This week our Grade 12 students began their IB DP Examinations, we wish them all the very best for the next three weeks of finals. Invitations for our 2019 Graduation Ceremony have been sent to families and the community and we are in our final preparations for a wonderful celebration.
We celebrate the IB Learner Profile ‘Reflective’ this month. ‘We thoughtfully consider the world and our own ideas and experience. We work to understand our strengths and weaknesses in order to support our learning and personal development.’ (IBO, 2006) Students will have time throughout the day to reflect on their learning and how to develop individual skills. We look forward to welcoming parents to the Paterson campus for our Parent Focus group feedback session. This will be on Wednesday 8th May at 8am in the Changi Hall in the Elementary School, everyone is welcome to attend. An invitation has been sent from the Head of School’s office, please do contact the school if you need another copy. Service Learning This past week our Grade 9 students have been busy identifying a ‘Community Cause’ that they would like to focus on this semester. We hope the students will identify a passion they are interested to complete as their Service As Action in the MYP and possibly continue into Grade 11 and Grade 12 as their CAS project. They will complete a series of sessions through the Pastoral Care curriculum to support the chosen cause and develop personal skills from time management, organisational and working on building their personal strengths. We look forward to seeing their Service As Action projects and over the coming weeks. We welcome the whole community to our MYP Arts Showcase on Thursday 9th May 4pm at the Preston campus. It will be a wonderful celebration presented by our MYP students. We had a wonderful buzz at our campus on Tuesday when we welcomed the Grade 8 students for a taster day. They participated in a range of lessons throughout the day and had many opportunities to mingle with the High Schoolers and ask questions. Our Student Council spent time sharing with them some of the exciting events that happen at the High School and how they can get involved. The day ended with a treasure hunt where they walked from Block 1 to Block 5 locating different people that all help support the learning at the High School. We look forward to having them all join us in August and continuing their educational journey at ISS.
Service Learning This week we ended our GYSD activities with some of the Grade 10 students actively creating Sustainable Development Goal posters that can be used by the whole school community. Over the course of the weeks we had 119 students engaged in community projects from Beach Clean up to Give a Teacher a Flower. Many of our teachers mentored the Student Leaders and ISS really did make a difference. MYP Showcase On May 9th at 4pm we will have our annual MYP Showcase in the Drama black box (block 5) on the Preston campus - this year the chosen theme is ‘Our Future?'. The showcase is an interactive experience that explores the ideas of consumerism, consumption, human ingenuity and scientific advancements, and will leave audiences thinking "what will our future look like?" The Showcase involves G9 and G10 MYP students who study Drama, Visual Art, Music and Design. Please add this date in your diaries and we look forward to welcoming you to the high school for an afternoon of entertainment. We said goodbye to our Class of 2019 today as they go on ‘Study Leave’ to prepare for their final IB DP Examinations. As we all arrived at school this morning, the students had decorated many classrooms and the hallways to show their ‘Teacher Appreciation’. We had a lovely ‘Leavers Assembly’, recognising their achievements outside of the classroom through CAS and Sports. The day ended for them all with a celebratory ‘High Tea’ and a few wise words from Dr. Alvarez. Good Luck to them all in their upcoming examinations.
