All School eNews – Have a Great Summer Break!

End of Year Message from the Head of School

Dear Parents,

As the end of the school year approaches I would like to thank you for placing your trust in ISB to care for and educate your children. We take this responsibility very seriously and always strive to do our very best for your children.

We are very grateful for all of the support that our parents have given us. We are incredibly fortunate to have such a diverse, capable, caring and committed parent body to support our kids and our school.

For those students and families departing ISB, we wish you all the very best and please know that you will be Panthers for life. We thank you for being a part of our community and hope that ISB will always have a special place in your hearts.

To our new and returning families, we look forward to seeing you in August for another great ISB year of learning, caring and enjoyment.

Wishing you all a restful and enjoyable summer holiday.

All the best,

Andy

Thank you for your feedback

Each year, we send surveys out to our community to measure our performance in multiple  areas and to gain valuable feedback from all our stakeholders: students, parents, staff and alumni.  We learn about how our community feels about our programs, mission, vision, and learning.  Our surveys help us understand what is working well for our students, parents, and teachers, and where we should be seeking ways to improve.

We send out an End of Year survey to parents, students and staff. These surveys ask the same questions over time and allow us to see trends. We also send a new parent survey to our parents shortly after they arrive at ISB, so we can make sure that our families are having a positive experience as they transition to ISB. Last spring, we also conducted a Perception Study, that expanded our view to include even more perspectives on what makes ISB special and what we are known for beyond our internal community.

Thank you for taking the time to complete these surveys and give us your feedback and ideas for improvement. We take this feedback to our Board, to the Leadership Team and into each division to address the areas needed in the coming school years and to strengthen the areas in which we are already meeting your needs.

We wanted to offer you a summary of survey findings here. For more detailed information about any of these results, you are welcome to contact us.

 

Net Promoter Score

In each survey, we measure our net promoter score. A net promoter score is calculated by subtracting the percentage of people least likely to recommend you, from those extremely likely to. The score ranges from -100 to +100. Essentially this is a score that  determines who would recommend ISB to others, and we now monitor it annually. We receive a strong score every year and endeavour to improve this.

                                    2019                                        2018

Parents                        53                                          40                    

 

Parent Survey

Overall, this year, parents gave ISB our highest ratings ever across all areas of the school:  academics and outstanding teaching; nurturing students and promoting healthy, active, balanced lives; caring for students, and the one that makes us, as an organization, enormously proud–95% of the parents responding said that “overall, my child is happy at ISB.”  91% of our families said that ISB is a good school for their children, and 92% would recommend ISB to other families.  These ratings reflect the incredible strengths of ISB and the exceptional staff we have that provides a caring, challenging environment in which our students learn and grow. 

There are areas, however, that we know we need to improve upon.  While we are seeing improvement, we do see trends across all of our surveyed groups that our students need additional support in self-management and wellbeing.  On multiple surveys, students getting enough sleep, practicing healthy eating habits, and balancing the use of technology are some of the lowest ratings.  ISB teams will be doing dedicated planning into addressing these needs early next school year.  Parent partnership in these areas is critical, so watch for more information on how you can support your children in these areas.

 

Student Survey

Our students are often our toughest audience, they are the ones most directly engaged in every aspect of the school–academics, extra-curriculars, and culture that promotes learning.  While the students who completed our end of year survey (grades 3-12) see strength in their learning around our attributes and values, areas that must be addressed fall within those around living a Healthy, Active, Balanced Life.  We are looking more deeply at this to pinpoint needs that we can target to best support our students into the future.  Our Strategic Learning Plan for next year will have, as a central focus, Student Wellbeing.

We also administered the Developmental Assets Profile at the end of April 2019 to all ISB students in grades 4-12 and just recently received and began to analyze the results. The purpose of giving this assessment was to:

• Discover the strengths and supports that our ISB students identify related to well-being (i.e. assets).
• Listen to the perspectives of our students and their perceptions of support, empowerment, commitment, positive values, social competencies and positive identity.
• Gain a road map to guide ISB in proactive and focused planning to increase positive outcomes and support for our students.

This data is complex and the implications important. We will be spending more time understanding the information and will have parent meetings early next school year to share the results and ways to ensure that all of our students have the supports they need to thrive.

Faculty Survey

Our faculty survey results reflect similar perceptions around student wellbeing and doing more to support our learners social emotional needs.  Teachers also recognize a changing student body in regard to academic needs.  This is another area that will be addressed in our strategic learning plan as we continue to build our capacity to meet the learning needs of every student at ISB.

