IGBIS Newsletter, Issue 231

Message from the Head of School

Mrs Anne Fowles, Head of School

Dear IGBIS Families,

The first week of the 2020-21 academic year is nearly over and we have had a fantastic start. With the new guidelines to follow, we made sure that our school was completely ready to receive your child(ren). All of the rooms were sanitised, desks distanced, lines marked, bean bags and extra furniture removed and so on. 

It is so good to see the school bustling with life again as students returned to school! I am sure that the students were eager to see their friends, make new ones and meet their teachers once again. We were so impressed by the way they have quickly adapted to their altered environment and expectations for wearing a mask and maintaining distance from their peers.

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We have also been impressed by all of you. Especially those of you with Elementary school children who had to say goodbye outside the turnstiles rather than coming into school. Thank you for your understanding.

Preparation to begin Academic Year of 2020-2021

As previously mentioned, IGBIS was the first school to receive an unannounced visit from the Selangor Ministry of Education to check that we were ready to begin school. We were given the go-ahead the same day. However, we didn’t stop there. We took the initiative to make sure that all of the SOP, signs and markings were in place around the whole school before your child(ren) came in. If you have been following our social media platforms, you would have seen the video we put up. If you have missed it, however, you can watch it here.

IB Results

We would like to congratulate the class of 2020 for their IB Diploma results. This was a particularly challenging year for our students undertaking classes by distance learning, preparing for exams and so on, then the May examinations were cancelled and the IB looked at an alternative means of assessing students and their final results. When the results were at last released, IGBIS along with other schools around the world were totally perplexed by the outcome – some subjects results were higher than expected and others were lower. When I hosted a meeting of other IB schools in Malaysia, we found that we were all in a similar situation especially with Mathematics, the Sciences and some of the Humanities. So we wrote to all levels of the IB to seek means of redress. The IB acknowledged that the algorithm used for the results may not work well in all situations and agreed to schools applying for a review of results for an individual, a subject or a cohort. We are now in the midst of this review process, so our results are not yet finalised, hence our delay in releasing them. However since people are of course very curious as to what these might look like, we can share a synopsis thus far.

75% of our students took the complete IB Diploma course. They all reached the number of points to pass, but in one case the points in Higher Level Subjects were not sufficient for the Diploma to be awarded. We are appealing to this. Two points can be awarded in the Core (Extended Essay, Theory of Knowledge and CAS), our students average was 1.8 which is extremely high. The average total point is around 33.5 but this may rise with the appeals. The highest score was 43, but we hope that this will rise too.

Our Career-related Programme results were outstanding, All three students received an A on their reflective project, their average score for their DP subjects was 6.1/7 and they all passed.

IGBIS Yearbook 2019-2020

This project definitely took a bit more time to produce than we expected, since the Yearbook Editorial Board weren’t able to meet as usual, but it is finally out! This year, we have decided to go green and made it available for download here. Please use your IGBIS Email Account to download as this is the only email that has access. 

Visiting Us anytime Soon?

Are you making an appointment to meet the teachers? Do you need to go to the uniform shop? Or maybe you would like to make your payment at the finance counter. Whatever your reason may be, please be sure to make prior appointments with the staff/department you intend to see. You can drive up to the car park area in front of the reception lobby and upon arrival, register and have your temperature taken before proceeding any further. Once your registration is completed, please wait for the person you intend to meet at the reception lobby.

Also, take note that you will not be allowed to enter school via the turnstiles at Level 1 or Level 2 as we are making sure that your child(ren) are kept safe. We know that some of you would have parked your car in the Level 2 Carpark and would want to enter the school via the Turnstiles at Level 2 and go up to Level 5, but at the current moment, the entrance and exit is only accessible by the students and staff of IGBIS. We know that the measure we are taking is strict and we apologise for the inconvenience caused. We ask for your understanding in this matter.

GRAB Services

Some parents are not able to pick up their secondary school child(ren) after school for one reason or another and they want them to travel by Grab. The school has designated the seating area between the theatre and Cezar’s Cafe as the waiting location. Make sure that your children come over to the reception lobby to inform the receptionist of the Grab driver’s car plate number so that we can make the arrangements for our security guards to allow the Grab driver’s car in.

If you want your secondary child(ren) to arrange for Grab services, please notify their homeroom teacher via email so that they are aware of the arrangements.

New Parents Welcome Coffee August 18th

As you may have already known, all parents of students attending IGBIS are automatically members of the Parent Volunteer Organisation (PVO). The PVO is a great way to get involved in the school community. Our first event of the school year, the ‘New Parents Welcome Coffee’ takes place in August, not long after school starts again. 

