Leopard's Tale |
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Leopard's Tale |
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DP Coordinator Monica Murphy and High School Counsellor Julie Baldry will be sending predicted grades home to all Grade 12 students this Friday 31 March. These grades represent teachers’ most accurate estimate of how students will do once all assessment components are completed. Since there are still assessments coming in, these are not the official IB predicted grades.
The purpose of sharing grades at this point is related to the “Non-Exam Contingency Measure” (NECM). If a student is unable to write their exams for an IB-approved reason - for example, they test positive for COVID and are prohibited from coming onto campus - then their IB grade will be calculated using their submitted coursework plus their predicted grade. It is therefore important for students to know what their predicted grade in a subject is, and also for them to be able to either improve it through further work, or to appeal it. If a student wishes to appeal their predicted grade in a specific subject, they must email their teacher, CCing Ms. Murphy and Ms. Baldry, no later than 8:00am on Monday morning 3 April, detailing the reasons why they believe the grade should be reconsidered. AISL’s complete appeal process can be found on page 17 of the Diploma Programme Handbook. We understand that the time frame is tight, and this is to ensure that there is adequate time to do an appeal and/or submit additional evidence of student work prior to the official deadline for the final predicted grades, which is Tuesday 18 April. A huge congratulations to the Class of 2023 for completing their mock exams! These ran the week before Spring Break, and were a great opportunity for Seniors to know what it looks, feels, and sounds like to be in a DP Exam. To help the Seniors let off steam, the Senior Spirit Committee organized an amazing Holi celebration. Students received a white t-shirt, and then had a massive paint/water fight that lasted an hour - and was only made more fun by a torrential downpour!
We’re always looking to evaluate and improve our programme, so students were surveyed about their mock exam experiences. Results included the following: Successes
Areas for growth
With only six weeks to go before the real exams, our Seniors are finally in the home stretch. Good luck to all students, parents, and teachers as we work towards graduation! Grade 12 students are busy writing Mock Exams this week. Mock exams are run according to all of the IB’s exam regulations, so they’re a great chance for teachers and students to practice the protocols of the real DP exams in a lower-stakes environment. Mocks are usually used as a regular summative assessment for reporting purposes, and they help inform the predicted grades which teachers will submit to the IB in April.
While Mocks can be challenging, most students finish Mocks week relieved and less stressed about the May exams, since they have a strong sense of exactly what writing the May exams will look, feel, and sound like. For the past few weeks, Grade 10 students have been meeting with our DP Coordinator Ms. Murphy and High School Counsellor Julie Baldry to discuss Grade 11 course selections. These conversations cover post-secondary plans, interests, and academic strengths. AISL’s Grade 11-12 offerings are flexible enough to meet a range of student needs–whether that means the full lB Diploma, the IB Courses pathway, or the AISL High School Diploma. This Friday, students will receive a form where they can make their final decisions about which courses they want to pursue. Although it’s early in the year to begin this process, it has two major benefits. First, it gets Grade 10 students thinking about long-term plans, and in light of those plans it can motivate students to make improvements in their ATLs. Second, it allows the Secondary Leadership Team to create next year’s schedule in a timely manner, as this is a months-long process which can’t start until the Grade 10’s have submitted their course choices. Another major development is in Grade 11, as the students submitted their EE proposals to departments this week. These proposals are anonymous, and faculty members will discuss the research questions as a team, provide feedback to the students, and allocate supervisors. This week our Grade 10 students are participating in a 2-day retreat hosted by High School Counselor Julie Baldry and DP Coordinator Monica Murphy. Students are visiting DP classes, having 1:1 college counseling and course selection meetings, learning about the different graduation pathways AISL offers, and generally starting to think long-term about how they can plan now for the next stage in their academic journey. Monday’s parent session on transitioning into Grade 11 is available via a PDF here and a video recording here. Following the retreat, students will schedule meetings for their families, Ms. Murphy, and Ms. Baldry using Google Calendar’s appointment slot function. Grade 10 parents, please sit down with your child this weekend to find a time that works best. We look forward to meeting with all families by Friday 2 December. Congratulations to our DP Candidate: Mehdi Mehdi is currently in the final year of the IB Diploma Programme. He chose to research and write his Extended Essay in Physics with the Research Question: “What is the relationship between the height of a tank with pipe fittings attached and the time needed to drain all the water in the tank?”.
Mehdi submitted his completed essay to the peer-reviewed Journal of Industrial Engineering and learned recently that his essay has been accepted and his manuscript, based on the essay, will be published in the journal in the near future. Mehdi is to be applauded not only for writing a scientific paper worthy of publication, but also for being a true IB risk-taker! We are excited about two important events coming up:
The first, for Grade 11 students only, is an Extended Essay (EE) Parent Information Session on Tuesday, 25 October from 7:45-8:30. G11 full DP candidates, along with any who have chosen to do the EE, will soon begin the EE. This session will explain what the EE is, present the timeline for completion, and suggest ways that parents can support their children throughout the process. We will meet in the Palm Pavilion for this session. Kim Shumlansky, our EE Coordinator, will be leading it. If you cannot attend in person, but would like to attend virtually, please use this link. The second event is for students and parents in both Grade 11 and Grade 12. It is a Personal Project (PP) and Extended Essay (EE) Celebration on Wednesday, 2 November from 17:00-18:30. Every G11 student who is doing the EE (or even considering it) is invited and strongly encouraged to attend the presentations done by the G12 students explaining their EE journey. Before the G12 presentations begin, we will have a short ceremony to hand out the PP certificates to all the G11s who completed the PP last year. There will be finger food and drinks to celebrate the fantastic finish to both classes who have completed these rigorous IB benchmarks. “Assessment and Academic Integrity in the DP” (for Grade 11 parents): This session will help Grade 11 parents understand how assessment and grading works in Grades 11 and 12. In addition, we will review the value of academic integrity and how AIS policy approaches cases of academic malpractice by Grades 11 and 12 students. Our DP Coordinator, Monica Murphy will host this information session.
The session will be held in the Pavilion on Tuesday 11th October from 7:45-8:45. An online option will be available for those parents who can’t attend in person via this link. A huge congratulations to our Seniors who submitted their final EE’s this past week! The EE journey is a long one, having begun last November, and involves hours of independent work, EE classes under the direction of our Coordinator Kim Shumlansky, and supportive meetings with faculty supervisors. A special thanks to the Senior Spirit Committee for providing celebratory cupcakes to mark this important milestone! Watch this space for news about the upcoming EE celebration, to which Grade 11 and 12 parents will be invited. For Grade 11 parents interested in learning more about assessment and academic integrity in the DP, our DP Coordinator Monica Murphy will be running a parent session next Tuesday 10 October from 7:45-8:45 in the Pavilion, with an online option available via this link for those who can’t make it in person. College News Grade 11 Parent Presentation - The College Application Journey Parents of learners in Grade 11 are invited to join the College Counselor, Ms. Julie Baldry, to learn about the college application journey. Preparing to apply to countries around the world will be covered in this presentation. Date: Thursday 22nd September 2022 Time: 07:45 - 08:45hrs Venue: Palm Pavilion |
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The Leopard's Tale is our main medium to keep our families informed on such things as the day to day happenings on campus, after school activities, summaries of any arts and sports events, helpful resources, and important dates and reminders.
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