Despite the April showers, it’s been sunshine and smiles over at our primary school this week – with students across all year groups getting their teeth into new projects and exploring the great outdoors.  Here are a few highlights:

• Exploring the great outdoors

This week, years 4, 5 and 6 and PYSE had the opportunity to take their learning outside of the classroom walls. Based down in Tunbridge Wells, the Bowles Outdoor Centre gave our students the opportunity to explore and learn in a fun environment.

Students participated in a whole host of activities such as climbing, zip-wiring, kayaking and swimming and enjoyed an evening 'Earth Walk' – all of which encouraged a number of vital life skills, particularly team working and problem solving. 

The students continued to show great development, and the trip has provided new challenges to every single participant. It was a fantastic trip and one which will be keen to replicate in the future.

• Demonstrating an artistic flair

Our Year 6 class has been hard at work over the past few weeks, preparing for their upcoming Exhibition, which will be held 30th - 31st May. The Exhibition is a significant event in the life of the students and for the school and we can’t wait to see the finished article.

• Welcoming a new face

Last but not least, we are extremely excited to announce the appointment of our new principal for August 2012 - Liz McLaughlin.  Currently working as the Improvement Coach at an inclusive school in Boston, USA, Liz is a certified PYP workshop leader and school site visitor, having previously worked as a Principal Intern and PYP co-ordinator both in the US and Italy. 

We look forward to welcoming Liz into our community in August!

Following an “outstanding” Ofsted inspection of our welfare and care of students back in December, we are planning to open a full Central London residence. This would make us the only IB boarding school in London.

This is a really exciting development for those students studying at ICS.  It would not only help their acclimatisation to life in the UK, but also enhance their learning by providing pastoral care specially designed to support their studies.

Being based in a secluded area of Central London would also offer our IB students access to cultural life in one of the world’s great capital cities, regularly host to spectacular global sports, arts and cultural events.

Preparing for your diploma

We are also extremely pleased to announce two additions to our current educational offering – the enhancement and development of two key preparative stages of the diploma programme that will help students reach their full potential and prepare for their university careers, either in the UK or elsewhere in the world.

Up until now, we have offered the IB Diploma to students aged 16-18+ and so far, this has been an extremely popular option for our overseas students as it offers a more transferable qualification than A-Levels. 

This form of education offers students a more comfortable transition into living within the UK.  Since introducing the course two years ago, we have identified even more ways to help prepare our students for the Diploma – through developing not only their English language skills but also their academic skills.

As a result, we have decided to extend our Diploma preparation programme into two strands - an English language preparation strand and an academic preparation strand. 

For example, it may be the case that some students kick off their studies with the English language programme and then move on to the academic prep course too, whereas others who have stronger English language skills might choose to simply take the academic prep course prior to working their way through the Diploma.  In addition, the IELTs English Language qualification offers an appealing option for our older students. Once they have completed their qualification, they will be able to apply for a foundation course at a University, working with those of the same age.   

Last Thursday, we hosted the UK’s first ever #edutweetup – an informal opportunity to discuss International Education within the UK.  And, despite the typically miserable British weather, we were very pleased to welcome along a number of leading lights within the education and relocation space, including representatives from Gabbitas Education, Humphreys Education, School Guidance Education Consultancy, and  International HR adviser. 

Given the vast expertise in the room, there was plenty of discussion and debate to be had.  Topics ranged from the IB curriculum at large – what it offers students at each stage and suggested areas for improvement, to more specific conversations around its impact on the student’s confidence vs. the national curriculum, the potential for incorporating emotional intelligence, and the positive impact of integrating children from all backgrounds and abilities into one classroom. Furthermore, from a global perspective, we were very interested to hear people’s views on the increasingly onerous regulations associated with relocating families, the influx of cultures that previously made up a small proportion of the UK’s international community and Britain’s reputation as a global educator. 

It was a great opportunity to meet and share insights with likeminded people and is something that we will certainly be looking to repeat in the near future – if you would like to be informed directly of upcoming events, get in touch via @icslondon.

Lastly - a huge thanks to all those who braved the rain and made it along.

