and that is OK, as we all know students develop at different rates and one size does not fit all, so seeing the students getting the attention they need to be challenged and improve is pleasing to see.
Next week sees us enter our final week at school before the April break. Next Friday we will still have house shirt day as the students will be engaged in some fun ‘physical’ activities in their grade levels (KG-G5), so please remember to send your child(ren) in their house colour shirt.
Dates for Your Diaries
- 8th April: House shirt day a sports/activity time
- 9th – 19th April: School holiday
- 20th April: First day back after the holiday
Wellbeing: Healthy Body – Healthy Mind
By Aga Chojnacka, PYP Coordinator
Wellbeing is one of our core pillars and values at IGBIS, while caring is one of the key attributes of our learner profile. Those two elements are at the forefront of our daily conversations and reflections, which is why we would like to ask our parent community for support in making healthy choices for our learner’s snacks and home-made lunches, making sure that the food selection and preparation have a positive impact on our children’s minds and bodies.
As we accompany our children throughout their daily routines and learning, we can clearly see who’s doing well, and who is having a bit of a rough time staying balanced, focused or simply awake – as their bodies may not always have enough energy and nutrients.
It’s important to us to see our learners healthy and happy and benefiting from the latest neuroscience and pediatric research on the importance of a balanced diet and eating habits for children’s physical, emotional and academic development.
Please see the infographic below, summarizing the essence of good nutrition choices for our learners and the research behind it.
Have a healthy and happy weekend!
AN INVITATION: Morning Coffee to Reignite Our Parent Volunteers
By Pat Yong, Head – Marketing and Admissions
It has been so long since we were able to engage with our community, the pandemic certainly put all parent and school engagement on hold. Therefore, in order to restart our community parent engagement, the IGBIS Marketing Department has organised a meeting with all Parents of IGBIS to restart the Parent Volunteer Organisation (PVO).
The PVO is a great way to get involved in the school community. No formal introduction is needed and there is no cost to join. PVO meetings are held monthly, with the date and agenda shared prior to the meeting via our school email and newsletter. All families are always welcome to attend.
The first PVO meeting for the year will be held in the PVO room, Level 2 (facing the pool) on Thursday, 7th April 2022 at 8:15 am. Kindly fill out this form to RSVP (by Tuesday, 5th April 2022). Light refreshments will be served.
We look forward to meeting each and every one of you next week.
What is Safeguarding?
By John Schuster, Elementary Counsellor
My name is John Schuster and I am the Elementary School Counsellor; the students call me Mr. John. I also have another role in the school and that is our Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL). Safeguarding means keeping people safe from harm, abuse or neglect. There are a few reasons I am writing about this now. One, the school is going through our re-accreditation process and although we always take safeguarding seriously, it is one of the areas we’ve chosen to pay attention to as a special project. Two, In the next few weeks, an updated Safeguarding Handbook and Policy will be coming out for all students, parents and staff to be aware of. Some of the Safeguarding team have been going through additional training over the past 6 months and that training has informed the updates to our internal processes. Finally three, the month of April is also National Abuse Prevention Month. The US-based childwelfare.gov website states that “National Child Abuse Prevention Month recognizes the importance of families and communities working together to strengthen families to prevent child abuse and neglect. Through this collaboration, prevention services and supports help protect children and produce thriving families.”
We want all our students to feel safe and secure and our aim is to have that be their experience in all facets of their life. Our students often talk about human rights issues and recently Grade 4 in particular were talking about children’s rights and had a great discussion on The Convention on the Rights of the Child to “[protect] children from violence, abuse and being neglected by anyone who looks after them.” Deep, fascinating conversations by 10-year-olds!
As always, if you have any questions or concerns about safeguarding, please feel free to contact me at john.schuster@igbis.edu.my
Which Zone Are You In?
By John Schuster, Elementary Counsellor
As the students enter school in the morning, come up the central stairway and arrive at level two, I greet them and ask, “Which Zone Are You In?” They take a look at the posters, tell me and I then tick the sheet beside the colour they say; Green, Blue, Yellow or Red. These are called “The Zones of Regulation”.
Each zone has different feelings:
- Green Zone – Happy, Calm, Feeling Okay, Focused and Ready to Learn.
- Blue Zone – Sad, Sick, Tired, Bored, Moving Slowly.
- Yellow Zone – Frustrated, Worried, Silly/Wiggly, Excited and Loss of Some Control.
- Red Zone – Mad/Angry, Mean, Terrified, Yelling/Hitting and Out of Control.
A person can be in any zone at any time. There is no wrong or right zone. There are students (and teachers) who are also in two zones at the same time telling me they are both Blue (tired) and Green (Happy).
