I write today’s blog at the end of a fantastic day celebrating ISS International Day. What a great event with such a mix of cultures, activities, national dress and of course the delicious food! My sincere thanks to all those involved in all the organising of the event and also all the contributors to ensure such a smooth and enjoyable day. I look forward to next year when we hold the event at Preston!
Last Saturday we also held the ISS Christmas Fair at Paterson campus which was a great event and really enjoyed by all those in attendance. Lots of Christmas shopping opportunities and also a wonderful time to meet with others in the community we don’t often get the chance to meet or spend time with. On Tuesday evening we held a Grade 10 information evening for parents, students and guardians as we begin the process of course and subject choices and the transition into Grade 11. Plenty more to follow, thank you to all who attended. Next week, on Tuesday afternoon, the Grade 10 Personal Project Exhibition will take place. This is the showcase of the Grade 10 projects which they have been working on as an integral part of their MYP studies. This will be held in the hall at the High School from 1:30 pm. All parents and guardians are welcome to attend. This semester comes to an end on Wednesday 18th December. Students will be dismissed at 12 pm. Semester One report cards will be uploaded to Mangagebac on Wednesday afternoon. School reopens on Wednesday 8th January. I wish you all a wonderful holiday and Happy Christmas to those celebrating. I also take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support for all that takes place at the High School. Reading back over the blog posts from Semester One shows just how busy a place the ISS High School community is! There are plenty of exciting events that have enriched students’ learning and I look forward to many more next semester. Upcoming Events:
I wish you all a restful weekend, Christopher Hayward This week our ESL students have begun their WIDA English Proficiency assessments. This informs us of their progress and helps us to ensure that they continue to get the correct level of support to help them in their learning. It is really encouraging to see the progress made by individuals. Well done to all!
On Thursday evening Preston Campus hosted our annual Festival of Lights; a special showcase of musical talent from the Diploma Music students and also many others who wanted to demonstrate their passion for the Arts. The range of instruments and ability was fantastic; congratulations to all involved, and special thanks to Mr Miscovich and Mr Garden for their dedication and guidance of our musical virtuosos! Today we were also treated to a fencing demonstration organised through one of our Grade 12 students as a CAS project. It was great to see such a high level of student interest and the skill and precision shown by the demonstrators! Next week we will be hosting an information evening for Grade 10 parents, guardians and students on Tuesday night as the start of our transition process for moving into Grade 11. Do join us in the hall at the High School from 6 pm. Tomorrow ISS hosts a Christmas Fair at the Paterson campus - do come along and enjoy the festivities in the form of a European Christmas market in the tropics! This will take place from 11 am to 3 pm (25 Paterson Road). Next Friday we will end the week with one of the big highlights of the year - the ISS International Day. This will also be at the Paterson campus. There will be an early dismissal for students who may depart from 12:30 pm onwards (after they have been cleared to leave by their kampong teacher). Upcoming Events:
I wish you all a restful weekend, Christopher Hayward Following the Elementary School visits to Preston last week, the Middle School visited this week with Grades 6 and 7 coming on Monday and Grade 8 today. The students really seemed to enjoy looking around the campus and excitement is clearly building for August 2020 when we all join together on the same campus.
This week has seen a lot of effort from both students and teachers as oral examinations have been completed. Language Acquisition orals for all High School students and the final Language and Literature oral exams for Grade 12 were completed successfully. Next week our ESL students will be completing the WIDA Online English Language Proficiency test. This provides teachers and students with valuable data to track progress and ensure appropriate support continues to be provided. Festival of Lights takes place on Thursday evening and parents and guardians should have received an invite through a message on Managebac. Do join us at the High School from 6 pm. We will begin in the library with a presentation from the architect who will update and share details of the plans for renovations at Preston as we prepare for August 2020. The evening will include a variety of musical pieces, both inside and out! Not to be missed! Our High School Diploma students have now completed their semester 1 site visits where they have gained valuable experience completing a work-based project in a variety of industries including the food bank, Singapore National Parks and St Luke’s Hospice. The HSD students will be presenting about their experiences to the High School in assembly on Friday. We look forward to the exciting projects that they participate in next semester. I hope you will join us at the Paterson campus on Saturday 7th December for the ISS Christmas Fair - a Christmas Market in the tropics! Upcoming Events:
I wish you all a restful weekend, Christopher Hayward There was great excitement this week as Elementary School classes visited Preston to see their future surroundings for next year as we all join together on one site. The High School Student Council welcomed the Elementary students upon their arrival and shared what they enjoy most about being on this campus: the nature and wildlife around the site, the old heritage buildings and the available space to meet with friends. The students then went on a tour around the campus and completed a quiz to see what interesting facts they could remember. The morning ended with a pizza lunch. It was lovely to see the younger children on this campus and enjoying themselves. It has added to the excitement and anticipation for August and I have no doubt having the whole school together will add to the vibrancy and life of the school.
