Message From the Head of School – October 2, 2020

Conferences
Thank you to those families who joined their child for goal setting conferences yesterday. I understand that some families were not able to meet with teachers due to the decreased slots available because of the need to use technology for all conferences. If you email Ibu Riana, she will work with the teachers to find suitable times for you to conference later next week. 

In the book Leaders of Their Own Learning by Ron Berger, he makes the point that goal setting is imperative to students taking ownership of their learning. I was impressed in our conferences yesterday with BIS Faculty members just how often they asked the student to reflect on their performance throughout Term I and then to speak about what they hope to accomplish in Term II. Those hopes get real if students write them down, post them near the study space and are referred to often. Creating specific language and attainable, measurable goals develops a repeatable and positive cycle. 

In my opinion, and Mr. Berger’s, the opportunity to reflect and set goals sets the groundwork for learning to have meaning and helps our students to become lifelong learners. Thank you for supporting your child’s goal setting and development.

While more conferences are being scheduled to allow all of our families to connect, here is our data from yesterday:

Primary Conferences – 79

Secondary Conferences – 391

An impressive effort by everyone involved!

Our next conferences will occur in Term III (March 10, 2021). I’d like to ask students and parents who wish to help us improve upon our current conference structures and expectations to email me. A committee will form in late October to advise the Teaching and Learning team. Thank you.

Accreditation Visit
Well, it’s finally here – our visit from CIS, the IBO and WASC occurs next week. The nine (9) members of the visiting team have already been pouring over our responses and evidence. We begin three days of intense meetings on Monday morning. All representative groups from our community will meet with the team (board members, parents, students, faculty, staff) to speak about our school and programmes. Thank you for your support of this important process.