The Zones of Regulation program was developed by Leah Kuypers using the colour system to help students think about and understand their feelings. It is a quick way to check in with the students. As you can see, most of the time the students are in the green zone (five full sheets) where they are happy and ready for learning. Next comes the blue zone, with tired being the most common (especially on a Monday morning and after morning swimming). There have been some yellow zones as well as red zones (mad my mom woke me up). Some students know immediately which zone they are in, while others stop to look at the posters and ponder which zone they are in, being mindful of their feelings.
The Zones of Regulation Program provides a common language and compassionate framework to support positive mental health and skill development for all.
Take a minute to ask your child which zone they are in, maybe while having dinner or while driving them to school. Remember, all the zones are okay!
Street Art Gallery
By Grade 7 Visual Arts 2021/22 Semester 2
Statement of inquiry: Street art uses visual culture and aesthetics to communicate important ideas and messages to a large audience.
Students chose an issue of personal importance under the Global Context of ‘Fairness & Development’.
They then researched the topic, brainstormed ways to raise awareness, condemn wrongs or celebrate success pertaining to this issue. Finally the students refined their design, made stencils and created their unique artwork.
House Notices – 1st April
Walk the World with IGBIS!
By Ruth Spracklan, Athletics Director
What a few weeks we have had! What started off as a very slow amble has progressed into a full-on hike, well done IGBIS! Not only have we had distances coming in from people getting out and walking in their own time, but we also had a brilliant day with walking last week!
Our students and staff should be really proud of our spirit day and how far we travelled, notching up a huge 180km in total!
The results from our Friday spirit day of walking are as follows:
- Ignis: 34km
- Aqua: 39km
- Aer: 46km
- Terra: 61km
HUGE congratulations to everyone who contributed! Now, these are not the current totals, these have only contributed to the House totals. So here it is, the House totals as of March 30:
- Aer: 109km
- Aqua: 50km
- Ignis: 42km
- Terra: 178km
GO TERRA! Huge efforts with travelling, so far you have seen 6 of the stops on your walkies…
Donation Drive!
By David, Grade 5
Hello my name is David and I am currently in Grade 5 and we are in the process of completing our PYPX Unit of Inquiry. My area that I am inquiring into is quality education. I chose quality education because I think its important to have an education if you’re a kid. I think all children deserve this because without it you might end up somewhere else or your future might not go as planned. Part of the PYPX involves taking action to make a difference.
I am asking for you to please support my PYPX action for helping kids have access to quality education here in Malaysia. I have decided to support an organization called Suka Society with one of their current programs because I want to help indegenous children in Malaysia get a quality education so they can move forward into primary and secondary school.
About Suka Society:
Suka Society is a non-profit organization that is dependent on public support to help children in need here in Malaysia.
One of their actions is to help create greater access to education. They are currently supporting six indigenous preschool classes located in the villages near Slim River, Gopeng, Gerik, Tapah, and Gua Musang. There are currently over 150 students between the ages of 4 and 6 years old attending the pre-school classes regularly.
How Can YOU Help?
This is how YOU can help ME to support THEM!
On April 20, 21, and 22 I am organizing a Donation Drive here at IGBIS to help them collect needed school supplies to keep their programs running.
They are looking for the following school supplies for their schools: (must be new please!)
I will have collection boxes set up at the turnstiles (both Level 1 and Level 2) where you can drop off the supplies when you get to school. This is happening the week that we get back from our April break, so you will have plenty of time to purchase supplies.
I hope you can support me with my Donation Drive and I know that the students that Suka Society is supporting will really appreciate your help!
Community Project: Helping Stray Cats
By Wafiy Yusri and Niclas Wihlborg, Grade 8
Hello everyone!
We are Wafiy Yusri and Niclas Wihlborg from Grade 8, and we are working with the Valencia Trap and Release Organisation (VTRO) to help stray cats.
A green donation box will be placed in the level 6 DP lounge starting on March 29th, where every one can donate cat food. Please make sure that the cat food is sealed properly and safely put into the box, for us to collect.
If you would like to donate money, please contact us on our emails, wafiy.yusri026@igbis.edu.my and niclas.wihlborg026@igbis.edu.my. We will come to collect the money from you directly.
All donations will be given to the Valencia Trap and Release Organization (VTRO).
Donations would be greatly appreciated, so please donate if possible!
Thank you!
Young Activists Group
My name is Constance. I am a Young Activist in Grade 4. My SDG number is 5; Gender Equality. I am going to be doing a book drive for Zomi Education from April 18-22. Please send in any old children’s books that you don’t need anymore. The books can be dropped off after the turnstiles on level 2.
My name is Kayvan. I am a Young Activist in G4. My SDG number 14; Life Below Water. I am bringing back Zero Waste Wednesdays to reduce plastic in the ocean. Please don’t send any plastic in your child’s snacks and lunch on Wednesdays.
Pre-Order Menu (4 – 8 April, 2022)
Place your order HERE.
