ap2 news 8th may

BISbuzz Issue 31 | 1

BRITISH INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL - HO CHI MINH CITY| SECONDARY CAMPUS

MAY 8 | ISSUE 31

IN THIS ISSUE

May

11th Ac vi es start

11th — 13th Year 9 INSIGHT Assessments

16th Admission Tests

18th—19th Year 10 Drama Showcase

25th—29th Year 10 & 12 Exam Week

25th—29th KS3 Assessment Week

UPCOMING EVENTS

From the Head Teacher 02

From the Deputy Head, Curriculum and Learning 05

Ac vi es 06

PTG 07

Summer Camp 2015 ‐ College Champi et Switzerland 10

From The BIStro & Underground 11


From The Head Teacher From The Head Teacher

Welcome back to term 3 of 2014‐15 and to new families joining BIS, a very warm welcome to our school community. I do hope that you and your children quickly se le into life at BIS. If at any me you have ques ons or concerns, please get in touch.

ExamsandReportsThe focus this term for many of our students is on examina ons, with IGCSE and IB Diploma Programme exams in full swing. For parents, this can be a me of anxiety. Your children are well prepared and have considerable support from their teachers, however, so they are in a very good posi on. As parents, we simply need to be suppor ve and provide the space for our children to manage this me as they see best. Some humorous advice for parents appeared on the BBC website this week and I have reproduced this in full on the following pages. I have also added an extract from a more serious ar cle from the IBO Blog, which contains useful advice on stress management for students taking exams.

Exams will take place for other year groups later this term. Ben Turner, Deputy Head who leads our assess‐ment, has wri en a piece explaining the ra onale and structure of our summer term exams and assess‐ments. Do take me to read this, and don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any ques ons.

In the mean me, I am pleased to confirm the repor ng dates for this term: Year 7‐ Full report 19th June (This is a change from the stated date of 26th June) Year 8‐ Na onal Curriculum Level Report 10th June Year 9‐ Na onal Curriculum Level Report 26th June Year 10‐ Full Report 26th June Year 12‐ Full Report 26th June

Identi icationCardsandCampusAccess‐AP2As men oned in BISBuzz last term, and by le er earlier this week, we are making some small improve‐ments to enhance the security of the BIS campuses and the safety of our children. We are now ready to implement these changes fully.

From Monday 11th May, any parent without a valid school parent card and all visitors will need to follow the procedure outlined below: A form of photo iden fica on card (e.g. driver’s license or ID card) will be requested from you by the

guard. The ID will be exchanged for a visitor badge with a red lanyard. Each visitor will be required to sign in and complete all sec ons in the visitors book. On leaving the campus, each visitor must sign out and exchange the visitor badge for their photo ID.

In addi on all parents and visitors on campus will be expected to wear their parent card or visitor badge around their necks using the lanyards provided. This will give enhanced visibility of all adults on site at any given me.

Thank you for your coopera on and support.

Richard Dyer Head Teacher, Secondary


The worst things parents can say to teenagers taking exams By Sean Coughlan BBC Education correspondent 6 May 2015 From the section Education & Family: http://www.bbc.com/news/education-32598711

The exam season is here. For families living in the exam zone, it's a tricky me. Emo ons are running high. Nerves are frayed. Parents try to be encouraging and suppor ve ‐ and that's usually a sure‐fire way of star ng an argument. There is nothing that says it's the exam season be er than the sound of a teenager's door being slammed.

So what are the worst things you can say?

1.There are only two things that parents can ever say to teenagers taking their exams. The wrong thing. And the wrong thing. Whatever you say is going to irritate them. Accept it. Even accep ng it, that's irri‐ta ng too.

2. "Don't worry, it's not a big deal, it's only a bit of paper, and whatever happens we s ll..." Wherever you're going with that, it's not working. Think hole, stop digging. If you say, "Don't worry," this is inter‐preted as really meaning, "Relax, you're in a ship heading at full speed towards a colossal iceberg." But if you say it "really ma ers", that translates as: "Why are you piling all this pressure on me now, like I really need any more?" Wrong and wrong. Again.

3. "Remember how well your sister did." Few things could be as provoca ve. It sets off a series of explo‐sions all over the house like in a Sunday a ernoon war film. Never men on siblings, dubiously‐gi ed cous‐ins, unbearable child‐prodigy neighbours.

4. "How can you do any work with all those screens running at once?" The genera on gap is now meas‐ured by the number of screens being used simultaneously. It's safe to write this because no teenager will ever read this far down an ar cle. They are too busy playing with YouTube, WhatsApp, Tumblr, Instagram, Snapchat and something really retro like Facebook.

5. "At least the exams are much easier now." This li le gem could dig you into a corner ghter than a Ha on Garden deposit box. Allude vaguely to "proper" exams like O‐levels and then say: "It's great that these days they more or less give out the answers as well as the ques on papers."

