Island School E-Newsletter Friday 6th March 2009

Message from the Senior Leader

Island School has traditionally followed an adapted version of the English National Curriculum leading to GCSE or IGCSE and GCE Advanced Level examinations. However, we are very aware of the need to review this if we are to keep pace with changing demands and needs of the 21st Century. We must be confident that our students are equipped to meet any task or challenge in their professional and personal lives wherever they choose to live.

Changes are already being implemented. Our partner primary schools have taken on the International Baccalaureate Organization's (IBO) Primary Years Programme (PYP) and we are about to see our first IBO Diploma Programme (IBDP) students graduate from school. We are also improving our own Advanced Diploma Programme for 6th formers who are more suited to this style of learning.

This begs the question about what we are doing for the students in between these programmes, the 11-16 age group or those in years 7 to 11. It may seem obvious that we should introduce the IBO Middle Years Programme (MYP) as this should have a clear coherence and progression. This is under serious consideration but we do not want to rush a decision that will have such a major impact on our students. It may take three to five years to consult everyone with an interest, to plan and prepare and then to seek authorization. In the meantime, we do not want to lose the good practice and success we currently enjoy. We do not want to stand still, either, and so we are looking to marry our best practices with other exciting pedagogies.

Island School has adopted the IBO Learner Profile (IBLP) that details the habits we want our students to nurture. This defines the student as an inquirer, as knowledgeable, as a thinker, as a communicator, as principled, as open minded, as caring, as a risk taker, as balanced and as reflective. These outcomes are becoming central to our planning of learning. It is worth mentioning that they are very similar to the English National Curriculum's desired outcomes for students which are that they become a successful learner, a confident individual and a responsible citizen. This includes, for example, being a creative, critical, enquiring thinker who can communicate through a number of mediums and being able to manage risk. We have a number of teacher Development Teams that are researching how to develop and enrich the learning experience. This includes building on the PYP units of inquiry, giving a greater focus to trans-disciplinary skills, attitudes, themes and concepts, introducing a 1-2-1 laptop programme that will bring more technology and opportunities into the classroom and beyond, and looking at education for sustainability. This will prepare our students for the 6th form where, for example, there is a requirement to complete an extended essay independently and to explore abstract concepts such as the theory of knowledge. However, we are also mindful of the fact that the MYP would lead to the end of GCSEs and IGCSEs here and yet the IBDP is assessed by terminal examinations with emphasis on subject knowledge.

At the moment, the Year 7 to 9 curriculum is organized along subject lines or what the PYP calls disciplines. They include English, Foreign Languages, Mathematics, Science, History, Geography, PRS, Design Technology, Food Technology, IT, Drama, Music, Art, PE and Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE). We are introducing a new school leadership structure to reflect the IBO's arrangement of the curriculum areas into a hexagon, so that History, Geography and PRS become Individuals and Societies, ICT and Technology are joined and Drama, Music and Art become a Creative and Performing Arts faculty.

We are also developing our assessment policies so that they personalize learning. As in the PYP, rubrics are being used to show students their next steps for learning. Our aim is to use assessment to guide students' learning on a personalized basis. This is then taken up by tutors who have an over-arching perspective of a student's needs to provide further guidance in what we call tutoring for learning.

The changes that are happening show that Island School is receptive to new thinking and innovation and that it is able to grow organically. It is important that these developments are furthered in a partnership between students, parents, teachers and other stakeholders. We are interested in your views.

Dave Harvey
Senior Leader

Message from Michelle Hughes

Dear Parents,

I am very pleased to be back in school after an extensive but successful recruitment process. You will find details of all the staff appointments for August 2009 at this link. This week the school has also been immersed in the recruitment process for the new Principal. I hope that you were able to come to hear their presentations to the community on Wednesday afternoon. All of the candidates are very experienced and I look forward to working with one of them over the next few months to ensure a smooth transition for the school. I will let you know as soon as I have any news of the appointment.

Island School Trust University Scholarships

A reminder that applications for the Island School Trust close on 3rd April. Please check the website on http://istrust.island.edu.hk for details on scholarships.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Jonathan Cheung 12N who won a championship medal at the 'A' grade fencing foil interschool competition at the beginning of February.

Dai Chem Curry and Quiz Night, Friday, 24th April

Best wishes,
Michelle Hughes
Principal

Brett Free Talk

On Wednesday 18th February as arranged by the student-led group 'Blue Tree, Green Sky', Brett Free came to speak to Island School students. Brett Free is Assistant Director of Hong Kong governments Information Services Department and is a long time English speech writer for Donald Tsang. He drew us all in with a fun quiz at the start, where prizes of HK pens, t-shirts and hats were given away, with questions such as, "what's Donald Tsang's favorite item of clothing?" Mr. Free talked about his career, and the path he took to get to where he is now. He had a very personal approach, and enthralled many of the students and teachers listening. Most people only take away one or two points from a speech, I think one of the points Mr. Free made that stays most prominent in my mind is, "sometimes, you just have to play the game." In reference to succeeding and being noticed in your chosen field of work. Overall Brett Free was a motivating and inspirational speaker. Blue Tree, Green Sky is also looking forward to their next guest speaker, Nuri Vittachi!

