High School Upcoming events (Please click):
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HS Parent Teacher Conferences
Philip Bradley
philipb@isb.ac.th
Please note that High School Parent/Teacher Conferences will take place on Friday 7th October, this is not an instructional day for students. Students are strongly encouraged to join their parents (uniforms are not required).
Conferences will be held in the HS Gym.
Session 1: 7:30 to 11:15
Lunch: 11:15 to 12:00
Session 2 12:00 to 14:30
Parent/Teacher conferences are NOT pre-booked. Rather parents queue to meet each teacher. The conference format works very well but does not allow for lengthy conversations, 5 minutes is typical. Arriving with specific questions is a good plan especially if you have a concern that needs to be addressed. If you require an in depth / follow-up discussion with a teacher, please make an appointment for another day. Session 2 is typically less busy, so if you have any flexibility, come after lunch; of course if everyone follows this suggestion it will be interesting!
HS PTA
Philip Bradley
philipb@isb.ac.th
Please take note of the change of date for the next HS PTA meeting. It will now take place a week later on Thursday September 29th at 6:30 pm.
Please join us for brief presentations/overviews on the following topics/areas:
- Counselling
- Arts
- Athletics
- Activities
- GCW
Global Citizenship Week (GCW) Registration for Grade 9-10 Next Week!
Andy Vaughan
andyv@isb.ac.th
Registration for the annual Global Citizenship Week courses continues next Monday, 26 Sept at 7:00pm for students in Grade 10 and Thursday Sept 29 at 7:00pm for students in Grade 9.
To learn more about all the courses offered as part of this year’s GCW week, please go to the ISB website at this link:https://www.isb.ac.th/learning-isb/academics/hs/gcw. The 2016-17 GCW Handbook can be found at this link. As Seniors and Juniors have already completed registration, the following document link provides all the available seats for the Grade 10 Sign Ups.
We strongly encourage that prior to next week’s sign ups you have conversations with your child about expectations – both cost and experience as there are some essential requirements for students as they register for courses. If students register for courses and change courses at a later date they will be moved to local low cost courses.
Important guidelines:
- Students must register via the online registration site (see below).
- Students are required to complete a Category 1 (in Thailand) course before they graduate (Note: Internships do not count as Category 1)
- Students may only select a Category 3 (outside Asia) course if previously completed Category 1 (in Thailand).
- In order to participate in an out of Asia course (category 3), students must have first participated in a course within Thailand (category 1).
- Students will be asked to register listing courses by preference. If one choice is full, we will try to place each student in the next course in order.
- Students should communicate with parents before registering. Any changes after registration will result in students moving to the end of lists or to low cost local courses.
- Students will receive an email to their school account confirming their registrations, this often goes to their SPAM folder. If your child is panicking because they didn’t receive a confirmation email, please ask them to check their SPAM folder as it should be in their
- Students should register online using their ISB username and password. Students also need to log out of all other Google Accounts before registering.
The registration site can be found here: https://www2.isb.ac.th/gcw (Students should hold ‘command’ down when clicking on the registration link to ensure that they can open this link).
Registration is by grade level prioritised as follows:
Third Priority Selection: Grade 10
Monday, September 26, Online registration window opens 7:00 pm.
Tuesday, September 27, Online registration window closes 12:00 pm.
Fourth Priority: Grade 9
Thursday, September 29, Online registration window opens 7:00 pm.
Friday, September 30, Online registration window closes 12:00 pm.
Fifth Priority: Students without registration assigned
October 3-4, any student who has not selected a course will be assigned to available courses.
Registration for IB Exams
Susan Canobie
susanca@isb.ac.th
Registration for IB Exams and payments for these exams for the May 2017 session are coming up.
All Grade 12 and some Grade 11 students will receive their IB exam registrations and associated invoices next week. Parents and students are asked to check the course registration forms carefully, both for personal details and IB courses. Students who are completing the second year in any IB course are expected to complete the course by sitting the IB examination, as detailed in our HS Program of Studies. Universities also expect students completing an IB program or course to have fulfilled all assessment requirements of the course, of which the examination is the culminating assessment.
Please note that invoices are payable to the cashier by Wednesday, 12th October. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Counseling News
Ryan Haynes
ryanh@isb.ac.th
Grade 9
This week our Grade 9 students took an executive skills self-assessment. These are brain based skills that help us to effectively execute or perform a task or solve problems. As students step towards independence, these skills become increasingly important. We all have strengths and weaknesses in these areas. The 11 areas that students self-assessed where: response inhibition, working memory, flexibility, sustained attention, task initiation, planning / prioritization, organization, time management, goal directed persistence, meta-cognition. Mr. Davy hopes to review these individually with students. You may want to ask your student about what they believed there strengths and weaknesses are with executive skills. They are different for everybody based upon experience and physiology. Mr. Davy will also be looking to hold a book club for parents later in the school year surrounding this topic.
Freedom from Chemical Dependency (FCD), a nonprofit organization that provides alcohol, tobacco, and other drug education and prevention programs to schools throughout the United States and abroad, met with our 9th graders this week in freshman seminar. Prior to this session, Mr. Davy also held a healthy choices session with students, which included discussion of refusal techniques and the effects of alcohol on the teenage brain.
