From the Head of Secondary 05.12.2020

Many thanks to all our parents who attended the Year 7, 12 and 13 Parent/Teacher/Student conferences on Thursday this week. Initial feedback suggests that it went very smoothly and was a great opportunity for the kind of one-to-one conversations which are so important. In some ways, having these meetings online may be a more efficient use of time than the traditional method, and perhaps this is something to consider moving forward.

As we approach the end of term we are naturally planning for term 2. We are making an assumption that we will be in school and in that case some events will be going ahead as normal. I would like to highlight here the Year 11 Mock Exams, which are scheduled for the 11^th to the 19^th January. Mrs Hallas, our Examinations Officer, is currently planning the daily schedule, and Heads of Department are compiling exam papers. Our aim will be to make this a securely rigorous process, a real test of the students’ capabilities. During the Christmas break, Year 11 students should be revising content so that they can go into their exams with confidence. More information about these exams will be sent out to relevant students and parents before the end of term.

One interesting [and perhaps surprising] aspect of online learning at KIS has been the growing emergence of what can be broadly termed ‘student voice’. Many of our students have led and participated in a range of activities outside of the core curriculum. Whilst an example of this was the Global Goals week initiatives, I am seeing many more such events and activities coming to the fore and being enjoyed by large numbers. In this newsletter you can read about what the Eco Warriors have been up to, with their banner design competition. The Prefect teams and Charity Committee continue to be very active in running after-school online sessions for younger students and the Student Council has been very proactive in ensuring that the Christmas Angels initiative runs as usual in 2020. Our students are definitely not using lockdown as a reason to cease all extra activities!

I am currently reading through all of the academic reports which will be sent out to Secondary parents at the end of term. I have to say that I am very impressed at the huge amount of effort that the vast majority of our students have put into their online learning, as reflected in teachers’ comments. Whilst acknowledging that teaching and learning in this kind of way is by no means ideal and requires a certain kind of stamina and endurance, students, teachers [and parents!] have in many ways risen to the challenge. Well done everybody. We also know that this kind of learning has been difficult for some and means that there may need to be some ‘catching-up’ when we return to the physical classrooms and we will make sure that happens.

Finally, have a look at the study tips that have been contributed to this newsletter from 9S ‘9S Elevates Memory’ There are ideas there for all of us I think, and thank you to 9S!

Have a wonderful weekend

Margaret Renshaw

Deputy Principal/Head of Secondary

During PSHE lessons, Year 9 worked through a programme on memory from the company Elevate. Please read the tips 9S learnt on improving memory, especially for tests and exams.

Silence, no music, no phone

Woon Tong, Hannah, Lou-Anne, Farah, Erin and Toby recalled that silence was important in memory improvement. Apparently, listening to music uses the same part of our brain that also memorises information. So when remembering important information, it is better NOT to listen to music. Farah and Grace also advise that distancing yourself from your phone/social media is important, because these interfere with your incoming knowledge.

Study Environment

Charmaine stated that “memorising your notes whilst lying on a bed, floor, or couch limits your attention and memory” which Hannah, Lou-Anne, Erin, Toby, Woon Tong, Diego and Isaac agreed with. Revising at a clean and tidy table or desk creates an exam-like environment. There are no distractions and so, greater focus.  According to Toby, “… sitting on a sofa makes your brain think it’s time to sleep”.

Methods of study

Gladys learned that teenagers struggle to remember and study for a test. Isaac liked the peg words method, using words that rhyme with the word you are trying to memorise and assigning a number to it. Kon Han learnt that you can remember lists of words in fun ways like putting them in a story about yourself to remember the words faster. Farah gained new tips on how to improve her memory through multiple memory games.

Jonathan, Gladys and Timothy learned that the weirder something is, the more likely they are to remember it and so they can use this strategy to memorise things for exams.  Grace found that it is better to study little by little rather than studying for a full hour – Sharp, Short, Sections.

Has it worked already?

Allen tells us that he can remember his notes more clearly and for longer periods of time following the Elevate experience. Other students, such as Trinity, have reflected and realised that their current methods for revising were inefficient and need to be changed. Ijin picked up some IT tips too.

Something we have all learnt in our many years at school is that everyone is different and some of the ways people already use to study, revise and memorise are good ways. If the information is personal, captivating, and sensory in some way, everyone can use their own method of studying and this is okay as long as it works.

In conclusion, Charmaine tells us “The mental journey is a method particularly for remembering something that is already familiar.”

As you may know, KIS regularly hosts Beach Clean-Ups to help uphold our country’s precious marine ecosystems. However, it can be hard to find our base. This year, as we could not go out to clean, we decided to come up with something different! We hosted a banner competition for artistic people in our KIS community to design a banner that we would reuse for every beach clean for many years to come!   The design instructions were that there should be no date so it is reusable, be clear that it is KIS so the clean-up base could be easily found and that it advertised our beach clean-up to the Kota Kinabalu community.

  WINNER – TIGGY THORNTON

We are proud to announce that the winning entry was created by Tiggy Thornton in Year 11 who was awarded 15 merits. In second place was Ijin Han 9S who gained 10 merits while a close third was Fion Ho of 5K who won 5 merits.

SECOND PLACE – IJIN HAN

We thank our judging committee of Mr Gross, Ms Holmes, Ms Lisa, Eimhin White of 7S and Ruth Tsen of 9K plus everybody who participated in not only this event but also all the events we have hosted so far this year.

                                                3RD PLACE – FION HO

From the Eco Warriors