The ‘New Parents Welcome Coffee’ will be a wonderful opportunity to meet some of our key staff members, mingle with returning friends, and meet new parents. While previous meetings have historically been ‘fun’ and casual, with Zumba, line dancing, capoeira and team-building challenges held at school, the 2020-21 school year commences in an unprecedented way, so we will not be holding our usual types of events.  Parent meetings and PVO sessions will be virtual editions, for the time being, hence do keep an eye out for invitations to come. 

Every year, we encourage parents who are keen to volunteer for PVO activities. There will later be sign-up opportunities for committees that include the Phoenix Foundation, Inclusion Committee, Social Committee, Holiday Bazaar, International Day and Staff Appreciation Lunch. Class Parents sign-up will also be available. More information on each of these will be provided at the meeting, so keep yourself informed of the schedule once it is confirmed.

Parents’ Back to School Night

Back to School Night will take place on August 27th. Details of the event will be shared by the Elementary and Secondary School Principals.

New Teachers

We are very excited to be welcoming our new teachers to IGBIS. Four teachers were already in Malaysia and have been at school since before we opened. The other teachers will be here before long but need to complete quarantine before coming into school. In the meantime, they are teaching classes from wherever they are and getting to know our students before they arrive.

We hope that you  and your family have been able to make a smooth transition to all of the new protocols. Once the children have made the adjustment and are settled in their new routines, we will start to allow a bit more movement around the school beginning with eating their homemade food in the cafeteria by the end of August. We plan to have Cezars resume offering meals in September.

We expect that over the course of the next few weeks, there will be further updates from the Malaysian Government in response to the COVID-19 situation in Malaysia. Please keep a lookout for more Update Memos and read our newsletters as we will be relaying messages sent out by the Malaysian Government, and what IGBIS is doing to adhere to the latest developments.

Thank you for your support of the school and everything we are doing. Continue to stay healthy and safe. 

Best wishes,

Anne Fowles

From the Elementary School Principal

Simon Millward, Elementary School Principal

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Woo hoo! It is great to be back at school. Everyone this week has been trying to understand and follow the new procedures and guidelines that are reflective of the Ministry of Education’s guidelines for re-opening. The students have been introduced to their ‘imaginary friend’ that sits next to them, that ensures that they are socially distant and who travels in front of them when they move around the school, for example to and from the turnstiles. The students are doing amazingly well in these challenging times.

As we are implementing our ‘new’ normal we are finding that there are some tweaks to our systems that we still need to iron out.

One of these items is the wearing of masks. Students, when they are moving around the school or in close proximity to others, should be wearing their masks. However, in order to offer them relief from their masks, when they are sitting at their desks working they could wear a face shield. 

At the end of the school day when Fireflies to Grade 1 students are being picked up from the level 1 turnstiles, we ask parents to be arriving at the time when students are being dismissed. We have found that some parents have arrived early and have parked and this has caused some congestion. The collection times are below.

• Fireflies: 2.30pm
• Early Years 1: 2.40 pm
• Early Years 2: 2.50 pm
• KG: 2.50pm
• G1: 3.00pm

If you are continuing to collect an older student afterwards from level 2, please exit the bottom gate, turn left and enter the school again from the main gate. This ensures that no traffic passes through the bus area and the flow of traffic continues.

If you wish to park and wait for your  G2 – G5 children at level 2 there is a designated parents waiting point. As always please stay socially distant.

Whilst we would love to have you on campus, currently, this is not possible. If for any reason you have made an appointment and are meeting with a teacher/staff member then you need to park at level 5, ‘check-in’ at reception, have your temperature checked, use hand sanitiser and in the case of meeting a teacher, talk with them in the rooms in reception. If you are buying uniforms you must still ‘check-in’ at reception before proceeding to the uniform shop.

Thank you for providing healthy packed lunches for your children, either warm in a ‘flask’ or sandwiches and sushi etc. This is helping a lot.

We have some upcoming events on Thursday 27th August we have our curriculum information event (Back to School), this will again be a virtual experience and more details will follow. Before that, on Tuesday 18th August we will have our virtual welcome coffee for new and returning parents. This is a time to get to know and help our new families in our community. Details will follow soon.

I look forward to seeing you next Tuesday.

Dates for your diaries

• 18th August: Virtual Welcome Back Parents Coffee
• 20th August: Public holiday: Awal Muharram- no school
• 27th August: Back to School curriculum information event
• 31st August: Public holiday: National Day holiday

From the Secondary School Principal

Sandy van Nooten, Secondary School Principal

What a week!

