Secondary Newsletter No. 20 – Friday, January 18, 2019
Dear Parents,
As evidenced by the number of articles in this newsletter, there are a lot of wonderful things happening both within and outside the classrooms in the Secondary School. We have the annual BIS Career Day this coming Thursday and thank you to the parents who have volunteered their time to be panelists. This year, all Secondary students will have the opportunity to go and hear about some careers that they might be interested in pursuing.
International Schools’ Assessment (ISA) Testing
ISA testing will take place for Grade 3-10 students on the mornings of February 12 and 13. These tests include Writing, Reading, Mathematical literacy and Scientific literacy(Grades 7-10 only). Please ensure your child/ren attend on these days as this data provides us with specific information which is used to evaluate many aspects of our curriculum and of how our students are performing compared to students in other like schools around the world. You will receive a report once the results have been shared with the school. Students will do a morning of trial testing on Thursday, February 7 to ensure they are clear on the process and the types of questions they will be asked. A letter will be sent out to parents with more detail about this before the long weekend on February 1.
Counselor’s Corner
BIS Career Day – January 24th
On Thursday, January 24th we will host our annual BIS Career Day from 7:45-10:00 AM. We are excited to welcome over 20 professionals to our campus on eight different panels organized by career cluster. The day will begin with a keynote address by speaker, author, and human rights advocate, Christine Bader. All students in Grades 6-12 will attend Career Day and parents are invited and welcome to attend the keynote address, which will take place in the MPR from 7:45-8:05 AM.
As a lead up to the day, students have selected two career panels they would like to attend and are asked to come in professional attire (slacks and collared shirts for girls and boys). Students are also asked to access the Careers Tool on our university and career search platform, BridgeU to research three careers that interest them and save these as a PDF. Career research results will be discussed in homerooms during the week of Career Day. Please view a list of the career panels and panelists here – a special thank you in advance to our parent panelists! We look forward to a successful and educational event for our students and the opportunity to inspire our young leaders of tomorrow!
Ms. Christine Bader, our keynote speaker, writes and speaks about creating a meaningful career, based on her journey and the journeys of people she’s met along the way. Her 2014 book, “The Evolution of a Corporate Idealist: When Girl Meets Oil,” chronicles her time with BP (formerly British Petroleum) and a United Nations project on business and human rights, and weaves in the stories of others working in corporate responsibility and sustainability.
From 2015-17 she was Director of Social Responsibility at Amazon, where she built a global team working to ensure respect for the rights of workers in Amazon supply chains and operations. She has also worked in education, nonprofits, and government.
Ms. Bader’s writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, and many other publications. She has given talks to conferences, companies, and universities around the world, including a TED talk in July 2014.
College Corner
Parent Info Session: College and University Applications, Scholarships, Timeline and BridgeU
We have rescheduled the College Session that was offered on Jan 14th due to zero attendance. The new session will take place on March 4th at 8AM and also at 2PM. Parents of Grade 11 Students are required to attend one of these time slots. Parents of students in Grades 9-12 are also welcome to attend.
Summer College Tours
As families begin to think about summer plans, this company is accepting registrations for their 2019 summer college tour programs. This summer they are once again offering programs in the US, Canada, and the UK.
Finding the ‘right fit’ college is most important for student happiness and success. Visiting college campuses provides students with the opportunity to get a feel for colleges firsthand. Students are often told “work hard so you can be accepted at a good college”, but often they have no concrete idea of what they are working towards or the idea that some colleges just feel like a good match until they have visited and experienced several college campuses.
While some families choose to visit on their own, many do not have the time or are simply are overwhelmed by the amount of work it is to arrange everything. This company takes the pressure off families by doing it for them! Their programs offer students a very special opportunity to share the experience with and learn from other international school students. The tours are led by highly experienced international school college counselors who understand the backgrounds of students and help students understand the application process. Past participants and parents have been incredibly pleased with their experiences on our programs. Read some of their comments here.
Partnership with College Essay Guy!
The company is thrilled to announce their new partnership with the College Essay Guy! Ethan Sawyer’s unique presentation skills and super helpful advice on writing college essays have earned him accolades both from students as well as in the media. Check it out here!
MYP Corner
Grade 10 Personal Projects
Its that time of year when our Personal Projects are finishing up and we are meeting some serious deadlines. Your child is probably planning on spending this weekend working on their report. This has been a 9 month process of planning, designing, creating, and communicating since being first introduced to it in April last year. Whilst some students have done an excellent job maintaining their process journals and updating their work throughout the year, many have left the report writing till the last minute. Unfortunately, if the report is not written up accurately, they will lose valuable grades and all that hard work will not come to fruition. So Mr Ferris and I have offered our time after school from 2:45 – 4pm (except Tuesdays) this week and next to offer feedback, support and guidance. For some students, unfortunately, we have had to make some of these sessions mandatory as they have not shown us sufficient evidence of work in progress. This is disappointing and demonstrates poor management skills, which is reflected on one of the strands in Criterion B (page 12 of the PP guide). Here is a link to the guide which has all the information, timeline and criteria being assessed. Please support your child in ensuring that they are able to meet the draft deadline of January 31 and then the final deadline of 12 February.
