Secondary Newsletter No. 18
Thank you to the parent community for your support of the Secondary School during the first semester. It has been a learning journey for me as the new Principal to understand all aspects of the school community and I have to say that I have been most impressed.
During Semester 1, we have worked on clarifying academic policies in a bid to ensure there is direction and more consistent and successful implementation of our IB programmes. The range of Education Outside of The Classroom (EOTC) opportunities and the student engagement in these are as impressive, if not better, than other IB schools I have worked in. Examples include the EOTC trips in September, CAS and Service as Action, After School Activities, Arts Exhibitions and Inter School Sports and our students have enthusiastically participated in such a range of holistic learning opportunities and they regularly excelled.
Teaching and learning in the Secondary School provided students with many and varied opportunities to develop and to show their understanding and also the safety of knowing that if they do not succeed, they will receive feedback to improve. We will always endeavour to reflect on what we do, to raise standards even further and to equip students with the skills, knowledge and attitudes they will use to be successful at school and beyond.
I wish you all a wonderful break with your loved ones, safe travels and we look forward to welcoming you back on January 7, 2019.
– Ross Ferris
Are BIS MYP Learners Smarter Than a President?
For the past several weeks I have been working with MYP students on database searching and digital information resource (mostly websites) evaluation in regards to credibility and usefulness. Myself, along with various English teachers, have been working with learners to use tested strategies to determine if information found on the WWW (which is different that the pre-vetted reliability of a subscription database) meets a standard to be used as a source.
Generally we use the 5 Ws (who, what, where, when and why) as well as basic criteria a good source should have (design, authorship, relevancy, currency, reputation, etc) and this provides a pretty predictable and reliable framework. However, I am the first to admit that this can be a very confusing landscape to navigate. Even adults can sometimes find themselves second-guessing or having to dig much deeper than originally anticipated in order to really determine if a source is worthy to be used. In this age of social media, rapid dissemination of information, “fake news” (a topic we also covered), bias masquerading as factual reporting, multiple digital platforms and a general suspicion of corporate news and government credibility, we are asking our students to perform (or at least begin to grasp the fundamentals) of something that confounds adults at times as well.
One example we used was a recent social media error by the current President of the United States. The President retweeted a post from what he thought was his own Vice President’s Twitter account, only to find out later what he actually retweeted was a fan/parody account and not the actual account of the man he himself chose for the position of VP. In other words, the President of the United States was fooled by the very fake news he incessantly decries and did not properly evaluate his source of information. As a result, he showed that his information literacy skills are a work in progress.
This was a great teachable moment to say look, this is supposed to be someone who has incredible power (and thus should exercise incredible responsibility) who should not be making this type of error, but lo and behold, he did. Students appreciated the real-world example of how important this skill is all the way through life.
We will continue to work within this ever-changing landscape to tackle this very real and relevant problem, and have a little fun doing it as well.
– Mr. Marshall, Head Librarian
MYP corner
Holidays!
Its our Christmas break and a generous three weeks have been afforded teachers and students at BIS. Many of us are leaving Bali and travelling to visit families or simply travelling to explore another country. Whatever the reason it is time to take a break. We have done our best in the MYP to refrain from giving homework or assessment tasks over this period, so please make the most of this time to relax. Students and teachers need to rest and recuperate and we want everybody to feel refreshed ready to start in January 2019. For those parents who do want their child to continue learning then think about books they could be reading or a diary they could keep to write thoughts and reflection pieces in. What is important is allowing a good balance.
So on that note, from the BIS MYP cohort, we would like to wish parents and students a wonderful and safe holiday. See you in 2019.
– Michele McLay, MYP Coordinator
DP corner
Well done students!
Our Grade 11 students have made a great start to their first semester of the DP. They have coped well with the demands of their courses and their first taste of DP examinations and have made many positive contributions in CAS.
The Grade 12 students are continuing to work hard and plan their time effectively to remain on top of the deadlines for internally and externally assessed work. IAs and TOK essays will be a large focus after the break and the Mock Exams will take place in the third week of February.
Although it is important for the DP students to keep revising and consolidating their knowledge, it is just as important, if not more so in some cases, that they find time to rest, relax and recuperate after a demanding first semester. Many happy returns for the New Year.