I can’t tell you how fantastic it is to have students in the school again. After so long apart, all our spirits are lifted by their presence. They bring such an injection of fun, purpose, energy and enthusiasm. 

Masks, social distancing and relentless cleanliness are the new schools normal. We are so proud of everyone for understanding and adhering to the strict expectations of them. As soon as we can, we will gradually relax some aspects of the ‘Secondary SOP – Blue Version’. When we do, we’ll make sure the new version is shared with everyone. 

Classes this week have been an adventure. We have some new teachers teaching remotely and all returning teachers teaching face-to-face. We have most students physically here, with some students joining online and a few following along asynchronously from vastly different timezones. It hasn’t been without challenges, but kudos to everyone for their determination, resilience and flexibility. We’re working to iron out the wrinkles and next week will be even better.

From Monday 17th, we will allow Gr.12 students to stay after school as long as they have an appointment with a teacher and remain with them until they leave campus. All other students will continue to leave campus straight after school. 

On Thu 27th Aug, we will hold our Virtual Back to School event. It is a super-important opportunity for parents to get an overview of their child’s classes and to meet all their teachers. It will start at 2:30 pm and go through until about 5:30 pm. We’ll share more information next week. For now, mark your calendars!

As a newbie myself, I want to thank everyone for making me feel so welcome. This is clearly a special community and I’m really happy to be a part of it. Soon, if everything goes to plan, I’ll be able to travel to Malaysia and meet you all in the flesh. 

Have a fantastic weekend and enjoy a well-earned break after an outstanding (unprecedented) week. 

I hope to see many of you at the virtual coffee morning next Tuesday.

Regards,

Sandy van Nooten

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Grade 6 MYP Design

María José Mora, Grade 6 Coordinator/MYP Design Teacher

My name is Maria Jose Mora and I am teaching MYP Design in Grade 6.

The first unit we are working with is called Cover me up! and the idea is to have students designing and creating a cover for a school magazine.

I would like to ask you what magazines (or maybe newsletters) are produced in the school, and if you have some guidelines students should take into consideration when creating a cover for a school magazine.  

This is just an activity for my students to start in the Design class. No extra work will be required by any of you in your department. I will share their final products with you when finished.

This is the Design Situation for the unit:

IGBIS publishes school magazines for students, parents and for the wider community. They need an exciting and well-produced cover for their start of the year edition. This cover must be excellent as it is an invitation to celebrate the beginning of the school year.

I found at https://issuu.com/igbis some magazines produced by the school and used some of them as samples to show the students.

PVO News

Michael Leh, Communications & Parent Liaison

My name is Michael and on behalf of the school, I am pleased to welcome you and your family to our inclusive community. 

A brief introduction about myself – Hailing from Malaysia (born and bred) while having formally spent several years abroad as a student of international schooling prior to pursuing tertiary education in Marketing & Management from the United Kingdom. I am passionate for the game of golf, and fortunate to have had the opportunity as a postgraduate living and working in Scotland, to play the game I love in a land the sport calls its ‘home’.

As a member of the IGBIS Admissions & Marketing team, my duties include Community Support and Services for the school. As such, I work as your liaison between the community (parents, staff, alumni) and the school, offering assistance from the day-to-day school operations to the organisation of major events (both internal ones, like the PVO Social, Holiday Bazaar, International Day, etc and external ones, like the IB Asia-Pacific Regional Workshops). 

Presently, some of these events are being placed on-hold for precautions of safety and wellbeing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, we are continuing efforts to explore alternative avenues viable in welcoming your participation in the school’s community.  We hope to bring more updates in due course.

New Parents Welcome Coffee August 18th

As you may have already known, all parents of students attending IGBIS are automatically members of the Parent Volunteer Organisation (PVO). The PVO is a great way to get involved in the school community. Our first event of the school year, the ‘New Parents Welcome Coffee’ takes place in August, not long after school starts again. 

The ‘New Parents Welcome Coffee’ will be a wonderful opportunity to meet some of our key staff members, mingle with returning friends, and meet new parents. While previous meetings have historically been ‘fun’ and casual, with Zumba, line dancing, capoeira and team-building challenges held at school, the 2020-21 school year commences in an unprecedented way, so we will not be holding our usual types of events.  Parent meetings and PVO sessions will be virtual editions, for the time being, hence do keep an eye out for invitations to come. 

Every year, we encourage parents who are keen to volunteer for PVO activities. There will later be sign-up opportunities for committees that include the Phoenix Foundation, Inclusion Committee, Social Committee, Holiday Bazaar, International Day and Staff Appreciation Lunch. Class Parents sign-up will also be available. More information on each of these will be provided at the meeting, so keep yourself informed of the schedule once it is confirmed.