Next week is Assessment Week during which all students will take oral assessments for Language Acquisition as well as the Grade 12 students completing their final oral assessment piece for Language & Literature which will be externally marked and moderated by the IB, contributing to their final IB results. The following week the High School will hold our Festival of Lights to which all parents and students are invited. This is organised by the music department and will be an evening to enjoy listening and watching various performances both outdoors and indoors. Upcoming Events:
I wish you all a restful weekend, Christopher Hayward This week all of us, staff and students, enjoyed celebrating World Kindness Day on Wednesday. The ARK (Acts of Random Kindness) group arranged to hand out small chocolates to all staff and students. What a lovely gesture for them to organise and a timely reminder of what a difference showing appreciation and kindness can make to someone’s day.
This week I have spent a considerable amount of time in lessons across the High School. I mention this as I want to highlight and recognise some of the exciting, engaging and thoughtful activities planned by teachers for our students on a daily basis. This week I witnessed students drawing what they heard in a music class, understand the concept of scarcity of resources using M&Ms, and also an activity in drama highlighting the power of body movement in changing the meaning or intention of a message. A big thank you to our teachers who put the time and effort into planning such fantastic activities for our students. Throughout next week we will welcome classes from the Paterson campus who will be visiting Preston in preparation for next year when we will all be together. I look forward to meeting them and participating in some of the activities planned as they get to know the campus. Look out for the pictures on next week’s blog! Upcoming Events:
I wish you all a restful weekend, Christopher Hayward While there was some frustration with this morning’s K-10 Swim Gala being cancelled after the pool remained closed due to lightning, I was most impressed by the patience and understanding shown by all involved. The attitude of the students was exemplary and they participated in fun and games to pass the time while we waited in hope for the storm to pass. Thank you to all who were involved in the organisation and planning who still left with a smile despite the cancellation.
Plenty has happened at the High School since the previous blog two weeks ago. Last week we had guest speakers from NASA who spoke about the opportunity for students to join their summer programme. At the Assembly last week we celebrated students who had demonstrated the Learner Profile attribute Principled: “We act with integrity and honesty, with a strong sense of fairness and justice, and with respect for the dignity and rights of people everywhere. We take responsibility for our actions and their consequences.” Over the coming weeks, we are focussing on Inquirers: “We nurture our curiosity, developing skills for inquiry and research. We know how to learn independently and with others. We learn with enthusiasm and sustain our love of learning throughout life.” Last weekend our students participated in the Model United Nations (MUN) conference held at OFS. Delegates debated global issues and proposed resolutions. This provided a truly engaging experience giving students the opportunity to think creatively of solutions to some of today’s global dilemmas as they prepare to be the solution finders of tomorrow. Thank you to Dr Ford and Ms Bromberg for helping them to prepare and also giving up their weekend to support this opportunity. On Wednesday morning we welcomed parents and guardians for a coffee morning at the High School during which we worked through some activities identifying stress triggers for students and how we use the IB Learner Profile Attributes and ATL skills to help support students and manage stress. On Wednesday evening the IN Art Exhibition, held at the Australian High Commission, was officially opened. This is a collaborative exhibition where schools from across Singapore celebrate their students’ artwork. Our Grade 12 Visual Arts students have work on display and I take this opportunity to congratulate them on their hard work and for the wonderful displays. I also thank Ms Venter for guiding them over the last few months and helping with all the preparation behind the scenes to ensure readiness for the opening. Upcoming Events:
I wish you all a restful weekend, Christopher Hayward The Preston High School Blog will return next week on Friday 8 November.
Two dates to note for the coming week: - Preston High School Coffee Morning: Wednesday 6 November, 9-10am (see Managebac) - K-10 Swim Gala: Friday 8 November Welcome back after the October break! There is plenty to celebrate from the Week Without Walls trips which our Grades 9, 10 and 11 experienced before the break. Enjoy the photos on the blog this week covering a range of activities from all three trips to Vietnam, Bali and Tioman. I have heard great stories of the wonderful experiences on the trips and thank all our teachers for their hard work in the pre-trip preparations and commitment during the trips which ensured such a successful week.
