Secondary Newsletter No. 15
Last week the library received one of our new orders of books (several more are en route or in the planning stages). These books are a mix of titles that support the Primary and Secondary curriculum as well as specific books that were requested by students. Some of the popular Secondary selections that were requested and have been received, processed and ready for circulation are the Gone series by Micheal Grant and The Unwanteds series by Lisa McMann. There are also reads that would probably appeal to parents as well (Vincent Bugliosi’s epic true crime thriller Till Death Do Us Part and New Zealand’s native son Dean Wareham’s dark comedic-flavored memoir of a life in the music business Black Postcards are two particularly great choices).
It is no secret that maintaining active, regular pleasure/leisure reading among an overall group of Secondary students (not just at BIS but around the world) can be a challenge. As students grow into adolescence, are exposed to other things that compete for and capture their attention, have increased academic responsibilities and are more connected to personal technology, reading for enjoyment can be pushed to the side. One of the ways we strive to combat this at BIS is to offer students the ability, at anytime, to request virtually anything they desire, and to acquire it in a timely manner. We should all encourage our learners to take advantage of this service.
An invitation to come check out some these aforementioned new titles (or some older ones) is always standing and we are always open to more specific requests for titles to add to the library. A parent of a 6th grader recently advocated strongly for a particular title and after reading it myself after it arrived, I not only enjoyed it, but was thankful that this new book would be a lasting contribution to the library from an active member of school community. There’s room for more where that came from…..don’t be a stranger.
– Mr. Marshall (Head Librarian)
- How to prepare a successful portfolio for art/design majors,
- Big data analysis on business opportunities,
- Unleash your creative confidence
- Essential skills for entrepreneurs and jobs of the future
– Ms. Gerbic (Counselor)
MYP Arts Exhibition
Last week the Grade 6, 7, 8 and 9 MYP students showcased their creativity and passion for the arts in the first Fine Arts Evening of this academic year. This draws this initial Arts rotation to a close and was a fabulous opportunity to bring the school community together and celebrate the work of all three disciplines – Art, Drama and Music. The evening was a huge success and the students showed great confidence in their presentations. The Art students exhibited self portrait mask work and sculptural work from recycled products, and articulated their process to the audience members. The Drama students performed self devised modern day Melodrama pieces and issue based devised theatre using a variety of abstract and physical techniques. The Music students performed a range of pieces from their Rock n Roll and Music Hero units. It was a wonderful event and we are already excited for the next one!
– Mr. Andrews, Ms. Alborn and Ms. Green and Ms. Made (Arts Department)
Service as Action in the MYP
It has taken a lot of collaboration and networking but we finally have a new policy in place to begin in earnest our Service as Action campaign in the MYP. This new design ensures that all MYP students are involved on a regular basis with activities they have signed up for prior to each semester. Each student has to complete the MYP Learning Outcomes for Service over the course of the MYP to ensure they have successfully fulfilled the requirements of the programme and these are listed below:
- become more aware of their own strengths and areas for growth
- undertake challenges that develop new skills
- discuss, evaluate and plan student-initiated activities
- persevere in action
- work collaboratively with others
- develop international-mindedness through global engagement, multilingualism and intercultural understanding
- consider the ethical implications of their actions.
We anticipate that most students will do this numerous times, although some of the learning outcomes may be more difficult to achieve than others. We will be using our MYP hour (Thursday’s last period) as a time for students to collaborate by planning, initiating, reflecting and taking action. Whilst activities for the end of this semester have been created, students are encouraged to initiate their own which have to be approved by the MYP Coordinator. This has to be planned prior to the beginning of the semester in order to allow time for other students to join. Grade 11 students have some CAS activities that MYP students have joined and once a month they will collaborate together. Each activity has an adult supervisor. Currently the activities we have in place are:
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Here is a list of activities with descriptions. We anticipate that this will grow and activities will modify over time as the programme becomes more established. Some of these activities, such as Teaching Bahasa, will also run as an ASA so that teachers and parents can join in (starting January). Students will use the MYP hour time to plan lessons and learn how to teach.
We hope that the wider community gets more involved and if parents have a suggestion, we encourage you to get in touch with the MYP Coordinator or the CAS Coordinator to propose an activity. Please remember that if you do want to put a proposal forward we would also like your assistance to plan and establish it. Our next semester will begin in mid January so there is still time for students/parents to initiate a proposal.
Please help us by supporting your child in this endeavour. Whilst we are allocating time in the curriculum for students to fulfil some of their SA, our expectations are that students will also continue with Service after school, on weekends and extended breaks where possible. For students who go above and beyond expectations will receive certificates acknowledging their efforts.
– Ms. McLay (MYP Coordinator)
As part of Indonesian government requirements there are documents the school requires copies of for all enrolled students. Please see the letter and form to return to school at this link.
Enjoy the week ahead everyone!
Ross Ferris
Secondary Principal