From the Head of Secondary 13.11.2021 Copy
This week we are looking forward to and planning specific events in Secondary. Our school calendar has been something of a work in progress this year as we have adjusted to happenings outside our direct control, in particular school closures and online learning. Juggling timelines has become a way of life, considering how things can change with little warning from week to week.
However, we can now confirm that the Year 11 Mock Examinations will take place from the 7th to the 16th February. These tests are vital in preparing students for their actual exams in May / June and we take them very seriously. Students sit the exams in conditions which are identical to the actual exams, giving them a real sense of the actual experience. Closer to the time we will send out more information, including the exam schedule. It is worth mentioning now that, in the run-up to these exams, students are expected to spend time on revision, including during the Christmas and Chinese New Year holidays.
Another date for your diaries in the 11th January. On that day we will be holding Parent / Teacher / Student conferences for Year 7, 12 and 13. As you know, school will be online during that week, and we will organise the meetings in the same way that we have done previously when we have not been in physical school.
Next week we have an important event for Year 9 students and parents. Thursday the 18th November signals the start of the IGCSE subject choice process. Students commence these courses at the start of Year 10 and complete them at the end of Year 11, with formal exams set by the Cambridge Examination Board. Students have important choices to make and it’s a big job when you consider the impact that this could have on future careers. For example, if a student has set his/her sights on becoming an engineer then Physics IGCSE is a pre-requisite, in preparation later on for A Level Physics. If the ambition is for medicine, then the advice is to take Chemistry at IGCSE. However, there are in fact only a few careers that require specific IGCSEs and A Levels, and the prime concern of any student must be to choose those subjects that they think they will enjoy, can sustain for 2 years, and that they can have confidence in. The online presentation and discussion will be led by Ms. Service and will start at 5pm. Next week the updated IGCSE brochure will be available on the school website and this year, for the first time, we will also have videos of subject talks given by specialist teachers. These will be shown to the students in their online lessons and in assemblies and will also be available on the website for parents to view.
There will be lots of useful information on Thursday and we look forward to seeing many parents there; a letter has already been sent out giving details and a link to the meeting.
Finally, as we prepare for more of our students to return to school we know that for some this will be an exciting and perhaps also slightly worrying prospect. We are currently looking at special arrangements from the 22nd and will send out a letter early next weeks to inform parents and students about these plans and about other matters to do with returning to school.
Mrs Margaret Renshaw
Deputy Principal
Head of Secondary
A fun celebration of Science learning, this 3-day competition is exclusive to FOBISIA schools. The competition is a fun and engaging opportunity for international school students to engage, revise, and learn Science content on the Education Perfect platform. This year’s competition theme is ‘The Next Frontier’.
Last year, students from KIS won the inaugural FOBISIA Science Championships, beating much larger schools from around the world. This year the Championships have returned, and it is down to KS3 students to defend our title.
The championships involve students answering questions on the Education Perfect app which they can access from their own device. These questions cover topics that students already study in their science lessons, so will be useful revision and help them to consolidate their learning. The themes are also very relevant to real world science that is frequently in the news and will shape the future of the planet. This year’s topics are:
Students will be given more information in their lessons before the championships start on Tuesday. Good luck to all our students!
Online Website Blockers
While we are all very excited about the reinstatement of physical learning for the majority of our students, we also know that for some the return may be gradual and online learning, in one form or another, may continue for a little while. With that in mind, we have recently been reflecting on some the obstacles students have faced when it comes to remote learning.
One of the biggest challenges of online learning is, of course, online distractions. A short time ago, we sent an anonymous questionnaire out to students and 15% of them admitted that they play games or watch YouTube during lessons. This is something that is difficult to police – for both teachers and parents – and up until now we’ve had to rely on our students’ self-control and integrity. For the most part, we are very lucky with our students as they do genuinely want to do well. However, they are still teenagers after all and even as adults we know that remaining focused on the task at hand can be tricky when our laptops and phones offer such a variety of distractions.
A potential solution to this problem comes in the form of app blockers. This concept was actually introduced to me by one of our students who identified that this was a habit that was preventing her from being as productive as she could be in lessons. Having had it in place for a couple of weeks now, there have been definite improvements in her levels of participation and attainment. Therefore, if parents are concerned that their children are not always doing what they should be during lessons, I would highly recommend exploring the technologies that have been designed to help students with this problem.
I researched a variety of different platforms such as https://selfcontrolapp.com https://focusme.com and https://getcoldturkey.com all of which come highly recommended by existing users. There are some subscription fees involved if you want the premium packages but the one I would personally recommend, is a Google Chrome extension named Blocksite. Although subscription and premium services are available, the free, basic version has already proven to be extremely effective with regards to the options it offers.
Blocksite will allow you to temporarily block any websites that our students may be drawn to during the course of the school day such as YouTube, Spotify, Discord and gaming platforms. It also allows you to input keywords – such as gaming – and any website with that term will also be blocked. Once the sites you wish to restrict have been entered, you can set up a timer that will block such sites for the period of time you have set it for. You can also schedule breaks in between if your children want to use their laptops to relax over lunch and break times. Then, after school at 3pm, the timer will end and the students will regain full access to the sites they enjoy.
After speaking to the students, it seems a number of them are enthusiastic about the idea because, as I said previously, they do want to do well at school. Still, as I have already mentioned, like all of us, they sometimes need a little bit of support to achieve their goals.
If you feel this will be of benefit to your child I would recommend giving it a go but if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me for more details.
Emily Colley
Head of Key Stage 3
