Secondary Newsletter No. 36 – May 24, 2019
ISTA Middle School Theatre Festival 2020
As the end of the school year approaches there is still so much happening in Secondary at BIS. Congratulations to our Grade 12 students on completing the IB Diploma Programme final exams. We are very confident this group of students will be very successful and the quality and range of university offers they have received support this. Grade 9, 10 and 11 students will sit their final exams on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday (May 27-29).
A reminder that classes will continue until June 12 when we will have a half day including a Secondary Awards Assembly followed by a Whole School Assembly. Reports will be issued on Tuesday, June 11. Grade 12 Graduation will take place at BIS on Wednesday, May 29 at 5.00pm
Ross Ferris (Secondary Principal)
Smelled like Teen Spirit
The Grade 12 finished their last exams on Thursday May 23 and have now officially completed their two year long IB DP journey. Congratulations Grade 12.
The students this year seemed calm, cool, collected, confident…and other good adjectives beginning with c…(Courageous! New IB learner profile attribute!). We had no students leaving exams early, no panic attacks and no tears. Just a quiet confidence and determination which was brilliant to observe. I am very excited about the possibilities for this group of students.
To have students approach their exams in such a calm and focused way shows that they were very well-prepared, not just with the required knowledge and skills but on how to
prepare, how to be successful, how to problem solve and how to cope with stress. Although today is a day to celebrate student achievement, it is also a day to celebrate the efforts of all the teachers in getting them to this point! It is great to see the quality of teaching and learning grow year on year and the confidence it gives our students.
As a school we will continue to work to improve our Diploma Programme and expect to see similar success in the future but the 2019 cohort have definitely set a very high standard for the next grades to follow. Congratulations seniors, you deserve it!
Matt Wood (DP Coordinator)
ISTA MIDDLE SCHOOL THEATRE FESTIVAL 2020
LAST FEW PLACES STILL AVAILABLE!
For Grade 6, 7 and 8 students (2019-2020)
Last few places are still available – if you would like to secure a place for this exciting and rare opportunity then please read all the information here in the letter and register your child on this form!
Any questions please see or email Miss Alborn 🙂
CAS Corner
Sanur Sons, Community Touch Rugby (Nabil Dermawan) 
The touch rugby activity is hosted at 4pm every Tuesdays. Through this activity, I hope to engage not only students, but parents and staff who are interested in the sports. This activity will help players enhance their touch rugby skills such as passing, cutting into spaces, defense, communication and teamwork. This activity will allow various different people from the bis community to get to know each other and collaborate. I am collaborating with my teammates when playing the games as without them it would very hard to play. Next year I hope to face some more challenges as Mr Brown, our teacher in-charge of this activity will not be here anymore. This means that I would have to lead this activity by myself for next year which will surely have its own challenges. A few of the learning outcome that we have come across during this activity is, Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth, Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process, Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience, Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences and Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively. This activity has really impacted the people joining in various different ways. Starting from how it has allowed the bis community to engage more with each other. It has also helped us improve our skills as a player as well as teamwork in general in order to work as a team and to help each other out during games. Personally, this process has taught me how to become more organized as I have set up reminders weekly and also get the equipments required beforehand.
Counselor’s Corner
Mindfulness at BIS: (for primary and secondary parents)
This year has seen a new form of learning at BIS across the grade levels. Students from Pre- K through Grade 12 have been taught mindfulness techniques to help them focus, pay closer attention to the world around and within themselves, choose thoughtful responses to challenging situations rather than knee-jerk reactions, bounce back more readily from strong emotions like anger and anxiety, and reduce stress and self-regulate. A typical lesson at any grade level begins with the ding of a bell and students getting calm and quiet in their bodies while focusing on their breath- breathing in, breathing out. Students then learn a variety of ways to pay attention. We can pay attention to anything really; we just need to get quiet and still and stay focused to do so. Students learn to pay attention acutely to sound, to body sensations, to emotions, to their daily environment, to thoughts, to motion, to eating, to generosity, and to heartfulness- sending kind thoughts to others which in turn makes us feel good. Students in the primary years have kept a mindfulness journal, noting their experiences of each mindfulness activity they learn. They will carry these journals through to next year as they continue to learn new techniques and we continue to build a mindful school. For more information on this program and content please go to: https://www.mindfulschools.org/
Peer Mediation Training
This year the members of STUCO will add a new skill to their already diverse repertoire. We appreciate all the effort they put in throughout the year to make BIS a great place to work and study every day and now they are going to be helping others even more. On June 10th and 11th these students will undergo intensive training in peer mediation- a process through which a third party helps two people in conflict resolve their problem peacefully. STUCO members will learn that conflict is a normal part of our lives and that it’s how we deal with conflict that makes a difference. They will study the underlying causes for conflict and the way people generally deal with conflict and they will learn a six-step process to help others in conflict find win-win solutions. STUCO members will become officially trained peer mediators and “peacemakers” on our campus, ready to assist others when the need arises. Mediators always work in pairs and mediations are always voluntary and confidential. We aim to have this program up and running at the start of next year, with referral forms in the principals’ and counselor’s offices, and to educate all BIS students on creating a peaceful campus by working out their conflicts through dialogue in the form of mediation.
Opportunities for BIS Students (for Primary & Secondary Parents)
Dear Parents, Please continue to check the Opportunities for Students to view the college visits calendar and learn about upcoming college fairs, summer programs, camps, and scholarships for BIS students of all ages. This document is updated daily as new opportunities come in.
Looking for work experience? Check out these options posted on UCAS to find paid and unpaid internship placements:
- vinspired – volunteering charity for 14 – 25 year olds.
- Fair Train – charity which promotes and champions all forms of work experience, volunteering, and internships.
- Student Ladder – work experience placement information.
- Whizz-Kidz – a charity which organises placements for wheelchair users aged 16 – 25 in all sorts of different sectors.
- Prince’s Trust – this charity offers the ‘Get Into’ programme for 16 – 25 year olds to get work experience and training.
- Read about NCS graduate Georgie’s volunteering journey.
- International Citizen Service (ICS) – government funded international volunteering placements for 18-25 year olds in the UK