IGBIS Newsletter | Issue 195 – IGB International School

We celebrated our first IGBIS Hari Raya whole school assembly on Tuesday this week. Thanks are extended to all of the students and staff who took part in the assembly and in particular to Mr Rashid and Ms Pei Yee for organising the assembly. The parents dance performance was most likely the highlight of them all. Go IGBIS parents!

Next week we have a number of end of year events including the final Elementary School assembly and the Secondary School Awards assembly on June 13th. As is now our tradition, there will be a final farewell wave from all of the staff as the students leave school.

One of the difficult things about the end of the school year, is saying goodbye to staff and students who are moving to other places. This year we are saying farewell to Mr Geoff Derry and Ms Tanya Cornish, along with Ms Mary Richards who have been with IGBIS since we opened in 2014, while Mr Anthony and Mrs Jo Spivey-Jones joined us in 2015. Mr Sean McDermott, Mrs Clare Demnar, Ms Nadia, Dr Andrew Blumbergs and Ms Greta Corney are also moving on to other places. I will write a farewell note about these leaving staff members next week.

Mrs Anne Fowles | Head of School

Dear parents/guardians,
The Hari Raya assembly was a great celebration this week, with performances from across the school, from the staff and the parents. It was a great community event as we get ever closer to the end of year.
Looking forward, in secondary we have an exciting week planned for the final week of school. Students will head out to Sunway Lagoon on Monday, on Service trips on Tuesday, and take part in a Mix-It-Up across the secondary school on Wednesday, organized by our Student Ambassadors. Lastly, we will close with our final assembly on Thursday at 10am. All parents are welcome to attend.
Wishing students and families a good weekend and enjoyable final week of school.
Best regards,

Michael Arcidiacono | Secondary School Principal

This week saw our first Hari Raya assembly. It was wonderful to see all the community get involved and take part in the performances. The Elementary students, the Secondary students, the business and support team, teachers, and not forgetting the parents. It was a dancing and singing celebration.

Our thanks go to Mr. Rashid and Ms. Pei Yee for coordinating the assembly and the myriad of helpers that made it a success. Not forgetting the parent community for pulling together to decorate the outside of the theatre as well.

In the Elementary School we are continuing the rotating timetable as we will still be in school.

Monday 10th: Day 4
Tuesday 11th: Day 5
Wednesday 12th: Day 6
Thursday 13th: Day 7

As we near the end of the school year it is tinged with sadness as we have to say goodbye to some leaving students and teachers as well. We wish all of our leaving students good luck as many of them move to new countries and new schools.

I would like to offer my special thanks to the teachers who are destined for new adventures, Ms. Demnar, Ms. Richards, Mr. Derry, and Ms. Nadia, you have made a difference to many students at IGBIS and I am sure you will be remembered in years to come. Mr. Mike has decided to take on a different role next year, but rest assured we will still see him around school as he is still involved in Capoeira and will act as one of our substitute teachers.

Dates for your diaries

Monday 10th June: ES STEAM activities at IGBIS
Tuesday 11th June: Grade 5 Celebration assembly 8.00am, Theatre
Thursday 13th June: ES final assembly (Sharethon) 8.00am, Theatre
Thursday 13th June: Last day of school for students, 12pm finish.

Simon Millward | Elementary School Principal

In preparation for the start of school in August 2019, we would like to provide you with the following information:

Reception Day

Reception Day for parents and students from Kindergarten to Grade 12 will take place on Saturday, 3rd August commencing at 10.15am and concluding at 11.30am. This will be an opportunity to meet your child’s homeroom teacher and find out where their room is located. When you arrive on Saturday morning, please go directly to Level 3 where you will find notice boards showing the new class and staff information.

Programme for Saturday August 3rd:

10.15am Students and parents to arrive and move to Level 3 Performing Arts Foyer to view new classlists.
10.25am Students move to their respective classrooms, accompanied by their parents.
10.30am New students introduced to classmates. Returning parents welcome new parents into our IGBIS community. Admissions and Finance staff will be available at the Reception area in Level 5 to assist with outstanding logistics (car stickers, transportation, ID tags, etc.)
11.30am Finish

** Please note that the Orientation/Reception for Fireflies and Early Years 1 and 2 students will occur on Friday 2nd August.

Fireflies Session: 9.15am—10.15am
Early Years Session: 10.30am—11.30am

Uniforms

Uniforms can be purchased from The Uniform Shop near reception on Level 5. The Uniform Shop will have extended opening hours from Monday 15th July.:

15th July (Mon)—2nd Aug (Fri) 2019 :
Morning 10.00am—12.00pm | Afternoon 1.30pm—3.30pm
3rd Aug (Sat) – Orientation Day : Morning & Afternoon
5th Aug (Mon) – First day of School:
Morning 7.30am – 8.30am | Afternoon 2.45pm—3.30pm
6th Aug (Tues) – School Day :
Morning 7.30am—8.30am | Afternoon 2.45pm—3.45pm
9th Aug (Fri) – School Day : Morning 7.30am—8.30am

You are welcome to make an earlier appointment to purchase uniforms via the Admissions Office.

Online Purchase of Macbook Computers

Please find the online purchasing procedures and the discounted price list for Macbook Computers at: MacDirection igbis.macdirection.com and Valuetech Solutions ben@myvaluetech.com.

We have already contacted the parents of students going into Grade 6 as to the purchase and imaging of their children’s Macbooks. We have been pleased to see that so many people are doing this now so that they are ready for use in August.

