Grade 11 Retreat

Photo from Scavenger Hunt: Jumping for joy at the Secondary Gate

On their first day back on campus, Grade 11 students attended a day-long retreat facilitated by our College and High School Counselor, Julie Baldry, and our Diploma Programme (DP) Coordinator, Monica Murphy.  With two overarching goals - to promote social bonding and to develop a deeper understanding of the DP - the retreat was also an opportunity for students to experience a hybrid learning environment for the first time.

​Students worked in groups of 4-6 throughout the day. These groups were carefully chosen to include as broad a range of cultural backgrounds as possible, and to include at least one Path 2 student.  This arrangement enabled on-campus students to integrate distance learning peers in discussion and activities - something that will be necessary in their classes over the next few weeks.
The retreat had many mini-sessions, including the following:

• Building international mindedness through discussion of cultural features;
• Q&A about aspects of the DP that may still need clarification; 
• Assessments in the DP: Internal Assessment (IA) workflow; how AISL grades relate to DP grades; how IA moderation and grade boundaries work;
• Photo Scavenger Hunt around campus and in path 2 students’ homes;
• The seven core competencies needed in the 21st Century workplace;
• How to communicate with teachers about a challenging situation;
• Academic Integrity: working with student samples and understanding consequences;
• Multiple intelligences and learning preferences;
• The developing adolescent brain.

We also welcomed Student Council President, Grade 12 student Elijah Musona, to speak to the Grade 11’s about a peer tutoring programme that he is launching as his CAS project.  This project, which will launch on Monday 28th September, will allow Grade 11 students to sign up for tutoring sessions with Grade 12 peer tutors who have been recommended by their subject teachers for this role.

Best of luck to the Class of 2022 as they transition back to on-campus learning!

Monica Murphy
DP Coordinator

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