The International Community School is pleased to announce its recent accreditation by the National Autistic Society (NAS). The NAS Accreditation programme provides an autism-specific quality assurance programme for hundreds of organisations throughout the UK and across the world. By providing a unified standard of excellence and a systematic framework for continuous self-examination and development, the NAS aims to continuously improve the quality of service provision for people with autism and Asperger syndrome.

This is the latest of several accreditations that the International Community School currently holds. ICS is accredited to deliver the IB Primary Years Programme, IB Middle Years Programme, and IB Diploma Programme of the International Baccalaureate Programme. Additionally, we are accredited by the British Council which sets the standard for English Language teaching and learning.

ICS has long has a philosophy of educating the whole child and helping each student to meet their individual potential. We do not believe in a standardised “best” or in “fixing” children. As an international school of students and faculty from around the world, we know that our strength is in our diversity. Each student brings their unique perspective, interests, affinities, and strengths to the school. By focusing on this rather than deficit our students are able to develop and achieve.

Our view is that both socially-typical and socially-atypical students all gain from their interactions with each other. They learn to be more flexible thinkers and to have a greater understanding of communication and problem solving. We are very proud of our student population and all the efforts they make to engage with each other in peaceful and respectful ways. In our accreditation report the NAS gave special recognition to our students for how well they supported one another.

I would like to thank all of the ICS community for all your efforts that help ICS continue to be an international leader in inclusive education.

By Alan Andrew, Director of Student Support and Philip Hurd, Head of School

As part of one of the core components of the IB Diploma programme, students must complete 150 Creativity, Action, Service (CAS) hours. Earlier on this month, eight Diploma 1 students travelled to Ghana to complete the Service component of their CAS hours. ICS Travel and Learn has worked together with World Challenge, an organisation that provides educational expeditions in the developing world with the purpose of teaching life skills and developing minds outside the classroom. This was a unique opportunity to really help to facilitate our students’ personal growth and aid in the expansion of their view of the world and how other people live.

During their time in Ghana, the students worked with the Sabre Charitable Trust; this charitable organisation seeks to build a better future for school children in the area. Sabre works with the Ghanaian government to help deliver its promise of education for all, to all the schools in the KEEA district of Ghana. The project the ICS students were working on was located in Elmina in the KEEA district, approximately three hours west of the capital; Accra.

The Diploma students main task during their visit was to assist with the renovation and decoration of the staff common room - previously experiencing problems with a leaky roof.  In addition to this, our students were involved in preparing walls, painting and fixing broken concrete paths to name but a few tasks. Alongside the physical work, our students were also involved in a number of extracurricular activities with their Ghanaian counterparts - such as English conversation practice, reading and sporting activities. 

Whilst on this trip, the Diploma students kept a video diary of all their experiences in Ghana and the insights they have gained.

We hope this trip will be something that our students will always remember as a vital element of their time in the ICS Diploma programme.

By Joanna Cooper - IB Diploma Co-ordinator

This week was our Home Languages event and we were delighted to welcome over some students from our secondary school to help us celebrate!  Students from Spain, Saudi Arabia, Angola and Kazakhstan came in some of our classes and shared books in their language with our primary students. Parents also came in to school to share songs and stories.

‘Students made many connections between words for different foods in Greek and Arabic’ Andy Year 2 teacher

‘My brother read a story to us. It was very good to have my brother in my class’ Pablo Y1

‘I enjoyed teaching them words in Arabic. They were really good!’ Bashayer secondary student

‘I was like a giant to them!’ Ignacio – secondary student

Year five also interviewed parents and  secondary school students about their experiences of migrating to UK. This formed part of some authentic inquiry into their Unit about internal and international migration. 

 ‘Mario did really well. We learned that Angola is a country in Africa’ Obeye Y5

‘Interviewing the secondary school students helped very much’ Jessica Y5

Parents came into Nursery and Reception class to help their children make models of their houses in their home country. This linked in with their Unit on homes around the world.  The children loved having their parents in class with them and it was a great opportunity for parents to share in their children’s learning experiences. 

