FRIDAY NEWSLETTER from Secondary – February 9th 2018
Week 25-Continued Development
This past week we have had our Year One DP students begin the Extended Essays, our year 10 Students finishing up their Personal Projects and our Year 2 DP Students getting ready for their Mock exams. This is a time of the year when things are moving fast, while we also try to look ahead. We are fortunate to have had consecutive weeks of learning that have allowed for real growth among all of our students.
ISA Testing
This coming week BIS will be conducting our ISA testing for this academic year. The ISA Test is:
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Chosen because it is in line with BIS’s mission, vision, and student aims
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The ISA is not based on any one curriculum but tests core skills in mathematical literacy, reading, writing (narrative and expository.)
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An assessment with a broad cultural base (ie. no dollar or pounds)
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A combination of multiple-choice and open-ended questions and prompts. The open-ended questions require students to generate meaning, explain their reasoning, find evidence and justify their opinions.
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based on the internationally endorsed reading, mathematical literacy and scientific literacy frameworks of the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).
We will be conducting this test on the 12th-13th of February and the test will be administered to grades 6-10. We have just completed a practice test for the online science test on the 1st of February. It is extremely important that all students are present during these testing dates. We recognize the loss of instructional time as we look to gather this important data about the learning progress of our students. Administering make-up tests takes away from your child’s access to the learning that will be going on in their class rooms. Thank you for your help through this testing session.
Below is a link to some informational slides about this test, how we use it and how scores can be interpreted to better inform our teaching. Please take a few moments to go through this information. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me.
https://docs.google.com/presen
IISSAC Basketball Tournament
In two weeks our Men’s and Women’s IISSAC Basketball teams will travel to represent BIS in their end of season tournament. This weekend is a culmination of a season of hard work and dedication by our students, as well as a great opportunity to make connections from different parts of Indonesia.
IB Diploma Course Selection
In the coming weeks we will presented to our 10th grade parents about the IB Diploma here at BIS and the different choices our students can make in creating their Diploma program. Our students will have meetings with our counselor, their teachers and the IB coordinator regarding all of the different course we offer and what their choices can do as they start to think about university. In the coming month our DP teachers will present to all of our year ten students about their specific courses and answer any questions in a whole class forum. Please speak with your student about the choices that they will soon be making.
IB Mock Exams
Mock Exams will begin on the week of February 12th. These exams are used to help with the review cycle prior to the real IB exams. These assessments provide students and teachers with a direct, concrete insight into their learning; highlighting the areas that still need polish. This is a stressful week for our seniors as they pile all of their IB assessments into one week. The regular exam schedule takes place over a whole month. Please help us remind them the purpose of these exams, to inform and guide our practice as we get closer to the finish line!
Second Semester Conferences
Our second semester Parent/Student/Teacher conferences will be held on the 22nd of March. This will be a non teaching day. Our conferences will use the same Student/Parent/Teacher format that we followed in the first semester. We will most likely be in both the MPR and the Music Room as we will be accommodating the IB Visual Arts Exhibition. It is very important that your student accompanies you for these conferences, this is the best way for us to work together to help them continue to grow and succeed with their learning. The second semester conferences are also a great time to speak with teachers about next year course selection. The online signup format that we used last semester will be used again. This information will be coming out shortly. Parents with siblings in either the Primary or the Secondary will be given a window to sign up before the rest of our parent community. Thank you for your continued interest and support or your child’s learning here at BIS.
Personal Project Exhibition
Our 10th grade students are in the final stages of their Personal Projects. We will soon select the date to for the Personal Project Exhibition, taking place during this term. This event highlights all of the hard work and self directed learning that our 10th grade students have gone through this year. It is a celebration of their learning and experiences. I want to congratulate them all on such creative and thought provoking ideas. I also want to thank Ms. McClay and the individual supervisors for their help and guidance throughout this process.
Valentine’s Day STUCO Dance
Our STUCO will be hosting the Valentine’s Day dance on the 15th of February. Ticket information and timings will be in the daily bulletin for students and the event will be chaperoned by BIS staff. It is always a very nice event, we look forward to a wonderful turnout!
BIS Class Photos
On the 20th of February BIS will be having it’s class photos for the 2017-18 school year. More information regarding purchase plans will be forth coming from the photographer.
Thank you for your continued interest and support of BIS and our students.
Kind Regards,
Justin Walsh
secondaryschoolprincipal@balii
Secondary School Principal