Car Stickers

The new car stickers for the 2019-2020 academic year are now available at Reception. It is very important for security that these are replaced each year. We ask that you place these stickers where they are easily visible on the upper left hand side of your windscreen for our security team to easily identify you.

We look forward to welcoming all of you back to IGBIS on Saturday, August 3rd, 2019 at 10.15am. Please let us know if we can assist in any way in the meantime.

Wayne Demnar | Director of Admissions and Public Relations

Friends of the Phoenix

As we bid farewell to our graduating students, we also welcomed our newest members of the ‘Friends of the Phoenix.’ We are excited to announce the launch of our ‘Friends of the Phoenix’ directory. This directory is a social and professional network for all former members of the community. It can be found online at www.igbis.edu.my/friendsofthephoenix.

Who are the ‘Friends of the Phoenix’? Anyone who has ever been a part of the IGBIS community is a ‘Friend of the Phoenix’. That includes all of our former students, their parents, and former staff members, in addition to our school’s alumni.

I am a ‘Friend of the Phoenix’. Why should I register and what can the directory be used for? There are countless reasons why one would reach out to a fellow ‘Friend of the Phoenix’: to enquire about an university, about life in a specific country, for an employment connection… the possibilities are endless.

How can I view the directory? If you are a ‘Friend of the Phoenix’, visit the above mentioned website and fill out your profile. You will be able to select which information you would like others to view. Once your own profile is completed, you will be able to login and view information that others have submitted as well. There is no cost to join.

I’ve joined. What next? Encourage other ‘Friends of the Phoenix’ to complete their profiles. The success of this directory will be largely based on everyone’s input. As life takes you to new locations, be sure to check the directory to see if there are any ‘Friends of the Phoenix’ in the area. As a registered ‘Friend of the Phoenix’, you can also request transcripts, schedule a school visit, order a yearbook, and much more.

Friends of the Phoenix Events

IGB International School is pleased to invite all ‘Friends of the Phoenix’ to our annual social functions, the Phoenix Makan on 3 August 2019, and the London Annual Dinner on 18 January 2020. Please see the attached invitations for more details.
We are looking forward to catching up with many of you at our inaugural Phoenix Makan at IGB International School on Saturday, 3 August 2019. Please feel free to share this invitation to fellow ‘Friends of the Phoenix,’ and remember to RSVP by 28 July 2019.

Uniform Drive

Have your kids outgrown their uniforms? Are they moving on to Secondary school and need new shirts? Are your children graduating or leaving IGBIS and you’re not quite sure what to do with their school uniforms?

Buy/Swap/Donate!

Save your old uniforms for the next Uniform Drive, to be held in August 2019. Used uniforms will be available for purchase for RM10 each or bring your own uniforms to swap for different ones. Proceeds collected will go towards the PVO fund.

Uniform donations can be dropped off or exchanged for tokens anytime at Reception on Level 5.

Julie Arcidiacono | Community and Events Coordinator

There has been so much learning going on in elementary Host Nation classes. From learning about Malaysian animals to discovering the geographical features of Malaysia, to creating some batik-style art from crayons and black paint. There has been lots of singing, investigating, story-telling, and creating in our classes.

The Kindergarten students have been learning about animals found in Malaysia. During this unit they have explored and discovered some of the endangered animals in Malaysia such as Malayan Tiger, Malayan Tapir and Orangutan. They learned some Malay nursery songs, watched folktale stories about Sang Kancil, participated in activities such as role playing and making animal masks which helped them remember the names of the animals in Malay. They had lots of fun and enjoyed learning about animals of Malaysia.

Grade 3 students have learned about Malaysian cultural events. Students researched the names of traditional and modern musical instruments. Students can identify the key features in traditional and modern musical instruments. Students successfully accomplished their poster and presentation project.

In Grade 4 we are exploring the different geographical features of Malaysia. After doing their own research, students successfully created a poster and presented their knowledge to the class.

Grade 5 students have been exploring different types of Malaysian batik. Students also expressed their creativity by making a crayon batik on paper. Students drew a design of their choice that represented Malaysia on paper. They coloured the design with a thick layer of wax crayon, then crumpled it up. The crumple created cracks in the paper that black paint would stick to. The students enjoyed seeing the batik effect created with the paint in all the cracks and they created really beautiful textural effects.

The Elementary Host Nation Team

We are pleased to formally announce that IB Computer Science is being offered for the 2019/20 academic year in the IB Diploma Programme.

The course will enable students to become fluent in the concepts and terminology that is a part of being a technically capable student in the Computer Science subject. There is an emphasis on computational and algorithmic thinking, where students will learn how to write computer code that solves problems. In addition, students will have a solid understanding of common issues in technology.

While the external assessments do not directly assess their ability to produce professional code, they will be assessed on their ability to demonstrate learning by writing out example code given particular problems, in pseudocode. Nonetheless, students will also become capable at writing correct Python code, which is the language of choice for working on our problems and projects.

The first year of study is focused on learning the topics by exploring concepts in Python, and where appropriate, other languages. The second year is then about reviewing the topics, and completing the Internal Assessment, which requires students to identify a client and code up a solution given the provided specifications.

At IGBIS we are offering the Web Sciences option of the course, as we feel this is the best fit for our students, since they are exposed to the option in Design classes in the MYP. This means that successful candidates will become very familiar with how websites are built, including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and interactions with a database.

The teacher offering this course, Mr Adam Morris, is a consultant in educational technology and fluent in Python and JavaScript. He has contributed to Open Source technologies and is the author the Splash Page and other solutions.

Adam Morris | Secondary School Teacher