Service Learning We had a group of students and teachers go to Far East Coast to complete a ‘Beach Clean-Up’ on Wednesday for GYSD. Also on Thursday teachers were presented with a flower and chocolate as a demonstration of appreciation for all that they do. A wonderful end to the week for us all and a testament to the teachers who continue to support our learners in a caring and nurturing environment. Examinations The examination timetables for Grade 9 and Grade 11 students has been sent to all students for their finals that begin on May 16 and May 21 respectfully. If you have any questions about the examinations, please contact the IB coordinators. Conversations with Counsellors Dear Parents/Guardians. We would like to invite you to our last "Conversations with Counsellors" session on Tuesday the 30th of April from 8:30-10:30 am at Changi Hall, Paterson Campus. This time around, we would like to hear from you! Please come and share your concerns and successes in raising your kids/teenagers in today's challenging world. Light snacks and coffee/tea will be served. Looking forward to seeing you all on the 30th, before we all start preparing for the final exams for the 2018-2019 Academic Year. Enjoy the Good Friday Public Holiday (no school). We have had a very busy week as our Global Youth Service Week kicked off on Tuesday with the 7th Annual Depot Clean-Up, followed by an early morning Support Breakfast. We also welcomed back out Grade 10 students who had spent 3-days out on our school-based project on work and industry. They had opportunities to be exposed to various industries, which include engineering, F&B, logistics, media, healthcare and hospitality and returned into school with many stories to tell. Many mentioned how 'hard it was to work all day!' and were thankful to return to school. Service Learning Global Youth Service Day (GYSD) is an annual celebration of young volunteers around the world. It is designed to encourage youth to participate in community service and service-learning and to honour those who have contributed to their communities through voluntary commitment. (https://leadasap.ysa.org/gysd/). At ISS we have been actively involved in various community projects and this year were recognised by the local Singapore Police Force for our support and collaboration with the local Clementi Division. We are very proud of our High School students and their commitment to the local community. Our Assembly this week celebrated the IB Learner Profile Thinker, "We use critical and creative thinking skills to analyse and take responsible action on complex problems. We exercise initiative in making reasoned, ethical decisions." (IBO, 2016). Congratulations to the following students for being recognised as thinkers.
G9 Aron Aiden Jian Jimin Winnie Akira Cindy Yewon G10 Matt Yerim Teppai Junquan Yihan Sadiq Thomas G11 Fehmina Sabrina Sabine Gayarthri G12 Khin Ko Ko Jesselyn Benjamin Kunwoo Chen-Yu Ryota Gabriel Alfredo Family Fun Festival What a wonderful success was the Family Fun Festival. Our Student Council and other High School students participated and volunteered their time to help or run stalls raising funds for a range charities. We all enjoyed the silent auction, the diversity of foods on offer, the wonderful music and a chance to socialise with the ISS community. Council of International Schools (CIS) survey Each year ISS seeks feedback about our school from parents, guardians, staff members and students using a survey created by our accreditation agencies. Each question relates to an accreditation standard. Over the last few years we have invested considerable time and resources in strengthening our communications about the school through social media and other channels. As a result, we have added some questions at the end of the survey that will help us gauge our reach in that area. The findings from the survey are used to inform our strategic planning process. Student and Faculty findings will be explored during focus group meetings to be held over the coming weeks along with a Parent Focus group in May. Welcome back to our final quarter of our school year, and I hope you all had a lovely break. Our students were busy over the Spring break; preparing for the upcoming examinations; Global Youth Service Day and World Of Work Project amongst others things.
Service Learning As a self initiated CAS project, Emilia and Schezin (two of our Grade 11 students) travelled to Batam, Indonesia during the March break and worked in a local primary school to run a sports tournament to help bring a 'smile' to their faces. The primary students all had great fun and the trip a great success. New families Welcome to ISS for all our new students. Great to see so many new faces joining the High School. We hope you will have a wonderful learning experience and make many lasting friendships. Model United Nations We had a number of delegates from ISS at the OFSMUN XI event at the end of last term. Dr Ford and Ms Bromberg expressed how well the delegates spoke within their groups and were truly outstanding role models. Congratulations to all of the students that took part in such a meaningful event. Grade 12 Lunch Every year, our Grade 12 students take our teachers ‘out for lunch’ as a token of their appreciation. This year we once again saw the students and teachers sharing great food, and teachers sharing stories about their experiences at University and working life. This is a wonderful annual event that helps support our students transition into ‘University Life and beyond’. Family Fun Event As this blog ‘goes to press’ the PTA Family Fun Festival is in full swing. So much work has gone on in the background and we cannot thank the PTA enough for all their hard work. We know it will be a great success. Welcome to the last blog for this term which has certainly been a busy and productive one for our students and teachers.