Katie Boag 11N

SEAMC 2009

SEAMC 2009 was held in Bangkok from 26 February to 1 March, hosted by Bangkok Patana School. It proved a great triumph for Hong Kong with the first 3 teams being GSIS, SIS and WIS. The Island School team 'Yu Or Me': Jeffrey Yu (11F), Or Cyngiser (9W) and Nigvi Tam (9F) did very well winning the Activity Contest and finishing seventh in the overall contest. Of these, Jeffrey did particularly well in the individual contest, scoring 44 out of 50 which put him around 10th out of 210. Our younger team 'Chopsticks': Vani Mohindra (9E), Karen Tsang (9E) and Alistair Webb (8E) did well finishing 31st of 70 teams. It was a pleasure to take these students to Bangkok - they were all excellent ambassadors for the school.

Paul Jackson - Head of Mathematics

Adopt a School Programme at Fitness First

On Tuesdays for our Year 11 games option we go down to Fitness First to participate in the Adopt a School Programme. The Adopt a School programme is a Fitness First initiative that started in Australia to help teenagers learn about health and fitness. Every week we have a different instructor and we participate in different types of group exercise activities.

These instructors are provided by Fitness First as part of a community service programme and are complimentary to all students. Over the term we have participated in Yoga, Body pump, Body combat, Spinning, Body Balance, Body Vive and Body Jam to name a few. All classes are non-competitive and cater to all abilities and the trainers are internationally trained, reknown instructors. We all work to our own personal best and have loads of fun doing it. There is really something for everyone, and a few of our favourites include Spinning, which is taught by Ms Wathall, BodyJam and BodyCombat. We would like to thank Fitness First and Ms Wathall for introducing us to all of these great new classes, helping us learn about fitness and the importance of living a healthy lifestyle.

Isobel Morrice (11N) and Tracey Scott (11N)

Year 8 Internet Safety Project

As you are aware, Island School has now required children in Year 8 to bring in lapftop computers to be used in lessons. During the introduction phase of this program it was clear that there are many concerns shared by parents about students' use of the Internet, and that there was a strong desire for parents to know more. In response to this we are writing to inform you of a project your son/daughter is being asked to carry out related to this issue which would benefit significantly from your involvement.

Internet Safety is a concern for us all and it is important that all of us are involved in developing our understanding of the dangers and appropriate behaviours. This project attempts to help both yourselves and the students better understand the issues surrounding personal safety and well-being on the Internet. In essence the structure of the project is very simple but it requires input from you to be successful. To begin with we are asking you as parents to articulate your concerns, questions and queries you have about Internet Safety to your son or daughter. The students will use these as starting points for their research into the topic. As an outcome they will produce a multimedia (text, images, audio, video) outcome that is directed to you as the audience.

Emails have been sent to all year 8 parents to formally request your engagement with this project to support your child in this area of their personal development.

Please click on this link and complete the form

Mr Statham, Ms Cook, Mr Roper

Not a Muse

Ex-Island School students Shirley Lee, Nashua Gallagher and Aaliya Zaveri are having their poetry work featured in an exciting new poetry anthology called Not a Muse published by Haven Books.

Nashua Gallagher and Aaliya Zaveri will also be performing some of their work live at the book's launch in Hong Kong Sunday 8th March at the Fringe Theatre.

Please follow these links for more details:

• Link to press release
• www.havenbooksonline.com

Connecting Classrooms

Myron Lam 11W, Christina Yu 12F, Katie Boag 11N and Anais Ross 11N attended the British Council "Connecting Classrooms" reception on Thursday 19th February. There they heard Jim Knight MP the UK minister for schools and learning, address a group of students, teachers and principals from schools in Hong Kong, on the importance of 'student voice'. They also took part in a workshop with students from outside the ESF school system to discuss next steps in sharing ideas about student leadership.

This is the latest instance of Island School's ongoing relationship with this project. At the last event students themselves led workshops and presented to conference guests. We hope to continue to work on this project with the British Council.

For more information, please see this link.

Lost Property

We have a lot of winter clothing in lost property, with no name labels. Items include school fleeces, school jumpers and non-uniform clothing. Any items not collected by 20th March 2009 will be donated to charity.

Key Dates