FRIDAY NEWSLETTER from Secondary – 4th May 2018

Week 34-Keep Moving Forward

As I walk around the Secondary Campus I am very impressed by the amount of energy I see-and not all of it is during Break!  Even as the year is coming towards its end our students are continuing to push themselves and look for new challenges. Whether it is with their summative exams, BSSA Athletics, Scholars Cup, Vanguard Publication, IB Exams or a field trip our students have maintained their focus and positive outlook towards their learning.  I am very proud of them.

IB Exams

Our seniors have now completed their first week of the IB Exams.  The first week is always the hardest, the anticipation, recognition of how much I need to prepare and the mental scheduling of the back to back exams.  Our students have gone in and left each exam session in a positive frame of mind, this is extremely important. Making sure that they are here well before their exams, having enough sleep the night before, sticking with their study schedule while maintaining breaks for balance are so important as they help alleviate stress and allow the students the ability to remain positive and focused.  I want to reiterate my sense of pride at all they have accomplished and reminding our students that they are prepared and ready to show all that they have learned. Please make sure to help your student take some down time and get outside to rejuvenate their mind, body and spirit.

National Exams

This past week a number of our grade 6 Indonesian students have been participating in the National Exam testing session for Indonesia.  These exams help Indonesia benchmark and monitor the educational progress of their country and citizens. We recognize the value of this for Indonesia as a school and are happy to provide our students with this opportunity.  The exams are a bit different than what our students are accustomed to here at BIS, where their language of instruction is English all day except for their Language Classes. All of the testing will be in Indonesian, Math, Science, Writing and Reading.  This is a great way for these students to test their level of Indonesian as well as their subject specific learning.

Parent Session-ISA Testing Results

The parent session for the ISA results will be happening soon. We have just received all of the papers and will be going through the data. We will send out dates/times of this meeting soon.

IISSAC Swimming

This past weekend our IISSAC Swimmers traveled to Bandung for the competition.  Coming off our BSSA Swim Championship victory we were very excited to compete against other athletes off the island.  Mr. Lennan, Mr. Sutherland and Mrs. Walsh put in a great deal of work to prepare our students for this event. This was a tremendously successful event with a great number of Personal Bests, IISSAC Records and our Girls came in first and Boys came in second!  IISSAC Events are a great way to establish long term friendships with different students and when we host it allows us to be ambassadors for BIS and Bali. Our kids did a great job and it was wonderful to see the interaction between our older and younger students.  Great Job Dragons! I am including the streaming information that the host school provided, take a few seconds to watch our students in action.

Friday Afternoon

Streaming starts at 4pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CK0xrT6fWXM

Saturday Morning

Streaming starts at 8am

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3KsE752NrY

Saturday Afternoon

Streaming starts at 1pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTmalEicdZ0

Sunday Morning

Streaming starts at 8am

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crartzNazj4

 

Fine Arts Exhibition

On Tuesday June 5th, the Arts Department will be hosting a sharing of work exhibition across the MYP years. Visual Arts students will have their work displayed around the walls of the MPR and musical and theatrical performances will also take place.  All students in grades 6 – 10 are required to attend and stay until the end of all performances, even if their roles have already been performed. Parents are invited and encouraged to come and enjoy what is building up to be an enjoyable afternoon of showcasing the Arts at BIS. The event will begin at 4pm at which time students and parents can view the artworks and enjoy the music and drama performances. I encourage you to take part and see what the varied talents that our students possess. On behalf of the Arts team, we look forward to seeing you there.

PTFA Potluck Dinner

This coming week on Friday, May 18th, at 6pm the PTFA will be hosting the PTFA Potluck dinner.  This is a nice community event where parents, teachers and community members are able to get together for a nice meal and some socializing.  I hope to see you then.

Celebrating Success

It is nearing the end of the school year.  At this time of the year we want to pause,reflect and honor all of the hard work and accomplishments of our students.  We know that our students shine in many different areas and we want to ensure that we recognize and honor all of our student’s varying skills.  The way we honor our students should reflect what we value as a school and a community. We will acknowledge the success of our students in each academic area as well as their Approaches to Learning and willingness to engage and give back to their community.  Each subject specific class will give two awards-1 for academic achievement, 1 for growth/improvement. Each grade level will have 1 IB Learner profile award-student who best exemplifies the traits that make up a well rounded and engaged learner. We will also honor our students for their engagement with the community; 2 Community and Action awards for MYP-1 lower MYP, 1 upper MYP- for the student(s) who have best exemplified the spirit of Community Engagement as well as  1 Creativity 1 Action and 1 Service award for grade 11class. These awards highlight what we value as a school, academic growth, engaged learning and a positive and active role within the community. These awards will be given during the school day on the 30th of May.

End of Year Sports Banquet

We will be celebrating our students athletic accomplishments and acknowledging what we have accomplished as a school throughout the whole year.  The banquet will take place on the 7th of June. More details will be forthcoming. I look forward to seeing you there.

BSSA Cross Country

On the 17th of May our Cross Country students will competing against the other BSSA schools.  This is an opportunity for our runners to showcase all of their hard work and training. It should be a great event.

 

Parent Session-Transitions

On Monday May 7th Ms. Holley will be giving a parent session on strategies for transitions. This will coincide with the transition session provided by Mr. Walsh for students moving into the Secondary School. We look forward to seeing you there.

 

Holiday

This coming Thursday will be an all school holiday. Enjoy the day of rest and relaxation.

Thank you for your continued interest and support of BIS and our students.

Kind Regards,

Justin Walsh

secondaryschoolprincipal@baliis.net

Secondary School Principal