It is also International Women’s Day - so let’s celebrate all the amazing women that we know! https://www.internationalwomensday.com/ Last week we were entertained by wonderful music from the IB DP students at the Esplanade Library, congratulations to all of the students who played and sung beautifully. We have had a busy two weeks of Language Acquisition examinations for all of our students in all four components; listening, speaking, writing and reading, Well done to the students who conducted themselves so well throughout the weeks. Our Grade 12 students continue to receive offers from Universities from across the globe. These offers are from the UK: Edinburgh, Warwick, King’s College, Brunel, Manchester, Durham, Cardiff, Birmingham, Swansea, Reading, Newcastle, Portsmouth, Chester, Roehampton, Huddersfield, Plymouth, Southampton, Sheffield, University of the Arts, London. In Holland: University of Amsterdam, Groningen, Erasmus and in the USA Drexel and Hult. In Japan: Okayama and from China/HK: Shanghai Jiao Tong University, HKU, HKUST. In Australia: University of New South Wales. We expect more offers to arrive over the coming weeks. This is extremely inspiring and a fantastic achievement for our students. We return after our Spring break on Monday 1st April and look forward to the PTA Family Fun Evening on Friday 5th April at our Paterson campus from 4pm. Our Grade 9 Design students are busy creating recycled outfits using a range of recycled material. All will be displayed at our upcoming MYP Arts Show on 2nd May. Our Grade 10 and Grade 12 students have been busy this week completing their final oral examinations for the IB DP Language B and IB MYP Language Acquisition classes. The students conducted themselves well; arriving on time and giving their best. We also completed our three-way conferences where many parents/guardians and students took advantage to meet the teachers and find out how well they are progressing in the subject and the focus for the rest of the semester.
Mid-Semester Report Cards This year we have changed our Mid-Semester report cards for our examination classes: Grade 10 and Grade 12. These students will now receive a comment that indicates a key focus to develop in preparation for the final examinations in May for each of their subjects. This additional feedback for our students in each subject will help support them as they prepare their revision schedules in the coming weeks for their examinations. PTA Family Fun Fair Our Family Fun Fair will be on Friday, 5 April, 4-8pm at Paterson Campus. The PTA will have carnival games, a wide variety of food and drinks, entertainment, vendors and a SILENT AUCTION. For the SILENT AUCTION the PTA are asking for donations that can be used to auction; meal vouchers, spa vouchers, paintings, vases, jewellery, hairdresser vouchers…..anything that can be auctioned for charity. Please dig deep and bring/send any items to school as soon as possible. Please bring in the items by 15 March and email the PTA where to pick them up. ([email protected]) We ended this week with our IB Learner Profile ‘Communicators’ Assembly. Congratulations to the following students who were recognised for being true communicators. "They understand and express ideas and information confidently and creatively in more than one language and in a variety of modes of communication. They work effectively and willingly in collaboration with others”. (ibo.org)
G9 Julie x 2 Jeslyn Nuntawat William Aron Panashe Oscar Mari Mingjie (Jay) John-Kunsan Juhoung (Aiden) G10 Zirui (Rita) Zhixiang (Tony) Jiale Jiajia Rebecca Thomas Xiao Kunwoo Sanghyun (Simon) Xinyan (Kelvin) Matt G11 Minchan ANP Sarahanne Ruby Elsye Brennan Fehmina Hao (Jackson) x 2 Nazel G12 Grace Daffa Jesslyn Marsha Yu-Lun (Alan) ISA reports Having now completed the ISA tests I can report that our Grade 9 students conducted themselves very well throughout the two days. We look forward to receiving the individual reports sometime in April when they will be uploaded onto ManageBac for parents and students to access. University Advising We say goodbye to Ms Mala Swaninathan next week and would like to wish her all the very best in her future endeavours. Ms Jo Kys will be taking over from Ms Mala Swaninathan as our University Advisor, having worked in this role in her previous school. We look forward to continuing to support all our graduates and high schoolers as they prepare for the next steps of their learning journey. If you have any questions about University Advising, please contact Ms Kys on [email protected] The ACSIS Basketball season has come to an end and our boys team came 4th in Division 2, just missing a chance for a medal. The girls team came 5th and both teams are keen to train hard to move up the rankings next season. Congratulations to coach Larkins and Millar and to all of our Basketball players on your great team work and perseverance. We look forward to seeing parents, guardians and students at the Three-way Conference on Monday or Wednesday next week and at our IB DP Music Concert at the Esplanade Library on Friday evening. We had an amazing Lion Dance on Tuesday for all of the students and staff. The Lion's performed magnificently and our Grade 12 students were given luck and prosperity for their upcoming IB final examinations.