98% of our teachers agree that our staff care for our students…this is certainly evident in the incredible work they do with your children and the strong relationships they foster.

 

Perception Study

The Perception Study helped us gain valuable insights into some of the perceptions in our internal and the external community about ISB. It also helped us dig a little deeper into some of our strengths and weaknesses through shared comments and through focus groups, as well as helping to direct our marketing strategy for the next three years. Below is a brief summary of some key trends that came through the study:

1. Importance vs Performance

All stakeholders rated the importance of general ISB attributes as well as our programs. Showing up consistently in the top were:

• Quality of teaching faculty and administration
• Social and emotional support
• Culturally diverse student body
• Sense of community
• University admissions preparation and counseling
• Academic challenge and enrichment
• Range of extra-curricular and community activities

Our performance in each of these areas was rated high across the board but we have given more focus to these areas to see where we can further improve.

2. Location of ISB

Our location came up at various points in discussion as being an incredible asset, for those wanting the lifestyle Nichada provides, and as a weakness, for those families that prefer to be based in the city or who have to commute to the city.

The feedback received has further solidified us in our efforts as a school to work closely with Nichada to maintain our community, to continue to find ways to mitigate the commute for our students and parents (such as adding the parent shuttle to Emporium and reviewing student bus routes) and to reviewing improved access to Nichada Thani. We will also continue to communicate the lifestyle Nichada provides and also the accessibility of ISB and the opportunities we offer for families in town.

With almost a 50/50 split of ISB families inside and outside of Nichada, we focus our efforts on serving both groups equally.

3. ISB’s Curriculum

Our community reports being happy and confident with ISB’s curriculum.  This being said, there was some represented confusion around certain areas, such how closely it is aligned to American coursework and standards, how it translates into measurable outcomes and how this all translates into the classroom. Our curriculum is developed by our Learning Design team, taking into account the leading research and best practice from around the world and coursework is chosen to support this. ISB curriculum is comprehensive and effective and our aim is to ensure that this is more clearly communicated and accessible to current and prospective parents. Our Board of Trustees also developed, and annually reviews, our Learning Scorecard to assess and measure student outcomes and results, to ensure we are on track and supporting our students in fulfilling their academic and personal potential.

The marketing department is developing materials to support the communication of the ISB curriculum across the school as well as developing key content and case studies to show the impact and how it supports our students in academic growth, overall wellbeing and life readiness.

4. ISB Faculty

Our faculty scored exceptionally high across the board in the study showing that ISB has phenomenal teachers who are delivering quality education, who are caring and supportive. It was also noted as the most important “general attribute” of ISB. The study also raised some key areas where faculty could be supported further and this has led to the more focused work by an ISB Culture of Care committee, as well as action in each division to ensure that faculty are given the tools they need to be effective and innovative for our students.

Some Notable Trends

Across our primary stakeholder groups (parents, students, and teachers), we see very similar trends.  Our ISB community is proud of our school and sees it as providing a top notch educational experience for our students and a caring place to learn and work.  However, we also see similar areas for growth. These broad areas encompass many elements of a school and we are dedicated to taking meaningful steps to improving how we address these needs of our students.

We thank you for your time and for sharing your feedback with us. Your voice is important and anyone is welcome to stop in and chat with any of our administrators about these surveys, the results, and ideas for building better partnerships between ISB and our community.

 

Last Chance! Vocal Point – June 7th, 3.30pm

New Vehicle Sticker and ID Application Form

 

Softball and Baseball Summer Camp

The days of summer are upon us. Sign your son or daughter up for our all-new, Panthers Softball and Baseball Camps, rolling out after school closes and again just before we reopen in August. See the flyer and link below for more details and signups!

Panthers Baseball / Softball Summer Camps 

Contact:   Derrick Quitnet, Athletic Director
derrickq@isb.ac.th

Baseball – zjwade08@gmail.com    Softball – samanthagalzara816@gmail.com

Soccer League (Formerly BYS) : Registration is now open

Soccer League (Formerly BYS) provides an opportunity for boys & girls aged 4-18 to develop their soccer skills in a fun and organized environment. While all games and training sessions are held on the International School Bangkok (ISB) campus, players from all schools are welcome to join the program.  

Registration Fee:

4, 400 THB – Early Bird Registration until June 11th 

4,900 THB – Regular Registration until August 19th

For more information, please go to https://www.isb.ac.th/student-life/activities/community-activities/isbsoccer/  

 To register, please click  HERE

contact: panthersfc@isb.ac.th
by Community Activities Activities