– Matt Wood, DP Coordinator
CAS Corner
Basketball 3v3
Todays basketball activity, we set warm up drills and two basketball drills for the students to build up proper muscle memory. After the training drills we split into two groups for the 3v3 game. Near the end of the training we set a 1v1 training drill where the students enhanced their defense and offense skills by playing each other.
Today’s drills highlighted my strengths as an offense player, as well as defense player. My goal as an individual player today was to aim high for the assists for the team. Through the 3v3 in game experience I was able to position myself and coach my teammates for correct positioning in order for them to score some points. The aim of getting high assist points through todays 3v3 was to help enhance the students ability as players within the court. Overall as a point guard for today’s game I was believe I was able to bring out the best for some of my teammates and grow individually.
Although my goal as an individual player for today’s game was to aim for high assists, when I was given the opportunity as a post, to rebound the balls I was not able to finish strong and miss some of the layups. Today’s game showed that I will need to set my self goals in order to improve on my layups.
– Lanang Tarkan Bilen, Grade 11 DP student
BSSA Senior Volleyball Champions 2018-2019
Dec 6th, 2018
Our volleyball season came to a close last week, culminating with the BSSA Senior Volleyball tournament which ran late into the afternoon. Senior teams from all over the island came down for a great day of volleyball and the competition was fierce!
Both of Mr. Wood’s girls teams played some excellent volleyball, showing their quick feet and hard serves. Their communication was unparalleled as they worked tirelessly to cover each other on their spikes and their “power sets.” Unfortunately, the girls didn’t make it to the finals this year, but Mr. Wood is looking forward to having more athletes and training time next year.
The boys were split into three teams, where the youngest of the squad were getting some much needed experience playing against much older players. Our B Team was also working on their communication and defensive covering, but they were eventually bumped out of competition in the first round of the finals. Our A team however, only gave up one game to SLK throughout the whole round-robin – going on to defeat Dyatmika in the semis, and then handily beating SLK in two sets to claim the trophy.
Thank you for a wonderful season and we look forward to playing again next year!
– Mr. Wilson & Mr Wood
Counselor’s Corner:
College Applications Sent!
I am pleased to share that our Grade 12 students wishing to apply early have met their college application deadlines and that we’ve sent off applications to universities in Taiwan, Canada, The US, The UK, and Holland. The application process is time consuming and can be a lot of work for students already balancing a heavy load of course work and extracurricular activities but our students have pulled through and are well on their way to their exciting futures ahead. We will continue to send out applications into the new year to schools and country systems with later deadlines. In the meantime, I’d like to congratulate our Seniors on their hard work and say Thank You to all the Teachers who wrote recommendation letters highlighting and promoting our amazing BIS students to top universities around the globe.
BIS Career Day Coming Soon!
On January 24th we will host our annual Career Day at BIS with various career clusters represented on 8 panels. Students in grades 6-12 will come to school that day dressed for success. They will enjoy a keynote address, “The Evolution of a Corporate Idealist” by Christine Bader, on corporate responsibility and sustainability (christinebader.com). Students will then attend two career panels of their choosing. As a lead up to Career Day, students are asked to use the Careers Tool in BridgeU, our online university and career search platform, select and mark as “Interested” three careers to research more thoroughly and save these as a PDF. We will discuss these in homerooms prior to Career Day. Thank you in advance to those parents who’ve volunteered to speak on our panels. If you are interested as well, please contact me at: counselor@baliis.net. Thanks, Rachael Gerbic, BIS Counselor
Antrabez Special Visit
On Monday December 10, secondary students engaged in a special performance and discussion with local musicians from a band named “Antrabez”. The group came with a strong message of “Say no to drugs” and gave their own heartfelt accounts of the damage drugs can do to one’s life and their loved ones. Three of the members are currently serving sentences in Kerobokan Prison and have used music to channel a positive message to the community and especially young people such as our own school community.
We thank them for their courage in sharing their stories in the hope to prevent others from making the same mistakes.
“SAY NO TO DRUGS” is also the title of one of the songs they performed. The students were mature in their engagement with this serious topic and enjoyed the inspirational performance delivered by our talented guests.