Michele McLay
MYP Coordinator
DP Corner
Grade 11 – Extended Essay
Grade 11 students started their Extended Essay planning process in the previous weeks’ DP Hour sessions. The Extended Essay is an extended research project which is presented in the style of a research paper and will be due October 31st, 2019. It is a fantastic opportunity for students to explore their areas of interest and undertake in-depth research in them. The Extended Essay also stands the students in good stead for the work that will be required from them at university. Our Librarian, Mr. Marshall, has taken a lead in the research process and introduced the Grade 11s to the Big 6 Research Process and also to some of the research databases that we are subscribed to. Some of the Research Questions that the students are considering exploring so far include: “To what extent did the trade war between the United States and China negatively affect the global economy?”; “How effective is selamectin compared to ivermectin in eliminating fleas and mites from cats?”; “To what extent does children’s literature reinforce misogynistic stereotypes?”
Grade 12 – IAs and Mock Exams
This is a busy time in the lives of the Grade 12 students. Many students are putting the final touches to their Internal Assessments which can account for as much as 25% of their final grade. Students have received detailed feedback from their teachers and having been working hard to ensure that their IAs are completed to a high standard.
The Mock Exam schedule has also been shared with the students. The Mock Exams will run from February 11 – 15 and students will sit two exams in every subject they take. In order to prepare for the upcoming exams the students have created a personalized exam schedule to post on their wall at home. After a DP Hour presentation on how to learn effectively and the science behind adopting a growth mindset, students have also created personalized study schedules which integrate revision methods that are effective for themselves. The importance of healthy sleep patterns and enjoying breaks from studying have also been highlighted to the students as well as taking full advantage of the support network available to them both at home and school.
Matt Wood
DP Coordinator
CAS Corner: Inside a STUCO Meeting
During this week’s Secondary Student Council [STUCO] meeting, which included both the executives and the homeroom representatives, we discussed the upcoming Valentine’s Dance and Career Day. STUCO is responsible for all sorts of activities and events in this school and we provide a voice for students within the school community. In terms of the next upcoming event, the Valentine’s Day Dance, we have been discussing the cost of renting out a room for the dance, how long the dance will last, the cost of the dance and decorating in the room.
One of STUCO’s main goal is fostering communication and collaboration skills among students and the staff. Although we often come up against organisation and time management issues, STUCO is a forum where we can engage in a variety of leadership activities starting in Grade 6. This year’s Valentine’s Day Dance is a huge challenge for all of us, because holding a dance outside of school has never been done before. Some of the larger challenges we are facing is the cost of the room and having enough people to fill the space, as it is significantly larger (and more expensive) than the MPR. However, debating these issues allows us to become more aware of some of the difficulties involved in organizing such a large and complicated event.
This week’s STUCO meeting was a great representation of how we brainstorm, plan and initiate new activities for the BIS community; because we are constantly organising and managing new ideas together as a team. Working collaboratively has been challenging but totally worth it. Here at STUCO we strive to give students all-inclusive, fun events that fuel school spirit. Hopefully, this years “out-of-school” Valentine’s dance will be the best one yet!
Kiara Brown
DP Grade 11
Language & Literature
Grade 9
Grade 9 students finished last year with a short unit focusing on Poetry. For their summative assessment, they created original poems that included an extended metaphor. Students did an amazing job expressing their creative thoughts in their poems; please enjoy this sampling of their creative genius.
BSSA Basketball Season Starts this Wednesday, January 23
Teams have been organised, coaches appointed and training has begun for BSSA Basketball 2019. Once again we have excellent participation numbers with 78 players from 9 – 15 yrs. We also have our senior squads preparing for BSSA and IISSAC Tournaments and this year the addition of Mini Basketball Club allows our youngest players to learn the basics of the game. The schedule for BSSA Basketball has been published and is available here: BSSA Basketball Schedule
Players will be coming home with an information/permission form with details of home/away games. Please sign and return these forms before Wednesday January 23 to acknowledge your child’s participation. All players will be transported to away games at Dyatmika via chartered bus and may either be collected from Dyatmika, or will return on the same bus arriving at BIS around 4.30pm.
The PTA are offering a Whatsapp information sharing service for any parents who wish to join so that they can communicate with other parents in their child’s age group. If you wish to be included in these groups please tick the box on the permission/information form and add your Whatsapp number and name. The PTA will organise the groups.