‘We were building all different houses. We even played a game!’ Sara N/R

Many students brought in food to help celebrate the event. Many thanks to everyone who shared some delicious cakes and snacks.

‘I liked the Arabic cakes’ Bjargey Y2

‘The children were delighted to bring in snacks form their home country’ Mandy Y3 teacher 

Many thanks to everyone who helped make this another memorable day for our students!

To see more photos of the celebrations, please visit ICS on Flickr.

Katherine Tyler, Language Co-ordinator

The NAACE Conference and ICT Impact Awards Event this weekend was inspiring and allowed me to promote ICS and some of our innovative use of technology. I passed on our information regarding the Flipped Classroom Approach to one colleague who attended the conference via Twitter.

This was picked up by NAACE who re-tweeted the link to our "Flipped Classroom" blog post to their 3393 followers (educators and educational policy makers at all levels)!

By Dr Katya Toneva, Director of ICT

The International Community School is pleased to announce that Dr Katya Toneva has been shortlisted for a Naace ICT Impact Award 2012.  The honour in question is the Award for Advisor or Consultant or Support Service for developing valuable case studies in the area of mobile learning in her role as Director of ICT at ICS and she has been selected alongside others, such as Microsoft and national advisor, Derek Robertson.

We are delighted to see that Dr Toneva’s team work has been recognised by this national ICT association of esteemed educators, technologists and policy makers. We wish her all the best for the finals of this prestigious national award, to be announced at the Naace Conference 2012 tomorrow.

On Monday 5th March, ICS in corporation with the TRAID Charity organised a Fairtrade afternoon. Students had the opportunity to learn more about Fairtrade, and theoretical trade organisations working towards a more equal world. 

Through different workshops we examined various questions such as:

Why trade should be fair? 

How individuals can be part of a fair trade chain? 

Which products come via Fairtrade and why should we buy them? 

During the Practical Upcycling workshop run by TRAID we explored creative solutions to reduce waste of clothing through sewing, making and mending. The students enjoyed redesigning and remaking their old clothes so that they can still be worn.

There was also a Fair Trade Screen Saver Designer Competition for students interested in ICT and the winning entry, by Arthus Vielvoye (MYP4), will be used onschool PCs. 

The most popular workshop was the Fairtrade Lunch Option - Making Fairtrade Food. Students in this workshop discovered healthy and Fairtrade food options and also baked a cake made of mostly Fairtrade ingredients - it was very nice!

Another important workshop was the Banana Split Role Play Game, where participants discussed how products travel from their original country to the shops of London. The aim of this game was to understand and act out the roles of  a farmer, a plantation owner, a shipper, a ripener and supermarket in the trade chain.

Students and teachers spent a great few hours together enjoying the activities and learning about Fairtrade. We all look forward to the next Fairtrade event at ICS!

Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/54176775@N07/5074456299/

We are a pilot group of teachers who would like to share our understanding about how this approach could enhance teaching and student learning.

We would like to involve other colleagues from the International Community School (ICS), London to consider and try out this approach and post relevant observations and comments on this blog.

We welcome views from external educators and educational advisers as well.

Please click on the links below and watch the video clips - these materials highlight the key ideas we are keen to develop:

A brief introduction to the concept of "Flipped classroom".

Teacher's feedback about the benefits of using "Flipped classroom" approach in Maths.

Ean Orlando Alleyne (IB MYP Coordinator/ Head of Mathematics, ICS) explains  the "Flipped Classroom" concept and shares ideas for a pilot development of "flipping lessons" facilitated by ICT.

You may create your own resources. For example, Genevieve Hiltebrand (a Maths teacher in ICS) shared an excellent resource she created to "flip" her classroom and reflected on her approach: "As part of their homework, the students were required to watch this video and to make notes about points they could not understand. During a lesson (exam preparation review) the students were encouraged to discuss similar examples they had been working on at home and to ask questions if anything was unclear."

In this way, the teacher used the lesson time more effectively increasing the interaction with students and focusing on student "active learning".

You may find suitable resources shared by other teachers via KHAN ACADEMY: http://www.khanacademy.org/about

By Dr Katya Toneva, Director of ICT and teams