Grade 10
Sophomores: Sign-up for Global Citizenship Week for 10th graders opens at 7:00pm on Monday, 26 September. Be sure and go over the courses that your 10th grader is interested in and find ones that fit your budget and desired learning outcomes. You can find information about GCW at this link
We encourage parents to keep track of the progress of their sons and daughters. Looking on PowerSchool once a week or so will help you to keep up to date on their performance and attitudes to learning. (No need to look every day and add to the stress of your son or daughter.) Seeing their progress in PowerSchool will help you in having conversations with their teachers in the upcoming Parent-Teacher Conferences (two weeks from Friday on October 7th). The best starting point is the HAL (habits and attitudes to learning) mark for your son or daughter. Ask the teacher to comment on that HAL mark; it will be a good conversation starter!
Grade 11
The most important priority for students right now is focusing on doing their best in classes and continuing to pursue their unique areas of interest whether it’s through clubs, activities, sports, or other outside interests. Parents can provide a lot of support to students by:
- Encouraging your Junior to ask questions in class, engage with their teachers and peers, and focus on genuine learning, not grades and GPA.
- Focus on providing positive support to students and having balanced conversations that don’t always revolve around school, grades, college, etc. Students need your wisdom and guidance bringing balance and helping put these things in the bigger picture of life.
- Continue to spend time together as a family whether for meals, or simply just being around and available.
The PSAT will be offered to all 11th grade students on Wednesday, October 19 during the school day. Any student who is confident they will not need the SAT (or ACT) should see their counselor to opt out of this test by October 3. Students received more information about this test on September 7.
Grade 12
This week several students attended the Grade 12 University Essay Workshop that was held during Panther Block. Next Tuesday, students applying to schools in the UK will have an opportunity to attend a Personal Statement Workshop.
On Monday, seniors will meet with their counselor for Senior Seminar #2. During this session students will be reminded of important dates and deadlines related to the university application process and when and how to ask for help. In addition, students will self-predict their IB grades. By mid-October teachers will release IB predicted grades.
Students applying to universities in Korea, Japan, Australia, and other countries with later application deadlines, are encouraged to continue focusing on doing their best academically. Students with university deadlines in the next couple of months need to be aware of the following:
- Teacher Recommendations – Students should have already asked teachers for these, completed the form, and submitted to their counselor for approval.
- Early applications – Transcript request forms for universities with deadlines in November are due by October 7.
- Transcript Requests – Requests for application documents (i.e. transcripts and letters of recommendation) from ISB for university deadlines between December and January are due by November 21.
Your students are working hard as they manage busy schedules both in and out of school. Thank you for your continued support.
Upcoming University Visits to ISB and greater Bangkok area (please click on link below):
The 22nd Annual Bangkok International Choir Festival (BICF)
Anthony Giles
anthonyg@isb.ac.th
THE 22nd ANNUAL BANGKOK INTERNATIONAL CHOIR FESTIVAL (BICF) will be held Friday and Saturday, October 7 and 8, 2016 and will feature ISB’s HS and MS choirs along with twelve other visiting choirs from as far away as Jakarta, Indonesia. Unique to this year’s festival will be the the addition of special guest group, the award winning Male Ensemble Northwest (listenhere), or M.E.N. as they are called. Join us for the M.E.N. Feature Concert* (200THB) on Friday, October 7 at 6:00pm in the Chevron Theatre and the BICF Gala Concert (FREE) featuring the 400 student MS and HS Massed Choir on Saturday, September 8 at 2:00 also in the Chevron Theatre.
*BICF participants will be given tickets for the Friday night M.E.N. Concert as part of their involvement with festival. Starting Wednesday, September 28 a limited number of tickets for the general public will be available for purchase at the MS/HS lunches in the ISB cafeteria, or by contacting Ms. Coleen Mann at coleenp@isb.ac.th.
Panther Run Series Race #2-October 1st
Derrick Quinet
derrickq@isb.ac.th
The Panther Run Series is back on October 1 – next Saturday! Race number one featured over 200 runners and was a fantastic community event! This charitable run/race raises money and awareness for the Operation Smile Club at ISB. The cost is 200 BHT per adult and 100 BHT per student, and it’s a great opportunity to run with your family or race our cross country team. Don’t miss race #2!
Sign up here to register for the Oct. 1 event: Panther Run Series Race #2
eNewsletter Guidelines
Shelley Bragg
shelleyb@isb.ac.th
ISB eNewsletters provide a valuable avenue for communication within the ISB parent community. For your convenience we have provided you with our eNewsletter guidelines below.
Submitting an announcement for publication
ISB accepts announcements from ISB families for potential publication in our eNewsletters. The announcements are generally intended to highlight events that occur at ISB and/or highlight information about ISB.
What to include in the announcement
• A title for your announcement
• An email contact for further information
Where to submit your announcement
4publish@isb.ac.th is for announcements of interest to the entire ISB community.
tinaratr@isb.ac.th is for Elementary School (ES) announcements of interest to ES families.
maurilib@isb.ac.th is for Middle School (MS) announcements of interest to MS families.
vijitl@isb.ac.th is for High School (HS) announcements of interest to HS families.
Your announcement will be submitted to the appropriate Principal and/or to our Marketing Director for review. ISB reserves the right to determine which announcements will and will not be published, and to edit announcements that are approved for publication.
Frequency of eNewsletter mailings
The ISB eNewsletter that is for the entire community is sent out on Thursdays. Announcements for potential publication in this newsletter must be received by noon on Thursdays.
The ES, MS, and HS eNewsletters are sent out on Fridays. Announcements for potential publication in these newsletters must be received by noon on Fridays.