Secondary Newsletter No. 7
Dear Secondary Parents,
The first term is flying by and there are many things happening at BIS in the Secondary School in the coming three weeks. International Day celebrations will occur on September 21 after the completion of the first five lessons which will run as normal. From 12.30pm until 3.30pm students, teachers and parents are invited to participate in a range of activities. Planning for EOTC trips is progressing well with students identifying Service as Action components for each trip, planning their involvement, setting goals and ensuring they are prepared for some learning outside of the classroom. A reminder that each trip will commence on Tuesday, September 25 and the students will return on Friday, September 28. Students are completing assessment tasks across all grade levels and will continue to do so for the remainder of the term. Progress Reports will be sent and Student-Parent-Teacher Conferences will occur in the final week of term.
Assessment
An area of focus in the Secondary School this year is to refine assessment tasks to ensure there is an appropriate level of academic rigor and that the requirements of the tasks closely align with the published criteria being used to assess student work. In collaboration with a colleague, teachers will be required to standardize assessment of a sample of student work for each task, ensuring that authentic levels are awarded in line with the descriptors in the criteria. Students and parents should also be able to assess the student work using the criteria to understand the level awarded.
Please remember that you can view your child’s performance in each summative task on ManageBac. Help your children to complete tasks in a timely manner by discussing upcoming deadlines and strategies to ensure they meet them.
Term 1 Reports and Student-Parent-Teacher Conferences
Term 1 Reports will be sent to parents on Wednesday, October 3 to help them to be prepared for the SPT Conferences the next day. These reports provide an update on each student’s progress in each subject. Teachers are asked to give an indication of whether a student is exceeding, meeting or approaching expectations. They will also have another option to check which is “Concern”. There will no grades on these reports.
THE SPT Conferences will run all day on Thursday, October 4 from 8.00am-4.00pm. This should allow greater opportunity for parents to be able to make an appointment with all of their children’s teachers. It is an expectation that students will be actively involved in each of these conferences, contributing to a three-way discussion and ensuring all stakeholders have a clear direction and common understanding for ongoing improvement and development.
There will be two phases for parents to make appointments with teachers by using the same online system used last year. On Monday, September 17, parents with more than one child in the school will have priority in making appointments along with parents of students whose progress has been identified as a concern in one or more subjects. On Thursday, September 20 all other parents will be sent an email with instructions to make an appointment. If you do not receive this email, please check your spam folder before contacting the school. It is the parent’s responsibility to make these appointments online before the end of school on Friday, September 28. Please get in early to find times which suit you best. A reminder that all students should arrive and leave with their parent/s on this day.
EOTC 2018 – Update
An EOTC parent information session will be conducted on Monday, September 17 from 8-9am in the library with Mr. Sutherland and a representative from the company organizing the trips. There will also be opportunities for parents to come into grade level specific sessions for parents on Thursday, September 20 or Friday, September 21.
| Gr 7 – Thursday 20/9 at 3.10pm Gr 8 – Thursday 20/9 at 3.30pm |
Gr 6 – Friday 21/9 at 2.50pm Gr 9 – Friday 21/9 at 3.10pm Gr 10 – Friday 21/9 at 3.30pm |
CAS Corner
Zack Bardetta – BSSA Coaching
I have organized two meetings with all of the coaches for the BSSA competition and talked with them about the drills that we will be doing as well as the areas that we want to focus on most for training the players. In these meetings we discussed how we want all the teams to play, and how we would go about that.
As the director I am trying to lead the group of coaches as much as I can by identifying own strengths and develop areas for growth. However, I find this an area of difficulty. I have not been the sole leader of something before, as I am now. I definitely feel as if I am getting better at it now, I can control the group’s attention much better and they are starting to listen to me more compared to when we first met. Being the director of the coaching team I demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience by leading all of the discussions involving this. I have been able to do this much better, as from my past CAS experiences I have been able to learn how to do this more effectively. I am able to also see the benefits of having a coaching team demonstrating the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively. As this will unify the coaches and help the less experienced coaches be able to coach better. That is one of the biggest benefits of working collaboratively. Furthermore, the coaching team can help each other by talking about any issues that they have faced or saying anything that really went well for them. Showing commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences as I will be training my team twice a week and coaching the games once a week. Not only that but in my free time players have asked me to do some one on one training, and I have helped them gain some skills that they wanted to obtain.
Attendance and Punctuality Update
This week has seen a slight increase in student absence, and this can be attributed to reasons mostly related to health and KITAS. Wherever possible, please try to make appointments outside of school hours so as not to interrupt the student’s learning. I do realize that this is not always possible.
Please arrange for your children to leave home five or ten minutes earlier if they are struggling to make Homeroom for a prompt 7.45 am start. It is advisable for students to aim to arrive before 7.30 so there is some time allowed for anything unexpected.
Upcoming Events
| Date | Event |
| Monday, September 17 8.00-9.00am – Library |
Parent Information Session: EOTC (suitable for all Secondary parents) |
| Wednesday, September 19 | Secondary School Photos Secondary Assembly |
| Thursday, September 20 | EOTC G7 – 3.10pm EOTC G8 – 3.30pm |
| Friday, September 21 | EOTC G6 – 2.50pm EOTC G9 – 3.10pm EOTC G10 – 3.30pm |
| Friday, September 21 | International Day |
| Wednesday, September 25 – Friday, September 28 |
EOTC Trips |
| Friday, September 28 |
Deadline for sign-up for SPT Conferences |
| Wednesday, October 3 | Progress reports issued |
| Thursday, October 4 | Student-Parent-Teacher Conferences |
| Friday, October 5 | College Fair Last day of term |
Kind regards,
Ross Ferris
Secondary Principal
Bali Island School