6. "It's lucky you've only chosen easy subjects." Whooosh! So inflammatory that en re postcodes are laid waste.

7. "You can only do your best." Patronising, with subtle shades of disappointment. It sounds like: "You can only do your best… for someone who would lose an argument with an earthworm. But well done you."

8. Stupid 'brain food' ideas. Like it's going to make a difference, ea ng fish pie the night before an exam. Or a bunch of bananas or gallons of water to rehydrate the brain. Advice on sleep can also be annoying, oscilla ng between "Make sure you keep revising" and "Don't stay up all night revising." Maybe the last two years of not reading anything longer than a party invita on might have a bigger impact. And anyway what's the connec on with fishes and intelligence? A lot of them are no be er than sea grade.

9. "Do you want me to test you on a few things?" This begins with good inten ons, in the same the way that wars and major humanitarian disasters probably begin with good inten ons. But you've stepped in‐side the dragon's cave. You've offered to help. What could go wrong? Apart from everything? You're go‐ing to ask the wrong ques ons, or give the wrong answers. And you'll ask them in the wrong way. Then you'll get annoyed and say: "Can we turn off the music so I can hear myself think?" or "Why are you watching Game of Thrones on the laptop?" or "Are you having another break?" Hope the door frame is more robust than their speaking‐and‐listening skills. Bang.

10. "You'll kick yourself if you've only missed out by one mark." Really, really irrita ng. Guaranteed to leave them angry un l August. Infuriated teenagers will add it to the bulging file marked "I've tried my hardest but nothing is ever good enough for you."

Best of luck everyone. Sorry, was that the wrong thing to say?


Exam time … take a breath!

Effective affective skills in action May 6, 2015 in Featured articles, IB programmes, Programme-related news and topics

“I feel there is nothing better we could offer them than to learn how to take a breath, step back, centre themselves and engage

more fully with whatever comes next.”

Mindfulness educator and IB parent, Kevin Hawkins, explains the benefits of mindful

techniques during this stressful exam season.

My third (and final) child is about to sit the IB Diploma exams so, as a parent, I understand a fair bit about

the stresses and strains of high stakes tes ng. As an educator, I have spent most of my career in middle

schools and have therefore been shielded from too much direct exposure to the sharper edges of learn‐

ing. But in recent years, I have taught mindfulness courses to 11th graders and heard all about their expe‐

riences of pre‐exam stress and how they cope with it. One exercise that many said they found useful was

the 7/11 breathing technique.

7/11 breathing: This is a very simple way of gently extending the out‐breath to help calm yourself in stressful situa ons – such as opening up an exam paper. Students are shown how to count internally to 7 on the inhale and to 11 on the exhale. We get the teenagers to focus a en on on the coun ng because this can help unplug a li le from the narra ve circuitry – the storytelling that some mes embellishes, heightens or prolongs stressful experiences. Some find that even doing the coun ng is a challenge when stressed, in this case we suggest using the syllables—“sev‐en” and “e‐lev‐en”—instead, so it becomes a slow count of two on the inhale and three on the exhale. We also tell them to “fit the coun ng to the breathing” and not the other way round, so it’s fine to speed up the count to fit the breath. This has a more subtle effect on extending the out‐breath which is a known way of engaging the parasympathe c nervous system, which can help counter some of our anxious moments.

Mindful breathing in the exam room

Taking even one single conscious breath and allowing a longer exhale before jumping into that first exam

ques on, especially in a hyped–up adrenalin driven state, may feel counter‐intui ve. But it can prove

highly valuable. Star ng off an exam can bring stresses to invigilators too. Giving students their best shot

at success by providing a calm environment could be a good place to start.


From the Deputy Head, Curriculum and Learning Assessment: Learning and Progress

As we approach the end of the school year, all students will enter a period of assessment in the form of examina‐ons. Years 11 and 13 students are currently si ng their IGCSE and IB final examina ons. For the rest of the school

a period of internal examina ons will take place during the week of the 25th ‐29th May. Years 10 and 12 will be as‐sessed in the subjects they study. For students in years 7 8 and 9 who enjoy a broader range of subjects, the formal end of year examina ons are restricted to those subjects which represent the largest components of their weekly metable and hence involve the largest volume of material. These examina ons form part of our broad range of on

‐going assessment represen ng a robust, rigorous system ensuring that all students are challenged and supported appropriately in their learning. At the core of learning, assessment serves two key purposes. Firstly, assessment provides a tool to direct future learning. Secondly, it provides a means to ascertain if learners are making appropriate progress. In prac ce, most assessment serves both purposes to a greater or lesser extent but it is useful to consider these purposes separately.

Direc ng future learning

Assessment to direct learning takes place throughout the school year. This occurs during lessons, through home‐work, topic tests and submi ed wri en assignments. These offer students the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding. This on‐going assessment allows teachers to ascertain where to go next on an individual student level, as a class or year group. It allows teachers to ensure all students are supported and challenged to make the most effec ve progress at an appropriate pace. Addi onally, as students mature they are encouraged to become increasingly independent. One way to secure this is through the use of these assessments to direct their own learning. Students can iden fy areas of strength and seek to capitalise on these through making connec ons to other topics or exploring alterna ve perspec ves. Equal‐ly, they can iden fy areas requiring further a en on or consolida on and act on these accordingly.