This past week has been seen our MYP Grade 9 students engaged in the International Schools Assessment (ISA) tests. The ISA assessment will give us more insight into our literacy programmes and provide a valuable snapshot of data for reflection. The students conducted themselves well, and each session started with '3 breaths' of Mindfulness. We recognise that assessments can be an anxious time for students and hence, we use a mindfulness practise at the start and end of assessments to support students and help them to relax and be better prepared. This week during Wellness Wednesday we had guests from Now.Here join us to speak with our Grade 11 students about Self-Compassion and Mindfulness (please see the link here for the many mindful workshops available for our community). Our Grade 10 learnt all about the new IB DP Mathematics programme and Grade 12 continued on their journey learning life skills; sewing, basic cooking, personal finance and flat sharing at University. Grade 9 prepared for the ISA tests and were provided with tips on how to be mindful when in examinations to relieve stress. On Valentines Day the Acts of Kindness (ARK) ECA distributed Valentine messages and chocolates to many students and teachers. It is so wonderful to be part of such a loving and caring community. Well done to the ARK team for spreading ‘a little bit of love’. Three Way Conference The Three way Conference is a wonderful opportunity to meet your son/daughter/wards teachers and to gain a greater understanding of their learning and their focus for the coming months. The sign up forms have now been sent to parents and guardians for sign up for Monday 25th February and Wednesday 27th February. If you are unsure how to sign up for the Three Way Conference, please contact the HS office: [email protected] IB DP Music Evening @Esplanade Library On the 1st March at 6:30 pm the IB DP students from Grade 11 and 12 will be performing a range of pieces from their Performance Portfolio in a range of styles from Classical to Pop. We cordially invite the ISS community and friends to this wonderful evening event. We have had a very busy week in the High School with our Grade 10 Speed Careers Fair, teacher vs students basketball matches, our Grade 9 ISA examination trials, our IB Art Exhibition and the Student Council Formal.
IB Art Exhibition The school community was given a wonderful opportunity to hear from our Grade 12 IB Art students at the opening night of their exhibition on Tuesday 29th January. The art work on display was outstanding and each artist was able to articulate why they had produced the various pieces and the inspiration behind each one. A huge thanks goes to Ms Larue for her guidance as she helped each of our students reach their full potential over the past two years. Congratulations to Wei (Ben), Euijin (Rachel), Lucinda and Kaho. ISA On Thursday 14th and Friday 15th February we will have our ISA tests for Grade 9. To prepare for the test, students should have their computer charged the night before, get a good night of sleep, have a healthy breakfast, and arrive at school relaxed and on time. WIDA International News WIDA's International News for January features ISS as the Focus School. Mrs Edwards and Mr Taylor collaborated on an article about how we have found ways to integrate both the International Baccalaureate (IB) and WIDA framework to articulate and strengthen our bespoke curriculum and differentiated teaching approach for all levels of English learners. Here it is the link if you wish to read the whole article. Mindful Parenting Workshop We are pleased to work in collaboration with Now.Here for their upcoming Mindful Parenting Workshop on February 10th at our Paterson campus. Parenting by all standards is challenging. So often the demands of life affect our ability as parents to practice deep listening and compassion with our children. This can lead to a lot of frustration and confusion for both parent and child, which then impacts the quality of the parent/child relationship. Designed for parents, this 1-day workshop will teach some essential Mindfulness practices and provide tools and methods for navigating the complex challenges of parenting. At the same time, parents will learn how to better connect with other family members as well as build emotional resilience in their children. Now.Here. website: https://www.rightnow-righthere.com/ Eventbrite page for easy registration:https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1-day-parenting-from-inside-out-core-skills-training-tickets-53526075934 |
Christopher Hayward: High School Principal
Fiona Edwards: High School Assistant Principal
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