IGBIS Newsletter, Issue 293

From the Secondary School Principal

By Sandy van Nooten, Secondary School Principal

Covid Updates

• We had quite a big Covid week this week. Grade 8 (at very short notice) went online for 2 days as a Covid circuit-breaker. Thanks for being flexible, resilient and understanding.
• 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 Next Week

• Here is the schedule for photos next week. Grade 6, 12, and 7 on Wednesday, Grade 11, 9, 10 and 8 on Thursday.

• Please make sure that your secondary student is in proper school uniform for their photo (no PE clothes etc.). Students may need to change before or after their photo session. 
• Student Groups like StuCo, MUN etc. will need to get photos taken during break or lunch on either day.

Shamrock Day

On Thursday, our house captains organised Shamrock Day. Lots of students and teachers came dressed in Green and joined in the hunt for shamrocks and leprechauns to earn house points. There was some healthy competition and great house spirit on display. Huge thanks to the student organisers and their spirited house teachers (Kerri and Ruth).

Earth Day (and Earth Hour)

Next Friday, IGBIS will be running an extension of Earth Hour to turn it into an Earth Day. 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. Essentially, they want us to use zero power and no devices until the first break and then after that, to use limited power and very limited devices for the remainder of the day. The students will be sharing their purpose and plans in more detail next week. You will see below that the PYP is also taking part in the official World Earth Hour next Saturday (26th March), but the secondary 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.

Have a great weekend (don’t forget RTKs on Sunday)

Regards

Sandy

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Earth Hour 2022

By Kari Twedt

Grade 5 students are taking action for their PYPX by supporting the Non-Profit WWF-Malaysia team in their Earth Hour Pledge for Nature. Earth Hour is from 8:30 pm – 9:30 pm on Saturday, 26 March 2022.

The students are taking the pledge themselves and inviting the IGBIS community to also take part!

There are two parts to the pledge:

1. Switch off lights during Earth Hour
2. Plant a tree/ add a potted plant at your home, school or office during 2022

To sign the pledge yourself please go to:
https://www.wwf.org.my/about_wwf/earth_hour_pledge_for_nature_

You can put “IGBIS” in the Company/Educational Institution block to show WWF that IGBIS is supporting them!

Thank you for caring about the Earth and helping support our PYPX students as they show initiative and take action for our planet.

Earth-hour

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Pandemic, War & Floods

How to Talk to Young People When So Much of What We See and Hear in the News is Negative or Scary.

By Leanne Harvey, Middle School Counsellor/Secondary School Learning Support Teacher

I don’t know about you, but for me, the last two years seem like they have been full of constant bad or scary news reported in the media. When positive news stories are covered, they are often overshadowed by news of a global pandemic, wars and conflicts, floods and more. As parents and educators we often find ourselves asking; ‘what can we do to help prepare and protect our kids from all this scary news?’

Child development experts offer this very valuable advice:

Limit young people’s exposure to breaking news

• As adults, we can’t control the amount of information but we can control the amount of exposure
• Try not to let your children experience the news without you
• Adults need to control the technology that exposes kids to potentially traumatic news (when children are left unsupervised on devices is inevitable that they will stumble across content that has been curated for adults)

For big stories, ask: “What have you heard and how are you feeling?”

As many of us have experienced, sometimes there are stories that are just too big to avoid. Along with this, there are times when if they don’t hear about it at home, they will certainly hear about it at school from classmates.

• Allow young people to ask questions about what they are seeing, how they are feeling and what they are thinking
• Give kids a safe space to reflect and share

Give them facts and content

• Deflate memes, myths and misconceptions that can often run rife on social media
• Give facts and explore news stories together using maps and credible news sources

Look for the ‘helpers’

• Focus on the positives
• Work together to identify who the people are who are helping the situation

Take positive action together

• Discuss and plan any actions you could take together in response to the news
• A sense of agency can dramatically reduce a child’s anxiety
• Don’t just look for helpers – be a helper

Please remember that our counselling team is here to assist if you need help talking to your young people about any of these or other matters. Please reach out to:

• Mr John Schuster (john.schuster@igbis.edu.my) – Elementary Counselor
• Ms Leanne Harvey (leanne.harvey@igbis.edu.my) – Middle School Counsellor
• Mr Tim Howe (tim.howe@igbis.edu.my) – High School Counsellor

*Reference: Anya Kamenetz and Cory Turner – https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/59143/war-crisis-tragedy-how-to-talk-with-kids-when-the-news-is-scary?fbclid=IwAR2-VMfBgPtlKfheaxf289KgGRDTywYNJJgmuFiEuQ16BHKBgLbYOevJSwI

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House Notices 18^th March

By Ruth Spracklan, Athletics Director, MYP Wellness Coordinator

Walk the World with IGBIS!

The first week of distances are in, and it seems we have a 2 horse race! AQUA are plodding along with a respectable 9km (not quite at the first stop point just yet) but stomping ahead are AER with 44km! That’s 2 out of 16 stops completed in just the first week, go AER!

TERRA and IGNIS, are you there??…

Spirit Shirt Fridays

We love having some House fun, and nothing brings a smile to our faces more than seeing a sea of coloured shirts! SO, up until April break, we are inviting you all to wear your House shirts every Friday! Not only can you earn some much-needed HOUSE POINTS by wearing your shirt, but we have some fun House activities planned for those days!

Friday 25^th

In honour of Walk the World and Earth Day we invite students to join us at lunchtime to get walking around the track. Not only is this a great opportunity to get some steps in for a challenge, but it is also a chance to be away from the screens and get some much-needed vitamin D. This activity will run throughout the whole lunchtime so plenty of time to eat and walk! Just join us on the track when you are ready.

Friday 1^st

Students join us for a lunchtime of games and giggles! Information to be sent closer to the day.

Friday 8^th April

We won’t give the game away just yet, but there are some awesome things being planned for you for this day… Watch this space!

House Results!

After counting, recounting and checking over and over, we are pleased to announce the following results from our 17^th March House Day!

• 1^st place – Terra: 674
• 2^nd place – Ignis: 605
• 3^rd place – Aqua: 595
• 4^th place – Aer: 446 

Congratulations to TERRA! Well done to everyone for taking part, it was such a fun day!

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Pre-Order Menu (21st – 25th March 2022)

Place your order HERE

menu-march-week-4