Measuring progress ‐ jumps, plateaus and dips

Over the course of a year students do not progress evenly from a star ng point (for example, from English Na onal Curriculum Level 4a or IGCSE grade C, or IB Diploma Programme 5) through to their final grade in a neat, linear fashion. Learning is a complex process and two per nent factors leading to poten ally uneven progress are worthy of considera on. Firstly, as students piece together or make sense of a new idea they will enjoy ‘breakthroughs’ leading to jumps in understanding. In contrast, all appropriately challenged learners will endure periods of struggle where it may take me to fully grasp new learning. Secondly, across topics within subjects students may have varying degrees of flu‐

ency or understanding. They may be be er at crea ve wri ng than literary analysis, be er at algebra than geome‐try or be er at football than swimming. For these two reasons, students’ progress through levels may not be smooth and could involve jumps, plateaus and dips. Overreac ng to changes in summary measurement of progress such as an English Na onal Curriculum level, IGCSE grade or IB points score over short mescales can be misleading and counterproduc ve. It can result in disaffec on within learners and a misunderstanding of the level of challenge and support individuals require. Assessment which provides richer diagnos c informa on such as those used to direct learning is far more useful. However, over the course of longer mescales such as a year or so, these plateaus, dips and jumps are ironed out and a learner’s levels of understanding will increase, they will make progress. Student a ainment data is scru nised by Heads of Year, Heads of Department and class teachers to carefully monitor progress, iden fy students and in‐troduce appropriate interven ons as well as celebrate success. End of year examina ons provide assessments which cover of large amounts of subject content experienced over a long period of me providing a robust and rig‐orous assessment of a student’s level of understanding across a subject. Through long term assessments examining students across all the knowledge and skills within subjects and the tracking of data over longer mescales we are able to ensure all students are appropriately supported and chal‐lenged leading to all students making progress.

Ben Turner Deputy Head Teacher‐ Curriculum and Learning

End of Year Exams When: 25th- 29th May Subjects Examined: Years 7-9: Maths, English, Science, Modern Foreign Languages and Vietnamese. Years 10/12: All IGCSE and IB subjects studied.


Activities

A reminder to parents and students that Term 3 Ac vi es begin this Monday 11th May. All students

should have received an email detailing which ac vi es they have been selected for. If you have any

issues please feel free to contact our Ac vi es coordinator Phil Drake [email protected]

Ac vity dates Term 3: Start: Monday 11th May 2015 End: Sunday 21st June 2015

Phil Drake Director of Sport/Ac vi es & Trip Coordinator


PTG


http://www.challengecamp.ch/


From the Underground & BIStro

Menu 3 (11 May)

From the Underground & BIStro

DAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY

MAIN COURSE

CHOOSE 1

Cottage Pie-Beef OR

Chicken & Vegeta-ble Curry, Rice

Pasta with Pork Meat Balls OR

Fish Teriyaki, Rice

Roast Pork, Roast Potato/Rice

OR Chicken Noodle

Soup (Pho)

Fish Goujon & Potato Wedges

OR Beef & Vegetable

Stew, Rice

VEGETA-BLES

Morning Glory & Carrot Salad

Beansprouts & Carrot Salad

Choy sum & Carrot Salad

Chinese Cabbage & Carrot

Salad

SOUP Watercress Cabbage & Carrot Tomato & Tofu Spinach & Melon

DESSERT Mixed Fruit Mixed Fruit Mixed Fruit Mixed Fruit

VEGETARIAN

Vegetarian Cottage Pie

Chickpea Salad Mixed Fruit

Pasta Napolitana Mixed Beans Salad

Mixed Fruit

Vegetarian Noodle Soup

Tofu in Soya Sauce Mixed Fruit

Tofu & Vegetable Stew, Rice

Spinach & Melon Mixed Fruit

DELI BAR OPTION

Baguette / Wrap Fill it with a variety of choices including ham, chicken, cheese, tuna mayonnaise, beef, baked bean,

mixed bean, bolognese sauce

SNACK MENU

Curry Puff Samosa

Fruit Cup

Chocolate Mud Cake Swiss Roll Fruit Cup

Curry Puff Samosa

Fruit Cup

Banana/Carrot Muffin

Sponge Cake Fruit Cup

FRIDAY

Roast Chicken, York-shire Pudding

OR Pork in Dark Soya

Sauce, Rice

Broccoli & Carrot Salad

Mixed Vegetable

Mixed Fruit

Chickpea & Vegetable Curry, Rice

Mixed Vegetable Soup

Mixed Fruit

Donut Cream Puff Fruit Cup