Grade 12 completed their TOK presentations as part of the IB Diploma requirements during the WWW week and there were some excellent presentations which engaged the audience and challenged our thinking. Teachers returned to school on Monday 21st October for a two day in-service programme before students returned on Wednesday this week. It was a productive couple of days for teachers planning, training and extending ideas to ensure that teaching and learning continues to be effective and supports your children’s learning. Next week there is a public holiday for Deepavali on Monday and I wish all those celebrating a happy festival. Towards the end of the semester the High School will hold a Festival of Lights musical performance which I look forward to welcoming you to at a later date. On Friday and through next weekend some of our High School students will be representing the school at the Model United Nations conference held at Overseas Family School, we wish them a productive conference engaging with global issues and collaborating with other internationally minded students. Next week I will share further information and invite you to a Preston Coffee Morning for parents and guardians on Wednesday 6th November. Upcoming Events:
I wish you all a restful weekend, Christopher Hayward As the mid-semester break approaches, final preparations and excitement were directed towards next week’s Week Without Walls trips. Grade 9 set off for Vietnam on Sunday afternoon, Grade 10 depart for Bali on Monday morning and Grade 11 also leave on Monday morning for Tioman island in Malaysia.
Our students look forward to these trips with great anticipation and they are often referred back to as a highlight in student reflections later in the academic year. Containing a mix of service learning, team building and Approaches to Learning (ATL) skills development, we look forward to hearing all about this year’s trips in the coming weeks. We wish all students and teachers successful and enjoyable experiences and safe travel. Ongoing events from the week can be followed on the High School Week Without Walls website which will be updated throughout the week: https://sites.google.com/iss.edu.sg/isshswww2019 Grade 12 students remain at school for a Study Week - the majority of which is dedicated to the Theory of Knowledge (TOK) presentation assessments, an important core component of the IB Diploma Course. Grade 12 students will also have the opportunity to work on Internal Assessments and prepare for examinations. In the High School this week, class photographs were taken. Details of ordering prints online will be shared at a later date after the photos have been processed. Additionally, we look forward to looking back on these photos when reading the yearbook in the future! Upcoming Events:
I wish you all a restful weekend, Christopher Hayward Preston
Last weekend 11 of our High School students and a number of staff supported the SEF Oratory Competition at the Paterson campus. This gives younger students a great opportunity to develop persuasive arguments, debating and presentation skills. Over 100 students from a range of elementary schools in Singapore joined the competition and I thank all those that volunteered in support of the event. This week our Grade 9 students successfully completed the ISA testing. This provides us, as a school, with important data on student progress and benchmarking which allows us to celebrate areas we are doing well in but also identify where areas for development may be required. Result reports from the ISA testing will be sent out in November. Each month we celebrate one of the IB Learner Profile Attributes. Today in Assembly we recognised those students who were nominated by peers and teachers for demonstrating the attribute ‘Balanced’ (We understand the importance of balancing different aspects of our lives - intellectual, physical, and emotional - to achieve well-being for ourselves and others. We recognise our interdependence with other people and with the world in which we live.) For the month of October we will focus on the attribute ‘Principled’ (We act with integrity and honesty, with a strong sense of fairness and justice, and with respect for the dignity and rights of people everywhere. We take responsibility for our actions and their consequences.) Final preparations for the Week Without Walls programme are well under way and the first students, Grade 9, will depart to Vietnam on Sunday 6 October. Grade 10 to Bali and Grade 11 to Tioman, Malaysia depart on Monday 7th. Further detail on each trip can be viewed on the High School Week Without Walls website: sites.google.com/iss.edu.sg/isshswww2019 Thank you to all parents and guardians who were able to join us on Wednesday for the 3-Way-Conferences at the High School. There is another opportunity, for those that were not able to attend on Wednesday, this coming Monday 30 September, again at the High School from 2:10 pm. Signups can still be made through the link sent out to parents through Managebac. Please note that lessons end early at 2 pm on this day to enable the conferences to start at 2:10 pm. Upcoming Events:
I wish you all a restful weekend, Christopher Hayward |
Christopher Hayward: High School Principal
Fiona Edwards: High School Assistant Principal
Archives
April 2020
Categories |