From the Head of Secondary 08.02.2020

Another busy week at KIS!

Students have responded sensibly to the temperature checking protocol. A few have reacted with “Oh No!…..” when told that their temperature is normal and they are fine to enter school and go to lessons…..jokingly I think perhaps they were rather hoping to be sent home for a few more hours’ sleep!

Key Stage 4

Year 11 Reports were sent out on Tuesday and looking through the mock results I can see that many students have cause to be optimistic about their actual exams in May/June. Some students did exceptionally well. Parents Afternoon is next Monday and we hope to see all of our Year 11 parents there with their sons/daughters. With the actual exams fast approaching it is essential that there are quality conversations around how each student can be at optimal levels of knowledge, skills and confidence as they enter the exam room. Study leave will start on the 24^th April with the exams commencing shortly afterwards. Throughout the study leave period there will be scheduled revision sessions in school and we will be sending out more information about that. We find that students who attend study sessions in school tend to do better in their exams.

As part of the pastoral support in Key Stage 4 Ms Service is offering two stand-alone study skills sessions after school on Thursday 13^th February and Thursday 12^th March.

These sessions will cover:

• Time Management.
• How to concentrate during homework.
• Working smart.
• When you should and when you shouldn’t use the internet.
• How to use past papers to boost your grade.
• Revision techniques.

These sessions are by invitation and Ms Service is contacting relevant parents and students.

School Self-Review for CIS Accreditation

On Monday this week staff, students, parents and Board members came together in teams to start their work in reviewing how well the school is aligned with the Council of International School standards for re-accreditation. Meetings will continue throughout most of this year, and will take place roughly every two weeks. The goal is to investigate the standards as they apply to KIS and to decide whether we Exceed, Meet, or Not Meet/Partially Meet each of them. There are ten different sections, called Domains, ranging from Domain A Purpose and Direction to Domain H Community and Home Partnerships. Examples of standards are:

A4. The school is committed to the values inherent in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1990).

B5. The Guiding Statements drive strategic planning and the school’s strategic decision-making.

D1. Teaching enables all students to gain access to the curriculum and to have the opportunities for success in their learning, relative to their abilities.

E2. The school has documented effective written policies to safeguard and promote the welfare of all enrolled students.

As well as widely discussing the 57 standards, the teams will be searching for evidence to validate their thoughts and decisions. The final step will be to write the final report which will be sent to CIS in December/January, except for Domain A which has to be sent earlier.

I would like to thank the staff, students, parents and Board members for their contribution to this important event in the continued development of KIS.

Reminders

Punctuality

Unfortunately we still have some students who are arriving after 7.40 am. It was noticeable on Thursday that some Year 10s and Year 11s entered the multi-purpose room between 5 and 10 minutes late for their regular weekly assembly. Whilst they did try to enter quietly and sensibly it still caused inconvenience for everybody else who arrived promptly.

School emails

Each student in Secondary has their own school email address and occasionally we do send out important messages to them. It would be helpful if parents could remind their child to check their email on a daily basis.

Many thanks for your support

Margaret Renshaw

Deputy Principal/Head of Secondary

During the term break, brother and sister Kon Han (Y8K) and Kon Yi (Y10K) participated in a badminton tournament in Tawau from the  31st January to the 2nd February. This tournament involved sixteen Sabah districts  and there were 474 participants.

Both Kon Han and Kon Yi performed admirably:

Kon Yi

Boys’ Doubles Under 16 – 2nd Runner Up/Semi-Final

Kon Han

Girls’ Doubles Under 14 – Champion

Girls’ Singles Under 14 – 2nd Runner Up/Semi-Final

Both Yi and Han will be representing state of Sabah in the 100 Plus National Junior Circuit 2020 which is scheduled for March 2020 in Selangor and in July 2020 at Kedah.

Many congratulations to Kon Yi and Kon Han for their remarkable achievements!